NATO Summit: a Global Future after Brain Death

The article analyzes the main political outcomes of the NATO summit in Brussels on June 14, 2021. The summit, which was attended by US President Joe Biden, was initially seen as a «return» of the United States to Europe – after a turbulent «Trumpism» period in transatlantic relations. The final communiqué constitutes the main lines of the planned Alliance’s transformation in response to the growing challenges to Euro-Atlantic security, in particular raised by Russia and China, and by of international terrorism threats as well. The in-depth register of NATO’s potential and actions in response to the growing challenges and threats, presented in the meeting’s communiqué, proves a trend towards the alliance globalization, both in functional and geopolitical terms. The Summit decisions, its adoption of the «NATO 2030» platform, are seen as a basis of a new strategic concept, planned to be adopted at the next 2022 summit in Spain. However, the author arguing, the postponed problems of transatlantic relations and allies disagreements will inevitably constitute a significant internal challenge for the alliance in the search for its future «globalization» strategy.

Customer value, purchase intentions and willingness to pay: the moderating effects of cultural/economic distance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore differences in the behavioural intentions of consumers in different countries, i.e. Japan, UK and Taiwan by employing a customer-based value model.Design/methodology/approachA total of 305 consumers of one of Japan's brand and chain stores, Muji, were interviewed. The moderating effects of cultural and economic distances from the home country of the firm were also tested.FindingsThe results showed that cultural distance moderates the impact of symbolic, experiential and aesthetic value on purchase intention; however, economic distance was found to only influence monetary value.Originality/valueCross-cultural studies on customer value in the retailing industry are limited. The findings from this study offer several implications for those firms that adopt a globalization strategy using another perspective, while to some degree glocalization could be a better strategy.

Universalism and traditionalism in a post-globalist perspective: ways of dialogue

The article focusses on the comparative analysis of the leading socio-cultural projects of contemporary society development in culturological discourse: globalism, alter-globalism and anti-globalism. The research aims to reveal the ways of civilized dialogue of universalism as an attitude to the search for universal values and traditionalism as an attitude to the preservation of civilizational, national, ethnic, regional and local codes of culture. The methodological principles of the study are: culturological comparative studies, structural psychoanalysis, semiotics of culture and critical theory. Research methods are: cross-cultural, phenomenological, historical, hermeneutic and structural-functional ones. The scientific novelty of the study is that the author compares the project of regionalism inherent in globalism as a manifestation of glocalization and the civilizational approach inherent in traditionalism, and classifies regionalism as a postmodern post-globalization strategy and the civilizational approach as a premodern pre-globalization strategy both of which are conditionally opposed to classical modern globalism. Globalism is seen as a vicious circle of self-reproduction through the appropriation of surpluses. The way out of the vicious circle is seen in the removal from control of the total repressiveness of universalist (socio-ethical) and traditionalist (cultural-anthropological) ideas in the discourse of free (excessive) alter-globalism and anti-globalism. In conclusion, the author emphasizes the implementation of the principle of unity through diversity on the basis of the universal potential of tradition and specific historical forms of realization of universal meanings of mankind to be an effective mechanism for dialogue between universalism and traditionalism.

New Developments in the Brewing Industry

Institutions and ownership play a central role in the transformation and development of the beer market and the brewing industry. Institutions set the external environment of the brewery through both formal requirements and informal acceptance of these companies’ operations by the public, whereas the owners and their managers adapt to these external challenges but also follow their own agenda in setting up strategies for innovation, marketing, takeovers, etc. The 13 chapters in this book cover changes in a range of institutions, such as excise tax, zoning regulation, trade liberalization, consumers’ habits and tastes for beer and sales regulation of alcohol. The responses from the breweries has included a craft beer revolution with a surge in demand for special flowered hops, a globalization strategy from the macrobreweries, outsourcing by contract brewing and knowledge exchange for small-sized breweries, etc. The book consists of two parts. The first includes chapters primarily focusing on institutions, whereas the chapters in the second part take mainly an ownership perspective. The book’s contribution lies primarily in an analysis of the link between institutions and governance, pointing to how the most successful breweries have adapted to the external changes in institutions in the brewery sector.

Introduction

Institutions and ownership play a central role in the transformation and development of the beer market and the brewing industry. Institutions set the external environment of the brewery through both formal requirements and the informal acceptance of these companies’ operations by the public, whereas the owners and their managers adapt to these external challenges but also follow their own agenda in setting up strategies for innovation, marketing, takeovers, and so on. The thirteen chapters in this book cover changes in a range of areas, such as excise tax, zoning regulation, trade liberalization, consumers’ habits and tastes for beer, and sales regulation of alcohol. Breweries’ responses have included a craft beer revolution with a surge in demand for special flowered hops, a globalization strategy from the macrobreweries, outsourcing by contract brewing, and knowledge exchange for small-sized breweries, among others.

“All Weather Friends”: How China Transformed Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Sector

Recent research documents the globalization strategy of the Chinese tobacco industry since the early 2000s and risks posed to global health. There are limited analyses to date of how this strategy is playing out in specific countries. This paper analyses the expansion of the China National Tobacco Company (CNTC) in Zimbabwe, the largest producer of tobacco leaf globally, since the early 2000s, through document analysis. It applies a political economy framework—identifying material, ideational and institutional forces—to demonstrate how CNTC capitalized on the unique features of China-Africa development cooperation to pursue its expansion goals, which threaten global public health efforts to reduce tobacco supply. In a context of economic crisis, CNTC offered substantial resources to revive Zimbabwe’s tobacco industry, promoting a shift to contract farming of its preferred leaf. It benefited from perceptions of state friendship, which it fostered through corporate social responsibility initiatives. Through ties with the Chinese embassy and economic actors, CNTC embedded its interests in development institutions. While contributing to improved foreign exchange earnings and some farmers’ livelihoods, CNTC’s expansion has increased the dependence on China as a development partner and tobacco as a crop, benefitting its “go global” strategy, while contributing to public health and environmental challenges locally and globally. The expansion of the Chinese tobacco industry interests in Zimbabwe offers lessons for global tobacco control and efforts to support alternatives to tobacco growing.