Volume 28, Number 1, 1997

EN:

In the past few years, Chile has been noted as a model of international economic insertion of a developing country. Openness, de-regulation, exports growth, an important achievement in capturing direct foreign investment and a sustained growth, have been the elements on which the new strategy of searching for an integration with the large regional groups of trade has been supported. In the present study, we analyse the characteristics of the Chilean economy and the features that have remarked Us international insertion, in order to find the comparative advantages and disadvantages of an integration to the NAFTA and/or the MERCOSUR, providing antecedents on its foreign policy and its international economic relationships.

EN:

Samuel Huntington proclaimed in an already well-known article ("Clash of Civilizations?") that deep incompatibilities between great civilizations will be the primary cause of future international conflicts. Conflicts will be cultural rather than economic or ideological. To test the validity of this claim, I analyse an international conflict which is truly cultural : the "Salman Rushdie Affair". This affair was provoked by the publication of Rushdie's novel, The Satanic Verses. By studying the motives of the actors in this event (the novelist Salman Rushdie, the imam Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini and the politician Margaret Thatcher), it seems at first sight that they were driven by political or financial interests. But a closer analysis shows that these actors were directed by cultural motivations. Does this prove that Huntington's thesis is right ? No, since even if the actors tried to defend a vision of their culture, there is no such a thing as monolithical civilizations but rather, there are only multicultural civilizations. Indeed, many people from the West refused to defend Rushdie, many Muslims condemned Khomeini's fatwa and Thatcher promoted only one aspect of Western political culture. Values are transnational and an Iranian may cherish the same values as an inhabitant of New York, while, on the other hand two Londonners living in the same flat dream about killing the other over the abortion issue.

EN:

The Economic Cooperation Organization has been created by Iran, Turkey and Pakistan to improve the trade and economic exchanges between the participating states. After the demise of the Soviet Empire, the Central Asian Republics, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan have joined the Organization. The internal problems of the ten States members OJECO have been aggravated by foreign intervention, especially the Russian hegemony over the region. This interference complicates the integration process and jeopardizes the effectiveness of the Organization.

EN:

Japan has a tradition of borders, not only at sea but also on land. Given the country's insularity and historical development, the former kind are the ones that will be of concern to international relations. Their demarcation, and the disputes that may arise with adjacent maritime countries (Russia, China, Korea), are a legacy of both history and geography. A remote island is not necessarily an ideal point for marking off a territory, as exemplified by the Takeshima/Tok-to islets which Japan and Korea have been disputing. The recent delimitation of maritime Exclusive Economic Zones is raising the stakes and stirring up tensions.