Showing papers in "Third World Quarterly in 1983"

From quiet diplomacy to cold war politics: Kenya's foreign policy

Abstract: (1983). From quiet diplomacy to cold war politics: Kenya's foreign policy. Third World Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 300-319.

The origins of Saharawi nationalism

Abstract: (1983). The origins of Saharawi nationalism. Third World Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 28-57.

Expansion or crisis of capitalism

Abstract: (1983). Expansion or crisis of capitalism? Third World Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 361-385.

Nationalism and the world transition to socialism: Is there a crisis?

Abstract: While the capitalist world-economy has existed since the sixteenth century, it is only with the so-called classical era in the eighteenth century that thinkers began to conceptualise self-consciously the system in which they were living. The original conceptualisations were very optimistic and centred around the idea of progress. Stated in simple terms, it was believed that capitalism meant science, rationality, education, and the eventual elimination of scarcity. The doctrine was melioristic and gradualist. For those who suffered, it preached hope tempered with patience. In the nineteenth century, some who were hopeful nonetheless became impatient. Thus were born various movements to accelerate the social change which was thought to be 'lagging' behind the technological evolution. Furthermore, some of these movements began to incorporate directly into the model of inevitable progress the concept of physical conflict as one of the ingredients of the process. 'Force,' said Marx, 'is the midwife of history.' Both the social movement and the national movement, as antisystemic movements, turned to revolution as the agent of progress or at least major segments of these movements did so. And all segments believed in progress. Indeed, when there began to be the onset of doubt among European thinkers about the idea of progress essentially, in the last third of the nineteenth century it was within the bourgeoisie and among tenants of the status quo (or a status quo) that these doubts arose. Socialists (and also for the most part nationalists) still believed in progress, and the sentiment was, if anything, even stronger outside of Europe. One way to trace the history of the world social movement is to trace the successive debates that have occurred. Each of these debates has left its mark. Each has split the movement. Even when the particular debate became submerged by a later one, it remained in the background (if less salient), emerging again at critical moments. The first debate was whether the proletariat should organise that is, form bureaucratised, non-governmental, secular structure to achieve its objectives. It was not at all obvious at first that this should be done. It was a major innovation in world history, and it was the heart of the debate that divided the First International between 'Anarchists' and 'Marxists'. This debate was won, in terms of the main thrust of the movement, by the Marxists, if only because

‘Things fall apart’: The world economy in the 1980s

Abstract: (1983). ‘Things fall apart’: The world economy in the 1980s. Third World Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 72-94.

Petrodollars and the State: The failure of state capitalist development in Venezuela

Abstract: (1983). Petrodollars and the State: The failure of state capitalist development in Venezuela. Third World Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 7-27.

Debates About Africa's Future: The Brandt, World Bank and Lagos Plan Blueprints

Abstract: (1983). Debates about Africa's future: The Brandt, world bank and Lagos plan blueprints. Third World Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 330-344.

Australia and the Third World

Abstract: Australia is both a 'Western' nation located in the 'East', and a 'Northern' nation located in the 'South'. Only three 'Northern' nations are located in the 'South'. South Africa will eventually become truly 'Southern', leaving only Australia and New Zealand. Australian policy towards the Third World has changed considerably in the last 10 years. The change, in so far as any distinct point can ever be identified for major shifts in political outlook, began on 2 December 1972, with the election of Gough Whitlam's Australian Labour Party Government. That Government was removed from power in 1975. However, Australia's move towards better ties with the Third World continued under the conservative Liberal-Country Party (LCP) Government headed by Mr Malcolm Fraser (1975-83). The new Labour Government, elected in March 1983, headed by Mr Bob Hawke, will continue the trend established in December 1972. This article examines how Australia, long identified with the more conservative Western nations and aloof from Third World affairs, moved in ten years quickly to become more identified with Third World hopes and policies. It is, then, a case study of how one conservative Western nation has realised that its future is now far more dependent upon Third World ties. But the movement towards closer relations has not been part of any grand strategy followed by the Whitlam or Fraser Governments. Rather, it has been an accelerated array of ad hoc steps. Although great progress has been made, Australia remains a 'North' country with no policy for actually joining the Third World. The next part examines b I w Australia's traditional foreign policy is changing because of factors outside Australia's control. The third part of the article examines the internal causes for Australia's new foreign policy. The final part examines the obstacles preventing Australia from moving much closer in relations with Third World nations.

The economics of dispossession: The Palestinians

Abstract: Introduction The Palestinians' state of dispersion and continued subjugation under Israeli rule have placed their institutions, and indeed the very fabric of their society, under stress. Nevertheless, the Palestinians continue to manifest a unified sense of national identity and attachment to their homeland. The effects of fragmentation and dispersion are reflected in the economic, educational, political and cultural aspects of Palestinian society. Throughout this century the history of Palestine has been the history of its successive occupations: first it saw the collapse of Turkish rule, to be followed by British incursion, and ultimately Zionist colonisation. It was the consolidation of the latter that has become the most decisive factor from the point of view of the Palestinians. As Zionist colonisation enters its second century, the struggle for Palestine seems to be'reaching its zenith, and a'clear picture emerges which depicts Palestinian experience throughout this century as a function of foreign domination. As described in the chart below, it is possible to periodise the recent history of Palestine in the context of Zionist colonisation into four distinct stages, with each stage manifesting a specific form of control whose ultimate goal is the national dispossession of the Palestinians.

The Politics of International Commodity Regulation: The Negotiation and Operation of the International Cocoa Agreements

Abstract: (1983). The politics of international commodity regulation: The negotiation and operation of the international Cocoa agreements. Third World Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 386-417.

Confrontation and Reconciliation Within an African Context: The Case of Sudan

Abstract: (1983). Confrontation and reconciliation within an African context: The case of Sudan. Third World Quarterly: Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 320-329.

Commodity conflict revisited: From Nairobi to Belgrade

Abstract: The Seventh Summit Conference of nearly one hundred Non-Aligned countries concluded its session in New Delhi on 12 March 1983, and issued its customary declaration on economic questions. These countries gathered again in Belgrade, together with the countries of the two superpower blocs and the few uncommitted ones, at the Sixth Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD VI) in June 1983. In Commodity Conflict: the political economy of international commodity negotiations, I analysed the history of negotiations on International Commodity Agreements (ICAs) and also examined how well these had fared in theiractual operation. This was published shortly after UNCTAD IV (Nairobi, May 1976), at which the developing countries made commodity problems the centrepiece of negotiation with the developed world and fought hard for two things: an Integrated Programme for Commodities (IPC) and the establishment of a Common Fund to help in financing buffer stocks. Seven years have elapsed between UNCTADs IV and VI. The seven years before UNCTAD IV (1969-76) were troubled times for the oil-importing developing countries; they had to contend with massive rises in oil prices in addition to their persistent commodity problems of instability in prices, declining real prices, shrinking markets, and ever-increasing obstacles to the export of manufactured goods. The success of OPEC in the early 1970s had an euphoric effect on the developing countries which saw visions of a New International Economic Order (NIEO) for the whole world. Today, that brave new Order seems as faraway from becoming reality as it was in 1974. If anything, the prospects have worsened; the world has become more protectionist and more autarkic and the developing countries are faced with insoluble debt repayment problems, on top of their usual

(Women in Struggle): Eritrea

Abstract: Opposition to Ethiopia's military regime has increasingly taken the form of national movements against the Amhara ruling group which dominates today as it did under imperial rule. This became particularly evident after the DergI (military council) crushed class-based forms of organisation, such as the trade unions (in 1975) and petty bourgeois parties with a socialist programme (in 1976 and 1977). The demands of the movements for national liberation vary from different degrees of local autonomy to independence (in the case of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front). It is the latter case of Eritrea which is dealt with here, as it is the transformation of that struggle from simple nationalism to socialism, with a particular focus on the position of women, which distinguishes it from some of the other national movements in Ethiopia. In the course of many years of struggle against Italy, Britain and Ethiopia, more and more Eritreans have developed a national consciousness so that today an overwhelming majority claim the right to self-determination and insist on independence before talks on cooperation between Eritrea and Ethiopia can take place. This claim is based both on an interpretation of specific rights in international law and on the more general right of all nations to selfdetermination. Increasingly, however, Eritreans make a claim in justification of their revolution by arguing that the liberation movement has developed beyond mere nationalism to become involved in the creation of a democratic socialist society. Traditional socialist theories about women's emancipation regard as critical their integration into social production, from which full social and -political participation is understood to follow. The EPLF are no exception in regarding participation in social production as the cornerstone of women's emancipation and, moreover, they give due recognition to the obstacles to participation which come from women's domestic role. Their nine-point programme for women includes the provision of child care facilities, the promulgation of progressive marriage and family laws, and the development of a women's organisation, as well as the entrenchment of social, economic, political and legal rights. The EPLFsees the emancipation of women as central to the success of their revolution and this is a crucially different emphasis from a feminist one which sees women's emancipation exclusively in terms of women's interests. Nevertheless, to achieve the EPLF's objectives within a national struggle embedded in a still traditional social structure

Assessing liquidity requirements of developing countries, 1984–6

Abstract: The recent spate of debt problems of certain, mainly developing, countries and the associated implications for the private commercial banking system, and, indeed, the international monetary system itself, has led many observers to conclude that action must be taken to ensure that a sufficient flow of finance to developing countries continues despite the increase in perceived sovereign risk whic unfolding events clearly imply. From Salomon Brothers' Henry Kaufman, to the Federal Reserve System's Paul Volcker, and the US Treasury's Donald Regan, there seems virtually unanimous agreement in the United States that urgent action is needed. The coercive actions of the Bank of England and the Deutsche Bundesbank in late 1982 clearly indicated the level of official concern in Europe also. Nor, despite more official 'discretion', is Japan ignoring the matter, several major Japanese banks having found themselves in the unfortunate position of high-risk 'johnnies-come-lately', particularly in Latin America. Yet the very necessity felt by the bankers to establish the Ditchley Institute* indicates the severity of the confusion and lack of information which surrounds the sovereign debt issue. It is the intention of this paper in some small measure to improve the inormation flow by setting out, in clearly defined terms, a possible scenario for the medium-run (1984-6) liquidity requirements of developing countries, and more particularly, their need for commercial bank credit. As will be seen, these needs are staggering. Even if the 47.5 per cent increase in IMF quotas (which in fact translates into about half that amount of 'usable' currencies ie, something in the region of $17 billion, once-and-for-all) and the extension of the General Arrangements to Borrow (GAB) both to include more potential beneficiaries and to increase its resources to $19 billion, come on stream as planned in 1984, there will still remain a vast need for net new medium-term commercial bank lending to developing countries, perhaps in the region of $250 billion or so in aggregate over the three years, to sustain even the extremely modest real GDP

Multinational companies and developing countries: A new relationship

Abstract: In recent years, a rising number of less developed countries (LDCs) have introduced comprehensive regulations governing inflows of foreign direct investments (FDI). The emergence of such regulations has changed the operating relationship between LDCs and multinational companies (MNCs). The objectives of this study are to: (i) examine the emergence of such regulations and identify their common policies; (ii) discuss the important features of the 'new' operating relationship between LDCs and MNCs; and (iii) analyse the potential implications of this relationship both for adopting countries and multinationals.