Simplicity and Spook: Terrorism and the Dynamics of Threat Exaggeration

It has been common, at least since 1945, to exaggerate and to overreact to foreign threats, something that seems to be continuing with current concerns over international terrorism. This paper sketches threat exaggeration during the Cold War and applies the experience from that era to the current one. Alarmism and overreaction can be harmful, particularly economically. And, in the case of terrorism, it can help create the damaging consequences the terrorists seek but are unable to perpetrate on their own. Moreover, many of the forms alarmism has taken verge on hysteria. The United States is hardly "vulnerable" in the sense that it can be toppled by dramatic acts of terrorist destruction, even extreme ones. The country can, however grimly, readily absorb that kind of damage, and it has outlasted considerably more potent threats in the past.     

西部大开发与少数民族青年干部培训工作

西部大开发,人才是关键.培养造就一支适应新形势新任务要求的少数民族干部队伍,是关系全局、人具有战略意义的紧迫任务.在对少数民族青年干部培训工作中要把握好五个方面教学内容要有较强的针对性和实效性;解放思想,更新观念,树立创新意识;加强民族政策与民族团结教育;尊重民族风俗习惯;组织好参观考察活动.     

Was Idi Amin's Government a Terrorist Regime?

What does state terrorism look like? How do we distinguish it from other forms of mass state violence, such as repression or genocide? Based on the developing literature on state terrorism, this study presents three expectations that violence perpetrated by the state should meet if it is to be classified as state terrorism: these are (a) that the violence is perpetrated by agents of the state, (b) that the violence is visible, and (c) that state terrorism focused against a state's own citizens will be carried out by an autocratic, personalistic regime. Drawing substantially on a series of primary sources, this study demonstrates that Idi Amin's regime in Uganda from 1971 to 1979 did engage in state terrorism against its own citizens.     

Blasphemy and terrorism in the Muslim world

This article examines the effect of blasphemy laws on Islamist terrorism in Muslim-majority countries. Although passed with the ostensibly noble purpose of defending religion, I argue that blasphemy laws encourage terrorism by creating a culture of vigilantism in which terrorists, claiming to be the defenders of Islam, attack those they believe are guilty of heresy. This study empirically tests this proposition, along with alternative hypotheses, using a time-series, cross-national negative binomial analysis of 51 Muslim-majority states from 1991–2013. It finds that states that enforce blasphemy laws are indeed statistically more likely to experience Islamist terrorist attacks than countries where such laws do not exist. The statistical analysis is supplemented with a brief case study of blasphemy laws and terrorism in Pakistan. The conclusion situates the findings in the context of policy.     

Guantánamo Bay: Towards Legality?

This article outlines the US Supreme Court's approach to the habeas corpus entitlements of suspected terrorists detained in Guantánamo Bay and argues for the extension of constitutional habeas corpus rights to them. The article considers two ways in which the Supreme Court might carry out this task: first, 'the territorial approach' (based on domestic legal principles of 'unincorporated territories' and principles of leasehold), and secondly, 'the extraterritorial approach' (based on international purposive approaches to the reach of human rights treaties exemplified by the European Court of Human Rights' Article 1 jurisprudence). For reasons of effectiveness of protection, the Article expresses a clear preference for the latter. The House of Lords decision in R (Al-Skeini) v Secretary of State for Defence (2007) is proposed as a template for such a development. Finally the article refutes arguments rejecting such a development based on the 'trade-off thesis' and perceptions of judicial competence.     

论自治条例单行条例的法律地位

制定自治条例和单行条例 (自治法规 )是民族区域自治地方自治机关的一项自治权。自治法规的效力等级高于一般地方性法规而具有法律性质 ,但其适用范围仅限于本民族区域自治地方。上级国家机关要尊重和保障民族区域自治地方自治机关的自治权 ,但自治法规不能规定和约束上级国家机关。制定机关和批准机关对于自治法规都享有“半个立法权”的说法 ,实际上是把报请批准自治法规视同提请审议自治法规案 ,把自治机关享有的自治法规制定权视同拟定权。自治州、自治县的自治法规报请省级人大常委会批准后生效的规定 ,是一项宪法原则 ,这是我国民族区域自治地方立法体制的一大特点。在自治法规的效力等级和适用范围问题上的分歧 ,源于如何正确认识民族区域自治制度。     

民族体育在全民健身活动中的作用与对策研究

把我国传统的民族体育活动融入到全民健身活动之中 ,既可推进全民健身运动深入广泛地开展 ,又有利于弘扬我国的民族体育文化。民族体育在全民族健身活动中具有特殊的价值 ,加强对民族传统体育的研究和指导 ,推进其科学化、社会化进程 ,有助于促进全民健身活动的发展。     

参与性农村评估在民族调查中的意义及运用 --以云南中甸形朵村为例

通过介绍参与性农村评估的理论,并结合在民族调查中的实际运用,描述了参与性农村评估在民族调查中的具体运作,分析了参与性农村评估在民族调查中的优势和不足,为民族调查提供了一个新的视角.     

西部大开发中民族地方法制建设的意义和作用

西部是我国少数民族最集中的地区,每个少数民族都有其独特的生产、生活和传统文化习俗.在西部大开发的过程中,会因为文化差异而出现新的情况和问题,仅靠统一的国家大法来解决是非常困难的,这就需要靠新的、有针对性的民族地方法律法规的出台和执行来保证西部大开发的顺利和有序进行.所以,民族地方法制建设对西部民族地区的开发和发展有着重要的保障作用.     

国际反恐联合侦查研究

面对日益猖獗的国际恐怖主义犯罪,国家之间只有实施联合侦查,才能够及时、有效地侦破此类案件。在联合侦查过程中,合作各方应严格遵守订立的协定,在国际和国内法律许可的范围内,积极选择各种有效的途径和方法,密切合作,共同开展侦查行动。针对联合侦查实施中的各种阻碍因素,我国立法和司法实践应采取务实的态度,作出立法调整和司法观念的转变,建立适应国际趋势的联合侦查制度。