International education is an area of education that, over the last forty years, has grown in size and significance. International schools are one of many vehicles for the delivery of international education and are growing in number and variety. In addition, the value placed by society on an international education and those curricular programs that promote international education continue to develop. International schools are, therefore, becoming an important and growing area of education. In general terms the amount of research on such schools is limited when compared to national education systems and national schools. The growth in the number of international schools has been accompanied by a growth in the variety of such schools and the diversity of foundations, governance models and missions that support them. This diversity and my experience in international school leadership, allied to my interest in school improvement and school effectiveness as it pertains to the field of international schools, led to an interest in how models of governance impact on international school leadership and – through the leadership – on school improvement and development. This research enquiry is a case study, based on evidence produced through three different research methods; individual school studies, a questionnaire and expert interviews. The use of three methods of data gathering allowed for a complex area to be examined and the results to be triangulated. The results of the case study serve to illuminate the area and to suggest future avenues of research. One area of particular interest that was identified through the study was the interaction within the leadership structures of the schools and the relationships between the head of school, governors and model of governance. It would appear from the results of the study that those models of governance that relied on high numbers of elected parents of students currently attending the school produced a much higher turnover of heads and chairs of boards than did others. The interaction between head, chair of the school board and overall board members also appeared to affect the length of time people served in these posts. Following discussion of such issues, the implications of governance model and rate of turnover for the leadership, development and improvement of international schools are further examined and discussed. The process of conducting this enquiry, while time consuming and demanding, has been of huge benefit to me both personally and professionally. I have enjoyed the challenge and particularly gained from the greater professional insight developed during the study.

We live in the Anthropocene – the Age of Humans – characterized by dangerous environmental degradation, demanding urgent and adequate international environmental governance (IEG). Yet, IR scholarship problematizes the shortcomings of current IEG, demonstrating its failure to fight environmental degradation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the UNDP published the 2020 Human Development Report titled ‘The next frontier – Human Development in the Anthropocene’. A preliminary reading suggests a shift towards ecocentric governance. Inspired by this development, this study situates itself within the literature on Adaptive Governance in the Anthropocene. It explores if IEG is indeed adopting ecocentrism, thereby adapting to the conditions and demands of the 21st century. Complementing UNDP with two additional cases (UNEP and WHO), this research attempts to provide an updated understanding of the state of IEG in 2020/21 through qualitative content analysis of flagship reports. Green Theory and scholarship on IEG and the Anthropocene will be utilized to construct the research design, as well as to assess the content and meaning of the results. The research findings suggest that UNDP, UNEP, and WHO adopt ecocentrism norms, albeit with certain gradations present. This study attempts to complement the governance literature and take a stand regarding the status of IR in the Anthropocene.

Transboundary watershed management seeks to reconcile the dichotomy between political lines and the resources that flow freely over such borders. Transboundary waters cover half of the earth’s surface and define the natural communities of over 40% of the global population. Because water plays an integral role in every culture and society, international entities seek to identify the principles and methods that minimize conflict and maximize harmonious water resource management across borders. Successful management practices to date have aimed to incorporate relevant scientific literature throughout the basin using alternate governance structures. International River Basin Organizations (IRBOs), independent governing structures, provide one such method of governance along shared water bodies. In order to determine how science influences policy and management in IRBOs, this research examines five case studies across three IRBOs: The International Joint Commission, the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube and the Mekong River Commission. To understand the gap between science production and its incorporation into IRBO policies, we conducted a comprehensive literature review and applied the findings from existing scientific literature to understand science-policy process in the five case studies. Within each case study we traced the story of science production and its uptake into policy by highlighting two types of key information in the process: the role of mandates and IRBO structure, and the IRBO’s relationship with relevant actors. Through this process we identified and explored the gap between science production and policy action, demonstrating which mechanisms are essential for generating policy founded on scientific research.

Over the past decade academics and policymakers have increasingly recognised the growing importance of diasporas. While diasporas have been variously defined, an important common element is continued identity with the ‘home’ country even when many years have been spent in the ‘host’ country (Lyons, 2004b: 3). Some may even not have visited their ‘home country’ but offer valuable political support. For example, even though many of the Jewish diaspora in the United States have never been to Israel, let alone been born there, they nevertheless mobilise support for the Jewish ‘homeland’ (Mearsheimer and Walt, 2006). For the academic community, diasporas thus offer a challenge to the traditional ‘inside/outside’ conception of social life whereby socio-political activities are defined as either purely ‘domestic’ or purely ‘international’ (Al-Ali and Koser, 2002). Diasporas are, at one and the same time, both and neither. As suggested by Shain (2002), diasporas form a distinct ‘third level’ between interstate and domestic politics — a type of transnational actor that is becoming increasingly important due to the globalisation of markets, politics and culture. How, through what mechanisms and with what impact diasporas express themselves as ‘transnational actors’, therefore, is currently a matter of intense research. While there is an expanding literature in this area, there has been less research on diasporas in the field of conflict and peace studies. Here research has tended to emphasise the role of diasporas as ‘peace-wreckers’, though work has emerged emphasising the role of diasporas as ‘peace-makers’ (Smith and Stares, 2007).

No / Three interrelated factors make Sierra Leone in general and its extractive sector in particular worthy of examination. First, since the formal declaration of peace in 2002 the country has emerged as a model of liberal peacebuilding.1 The UN deployed one of its largest ever peacekeeping operations at a total cost of $2.8 billion.2 Official development assistance to Sierra Leone (multilateral, bilateral and UN agencies) amounted to US$1.2 billion between 2003 and 2006 (DACO, 2006: 7) and in 2006 the country’s $1.6 billion debt was forgiven (ICG, 2007: 8). In 2007 the country experienced its second successful post-conflict national election resulting in a transition of power to the opposition All People’s Congress.

O comércio internacional contemporâneo caracteriza-se pela perda de importância relativa das medidas de natureza tarifária e pela crescente relevância simultaneamente assumida por exigências regulatórias (técnicas, sanitárias e fitossanitárias) de caráter não tarifário. A profusão dessas medidas, destinadas a estabelecer características de produtos ou processos e métodos de produção, é beneficiada pelo protagonismo assumido pelos agentes de mercado, empenhados em impor, à revelia do sistema multilateral de comércio, um arcabouço regulatório distinto, tematicamente mais amplo e geograficamente mais fragmentado. A emergência de uma governança, promovida por uma constelação de agentes privados interessados na determinação dessas medidas, rivaliza, portanto, com a tradicional liderança exercida pelos Estados, cuja atuação está circunscrita aos limites impostos pelos acordos da Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC). Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho sustenta que a transferência gradual de responsabilidade pelo controle do espaço regulatório a fontes não tradicionais de poder, tais como os agentes de mercado, representa uma escolha voluntária e refletida dos Estados, ainda que sob pena de esvaziamento da arena multilateral como espaço exclusivo de construção de regras. Embora esta calibrada fragilização da organização aparente representar um risco ao próprio sistema internacional de comércio, tal deflexão acaba por assegurar aos Estados o espaço político requerido para acomodações de poder, com simultânea preservação dos ganhos auferidos em outras esferas da agenda multilateral. / Contemporary international trade is characterized by the loss of relative importance of tariff measures and the growing relevance of non-tariff regulatory requirements (technical, sanitary and phytosanitary). The profusion of these measures, designed to establish characteristics of products or processes and production methods, benefits from the leading role played by market players, who are committed to impose, in default of the multilateral trading system, a distinct, thematically broader and geographically more fragmented regulatory framework. The emergence of a new governance, led by a constellation of private agents interested in the creation of these measures, therefore rivals the traditional leadership exercised by States, whose performance is limited to the limits imposed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. In this context, the present paper argues that the gradual transfer of responsibility for the control of the regulatory space to non-traditional sources of power, such as market agents, represents a voluntary and reflected choice of States, although it may happen under penalty of emptying the multilateral arena as an exclusive rule-making space. While this calibrated weakening of the organization seems to pose a risk to the international trading system, such a deflation ultimately provides States with the policy space required for power accommodation, with simultaneous preservation of gains earned in other spheres of the multilateral agenda.

Zugl.: Frankfurt (Main), Universiẗat, Diss., 2008.