Perhaps this time it's different: ideas and interests in shaping international responses to financial crises

The experience of the recent two decades of financial crises shows that donor countries and international financial institutions (IFIs) can respond to a crisis in a peripheral open economy by either of two crisis management strategies: either they can impose harsh conditionality to fix the domestic economy and prevent future moral hazard problems, or they can provide last-resort credit to restore market confidence. In some cases, the crisis management strategy changes as the crisis evolves. What are the factors that determine the choice of key donor countries and IFIs? This article traces the processes by which the USA and the International Monetary Fund designed the crisis management strategy in respect to the Asian crisis, and how Germany and the European Central Bank designed the response to the eurozone crisis, in order to understand how ideas regarding the causes and solutions of a financial crisis interact with the interests of key donor countries. The article argues that in both cases ideas and interests are mutually constituted, but in each case the mechanism that linked ideas and interests was different: whereas in the Asian case US interests led to policy innovation and experimentation and to a change in the crisis management strategy, in the European case ideas played a greater role in shaping German interests. The article explains this difference on the basis of the lessons learned by IFIs from the Asian crisis, which were then implemented in the eurozone case.     

砂拉越华族族群母语教育与文化传承的维护:以古晋中华第一中学之兴办为个案研究

砂拉越位于婆罗洲,原为文莱属地,1841年白人拉惹政权建立后,大批华人在其招垦下移入砂拉越。在华文教育萌芽的初期,白人拉惹对其取自由放任的态度,直至20世纪20年代,因华人社会中的政治运动及海外华侨民族主义在各个华文学校的发展,才颁布学校注册法令,开始干涉砂拉越地区的华文教育。二战后,白人拉惹将砂拉越让渡给英国,新成立的殖民地政府急于统合境内各族群对砂拉越的认同,遂推动以英语为教学媒介语的国家教育制度,迫使砂拉越华文中等学校在改制成以英语授课的学校或独立中学之间做出选择。为保存族群母语教育,为华族子弟接受母语教育提供机会,在古晋地区创立的中华第一中学,决定成为一间华文独立中学。这间华文独立中学至今仍有千名以上学生,其校园中充满华族文化气息。本文对古晋中华第一中学的创立、发展、经营作一个案研究,期盼对吾人进一步了解战后砂拉越华族社会族群语言的维护及文化的传承有所助益。     

论“两山”理念蕴含的科学思维方法

"两山"理念蕴含的科学思维方法,为新时代进一步推进生态文明建设提供了方法论指导,要求我们从战略思维上把生态文明建设上升到关乎中华民族伟大复兴的高度;从系统思维上把"人-自然-社会"作为内在的有机体去把握,把生态治理看作是一个复杂的系统工程;从辩证思维上把握"绿水青山"与"金山银山"的相互关系,在实践中把经济发展与环境保护构成统一的整体,走高质量发展之路。     

美国国内恐怖袭击新态势与原因探析

特朗普政府延续奥巴马政府后期的反恐战略,采取国际"收缩"战略,把反恐重点转移到国内,但美国国内恐怖袭击不仅没有减少反而急遽增加。依据全球恐怖主义数据库(GTD)关于美国国内恐怖袭击的数据分析,当前美国国内恐怖袭击呈现出"独狼式""无领袖"和"分散化"的特点,总体上恐袭频率加快、烈度增强。具体表现在:种族极端主义恐袭日益突出、"圣战"恐袭持续增多、宗教极端主义恐袭愈演愈烈以及对政府等公权力部门的恐袭不断上升等。特朗普实施不当的反恐政策是触发当前新一轮恐袭的重要原因,但究其根源,更在于美国国内根深蒂固的种族主义矛盾、由来已久的"伊斯兰恐惧症"以及资本主义自身不可调解的内在矛盾。特朗普政府要解决美国国内恐怖袭击问题任重而道远。     

新冠肺炎疫情与全球安全文化的退化

安全文化是一个社群就怎样界定安全和安全威胁、怎样保障和实现安全所达成的主体间理解和共同知识。冷战之后,全球化推动了一个全球社会的初步形成,因之也催生了一种以开放安全、共同安全与合作安全为基本内容的合作型全球安全文化的雏形。但是由于全球治理失灵,不断出现且日益积累的全球性威胁得不到有效应对,民粹现实主义强势兴起,合作型全球安全文化屡遭重创,开始向以封闭安全、孤立安全、零和安全的冲突型安全文化转变,明显降低了国际安全合作的几率。抗击新冠肺炎疫情中的全球公共安全合作的失败就是一个明显的例证。虽然人类向共同体进化的历史大趋势不可阻挡,但在一段时间内,合作型全球安全文化与冲突型全球安全文化的激烈竞争将会是国际关系的新常态。     

How (often) do voters change their consideration sets?

The consideration set model posits that in multi-party elections voters decide in two stages. We expect that in the consideration stage, when voters select viable options, ideological proximity is a key determinant, while in the choice stage election-specific factors become particularly important. This would imply that consideration sets are rather stable and that changes in voting preferences occur mainly within ideologically coherent consideration sets. This study examines both claims by analyzing panel survey data from Sweden and the Netherlands. Consideration sets were indeed rather stable, more so than voting intentions. After one year, voters still considered the same party in 81% of cases and only 13% of respondents shifted between ideological camps. This indicates that voters changed electoral preferences primarily within the boundaries of relatively stable consideration sets and ideological camps. These findings help to understand how elections can be volatile, despite the strong impact of highly stable ideological orientations.     

Vietnam: a case of military obsolescence in developing countries

ABSTRACT

Military obsolescence affects the capability of all militaries as it relates to serviceability and performance when countering potential opponents, and more specifically in the case of developing countries lacking strong indigenous defence industries. The gradual nature of this military concern has not been studied systematically, in contrast to military modernisation. This paper presents a synthetic framework composed of several indicators to examine military obsolescence. Vietnam has been selected for the application of the framework for its large number of Cold War legacies and the strategic pressure from China. Hanoi's ageing assets would undermine its position vis-à-vis Beijing, and its defence investment policies face the dilemma of choosing to spend more on naval and aerial power, or ameliorating its army which is technologically lacking compared to its Chinese counterpart.     

The more the merrier? Sino-Japanese security relations in the context of complex interstate rivalry in the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

This paper analyses the evolution of Sino-Japanese rivalry in the security sphere concentrating on the Chinese perspective, and placing it within the wider context of complex interstate rivalry between China, Japan and the United States. From a theoretical viewpoint, this research contributes to the literature on interstate rivalry from multiparty perspective, which has been overlooked in existing research. China–Japan–US complex interstate rivalry includes elements of positional, spatial and ideological rivalry simultaneously. When rivalries mix two or more rivalry types, they become more difficult to resolve. The two broad trends of China’s military build-up and deepening US–Japan alliance evolve in tandem intensifying rivalry dynamics and increasing positional elements of rivalry. There are many indications on various levels that for China, controlling Japan’s international ambitions has become less important and more attention is paid to ways in which Japan helps the United States in reaching its objectives in Asia through their alliance agreement. The cases analysed to display complex interstate rivalry include the Taiwan question, territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, and the North Korean nuclear issue.     

Social Policy by Other Means: Theorizing Unconventional Forms of Welfare Production

Abstract

The goal of this special issue is to highlight the importance of unconventional social policies, theorize their development in comparison with traditional welfare state accounts and outline a new research agenda. In this introduction to the special issue, the editors present the concept of social policy by other means as encompassing two kinds of unconventional social policy (from the point of view of mainstream comparative research): First, functional equivalents to formal systems of social protection and, second, non-state provision of benefits. The concept builds upon a sizeable, but fragmented literature in comparative welfare state research. While numerous examples demonstrate that social policy by other means is more pervasive in both OECD and non-OECD countries than often acknowledged, a brief survey of the top 20 articles in the field reveals that this fact is not sufficiently reflected in the academic literature. With reference to both existing studies and the contributions to this special issue, the editors go on to explore (1) the different forms of social policy by other means, (2) explanatory theories and (3) their effectiveness in terms of social outcomes. They close by outlining a research agenda.     

Military Integration,Demobilization, and the Recurrence of Civil War

ABSTRACT

Peace agreements often include provisions for the military integration of the conflict parties, involving an increase in government forces, and at the same time requesting demobilization and thus a reduction of military personnel. Depending on the modalities and magnitude both can be strong signals of a commitment to the peace process. However, tensions between these two concepts can also endanger post-conflict stability. The empirical analyses of 77 post-conflict societies show that civil war is more likely to recur if rebel forces are kept separate during the military integration process and if the military plays an important role in post-conflict economies.