Switching costs,dynamic uncertainty,and buyer–seller relationships

We analyze strategic relationships between buyers and sellers in markets with switching costs and dynamic uncertainty by investigating the scenario wherein a representative buyer trades with two foreign sellers located in the same foreign country. We show that, under exchange rate uncertainty, switching costs may lead to switching equilibria where both sellers co‐exist in the market with the buyer, or no‐switching equilibria where either seller captures the market. The presence of exchange rate uncertainty facilitates competition by allowing the sellers to co‐exist in the market with the buyer. However, if the level of uncertainty is beyond a threshold, the only viable equilibria are those where one of the sellers captures the market. Further, depending on the level of exchange rate uncertainty and the sellers' variable costs, switching costs may either raise or lower the level of prices in long‐term contracts between the buyer and the sellers. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2007     

Poland's national potential and its international position within the European Union – research remarks

This article examines Poland's national potential and its international position within the European Union (EU) with respect to security issues. It presents research results based on a comparison of Poland's national potential as it relates to other EU countries, which is useful when evaluating Poland's power within the EU. The article also evaluates Poland's crisis potential, i.e. it identifies those factors that may potentially be treated as threats to national and regional security. Finally, it enables the identification of challenges to Poland's security in the second decade of the twenty-first century. The research is conducted according to a multidimensional comparative analysis, which is perceived by the author as the best available to measure a country's power despite its weaknesses.     

美军战略传播的发展特点及启示

美军通过战略传播的整合力量对其形象建构进行了卓有成效的探索与实践。在分析梳理美军战略传播概念的提出背景及其演进过程的基础上,总结归纳了美军实施战略传播的特点。同时,结合分析对外宣传中面临的问题与挑战,借鉴美军战略传播的有益做法,提出了改进的建议与措施。     

谈恐怖主义的形成发展及反恐对策

恐怖主义的形成是与社会客观现实紧密联系在一起的,世界多极化、霸权主义、经济全球化、宗教文化冲突、传媒效应等社会现实问题是促使当代恐怖主义形成并迅速发展的根本原因,而这些原因反映出恐怖主义本质上就是一个社会问题。因此,要从根本上消除恐怖主义,必须以解决社会问题的思路来制定相应的对策,才能真正达到“治本”的目的。     

提升我军话语国际影响力需要过好四关

国防话语的一个重要支柱就是军事话语,军事话语是一个国家军事软实力和军队形象建设的重要体现。新时代呼唤强有力的军事话语。习近平总书记关于对外宣传工作以及国防和军队现代化的重要论述为提升我军话语国际影响力、为建构我军国际形象指明了方向、制定了战略、设计了战术、明确了任务、确定了节点。如何切实提升我军话语的国际影响力,成为新形势下实现中国梦和强军目标的时代课题。从具体操作层面,提升我军话语国际影响力需要过好思维立场、语言文化、业务素养和法规制度四个关。     

“The major prize”: apartheid South Africa’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 1988–91

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the final years of South Africa’s nuclear-weapon program, particularly on the decision-making process leading up to the signature of the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) by the South African government in 1991. In August 1988, after two decades of defiance, negotiations between the apartheid government and the NPT depository powers (the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union) ensued at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. Despite South Africa being the only state to give up its indigenously developed nuclear weapons and subsequently join the nonproliferation regime, little is known about how the national position on NPT accession and IAEA safeguards evolved. Research carried out in multiple archives using hitherto untapped primary sources and interviews with key actors from several countries show how domestic and regional political dynamics influenced Pretoria’s position on entering the nonproliferation regime. In the process, the F.W. de Klerk government managed to skillfully exploit international proliferation fears to advance its own agenda, thereby connecting South African NPT accession with that of the neighboring Frontline States coalition of Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.