Armed Struggle,Peace Process and Parliamentarism: James Connolly and the Changing Politics of Provisional Republicanism

Since 1998 Sinn Féin has moved from supporting an armed campaign to full participation in the electoral politics of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In so doing they have had to moderate much of their rhetoric in regard to revolution and armed struggle. They have not, however, jettisoned the attachment to one of their key iconic figures, James Connolly. The retention of Connolly as a central figure in the Provisionals’ political discourse presents an opportunity to use him to examine both continuity and change in the doctrine of Ireland's most prominent republican faction.     

Nationalism, Civil Society, and the Prospects for Freedom in Eastern Europe

The events of 1989 in Eastern Europe represented an alliance between two dynamics: anti-Soviet and anti-communist. Once the "double rejective" task of the revolution was complete, these dynamics began to diverge as the space created for freedom filled with the competing demands of nationalism and civil society. Building freedom in Eastern Europe today is associated with overcoming the economic and social dislocation inherited from communism and developing the institutions and attitudes required for a civil society. But it is confronted above all by the attractions of a tribal nationalism which threaten the entire project of creating an open society.     

自由:一个尚未结束的美国故事--读埃里克·方纳的《美国自由的故事》

自从独立时期帕特里克·亨利呼出不自由,毋宁死的口号,自由就成了美国的灵魂.纵观美国历史上的国会辩论、总统演说、法院判例、外交文件、各种社会运动和改革的主张、乃至当今反政府的白人民兵组织的网页,自由一词无处不在.即便在日常生活中,自由也与美国人形影不离:中小学生每日必宣誓效忠自由,体育比赛前观众必高唱国歌赞颂自由之疆,大小美元硬币上均刻有自由(liberty),以自由为名的地名遍布全国.①至少从表面上来看,美国人对自由的钟爱已经达到了一种近似于偏执的程度.然而,当自由一词无所不能、无所不为、无人不用的时候,它也就失去了公认的定义,变成了一个令人困惑的概念.在众多的自由语言中,到底什么是真正的美国自由,也因而成为一个极负挑战意味的问题.正因为如此,埃里克·方纳(Eric Foner)的近作《美国自由的故事》(以下简称《自由故事》)便具有了格外重要的意义.     

Freedom of Expression in South Korea

South Korea is widely considered a consolidated democracy, but there is growing evidence that freedom of expression in South Korea has lagged behind that of comparable Asian countries and that it has deteriorated since 2008. Freedom House downgraded South Korea’s “freedom of the press” status from “free” to “partly free” in 2010 and other international reports also raised concerns on the status of freedom of expression in the country. We identify five problems that have contributed to the deterioration in South Korea’s rankings with respect to civil liberties: abuse of criminal defamation, the rules governing election campaigns, national security limitations on free speech, restrictions related to the internet and partisan use of state power to control the media. We close by considering possible explanations of the phenomenon, ranging from more distant cultural factors and the influence of the Japanese legal systems through the enduring impact of the Cold War. However, the main problems appear political. Governments on both the political right and left have placed limits on freedom of expression in order to contain political opposition, and constitutional, legal and political checks have proven insufficient to stop them.     

For Your Freedom and Ours: The Polish Question in Wilson's Peace Initiatives, 1916 - 1917

The first eighteen months of the Great War witnessed an unprecedented awakening of interest in the Polish Question, when worldwide attention was drawn to the prolonged devastation of the Polish territories. Thereafter, a steady increase in media comment and criticism, highlighting Poland's plight, fostered public indignation at the continual stalling of humanitarian relief efforts for Polish refugees. Such burgeoning popular sentiment focused wider political attention upon a growing movement for recognition of Polish claims to independence. This particularly proved to be the case for Woodrow Wilson and his administration's budding interest in Poland. Subsequently, nowhere did the Polish Question assume a greater role in diplomatic efforts to mediate for peace than in America, and at no time more than during the year preceding the President's hesitant decision to intervene in hostilities.     

The Seed of Freedom: Regional Security and the Colombo Plan

Established in 1950, the Colombo Plan was a comprehensive program of foreign aid provided to South East Asian nations. In this article I argue that the Colombo Plan had a much broader political and cultural agenda, and cannot be understood from a humanitarian perspective alone. By exploring some of the cultural, ideological and political underpinnings of the scheme I illustrate that, as part of a comprehensive foreign policy, it is best understood as being motivated by international security priorities and the need to ally domestic cultural concerns. Although the Colombo Plan was inherently defensive, it also proved to be something of a progressive force which prepared the ground for a much closer relationship with (and within) the Southeast Asian region.     

"亚洲新闻观"与部分东盟国家新闻自由的发展历程

"亚洲价值观"是新加坡前领导人李光耀等人为抵制西方意识形态入侵亚洲国家而提出的,其核心是强调团结与合作、和谐与顺从.在此原则下,新闻媒体被要求与政府保持一致立场,促进民族和睦,此即所谓的"亚洲新闻观".金融危机后,东盟一些国家执政党的合法性受到前所未有的挑战,各国领导人已经意识到,惟有建立稳定的民主体制才能确保国家的长治久安.各国在政治改革中,都将民主建设纳入了政治现代化的进程,新闻自由得到了法律上的保护,媒介内容及媒介管理方面发生了逆转式的变化.