Suriname: country profile

Established as a trading post by the people of the Netherlands in the 1600's, Suriname grew into an agricultural colony farming sugar and tobacco. The Dutch have sustained a presence in Suriname, and in 1975, they granted $2.7 billion in aid over 14 years. However, despite financial assistance, Suriname has undergone a number of economic and identity crises in the past few years. Ethnically, the country is divided into groups, including Creoles, East Indians, Indonesians, Amerindians, and others. Economically, the GNP has declined from $2,650 in 1983 to $1,650. A 1980 political takeover by the military promised relief but instead brought about oppression and tragedy. As a result, the Dutch government discontinued aid to Suriname. Civil unrest resulted in the damage of bauxite installations; the exportation of bauxite is one of the primary economic sources for Suriname. The current government is considered moderate left, but it is still subject to a military veto. Although life expectancy, literacy, and the position of women are good, self-reliance is greatly affected by an increasing foreign debt and freedom and income distribution are negatively affected by discriminatory policies and oppressive practices.     

论伊斯兰教在马来西亚政治中的作用和影响

本文主要分析伊斯兰教在马来西亚政治中的作用和影响。文章回顾了马来西亚政教关系的演变过程,分析了伊斯兰教在其现行政治结构中的影响,指出重视伊斯兰教因素在对抗反对党、维持现有君主立宪制、推行经济政策和处理外交事务中起着重要的作用;展望了2013年5月大选之后即在纳吉布总理第二任期中,伊斯兰教在马来西亚政治中可能出现的新变化。     

Are powerful presidents always popularly elected? Implications for separating semi-presidentialism from parliamentarism

The traditional conception of semi-presidentialism stipulates that powers are shared by a popularly elected president and a prime minister, who is responsible to parliament. In recent years, an increasingly popular strategy has become to disregard the power dimension and define semi-presidentialism only with regard to whether the president is popularly elected or not. Based on a principal-agent framework the present study sets out to test the relationship between the mode of election and the powers of the president in democratic republics where the government is dependent on the legislature for survival. Findings indicate that although powerful presidents most often are popularly elected there are also instances where a non-popularly elected president shares executive powers with the prime minister. This makes it difficult to define semi-presidentialism only with regard to how the president comes to power.     

Diasporas as ‘agents of development’: transforming brain drain into brain gain? The Dutch example

This article is based on research that explored and analysed the potential role of diasporas in development aid in the Netherlands. The research adopted the hypothesis that development agencies could benefit from the knowledge, skills, and views of diasporas as ‘agents of development’ and thereby make aid more effective and sustainable. Data were derived from semi-structured interviews with representatives of diasporas residing in the Netherlands; Dutch NGOs selected by the Dutch government for their capacity-building programmes; official donors, namely the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken); and international organisations, such as the International Organization of Migration (IOM). Secondary data were derived from a literature review.     

The “Anglo-Saxon” Orientation of Wartime Hungarian Foreign Policy: The Case of Antal Ullein-Reviczky

The political élite of Hungary included a group that expected British and American support for Hungarian revisionist claims after the Paris Peace Conference. Their acknowledged leader was Count István Bethlen, the prime minister from 1921 to 1931 and an adviser to Regent Vice-Admiral Miklós Horthy until 1944. This analysis investigates a largely forgotten member of this group. Antal Ullein-Reviczky, a diplomat and scholar, shifted from being a Hungarian nationalist with an anti-Nazi attitude towards secret efforts to establish political relations with Britain during the Second World War. Press chief of the Foreign Ministry and the prime minister’s office, Ullein-Reviczky’s last appointment was Hungarian minister at Stockholm in 1943–1944. Both the Germans and the British put little trust in a man whose wife was the daughter of a British diplomat, yet who maintained superb connexions in pro-German Hungary. He changed his mind gradually when he realised that the price for revising the Treaty of Trianon was unacceptable. His long journey through international politics made him a significant player in a global drama, also assisting Raoul Wallenberg’s mission to Budapest. It is a political odyssey worth remembering.     

A Dutch revolt? The salience of the nonstrategic nuclear weapons issue in Dutch politics

Transparency, international credibility, democratic accountability, a new realism in defense expenditures – these basic policy goals fit awkwardly with the current deployment of nonstrategic nuclear weapons (NSNW) on Dutch territory. Most parties in the Netherlands want the NSNW removed. Some are even willing to challenge the idea that only consensus among all 28 NATO Allies can lead to the removal of the NSNW. The new Dutch minister of foreign affairs for example, Frans Timmermans, has a long track record of calling for an end to the deployment of US nuclear weapons on Dutch territory. Without NATO consent if necessary. His appointment fits with the political shift that we have seen over the past few years in Dutch politics. This article looks at the political rationale behind that shift: who are the main political actors involved? How have domestic and international pressures influenced party positions? The article also looks at the possibilities a new Dutch Government has were it to challenge the NATO consensus on NSNW. Would the USA refuse to take the NSNW away? How would NATO react and what could mitigate Allied concerns?     

土耳其外交新政辨析

以埃尔多安为总理的土耳其政府，在外交上以凯末尔主义和战略深度主义为指导思想，利用独特的地缘战略位置，积极扩展在中东、中亚、高加索、巴尔干等地区的影响力，改善与邻国的关系。土耳其政府的外交政策体现出独立性、平衡性、多样性的特点，外交策略显现出“由西转东”的倾向。尤其是在中东剧变之后，土耳其在中东地区极为活跃，积极与变革后的国家开展外交活动。外交政策的调整表明了土渴望与以往所忽视的东方国家改善并发展关系。但是，作为西方国家尤其是美国的传统盟友，土耳其以西方国家为基轴的外交战略不会在短时期内发生根本改变。     

Where Will Russia''''s Domestic and Foreign Policies Go under the "Medvedev-Putin Tandem"?(detailed abstracts)

Why is it called the "Medvedev-Putin Tandem"? Russia's constitution stipulates that president is the head of state who shall be responsible for defining and supervising the implementation of the political,economic,diplomatic,and security guidelines and policies,while prime minister is the head of government who shall be     

2004年：柬埔寨进入后西哈努克时代

2004年是柬埔寨现代历史上最重要的年份之一。在政治方面 ,西哈努克退位 ,新国王登基 ,君主立宪制度有了实质性变化。政治僵局的结束和新一届国会和政府的产生与运作 ,巩固了人民党与奉辛比克的政治联盟。在经济方面 ,长达一年的政治僵局 ,影响了柬埔寨经济的发展 ,加入WTO给柬埔寨带来新的挑战和机遇 ,首相洪森掀起行政改革风暴的震撼初见成效。在外交方面 ,洪森三访中国 ,两国友好关系进入最佳时期。对美关系明显改善。印支三国一体化进程加快 ,并与缅甸结成东盟内第二国家集团。2004年各方面的发展 ,强化了业已形成的柬埔寨国家发展方…     

尼赫鲁眼中的中国文化——“20世纪印度名家与中国文化”研究系列之一

尼赫鲁曾经在他的代表作<印度的发现>中对中国文化作过多方面的专门论述,他对中国文化有一种亲切之感.他还探讨了中印文化交流的问题.尼赫鲁晚年对中国文化的疏远来自于印度现实政治发展与国际政治局势的制约.本文对此进行了初步探讨.     

A trilogy of primers

Barry Rubin (ed.), The Politics of Terrorism: Terror as a State and Revolutionary Strategy, Washington, DC: The Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute, 1989. Pp.xiv + 236. $35.75 (hardback), $19 (paperback). ISBN 0–941700–45–3 and 44–5.

Barry Rubin (ed.), The Politics of Counter‐Terrorism: The Ordeal of Democratic States, Washington, DC: The Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute, 1990. Pp.xv + 222. $44.50 (hardback), $21 (paperback). ISBN 0–941700–60–7 and 61–5.

Barry Rubin (ed.), Terrorism and Politics, New York: St Martin's Press, 1991. Pp.xi + 174. $39.95. ISBN 0–312–06068–8.     

Foreign Policy Making Under Koizumi: Norms and Japan's Role in the 2003 Iraq War

Japan's policy toward the 2003 Iraq War is a test of the constructivist argument about the weight of norms as opposed to material systemic factors in foreign policy making. Constructions of external threats and interests were contested between a largely realist-minded elite around prime minister Koizumi bent on Japan's remilitarization and those still holding to antimilitarist norms. This contest is traced in an analysis of the policy-making process, including the role of bureaucratic and political institutions, the opposition parties and the public. Indicative of the power of norms, Koizumi was forced to compromise his ambition to use the Iraq crisis to help make Japan a "normal" great power.     

Naming the Nation: A Critical Analysis of Names in Polish Political Discourse

This article offers a critical discursive analysis of proper names used in Polish political discourse, focusing on six addresses to the nation made by prominent public figures of the Polish political scene?the president, prime minister, and the primate of the Catholic Church. The names used in the speeches did not function merely as means of referring to places or persons. The speakers used them to construct an ideologically preferred reality. Those used by the president of Poland ''embellished'' the Communist past of the country and showed his political (post-Communist) option as a viable proposal for Poland. The speeches made by the primate of Poland created a politically uncontroversial image of the country, with the head of the Catholic Church positioned as a moral authority. Finally, the visible absence of names in the prime minister's speech represented the etatistic view of Poland.     

Book reviews

Mikhail S. Gorbachev, On My Country and the World, George Shriver (Translator). New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Pp.308, index. $29.95 (cloth). ISBN 0–231–11514–8.

Simon Duke, The Elusive Quest for European Security: From EDC to CFSP. New York: St. Martin's, 2000.Pp.xvii + 406, notes, list of abbreviations, acronyms and conventions, index. $69.95 (cloth). ISBN 0–312–22402–8.

Hugh Miall, Oliver Ramsbotham and Tom Woodhouse, Contemporary Conflict Resolution. Oxford: Polity Press, 1999. Pp.xviii + 270, table of abbreviations, bibliog., index. $69.95 (cloth). ISBN 0–7456–2034–5.     

“Good Deeds Aren’t Enough”: Point Four in Iran, 1949–1953

Iran enjoyed some of the earliest fruits and efforts of the Point Four programme, an initiative borne out of President Harry Truman’s 1949 inaugural address. Over the last decade, a robust literature on development theory and American foreign policy has emerged. That research reveals complex motivations and agendas. Point Four in Iran, specifically, offers a discrete, early picture of America’s broader effort to utilise technical assistance to elevate poor peoples’ standards of living and inoculate poor states from communist appeals. It is one of the landmark programmes during this genesis period. The Iranian government was amongst the first that the State Department approached to establish technical aid under this initiative, and, indeed, American aid to Iran continued into the 1970s. By mid-1953, however, larger and more direct aid absorbed this specific assistance and development effort to bolster the shah’s government, which gained secure power after an American Central Intelligence Agency and British intelligence—MI6—backed coup that same year. Scholars have argued that Truman’s foreign aid innovations reshaped United States foreign policy. The Point Four programme in Iran, however, also reveals the limits of that revolution.     

Recent Political Developments in India and Their Effects

In March 2017,Narendra Modi led his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to victory in state elections,among which he gained parliamentary election of Uttar Pradesh (state in northern India),known as the weather vane of Indian elections.Back in 2014,the BJP had already won a simple majority in Lok Sabha (the lower house of parliament),bringing an end to more than 30 years of coalition government.Now,the BJP is exhibiting stronger presence as a one-party-rule at both federal and local levels,with no counter-balance from the Indian National Congress,local parties,or left wing parties now or in the foreseeable future.This increases the likelihood of Modi's re-election as prime minister in 2019.Obviously,Indian political development is characterized by complexity,accidental factors and intrinsic logic,which will definitely exert great influence on the future of India.     

Book reviews

Amir Taheri, Holy Terror: The Inside Story of Islamic Terrorism. London: Century Hutchinson; Bethesda, MD: Adler & Adler, 1987. Pp.313. £12.95/$19.95 (hardback); £3.95 (paperback).

Robert O. Slater and Michael Stohl (eds.), Current Perspectives on International Terrorism. London: Macmillan Press; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988. Pp. 288. £29.50/$39.95 (hardback); £13.95 (paperback).

Juliet Lodge (ed.), The Threat of Terrorism. Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books; Boulder, CO.Westview Press, 1988. Pp. 280. £35/$33.50 (hardback); £12.95 (paperback).

Edward F. Mickolus with Peter A. Flemming (compilers), Terrorism, 1980–1987: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1988. Pp. 314. £49.50/$55.     

Fiji: country profile

Fiji is a country consisting of 300 South Pacific islands, of which the largest is Vitu Levu, which includes the capital, Suva. The islands are home to 700,000 people, of whom 50% are Indian, 46% Melanesian, and the rest Chinese or European. The official language is English, and the major religions are Hinduism and Christianity. Literacy is 79% for men and 64% for women, whose status is generally low in this patriarchal society. Infant mortality is 27/1000 live births, but life expectancy is 70 years. The British began sending missionaries and manufactured goods in the early 1800s and annexed the islands in 1874 as a source of sugar, for which they expropriated the land and imported the Indians as agricultural workers. Sugar remains the largest export along with coconut oil, gold, and timber. Manufactured goods, food, fuel, and chemicals are imported, and the national debt is over $200 million. Foreign investment, mostly by Australia, is $13.2 million. Inflation is 20%; 200,000 people are unemployed, and poverty is general except for the urban elite. The Fijian dollar is worth US. 80. Independence, granted in 1970, replaced colonial control with military governments, currently that of Colonel Rambuka, who refused to allow a democratically elected government to take office. Faced with a declining economy and the political power of the fascist Taukei movement, the Indians, who had been the shopkeepers, craftsmen and bureaucrats during the later period of colonial rule, have been emigrating en masse.     

Building a Model While Debunking Another: The Rivalry of Arab Nationalism between ‘Abd al-Karim Qasim and Gamal Abdel Nasser

Abstract

The decade of 1950–60 was unique in terms of the establishment of a supranational Arab union, known as the United Arab Republic. However, this union was ill born due to certain frictions between Arab states in the Middle East. There were divergences between the visions of Arab Nationalism for each state and this caused a troubling process for this supranational initiative. This study considers these frictions as the main reasons behind why the UAR was an unsuccessful attempt and further why the Arab Nationalism dissolved afterwards. The divergence between two competing visions of Arab Nationalism is symbolized through the competition between Iraqi prime minister Abd al-Karim Qasim and Egyptian president Gamal Nasser. The domestic, regional and global circumstances for these two countries and their leaders are analyzed in order to illustrate how these frictions became a reality and divided the Arab stance.     

Leaders Without Borders: Familiarity as a Moderator of Transnational Source Cue Effects

The role of source cue effects in transnational persuasion (in which a foreign actor attempts to persuade an audience in another jurisdiction) is largely unexplored in both the political communication and international relations literatures. This article investigates transnational source cue effects using two source cue experiments that test the persuasiveness of German chancellor Angela Merkel and UK prime minister David Cameron in a Canadian context. The experiments were embedded in an online survey administered to student participants at a Canadian university in January 2011. As might be expected, the foreign leaders exerted positive source cue effects among participants who held positive impressions of the leaders and backlash effects among those who held strongly negative impressions. These effects, however, were moderated by participants’ level of political awareness, with the largest effects observed among participants who had an intermediate level of awareness. It is argued that this nonlinear moderating effect can be attributed to the countervailing effects of attitude stability and source familiarity (both of which are associated with political awareness) on individuals’ susceptibility to source cue effects. Finally, cueing David Cameron had approximately equivalent source cue effects on participants’ attitudes towards government spending on foreign aid and welfare, suggesting that foreign leaders may be able to move opinion on domestic as well as on foreign policy issues. Overall, these results validate existing models of source cue effects in a transnational context and point to the scope and limitations of national leaders’ ability to engage in direct public diplomacy.

[Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Political Communication for the following free supplemental resources: Appendix: Question Wordings for Survey Experiments; Table A1: Balance Tests for Afghanistan and Cameron Cue Experiments; and Table A2: Underlying Salience of Domestic and Foreign Policy Spending.]