A new dimension of sister city relationships in the 21st century : a pilot study in Australia

Sister City agreements have historically provided a goodwill platform for countries 10 undertake activities for the enhancement of peaceful and cooperative relations. They have also become instruments for cities 10 develop their own form of internationalization and to provide for specific activities of cullural,educational or other similar cooperative exchanges between cities generally in different nations. Sisler City Relationships are broadly-based, officially approved, long-IeI\u27m partnership between two communities in two countries. Using on-line questionnaires distributed through the membership of Australian Sisler City Association (ASCA), this pilot study confirmed that the existing relationships are mainly focused on cultural exchange, education and council exchange. An overwhelming majority of the local governments, however, are ready for theextension of the Sister City Relationship by developing business and economic related activities. in fact the pilot study confirms this research is timely and necessaty especially in developing policy guidelines and operationframeworks.<br /

30 years of the Contemporary European Studies Association of Australia (CESAA)

The establishment of the European Studies Association of Australia (CESAA) owes much of its emergence and vitality to changes in the new geo-political framework and especially to the end of the Cold War in Europe. With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Maastricht Treaty deliberations in 1993 responded to these political changes. What captured the imagination of the world, including in Australia, with the Maastricht Treaty was the proposal for a single currency (the Euro) not to mention the embracement of a new name – The European Union (EU). These changes provided the twelve members of the European Community of the time a new global actor in the making. Australia, across the board began to engage with this entity and universities, scholars and others began to seek out the nature of the European Union. In this context came the association for European Studies which saw it had a voice for these European developments

Australia-China and Stern Hu : cold war, corruption or cooling of relations

China‘s economic growth over the last decade has been spectacular. Australia has been a beneficiary of this Chinese growth especially in terms of China‘s demand for resources and the strength of Chinese exports. Pundits even suggest that Australia avoided the global recession as a result of this trade relationship. Trade relations between Australia and China have resulted in China becoming Australia‘s key trading partner. The arrest and imprisonment in 2009 of four Rio Tinto executives (including Stern Hu the head of Rio‘s operation in China) based in China case has raised fears of posing a strain on this vital economic relationship. Moreover China‘s inability to takeover of Rio Tinto and the significance and consequences of this incident are at the core of this paper. This paper asks whether these events reflect the uncertainties of doing business in China or whether they demonstrate China‘s sovereign right to enforce anti-corruption legislation. While China has embraced the international business community, the consequences of the arrest of Stern Hu has placed pressures on the Australian-China trade relations which may go beyond normal country to country tensions

Australia-China and Stern Hu : a dint in relations or business as usual?

China&rsquo;s economic growth over the last decade has been spectacular and Australia has been a beneficiary of this growth in terms of China&rsquo;s demand for resources and the strength of Chinese exports. Pundits even suggest that Australia avoided the global recession as a result of this strong trade relationship. Trade relations between Australia and China resulted in China becoming Australia&rsquo;s key trading partner. The arrest and charging in 2009/10 of four Rio Tinto executives (including Stern Hu the head of Rio&rsquo;s operation in China) based in China raised fears of posing a strain on this vital economic relationship. Moreover China&rsquo;s inability to takeover Rio Tinto and the significance and consequences of this incident are at the core of this paper. How do these events reflect the uncertainties of doing business in China or do these events demonstrate China&rsquo;s sovereign right to enforce anti-corruption legislation? While China has embraced the international business community, to what extent has the arrest and imprisonment of Stern Hu changed the Australian-China traderelations including doing business in this thriving and buoyant market?<br /

Celebrity meets Populism in Europe: The Political Performances of Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi

Throughout the world, celebrity and populism have become formidable combinations in supporting political leadership. The rise of these phenomena has provoked much debate and has led to the examination of the features, causes and consequences of this kind of politics. Celebrity politics is a reflection of both the influence of celebrities and the power of celebrity images in the media which see politicians becoming celebrities, deliberately or accidentally. The political rise and fall of Nicholas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi and their roles in the performances associated with political leadership furnish two case studies of celebrity and populism in France and Italy respectively. This paper examines these two “presidential-style” leaders in Europe who at first seemedadept in practising aspects of both celebrity and populist politics

Using sister city relationships to access the Chinese market

Purpose &ndash; The purpose of this paper is to offer a new approach for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Australia to engage in sustainable trade with China through the use of Sister City relationships. The reason for writing this paper is to address this research gap with the aim of influencing government policy at the national and the local level.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; The main methods used is a historical literature review, a critical review of the effectiveness of the Sister City relationships and an examination of a special Sister City relationship between Latrobe City in Australia and the Chinese city of Taizhou.Findings &ndash; Throughout the course of the paper it was established that Sister City relationships had been insufficiently utilized as commercial facilitators and especially SMEs in regional Australia. This was especially evident in terms of trade relations with China.Research limitations/implications &ndash; This conceptual paper will require further research at different levels. Future research should establish what Australian sister cities with China are actually doing and how a more focused relationship utilizing SMEs in their territory might be utilized. This is clearly a limitation with this conceptual paper, which it is hoped will be overcome with new research planned by the authors.Practical implications &ndash; The practical implications emerging from this paper is that Sister City relationships can be refocused from their current role to becoming structurally integrated into trade facilitators for SMEs in pursuing trade with China. Most Sister City relationships do not have a trade focus in the first instance. As a result of this paper we are hoping that local government policy makers and state government trade facilitators will see Sister City relationships in a new light.Originality/value &ndash; This paper brings to attention cases of Sister City relationships which have gravitated towards a trade focus (an exception like Latrobe City) in which results are already evident. A paper of this kind is directed at governments at all levels as well as SMEs who wish to work better with government.<br /

At the origin of Italian Euroscepticism

The dominant narrative about the virtue of European integration is no longer the mantra of Italian politics. Alongside those parties who inherited the traditional ‘Europhile’ position, one can find parties whose support toward the EU is uncertain (like Forza Italia) or openly questioning the integration process (such as the Lega, Fratelli d’Italia and the Movimento 5 Stelle). Moreover, Euroscepticism in Italy reflects a deep change in the public opinion towards the EU: the consistent traditional supportexpressed by the Italians has of recent become more volatile and even critical. This article provides a brief look at changes in Italian positions on European integration, with a focus on the sentiments of both public opinion and the political elites, particularly after the Italy’s entry into the Eurozone in 1998

The role of sister city relationships in the enhancement of trade : Latrobe City (Australia) and Taizhou (China)

Traditionally the role of Sister City relationships has been a political and cultural one involving local governments across the world. Over the decades this role has been questioned in both its efficacy as well as itsfocus. Hundreds of Sister City relationships have developed and in Australia velY few can be said to have produced long term and worthwhile outcomes. New interpretations of the /ill1ctionality of Sister City relationships in Australia (and elsewhere) has resulted and has shifted towards an inclusion of a consideration of the commercial utility of such relationships and not solely cultural (0 \u27Toole 2001). Today especially with current strong trade relations with China, new models are sought to provide sustainability and long term prospects to such relations. This paper examines the possibility of special sister city relations betweenAustralian and Chinese cities using their sister city links. Specifically an examination in this paper is undertaken of the City of Latrobe and Taizhou as a case study of interest which provides sustainable trade potential between two strong small medium enterprise (SME) economies.<br /

Anti-establishment voting and Euroscepticism: The case of Italy and the Five Star Movement

This paper explores the meaning of the Italian anti-establishment voting and whether the Five Star Movement’s anti-establishment label is appropriate. More specifically the investigation addresses the policies of the Five Star Movement towards the now creaking European Union, especially as growing Euroscepticism has been boosted by the Brexit referendum and the Trump dismissal and disdain for the European Union. In doing so, the paper examines the historic approach of so-called ‘anti- establishment’ parties that have had an almost ‘normal’ occurrence within the Italian political environment since the end of the Second World War. In this sense the paper concludes that addressing parties and systems as anti-establishment does little to help our understanding of this most fluid political period in Italy and across Europe