The political economy of Mozambique twenty years on: A post-conflict success story?

The following article investigates the state of Mozambique's political economy 20 years after the end of its civil war between FRELIMO and RENAMO, in 1992. This paper is written from the theoretical perspectives of growing criticism of the neo-liberal assumptions that underlie development policy and places the analysis of Mozambique's economic growth and development within the field of development studies as they are played out in African realities. Mozambique is viewed by the donor community and multilateral institutions as a success story of postwar construction, yet a closer look at the development outcomes in Mozambique calls this conclusion into question. The paper found that, despite improvements in reducing the number of people living in poverty between 1992 and 2012, hunger persists and malnutrition and diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis are on the increase. The author concludes that global governance reforms that take cognisance of Mozambique's and indeed Africa's governance challenges are needed to forge a development paradigm relevant for Africa.     

Sinai: With special reference to the forty years’ wandering of Israel

Portrait of the Dalai Lama. By Sir Charles Bell, K.C.I.E., C.M.G. Pp. 414. 49 illustrations. 2 maps. William Collins. 1946. 21s.

Rural Education and Welfare in the Middle East. By H. B. Allen. H.M. Stationery Office, is. 6d.

Nisi Dominus : A Survey of the Palestine Controversy. By Nevill Barbour. Pp. 248; 3 maps. Harrap and Co. 8s. 6d.

The Palestine Problem. By Lieut.‐Colonel R. B. Williams‐Thompson. Four maps. Demy 8vo. Andrew Melrose, Ltd. 1946. 12s. 6d.

Syria. By Robin Fedden. Robert Hale. Pp. 287; 32 illustrations. 1946. 21s. net.

Arabia Ph?nix. By Gerald de Gaury. Pp. 169; 64 illustrations. Harrap. 1946. 10s. 6d.

New Yezidi Texts from Beled Sihjar, ‘Iraq. By Anis Frayha. Reprint from Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 66, No. 1. 1946.

Twin Rivers. By Seton Lloyd. Pp. 230; 12 illustrations; 4 maps. Oxford University Press. 1945. 10s. 6d.

Four Studies in Loyalty. Christopher Sykes. Pp. 224. Collins. 12s. 6d.

Indian Route March. By Louis Hagen. 7½”×5”. Pp. 192. Pilot Press, Ltd. 1946. 7s. 6d. net.

Asiatic Jones. The life and influence of Sir William Jones (1746–1794). Pioneer of Indian studies. By A. J. Arberry, Litt.D. 1946. Published for the British Council by Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd. Pp. 39; 9 illustrations; bibliography.

Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines. By René Guénon. Translated by Marco Pallis. Pp. 351. Luzac and Co. 1946. 12s. 6d.

Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta. By René Guénon. Translated by Richard C. Nicholson. Pp. 188. Luzac and Co. 1945. 12s. 6d.

China—Tibet—Assam. By Colonel F. M. Bailey. Large Cr. 8vo. Cape. 10s. 6d.

Plant‐Hunting in China. By E. H. M. Cox. Pp. 230; 24 illustrations; maps. Collins. 1945. 12s. 6d.

Pacific Victory. A short history of Australia's part in the war against Japan. By Hugh Buggy. 5¼” × 8¼”. Pp. 302. Australian Ministry of Information. 1946.

The Far East Must Be Understood. By H. van Straelen. Pp. 150. Luzac and Co. 1946. 10s. 6d.     

The genesis of the ‘Exceptional’ Republic: the permanency of the political crisis and the constitution of legal emergency power in Turkey

ABSTRACT

Almost half of the political life has been experienced under the state of emergency and state of siege policies in the Turkish Republic. In spite of such a striking number and continuity in the deployment of legal emergency powers, there are just a few legal and political studies examining the reasons for such permanency in governing practices. To fill this gap, this paper aims to discuss one of the most important sources of the ‘permanent’ political crisis in the country: the historical evolution of legal emergency power. In order to highlight how these policies have intensified the highly fragile citizenship regime by weakening the separation of power, repressing the use of political rights and increasing the discretionary power of both the executive and judiciary authorities, the paper sheds light on the emergence and production of a specific form of legality based on the idea of emergency and the principle of executive prerogative. In that context, it aims to provide a genealogical explanation of the evolution of the exceptional form of the nation-state, which is based on the way political society, representation, and legitimacy have been instituted and accompanying failure of the ruling classes in building hegemony in the country.     

Diminishing Returns? Prime Minister Koizumi’s Visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in the Context of East Asian Nationalisms

The Yasukuni Shrine is a site of contested nationalist politics in Japan and in neighbouring countries. Within Japan the status of the Shrine exists in a tension between public and private and religious and secular meanings. These tensions are given a specific focus in the context of the visits to the Shrine by Japanese Prime Ministers. The history of such visits is discussed and analysed, with particular attention given to the causes and consequences of the visits by Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro between 2001 and 2006. It is argued that the controversies over the visits in Japan and elsewhere are best understood in the context of ‘revisionist nationalism’ in Japan. The reactions and nationalist problematics of the PRC and Taiwan with regard to the Yasukuni Shrine are then elaborated and analysed.

‘Conflict and confrontation’: A comparison of the effect of trade embargoes on executive‐legislative relations in the USA during the Truman and Reagan years

This article examines the conflict between the American Congress and Presidency in US trade embargo policy during the Truman and Reagan years. After reviewing two cases of legislative‐executive confrontation over trade embargoes against the Soviet Union in the late‐1940s and early‐1950s and South Africa in the 1980s, it concludes that Congress has been successful in modifying presidential policy‐making that it believes does not serve the national interest. This is due to its powerful position in the American political process as the initiator of legislation. Its law making powers have allowed it to review executive foreign policy decisions forcing the Presidency to change its approach to particular policy concerns.     

Transforming the Unbound Elephant to the Lovable Asian Hulk: Why is Modi Leveraging India’s Soft Power?

Prime Minister Modi’s administration has renewed emphasis on highlighting India’s soft power resources such as yoga, democratic values, spirituality, etc. Modi has also launched an aggressive public relations and marketing campaign to boost India’s economic growth. This article examines the role and importance of soft power resources in Modi’s foreign policy. The author argues that Modi is applying a two-pronged strategy of simultaneously adopting an aggressive sales pitch to boost India’s economic growth and leveraging India’s soft power to mitigate potential threats emanating from the country’s growing hard power. While soft power resources generally supplement a state’s hard power towards achieving foreign policy goals, Modi is using India’s soft power to draw attention away from the state’s rising military power. While India is enhancing its existing military power, Modi is engaging India’s neighbours and other great powers to ensure that its rise is intended to be peaceful, non-threatening and entirely benevolent. This is in stark contrast to how Asian states as well as the world perceive China’s rise. This article also questions the effectiveness of this strategy and predicts that this strategy should bode well for India in maintaining its international reputation and relationships.     

North Korea’s Resurgence and China’s Rise: Implications for the Future of Northeast Asian Security

Today, Northeast Asia’s security situation is changing rapidly. North Korea is reviving and China’s power is growing at an alarming rate. While the U.S. continues to suffer diplomatically and militarily in the Middle East and from international terrorism, China’s and North Korea’s power is likely to futher increase, polarizing the Northeast Asian security structure, with South Korea, Japan (and Taiwan) all allied with the U.S. versus North Korea allied with China. The liberal democracies should pursue peace with North Korea and China to preclude the situation from aggravating, but should be ready in the longer term to meet, in diverse ways including strengthening their alliances, the challenges posed by rising powers.

From the rebellion of the Prussian league to the autonomy of Royal Prussia: The estates of Prussia and Poland in the years 1454–1526

Summary

This article examines the successive stages in the conflict between Prussian particularism and royal centralism after the separation of the Prussian League from the Teutonic Order and incorporation into the Polish Crown in 1454. The Incorporation Privilege, though interpreted on the one side as a purely personal union and on the other as a real incorporation, remained a point of reference regulating the public and legal relationship between Royal Prussia and Crown Poland for three centuries. It is argued that the years up to 1526 can be considered as a period of consolidation of Prussian particularism and autonomy, although from the 1510s a new policy of participation was beginning to emerge in the Estates, reflecting the interests of the Prussian nobility and their increasing expression in the political arena.     

Marks on the city: the impacts of coastline emergence and bombing on Tallinn’s anachronistic pockets

ABSTRACT

With its complex history, Tallinn is a puzzling patchwork of contrasts – old and new, historic and revisionist. Tallinn’s abrupt contrasts in urban form originate largely from two types of historic disturbance: shoreline emergence and bombing. Through an analysis of archival maps and planning documents, this paper examines how natural shifts in the city’s shoreline combined with bombing during World War II to create anachronistic pockets within Tallinn and divergent densities and access to green space within Tallinn’s districts. Little is written in English about the history of Tallinn’s urban development. This paper analyzes Tallinn’s history of disturbance and poses challenges and opportunities to consider in the city’s future development.     

Perspectives on the study of culture and international politics: From Nihonjinron to the new Asianism∗

Stephanie Lawson, Professor of International Relations at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, considers the role that the concept of “culture” has come to assume in the study of international politics, especially in relation to the Asia‐Pacific region. Much of the cultural nationalist rhetoric associated with the “Nihonjinron” as well as discourses surrounding the “new Asianism” has had two main consequences. One has been to reinforce static perceptions of culture as a marker of essential difference. On the other hand, some obvious instrumental uses to which it has been put by some political elites in the region has generated a great deal of cynicism about the concept. Taking culture seriously requires a different approach—one which stresses the dynamic properties of culture and its potential role in transcending the “East‐West” divide. The original version of this paper was presented at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, St. Antony's College, Oxford, on 29 November 1998.     

South Africa’s foreign policy aspirations and the National Development Plan (NDP 2030): the role of soft power

Chapter 7 of the NDP 2030 articulates a foreign policy vision for South Africa over two decades. While the NDP acknowledges the place of ‘soft power’ in realising this vision, it remains doubtful whether South Africa will indeed take advantage of the enormous gains offered by soft power as a foreign policy lever. This paper examines the role of soft power in achieving the foreign policy mandates prescribed in the Plan. It argues that, like other regional powers such as China, South Africa needs to pay more attention to its soft power attributes if it is to fast-track the successful implementation of its foreign policy ambitions for 2030. We conclude that sustaining South Africa’s rising position and influence in the international system and in Africa, will largely depend on its ability to consciously adjust its foreign policy trajectories – in the long term – in tandem with its soft power resources and competences.     

The 1922 Anglo-Iraq Treaty: A Moment of Crisis and the Role of Britain’s Man on the Ground

The article offers a fresh perspective on the critical significance of ratifying the Treaty of Alliance between Great Britain and Irak (the 1922 Anglo-Iraq Treaty) for British policy on Iraq, and for that country’s evolution from mandated territory to independent state. In contrast with existing accounts, it considers the treaty primarily in the context of domestic tensions over Britain’s future role. The strength of the ‘Quit Mesopotamia (subsequently Iraq)’ movement in Britain meant that Iraqi failure to ratify could have led to British withdrawal from Iraq, with far-reaching implications for the region. The article also reveals for the first time the considerable contribution to securing ratification made by the British representative on the ground, the High Commissioner, Sir Henry Dobbs. He took full advantage of distance to make decisions and act in line with his own, not London’s approach. The source for these new perspectives is Sir Henry Dobbs’ recently discovered letters and private papers—never previously available to historians.