Transboundary Harm in International Law: Lessons from the Trail Smelter Arbitration [Hardcover]

Rebecca M. Bratspies (Editor), Russell A. Miller (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 14, 2006 | ISBN-10: 0521856434 | ISBN-13: 978-0521856430

The Russian media are widely seen to be increasingly controlled by the government. Leaders buy up opposing television channels and pour money in as fast as it hemorrhages out. As a result, TV news has become narrower in scope and in the range of viewpoints which it reflects: leaders demand assimilation and shut down dissenting stations. Using original and extensive focus group research and new developments in cognitive theory, Ellen Mickiewicz unveils a profound mismatch between the complacent assumption of Russian leaders that the country will absorb their messages, and the viewers on the other side of the screen. This is the first book to reveal what the Russian audience really thinks of its news and the mental strategies they use to process it. The focus on ordinary people, rather than elites, makes a strong contribution to the study of post-communist societies and the individual's relationship to the media.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Television, Power, and the Public in Russia by Ellen Mickiewicz, a highly respected authority on the political role of television in Russia, provides surprising and significant insights into the gap separating the current Russian leadership from the Russian people."
-Zbigniew Brzezinski, Counselor and Trustee, Center for Strategic and International Studies

"This focus group based study of Russian television audiences presents a superb analysis of the many ways in which diverse life circumstances alter television's impact on viewers. It also provides fascinating insights into ordinary citizens' perceptions of life, politics, and the mass media in contemporary Russia, using U.S. news media and politics as a foil for comparison. This is essential reading for comparativists, political psychologists, and mass media scholars."
-Doris Graber, Department of Political Science, University of Illinois at Chicago

"A fascinating approach to current issues in post-Soviet television. Mickiewicz has an unparalleled range and depth of knowledge and is not afraid to use this to create a more personal approach. This is an important book that makes a significant contribution toward understanding the particular pathologies of the broadcast sphere in Russia through the study of the audience."
-Sarah Oates, Department of Politics, University of Glasgow

"Ellen Mickiewicz [...] yesterday was one of the most highly regarded American Sovietologists; now [she is] the greatest authority in the field of the study and analysis of Russian mass media. [...] Liberty, even when it is limited always has a revolutionary potential. More so if the power ignores the impact as emerges from the fine research of [this] American political scientist."
-Piero Ostellino, Editor-in-Chief, Corriere della Sera

Book Description

Using the Trail Smelter Arbitration, one of the most cited cases in international environmental law, this book explores the changing nature of state responses to transboundary harm. Taking a critical approach, the book examines the arbitration's influence on international law generally, and international environmental law specifically.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (August 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521856434
• ISBN-13: 978-0521856430
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,683,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)