Using the Right Tool for the Job: Mediator Leverage and Conflict Resolution

In international dispute mediation, a one-size-fits-all view of mediation may actually inhibit effective conflict resolution. Mediators must especially tailor the level of leverage to the needs of the situation. This essay first considers existing studies that have found both potential benefits and risks of heavy-handed third-party involvement as a conflict-management strategy. It then considers a few illustrative cases to demonstrate the importance of making sure that the tools of mediation fit the context. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of how sustained post-conflict peacekeeping and peacebuilding can reduce the risks of leverage in mediation

Contract Interpretation 2.0: Not Winner-Take-All But Best-Tool-For-The-Job

In a centuries-old debate among contracts scholars, one group supports a presumption favoring a text-centered approach to the interpretation of a writ-ten agreement—the plain meaning taken from the four corners—while oppo-nents urge a broader understanding of context—what the parties intended and the circumstances of their negotiation. The contending positions have so hard-ened that, in a jarring juxtaposition this Essay will reveal, recent academic classifications of the same state laws are exactly opposite to each other: contex-tualists classify certain states as contextualist that textualists say are textualist! Yet despite the persistence of acute polarization, the author also docu-ments—and applauds—promising trends in the literature toward hybridiza-tion and compromise, a search for factors to guide the selection of interpretive tools rather than putting some off limits or setting up default rule presump-tions. While scholars have thus long obscured a common-sense reality, a new wave of research is making it clearer to all sides that text and context are both useful, depending on the details of different jobs. More modern, advanced, and sensible, this new view of contract interpre-tation replaces a stubborn “winner-take-all” approach to the debate with a flexible and practical “best-tool-for-the-job” approach. To illuminate its im-portance and value—call it contract interpretation 2.0—this Essay turns to Warren Buffett’s contracting philosophy and practices. The famous investor and businessman is also a polyglot teacher, and his approach to contracts, especially acquisition agreements and employment arrangements, illustrates the imperative of using the right tool for the job

Monetary Policy and Asset Prices : What Role for Central Banks in New EU Member States?

The paper deals with the relationship between monetary policy and asset prices. Besides surveying the general discussion, it attempts to extend it to recent developments in the new Member States of the EU (NMS), namely the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia (the EU4). After a brief description of the current macroeconomic situation in the NMS, the appropriate reaction of monetary policy to asset price bubbles is dealt with and the main pros and cons associated with this reaction are summarised. Afterwards, the risks of asset market bubbles in the EU4 countries are evaluated. Since the capital markets are still underdeveloped and the real estate price boom seems to be a natural reaction to the initial undervaluation, the risks are viewed as rather small. The conclusion is thus that it is crucial for central banks in mature economies as well as in the NMS to conduct their monetary policies as well as their supervisory and regulatory roles in a way that does not promote the build-up of asset market bubbles. In exceptional times, central banks of small open economies must be ready to use monetary policy steps as a kind of insurance against the adverse effects of potential asset market bubbles.Monetary Policy ; Asset Markets ; Central Banking ; New EU Member States

Mediation – Its Potential and Its Limits: Developing an Effective Discourse on the Research and Practice of Peacemaking

This article looks at the various contributions to this issue of the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs. The contributors have analyzed the potential and limits of mediation, but have focused on a number of different aspects of that process. The analytic research relevant to conflict situations will be most useful, however, if the recommendations offered for how to bring conflicts to an end can actually be of use to practitioners in the field. The approach of this article is therefore to consider how policymakers might employ these recommendations as they pursue the goal of peace. It also discusses how even defining who a policymaker is can be complicated. And it concludes by arguing for a more robust dialogue between academic experts and those who might benefit from putting their advice into practice

Mediation – Its Potential and Its Limits: Developing an Effective Discourse on the Research and Practice of Peacemaking

This article looks at the various contributions to this issue of the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs. The contributors have analyzed the potential and limits of mediation, but have focused on a number of different aspects of that process. The analytic research relevant to conflict situations will be most useful, however, if the recommendations offered for how to bring conflicts to an end can actually be of use to practitioners in the field. The approach of this article is therefore to consider how policymakers might employ these recommendations as they pursue the goal of peace. It also discusses how even defining who a policymaker is can be complicated. And it concludes by arguing for a more robust dialogue between academic experts and those who might benefit from putting their advice into practice

Mediation – Its Potential and Its Limits: Developing an Effective Discourse on the Research and Practice of Peacemaking

This article looks at the various contributions to this issue of the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs. The contributors have analyzed the potential and limits of mediation, but have focused on a number of different aspects of that process. The analytic research relevant to conflict situations will be most useful, however, if the recommendations offered for how to bring conflicts to an end can actually be of use to practitioners in the field. The approach of this article is therefore to consider how policymakers might employ these recommendations as they pursue the goal of peace. It also discusses how even defining who a policymaker is can be complicated. And it concludes by arguing for a more robust dialogue between academic experts and those who might benefit from putting their advice into practice

Disrupting Tech While Being Pro-Tech

As more libraries take on social justice concerns, pro-technology library workers have the responsibility of vetting and implementing meaningful tools that both meet patron needs and privacy. The goal of this program is for library workers to think critically how we might take a more measured approach to review and integrate technology into library services. Participants are encouraged to think beyond the glitz and glam of new toys and consider how innovation can work in favor of community goals and library ethics. BIPOC, paraprofessionals, students, recent grads, and those with reservations about technology are highly encouraged to attend