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In December 2005, Evo Morales Ayma arises to the government as candidate of The Movement Toward Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP). This fact marked the beginning of the change process. Over a million of people from Bolivia were released from their abject poverty. To understand the transformations which have been taken place in this Andean country, it is essential to analyze the movement to socialism. The MAS triumphed at the polls, as a result of popular discontent caused by the failure of the neoliberal system and the discrediting of the traditional parties in Bolivia. This singular political party shows, an unprecedented experience, the mode of political participation through the concept of “political instrument” which questions the classic party structures. Different trends and organizations which conform the indigenous native farm block coexist within the MAS. Its interaction has determined the rhythm and the development of the Bolivian process in the last ten years.

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The paper analyses how quality of ethical decision-making in government space-flight organisations affects the effectiveness of a national astro policy in terms of the “New Space Race”. The Post-Cold War global arena becomes a battlefield crowded with the aspiring space nations — such as Russia, China, India, Iran, Canada, Japan and EU — who are making progress toward equalizing the United States’ supremacy in exploring and controlling outer space. While technological, financial and security challenges are largely discussed, the paper brings attention to vital importance of sound managing and decision-making for an effective space policy. Space flights are among the most demanding endeavours of mankind, with multi-sectoral networking of actors and highly complex work specialisation. The analysis focuses on the case studies of tragic accidents of the space shuttles Columbia and Challenger to support the thesis that poor ethical reasoning can easily end in the loss of life and enormous waste of resources, which in the long run threat to seriously undermine feasibility of further development of national space programmes. The authors conclude that if the U.S. government is to ultimately win the “New Space Race” it has to transform organisational culture in public spaceflight organisations in a way that recognise moral integrity as a fundamental prerequisite for the successful implementation of manned space-flight programmes.

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Sects are cloistered indoctrinated groups with strict behavioral rules that are immaculately following certain (pseudo-religious, political, economic, criminal or other destructive) ideologies. They do not have to be religious, and need not be destructive. Their activities are usually camouflaged behind the associations or organizations that have been registered for the performance of the legal and legitimate activities. However, destructive sects are usually unregistered associations that are, among others, endangering safety of their followers, safety of people in their surroundings, including the security of states and international regions. In this regard, the paper reviews the phenomenology of sect activities and their skillfully hiding behind the corpus of religious freedom and the freedom of association of citizens.

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Seventy years after the establishment, organization of the United Nations is in serious crisis. Numbers of reform demands have increased. The UN Charter has an important deficiency- veto power of Security Council permanent members violates the principle of sovereign equality of states. Having in mind authorizations of the Security Council, its reform is one of the first associations when thinking on the reform of the United Nations. The links and common functions of the General Assembly and the Security Council could be one of the directions of the United Nations reform. It is necessary to establish balance within the powers of these two bodies, and give essentially significant and concrete powers to the General Assembly.

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In this analysis we examine the way energy policy is being regulated and implemented under the rules of the Lisbon Treaty. We observe all the chapters which directly or indirectly define and determine competences in this field or may have influence on the energy policy application in practice. For this reason, other policy spheres are also object of this analysis, namely those where competences are mutually overlapping, in order to determine whether this can complicate or sometimes even sacrifice the substantial goals of the energy policy. Our key target is to determine how such a division of competences influences the decision making processes and behaviour of relevant EU institutions in the field of energy policy. In the end, collected answers will help us to find out whether such a revised division may help or hinder the concept of unique energy policy of EU and its practical implementation in the Energy Union project.

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The economic history of Hong Kong development shows that combining two seemingly unmatchable business traditions - British and Chinese (Western and Eastern), has resulted in one of the most successful economic developments in history. The first section of the paper deals with economic development of Hong Kong during the British rule while the second one addresses its development during the period from ‘return’ to China to the present day. It also looks into how the British colonial rule affected the Chinese system of business practice and how it complied with British practices. This is followed by the analysis of how Hong Kong business practice system changed during the period after the return to China. The last part is dedicated to proving the hypothesis that combining two business practices and two business cultures results in a creation of a new business culture which has the characteristics of both Chinese and British business cultures.

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This article focuses on the relations among business strategies and quality of work life of employees. Study is conducted in a small national export-led transitional economy. We started with the proposition that it is important to understand how managers adopt different employment policies as a response to intense competition pressure in globalized production process. This analysis explored how Slovene firms are inserted in Global Value Chains (GVCs) and what this has to do with the quality of work life of employees. Analysis showed that business strategy is linked to employee relations and quality of work life (QWL).

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The establishment and manner of managing free zones represent the very focus of government development policies of the majority of countries participating in the international trade. Being an efficient solution for a number of complex economic problems at country level, especially in the areas of foreign trade, foreign debt, social policy, demographic policy, foreign exchange operations, economic development of underdeveloped regions, etc., the concept of a free export processing zone (free zone) has become an internationally recognised, often used and more efficient instrument relative to a number of standard instruments of government development policy. Moreover, free zones have shown special potential as an important instrument for export promotion. Improved connectivity of countries via free zones does not only add to the integration of such areas and make impact on their mutual economic and political relations, but also makes more solid basis for improved models of economic and political relations with their partners outside such communities. Various government political and economic goals result in various categories of free zones.