The Asian‐Pacific ‘Geese’: Flying or floundering?

The Western Pacific: Challenge of Sustainable Growth, by Alan Burnett. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 1992. 272 pp. £45. ISBN 1–85278–367–2.

Driven by Growth: Political Change in the Asia‐Pacific Region, edited by James W. Morley. M. E. Sharpe, Armonk NY, 1992. 345 pp. £42. ISBN 1–56324–013–0.

The West Pacific Rim, by Rupert Hodder. Belhaven Press, London, 1992. 153 pp. £35. ISBN 1–85293–210–4.

The East‐West Pendulum, by Robert Lloyd George. Woodhead Faulkner. Cambridge, 1992. 142 pp. £27.50. ISBN 0–85941–753–0.

People and Power in the Pacific, by Walden Bello. Pluto Press, London, 1993. 146 pp. £7.50 paperback. ISBN 0–7453–0698–5.     

‘Event,politics, and space: Rancière or Badiou’?

This paper takes a critical view of Rancière’s ideas on politics, subjectivity, and space by building on the criticisms offered by Alain Badiou in a series of critical exchanges between the two authors. The first part of the paper reviews the main points of difference between them, which centre around their different interpretations of what constitutes a political event, subjectivity, and the nature of radical politics. Later sections then develop these differences with respect to further issues concerning the nature of political spaces, the pre-evental, and political organization.     

SOE in Crete: an alternative model of ‘special operations’?

While most histories of SOE tend to emphasize the importance of sabotage and subversion in meeting Churchill’s injunction to ‘set Europe ablaze’, this article argues for a wider understanding of the functions of SOE by focusing on its operations in Crete. With a particular emphasis on the role and influence of Tom Dunbabin, the article shows that SOE in Crete took on a much broader range of functions than commonly understood. They extended into the realm of politics and diplomacy in pursuit of the larger aim of discouraging rather than promoting the use of violence in preparation of a peaceful transition to a post-war order.     

The Czech Islamophobic movement: beyond ‘populism’?

ABSTRACT

Sla?álek and Svobodová’s paper focuses on the ideology of the Czech Islamophobic movement as seen during the 2015–16 migration crisis. In their analysis of interviews with demonstrators and speeches by leaders of the movement, they discuss first how the movement imagined its enemies, and then describe its vision of positive core values. They conclude that the movement’s key ideological features are: an emphasis on social and civilizational decline (declinism); a return to an assumed naturalness in economic and gender relationships (naturalization); and the open evocation of violence and severity (brutalization). In terms of Rogers Brubacker’s distinction between xenophobic ethno-nationalism in Eastern Europe, and the xenophobic defence of liberal values in the West, Sla?álek and Svobodová find that the Czech case fits the allegedly western pattern better than the eastern one, which may cast doubt on the whole essentialization of distinctions between ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ populisms.     

Political Accountability in Hong Kong: Myth or Reality?

This article assesses the practice of political accountability in Hong Kong: whether it has largely been realised in practice, or whether it is merely a political slogan for the government to justify its executive-led governance. The analysis begins with a review of the theoretical concepts of political accountability and ministerial accountability, and then establishes an operational framework to analyse the current practice of political accountability in Hong Kong's political system. It concludes by addressing the degree of political accountability overall.     

Charlottesville Paradox: The ‘Liberalizing’ Alt-Right, ‘Authoritarian’ Left,and Politics of Dialogue

In the aftermath of the 2017 Charlottesville tragedy, the prevailing narrative is a Manichean division between ‘white supremacists’ and ‘anti-racists’. We suggest a more complicated, nuanced reality. While the so-called ‘Alt-Right’ includes those pursuing an atavistic political end of racial and ethnic separation, it is also characterised by pluralism and a strategy of nonviolent dialogue and social change, features associated with classic liberalism. The ‘Left,’ consistent with its historic mission, opposes the Alt-Right’s racial/ethnic prejudice; but, a highly visible movement goes farther, embracing an authoritarianism that would forcibly exclude these voices from the public sphere. This authoritarian element has influenced institutions historically committed to free expression and dialogue, notably universities and the ACLU. We discuss these paradoxes by analysing the discourse and actions of each movement, drawing from our study of hundreds of posts and articles on Alt-Right websites and our online exchanges on a leading site (AltRight.com). We consider related news reports and scholarly research, concluding with the case for dialogue.     

Laudable aims and problematic consequences,or: The ‘flow’ of knowledge is not neutral

This is a comment on how environments apparently favourable to open-ended and exploratory research, as across disciplines, can turn out to be rather otherwise. Social anthropology is the discipline in question here, and the current rhetoric of interdisciplinarity the source of some (new) problems.     

UK Labour and the EU Single Market: ‘Social Europe’ or ‘Capitalist Club’?

This article looks at the UK Labour Party’s view of the EU single market over the last four decades, focussing on three case study periods when this issue was particularly salient: first, the time of the single market’s introduction under Neil Kinnock’s leadership; second, the A8 accession with Tony Blair as Labour Prime Minister; and third, between the 2016 European referendum and 2019 general election during Jeremy Corbyn’s time as party leader. This historical narrative uses the theoretical approach of Harvard economist Dani Rodrik—of a ‘trilemma’ faced by national policy makers in response to globalisation—as a lens to describe a clear arc in Labour’s policy towards the single market across the three case studies. A position of initial scepticism moved to support under Kinnock’s leadership, and then active encouragement under Blair, before coming back again under Corbyn to uncomfortable non-commitment. This arc directly correlates with the ebb and flow of the party’s overall economic approach—first the Keynesian, national Alternative Economic Strategy at the time of the party’s 1983 general election defeat; then, the deviation under Blair to a policy that actively encouraged cross-border market liberalisation; and finally the return to an Alternative Economic Strategy-style approach under Corbyn.     

‘Left behind’ people,or places? The role of local economies in perceived community representation

Modern economics attributes importance to spatial inequality: yet in studying discontent with politics, existing research has mostly neglected local contexts and attitudes people hold about them. I use British Election Study data to investigate the factors leading people to believe their community is ignored by the political process. Firstly, real economic contexts play a role, since residents of low-income communities tend to take more negative views about how well their community is represented. Secondly, negative perceptions of the local economy are associated with more negative views of community representation, whereas equivalent ‘egotropic’ measures of people's personal economic situation have no such effect. Thirdly, I observe a ‘grievance’ effect wherein people are particularly negative about community representation when they believe that the national economy is more successful than that of one's local community.     

Book Review for Jianyong Yue,China’s Rise in the Age of Globalization: Myth or Reality?

Journal of Chinese Political Science -     

‘We Need Our New OSS,Our New General Donovan,Now ...’: The Public Discourse over American Intelligence, 1944-53

The popular origins of the modern US intelligence bureaucracy have largely escaped the scrutiny of historians. This article examines the critical public discourse over American intelligence and the clear domestic support for a new type of national intelligence system following World War II. The organization of American intelligence was thoroughly examined in newspapers, polling data, popular magazines, public speeches and lectures, petitions to government officials, and for the first time — the medium of radio. This frank discussion, fostered to a large degree by William Donovan, undoubtedly influenced the tenor surrounding the establishment of the modern intelligence bureaucracy, but also resulted in an unwelcome public relations quandary for intelligence officials. This distinctly American postwar dialogue illustrates the great challenge of conducting intelligence in an open democratic society.     

‘The fire rises’: identity,the alt-right and intersectionality

This article examines the ideology of the ‘alt-right,’ specifically in its relation to the importance of identity. Placing the alt-right within the context of the rising importance of identity within American society, the article discusses the alt-right as overlapping in significant ways with the identitarian elements within the American Left. Investigating the manner in which national/racial identity plays a central role in alt-right thinking and using the notion of ‘category-based epistemology’ for guidance, this article argues that the alt-right – rather than a quirk of the 2016 electoral cycle – is likely to increase in its importance as a ‘rightist’ form of intersectionality.     

Operation ‘cardinal’: The OSS in Manchuria,August 1945

To protect thousands of Allied military prisoners of war, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), China Theater parachuted a small team into Mukden the day after the Japanese surrender. Operating amid a disintegrating security situation, the OSS team's military and diplomatic skills enabled success of its humanitarian mission. Afterward, the team reverted to a secondary mission of intelligence gathering. Witnesses to the beginning of the Cold War in Asia, the team's intelligence reporting revealed the strength of the Chinese Communists in Manchuria, and how in the flush of victory over Japan, the United States was already facing problems with a resurgent Soviet Union whose ambitions were far different from those of America.     

The EHRC: Transformational,Progressively Incremental or a Disappointment?

The ECHR has yet to decide its first substantive strategy and objectives within its broad set of statutory duties. This article seeks to identify the likely more influential factors in its external context and internal composition, and the extent to which those factors point towards a new universalist "integrated mandate" as distinct from the previous regime's approach focusing on particular groups (black and ethnic minority groups, women and men, disabled people etc.). The analysis suggests a possible contradiction in that, while the internal factors are on balance geared to the integrated model, the current external environment (in conjunction with an inevitable need to prioritise) on balance still points to the group based model. The article concludes with possible implications for the ECHR's strategy and that, among public bodies, the ECHR is uniquely well-positioned to tackle group-based inequalities.     

The Danish ‘Competition State’: Still Along the Third Way?

This brief review article addresses the question of whether the so-called “competition state” was “abandoned” during the recent Danish election of 2019, which brought the Social Democrats back in government under the leadership of Mette Frederiksen. During the prior Social Democratic government of 2011-2015, led by Helle Thorning-Schmitt, this concept was introduced as a highly controversial policy concept and came to summarize the government’s program of economic reforms and recovery. The concept was subsequently strongly criticized in broader public political discourse as well as by the Social Democratic party and Mette Frederiksen herself. It is thus worth considering, whether the competition state reform program has been “buried” with the recent election, as this might imply a more radical break or discontinuity away from the “third way” competition state reform program embarked upon by most western European Social democrats since the 1990’s. This article will, first, briefly review the public discussion about the competition state in Denmark, before it, second, will recapitulate the academic debate about the competition state and clarify the concept. Third, it will review central tenets of the economic policy of the Thorning-Schmitt government of 2011-2015, as well as, fourth, the announced reform program of the new Social Democratic government. Finally the article will contrast and compare the two programs, and conclude that the “competition state” to a large extent endured the election of 2019, even if the Frederiksen government seems to lead the Danish competition state into reform trajectory towards increasing dis-universalization of social security and pensions.     

Introduction: The Transcripts of Peace: Public,Hidden or Non-obvious?

This piece introduces the special issue on everyday peace indicators. It considers the limitations of orthodox approaches to capturing and evaluating peace. Many of these approaches are top-down and reflect state-centric approaches. Alternatively they are focused on specific peacebuilding programmes and have little to say about the wider context in which peace is being built or obstructed. The lived-experience of conflict and war-to-peace transitions is often written out of accounts of peace and conflict. While recognizing that measuring peace is an inherently complex task, this introductory essay notes that there is little appetite among international organizations to reassess how they record and evaluate peace. In part, this is explained by the lucrative political economy of monitoring and evaluation. This special issue seeks to contribute to thinking about new agendas for evaluating peace.     

The US,Iran and ‘maximum pressure’

Tensions between the United States and Iran have risen sharply in recent weeks. The Iran nuclear deal may collapse permanently in the coming months. While the leader of neither country appears to want war, conflict remains possible due to misperception and miscalculation.