With new developments in technology, the release of the Wai 262 decision by the Waitangi Tribunal and the widespread ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties ...of Plants, the Plant Variety Rights Act 1987 is now outdated and in need of amendment. This article evaluates the current intellectual property protection available for plant varieties in New Zealand under the Act. The Plant Variety Rights Act suffers from major issues such as insufficient protection for breeders, a failure to incorporate Maori concerns as expressed in the Wai 262 claim, a lack of clarity as to the scope of the farm saved seed exception and inconsistency with the Convention. The Act further produces undesirable incentives for the plant breeding industry by reducing biodiversity and discouraging innovation in plant variety development. The current review of the Plant Variety Rights Act must address the interests of all major stakeholders, namely breeders, farmers, Maori and environmental groups. This article argues that New Zealand should amend the Plant Variety Rights Act to extend breeders' rights by protecting essentially derived varieties, while also protecting the farm saved seed exception and Maori customary interests over taonga species. While this will preclude ratification of the Convention, its rigid framework is wholly unsuitable for New Zealand's unique environmental, agricultural and cultural context anyway. Instead, New Zealand should prioritise flexibility to create a plant variety rights scheme that addresses its particular needs over accession to incompatible international instruments.
The Republic of (South) Vietnam is commonly viewed as a unified entity throughout the two decades (1955–75) during which the United States was its main ally. However, domestic politics during that ...time followed a dynamic trajectory from authoritarianism to chaos to a relatively stable experiment in parliamentary democracy. The stereotype of South Vietnam that appears in most writings, both academic and popular, focuses on the first two periods to portray a caricature of a corrupt, unstable dictatorship and ignores what was achieved during the last eight years. The essays in Voices from the Second Republic of South Vietnam (1967–1975) come from those who strove to build a constitutional structure of representative government during a war for survival with a totalitarian state. Those committed to realizing a noncommunist Vietnamese future placed their hopes in the Second Republic, fought for it, and worked for its success. This book is a step in making their stories known.
During President Barack Obama's first term in office, the United States expanded its military presence in Afghanistan and increased drone missile strikes across Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. The ...administration also deployed the military to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean, engaged in a sustained bombing operation in Libya, and deployed U.S. Special Forces in Central Africa to capture or kill Joseph Kony. In these cases, President Obama decided to use force without congressional approval. Yet, this increased executive power has not been achieved simply by the presidential assertion of such powers. It has also been supported by a group of senators and representatives who, for political reasons that stem from constant campaigning, seek to avoid responsibility for military action abroad. In this revealing book, Ryan C. Hendrickson examines President Obama's use of force in his first term with four major case studies. He demonstrates that, much like his predecessors, Obama has protected the executive branch's right not only to command, but also to determine when and where American forces are deployed. He also considers the voting records of Democrat John Kerry and Republican John McCain in the Senate, detailing how both men have played leading roles in empowering the commander-in-chief while limiting Congress's influence on military decision-making. Obama at War establishes that the imperial presidency poses significant foreign policy risks, and concludes with possible solutions to restore a more meaningful balance of power. The first book on the constitutional and political relationship between President Obama and the U.S. Congress and the use of military force, this timely reassessment of war powers provides a lucid examination of executive privilege and legislative deference in the modern American republic.
Teaching in a cold and windy place Tompkins, Joanne
Teaching in a cold and windy place,
c1998, 19981023, 1998, 2000, 1998-00-00, 1998-01-01
eBook, Book
In 1987 Joanne Tompkins travelled to the Baffin Island community of Anurapaqtuq to take on the job of principal at the local school. This is the story of the four years she spent there and the many ...challenges she faced.
Have the diplomatic efforts of the Obama administration toward Iran failed? Was the Bush administration's emphasis on military intervention, refusal to negotiate, and pursuit of regime change a ...better approach? How can the United States best address the ongoing turmoil in Tehran? This book provides a definitive and comprehensive analysis of the Obama administration's early diplomatic outreach to Iran and discusses the best way to move toward more positive relations between the two discordant states.
Trita Parsi, a Middle East foreign policy expert with extensive Capitol Hill and United Nations experience, interviewed 70 high-ranking officials from the U.S., Iran, Europe, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Brazil-including the top American and Iranian negotiators-for this book. Parsi uncovers the previously unknown story of American and Iranian negotiations during Obama's early years as president, the calculations behind the two nations' dealings, and the real reasons for their current stalemate. Contrary to prevailing opinion, Parsi contends that diplomacy has not been fully tried. For various reasons, Obama's diplomacy ended up being a single roll of the dice. It had to work either immediately-or not at all. Persistence and perseverance are keys to any negotiation. Neither Iran nor the U.S. had them in 2009.
