Diplomacy Interrupted?: Macmahon Ball,Evatt and Labor's Policies in Occupied Japan*

Historiography on the Australian political and diplomatic role in the Allied Occupation of Japan (1945–1952) gives disproportionate attention to the meetings between the Australian Minister for External Affairs, H.V. Evatt, and the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan (SCAP), General Douglas MacArthur, in Tokyo during 1947. These meetings are then linked to the subsequent resignation from the Allied Council for Japan (ACJ) of William Macmahon Ball, an Australian academic representing the British Commonwealth, and used to justify the claim that Australian policy towards Occupied Japan was unpredictable and ad hoc. This attention to Ball's resignation has distorted analysis of Australia's role in, and policies towards, Japan during the Occupation. This article argues that there is a need to develop a new historical discourse for the Australian role in the Occupation, one that moves beyond the intrigues of personalities and investigates diplomatic policy practice and its underlying ideals. This, in turn, may encourage other scholars to rethink the wider conduct and practice of foreign policy under the Labor governments of the 1940s.     

"马来化、伊斯兰化和君主制度"下文莱华人的社会地位

从战后迄今,文莱政府通过法律限制文莱华人获得公民权,导致大部分华人尚未获得文莱国籍.虽然政府在经济上刻意扶持马来人并致力于国家伊斯兰化,鼓励异教徒皈依伊斯兰教,但仍在经济领域留给华人相当大的发展空间,容忍华人保持原有宗教和发展华文教育,维持和发展华人意识和华族认同.文莱华人基本上能与当地政府和土著民和睦相处,并能在经济领域维持相对优势地位.     

When the Walls Come Crumbling Down: The Monarchy and Thai-style Democracy

Although many people date critical commentary on the Thai monarchy to Paul Handley's explosive biography The King Never Smiles: A Biography of Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej, this article demonstrates the existence of a consistently critical body of work, in the English language, that emerged contemporaneously with the king's growing stature from the 1980s. It also considers the conditions that have led to wider and more vocal criticisms since the coup of 2006. The primary focus is an exploration of new contributions to this critical commentary by the authors of the edited collection Saying the Unsayable: Monarchy and Democracy in Thailand. It identifies tensions across the chapters, including different emphases on liberalism and conservatism, and on the symbolic functioning of the monarchy.     

A Big Prince in a Tiny Realm: Smallness,Monarchy, and Political Legitimacy in the Principality of Liechtenstein

The Principality of Liechtenstein challenges the prevailing view in political science that ‘small is democratic.’ Located in the heart of Western Europe, the Principality is ruled by a monarch with extensive political powers. The present article examines how the smallness of the Principality contributes to the maintenance of powerful traditional leadership, and which strategies are used to legitimize the Liechtensteiner system vis‐à‐vis its population. On the basis of interviews with Liechtensteiner respondents, it is found that the smallness of Liechtenstein contributes to the position of the monarchy due to (1) the lack of alternative sources of identification, (2) the perception of the Prince as a neutral arbiter standing above the quarreling political factions, and (3) the dominant cultural code that limits citizens' opportunities to criticize the monarchy. The article highlights several ways in which the Prince has sought to legitimize his own position, and to undercut the criticism against him.     

Thailand's Theory of Monarchy: The Vessantara Jataka and the Idea of the Perfect Man

Thailand's Theory of Monarchy: The Vessantara Jataka and the Idea of the Perfect Man . By Patrick Jory (New York: SUNY Press, 2016), £62.93 (hb), £17.75 (pb).     

Different Approaches,Different Results in Small State Studies: Complementary Views on the Monarchy and Traditional Governance in Liechtenstein

The research note comments on W. Veenendaal's article “A Big Prince in a Tiny Realm: Smallness, Monarchy, and Political Legitimacy in the Principality of Liechtenstein”. It is argued, inter alia, that the phenomenon of “princely self‐restraint” should not be underestimated in Liechtenstein's constitutional reality. The character of the microstate's actual political system strongly depends on the individual personality of the Reigning Prince . A strong monarch who acts as a political actor with his own agenda should not be conceptualized as a neutral traditional leader. From the perspective of many citizens of Liechtenstein, the principality's political system is legitimate since it combines traditional authority and legal‐rational authority in a unique way. Largely due to the powerful role of the government, the microstate is characterized by consensus‐oriented hierarchical governance. Elite surveys can be seen as a useful instrument to overcome some of the methodological pitfalls of the elite interview approach.     

The Moral Economists: R. H. Tawney,Karl Polanyi,E. P. Thompson,and the Critique of Capitalism

The Moral Economists: R. H. Tawney, Karl Polanyi, E. P. Thompson, and the Critique of Capitalism . By Tim Rogan (Princeton and Oxford, Princeton University Press, 2017), pp.263 + viii. AU$48.82 (hb). Available in Australia through Footprint Books.     

Population,development and environment: India and beyond

Robert Cassen, professor at the Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics, seeks in this paper to explain the role of population growth in economic development and environmental change. Professor Cassen argues that the role of population is best understood as a long-term underlying factor which influences the scale and composition of demand for goods, services and resources, as well as the supply of labor. How demands are met, and how useful more labor is, are functions of innumerable influences, including the economy, technology, markets (or lack of markets), social structure and social conditions, property rights, politics, law and institutions. One can point to aspects of development that are strongly population driven, and disentangle others which are not, but where population has a significant influence. Professor Cassen concentrates on such an approach, illustrating the general case from the Indian experience.