Greece in the new Balkans: A neo‐realist approach

Official commitment to chemical disarmament in Russia appears to have signalled the end of chemical weapons development and production and has been accompanied by far‐reaching defence cuts, conversion of military‐related chemicals capabilities and government support for international nonproliferation norms. Although it appears unlikely that a large‐scale chemical weapons capability has been preserved, the industrial and scientific base for such a programme still exists and there is support for retaining a chemical weapons option among some groups in the Russian security establishment. Concern also persists about the transparency of chemical demilitarization due to secrecy in the defence establishment; questions about a Soviet/Russian binary CW programme, the existence of which is suggested by published archival documents but which is still officially denied, remain unanswered.     

China in the global migration order—historical perspectives and new trends

China has a long history of internal and international migration and has a significant number of diasporas around the globe. From being predominately a country of emmigration, China has now witnessed growing rates of return migration, due to its rising economic status in the world. This article seeks to provide a historical review of international migration from China in different periods, from ancient China to after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It also examines the recent trends of new waves of Chinese migration such as student migration to Europe and touches on issues of government policy and the role of overseas diasporas in the course of Chinese history. By analysing a wide range of data, including published statistics and published papers, this paper illustrates the evolution of changing patterns of international migration from China and its impact for China on the rest of the world.     

Recrafting the national imaginary and the new “vanguardism”

An opportunity exists to assess the limitations in building long-term peace in post-conflict states, particularly given the extent to which negotiated settlements incorporate demands for democratic mechanisms. By assessing how post-conflict governments construct new majorities through policy tools as well as assessing how they are constrained by the structural realities of negotiated settlements, we gain some purchase on the reasons why some post-conflict state projects succeed while others fail. This has potentially transformative implications for our understanding of how social contracts, and their attendant issues of consent, dissent, and legitimacy, operate in the modern world and the ways they impact such critical discussions as democratic transition, post-conflict reconciliation, and nation-building. We use the case of post-apartheid South Africa to analyse how post-conflict states are limited in terms of forging social contracts among citizens and between citizens and governments. Of specific interest is the way that post-conflict social contracting compels nation-builders to eschew the uncertainties of viable electoral democracy in favour of dominant party regimes or electoral authoritarianism. We suggest that this tension is less a result of pecuniary interest on the part of nation-builders and more a consequence of the imperfections of the modern social contracting process.     

Japan's cautious new activism in the Middle East: a qualitative change or more of the same?

This article analyses Japanese policy towards the Middle Eastin the post-Cold War era. The article argues that Japanese policyhas begun to move beyond the reactive diplomacy of the ColdWar years. The focus of this new approach has been Japan's growingcontribution to ‘soft’ security in the region. However,Japan retains a tendency to focus on its narrow interests withoutfully taking into account the broader strategic consequencesof its policies. Yet, in order to protect its overall interestsin the region, Japan needs to recognize the diminishing utilityof this ‘free rider’ approach and adopt a more activerole regarding ‘hard’ security issues. Even allowingfor the domestic constraints on Japanese policy, there is muchJapan can do in this regard, especially in coordination withthe US.     

China’s direct investment in the European Union: a new regulatory challenge?

While China is fast becoming an important outward direct investor, its companies are showing an increasing interest to locate in Europe and the European Union (EU). It has been suggested that this can partly be explained by the more lenient attitude of the European countries compared to the US, where some acquisitions were abandoned when they ran into political opposition based on security concerns. Yet, also in Europe, the media follow rather closely each new Chinese entry, and certain politicians have started to criticise the take-over of technology-oriented companies, especially by Chinese state-owned firms. Against the background of a very open foreign direct investment (FDI) policy as measured by OECD FDI Restrictiveness Index for the EU and the individual countries, an overview is given of the pre- and post-establishment obstacles to direct foreign investment. Also, the EU policy measures that directly or indirectly deal with incoming direct investment are discussed. Within the context of the EU competition policy and the merger regulation, the EU Commission has cleared five cases of take-over by Chinese state-owned enterprises. Although the Lisbon Treaty authorises the EU Commission to take charge of investment policy as part of the EU commercial policy, it will take time to realise this. If the announced negotiations about an investment treaty between China and the EU could work out the necessary balance, it would be an important step in achieving more reciprocity between their respective investment regimes.     

Evaluating authorial ‘objectivity’ and ‘stancetaking’ in reporting the making of a new constitution in Zimbabwean newspapers

ABSTRACT

Zimbabwe held ‘fresh’ elections on July 31, 2013 under a new constitution. This was in line with the provisions of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), a political power-sharing compromise signed between Zimbabwe's three main political parties, following the heavily disputed 2008 harmonised presidential and parliamentary elections. The GPA established in Zimbabwe a Government of National Unity (GNU). On the road to making a new constitution, political differences and party politicking always seemed to take precedence over national interest. This political polarity in Zimbabwe resulted in the heavy polarity of the media, especially along political ideological grounds. The new constitution-making process and all its problems received heavy coverage in almost all national newspapers. This article analyses the discourse-linguistic notion of ‘objectivity’ in ‘hard’ news reports on the new constitution-making process by comparing the textuality of ‘hard’ news reports from two Zimbabwean national daily newspapers: the government-owned and controlled Herald and the privately owned Newsday. Focusing on how language and linguistic resources are used evaluatively in ways that betray authorial attitudes and bias in news reporting, the article examines how the news reports uphold or flout the ‘objectivity’ ideal as explicated through the ‘reporter voice’ configuration, and within Appraisal Theory.     

The new generation of international investment agreements: recent developments in the Asia–Pacific region

Over the past decade, a number of countries in the Asia Pacific region have concluded a new generation of FTAs that liberalise trade in goods and services while also containing investment protection provisions. This paper provides an overview of the recent trends giving special attention to the impact of Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) cases which has influenced the evolution of investment rule-making over the last decade. The paper asserts that investment disputes have influenced the refinement of the provisions of the new generation of investment agreements as well as the inclusion of a series of procedural and substantive innovations in these agreements. *Ambassador of Costa Rica to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg. This paper was written on the basis of several research projects in which the author participated, before assuming the current position with the Costa Rican government, as consultant with UNCTAD. However, the opinions and views expressed in this paper do not represent the position of UNCTAD, nor the Government of Costa Rica and fully fall under responsibility of the author.

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Managing great powers in the post-Cold War world: old rules new game? The case of the global war on terror

This article investigates the impact of the Global War on Terror (GWoT) on the primary institution of great power management. To this end, it first identifies a misalignment between the new post-Cold War social reality and the capacity of some traditional norms of great power management to mediate this reality. Having established and described this environment of normative uncertainty, I then probe how the GWoT propels the consolidation of new identities and norms of great power management in interstate society. I argue that since the beginning of the GWoT the primary institution of great power management has institutionalized new norms to address transnational violence within its processes. At the same time, as hard balancing amongst great powers is becoming increasingly obsolete, two distinct social structures have been constructed with the GWoT: one that privileges an inequitable social structure of friends/rivals amongst states; and another that shapes a social structure of enemies with regard to terrorist–state relations. In this process, the capacity of managing transnational violence globally has increasingly become one of the central constitutive elements of being a great power. I conclude by demonstrating how the GWoT has acted as a subtle ‘bargaining bid’ in the process of organizing the current social meaning of polarity and great power management amongst states. State practices under the GWoT have delineated, in a clearer form, underlying expectations about the pattern of interactions between the superpower and great powers. Consequently, the GWoT has exerted a symbolic and psychological impact over international society by institutionalizing not only a specific meaning of unipolarity but also further raising the threshold of what is acceptable behaviour on the part of the superpower within an interstate social structure of friends/rivals.     

Changes in the US National Security Council in the Trump Administration

The structure of the National Security Council(NSC)under Donald Trump has been tweaked only slightly on the basis of the previous administration’s"three tiers of committees"model,and without any breakthrough in reform.However,the NSC also faces a series of new changes and features,including instability caused by changes in the President’s entourage,and dysfunction induced by the decreased number of formal meetings.These changes may be attributed principally to the impact of Trump’s governing style,management style and informal decision-making process.The NSC’s role in the decision-making system varies according to the frequent changes in National Security Advisor.In the 70 plus year history of the NSC,it is evident that its development direction is determined by structural changes in the international pattern,US national security challenges and the transfer of power within the decision-making system.How the President positions and utilizes the NSC ultimately determines the structure and efficiency of the mechanism.     

The dragon in the room: the China factor in the development of US–India ties in the Cold War

ABSTRACT

In recent years, as China has continued to rise as an economic, political and military power, there has been increasing consideration of its role in shaping US–India relations over the last two decades. However, this article, considering the period 1949–1979, shows that American and Indian perceptions of and policy toward China shaped the US–India relationship even during the Cold War. In doing so, the article seeks not just to bring China back into the story of past US–India relations, but also shed light on the China–India–US triangle of today and of tomorrow.     

A new turn to authoritarian Rule in Russia?

Many observers have pointed to the increasingly authoritarian nature of President Putin's regime in Russia. This apparent turn away from democracy has generally been attributed either to Russian political culture or to the security background of Putin himself and many of those he has brought to office. However, analysis of the democratization literature suggests that the sources of Russia's authoritarianism may lie in the nature of the initial transition from Soviet rule, and in particular the way in which elites were able to act with significant independence from civil society forces because of the weakness of such forces. This weakness enabled successive elites led by Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin to construct a political system in which popularly based involvement and participation were severely restricted. In this sense, Putin is merely building on what went before, not changing the regime's basic trajectory.     

The Sino-Japan Friendship in Full Blossom on the Oasis in the Desert

AttheinvitationofCAFIU,thethree-memberdele-gationheadedbyMr.Tsurukenji,PresidentoftheBerupokaiofJapanandMr.KotamaShiichi,Direc-toroftheBeijingOfficeoftheJapanInternationalCreditCompany(JCB)visitedXinjiangAutonomousRegionfromAugust17to25.Theretheyattendedtheceremonyofthedonationofthefar-distanceed-ucationfacilitiesfortheCentralSchooloftheHe-dongxinTowninTumushukeCity.Duringtheirstaythere,Mr.LiuDefeng,MayoroftheTumushukemetwiththedelegation,andMr.WuJindong,SecretaryofthePartyCom…     

China, Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: blessing or curse for new regionalism in Central Asia?

This paper discusses China and Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Organisation (SCO), a Eurasian regional organisation established in 2001 and consisting of China, Russia and the four Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. I argue that while the two largest members of the SCO are essential to the organisation, they at the same time prevent the SCO from becoming a more comprehensive regional organisation. Moreover, the actions and presence of China and Russia in Central Asia, together with inherently inauspicious characteristics of the region when compared to the post-Cold War new regionalist thinking, hinder the overall regionalisation in the area. However, regionalisation, hopefully in time leading to greater regional cooperation in Central Asia, is very much in the interests of Europe and the European Union (EU) as a potential peaceful way forward in the development of the region.     

Invest in Guizhou,Invest in the Future

Guizhou Province is a place rich in recourses with great development potential. Due to various reasons, Guizhou is out of people's knowledge scope for a long time. Moreover, its unique economic advantages and development potential are not known. Actually, Guizhou enjoys lots of favorable conditions, some of them are unique to itself compared with other provinces. The following is some of the details.Firstly, Guizhou has a very special location. In many people's mind, Guizhou is a place far …     

Party “capacity” in new democracies: how executive format affects the recruitment of presidents and prime ministers

Scholars and practitioners express concern that parties in “third wave” democracies are poorly developed, compared to parties in older democracies. We suggest that parties vary in their organizational “capacity”, focusing on parties' ability to select trustworthy executive agents. Capacity is higher where parties can vet potential executive talent by observing future leaders over time in the legislature – an increasingly available option as democracy matures. The key distinction in parties' use of this option lies in the delegation structure between a party and the executive. Parliamentary systems offer a clear line of delegation, which parties control. In presidential systems, parties must recruit executive candidates who can win a popular election, requiring characteristics that may not be well correlated with those that make them good party agents. As parliamentary democracy matures, we find a steady increase in prime ministers' average length of prior legislative service. For presidents, there is significantly weaker growth in prior legislative service. We also theorize about and investigate patterns in semi-presidential democracies. Our findings suggest that the institutional format of the executive is more important for party capacity in new democracies than the era in which a democracy was born.     

China's Role in the World

In essence, two epoch-making events are reshaping the world order today: thecollapse of the old Soviet bloc and the rise of Asia-Pacific, of which China's eco-nomic takeoff constitutes an important part. While the former brought an end tothe East-West Cold War, the latter is making tremendous contributions towards     

China''''s Role in the World

China s role in the world has become an important topic of dis-cussion among international relations experts.Debate over theissue has persisted in the Chinese academic community sincethe mid-90s,①and to this day studies continue to delve deeper.Revi-tali…     

Wishes in the New Century

Tobeginwith,I'dliketocongratulateonthesuccessofthe9thCouncilMeetingofCAFIU。The9thCouncilMeetingofCAFIUisthefirstMeetinginthenewcentury.Experiencingthetestofdifficultiesandhardshipsofthe20thcentury,thehumansocietyhasbecomemoremature,moreadvancedandmorecivilized.Peaceanddevelop-mentremainthemainthemesoftheera.Moreandmorecountriesandpeoplehavereachedthecon-sensusthatdialoguebasedonequalityandcoop-erationofmutualbenefitareeffectiveapproachesforsolutionofinternationaldisputesandbuildingandd…     

Terrorist learning in context – the case of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb

ABSTRACT

It is astonishing how many researchers adopt a counterterrorism agenda and suggest researching terrorist learning in order to shape security countermeasures. Posing different questions would lead to different answers. One such question would be, “What makes terrorist learning different?” Terrorist groups operate clandestinely, which means the environment in which they learn is different. This paper investigates the context in which Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has learned. Thus, a qualitative case study analysis of the influence of meso- and macro-level factors on AQIM’s tactical and strategic patterns between 1999 and 2013 will shed light on terrorist learning. Meso-level influences are conceptualised as cooperation and ultimate merging with Al Qaeda, and macro-level influences as government action. The result is puzzling: AQIM has learned tactically from Al Qaeda and strategically from counterterrorism. This is puzzling because scholars commonly question whether it is possible to learn under pressure. Nevertheless, AQIM’s learning has been more profound when faced with pressure than when cooperating voluntarily. The sustainable answer to the question of the political implication thereof is not how to boost counterterrorism measures but how to redefine them. If what is different about terrorist learning is above all the context, we need to question the context.     

The UN factor in the “regional power role” and the Turkish case in the 2000s

This article aims to explore the relationship between regional powers and the United Nations (UN) with respect to regional issues by examining UN-Turkish ties concerning the Middle East during the 2000s. Bidding for a leading regional role in the Middle East, especially in the 2000s, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in Turkey has increasingly used international platforms, including the UN, to gain a significant regional position in the Middle East. Turkey’s relationship with the UN in this respect could provide a relevant example to explore multilateralism and multilateral instruments in Turkey’s perceived regional power role during the last decade. The term “regional power” will be used as a conceptual framework to explore Turkey’s behavioural pattern with respect to the UN in view of the regional-global linkage, as global activism is nearly a standard behaviour of any state with a leading regional power role/claim. In view of this, the period during which Turkey held a temporary seat on the UN Security Council between 2009 and 2010 will be given particular attention in order to identify any significant link or at least any tentative correlations between Turkey’s then-closer involvement in the UN and its regional power role/claim in the Middle East. Moreover, fluctuations recorded in Turkey’s relations with the UN with respect to the Middle East during the last decade will be taken into account to examine a variety of challenges involved in any regional state’s relations with the UN regarding regional issues. Conducting a periodical analysis of Turkey-UN relations with respect to the Middle East could provide some provisional answers regarding both limitations and opportunities related to the future state of relations between any regional power and the most universal organization of world politics.