Volume 8 Winter 2008
Flying Without Succeeding? Assessing the Future
of the Civil Aviation Manufacturing Sector in the People's Republic of China
By Pete Sweeney
University of Washington
While the future of Chinese aviation manufacturing features increasingly prominently in the popular press, opinions as to its prospects vary widely. Optimists point to the advantages China could apply to producing aircraft: low labor costs, the world’s second-largest domestic market, a state dedicated to nurturing strategic high technology industries, and sheer macroeconomic momentum. Pessimists argue that many of these advantages are, in fact, mirages. They argue that what genuine advantages China enjoys have been squandered before and may be squandered again.
Peace in Northern Uganda: Recommendations for International Involvement
in the Juba Peace Talks
By Jason T. Riley
University of California, San Diego
Peace talks between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army have inched forward for 18 months. After nearly twenty years of brutal fighting, Ugandans and the world community yearn for peace. This paper reviews the history of the conflict, analyzes the literature on civil war settlements, and recommends a course of action for the international community as it works toward a sustainable and just resolution.
Reconciling Hereditary Enemy States:
Franco-German and South Korean-Japanese Relations in Comparative Perspective
By Seung-Hoon Heo
Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva
If everlasting power politics has left hostile states reluctant to pursue reconciliation policies, the phenomenon of globalization has brought a new wave of reconciliatory gestures between erstwhile enemies. Nevertheless, empirical evidence reveals that certain countries successfully reconcile while others do not. This article explores the key determinants of inter-state reconciliation between hereditary enemies within an analytical framework of reconciliation. Reconciliation, as a powerful strategy for nation-states with deep-rooted hatred to achieve lasting peace, demands profound changes in mutual perception toward the ‘others’ both on intergovernmental and international levels. The comparative case analysis of Franco-German and South Korean-Japanese relations demonstrates that inter-state enmity, despite the fact of real trauma, is also very much a creation of political propaganda and one-sided education that perpetuates negative stereotypes.
Effects of Deregulation of Syringe Access Laws on HIV Transmission
By Kumi Smith
University of California, San Diego
Syringe exchange programs (SEPs) have been implemented in many countries as part of efforts to counter the spread of HIV/AIDS. As policies that provide sterile syringes for the known use of injection of illicit drugs, however, SEPs provoke political controversy in nearly every situation in which they are introduced. In the US the legality of prescribing, providing, and possessing syringes varies by state. This provides a unique opportunity to compare HIV incidence rates among different policy environments, allowing further insight as to the efficacy of SEPs in reducing HIV transmission. A two-way fixed effects regression analysis of panel data shows that although isolated efforts to relax paraphernalia and prescription laws may have an ambiguous effect on HIV incidence rates, the presence of legally sanctioned SEPs can bring down incidence rates by up to 13 reported cases per 100,000 people.
Interview
Hugo Chávez's Failed Constitutional Referendum
An Interview with IR/PS Professor Richard Feinberg
By Lane H. Jost
University of California, San Diego
On December 2, 2007 the citizens of Venezuela rejected a referendum proposed by President Hugo Chávez that would have granted sweeping new constitutional powers to the president. The bill included a total of 69 amendments, but three provisions—the abolishment of term limits, the ability to declare states of emergency for unlimited periods and the escalation of the state’s role in the economy—proved to be among the most contentious. The Journal of International Policy Solutions spoke to Richard Feinberg, Professor of Political Economy at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego (IR/PS), about the significance of Chávez’s defeat and the fate of authoritarian populism in Latin America. Prior to joining the faculty at IR/PS, Feinberg served as Special Assistant to President Clinton for National Security Affairs and Senior Director, Office of Inter-American Affairs from 1993-1996.
