A survey of data sources for studies of family and population in Korean history

Compared to China and Japan, family and population studies of pre-modern Korea have not been widely available to scholars outside Korea. As a necessary step to increase scholarship in Korean historical demography, we introduce major historical materials currently available in Korea as useful for historical studies, summarizing demographic variables provided, the type of population covered, and the historical period referred in those historical materials. In particular, we focus on genealogies and household registers that provide demographic information of Korean population before the 20th century. We describe major features of those Korean materials as demographic sources, highlighting similarities and differences as compared to corresponding Chinese historical materials. Korean historical data showing their unique features, along with comparability with other East Asian data, have potential to expand the field of historical demography in East Asia.     

A sinologist’s observations on North Korea

This report provides reflections on a one-week visit to North Korea in April 1989 by a China scholar who lived in Maoist China. It draws on meetings with American and Chinese specialists on Korea, and with North Korea scholars and Party officials. It compares Kim’s North Korea with Mao’s China in terms of agriculture, policy towards education and intellectuals, and the Cult of Personality; it discusses apparent tentative stpes in the North towards openness and reform, but recognizes the dilemma of understanding complicated forces for the against reform in such a short visit. Finally, the report outlines discussions with North Korea international relations specialists and a member of the Secretariat of the Korean Worker’s Party which welcomed the end of the cold war and improved Sino-U.S., U.S.-Soviet, and Sino-Soviet relations as favorable for peace in the region and Korean reunification. He is author ofAgrarian Radicalism in China, 1968–1981 (Harvard University Press, 1989).     

联盟困境、理性选择与澳美同盟的有限升级

任何联盟内部都存在联盟困境(即"被抛弃"与"被牵连")。在"美主澳从"的澳美同盟中,澳大利亚也面临着联盟困境:如果强调战略自主性则担心"被抛弃";如果强化澳美同盟则担心"被牵连"。在中国快速崛起、美国战略收缩和中美战略竞争不断加剧的背景下,澳大利亚认为有限升级澳美同盟——对美国欲"距"还迎——是其缓解联盟困境的理性选择。首先,有限升级澳美同盟不仅可以大大降低"被抛弃"的风险,而且有望提升地区影响力,同时有助于提升澳在中美战略布局中的重要性。其次,由于中美两国仍将长期维持"斗而不破"的状态,澳大利亚"被牵连"至中美军事冲突中的可能性很小,而当下澳美同盟的有限强化对成熟稳定的中澳关系冲击总体有限。澳大利亚为了缓解联盟困境、提升外交地位,有限升级澳美同盟,不仅使澳大利亚收益颇丰、成本可控,收益大于成本,而且中澳关系保持有限紧张是符合澳大利亚国家利益的理性选择。     

U.S. Policy in East Asia and the pacific: Building on the past and the present for the future

The author persuasively argues that U.S. policy in the Asia-Pacific region has been and must continue to be based upon four fundamental principles: 1) genuine respect for the interests and prerogatives of the peoples of the region; 2) support for the establishment of democratic institutions and processes in East Asia and the Pacific; 3) the expansion of trade and investment with basic reliance on the market forces of competition and free enterprise; and 4) recognition that peace and stability are best facilitated by addressing specific sources of regional tension.     

Economic sanctions and the rhetorical responses of totalitarian regimes: Examining North Korean rhetorical strategies, 1949–2010

This study investigates the impact of economic statecraft on the North Korean Government. As a totalitarian regime, which is characterized by a controlled mass media, the North Korean Government tries to contain potential problems caused by sanctions by using three types of political rhetoric: appeasement, backlash, and surveillance. Using time-series data from 1949 to 2010 derived from a content analysis of the New Year's Day addresses by Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, and Kim Jong Un, the empirical results suggests that the North Korean Government does alter its rhetorical strategies in response to external economic sanctions. Negative sanctions cause the regime to use appeasement strategies (or calls for reforms and internal changes). It tends to use backlash rhetoric (or blaming the sanctioning powers) in response to, interestingly, positive sanctions. Surveillance rhetoric, or the call for internal vigilance against enemies, on the other hand, does not have any statistical connection with sanctions, rather driven by other factors, such as the Korean War, external instability, and so on.     

联盟体系与伙伴关系——论美国亚太再平衡战略的安全支点

美国亚太再平衡战略,强调在经济、安全领域维持美国的主导地位。要实现这一目标,联盟体系及伙伴关系是美国意欲借助的重要支撑,在安全领域这种表现尤为明显。在此种战略意图支配下,美国强化了与传统盟友的关系,并极力拓展新的伙伴关系,借助联盟体系、伙伴关系这两个安全支点的作用,美国力图构建其领导下的亚太安全结构。     

Issues in the accession of China to the WTO system

China’s chief interlocutors in the negotiations on its accession to the WTO system are the United States, Japan and the European Union. But many smaller countries, developed and developing, also have a stake in the outcome. Because the Uruguay Round negotiations were conducted as a single undertaking, requiring all the participants to be parties to the resulting agreements, the smaller WTO members expect China, Taiwan and other applicants for membership to abide by the club’s rules in much the same way expected of them. This China is prepared to do as a developing country. More is expected, though, of an emerging trading power, even if it is still coping with uncertainties in its transformation into a market economy.     

Dealing with North Korea: The case of the agreed framework

The “Agreed Framework,” a deal that the United States and the DPRK cut in Geneva in October 1994 on the North Korean nuclear issue, now approaches the first of its check points to pass a test as to whether it really has a chance to survive. The United States is required to secure by April 21, 1995, a “supply contract” for the provision to North Korea of a light water reactor project as a quid pro quo for North Korea’s eventual dismantlement of its suspected nuclear weapons program over a period of ten or more years. With the reactor issue looming as but the tip of the iceberg that results from the many “ambiguities” and “omissions” of the Agreed Framework, the United States now enters a stage where it will have to brace for another wave of North Korea’s “diplomatic brinkmanship” featured again by threats of reneging on the Agreed Framework and involving the United States in a renewed military conflict on the Korean peninsula.     

澳大利亚网络安全战略的新内涵与新动向

澳大利亚致力于打造公私部门间"共同领导""共同责任""自我约束"和"自主治理"的网络安全治理新模式,以维护网络空间的安全与稳定、保证国家网络安全、实现数字经济效益的最大化。当前,澳大利亚的网络安全战略正处于转型期,特恩布尔政府在继承既有战略的基础上,对澳大利亚的网络安全战略进行了适时调整,包括增加对"印太地区"的网络安全投入、保持澳美网络安全战略的联动性、提高网络进攻能力以适应互联网军事化需要等。目前,网络空间无政府状态下中美权力的竞争态势正在加剧,澳大利亚的网络安全战略会带有一定的干预主义性质,并向"前沿防御"方向发展。受此影响,澳大利亚的对华网络安全政策可能会面临冲击。但是,中国与澳大利亚的网络安全合作仍在向前发展。虽然中澳网络安全合作仍处于起步阶段,但澳大利亚对中国建设网络强国持欢迎态度,愿意与中国就制定网络行为规范、维护网络空间秩序开展合作。     

Beyond religious affinity: Malaysia's relations with countries in the Arab Gulf

Abstract

Economic and political changes at the global level have simultaneously shifted Malaysia's interests in the Arab Gulf countries. The economic liberalisation and transformation agenda that emerged in these economies are argued to be contributing factors to Malaysia's interest in expanding its economic relationships with the countries. Although the current cooperation between Malaysia and the Arab Gulf countries is aimed at reaping economic benefits, religious values also constitute an important foundation for these relationships. This article seeks to understand why politics, economics and religion remain the key drivers in determining Malaysia's relations with the Arab Gulf countries. The paper also suggests a future direction for engagement between Malaysia and Gulf Cooperation Council countries.