A new model of Asian regionalism: does the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation have more potential than ASEAN?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an established player in Southeast Asia, while the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is an emergent force in Central Asia. This article comparatively assesses ASEAN and SCO to investigate the nature of each organization's model of cooperation and their utility in the contemporary political landscape in Asia. It argues that SCO differs from ASEAN on a few significant points: its composition and level of institutionalization. At the same time, both organizations have similar agendas and models of cooperation, emphasizing a common spirit, flexibility and a focus on regime security. The paper concludes that ASEAN's model of cooperation continues to be relevant to the contemporary Asian landscape, and its brand of loosely codified, informal and norm driven multilateralism continues to be durable and robust.     

Hostility in Homicide–Suicide Events: A Typological Analysis with Data from a Chinese Society, Hong Kong, 1989–2003

As many as one-quarter of uroxicides [Johnson and Hotton (2003) Homicide Studies 7:58–84] and filicides [Wilczynski (1997) Child Homicide, London: Greenwich Medical Media] end in the suicide of the offender. As in homicide- or suicide-only events, homicide–suicide (HS) can arise from a variety of circumstances, ranging from relationship breakdown, to financial and health problems. However, to date our understanding of this disheartening phenomenon remains limited. As an HS event comprises both a homicidal and a suicidal component, the question of whether HS is primarily an extended suicide dominated by weariness or an alternate form of homicide overwhelmed by anger is a contentious topic. This article argues that there are at least two types of HS, with one type being dominated by hostility against the victim, whilst in the other hostility is not apparent. Based on HS events that occurred between 1989 and 2003 in Hong Kong, significant differences are found between these two types of HS in terms of offender and victim characteristics, antecedent, offender–victim relationships, situational factors and modes of killing. This is the first HS typological classification built on the hostility debate that has been validated with empirical data.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: ‘Tackling the Three Evils’. A Regional Response to Non-traditional Security Challenges or an Anti-Western Bloc?

This article examines how, despite the initial scepticism about its viability, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has become the primary security organisation in Central Asia. Two major factors are identified. Firstly, the focus of the SCO on tackling the so-called ‘three evils’ (terrorism, extremism, separatism) has won it favour with the prevailing leaderships of its member states. Secondly, the specific organisational framework adopted is appropriate for the region. The article concludes that the SCO is best characterised as a regional organisation concerned with non-traditional security and not as a hostile new ‘Warsaw Pact’ as suggested by some.     

Clientelism and the classification of dominant party systems

The view of clientelism as an abuse of state power casts doubt on the democratic credentials of highly clientelistic political systems. The question is particularly relevant for the classification of dominant party systems that heavily rely on clientelism to elicit popular support and retain a relatively open structure of participation. Knowing that clientelism is a widespread practice in modern democracies too, how do we evaluate the impact of clientelism on political competitiveness in order to sort out the position of these regimes along the lines of democracy and authoritarianism? This task requires identifying the conditions under which clientelism becomes an essentially authoritarian practice and qualifies these regimes as such. The article puts forward two propositions about the circumstances under which clientelism infringes basic democratic standards under a thin and a thick definition of democracy. Clientelism under one-party monopoly engenders authoritarianism when it thwarts and punishes the contesting voice of citizens by effectively blocking exit from its incentives and sanctions.