Do leaders matter? : Chinese politics, leadership transition and the 17th Party Congress

The opaque nature of decision making in China has generated considerable interest in the internecine machinations of elite politics. Particularly, but not only, when it comes to issues of leadership transition, considerations of factional formation and conflict come to the fore. This is partly to explain the transition process itself, but also out of concern for how new leaders might change the direction of Chinese policy. This paper suggests that whilst leaders and leadership changes do matter, they matter less than they once did. This is partly a result of the de-ideologicization and increasing diverse nature of elite interests and group formation. But it is also partly a result of the changed nature of China’s political economy; in short, there is less desire and less ability for new leaders to impose a clear paradigm shift

Fifteenth Report to Congress on the Operation of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act

The U.S. trade preferences programs for the Caribbean and Central American region were launched in 1983 by the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (CBERA) and are known collectively as the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI). As of 2023, the CBI provides 17 countries and dependent territories with duty-free access to the U.S. market for most goods. CBI benefits were expanded through the enactment of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) in 2000, relevant provisions in the Trade Act of 2002, the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act of 2006 (HOPE Act), the HOPE II Act of 2008, the Haitian Economic Lift Program Act of 2010 (HELP Act), and the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015. Combined with economic reform and other actions taken by beneficiary countries1 to liberalize their trade regimes, the trade benefits of the CBI have both helped beneficiary countries and dependent territories in the region diversify their exports and have contributed to their economic growth