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This chapter studies structural adjustment, the reform paradigm that took up the basic proposals established in “Window of Opportunity”—a vision of transition to a market economy through “shock” liberalization, privatization, and stabilization, backed by largescale foreign aid. By the middle of the 1990s, elements of structural adjustment were achieved, including large-scale privatization of industrial enterprises and liberalization of most prices. However, growth remained frustratingly elusive for reformers, and they increasingly turned their attention to inflexibilities created by sociotechnical systems such as infrastructures and the government budget that were not easily reorganized through a market mechanism. The problem was still one of structural adjustment—that is, one of correcting the distortions created by the Soviet patterns of urban and spatial development.

Based on their actual state, the resting state’s spatial and functional features, e.g., functional connectivity and low-frequency fluctuations, may provide a “spatiotemporal window of opportunity” for subsequent rest–stimulus interaction. The degree of the resting state’s “spatiotemporal window of opportunity” may then determine the degree of difference-based coding (and its balance with the degree of stimulus-based coding) that the resting state can apply to its own processing of the extrinsic stimulus during rest–stimulus interaction. This means that the resting state’s activity level predisposes not only the degree of difference-based coding, but also the degree of stimulus-induced activity and its associated behavioral and phenomenal effects.

The second chapter presents the theoretical framework of minor powers in asymmetric interstate conflicts, in line with problem-driven pragmatism. The framework examines how foreign support, window of opportunity, domestic crisis, regime stability, and anomalous beliefs shape their choices, particularly the choice to go to war. There are theoretical disagreements over definite roles each condition plays, the reason why further inquiry is justified. Moreover, to account for the possibility that conditions can offset or complement each other, the concept of conjunctural causation is utilised, reflecting on greater complexity in understanding the asymmetric conflict. An important caveat is raised, namely, that this study focuses on conventional interstate wars, because, unlike unconventional conflict, state actors have identifiable territory, resources, and military personnel. Such exposure makes them more vulnerable in asymmetric conflict compared to the vulnerability of non-state actors.

One way of reducing uncertainty in prognosis is to continue treatment until the patient’s prognosis is clearer. But the risk is that the child is no longer dependent on intensive forms of life support, and may survive with very severe impairment. There is a ‘window of opportunity’ to withdraw life support. In this chapter ethical issues related to the timing of treatment withdrawal are explored. The window of opportunity for treatment withdrawal may conflict with the doctrine of double effect. It is argued, however, that the doctrine of double effect should be modified or rejected for treatment withdrawal decisions based on quality of life. If withdrawal of artificial nutrition were allowed we could avoid the window of opportunity problem. Although there are some cases where withdrawal of ventilation would be justifiable, but not withdrawal of artificial nutrition, there are also cases where the two treatments should be treated symmetrically.

Norton (2000) outlined three conditions that must be met before effective parliamentary reform may proceed. The first necessary condition is a window of opportunity in which reform can take place. Second, there has to be a coherent reform agenda in place that provides a package behind which MPs might organise. Third, leadership must exist to exploit the window of opportunity and promote the reform agenda. In the summer of 1998, Charter 88 complained of the ‘disappointingly slow’ pace of reform and the ‘extremely cautious’ nature of the Modernisation Committee's recommendations. The Liaison Committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Terence Higgins, used its 1997 report on the work of the select committees as an opportunity to explore the issues in greater depth. This chapter examines effectiveness in the House of Commons since 1997, focusing on various reports prepared by the Liaison Committee, the Commission to Strengthen Parliament, and the Hansard Society Commission on Parliamentary Scrutiny. It also discusses the support of the Labour Party led by Robin Cook to institute reforms in the House of Commons.

This chapter outlines the House of Lords reform since 1997 and the role of the Labour Party government in the reform agenda. It employs historical institutional theory to analyse the events, as well as the language of the attitudinal and contextual approaches in order to understand what did and did not happen. The attitudinal approach, while setting out the conditions required for parliamentary reform to succeed, also places a great deal of emphasis on the presence of political will, which the contextual approach indicates will is often lacking because of the way that institutional norms and values structure political life at Westminster, and shape the logic of appropriateness used by MPs to determine their goals and actions. The chapter also discusses New Labour's commitment to Lords reform, the House of Lords Bill and the amendment proposed by former Speaker of the Commons Bernard Weatherill, the creation of the Royal Commission on Reform of the House of Lords in February 1999, window of opportunity and political leadership, and the creation of the Joint Committee on House of Lords reform in 2002.

This chapter provides insights into the analytical frameworks explaining the feedback effects triggered by the EU intervention in child rights in Romania, and the institutionalisation of this policy area at the EU level. Kingdon’s (1984) model of multiple streams coupling accounts for agenda-setting processes, via policy entrepreneurship, which led to the emergence of an EU child rights policy as part of EU internal policy. It is argued, therefore, that policy feedback occurred due to the opening of a window of opportunity which allowed EU entrepreneurs to push certain human rights issues, such as children’s rights, high up on the EU’s policy agenda. In line with the Europeanization scholarship, it is claimed that the EU has started to import its own EU-topia, which was initially intended only for external consumption. Historical institutionalist elements, such as path-dependency, lock-ins, institutional development and self-reinforcing institutions, are employed to explain the feedback effects on the EU enlargement policy. Path-dependency and lock-ins illustrate how and why the protection of the rights of the child is now an entrenched EU accession condition, which was initially developed in relation to Romania’s accession agenda.

Explores how, in the context of drought, the parties were able to move From Litigation to Cooperation. After a serious diplomatic confrontation and ensuing lawsuit in which both countries ended up worse off than before, leaders on both sides of the border set out to frame a new mandate. With this new approach, the two sides sought to redefine their relations on the Colorado River and begin negotiations from a constructive, mutual gains mindset. Turning Crisis into Opportunity examines the ways in which the two sides seized a critical window of opportunity to move the negotiations forward following the devastating 2010 earthquake in Mexico’s Mexicali Valley, which weakened the alternatives of several domestic constituencies in Mexico who were opposed to a cooperative process with the U.S. No Negotiation without Representation explains how the U.S. was able to break the traditional diplomatic protocol to allow the seven U.S. states that own the rights to the Colorado River water to be appropriately represented and have a seat at the negotiating table. Involved for the first time as co-sovereigns with the U.S. and Mexican federal authorities, the contributions of the Upper Basin and Lower Basin states were critical to shaping an implementable agreement.

Knowledge-based theories of the firm have inspired a rich literature on the search, transfer and integration of knowledge in advanced economies and their firms. This chapter builds on Carlile’s analysis of three types of knowledge boundaries to analyse an important new empirical subject: the efforts of firms in emerging economies to acquire and integrate the knowledge needed to build innovation capabilities. The empirical analysis compares the different approaches of two firms in the automotive and white goods industries in Turkey. One of these firms first tried licensing before it started to develop independent innovation capabilities; the other firm started as a manufacturing joint venture with a multinational company and built innovation capabilities on this basis. The comparison shows the pragmatic, interest-related boundaries faced by local firms in emerging economies, and how such firms can use international windows of opportunity and strategic projects and recruitment to cross the boundaries to advanced external knowledge.

This chapter argues that the Labour Party under Ed Miliband tried but failed to renew social democracy. Ed Miliband developed an egalitarian agenda ideologically cogent and that was predicated on the reforms to capitalism and to the state. However, the timing of his leadership, his image problems, his inability to obtain the support of relevant political actors, the resilience of neoliberalism as the prevailing political paradigm led to a dilution of his agenda. As a result his attempt to renew social democracy was robbed of boldness, clarity, coherence and persuasiveness. This outcome partly explains Labour’s defeat at the 2015 general election. The chapter concludes by arguing that the future of the Labour Party relies on keeping some aspects of Milibandism.