The United Nations Charter is the one authoritative source of international law regulating the use of force. Since the 9/11 attacks that inaugurated the ‘war on terror’, scholars and countries such as the United States have sought to develop a new legal framework that would essentially justify an expanded version of self-defence. Below, Antony Anghie examines this framework and suggests that it serves to reproduce certain colonial structures that appear to be deeply embedded in both international law and international relations.
Preparing Rice Farmers for Climate Change: Dissemination of Submergence Tolerant Rice in India
By Takashi Yamano, Maria Luz Malabayabas & Manzoor H. Dar
Due to climate change, the frequency of floods and droughts is expected to increase. To reduce crop losses due to such abiotic stresses, stress-tolerant rice varieties have been developed and distributed to farmers in developing countries, including Eastern India. Benefits of stress-tolerant rice varieties, however, become observable to farmers only when they suffer from stresses. Below, Takashi Yamano, Maria Luz Malabayabas, and Manzoor H. Dar take an example of a submergence tolerant rice variety, called Swarna-Sub 1, and show how adoption of Swarna-Sub 1 increases significantly one year after farmers experienced floods in Eastern India.
Trade and Employment in Asia
By Niny Khor & Devashish Mitra
While it is understood that trade leads to higher economic growth, the question of whether increased trade and openness to global markets benefits workers is still debated. Below, Niny Khor and Devashish Mitra argue that trade is beneficial for both employment and its quality, provided the right kind of complementary domestic policies are in place.
The European Union Policies in the Aftermath of The Global Economic Crisis
By Laura N Haar
The global economic crisis has forced national and regional policy makers to reconsider their policy priorities in order to speed up economic recovery. Below, Laura N Haar considers how some EU policies have been affected by the financial crisis.
Coaching: A Tailored Approach to Talent Development
A growing number of organisations are cultivating in-house coaching programs to achieve their talent-development goals. According to the 2012 International Coach Federation Global Coaching Study, 14 percent of professional coaches self-identify as internal coaches; i.e., professional coaches who are employed within an organisation and who have specific coaching responsibilities identified in their job description. (This does not account for the percentage of professional coaches in private practice who are contracted to provide coaching services to one or more organisations.) Whether your priorities include engaging and retaining top talent, developing leadership from within, or boosting productivity and financial outcomes, a coaching program designed with the unique and specific needs of your organisation in mind can yield significant benefits.
Building Ethical Business Cultures: BRIC by BRIC
By Alexandre Ardichvili, Douglas Jondle, Jack Wiley, Edgard Cornacchione, Jessica Li & Thomas Thakadipuram
As the economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRICs) continue to grow both in size and clout, and their resident multinational corporations become major players in global markets, questions pertaining to trust and integrity, and of universally shared standards for ethical business behavior become important concerns for numerous stakeholders. Whether or not managers and employees behave ethically depends on how one defines ethical behavior and applies it to an organization’s culture. We start this article by discussing attributes of ethical business behavior and cultures in each of the four BRICs countries, and then present results of our recent large scale survey-based studies, comparing managers’ and employees’ perceptions of ethical cultures in BRICs and in economically developed Western economies.
A View on Russian Economy Mid-term Perspectives
By Sergey Drobyshevsky
There are a lot of arguments illustrating the low probability of fast and stable growth of the Russian economy in mid-term perspective. Does it mean that the economy is doomed and Russia will go down in the list of top economies? The answer – Yes and No. Sergey Drobyshevsky explains why.
Doing Business is Easy at The Ritz-Carl
Being one of the top places to do business in Moscow, The Ritz-Carlton hotel has a number of services and facilities that are specially designed for business travellers. They are tailor-made, time-efficient and promote a productive and comfortable stay. The luxurious base for the international business traveller includes The Ritz-Carlton Club, conference floor with banqueting kitchen and business center, opulent ESPA spa with express treatments and in-room service, complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi and automated underground parking.
Lonely Ideas
By Loren Graham
Russian technology has had a historically uneven trajectory. In recent times Russia has fallen back on natural resources for economic strength, but the Russian government intends to convert Russia to a country primarily dependent on a knowledge economy. Below, Loren Graham argues that the obstacles are not scientific or technological, but societal, and suggests that to become a high-technology superpower Russia must establish true democracy.
China’s Environmental Challenges
China’s huge environmental challenges are tied to domestic politics, rapid economic growth, and an intense phase of globalization. With rising wealth there is huge pressure for China to continue on its current path of rapid growth coupled with environmental degradation, both within and beyond borders. Below, Judith Shapiro suggests that globalization is the force behind many of China’s environmental problems, but also a source of hope and innovation.
EDITOR'S PICK OF THE WEEK
China’s Challenging Search for a New Model of Economic Growth
By Danny Leipziger
China cannot continue to rely on exports to drive its growth, but what are the alternatives?
China ran a $1.2 trillion trade surplus last year, and despite admonitions from the IMF to rely...
