Strategic Competition between the Major Powers against Changing Global Conditions

The world is experiencing complicated and profound changes of historical significance. How to regard and define this situation of immense change remains a question for the international community. Does it signify the formation of a new international strategic structure and world order? The author of this essay believes that there     

Problems in Dealing with the Global Climate Change

The question of climate change has been gaining heat in recent years. At the G8 summit in L＇Aquila, Italy in July, climate change was one of the focuses, and consensus was reached on the long-term target of emission cutting. The main emitting countries of the world will gather in Copenhagen of Denmark at the end of this year for global climate change negotiations. It is emerging as a new area for world powers to contend with each other.     

The Evolution and Prospects of the International Climate Change Regime

The United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Bali,Indonesia in December 2007, formally launching the post-Kyoto negotiations. After hard discussions, the parties finally agreed on the Bali Roadmap, promising to have further negotiations and maintain and improve the international climate change regime centered on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change （UNFCCC） and the Kyoto Protocol. However, the scientificity, rationality and effectiveness of the regime are constantly questioned. Very few countries can fulfill standard emissions. Neither Japan or Canada nor most European Union countries are able to fulfill the goals of emissions reduction on schedule. The question of how much responsibility the rapidly growing developing countries should undertake is increasingly standing out. Yet although the regime is greatly challenged, it is still the only relatively complete framework in terms of structure and functions that international climate cooperation can rely on. This regime will continue to play a fundamental and irreplaceable role in the more and more complicated international climate negotiations.     

Views on the Current International Situation and Future International Order

The contemporary world situation is undergoing complex and deep changes and at a conjuncture of major transformation and readjustment. Generally speaking, the international situation is stable and the common wish of the people of the world is to seek peace, development and cooperation. The international balance of power is developing in the direction favourable to world peace, leaving little possibility of major scourge of war that may disequilibrate world configuration. But the old problems affecting world tranquillity are still pending with cropping up of new problems and new conflicts. The relations among major world powers are undergoing delicate changes. There is uncertainty in regional conflicts and hot spot issues in the Middle East and Africa. Traditional security threats are intertwined with non-traditional ones.     

Disadvantaged Groups and Asymmetric Conflicts

The article metaphorizes the relationship of extra-system actors with the world＇s dominant international system as a ＂jostle-to-board- the-train Game Model,＂ and transplants the disadvantaged group theory of domestic sociology to international relations. On the basis of this the author proposes a loss-driven model to explain the self-destructive asymmetric conflicts in the world today. As the result of two climaxes in the jostle to board the train games, the author argues that three structural changes have occurred： centralization of power, institutionalization, and legitimization in the international system. These changes have created a ＂spindle-shaped＂ system structure with international disadvantaged groups taking a passive role. Although this structure is highly stable, channels for international disadvantaged groups to express their interests are blocked. As the net losers in the established system and order, international disadvantaged groups have no alternative but to follow the loss-driven model to confront the strong. Their action of ＂beating stone with eggs＂ is surely not capable of overthrowing the whole system, but creates a significant potential threat to world stability and harmony.     

New generation of leaders of the major world powers begin to operate the rudder

The period from mid-2007 to the end of 2008 is the peak time for the change of power in world major countries. Starting from the enthronement of French President Sarkozy and to the election of a new president for the United States this year, the one and a half years＇ time will witness the change of leaders in four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. A new generation of world leaders have come on stage and a fresh chapter of international politics has been opened.     

Food Security in the Context of Global Climate Change

The issue of food security is a complex one,and,with the advancement of globalization,it is becoming ever more urgent.And as climate change rises to the top of the international agenda,the securitization of food issues is growing more complex.It has turned the spotlight on the issue of food security and introduces new challenges to every nation.Historically,China has been an agricultural country,and thus has always been concerned about food security,enacting various measures and policies over the years to protect its food supply.However,there are inherent uncertainties and many challenges in this area.To deal with the problem of food security caused by global climate change,China and other nations should rethink how they deal with food security,and establish a comprehensive food security strategy which engages with other strategies in economic development,agriculture and rural development,energy,water security and social development.     

International Relations Think Tanks and Their Issues

The emergence of international relations think tanks reflects historic changes in China's relations with the world and is a result of China's need to better understand the international situation and to have a greater impact on it.It also reflects the thirst for "intellectual support" for foreign policy and strategy,and this is a sign of progress in China's governance system.     

The Major Power Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics in the Transition of International Order

The early 21st century finds great change in international order.China's foreign relations have entered a new phase where its driving force is rapidly rising for the emerging countries and new global economic governance mechanism is gradually established.To follow the trend of the times,China has actively participated in global economic governance and supply of public goods.China' s foreign relations present a new vision,idea and strategy under the leadership of President Xi Jinping.It is a new starting point for China to further integrate itself into the world and open itself wider to the world.China takes an active part to participate in global governance and plays an important role in the issues of economic integration,environmental governance,climate change,nuclear nonproliferation,energy crisis,internet security and anti-terrorism,especially anti-terrorism.This article explains the performance of international relations in current transition order and tries to tackle prior (and in some ways more intractable) issues and to analyze the internal logics and external environment of impact of multi-polarization on China's major power diplomacy with its characteristics in the transition of International order.     

New Hot Issues in the World and Fresh Challenges to Global Governance

Since the beginning of the 21st century, with the rapid deveopment of multi-polarization and economic globalization and profound changes in the international security situation, countries in the world are becoming more interdependent and deepening their cooperation, and at the same time facing increasingly grave common challenges. Particularly in recent years new hot issues relating to outer space, the polar regions, and climate change are looming large, posing new serious challenges to the current international rules and regulations and order of global governance.     

New Changes in the International Situation and China's Strategic Choices

The international situation is evolving more impressively than it has at any time since the end of the Cold War.Globalization has been in decline.Nations are scrambling to gain greater influence.The international strategic pattern is being adjusted.Many countries have problems with public management,and are faced with a new array of social trends and increasingly popular movements.The world is entering a new era full of chaos and anxiety.Mankind once again faces significant trade-offs and choices in peace and conflict,development and recession,openness and isolation,liberalism and conservatism.China strives to advocate win-win cooperation and lead the trend of reform and opening to maintain a favorable external environment despite world chaos,and enhance status and institutional rights in the international system.China's 30 years of development was successful in the process of integrating into the existing international system;China is a participant as well as a builder of the international system,rather than a challenger or a subversive.In the future,with a constructive attitude,China will promote the international system in a more reasonable direction together with international partners,in order to better safeguard world peace and security,and promote sustainable development throughout the world.     

中美应对气候变化合作:进展与问题(英文)

<正>In the present era of accelerating globalization and ever-closer crossborder exchanges,climate change,otherwise known as global warming,is exerting a profound influence on the natural environment on which humanity depends for a living as well as the sustainable economic and social development,and is becoming one of the greatest challenges to the international community.Considering that China and the United States remain the world’s     

Issues Related to EU''s Foreign Policy

The European Union (EU) is widely regarded as an important international actor, and usually referred to as a big power like the U. S. , Russia, China and Japan. So naturally the foreign policy of the EU has caught attention of both officials and scholars over the world. However, the EU is also a combination of sovereign states, its foreign policy is different from others, and perhaps this is often ignored. For instance, unlike a single nation state, the EU's influence and power are different in various policy fields due to its different ways of decision-making and implementation. Also, different from the common currency, the forming of the common foreign policy of the EU doesn't mean the disappearance of respective member state's foreign policy. Only seeing or emphasizing one respect will lead to a misunderstanding of the EU. Moreover, as a unique "supranational and intergovernmental" organization in the world, the EU has too many complex institutions, names and terms. Of course, the situation is not better in the field of foreign policy, and it easily leads to confusion and misunderstanding. It is also necessary to point out that the EU is still in the process of evolvement, and in particular, as one of the major reforms of the EU in recent years, the foreign policy-making mechanism has been in the center of change and adjustment. It is no doubt that this adds to the difficulties of studying and understanding the EU's foreign policy. In a word, the author thinks it is necessary to raise some major issues related to the EU's foreign policy and delve into it in connecting with the EU's current development.     

International System in Transition： Relationship between China and Major Powers

At present, the international system is transforming to the postestphalian system as a result of the vigorous development of globalization. The global and regional integration is accelerating. Global market, global civil society and sovereign states together constitute the three forces of the global community. The world has begun to change from the international anarchy based on military power and unilateral action into the initial state of the global community, i.e., co-governance through multilateral cooperation combined with independent authority to solve problems.     

Global Climate Diplomacy： Origin and Development

With the deterioration of global climate in recent years, climate change remains as a hot issue to which the international commu- nity pays close attention. 2007 could be called the ＂Year of Climate Change＂.     

Climate Change and Security at the Third Pole

The consequences of global climate change present a serious strategic challenge in one of the most remote parts of the world.The Tibetan Plateau is the largest high-altitude landmass on earth,with more than 45,000 glaciers that feed the major river systems in Asia,which,in turn,support 40 per cent of the world’s population.Temperatures in the region are rising twice as fast as the global average,posing serious risks to hydrological systems,agriculture,and critical infrastructure.Looking at regional cooperation through the lens of ecological security raises important questions about the extent to which the threat of large-scale climate-related disaster could trigger new forms of cooperative action.The sobering reality is that current responses fall far short of ensuring a mutually secure future.     

The Rise of China

Shared ideas wield a decisive influence on a country's external behavior. How China's rise will impact the world is determined by ideas shared by the international community. The identity and role of an emerging China is shaped not merely by its own material factors and subjective efforts. It is also constructed through China's interaction with other countries. The idea of a harmonious culture may eliminate international concerns about China's rise at the root, but this culture needs to be constructed by all the countries in the world.     

China＇s Strategic Choices

A number of significant events in 2008-2009, such as the Russia-Georgia conflict, the Beijing Olympics, the global financial crisis, the continuing threat of international terrorism and the worldwide spread of the HIN1 virus, may herald the close of the post-Cold War era. A new epoch is dawning, characterized by the collective rise of emerging powers and by increased global cooperation in response to the common concerns of the planet. America, Europe, Japan, Russia, India, Australia and other world powers are contemplating new strategic options to meet these changing circumstances. As a major driving force behind this phenomenon, China faces pressures for self-change and global change at the same time. It is obviously a task more formidable than that confronting the rest of the world. It requires China to redefine its role in the new era and make its strategic choices more rational and multi-directional in nature.     

Probing into the Theories on the Rise of Great Powers

The existent international relations theory has not given a clear definition of “the rise of great powers,“ and “rising“ is also not a fundamental concept in international relations or world politics. However, for whatever version of international relations history, it must be a recounting of the relations between countries that rise and fall; and for whatever international relations theory, it must admit the fact that the rise and fall of great powers is one of the natural laws characterized international relations development. As Paul Kennedy puts it, the “relative strengths of the leading nations in world affairs never remain constant, principally because of the uneven rate of growth among different societies and of the technological and organizational breakthroughs which bring a greater advantage to one society than to another.“① Therefore, it can be said that theories related to “the rise of great powers“ are so common, particularly concentrating on the possible influence of the rising power and its relations with war, the means and policies to deal with it as well as how to realize the peaceful transition of power. This article intends to explore and summarize all these theories and also make some comments based on the rise of China.……     

Overview of the Development of New Energy in the World

It was after the two oil crises of the 1970s that the industrialized world pace order began to accelerate the of developing and applying new energy in to make themselves less reliant on traditional energy. Early this century, facing the ever-growing energy demand, the surging energy prices and the increasingly serious climate change in the world, countries set off again a new upsurge of exploring new energy. Clean energy is given special attention in the economic stimulus packages particularly of countries around the world in the current global economic crisis.