Great Expectations: Understanding Bali and the Climate Change Negotiations Process

This article reviews the December 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali. It considers expectations for the meeting and whether the event delivered on these expectations. It also evaluates the long-term context of the meeting and examines the discussions in Bali on the post-2012 period (when the Kyoto Protocol's first 'commitment period' expires). The article finds that the Bali meeting did not necessarily meet public expectations or respond directly to the latest scientific assessments calling for urgent action. However, the article also finds that Bali was successful in the context of the prevailing political and diplomatic realities and the immense complexity of the climate change challenge – a problem that does not lend itself to a 'quick fix' solution. The article concludes that Bali produced a solid outcome that gives direction to future talks and sets a clear deadline for their completion. Finally, it argues that, contrary to some experts' opinion, the lack of detail in the Bali outcome may prove to be a strength rather than a weakness, since it provides flexibility to negotiators as they try to craft a consensus by the end of 2009.     

国际金融危机对世界政治的五大影响

2008年9月从美国爆发的国际金融危机对世界政治产生了五方面的深远影响,一是国际战略格局多极化进入加速发展的新阶段,二是大国竞争与合作交织发展,大国关系复杂重组,国际机制变革加快,三是区域一体化明显提速,世界地缘战略重心加快东移亚洲,四是发展模式更趋多样化,五是中国有效应对国际金融危机,经济崛起步伐加快。     

The China Model

The return of the Middle Kingdom to the center stage of history is the most significant geo‐civilizaitonal development of the 21st Century. China's rise raises anew the great question, thought settled after the Cold War, of what system of governance will stand on the right or wrong side of history. In this section the leading ideologists of the China model and its “peaceful rise” appear alongside the fiercest critics of China's way.     

The History of the Diaoyu Islands Dispute and Challenges It Raises

The origin of the Diaoyu Islands dispute is intimately connected to Japan’s aggression against the Chinese mainland,and the absorption of the Ryukyu kingdom into Japan in 1879 was a key precursor to this.Since the Ming Emperor dispatched his envoy Yang Zai on an embassy to the     

论白礁岛主权争端及其对新马关系和东盟发展的影响

由于历史、地缘政治等原因和国际海洋法对马来西亚的刺激,新加坡和马来西亚对白礁岛的主权归属展开了长达29年的争夺.新马两国对白礁岛主权归属的争端对新马双边关系和东盟的发展造成了一定影响.同时,双方对白礁岛主权的争端过程和争端通过海牙国际法院得以解决也给了我们一定的启示.     

Conditioned Networking: Swiss–EU Relations in Transport

This article addresses the structural characteristics of the interactions between Switzerland and the EU in the transport sector, i.e. transport by air and land. More precisely, it is focused on two different aspects of this relationship: first the modes of coordination between Switzerland and the EU according to the concept of external governance and, second, those conditions that make inclusive patterns of interaction more likely. The central finding of this case study is an expansion of both the regulatory and organisational boundary in both cases. This shift finds expression in the incorporation of Swiss actors into a variety of networks that, at least in some cases, allow Swiss actors to shape EU policy making. The actual patterns of interaction are influenced by a number of factors, including the type of governance inside the EU that facilitates the inclusion of third parties in EU external governance and the problem structure that is characterized by coordination rather than enforcement problems.     

Pretty faces,marginal races: Predicting election outcomes using trait assessments of British parliamentary candidates

The conventional wisdom on Western European politics leads us to believe that all the “action” lies with parties, because the unified parliamentary delegations in Western Europe draw voters' attention to parties' policies and images. Though British elections take place under a single member district plurality system, British parties, like their continental counterparts, are highly centralised and feature disciplined parliamentary delegations. Despite the strong ties between British candidates and their parties, we demonstrate that perceptions of candidates' personal attributes can be used to predict general election outcomes. Using a computer-based survey where subjects are asked to evaluate real British candidates using only rapidly determined first impressions of facial images, we successfully predict outcomes from the 2010 general election. Moreover, we find that perceptions of candidates' relative attractiveness are particularly useful for predicting outcomes in marginal constituencies.     

把握中韩关系发展的三个层面,开启互利共赢新时代

中韩关系自建交以来飞速发展,其动力来源于双边层面上两国经贸与人文交流的迅猛发展、半岛层面上双方共识的不断扩大以及地区层面上基于东北亚局势变化两国政府的选择。习近平主席访韩为中韩关系发展提出了新的要求并提供了新的契机。未来中韩关系要想进一步保持发展势头,需要在双边层面上增强沟通与合作,半岛层面上扩大交流与共识以及地区层面共同为东北亚乃至整个亚洲提供有效的公共产品,从而开启中韩互利共赢的新时代。