bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Equitable Estoppel and Restitution as Interstitial Causes of Action
Authors: McFarlane Ben
Published: September 2024

This chapter considers the function, form, and limits of two causes of action: equitable estoppel and the restitutionary claim exemplified by the case of a mistaken payment. It is argued that each cause of action plays the same interstitial role: it supplements (but does not correct) primary legal rules, such as those of contract and property, which endow parties with legal powers. By mitigating some of the practical problems that can arise from the existence of such powers, each cause of action deals with problems which the law itself creates. This analysis helps us to understand the limits on the doctrines and shows that each has a characteristically equitable function.
Historical linguistics of Borneo
Authors: Smith Alexander D.
Published: September 2024

This chapter discusses the Malayo-Polynesian languages of the island of Borneo, the centre of Island Southeast Asia and an area of considerable linguistic diversity. The languages of Borneo have played an important role in the field of Austronesian comparative linguistics, due in no small part to the island’s central location. Borneo sits at a “transition zone” between more Philippine-type languages to the north and more “Indonesian-type” languages to the south and west. The chapter focuses on the historical and comparative study of these languages; how they are related to one another and the linguistic properties of the proto-languages from which they descend. It takes a bottom-up approach to Bornean historical linguistics, dealing first with lower-to-mid-level subgroups that enjoy consensus support before discussing competing hypotheses on higher-level subgrouping, focusing on more recent theories of Bornean linguistic subgrouping.
Sulawesi historical linguistics
Authors: Mead David
Published: September 2024

The island of Sulawesi in Indonesia is home to more than one hundred indigenous languages all of which belong to the large Austronesian language family. Following more than a century of research, historical-comparative linguists have come to recognize that these languages divide into ten subgroups. This paper outlines the history of this research as well as the evidence--in terms of sound changes and other shared innovations that indicate a period of common historical development--that they have put forward in order to establish each of the subgroups. The chapter also examines the search for higher level relationships between the established subgroups and externally to languages outside of Sulawesi.
Vitality, maintenance, and documentation among the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia
Authors: Ewing Michael C , Kimoto Yukinori
Published: September 2024

This chapter explores issues surrounding the language endangerment affecting Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia. It provides an overview of the language ecologies of six key jurisdictions where Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia are found: the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Timor Leste (East Timor) and Madagascar. As well as describing varying degrees of indigenous language vitality, it also sets out multiple interrelated factors that give rise to the current vitality and endangerment status, such as surrounding multilingualism, government and education policies, and communities’ attitudes towards their own languages. The chapter highlights several on-going language documentation projects, language maintenance activities, and mother-tongue based education being undertaken by community members, academics, educators, government and non-government organizations, and collaborations between these different stakeholders.
Multilingualism
Authors: Gil David
Published: September 2024

This chapter presents an overview of multilingualism as manifest in the contemporary Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia; its goal is to provide a sense of the pervasiveness of multilingualism, and the diversity of its forms and associated contexts, throughout the Malayo-Polynesian-speaking regions of Southeast Asia. Section 2 introduces a classificatory schema characterizing the relationships among the dialects or languages in a multilingual situation. Sections 3, 4 and 5 then survey multilingualism within individual Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia, across Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia, and between Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia and various other non-Austronesian languages respectively. In this chapter, multilingualism is illustrated through numerous naturalistic examples of code-switching, in which two or more distinct varieties or languages alternate within the same text, utterance or even word.
Papuan contact and its impact on Malayo-Polynesian languages of Island Southeast Asia
Authors: Schapper Antoinette
Published: September 2024

Papuan languages were present on and around the island of New Guinea before speakers of Austronesian languages dispersed across Island Southeast Asia. Interactions with speakers of Papuan languages are widely acknowledged to be important for understanding the diversification of the Austronesian family. This chapter discusses the impact of Papuan languages on the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia, paying particular attention to debates and issues encountered in the literature. It is argued that lexical transfer from Papuan languages has been little recognized, let alone examined, in the scholarship to date as a result of entrenched ideas concerning Austronesian dominance, a lack of lexical reconstruction for Papuan language families, and complexities arising from the borrowing of lexical forms back and forth between languages. By contrast, the transfer of numerous structural features from Papuan languages to Austronesian languages in the Papuan contact zone is considered uncontroversial. At the same time, the chapter warns against ascribing structural innovations in the eastern MPSEA languages to Papuan substrate or contact with a Papuan language without specific arguments to support that directionality of transfer. The chapter concludes by overviewing debates concerning the timing of Papuan features entering the Austronesian languages and their value for Austronesian subgrouping. Linguists of different persuasions have variously interpreted the same data as supporting the reconstruction of Papuan features to high nodes in the Austronesian family, or as indicating multiple transfers of the same Papuan feature into Austronesian languages at different times.
The languages of the central and southern Philippines
Authors: Kaufman Daniel
Published: September 2024

This chapter provides a typological overview of the languages of the central and southern Philippines, including a comparative look at their phonological, morphological and syntactic patterns. This group, which includes well known languages such as Tagalog and Cebuano, shares certain morphosyntactic retentions from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP), which makes it a viable unit for typological generalizations, despite not constituting a unique node in the Malayo-Polynesian family tree. At this point in our understanding, a reconstruction of Proto-Philippine morphosyntax would in fact not appear any different from a reconstruction of PMP morphosyntax. The languages discussed in this chapter, in particular, have been considered to be among the most grammatically conservative Austronesian languages spoken outside of Taiwan. For example, most retain a full four-way voice system with both an independent and dependent paradigm and a full set of case markers, which are required on most arguments. The Bilic languages, whose overall typology diverges sharply from other languages in this geographical group, are treated here, as well, with a focus on their innovations.
Phonotactics and morphophonology
Authors: Donohue Mark
Published: September 2024

This chapter examines phonological variation in the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia in terms of a number of phonological traits relevant to the area: nasal substitution, and templaticity of root structure (in terms of syllable shape, number of syllables, and adjustments to root shapes). We examine a range of ways in which nasal-final prefixes interact with roots with different initial consonants, showing that both voicing and place are relevant to a description, and that different languages afford us the opportunity to examine different rankings of constraints on phonological processes. We observe geographically-constrained patterns of root and syllable structure, whereby onset size and coda length show different distributions, with languages around or near the Java Sea lacking complex onsets, and languages near the Banda Sea lacking codas. Longer roots tend to be found in the east of the area, while short average word length (from a global perspective) is not prevalent in the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia, where two-syllable roots dominate the phonological landscape (unlike Taiwan). Processes of sesquisyllabic epenthesis and metathesis emphasise that the preference for two-syllable structures is synchronically instantiated in many languages.
Spatial orientation
Authors: Holton Gary , Pappas Leah
Published: September 2024

This chapter surveys spatial orientation systems across the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia. Although spatial orientation has been studied extensively in Oceanic languages, relatively less attention has been paid to orientation in the non-Oceanic languages. We delineate five broad types of spatial orientation systems: seaward-landward, coastal, riverine, elevational, and cardinal. Seaward-landward systems are found throughout the region but have been augmented with additional axes of orientation in many languages. Coastal systems are primarily found in South Sulawesi and Halmahera. Riverine systems are common in Borneo but can be found in other regions as well. Cardinal systems predominate in western Indonesia and through much of the Philippines. Mixed and hybrid systems, including elevation systems, are common in Sulawesi.
Negation
Authors: van der Auwera Johan , Olmen Daniël Van , Vossen Frens
Published: September 2024

This chapter surveys the expression of standard negation, existential negation, negative indefiniteness and prohibitive negation in a data set of 207 Malayo-Polynesian languages of Asia and Madagascar. Standard negators are etymologically heterogeneous, but formally homogeneous in the sense that they are typically unbound and preverbal. This positional preference is associated with a universal ‘Neg Early’ principle. To explain postverbal and circumverbal negators we discuss the ‘Jespersen Cycle’ as well as language contact. There is a lot of evidence for deriving standard negators from existential ones – through the ‘Negative Existential Cycle’. Negative existential constructions (‘there is not’) are presented in a five-way typology together with positive existential constructions. Negative indefiniteness (‘nobody’) is discussed together with positive indefiniteness (‘somebody’) and special attention is paid to existential strategies (‘there is (not) a person’). The prohibitive negators are overwhelmingly dedicated – and thus different from standard negators. Like standard negators they are typically unbound and preverbal. Exceptions are explained in terms of the ‘Jespersen Cycle’ and language contact too.
Phasal polarity
Authors: Veselinova Ljuba , Asplund Leif , Klok Jozina Vander
Published: September 2024

This chapter describes the encoding of phasal polarity in the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia. Phasal meanings have to do with the existence or non-existence of a particular situation at specific points in time related to other points in time: ALREADY expresses that an (expected) situation has come to exist; NO LONGER expresses that a situation has ceased to persist; STILL expresses that a situation continues (despite expectations that it should have stopped); and NOT YET expresses that a situation has not come into existence (despite expectations that it would). These expressions are logically related via negation, where the negative expressions can be analyzed as the internal or external negation of a positive expression. The encoding of each phasal polarity concept is discussed in terms of its morpho-syntactic status, the oppositions it forms as well as its geographical distribution across the area. We also note that internal negation is demonstrably preferred for the encoding of the negative concepts. Furthermore, negation—although the most common—is not the only possibility for yielding a negative phasal polarity concept. Continuative expressions show a very high context sensitivity and can be interpreted either as positive or a negative continuative depending on the kind of predicate they co-occur with. This context dependency has not been sufficiently discussed so far and should be highlighted more clearly in theoretical models of the phasal polarity domain.
Personal pronouns
Authors: Adelaar Alexander , Hajek John
Published: September 2024

This chapter focuses on the semantic features of free personal pronouns in Malayo-Polynesian languages of South East Asia and their outliers (henceforth MPSEA). It follows the changes that they have undergone, taking Proto-Malayo-Polynesian pronouns as a reference point. It discusses their number, person and clusivity distinctions and their arrangement into paradigms as well as other pronominal features such as social register and the dual use of the historical 1pl.incl pronoun *kita. MPSEA pronoun systems show much uniformity and diachronic stability. They usually distinguish singular versus plural number. Dual, trial and quadral number also occurs, while some systems have lost the pronominal number distinction. In some languages the interplay between dual number and clusivity calls for a paradigmatic alignment involving a minimal versus augmented distinction rather than a singular versus plural one. It has also led to different historical interpretations of the dual inclusive pronoun. MPSEA languages generally distinguish 1st, 2nd and 3rd person and often have generic and reflexive pronouns. Loss of pronominal distinction and change of original referent also occur. The chapter also addresses status, formality and pronoun avoidance, pronominal use of proper names and of terms expressing kinship, profession, rank or ethnicity, and the source of some pronouns. Attention is given to ‘imposters’ (other categories used in place of pronouns) which in languages like Indonesian behave syntactically different from those in English, and to the need to abandon a rigid division of nominals into nouns and pronouns.
Arab Maghreb Union (AMU)
Authors: Ouaissa Rachid
Published: September 2024

The Arab Maghreb Union (‘AMU’), a regional association of the five North African States and comprising Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia, was founded on 17 February 1989 during a summit meeting in the Moroccan city of Marrakech (→ Regional Co-operation and Organization: African States). This was the precursor to a unified Maghreb following the example of the European Union (‘EU’ see also → European Union, Historical Evolution). All Member States are also members of the → League of Arab States (LAS) and the → African Union (AU), with the exception of Morocco. The idea of a unified Maghreb originates from the → national liberation movements of the 1930s. Two conventions of the Arab Maghreb, organized by the leaders of the Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian nationalist movements, took place in Cairo in 1945 and 1947.
Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO)
Authors: Ranjan Shikhar
Published: September 2024

The Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (‘AALCO’) is an intergovernmental regional organization working in the area of law. It is a forum for consultation on matters of common concern to its Member States. Its work is of an advisory nature and consists in providing the governments of Member States with assistance in matters of international law in the light of the particular interests of the countries in Asia and Africa. It is one of the basic functions of AALCO to co-ordinate the viewpoint of the Asian and African States on important issues of international law. With the end of World War II, the → decolonization process began, resulting in many independent States, particularly in Asia and Africa, emerging as sovereign entities. These new States, having been victims of unequal position and passive objects of the traditional system of international law, protested against the traditional prescriptions of international law.
Asia-Paciﬁc Economic Co-operation (APEC)
Authors: Grote Rainer
Published: September 2024

The Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (‘APEC’) is an intergovernmental grouping of (as of 2017) 21 economies of the Pacific Rim committed to economic co-operation and trade liberalization. Its origins go back to the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council (‘PECC’ → Regional Co-operation and Organization: Pacific Region) which was established in 1980 as a non-governmental forum of academics, business leaders, and government officials with the purpose of disseminating information and exchanging views on trade, technology, and investment in the region. The success of this regional consultation mechanism paved the way for regular meetings of senior officials and government ministers on trade and related issues, beginning with the meeting in Canberra in 1989. The proposal for expanded Asia Pacific economic co-operation originally came from Australia which feared that its economy would be left behind by the movement towards greater regional economic co-operation especially in Europe and North America, but conceivably also in East Asia where Malaysia was advocating plans for the formation of an East Asian Economic Caucus (see also → International Law, Regional Developments: East Asia).
Burundi
Authors: Hamann Hartmut , Berger Antje C
Published: September 2024

With an area of less than 28,000 square kilometres and a population of more than 11 million inhabitants (2016), Burundi is a small and densely populated landlocked country in the Great Lakes Region of Eastern Africa (→ Great Lakes Region, Africa). The population comprises around 85% Hutu and 14% Tutsi. Following its independence on 1 July 1962 from → United Nations (UN) trusteeship (→ United Nations Trusteeship System) under Belgian administration, Burundi suffered from a highly violent non-international armed conflict, culminating in the 1972, 1988, and 1993 massacres (→ Armed Conflict, NonInternational) as well as the preand post-election violence in 2015–2016. From an international law perspective, the striking features of Burundi today are the late response of the → international community to the Burundian civil wars, regional peace initiatives which led to the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi of 28 August 2000 (‘Arusha Agreement’ or ‘Arusha Agreement 2000’), the first → peacekeeping activity of the new → African Union (AU) in 2003, subsequent UN peacekeeping from 2004 to 2006, and the fact that mechanisms of transitional justice are still not in place (→ Transitional Justice in Post-Conflict Situations), perpetuating a culture of impunity.
Calvo Doctrine/Calvo Clause
Authors: Juillard Patrick
Published: September 2024

The historical and geographical circumstances surrounding the development of the Calvo Doctrine and of the Calvo Clause may help better understand both. Carlos Calvo (1824–1906) was born in Buenos Aires, at a time when Argentina had just achieved independence from Spain. Preservation of its → sovereignty was thus one of the main concerns of the new nation, as it continued to be for quite a while, a shown by the Drago Doctrine (1902) (→ Debts; see also → Drago-Porter Convention [1907]). These concerns came to be shared by other Latin American States, and gave rise to other Latin American doctrines, such as the Estrada Doctrine (1930) (→ Doctrines; → International Law, Regional Developments: Latin America; → Recognition).
Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)
Authors: Byron Dennis , Malcolm Christopher
Published: September 2024

The Caribbean Court of Justice (‘CCJ’) has been established with original as well as appellate jurisdiction (Art. III (1) Agreement Establishing the CCJ; (‘CCJ Agreement’)) and with final decision-making capacity (Art. III (2)). In establishing the CCJ, the contracting parties have been convinced that it ‘will have a determinative role in the further development of Caribbean Jurisprudence through the judicial process’ and have been made aware that this constitutes ‘a further step in the deepening of the regional integration process’ (preamble CCJ Agreement).
Central America
Authors: Grote Rainer
Published: September 2024

In geographical terms, Central America comprises the region which stretches from the Isthmus of Tehuatepec or the trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in the North to the Isthmus of Panama in the South. It forms a narrow isthmus which is surrounded by the Pacific in the west, the Caribbean Sea in the east, and the Gulf of Mexico in the North. The geopolitical concept of Central America does not fully coincide with the geographic designation. In the south Panama—which had originally been a possession of the Viceroyalty of New Granada—became a part of Greater Colombia after independence. It did not obtain independence until 3 November 1903, when a Panamanian junta declared independence from Colombia, a few days before it concluded the Hay–Buneau Varilla Treaty with the US which granted the latter the land rights and other privileges necessary to establish and operate the → Panama Canal under its own authority. In the north, the region of Chiapas, which had been a province of the Captaincy-General of Guatemala during the colonial period, opted to remain with Mexico when a shortlived union between Mexico and the Central American provinces collapsed in 1823.
Cultural Diversity
Authors: von Schorlemer Sabine
Published: September 2024

Cultural diversity as a general concept has some early roots in the United Nations (‘UN’) system, most notably in the establishment of the → United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Since its foundation in 1945, UNESCO has aimed at ‘preserving the independence, integrity and fruitful diversity of cultures and educational systems of the States members’ (see Art. 1 (3) UNESCO Constitution). In the Mexico City Declaration on Cultural Policies (1982), UNESCO Member States declared that cultural identity and cultural diversity are inseparable (at para. 5). Another milestone in the development of the concept of cultural diversity is the UNESCO World Commission on Culture and Development Report ‘Our Creative Diversity’ of 1996. Being a major project of the World Decade for Cultural Development (1988–97), the report had a strong focus on creative potentials regarding the concept of cultural diversity as part of the overall notion of → sustainable development.
Developing Countries
Authors: Hirsch Moshe
Published: September 2024

The vast gaps between developing and developed countries are of utmost importance for the → international community. Following the end of the → Cold War (1947–91), the division between developing and developed countries marks the deepest rift in the contemporary international system. This division often polarizes the normative positions of countries belonging to these distinctive groups, and it constitutes a source of numerous frictions regarding the structure and content of → international law (see also → Developing Country Approach to International Law; → Development, International Law of; → Development, Right to, International Protection). Consequently, the profound gaps between developing and developed countries inhibit co-operation in various spheres that are of long-term importance for both groups.
Development, Right to, International Protection
Authors: Marong Alhagi
Published: September 2024

Efforts to define the right to development have continued for over two decades without reprieve (see also → Development, International Law of). Current discourse views the right to development as a human right with the human person as the central subject, in contrast to former claims of the right to development as a State-held right (→ Human Rights; → Individuals in International Law). The United Nations General Assembly (‘UNGA’) Declaration on the Right to Development of 4 December 1986 defines the concept as ‘an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all → peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized’ (at Art. 1).
East African Community (EAC)
Authors: Kaahwa Wilbert TK
Published: September 2024

The → East African Community (‘EAC’ ‘Community’) is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising → Burundi, Kenya, → Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda with its Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania (see → International Organizations or Institutions, Headquarters; → Regional Cooperation and Organization: African States). The Community is a corporate legal entity founded by the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (‘EAC Treaty’ ‘the Treaty’) which was signed on 30 November 1999 and which came into force on 7 July 2000. Prior to the coming into force of the Treaty, the EAC Partner States pursued the integration process on the basis of a 1993 Agreement for the Establishment of a Permanent Tripartite Commission for Co-operation between the Republic of Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Republic of Uganda.
Economic Development, Approaches to
Authors: Porrata-Doria Rafael A
Published: September 2024

Since the 1940s, scholars have sought to articulate analytical perspectives to explain the causes of the relative poverty of underdeveloped countries and to identify the ways in which these largely pre-industrial economies could move out of poverty. These constructs seek first to identify the causes of the relative poverty of underdeveloped countries and secondly to specify how underdeveloped economies could achieve economic progress. In this manner, the field of development economics was formalized as an economic sub-discipline (Hunt 7).
Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)
Authors: Kembayev Zhenis
Published: September 2024

→ Regional integration processes in Eurasia, which trace their roots to → the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and subsequently continued in the framework of the → Eurasian Economic Community (EUrAsEC), have culminated in the establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). On 29 May 2014, the three most advanced EurAsEC members, Belarus, Kazakhstan and → Russia (the Three), which have launched a → customs union on 1 January 2010, signed the Treaty on the EAEU (TEAEU). On 10 October 2014, the EurAsEC Member States signed a Treaty dissolving the EurAsEC, which ceased to exist on 1 January 2015. On the same day, the Three, on the one hand, and Armenia, on the other, signed a Treaty on the accession of Armenia to the EAEU. On 23 December 2014, a Treaty on the accession of Kyrgyzstan was signed.
European Community and Union, Association of Overseas Countries and Territories
Authors: Baetens Freya
Published: September 2024

Historically, the list of overseas countries and territories (‘OCTs’) associated with European States was much longer, but most of these became independent sovereign States (mostly African, Caribbean, and Pacific States; ‘ACP States’) during the period of → decolonization. The remaining 25 OCTs are constitutionally linked with Denmark (→ Greenland), France (French Polynesia, Mayotte, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, and Wallis and Futuna Islands), the Netherlands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Saint Eustatius, Sint Maarten), or the UK (Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, → Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena and Dependencies, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands).
Haile Selassie v Cable & Wireless Ltd Case
Authors: Rensmann Thilo
Published: September 2024

In 1935, the Director-General of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones of Ethiopia, acting on behalf of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, entered into a contract for the institution and operation of a radio telegraphic service with the British Company Cable & Wireless Ltd (‘Cable & Wireless’). Following the Italian invasion and occupation of Ethiopia in 1936 (→ Occupation, Belligerent), the Ethiopian Emperor was forced to leave his country and subsequently lived in London (see also → Colonialism). On 9 May 1936 Italy proclaimed the → annexation of Ethiopia and the King of Italy declared himself Emperor of Ethiopia (historically also known as Abyssinia). The British government, while still maintaining that Haile Selassie was the de iure Emperor of Ethiopia, in December 1936 recognized the Italian government as the de facto government of virtually the whole of Ethiopia (→ De facto Organs of a State; → Recognition).
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
Authors: Dann Philipp
Published: September 2024

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (‘IFAD’) is the 15th → United Nations (UN) specialized agency (→ United Nations, Specialized Agencies). It was established by the Agreement Establishing the International Fund for Agricultural Development (‘IFAD Agreement’ [concluded on 13 June 1976, which entered into force on 30 November 1977]). The seat of IFAD and the location of its headquarter is Rome (→ International Organizations or Institutions, Headquarters).
International Law, Regional Developments: Islam
Authors: Fadel Mohammad
Published: September 2024

The origins of Islamic international law can be found in the Prophet Muhammad’s promulgation of the Charter of Medina in the first quarter of the 7th century CE, the first clause of which declared that the parties to the Charter were a nation ‘to the exclusion of others’ (para. 15 Charter of Medina) thereby unequivocally proclaiming the independence of the city-State. The nascent city-State of Medina, after uniting the Arabian Peninsula, expanded rapidly over the 150 years following the Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, reaching the Iberian Peninsula in the west and the frontiers of China in the east. Islamic States subsequently spread along trade routes into central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa, the east African coast, and south-eastern Asia.
Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA)
Authors: Montt Santiago
Published: September 2024

The Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (‘SELA’, from the Spanish Sistema Económico Latinoamericano; until 2006 called Latin American Economic System), established by the Panama Convention signed on 17 October 1975, is a permanent intergovernmental organization of ‘consultation, coordination, cooperation and joint economic and social promotion’ (Art. 2 Panama Convention; see also → International Organizations or Institutions, General Aspects; → Regional Co-operation). Inspired originally by the ideas embodied in both the → New International Economic Order (NIEO) and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3281(XXIX) of 12 December 1974 (→ United Nations (UN); → United Nations, General Assembly), SELA brings together the vast majority of Latin American and Caribbean countries.
League of Arab States (LAS)
Authors: Rishmawi Mervat , Comandulli Marina
Published: September 2024

The League of Arab States (‘LAS’) was created pursuant to a meeting held in Alexandria, Egypt, on 25 September 1944, between representatives of Syria, Transjordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt, who held a preparatory meeting and adopted the Alexandria Declaration which proclaimed the creation of the LAS. Therefore, at the outset, the LAS consisted of seven members, namely Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan after 1946), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and North Yemen. Since then, another 15 countries have joined the LAS, which currently comprises 22 countries, including Libya (1953), → Sudan (1956), Morocco (1958), Tunisia (1958), Kuwait (1961), Algeria (1962), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), the → United Arab Emirates (UAE) (1971), Bahrain (1971), Mauritania (1973), Somalia (1974), → Palestine (1974—represented by the → Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO]), Djibouti (1977), and Comoros (1993).
MERCOSUR, Permanent Appeals Court
Authors: Klumpp Marianne
Published: September 2024

In 1991 when the Mercado Común del Sur (Common Market of the South; → MERCOSUR) came into existence and obtained its first institutional framework by the Treaty of Asunción (Treaty for the Establishment of a Common Market between the Argentine Republic, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Republic of Paraguay and the Eastern Republic of Uruguay [done 26 March 1991, entered into force 29 November 1991] 2140 UNTS 257), reference to the need for a dispute resolution mechanism was made only in very basic language referring to dispute settlement by diplomatic means within the political bodies of the MERCOSUR pursuant to Annex III Treaty of Asunción.
Non-Self-Governing Territories
Authors: Moïse Mbengue Makane
Published: September 2024

Trusteeship territories were those territories or colonies placed under the administration of one or more States so commissioned by the UN. As such, the administering authority or authorities of a trusteeship territory were acting under the strict supervision of the Trusteeship Council which was established as one of the principal organs of the UN (→ United Nations Trusteeship System). Non-self-governing territories, by contrast, are not per se subject to a system of strict and direct supervision by the UN. Indeed, under the terms of Art. 73 (e) → United Nations Charter, members of the UN that have or assume responsibilities for the administration of territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government undertake to transmit regularly to the UN Secretary-General ‘information’ relating to the economic, social, and educational conditions in the territories for which they are respectively responsible.
Oil Concession Disputes, Arbitration on
Authors: von Walter André
Published: September 2024

Oil concessions have commonly been granted by oil producing countries to foreign companies which possess the necessary technology and financial abilities for oil exploration and production activities. The high risk of the operations and the capital intensity of the investments have frequently led to special legal regimes providing, inter alia, for the settlement of disputes by international arbitral tribunals (→ Arbitration). The early oil concessions granted during the first half of the 20th century normally covered a vast area of acreage, conferred the control of the production process to the concessionaire, provided for modest royalties and bonuses to be paid to the host State, and were concluded for relatively long periods.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Authors: Hirsch Moshe
Published: September 2024

Various issues pertaining to → world population and particularly population growth present formidable challenges to the contemporary → international community. Demographic trends are often interrelated with other global concerns, prominent among them, economic development and poverty, environmental degradation, public health, and → human rights and gender equality (→ Environment, International Protection; → Women, Rights of International Protection). Addressing these global challenges in an effective, co-ordinated manner is often a complex and divisive process. Socio-cultural and political controversies occasionally impede the development and implementation of effective strategies in this sensitive sphere. While several international institutions—global and regional—address population issues, the United Nations Population Fund (‘UNFPA’) is the largest internationally funded source of population assistance.
United Nations Trusteeship System
Authors: Melnyk Andriy Y
Published: September 2024

The International Trusteeship System was established in 1945 under the authority of the → United Nations (UN) in accordance with Chapters XII and XIII UN Charter for the administration and supervision of a certain category of → non-self-governing territories in the aftermath of World War II. The trusteeship regime can be regarded as a successor of the mandate system under the → League of Nations (‘League’). Since the principal objective of the UN Trusteeship System (‘TS’) has been to govern the territories placed thereunder (‘trust territories’) for the benefit of their inhabitants and promote their progressive development towards self-governance or independence, it logically implies that the TS was contemplated as a transitional phenomenon designed to gradually reach the latter goal.
Unrepresentative Representatives
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

This chapter presents and discusses problems for electoral systems that arise because elections result in the selection of the elite, rather than genuine microcosm representation. The selection of a demographically unrepresentative group of political representatives has significant negative implications for the sensibility of electoral systems, due to effects on both the agential and epistemic dimensions of political representation. Those elected tend to be non-representative as a group along most demographic lines: wealth, income, education, race, sex, disability status, housing status, immigration status, occupation, and so on. Elected representatives skew wealthier, whiter, more likely to be male, much less likely to be disabled, much more likely to have a background as a lawyer or businessperson, and so on. This skew results in agential distortion, affecting the priorities, motivations, and values that elected officials have and will act upon. This skew also results in epistemic distortion, affecting what elected officials believe, what they investigate and question, which sources and individuals they trust, and their background knowledge and expertise. Taken together, this distortion in demographic representativeness, an expected and predictable outcome of using elections, reduces the ability of electoral systems to address the political problems that actually exist in a political community.
Overcoming Ignorance, Improving Epistemic Performance
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

This chapter argues that lottocratic political systems will do comparatively well with respect to the epistemic dimension of political sensibility, arguing that lottocracy will help avoid epistemic problems that arise due to ignorance and epistemic distortion. The lottocratic selection mechanism doesn’t require broad public knowledge about complex policy details, limiting concerns about ignorance, the bad press problems and efforts at systematic misinformation and disinformation, and other features of the distorted mass epistemic environment. The selection mechanism ensures microcosm representation, bringing the system much closer to descriptive representativeness and broad diversity of standpoints and expertise, experiences, and evidential history. And central lottocratic elements—including the learning phase and transparent and regulated use of expertise, the single-issue focus and the relatively manageable epistemic burden, the mechanisms of community consultation, the use of deliberation and discussion to obtain relevant evidence and testimony, and the expected reduction in the intensity of division within the political community and corresponding increase in trust and empathy across lines of disagreement—all contribute to improving the epistemic performance of the system, particularly in comparison to electoral representative systems. The chapter also considers and responds to concerns about the competence of randomly selected members of the political community and whether randomly chosen citizens will lack important political skill or political expertise.
Lottocracy, Democracy, Legitimacy, and Political Morality
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

Shifting out of functionalist or instrumentalist arguments that focus on the likely political sensibility and political outcomes under a lottocracy, this chapter considers other components of political morality that are relevant to the evaluation of political systems. The chapter argues that there are four distinct dimensions of political morality that are related to whether a political system is democratic: political equality, political participation, respect for and protection of the rights of body and mind (rights of life, bodily integrity, physical liberty, speech, thought, and association), and responsiveness. These operate as significant moral considerations that alter and limit how political outcomes can be pursued and brought about. The chapter argues that lottocratic systems do at least as well as electoral systems with respect to each of these four considerations of political morality. The chapter also presents a scalar conception of political legitimacy on which a political system’s legitimacy is a function of the extent to which a system is democratic (where this is a function of how well the system does by the four considerations just identified) and the extent to which there is an individualized moral justification of the system to those living under it. The chapter also responds to challenges to lottocracy on the grounds that a morally important kind of accountability is absent, and that lottocracy requires an objectionable “blind deference” to the randomly chosen.
Blue Jerusalem
Authors: Kowol Kit
Published: September 2024

This radical re-interpretation of British history and British Conservatism between 1939 and 1945 reveals the bold, at times utopian, plans British Conservatives drew up for Britain and the post-war world. From proposals for world government to a more united Empire via dreams of a new Christian elite and a move back to the land, it reveals how Conservatives were every bit as imaginative and courageous as their Labour and left-wing opponents. Bringing these alternative visions of Britain’s post-war future back to life, this book restores politics to the centre of the story of Britain’s war. It demonstrates how everything from the weapons Britain fought with to theatres in which the fighting took place, and the allies Britain chose, were the product of political decisions about the different futures Conservatives wanted to make. Rejecting notions of a ‘People’s War’ that continue to cloud how we think of the Second World War, it explores how Conservatives used their control of the home and battle fronts to fight a deeply Conservative war and build the martial, imperial, and Christian nation many had long dreamed of. A study of political thinking as well as political manoeuvre, it goes beyond an examination of the usual suspects—Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain, etc.—to reveal a hitherto lost world of British Conservatism and a set of forgotten futures that continue to shape our world.
For what do we fight
Authors: Kowol Kit
Published: September 2024

The chapter examines the debates over war aims during the period between September 1939 and May 1940. It begins by examining why Neville Chamberlain was unwilling to announce war aims before exploring different Conservative plans for the post-war world including: a global federation of states, an anti-Bolshevik Christian Europe, and the dismemberment of Germany. It then examines the desire for a more aggressive military strategy advocated by the Watching Committee of senior Conservatives and support for a negotiated peace articulated by the Union and Reconstruction movement. The chapter argues that Chamberlain’s refusal to articulate positive war aims led the Prime Minister to couch the war in ever grander and epochal terms, a way of framing the conflict that was incompatible with his preferred military strategy of a long war of attrition. The chapter concludes by arguing that this incompatibility was central to Chamberlain’s eventual fall from office.
From Diplomacy to Physics and Back Again
Authors: Lalli Roberto
Published: September 2024

This chapter charts the changing roles of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) in both the scientific and political realms from the end of World War II to the present. The analysis suggests a four-phase periodization of the centenary history of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) with the transformations between each phase characterized by negotiations concerning the functions and roles of the institution in the international arena. To properly understand these passages, one should interpret IUPAP as a hybrid science diplomacy organization rather than employing ahistorical fixed taxonomies or international non-governmental scientific institutions. After a first inactive period running from its foundation to the end of World War II, IUPAP underwent a re-foundation followed by a decade of growth as a predominantly Western organization. In the period from the mid-1950s to the end of the Cold War, IUPAP transformed into a bridge between the East and the West. Finally, in the post-Cold War period, IUPAP reconfigured itself as a global organization aligned with the UN sustainable growth agenda.
Landmarks in the History of the Discovery of Spin in Fundamental Particles
Authors: Satija Indubala I.
Published: September 2024

This chapter gets into the heart of the discovery of spin in physics as physicists try to make sense of the atomic spectra with the discovery of the anomalous Zeeman effect by Thomas Preston before the dawn of the twentieth century as Nature gave the first signal of the existence of quantum spin. Following Bohr, Sommerfeld, and Lande’s contributions with integers and then half-integers, quantum numbers make appearances, and after Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit’s ground-breaking contributions, physicists finally embrace the idea that electron spins. Pauli’s introduction of quantum spin with Pauli matrices provided a non-relativistic theory of the quantum spin. Hestenes argues that spin is not intrinsically related to Pauli matrices, and contrary to conventional wisdom, he advocates the view that the spin is very much present in the non-relativistic quantum physics.
A Peek Inside the Nucleus: From Proton-Neutron to Flavored and Colored Quarks
Authors: Satija Indubala I.
Published: September 2024

This chapter highlights the importance of spin magnetic moment of the nucleons as it provided the first warning that the protons and the neutrons are not elementary, leading up to the discovery of quarks with novel attributes such as the flavour and the colo. The mathematical framework of spin-1/2 provided the basis of isospin and guided physicists to understand strongly interacting particles, with interaction that is about 100 times the strength of the electromagnetic interaction described by the standard model. Chapter wraps up with the question of what is meant by an elementary particle ?
The Lore of the g-factor
Authors: Satija Indubala I.
Published: September 2024

This chapter tells the story of the g-factor known as the g-factor anomaly and its role in determining the laws of Nature. It is a remarkable story where a tiny discrepancy between the theoretical and the experimental value for the electron g-factor led physicists to QED and as its fine tuning continues for muons, it can potentially challenge the existing model of the strong interaction—namely the standard model. Here is a narrative of the history of QED starting with the Shelter Island conference. With the fine structure constant emerging as the parameter that makes quantum electrodynamics work, readers get a taste of the beauty and the virtuosity of Feynman diagrams. The chapter also discusses Andy Charalambous’s artwork which was inspired by the Feynman diagrams