U.S. responses to the Tiananmen and Kwangju incidents: American relations with China and Korea

This article focuses upon American relations with China and Korea through a comparative exploration of U.S. responses to the 1989 Tiananmen and 1980 Kwangju incidents. The thesis contends that U.S. policy towards both countries was founded primarily upon security and economic interests and was often obscured by a lack of understanding of these nations’ internal affairs, history, and culture. Although these factors exist in U.S. relations with the two countries, the United States places greater importance upon China than Korea, a situation that does not necessarily benefit Americans.     

Economic Interdependence and Security on the Korean Peninsula: The Impact of North Korean Special Economic Zones

Abstract

Given North Korea’s desire to maintain nuclear weapons—and barring its unexpected collapse—how can the US and its allies establish and maintain a peaceful Northeast Asia? Current US policy alternatives do not offer an effective means for removing North Korean nuclear weapons without creating many more serious problems that jeopardize a stable future for Northeast Asia. However, by engaging in foreign direct investment (FDI) through North Korea’s special economic zones, the United States and other nations can engage North Koreans at all levels of society and build a future environment of cooperation and stability. Such a long-term engagement policy will prove more successful than isolation, sanctions, or military force, and will bolster regional actors’ efforts to develop additional stability-inducing policies.     

越南农业政策变革与粮食生产

越南政府的农业政策变革是影响二战后世界粮食格局的一个主要因素.1950年代中期开始的农业集体化运动不仅导致了生产率和稻米产量的下降,也使原来作为世界三大米市之一的越南在世界稻米出口舞台上变得无足轻重,甚至在有些年份没有任何影响.1980年代以后,越南逐渐将以前以合作社为主要生产单位的相对集中的农业生产方式变为以家庭为主要生产单位的相对分散的农业生产方式,从根本上解决了农民生产积极性不高的问题,结果大大提高了农业生产的效率和稻米的产量以及出口量,越南也一跃成为世界粮食舞台上一支举足轻重的力量.促使越南做出这一决定性改变的是越南普通农民在面对集体化运动时为维护和争取自己私利所做出的一些本能行为.他们以这些行为告诉越南党和政府他们喜欢什么,怎样做才是最有效率的.     

Korea-U.S. relations in the post-cold war world

As a way of conclusion, let me get back to where I started, which is my observation on the U.S. presidential election. Despite the scant attention paid to foreign policy issues, certain common threads seem to emerge in the foreign policy platforms of the major presidential candidates. One is the intention to stay engaged in world affairs in closer cooperation with allies and other friendly countries. Another is the importance given to promoting the values of liberal democracy and market economy in U.S. foreign policy. As a major ally of the United States, Korea cherishes its security and economic ties with the United States and intends to develop these ties even in the post-cold war era. Most importantly, Korea takes pride in the common political and economic values it shares with the United States. Whatever challenges might arise in the days to come, the shared values between Korea and the United states will serve us so that the two countries can continue to develop their relationships in the twenty-first century and beyond.     

Pseudo Change: China’s Strategic Calculations and Policy Toward North Korea after Pyongyang’s 4th Nuclear Test

After North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January 2016, China’s response was stern enough for certain China analysts to posit that the Middle Kingdom’s approach to its Cold War ally was changing. In reality, however, China’s imports from North Korea, especially coal, a crucial mineral for the North’s income but banned by United Nations (UN) Resolution 2270, did not decrease. Politically, China also strived to maintain mutual relations with North Korea. Based on its strategic and other cost-benefit calculations, Beijing needs to maintain economic and political ties with Pyongyang and thus has no incentive to seriously observe the U.N. resolution. In this context, China is expected to virtually repeat the gestures it made in the past in dealing with the North. Under these circumstances, sanctioning North Korea through China is not considered a viable option in tackling the nuclear issue; rather, the USA and South Korea should change their policy approach toward this problem.     

NORTH KOREA’S PERSPECTIVES IN ITS ARGUMENT FOR A PEACE TREATY

In recent years, North Korea’s military provocations have been making the headlines. Beyond its harsh actions and remarks, North Korea persistently mentions ‘peace’ through a demand for a ‘peace treaty’. This may sound paradoxical. However, the origin of the North Korean argument for a peace treaty dates back to the Korean War (1950–53). Since then, North Korea has continued to raise the issue of a peace treaty in a consistent manner and the arguments have displayed similar logic and terminology throughout. It is this consistency and similarity that this article examines: through reviewing North Korea’s original texts, this article attempts to undercover North Korea's perspectives reflected in its argument for a peace treaty.     

Trends in North Korean foreign policy

North Korea’s foreign policy track record in the post-cold war era is mixed. Most notable setbacks are the diplomatic normalization between the Soviet Union (now Russia) and South Korea; the reversal of its UN policy that paved the way for the simultaneous admission of the two Korean states to the world organization; and the diplomatic normalization between China and South Korea. On the credit side of Pyongyang’s diplomatic ledger are changes in its relations with Tokyo and Washington. While tangible results have yet to materialize, particularly in North Korea-Japan relations, the groundwork has nonetheless been laid for significant improvement. North Korea’s suspected nuclear weapons development program has played a major role in the unfolding of its relations with the United States. Conceptually, North Korean foreign policy can be explained in terms of its quest for three interrelated goals: security, legitimacy, and development. In the post-cold war era security appears to have emerged as the most important of the three goals. North Korea is at a crossroads. The choices it makes in foreign policy will determine not only the direction of its domestic policy but, ultimately, the survival of the regime itself. The external players in Seoul, Washington, Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, and Vienna (the IAEA) have varying degrees of leverage over Pyongyang’s policy as well.     

Food and agriculture problems for Japan and the World in the twenty-first century

This article examines the relationship between agriculture and food, agriculture and the environment and agriculture and trade, and discusses the various circumstances that affect the global supply of food. Japan's decline in international competitiveness and food self-sufficiency and the influence that may have on future food security is then discussed. The article concludes with recommendations for structural agricultural policy reform.     

The politics of Japan’s rice trade

This article analyzes both the domestic and international political factors that affect Japan’s rice trade policy. Based on the analysis, this article suggests that although Japan will open its rice market soon, the rice trade liberalization is likely to proceed very slowly and will be accompanied by a temporary surge of nontariff barriers. Domestically, a national coalition of producers, distributors, nationalists, politicians, bureaucrats, environmentalists, and consumers will delay and distort any rice trade liberalization program. Internationally, the pressure to further reduce rice trade barriers will decline due to the controversy over agricultural trade liberalization in the GATT negotiation, the lack of significant political pressure by politicians and interest groups within the United States, and Japan’s record of trade liberalization, especially in agricultural trade. He is the author ofInstitutions and Global Competitiveness (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994).     

特朗普时期美朝关系变化轨迹与未来走向

特朗普就任美国总统以来,美朝关系经历了对抗与危机时期、缓和与蜜月时期以及僵持时期三个阶段。在对抗与危机时期,美国对朝采取经济制裁、军事演习等极限施压举措;在缓和与蜜月时期,美国对朝采取首脑峰会、工作磋商的接触政策;在僵持时期,美国对朝"谈压并举"。新冠肺炎疫情也没有给美朝关系改善提供机会之窗。而贯穿始终的是美国对朝制裁毫不放松。特朗普本人及其幕僚对奥巴马政府的对朝政策十分不满,积极应对突飞猛进的朝鲜核导技术,掌握在东北亚地缘战略竞争中的主导权。这成为特朗普政府对朝政策的动因。特朗普政府对朝政策推动了无核化谈判的展开和朝鲜半岛局势的缓和,但美朝无核化谈判依然陷入梗阻。     

“朴定阳事件”与中朝之间的外交纷争

“朴定阳事件”是朝鲜政府试图摆脱清政府的干预，跻身于世界民族之林的一次外交行动。从1887年9月到1891年12月，中朝两国围绕着“朴定阳事件”，进行了长达4年之久的反复交涉。清政府在阻止朴定阳出国、遵守三条规则（“三端”）、惩治朴定阳三个环节上，作出了诸多努力。然而，所有这一切都化为泡影，最后只得以“不得委以重任”、“不准再充使臣之职”为台阶，尴尬收场。清政府在这场旷日持久交涉中的唯一收获，就是阻遏了朝鲜政府遣使驻扎欧洲的计划，勉强维护了宗主国的体面。该事件反映了朝鲜政府对清政府后期全面干预政策的不满与抗争，昭示了朝鲜谋求国家独立的坚定意志。它作为一杆标尺，验证了清政府对朝政策的失败。     

Cold War brotherhood contested: KATUSAs,slicky boys,American G.I.s,and the Status of Forces Agreement in post-armistice South Korea, 1954–1966

ABSTRACT

As the largest contingent of Americans in postwar South Korea, the G.I. best represented the United States’ Cold War objectives. Their deployment was an emblem of hard power containment, but the G.I. also embodied soft power integration, and through both, G.I.s helped to promote Pax Americana. This article focuses on the militarized masculinity of these ambassadors of America and their people-to-people diplomacy in South Korea between 1954 and 1966. These American G.I.s constructed their militarized masculinity vis-à-vis the Korean male Other, their “lesser” counterparts – the hapless houseboy, the inferior partner soldier, and the menacing slicky boy. At the same time, this liberal imperialism did not go uncontested. Violent imaginaries of the American G.I. from the borderlands were used by Koreans to demand a new bilateral framework – the Status of Forces Agreement in 1966 – to replace the outmoded wartime extraterritorial jurisdiction wielded by the American military after cessation of hostilities on the Korean peninsula in 1953. The militarized masculinity practiced in everyday encounters, thus, became the basis of a critique of American liberal imperialism in one of the United States closest Cold War “brother” nations.     

The existentialities of Ethiopian and Nigerian migrants in South Africa

Many studies on international migrations have concentrated on South-North migrations, causes and consequences of such migrations, sending and receiving countries and characteristics of migrants’ interfaces. there is much less scholarly work on South-South migrations, and academic and policy works on wider Africans’ migrations into South Africa are particularly scarce. even among the very few existing studies on South-South migrations, very few account for migrants’ existentialities in South Africa – a nation experiencing the largest scale migrations in Africa and strategising to cope with associated issues, especially among the hard-to-reach migrant communities. This article therefore, examines the ramifications of experiences and existences or existentialities of ethiopian and Nigerian immigrants in South Africa as crucial case study for the growth of pan-Africanism. the approach adopted for this article is transnational systematic interactions and observations in Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa. Secondary sources from unclassified documents, scholarly journals, reports and reliable Internet sources were utilised. The findings suggest the need for more robust, inclusive and dynamic social/migration policies in South Africa, as well as other southern nations experiencing high immigration. the argument is that the receiving nations of migrants must pay more attention to objective and comprehensive understanding of migrants and migrant communities to sustainably appropriate migration’s gains and to ameliorate unintended migration consequences.     

Obama’s Pivot to Asia and Its Failed Japan-South Korea Historical Reconciliation

Since the 1980s, Japan’s war memory has strained its relations with South Korea and China, to a less degree, the USA. Two of the thorniest issues are the comfort women and the US atomic bombing of Japan. Before the Obama administration announced its policy pivot to Asia in 2011, both Japanese and American leaders were reluctant to make amends for the past acts of their countries. However, in 2015, the Japanese conservative Prime Minister Abe reached an agreement with South Korea that “finally and irreversibly” resolved the comfort women issue, thus achieving a historic reconciliation between the two countries. In 2016, then President Obama visited Hiroshima to commemorate the atomic bomb victims. Then, in December 2016, the comfort women issue resurfaced in Japan and South Korea relations, indicating a failure of the reconciliation. Why did the USA change its policy on historical issues involving Japan? Why did Abe and the South Korean President Park Geun-hye settle the comfort women issue? Why did Obama visit Hiroshima? Why did the reconciliation fail? In this article, I propose a rational choice theory to answer these questions. Applying the proposed theory and relying on available evidence, I argue that the settlement of the comfort women issue and Obama’s visit to Hiroshima are important components of Obama’s pivot to Asia to balance China’s rise. The reconciliation failed mainly because it did not resolve the historical justice issue promoted by the human rights norms. I discuss some implications for reconciliation in Northeast Asia.     

The politics of Japan's free trade agreement

For a long time, the Japanese government showed awkward and indecisive attitudes towards trade policy. There was strong opposition from the two political actors — bureaucrats at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and politicians in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) — to market opening in the agricultural sector. This article highlights private interests and the public interest of MAFF bureaucrats and LDP politicians and examines how the evolving perception of the interests has influenced debates and the progress of free trade agreement (FTA) policy over agriculture. The central argument is that economic linkages and institutional cooperation in East Asia have changed basic interests of MAFF bureaucrats and LDP politicians, and such changes, then, have induced new moves in Japan's FTA policy towards countries of the region.     

RISE OF THE DISLOYAL: INCREASING RESENTMENT IN NORTH KOREA

Why has loyalty to the Kim Family Regime and the Worker’s Party diminished over the past twenty years despite a rise in the average standard of living, greater social mobility, and a regime policy of benign neglect towards marketization? Unthinkable in the Kim Il Sung era, the increase in expressions of resentment toward the North Korean authorities represents a shift in the ideology, behavior, and motivation of the population. Four critical factors have heightened tensions between state and society in North Korea, leading to a reduction in loyalty among the general population. The author considers the impact of labor mobilizations, the declining importance of party membership, the influence of foreign media, and the rise of rent seeking and extractive policies. While all play a role, it is important and possible to identify the primary cause. Extractive policies and rent-seeking position the regime and the people in a directly adversarial relationship. All tiers and agencies of the government have become complicit in efforts to siphon off profits, control market actors through crony capitalism, rent seek, over-regulate, and compete against private market actors, causing the residents to express frustration and resentment towards a government that does not have their interests at heart.     

Chinese eyes on Africa: Authoritarian flexibility versus democratic governance

This article seeks to shed more light on the consequences of China's aid to and trade with African states. It attempts to answer two questions: First, does China's ‘no-strings-attached’ policy in Africa constitute a challenge to Western aid paradigms? Second, is there as an emerging state-sponsored Chinese model of ‘effective governance’, guided by a south-south vision of mutuality, equality and reciprocity at work? It is argued that China's Africa watchers are cautious, not wanting to project any false hopes into bilateral relationships with African countries. In the light of China's reform experience, these analysts propose that indigenous contexts should determine what developmental model to choose. China is unwilling to force its experiences of ‘a market economy with Chinese characteristics’ upon other nations. The article concludes by arguing that, although not unproblematic, there is reason to be positive about China's higher profile in Africa.     

An obsessed task: Prospects, models, and impact of Korean reunification

Conclusion Korean reunification is unlikely to be achieved in the foreseeable future; any policy that rests on assumptions that North Korea will collapse easily or imminently is dangerous. Precedents found in the international experience of divided nations suggest that systems with conflicting ideologies cannot be merged peacefully into a lasting unitary governmental structure. In the case of Korea, unification by absorption on the basis of two ideological systems as part of a unitary governmental structure. The impact of Korean unification on the regional structure of international relations will be mixed and uncertain, but the achievement of Korean reunification need not affect the stability of the region in any significant way. When the time for unification is ripe, the four powers will have no choice but to accept such a process regardless of their own anxieties and adjust to the new situation pragmatically without regard to narrowly selfish interests.     

Understanding Egyptian capitalism through the Muslim Brotherhood’s eyes: the quest for an ‘Islamic economy’ in the 1940s and its ideological and social impact

The following article addresses the intricate issue of contemporary Islamist thought’s relation to the modern capitalist economy, with special reference to the Egyptian case. Islamist thinkers have been vigorously proclaiming for the past decades that the economic prosperity of some Muslim nations stems from the proper adoption of an ‘Islamic economy’, whereas the absence of such a model has been mainly responsible for the crises that other nations faced. At the same time, we witness that the Muslim nations are fully integrated into the global market system. Although their rulers boast about achieving social justice, by economically interpreting Islam, nonetheless poverty and horrific injustices are officially retained and morally accepted, thus, enabling the upper classes to keep performing their pious duties in the name of God. In this regard, it seems that capitalism and piety are intertwined: the first justifies the necessity of the second, while the second humanizes the brutal impact of the first. By referring to the historical example of the Muslim Brothers in pre-socialist Egypt, the article tends to show under which circumstances was capitalism’s relation to religious piety conceptualized in Islamist thought and literature, in addition to the main social, organizational and ideological outcomes of this conceptualization.     

The Problem of Macroeconomic Policy Crossroads:Explaining the Economic Policy Paradox of Switzerland and Japan in the 1990s

The 1990s, which can be characterized as a decade of disinflationary growth and austerity policies for most developed market democracies, was the decade of stagnant growth and policy complacency for Switzerland and Japan. Based on a framework that emphasizes the structure of policy choices available to governments at economic crossroads (or crisis), I show Switzerland and Japan are unique in that (a) disinflationary fundamentals spared the countries from speculative or inflationary pressure that required drastic responses and (b) the governments paradoxically maintained conservative economic policies despite room for expansion in order to continue policies based on the compromise between export and domestic sectors. The policy crossroads perspective stresses the importance of endogenous coalitions even in a world of economic globalization to explain concerted politics and conservative policies, and to assess the true impact of international finance on domestic changes.