Other News
THE BRITISH HOUSING MARKET: TOO BIG TO FAIL?
A KnowledgeCentre article by Ben Jacoby
Warwick Commission reports on mayoral powers
The Warwick Commission has warned that the Government’s drive to encourage cities to adopt elected mayors cannot provide a ‘one-size-fits-all solution’. The Warwick Commission on Elected Mayors and City Leadership also supports calls for mayors to have a formal remit that extends beyond the city boundaries which are currently being proposed in referenda in ten core English cities, including Coventry and Birmingham. The Commission was launched last year to investigate the track records and experiences of elected mayors in the UK and around the world. The study centres on the question: "What is the role of elected mayors in providing strategic leadership to cities?"
Warwick’s research team interviewed 42 mayors, staff and senior council figures in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US in what is believed to be the widest ranging international comparative research exercise, at least in relatively similar political systems in the 'Anglosphere'. It draws on a range of existing evidence as well as a thorough analysis of how the history of local government has brought the question of elected mayors to the forefront now.
The Commission is chaired by Professor Wyn Grant, Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics and International Studies at Warwick.
The Hustlers of War: The Revitalised Image of the Mercenary
A Pinpoint Politics article by Ramsha Khan
The narrative of warfare in the last decade has been a poignant one, as we bore witness to the terrorist attacks, invasions, and revolutions that ignited across the globe. In its historical context this is not a phenomena out of the ordinary – indeed, the paradigm of conflict can be dated as old as mankind itself. However, there have been certain shifts in the form of warfare today, and, as these shifts in form collide with the liberal ideology and capitalist thought the western world is built upon, the resulting implications can be evidenced in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, as well as the Arab Spring revolts. An actor that is receiving an ever-increasingly central position on this stage is the mercenary, or private soldier, along with the corporate structures and governments that control his role.
Nick Vaughan-Williams gives keynote lecture at book award ceremony in Houston, Texas
Dr Nick Vaughan-Williams, Associate Professor of International Security in PAIS, gave the after-dinner keynote lecture at the 2012 Association for Borderlands Studies (ABS) Annual Conference on 13 April at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Houston, Texas, USA. He was presented with the ABS Gold Award, consisting of a plaque and certificate, for his monograph Border Politics: The Limits of Sovereign Power newly available in paperback.
The judges of the ABS Book Award Committee said: “Border Politics is an agenda-setting book, both in terms of demonstrating how new and challenging ideas can be incorporated into border studies, and more importantly, in leading the way in thinking the problem of the border afresh in order to understand the diversity of bordering strategies which exist in world politics”.
More information about the ABS can be found here: http://www.absborderlands.org/
An order form for Border Politics at a discounted rate can be found here: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/people/vaughan-williams/border_politics_vaughan-williams_2012.pdf
Dr Ben Clift receives Leverhulme grant
Ben Clift was successful this week in being awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship for 2012/2013. Ben's project is entitled 'Its Mostly Fiscal - The IMF, Evolving Fiscal Policy Doctrine and The Crisis' .
The Leverhulme scheme is extremely competitive and Ben's success is testament to the very high quality of his proposal. Many congratulations to Ben on this great success.