An Historical and Political View of the Reserve and Guard Forces of the Baltic States at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

The changes that have occurred in Europe since the end of the Cold War might be the most significant since the middle of the medieval period. With Poland and other nations of Central Europe, including the three Baltic states, joining the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) the political and cultural shape of Europe is rapidly changing. For the first time since the death of Charlemagne over 1,000 years ago, all of Central and Western Europe has a genuine chance of uniting. Even though this integrated Europe will be under the flag of the EU, the key that is making this possible is the military and economic power of the United States. The organization that brings the protective umbrella of the US is NATO. For nations to be taken seriously as members of NATO, they must have credible military forces. For all countries this includes the reserve and guard forces, but for small countries with conservative budgets the reserve and Home/National Guard become the most important forces. Since the Baltic states are three small countries building their militaries from zero since the end of the Cold War, the importance of the reserve and guard cannot be overemphasized. This article examines the reserve and Guard forces of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the end of the Cold War to the beginning of the twenty-first century.     

Grassroots Bureaucracy: Intergovernmental Relations and Popular Mobilization in Brazil's AIDS Policy Sector

How does the state ensure the implementation of national policies in a context of decentralized political authority? This article identifies a new strategy utilized by national bureaucrats to regulate the behavior of subnational politicians: mobilizing civil society as government watchdog and political advocate. In the context of decentralized governance, in which local politicians administer most social sector programs, reform‐minded bureaucrats often find that they have little control over the implementation of their progressive policies. In Brazil's AIDS policy sector, however, bureaucrats have ensured the successful implementation of their policies by developing allies outside government. These state actors—here called activist bureaucrats—have been largely overlooked in the English‐language literature, yet they form a new layer of politics in Latin America.     

The East Asia Security Environment in the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century and the Adjustments in Vietnamese Foreign Policy

International relations are social actions, and their expression is behavior of the states. According to French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, the basis for any social action is habitus and capital (Bourdieu 1982). For Bourdieu, social action is not created in a vacuum but always takes place under certain social conditions. Different social conditions create different spheres that Bourdieu called action fields. The problem is that each field has its own rules, logic and goals. Bourdieu also uses the metaphor of game to explain the concept of field. Like the fields each game has also its own rules and logic. In order to participate in the game players are required to have some knowledge of game, and capacity, skills, and last but not least the interests to play game. The field of the Asia-Pacific region in the beginning of twenty-first century and especially during recent years is one of “center court” of the whole world involving all big players like the US, China, Japan, Russia and India. Their presence with their own behavior and different abilities, interests make this field more interesting, but at the same time more complicated and unpredictable. This article explores the different phases of Vietnam's foreign policy since reform in 1986 and joining ASEAN and adoption of “Resolution No. 8 (section IX) on the Strategy for Fatherland Defence in the New Context” in 1995.     

论21世纪中美印三边关系

中美印三边关系的互动将在很大程度上影响着国际体系的发展。美国能否利用印度平衡和制约中国,并不完全取决于美印关系的发展。从现实主义角度出发,在经济全球化趋势下,中印之间的共同利益远远大于分歧,只要中国坚持走和平发展道路,印度就不会被美国利用来制约中国;而中美之间的战略目标虽有相当多的差异,但也存在不少利益交汇点。根据自由制度主义理论分析,中美印相互依存关系不断加深,与中美印有关的国际合作机制在发展。中印之间和美印之间有一些共同价值观,中美在价值观上也并非完全不同。中印战略文化的相似之处大大多于美印之间。从建构主义角度看,中印是国际体系中的新兴大国,但都不愿挑战国际体系中居于主导地位的大国——美国的领导地位,也不想打破现有的国际秩序和国际规则,而是主张在遵循国际法准则、平等和相互尊重、合作以及推动多极化的基础上推动国际秩序朝公正合理的方向发展。中美印有必要建立相对均衡的三边关系。如各方处理得当,中美印有可能避免“安全困境”,建立起“双赢”或“多赢”关系。     

国际关系理论中的地区主义

地区主义有着世界经济和国际关系两种主要讨论方法.本文主要从国际关系理论的角度出发,首先对地区主义的基本概念进行阐释,然后对国际关系理论中涉及地区主义的有关学说和流派进行梳理,并特别对地缘经济学与地区主义的关系进行分析,在此基础上归纳了地区主义的基本逻辑.文章最后就地区主义研究的可能走向提出了自己的看法,并初步提出了"地区政治经济学"的概念.     

"东亚国际关系中的中美关系"学术研讨会综述

2002年10月26日-28日,由中美关系史学会、厦门大学美国史研究中心、中国社会科学院美国研究所共同举办的"东亚国际关系中的中美关系"研讨会在厦门大学举行.国内33个学术机构的60多名专家学者出席了会议,提交论文44篇.与会者就中美关系的演变、影响中美关系的国际因素、当前的中美关系等方面问题进行了讨论.     

跨国关系与国内政治--比较政治与国际政治经济学视野下的国际关系研究

在过去的几十年中 ,各国内部政治经济越来越多地被整合到一体化的世界中 ,国际力量以前所未有的势头介入并影响着国内政治经济社会的变迁 ,可以说 ,无论在发达工业化国家 ,还是广大的第三世界国家 ,也无论在民主国家还是集权国家 ,各国内部政治经济社会被打上的国际痕迹比历史上任何时候都要明显与深刻。与此相呼应的是 ,如何从理论上认识一体化、国际化、全球化 ,或者相互依赖压力下的国内政治经济变迁 ,开始吸引了越来越多学者的兴趣。将比较政治和国际政治经济学结合起来 ,对国际关系和国内政治进行综合探讨 ,就是此项学术努力的一部分 ,…     

国际关系理论的合理性与局限性

在建构国际关系理论的过程中,研究者的视角和假设差异决定了他们采取不同的分析方法;而不同的价值取向更使得他们对因果关系有不同的选择.本文意在通过分析国际关系理论中的假定与目的,价值判断与因果关系来阐明这样一个观点国际关系理论是一种开放性理论,每一种理论流派的相关性决定了它的局限性.     

国际关系理论视野下的国家权力

本文基于冷战以来国际关系格局发生重大变化的历史背景,解释了与国家"硬权力"相对应的"软权力"的缘起及其基本内涵,并对国家"软权力"与"硬权力"研究的发展脉络进行了梳理,进而阐释了构成国际关系中国家基本权力的"软权力"和"硬权力"之间的内在关联.