Assessing the High Representative’s Role in Egypt during the Arab Spring

The 2009 Lisbon Treaty institutionalised an intergovernmental constitution for managing policies traditionally a matter of national sovereignty, such as foreign and defence policies. However, important innovations were introduced in the foreign policymaking structure to limit its intergovernmental logic, in particular, with regard to the role of the High Representative (HR). It was generally assumed that those innovations would have made development of a coherent EU foreign policy possible. Yet, in one of the most significant tests for the EU’s foreign and defence policies in the post-Lisbon era, namely the Egyptian crisis (2011-14), those reforms did not work as expected. Notwithstanding the innovations, the HR’s role was diminished by the European Council’s strict control over foreign policy toward Egypt. The lack of clear policy guidelines towards the issue of democratisation in the Arab world in the 2003 European Security Strategy, although partially mitigated by the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Barcelona Process/Union for the Mediterranean, made it even more difficult for the HR to bring a European perspective into the largely intergovernmental setting.     

An Analysis of the Great Power Strategy of India' s Modi Government

Over the past two years,India's Modi government has demonstrated the following features:focusing on the goals of becoming a great power and shaping India's South Asian dominance,expanding the scope of diplomatic strategy,emphasizing the role of soft power and focusing on self-development as well as external environment.Modi's great power strategy is deeply influenced by the Indian realistic international political outlook and,to a certain extent,reflects the governing philosophy of the Bharatiya Janata Party.The great power strategy is Modi's governing foundation and governing style,embedding Modi distinctive personal style.Under the influence of the great power strategy,China and India have increased their economic cooperation scope,widening the forms of public diplomacy,with an obvious geopolitical collision;India is taking more measures to check China.     

Liberia Incorporated: military contracting,cohesion and inclusion in Charles Taylor’s Liberia

In the existing literature, compensation is often understood to be an inferior source of cohesion in military organisations. Through an investigation of the militias who fought for Charles Taylor’s government of Liberia, this paper makes three claims. Firstly, the organisation of these forces was looser than is often claimed in previous literature, which assumes tight and often coercive military patrimonialism. Consequently, the militias did not enjoy the interpersonal bonds of solidarity that have dominated recent cohesion literature. Secondly, since Taylor chose to suppress attempts to build cohesion around ethnicity, it played a subordinate role in unifying the militias. Thirdly, Taylor instead relied on military contracting and compensation, which allowed for the broad mobilisation of forces. The combination of militias’ hopes of inclusion into the state patrimony and insufficient resources to realise this left the cohesion of the militias fragile. Ultimately, this paper questions both whether Taylor had any choice but to resort to compensation in a context with a weak state and fragmented social organisation, and also whether the strategy is as inefficient as often thought.     

Peripheral modernity and anti-colonial nationalism in Java: economies of race and gender in the constitution of the Indonesian national teleology

This analysis investigates the limits of colonial modernity in the 20th century Dutch East Indies at a time that coincided with the building of the Indonesian national project. I am interested in the constitution of the national teleology as an inexorable socio-political project, deploying specific racial and gendered economies. As a locus of investigation I choose the literary narratives of two celebrated Indonesian intellectuals (and participants in the anti-colonial struggle), Pramoedya’s Buru Quartet and Mangunwijaya’s Durga/Umayi. Were the impulses of anti-colonial resistance intrinsically national in their orientation? Through what erasures and re-appropriations has the nationalism/modernity paradigm become the medium of decolonisation?     

Nigeria and South Africa: Collaboration or competition?

This article focuses on the dynamics of the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa, arguably the two most prominent states on the African continent. Each of the two states continues to make attempts at extending its hegemony beyond its respective sub-region to emerge as Africa’s foremost state. These efforts are not pursued in isolation, but affect their bilateral relations and are tied to the guiding principles of the national interest. Through data gathered from secondary sources, we analyse the trajectory of the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa, from the intensely politically contentious to the strongest of warm relations. In the final analysis, the article concludes that collaboration and competition are critical variables in the conduct of inter-state relations. Nigeria and South Africa have an historic opportunity to collaborate in the current period, in order to promote the general interest of the African continent in the international system. Will their respective pursuit of their own national interests encourage, or derail, this role?     

Institutions and Morality Policy in Western Democracies

This article investigates whether different political institutions such as executives, legislatures, parties, party systems, judiciaries, decentralization, constitutionalism, and referendums across 24 Western democracies are venues for debate across five individual morality policies. Using data since 1945, the article compares three theories of morality policy—(1) Policy Type leading to different institutional venues; (2) Two Worlds of religious/secular party systems; and (3) U.S./European exceptionalism. In order, the most frequently debated issues are abortion, same sex marriage, euthanasia, stem cells/assisted reproductive technology (ART), and capital punishment. There is considerable variation in the institutions and country groups that debate them although fewer differences in the Two Worlds model. Abortion, euthanasia, and same sex marriage are the most convergent issues across institutions, party systems, and country groupings while capital punishment and stem cells/ART show the most diverse patterns of deliberation. The general Policy Type model of morality policy is upheld, but varies institutionally by specific issues. The Two Worlds model is of some importance, but only on three issues. There also are regional differences between the United States, Europe, and non‐European democracies.     

The Theory of Good Law in the Turning Period of Society——the Idea of Good Law from Mao Zedong’s How Shangyang Established Credit

In the era to comprehensively advance the rule of law, the good law theory in Mao Zedong’s article How Shangyang Established Credit has important theoretical and practical significance. It is argued in Mao’s article that the law is a tool to seek happiness for the people. Good law is to punish the wicked and protect the people, reinforce the prosperity of the country, establish prestige and save resources. The standard of legislation is in that the public accept and abide by the law. However, a good law is not to be immediately accepted by people and the state power is usually necessary to work as the medium and function with critical force in which the breakthrough point is found and the critical point is set so that the people are enlightened to promote the establishing and realization of the good law.     

A Knowledge‐Based Approach to Public Value Management: A Case Study of Change Implementation in Disability Services in Western Australia

This paper provides a knowledge‐based perspective to understanding public value management (PVM). As distinct from other approaches to public administration, PVM focuses on collaborative capacity building for the creation of public value. To develop the notion of PVM further, we explore the role of a knowledge‐based strategy in a case study of change implementation in 18 disability service organisations in Western Australia. Our findings show important inter‐relationships between knowledge management strategy, adopting a person‐centred approach to service provision, and sustainability of change implementation. We discuss the implications of the study for disability sector change management and for the further exploration of the strategic role of knowledge management capabilities in the study and practice of PVM in public sector administration. The paper explores the relationship between an organisation's knowledge capture and sharing systems and processes and its ability to implement change in a way that generates long‐term benefits for both public sector employees (e.g., engaging with key stakeholders to generate innovative solutions for serving client needs) and clients (i.e., increased well‐being through better service design and support).     

“一证式”排污许可证实施的法经济学分析

当前我国实施"一证式"的综合性排污许可证制度改革虽然有效地提高了行政管理效率,但在具体实施中出现了"一刀切"执行问题,影响了环境污染排放治理绩效,乃至危及民生。深入分析管制者的成本效益逻辑、管制者和被管制者之间的博弈、以及排污许可政策的公共选择,可以发现一刀切实施的经济动因。要根除一刀切模式,同时改进排污许可证实施效率,应从命令控制型手段主导渐次过渡到可交易的排污许可证,从政府集中管制主导渐次过渡到国家治理主导,从环境政策主导渐次过渡到环境法治主导。     

Worldview and Methodology of Advancing the Construction of the Rule of Law in China

This work discusses a worldview and a methodology concerning ideological approaches by which Marxists can understand and transform the world, based on well-defined value truth, theory and philosophy. The work builds on the Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which highlights the following priorities to which XI Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era must adhere: putting the people first, maintaining self-confidence and self-reliance, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, adopting a problem-oriented approach, applying system thinking, and maintaining a global vision. Furthermore, this work argues that these priorities should be applied to promote the rule of law in China’s new journey. As the starting points of analysis and understanding, the meta-theory and “six must-dos” follow the general principles of Marxism in interpreting and promoting socialist concepts, theory, law-based path and legal system in the New Era with Chinese characteristics. The metatheory and the “six must-dos” provide the logical foundations and fundamental compliance with XI Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law. Only by applying these “six must-dos” well can we understand and implement XI Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, enhance the rationality, initiative, foresight and creativity of our work in comprehensively promoting the rule of law in China.