Democracy and Human Rights in the European-Asian Dialogue: A Clash of Cooperation Cultures?

Whereas the European Union (EU) favors a formal, binding, output-oriented, and to some extent supranational approach to cooperation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is based on informal, non-binding, process-oriented intergovernmental forms of cooperation. This article addresses the question of whether these differences between European and Asian cooperation norms or cultures can account for interregional cooperation problems in the areas of democracy and human rights within the institutional context of EU-ASEAN and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). The author argues that a clash of cooperation cultures basically occurs in both forms of interregional collaboration between Asia and Europe, with slight differences due to the institutional context: while disagreements over the question of democracy and human rights between the EU and ASEAN have led to a temporary and then a complete standstill in cooperation, the flexible institutional mechanisms of ASEM seem, at first glance, to mitigate the disruptive effects of such dialogues. Yet informality does not remove the issues from the agenda, as the recurrent disputes over Myanmar’s participation and the nonintervention norm favored by the Asian side of ASEM clearly indicate. Antagonistic cooperation cultures thus play a significant role in explaining the obstructive nature of the interregional human rights and democracy dialogue between Asia and Europe.cooperation culture, human rights, democracy, Myanmar, EU-ASEAN, ASEM

Towards a Dynamic Model of the Interplay Between International Institutions

International institutions increasingly affect each other’s development, maintenance and effectiveness. Research so far has merely focused on the issue of effectiveness and broader consequences. The paper argues firstly that theoretical progress could be promoted by integrating variables explaining the formation and maintenance of international institutions into a dynamic model of institutional interplay. Secondly, research ought to be extended to institutions governing issue areas like trade, finance, and security as well as their respective interactions. Thirdly, East Asia is a highly interesting region regarding regime interaction, since regional cooperation is slowly but steadily evolving in different issue areas as a reaction to institutional operations on the global level of governance.Institutional Interplay, institutional interaction, global governance, international institutions, Regime Theory, international political economy, East Asia

Effective interaction between star polymers

The distance-resolved effective interaction between two star polymers in a good solvent is calculated by Molecular Dynamics computer simulations. The results are compared with a pair potential proposed recently by Likos et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 1998, 80, 4450] which is exponentially decaying for large distances and crosses over, at the corona diameter of the star, to an ultrasoft logarithmic repulsion for small distances. Excellent agreement is found in a broad range of star arm numbers.Comment: final version as published, 9 pages + 5 ps-figure

Democracy and Human Rights in the European-Asian Dialogue: A Clash of Cooperation Cultures?

Whereas the European Union (EU) favors a formal, binding, output-oriented, and to some extent supranational approach to cooperation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is based on informal, non-binding, process-oriented intergovernmental forms of cooperation. This article addresses the question of whether these differences between European and Asian cooperation norms or cultures can account for interregional cooperation problems in the areas of democracy and human rights within the institutional context of EU-ASEAN and the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). The author argues that a clash of cooperation cultures basically occurs in both forms of interregional collaboration between Asia and Europe, with slight differences due to the institutional context: while disagreements over the question of democracy and human rights between the EU and ASEAN have led to a temporary and then a complete standstill in cooperation, the flexible institutional mechanisms of ASEM seem, at first glance, to mitigate the disruptive effects of such dialogues. Yet informality does not remove the issues from the agenda, as the recurrent disputes over Myanmar's participation and the nonintervention norm favored by the Asian side of ASEM clearly indicate. Antagonistic cooperation cultures thus play a significant role in explaining the obstructive nature of the interregional human rights and democracy dialogue between Asia and Europe.Im Gegensatz zum formalisierten, ergebnisorientierten und zum Teil supranationalen Kooperationsansatz der Europäischen Union (EU) ist die Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Staaten der Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) durch Informalität, nichtbindende Absprachen und einen prozessorientierten Intergouvernementalismus gekennzeichnet. Der vorliegende Beitrag befasst sich mit der Frage, ob diese Unterschiede zwischen europäischen und asiatischen Kooperationsnormen oder -kulturen helfen können, interregionale Kooperationsprobleme in den Dialogfeldern Demokratie und Menschenrechte im institutionellen Kontext der Zusammenarbeit EU-ASEAN und des Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) zu erklären. Es wird argumentiert, dass ein Zusammenprall von Kooperationskulturen mit leichten Variationen bei beiden Formen der interregionalen Zusammenarbeit zu verzeichnen ist: Während offene Auseinandersetzungen über Demokratie und Menschenrechte gar zu einem zeitweiligen Stillstand der Beziehungen EU-ASEAN geführt haben, schien mit dem ASEM ein geeigneter institutioneller Rahmen geschaffen worden zu sein, der aufgrund seiner Informalität und Mehrdimensionalität über genügend Flexibilität verfügen würde, um auch kontroverse Themen konstruktiv zu behandeln. Zwar konnte die Informalität des ASEM die negativen Auswirkungen der Menschenrechts- und Demokratiedebatte abmildern, jedoch nicht verhindern, wie die immer wiederkehrenden Konflikte um die Teilnahme Myanmars an den Gipfeltreffen und um die von den Asiaten bevorzugte Norm der Nichteinmischung verdeutlichen. Antagonistische Kooperationskulturen bestehen und haben zudem signifikanten Einfluss auf die Art und Weise, wie der interregionale Menschenrechts- und Demokratiedialog zwischen Asien und Europa geführt wird

Recent Advances in Ship History and Archaeology, 1450-1650: Hull Design, Regional Typologies and Wood Studies

Combining the study of texts and shipwrecks, new research is changing our knowledge of Renaissance shipbuilding on three subjects: hull design, shipwreck typologies and wood as an archaeological material. On hull design, diverging syntheses have been published using Atlantic and Mediterranean sources. On shipwreck typologies, archaeologists now recognize regional forms for which historical explanations are advanced. On wood as an archaeological material, methods of tree-ring dating now also reveal the geographic origin of timbers. Other research indicates that frame timbers were "trained" as samplings to attain a specific shape, thus limiting new hull designs to regional styles. Résumé Des recherches récentes s'appuyant sur des écrits et des épaves modifient nos connaissances sur trois questions relatives à la construction navale de la Renaissance : la conception des carènes, les typologies d'épaves et le bois en tant que matériau archéologique. À propos de la conception des carènes, deux synthèses divergentes, puisant à des sources atlantiques et méditerranéennes, ont été publiées. En matière de typologies, les archéologues distinguent désormais des signatures régionales pour lesquelles ils avancent des explications historiques. Quant au bois comme matériau archéologique, la dendrochronologie en révèle aussi aujourd'hui la provenance géographique. D'autres recherches indiquent que de jeunes arbres destinés à la production de membrures ont été forcés en cours de croissance d'adopter une morphologie spécifique, ce qui réduit les nouveaux modèles de carènes à des styles régionaux

Transitioning to Legalization of Cannabis in Washington State: Regulations’ Impacts on Commodification, Metabolism, & Labor Practices

This thesis provides an ethnographically grounded analysis of how existing regulations shape the legal recreational cannabis industry in Washington State. I examine the processes involved from seed to sale, including cultivation, processing, quality-control testing, and distribution of recreational cannabis. The goal of this research is to provide a greater understanding of how existing regulations were formed and how they shape social relations within the industry. This study seeks to answer the question: “How are the processes of production within the recreational cannabis industry, along with its labor force and its consumers, impacted by societal perceptions about cannabis, encapsulated within state regulations?

Mike Hears Voices: Voice of Women and Lester Pearson, 1960-1963

Born of a sense of urgency and hope in Toronto in 1960, Voice of Women (VOW), a women's peace organization, quickly grew and gained renown as a national organization. A timely affiliation with Lester B. Pearson from 1960 to 1963 encouraged and boosted the organization in its early years. Less than one month after V O W was born, Pearson, the Leader of the Opposition, formally proposed that Canada not accept nuclear weapons. However, when Pearson changed his mind as Prime Minister in 1963 and allowed nuclear warheads for Bomarc missiles into Canada, V O W became disappointed with him and increasingly focussed on the international scene