双层博弈视角下美国投资者-国家争端解决机制的演进

美国投资者-国家争端解决机制的演进,经历了借鉴国际通行解决方案、强调投资者权益、在投资者和国家之间寻求平衡这三个阶段。美国投资者-国家争端解决机制是经过国际和国内两个层面的主要行为体博弈而形成的,不仅在一定程度上受到谈判国的制约,更受到美国国内利益集团、国会议员和非政府组织的影响。美国投资者-国家争端解决机制赋予投资者大量权益,是美国国内法在海外投资领域的体现,是美国投资和贸易政策的重要组成部分,服务于美国的全球经济战略,并在无形中给予美国政府和企业政治和经济领域的主动权。其发展趋势表现为在投资者和国家间寻找某种平衡。     

公益性非政府组织的组织能力及政府的作用——以德国环境标准化协会为例

公益性非政府组织的特征是为社会提供公益性公共物品，并因此履行着“为国家减负”的功能。德国环境标准化协会的经验表明，非政府组织履行这一功能的前提是克服它所面临的一系列组织问题，而这反过来又需要政府发挥“为协会减负”的作用。政府与公益性非政府组织之间的这种相互依存的关系对我国具有很强的借鉴意义。     

论当前中国和平维护南海权益的国际环境

2010年以来,在美国高调介入南海地区事务以及越南推动南海问题多边化与外部化政策的影响下,东盟对南海问题的影响日趋增强,主要南海权益争端国家对中国的态度趋向强硬。南海问题的发展趋势表明,南海争端矛盾的尖锐化、问题解决机制的多边化、区域外强国介入的常态化已经成为中国和平维护南海权益不得不面对的国际环境。而美国与东盟提出的多边谈判和尽早协商通过《南海地区行为准则》的建议短期内无益于问题的解决。从容易解决的争端下手,通过双边谈判首先解决某些具体争端,逐渐消解南海问题的复杂性是中国应对当前南海问题复杂国际因素、和平维护南海权益的必要之举。     

欧盟与国际海洋争端解决

得益于欧盟法和国际法的发展,欧盟作为一个国际组织处理国际海洋争端,无论是欧盟基础条约还是《联合国海洋法公约》都提供了明确的法律依据可以援引。采用和平方法解决国际争端,包括国际海洋争端,是欧盟一贯坚持的基本立场。总体上,欧盟在早期更习惯通过谈判协商解决国际争端,对强制程序持谨慎态度,20世纪90年代之后才开始逐渐推崇强制程序。但它对公约规定的海洋争端解决强制程序还是心存疑虑,相关言行时有矛盾之处。对于涉华东海、南海相关争端的解决,欧盟作为局外人的态度更加复杂、摇摆。在南海仲裁案期间,它对解决东海、南海相关争端的立场和主张受到政治因素的明显影响,言行表现出"站队"逻辑。在实践中,欧盟都是通过谈判协商来解决国际海洋争端。即使在强制程序启动之后,它仍然力求通过谈判协商解决争端并能达致这一目标。这完全符合公约优先适用当事方自行选择的和平方法以解决争端的规定,符合和平解决国际争端的基本精神。     

日本民间非营利组织的发展现状、法律环境及社会贡献

自20世纪90年代中期以来,随着日本政治和社会环境的改变,日本政府以“小政府、大社会”为目标,转变了社会管理职能,将很多职能移交给民间非营利组织,使这些组织进入快速发展阶段.尤其1998年《日本特定非营利活动促进法(NPO法)》的制定及颁布,从法律层面上规范了民间非营利组织的运行环境,使非营利组织所关注的社会领域不断拓宽,其社会贡献越来越重要.那些活跃在国外的民间非营利组织通过民间外交及社会教育活动提升了国际影响力,而在国内从事环境保护、社会福利的民间非营利组织则通过社会公益活动,增强了国民凝聚力.日本民间非营利组织的蓬勃发展越来越成为日本提升国家软实力的重要途径.     

非政府组织和印尼的政治改革

非政府组织经常被看作是充满活力的公民社会的基础。对于发展中国家的政治、社会发展来说,非政府组织至关重要。关于这一点,印尼这个东南亚地区的最大国家体会得相当深刻。本文将通过探讨苏哈托政府时期印尼非政府组织的生存发展,展示非政府组织在发展中国家政治发展中的杠杆作用。     

从美日联盟看钓鱼岛争端及我国的对策

近期，中日两国关于钓鱼岛主权归属的争端日益激烈，受到国际社会的广泛关注。事实上，钓鱼岛争端是美国为干涉东亚事务而留下的一个抓手，在当前的关日博弈中备具“纠结”，同时，钓鱼岛争端也被中美日三国看作进行战略试探的一个切入点，在西太平洋地区海洋权益之争问题中发挥着“风向标”的作用。对此，我应采取适当策略加以解决。     

非政府组织和对外文化交流——以英国、法国和德国的经验为例

2008年"3·14事件"促使一些学者开始反思和深入探讨国外非政府组织在对外文化交流、推动外部世界认识和了解中国、从而塑造国家"软实力"方面的地位和作用。而欧洲国家很早就开启了对外文化交流活动,并且取得了令人瞩目的成就,其中非常引人注意的一个现象就是非政府组织在这些国家的对外文化交流中发挥非常重要的作用。本文重点从非政府组织自身在文化交流领域的先行作用、政府给予非政府组织的强有力支持和非政府组织独立性的保持与发挥等三个方面探讨为什么非政府组织能够在欧洲国家对外文化交流中承担主要工作;列举了英国、法国和德国的非政府组织如何成为这些国家输出自己的价值观念、从事文化外交的"主力军"。     

NGO与东南亚政治社会转型

自20世纪80年代开始,NGO(非政府组织)在东南亚出现快速增长趋势.数量众多的NGO通过在扶贫开发、环境保护、女性、社会保障、人权、医疗卫生等领域的积极活动,提高和扩大了自身的社会地位和政治影响,成为促进东南亚多元社会形成,推动经济、社会和环境的全面协调发展和民主化进程的一支新生力量.     

美国政府、NGO、跨国公司在菲律宾绿色革命中的角色和作用

20世纪60年代后,为了解决日益出现的粮食危机等问题,在洛克菲勒基金会倡导、美国跨国公司(MNC)积极参与以及美国政府的支持下,菲律宾展开了一场以推广农业技术为目的的绿色革命,并取得了一定的效果.这场所谓的绿色革命,不仅仅是一场简单的农业技术领域的变革,也是战后美国实施其外交战略和跨国公司开拓国际市场的一种重要手段,体现了美国非政府组织(NGO)和跨国公司的活动与美国政府外交政策的协调与统一.     

‘Donors are not interested in reality’: the interplay between international donors and local NGOs in Kyrgyzstan's HIV/AIDS sector

This article explores the interplay between international donors and local NGOs in Kyrgyzstan's HIV/AIDS sector. It argues that donors have transposed ready-made policies without sufficient consideration of the local context and that NGOs have responded strategically, adapting their proposals and reports to the expectations of donors. This complex interplay has resulted in unintended consequences that have undermined an effective response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It has given rise to ‘virtual realities’ detached from developments on the ground. The funding system has also led to corruption and misappropriation of funds and the failure of NGOs to become sustainable. Largely bypassing the state in the allocation of funds, international donors have also undermined an already weak state.     

UNESCO’s Tangled Web of Preservation: Community,Heritage and Development in China

In the past two decades the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has broadened its focus on heritage from tangible sites to intangible cultural practices. It has also, according to supporters, advocated for the inclusion of local residents at heritage sites in management plans, emphasised the need to promote and protect human rights, and sought to balance preservation and conservation with what it terms “social and economic” needs. This article examines these claims via a case study on world heritage in China. It is suggested that UNESCO’s embrace of community involvement in heritage management is underpinned by a reliance on two fictive categories: an “international community” that agrees on heritage policies and a fictive homogeneous “local community” assumed to share the institutional values of UNESCO. This in turn reflects assumptions found at the centre of UNESCO’s cosmopolitan project going back to its establishment in 1948.     

The Changing Role of NGOs in Rural Chile After Democracy

Abstract — The article examines how NGOs in rural Chile operated during the dictatorship and how their role changed after the return of democracy. An NGO (OPDECH) in Southern Chile is used as a case study. During the Pinochet regime, NGOs maintained a critical distance from the government by creating a niche for opposition researchers and activists. They provided a possibility of economic survival for professionals whilst working on alternative proposals to address the socio-economic needs of the poor majority. External funding from international agencies provided much needed resources but created as well a culture of reliance and a clientelistic middle class of professionals. The NGO in Southern Chile became a nucleus of resistance and expertise on regional development by safekeeping democratic tradition and providing a range of solutions to local development problems. After the restoration of democratic government many professionals joined the government. NGOs exchanged their altruism for a more pragmatic, opportunistic and, in some cases, more efficient role as executors of government programmes. The case study in Southern Chile illustrates this trajectory well. After municipal elections a collaborative role with local government was sought by OPDECH that aimed to implement local initiatives as well as advise local and regional governments on environmental and developmental issues. Given the NGOs historical commitment to grassroots development, it remains to be seen what role they can play in supporting local government while forging a new role for themselves in a democratic context.     

Home-grown strategies for greater agency: reassessing the outcome of civil society strengthening in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan

This paper seeks to reassess the outcome of mainstream civil society promotion policies in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. While it agrees with critics that the distorting effects of funding relations have meant that the promised ‘grassroots citizen empowerment’ has not been achieved directly through NGOs, it does not agree that NGOs are therefore merely vehicles of the Western ideological agenda and international aid to the Kyrgyzstani population. It argues that the facilitation of international actors has opened up opportunities for individual NGO activists to pursue their own social and political development agendas. In recent years, some activists have begun to use these opportunities to develop strategies through which grassroots interests are represented to decision-makers, and citizens' abilities to represent their own interests are enhanced. The strategies adopted differ from the mainstream civil society model and have allowed some NGOs to function in a manner more relevant to the specific Kyrgyzstani context. This suggests that local Kyrgyzstani NGOs and activists should not all be written off as ‘artificial’ civil society, irrelevant to the dynamics of state–society relations.     

Private authority and disaster relief: The cases of post-tsunami Aceh and Nias

Abstract

This article explores the rise of private authority in globalized disaster relief scenarios by looking at the case of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Aceh and its neighboring region, Nias, after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The author places the growing strength and presence of NGOs within the larger context of weak, cash-strapped local governments under decentralization schemes promoted by neoliberal economic policies and argues that under such conditions, private actors such as NGOs are gaining a legitimacy of authority once reserved exclusively for the state. In Aceh after the tsunami, five hundred NGOs began operating relief and recovery efforts on the island with little consultation with local Acehnese government agencies and community organizations. The article concludes by arguing that the example of Aceh, in which public and private parallel systems of relief and recovery have been operating raises long-term issues of accountability for all parties involved.     

NGO networks in Central Asia and global civil society: potentials and limitations

Based on research carried out by INTRAC (International NGO Training & Research Centre) in 2006–2007 in four countries of Central Asia for Oxfam–Novib, the article investigates NGO networks and their international links in the context of current theory on civil society and global civil society. Three case studies of NGOs working in service delivery, community development and free media are examined to show the diversity of aims and the potential and challenges of networking in the region. Civil society advocacy at national and international levels is analysed with a fourth case study on the campaign conducted in Kyrgyzstan against joining the World Bank's Highly Indebted Poor Countries programme. This example shows a more radical, alternative mode of civil society activism. The article emphasizes the importance of national- and regional-level networking and poses the question of whether NGOs in Central Asia can shift from their current positions on the periphery of global movements and debates.     

企业外交参与:以在粤日本企业为例

传统意义上的外交只是中央政府之间的双边外交和各国政府委托的国际组织所进行的多边外交.在全球化加速发展的今天,个人、企业、非政府组织都不可避免地成为外交的参与者.广东作为中国改革开放的前沿,外国投资企业非常密集,他们不仅在经济战略上是中国改革开放实现现代化的有机组成部分,而且在政治外交上也是中国营造实现现代化的良好国际环境不可忽视的一部分.本文以珠三角日本企业参与外交为个案,分析外国企业应该如何参与外交,为促进国家间关系的良性循环发挥自己的作用,以及广东如何通过推动外国企业参与外交,为本省的现代化建设乃至整个中国的现代化建设营造良好的国际环境.     

Palestine’s Membership in the Commonwealth as a Contribution to a Lasting Peace in the Middle East

With the re-election of Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu for another four-year term as prime minister of Israel there is a real danger that the peace process has reached an irrevocable impasse. It is argued that bold moves must be considered by the international community to breathe life back into the peace process. To coax Netanyahu into negotiations real pressure must be brought to bear on his government to respect the international consensus on Palestinian statehood and to halt settlement activity in occupied territory. To coax the Palestinian leadership back into a negotiation process with Israel, membership in the Commonwealth should be considered as a stepping stone to membership in the United Nations, to be followed by Israel’s membership in the Commonwealth—but on condition that Israel agrees to abide by international law, and respect the international consensus on the two-state solution, completely freeze settlement activity, including in East Jerusalem, and on condition that Palestine agrees to enter into final status negotiations with Israel to conclude a peace treaty to resolve all remaining disputes.     

Issues of local ownership in Kosovo’s security sector

Local ownership represents an overarching concept in international development. However, its core principles have been occasionally neglected in the practice of state-building such as in the case of Kosovo. This paper explores relations between the international community and local actors in the process of Kosovo security sector development after 2008, when the country declared its independence. This article finds that externally-driven models were imposed in some phases of security sector development. The actions of the international community disregarded the local context and created distrust by the local actors. The study relies on extensive face-to-face interviews with relevant national and international stakeholders, a public opinion survey with a sample of 1102 respondents, focus group and personal observation.     

China’s Bargaining Strategies for a Peaceful Rise: Successes and Challenges

Applying bargaining theory of international conflicts, we examine the successes and challenges of China’s strategic choices in its ascent after the Cold War. We suggest that China needs to alleviate information and commitment problems in order to rise peacefully. Since 2008, China’s “peaceful rise” strategy has faced serious challenges because of its “assertive turn” in diplomacy. We argue that China has not alleviated or settled these two problems successfully because of its ambiguous “core interest” diplomacy and undecided attitude regarding multilateral institutions in resolving the maritime disputes. China should engage in rule-based, institution building, such as a security community between China and ASEAN, to reinforce its peaceful rise commitments.