Donald W. Jackson on Who Governs the Globe? Edited by Deborah D. Avant, Martha Finnemore, and Susan K. Sell. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 433pp.

A review of: Who Governs the Globe? Edited by Deborah D. Avant, Martha Finnemore, and Susan K. Sell. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. 433pp

ORGANIZATIONAL REFORM AND THE EXPANSION OF THE SOUTH’S VOICE AT THE FUND

What organizational reforms might increase the influence of developing member countries within the International Monetary Fund? In this paper we argue that a variety of organizational changes are both feasible and could substantially increase the ability of developing countries to articulate policy alternatives and advance change. We focus particularly on changes in the recruitment, training, career paths and deployment of the Fund’s staff. Our recommendations address two general issues. First, we explore ways to diversify the “intellectual portfolio” of the staff by drawing more effectively on hands-on knowledge of the concrete circumstances that shape policy outcomes in the South. More mid-career hiring of staff with practical experience inside developing country institutions could increase the degree to which the distinctive institutional circumstances of developing members are taken into account in formulating Fund policies and implementing them. Allocating a larger share of the Fund’s resources to research consulting contracts for researchers and institutions based in developing countries could also expand input of ideas that reflect the experience of member countries from the South. Second, large asymmetries in workload currently make it difficult for those working on the needs of developing members to formulate and advocate alternative policies. We suggest a number of ways in which even modest reallocation and addition of staff resources might create breathing space that would allow Executive Directors from developing countries to play a larger role in shaping the Fund’s policies.

Contending Interventions: Coming to Terms with the Practice and Process of Enforcing Compliance

A review of: The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force by Martha Finnemore. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. 174pp. and International Intervention in the Post-Cold War World: Moral Responsibility and Power Politics edited by Michael C. Davis, Wolfgang Dietrich, Bettina Scholdan, and Dieter Sepp. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2004. 332pp

Culture, Identity, and Security: An Overview

Assesses how issues of culture and identity affect international security, and argues that current trends may require radical new thinking about individuals, societies, and nature

Talking Past Each Other: Government, Business and Civil Society Discussing Cyber Security

Martha Finnemore has visited MGIMO-University this September, she gave several public lectures for students and participated in a number of roundtables. Professor Finnemore was very kind to give an interview to our journal on various issues of international information and cybersecurity. The interview was conducted by Elena Zinovieva, vice director of the Center for International Information Security, Science and Technology Policy at MGIMO-University

European space policy and the construction of a European collective identity

To what extent have European space institutions contributed to the construction of European collective identity? Using Martha Finnemore\u27s and Kathryn Sikkink\u27s model for the norm life cycle, this paper tracks the progress of the idea that European states ought to proceed as Europeans in space policy. Although the debate is far from complete, there is historical evidence to suggest that the idea is approaching a stage of norm acceptance among European space states. A constructivist analysis of European space history helps to understand the driving forces behind this process, and why one might suspect the idea of Europe is gaining ground. As European states have learned to behave as Europeans, there has been a positive effect on the construction of European collective identity

Why a World State is Unavoidable in Planetary Defense: On Loopholes in the Vision of a Cosmopolitan Governance

The main claim of this chapter is that planetary defense against asteroids cannot be implemented under a decentralized model of democratic global governance, as espoused elsewhere in this book. All relevant indices point to the necessity of establishing a centralized global political authority with legitimate coercive powers. It remains to be seen, however, whether such a political system can be in any recognizable sense democratic. It seems unconvincing that planetary-wide physical-threat, all-comprehensive macrosecuritization, coupled with deep transformations of international law, global centralization of core decision-making powers, de-stigmatization of nuclear weapons and the like can proceed, succeed, and be implemented in a non-hierarchical international system where planetary defense constitutes only one regime among many, and where states basically remain the decisive actors. Although rationally and scientifically robust, the project suffers from oversimplification, as well as naivety with respect to how both international and domestic politics works. Among other topics, this chapter discusses problems associated with the rule of law and constituent powers, political representation and sources of legitimacy, conditions of multilevel collective action, or limits of theoretical idealization. The general message is that the planetary defense community needs to be more aware of the social and political context of its own enterprise

Taking Sides In Peacekeeping: Impartiality And The Future Of The United Nations

United Nations peacekeeping has undergone radical transformation in the new millennium. \u27Taking Sides in Peacekeeping\u27 explores this transformation and its implications, in what is the first conceptual and empirical study of impartiality in UN peacekeeping. The book challenges dominant scholarly approaches that conceive of norms as linear and static, conceptualizing impartiality as a \u27composite\u27 norm, one that is not free-standing but an aggregate of other principles-each of which can change and is open to contestation. Drawing on a large body of primary evidence, it uses the composite norm to trace the evolution of impartiality, and to illuminate the macro-level politics surrounding its institutionalization at the UN, as well as the micro-level politics surrounding its implementation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, site of the largest and costliest peacekeeping mission in UN history. This book reveals that, despite a veneer of consensus, impartiality is in fact highly contested. As the collection of principles it refers to has expanded to include human rights and civilian protection, deep disagreements have arisen over what keeping peace impartially actually means. Beyond the semantics, the book shows how this contestation, together with the varying expectations and incentives created by the norm, has resulted in perverse and unintended consequences that have politicized peacekeeping and, in some cases, effectively converted UN forces into one warring party among many. The author assesses the implications of this radical transformation for the future of peacekeeping and for the UN\u27s role as guarantor of international peace and security