"Democracy promotion has been an influential policy agenda in many Western states, international organisations, and amongst many NGO actors. But what kinds of models of democracy do democracy promoters promote? This book examines in detail the conceptual orders that underpin democracy support activity, and the conceptions of democracy that democracy promoters, consciously or inadvertently, work with. Such an examination is not only timely but much-needed in today's context of multiple democratic and financial crises. Contestation over democracy's meaning is returning, but how is this contestation reflected, if at all, in democracy promotion policies and practices?Seeking to open up debate on multiple models of democracy, this text provides the reader not only with the outlines of various possible politico-economic models of democracy, but also with a close empirical engagement with democracy promoters' discourses and practices. Drawing on a broad spectrum of examples, it exposes the challenges faced by Western governments in trying to reshape the political and economic landscape across the world and tentatively advances a set of concrete policy provocations which may enable a more, pluralist and flexible democracy promotion practice to emerge.This innovative new work will be essential reading for all students of democratization, democracy promotion and international relations"-- "This text explains the different models of democracy and the varied approaches taken by a number of international actors to promote (or impose) democratic and economic reform"--

The Intelligent Systems Series comprises titles that present state-of-the-art knowledge and the latest advances in intelligent systems. Its scope includes theoretical studies, design methods, and real-world implementations and applications. The most prevalent topics in Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI) include data management, data and text mining for ISI applications, terrorism informatics, deception and intent detection, terrorist and criminal social network analysis, public health and bio-security, crime analysis, cyber-infrastructure protection, transportation infrastructure security, policy studies and evaluation, and information assurance, among others. This book covers the most active research work in recent years. Pulls together key information on ensuring national security around the worldThe latest research on this subject is concisely presented within the book, with several figures to support the text.Will be of interest to attendees of The Intelligence and Security Informatics conference series, which include IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (IEEE ISI).

"Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are unique economic and governance events as privately held firms issue common stock or shares to the public for the first time. The governance issues surrounding IPOs are relatively unexamined compared to more established, and usually larger, firms. As such, they provide a unique context to study corporate governance and its development around the world. Based on a collaborative international research project, this book analyses the corporate governance of IPOs in twenty-one countries, each of which is characterized by different governance environments and different levels of IPO activity. The end result is a broad and deep assessment of governance practices and IPO activity for an array of economies that represent roughly 80 percent of the global economy. These chapters collectively provide new insights into what a global theory of corporate governance might look like and offer guidance to policy makers and academics regarding national governance configurations"--

"This report, prepared by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, brings together leading analysts in the scientific assessment of climate change, relevant social and economic policy and those who directly participate in international climate negotiations. The report provides a comprehensive understanding of the latest developments in the global response to climate change since the Copenhagen and Cancun climate conferences and Chinese actions in response, the results of these actions, the challenges that are still being faced, as well as China's long-term strategy in response to climate change. Part one focuses on the Chinese domestic policy response to climate change, including an analysis of the fulfilment of the energy conservation targets in the 11th Five Year Plan, pathways and policies to meet the 40%-45% target by 2020, China's adaptation strategy and policies, low carbon buildings, carbon sinks of forestry, public participation, and the low carbon city idea that the Shanghai World Expo has promoted. Part two includes thematic studies on some interesting hot topics, such as carbon tariff, indicators for assessment of low carbon cities, methodology for assessment of adaptation to climate change and cumulative carbon emissions. Finally, the annex includes key data on population, the economy, energy consumption and emissions by sector, as well as progress to meet 11th Five Year Plan energy conservation targets in each Chinese region. "-- "At the end of 2010 in the coast city, Cancun, Mexico, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) convened its 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16), which received another round of great attention from the whole world. This book calls together experienced experts with in-depth understanding on scientific assessment of climate change and relevant social and economic policies and senior experts who directly participate in the international climate negotiations. This will help the readers to better understand the upcoming Durban conference, as well as China's long-term strategy in response to climate change. This book includes researches on China's 12th Five year plan; pilot low carbon city actions; policies and pathways for China's national appropriate mitigation actions; China's forestry management; China's NGOs and climate change; low carbon expo in Shanghai China 2010; Carbon budget proposal; China's green economy and green jobs; China's reaction to carbon tariff; China's actions in adaptation approaches; China's accumulative carbon emissions, etc. This gives the readers a comprehensive understanding of the latest developments of China's actions in response to climate change, the results of these actions, and the challenges that are still being faced. China is becoming a raising star in global economical and political affairs. Both international society and China itself have great expectation to its future role. This book clarifies China's leading position in many aspects. However, limited to its development stage, natural resource endowment, and other unbalanced developing issues, China is still a developing country. This book reveals a real China to the audience, which can provide a more comprehensive solution to future global climate regime"--

A comprehensive understanding of food and agriculture security is best wrought through multidisciplinary analysis. Indeed, multiple academic disciplines provide lenses through which the multiple dimensions of food and agriculture security may be comprehensively examined. Food and agriculture security-- a stated priority research area of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-- concerns the safety, security, and ongoing operation of the agricultural and food system in a global society that values both trade and security. Any attempt to understand the food system must involve multidisciplinary, multidimensional study. This book offers a bona fide multidisciplinary as well as historical approach to help students appreciate such a complex and multifaceted subject. Authored by scholars within the Frontier program for the historical studies of border security, food security, and trade policy, the book reviews some of the most salient and trade-related food and agriculture security concerns of the 19th century, describes the modern-day policy and industry contexts in which food and agriculture security issues arise, provides historical and contemporary illustrations of the vulnerability in the food and agriculture sector, identifies modern-day domestic (United States) as well as international (e.g., China) challenges, and highlights the role that public-private partnerships and cross-border cooperation must play in ensuring food and agriculture security in a globalized world.

"Experts from NYU Stern School of Business analyze new financial regulations and what they mean for the economy The NYU Stern School of Business is one of the top business schools in the world thanks to the leading academics, researchers, and provocative thinkers who call it home. In Regulating Wall Street: The New Architecture of Global Finance, an impressive group of the Stern school's top authorities on finance combine their expertise in capital markets, risk management, banking, and derivatives to assess the strengths and weaknesses of new regulations in response to the recent global financial crisis. Summarizes key issues that regulatory reform should address Evaluates the key components of regulatory reform Provides analysis of how the reforms will affect financial firms and markets, as well as the real economy The U.S. Congress is on track to complete the most significant changes in financial regulation since the 1930s. Regulating Wall Street: The New Architecture of Global Finance discusses the impact these news laws will have on the U.S. and global financial architecture"--