“The Worst of all Worlds:” Oil Sanctions and Italy's Invasion of Abyssinia, 1935–1936

Italy's invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 caused a crisis for the League of Nations. League members imposed limited sanctions against Italy and debated at length the imposition of an embargo on oil shipments to Italy, which came to stand as a symbol of the League's determination to punish the Italian aggressor. The British government conducted a detailed investigation to determine whether or not an oil sanction could compel Italy to abandon its invasion. Although Italy imported the vast majority of its oil, British and League experts concluded that an oil embargo would not succeed. Even if the League instituted a comprehensive embargo amongst its members, Italy could still have secured sufficient supplies from non-members, particularly the United States, which could not legally prevent American companies from trading with Italy. Italy could also have secured additional supplies through third-party transshipments. An additional ban preventing Italy from using League tankers to carry its purchases would not have succeeded either, although the various sanctions together would have increased Italy's costs to import oil and the amount of pressure on its gold reserves. In spite of the technical difficulties involved in implementing an embargo, the British Cabinet continued to support the idea for domestic political reasons; it needed to placate the British public that considered it vitally important to put into practice the League's collective security rhetoric. The League's unwillingness to impose an oil sanction and its evident failure to prevent Italy's conquest of Abyssinia discredited the League and its collective security provisions.     

“(O)n the side of justice and peace”: 1 Canada on the League of Nations Council 1927–1930

Although very much an international novice, Canada secured election to the League Council in September 1927. It did not, on the whole, have a notable impact on its proceedings. Its people, too, were little moved by its presence at Geneva. And while its Prime minister enjoyed his one visit to the League, his scepticism about it remained undimmed. Nonetheless, its three-year Council term had a number of important consequences. It engineered what was on the face of it a significant amendment to League procedures regarding minorities. The experience and horizons of its Department of External affairs were widened. It became accepted that a Dominion—or India—should always sit on the Council. Its status—and that of the other Dominions—as states equal with Britain was underlined. And by demonstrating that it was not in Britain's pocket, Canada's political standing was greatly enhanced. Internationally, it had arrived.     

“Another National Milestone”: Canada's 1927 Election to the Council of the League of Nations

Ten days after announcing its candidature, and amidst some surprise, Canada was elected to a non-permanent seat on the Council of the League of Nations. This article will show how and why this came about. In so doing, it will demonstrate that Canada's election was an important episode from several perspectives. First, it was a milestone in Canada's gradual international coming of age, confirming that it was entitled to all the rights and responsibilities of League membership. Second, it was a significant step in the development of the Commonwealth into an association of equals. And, third, it contributed to the gelling of the emerging group system in elections to the League Council.     

Coalition Making and Norm Shaping in Brazil’s Foreign Policy in the Climate Change Regime

This work analyses Brazil’s foreign policy in the climate change regime. More specifically, it focuses on two initiatives that Brazil actively promoted, the BASIC coalition, which was established at the COP-15 in Copenhagen, and the concentric circles proposal, forwarded amidst the growing momentum for the COP-21 in Paris. By means of a comparative analysis, I look into three explanatory factors: (i) the structure of the regime; (ii) Brazil’s climate-related advantages; and (iii) its diplomatic expertise, for later seeing to which extent they account for Brazil’s behaviour in climate talks. I conclude that domestic factors played a more prominent role in the advancement of an individual proposal such as the concentric circles than on Brazil’s participation at the BASIC.     

Modes of prison administration,control and governmentality in Latin America: adoption,adaptation and hybridity

This article analyses processes of international policy transfer and diffusion in an understudied aspect of security sector reform: prisons. It looks at how Latin American countries, especially Brazil, have responded to a growing security crisis of capacity, effectiveness and violence within their prison systems by adopting, adapting and even resisting reform models available globally in three reform areas: prison administration (state-run versus forms of privatisation and public-private partnerships); control (the technologies of super-max versus the intelligence- and relationship-centred approach of dynamic security); and governmentality (the ethos underpinning state and societal treatment of offenders as subjects and objects of penal discipline). It also examines how Brazil has produced its own home-grown models of penal governance—prisons run by civil society in partnership with the state—which challenge some of the current dominant tropes in prison reform. The globalisation of neoliberal modes of governance may often aim at institutional monocropping, and isomorphism certainly occurs, yet examination of actual practices confirms that Brazil, and the region, have adopted a hybridised diversity of penal reforms.     

The Changing Nature of Multilateralism and Brazilian Foreign Policy

An important characteristic of the current international setting is the crisis of the structure in existence, rather than the emergence of a new order. The rise of new interests and demands, as well as the speed of the transformation make the current understanding of global governance more complex. Brazil, like other medium powers, has an interest in institutionalised multilateralism as a means of increasing its bargaining capacity and hindering the unilateralism of major powers, without being antagonistic to them. It is attempting to increase its weight in traditional international bodies, which provide the grounding for international legitimacy, as well as in new informal arrangements. While this strategy could lead to the establishment of a new hierarchy that brings in countries of growing relative importance, it has put the weight of regional integration into another perspective in Brazilian foreign policy.     

Working with street children

In September 1990 we became involved with the Centre for the Defence of the Child (CDM) in Brazil, hoping to participate in a survey of the lives of street children that was being conducted by the group. The CDM, a branch of its parent organisation The Young Street Vendors' Association, takes on individual cases of street children, providing crisis management with social, psychological, and legal support. It was decided to start a project of regularly taking a team of staff on to the streets and into the areas where the street children were, with the aim of providing a programme of support and self-esteem building, principally for the street girls. This project proved a success with the street children and remains so following our departure from Brazil.     

2008年初肯尼亚政治危机反思

2008年初,肯尼亚政治危机的导火线是奥廷加及其领导的"橙色民主运动"对总统选举结果强烈不满.当年的"全国彩色同盟"解体,分裂为"全国团结党"和"橙运"两大派,是双方矛盾不可调和的结果.奥廷加的崛起除得益于肯尼亚盛行的族性政治外,同他的改革派面貌和建立小族--地区联合阵线的主张与宣传活动有关.这次危机的解决和大联合政府的成立归因于来自国内外的巨大压力.非盟和前联合国秘书长科菲·安南发挥了关键性的调停作用.大联合政府面临宪法改革、土改等诸多问题,但双方为了各自的既得利益,取得进一步的妥协是可能的.     

巴西现代化进程与国际战略选择

国际战略选择在巴西现代化发展进程中起着至关重要的作用。从20世纪30年代至今,巴西各届政府根据现代化发展不同阶段面临的不同战略需求、国际环境、自身实力等因素,实施了四种战略:半自主战略、依附战略、自主战略、相对自主战略。每种战略都是基于巴西的国家利益,但却受制于多种因素。巴西国际战略选择的经验和教训是,像巴西这样的大国,虽然实施自主战略是一种必然的战略选择,但是在现代化发展的初期以及中期,应始终将经济发展作为优先目标,不要过早地追求权力及国际地位,而应尽可能地与中心霸权国保持合作或者说非对抗性关系,以及经济上的相互依存关系。在全球化不断深化的时代背景下,国际多边机制应成为其提升国际地位、谋求国家政治经济利益的重要外交舞台,推动地区一体化应成为其维持自主战略、谋求独立战略空间的必要条件。     

欧洲债务危机的根源及前景

一年多来,欧洲债务危机一直是国际上谈论的焦点之一。美国出于转移世人对美国经济低迷、债务沉重的关注和原本对欧元影响美元霸主地位的不满,也在竭力指摘欧债危机拖累美国经济。欧债危机原本是二战后欧洲国家长期实行“高工资、高福利”政策导致经济发展迟滞的结果,当前不可能有“立竿见影”的解决办法。然而,当今的欧盟,作为世界第一大经济体,虽经受金融危机的冲击,经济实力并未大为削弱,只要从实际出发,开源节流,着眼长远,欧元区就不会解体,欧洲一体化必将会以“多速欧洲”推进。     

A Changing Mediterranean: Regional Organisations and North Africa during the Arab Spring

This article discusses the role played by the European Union, African Union and Arab League in the recent revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. It focuses in particular on the use and impact of political and economic conditionality, the decision-making processes within each organisation and the inter-regional forums created to deal with the crisis. The analysis acknowledges the increasingly active and vocal role played by regional organisations in the so-called ‘Arab spring’, but it highlights not just that they had few legal powers to intervene in these crises, but also that they seemed very reluctant to use any form of political or economic conditionality. It also reveals that the main purpose of inter-regional forums was arguably not to generate consensus internationally but rather to manage dissent. As such, the article encourages a reflection on the specific challenges and opportunities that North Africa and the Mediterranean region pose to regional conflict management.     

Institutional Reforms and the Politics of Inequality Reproduction: The Case of the League of Nations’ Council Crisis in 1926

ABSTRACT

This contribution to the special issue explores how institutional reforms are shaped by and feed back into the politics of inequality reproduction. IR has recently begun to more closely study how hierarchies intersect. This article uses the analytical concept of “interlinkages” to grasp how international organisations couple intra-organisational patterns of unequal representation to extra-organisational social hierarchies. It empirically investigates the forms and effects of such interlinkages through a case study of the League of Nations’ Council crisis and reform in 1926. The reform reaffirmed the most prominent interlinkage: the restriction of permanent membership to states recognised as “great powers”. In addition, the reform created two new types of non-permanent seats which changed the pattern of representation of small states. Overall, the case study shows that the interlinkages and their effects were generated by an interplay of formal design and informal understandings both at the level of permanent and non-permanent seats.     

巴西经典民粹主义的实验(20世纪初至1964年)

20世纪初,巴西城市化和工业化迅猛发展,引起社会结构的变革,为以佩德罗·埃内斯托·巴普蒂斯塔、若泽·阿梅里科、阿德马尔·德巴罗斯、卡洛斯·拉瑟达、莱昂内尔·布里佐拉等地方政治领袖为代表的民粹主义改革者的出现提供了条件。热图利奥·瓦加斯、儒塞利诺·库比契克、雅尼奥·夸德罗斯、若昂·古拉特等巴西总统也体现出明显的民粹主义政治风格。他们虽然在意识相态、政治立场等方面大相径庭,但都以个人魅力、社会改革的纲领和实践动员无组织的底层民众,赢得大量支持并上台执政。20世纪中期巴西经典民粹主义的实践对于推动政治参与的扩大、促使精英政治向大众政治的转变起到了积极的作用,在推动工业化和经济发展、改善收入分配方面也有所作为,但是,在推动民主体制的制度化建设、经济的可持续增长等方面收效甚微,由此引发的政治和经济危机导致20世纪60年代中期民粹主义政治被军人建立的官僚威权主义所取代。     

日本金融体制的结构性缺陷与金融危机——对日本金融体制模式及其改革的重新审视

在 70年代后半期至 90年代初这一期间 ,日本对战后金融体制进行了以利率自由化和金融业务自由化为主要内容的改革 ,但这次改革并没有消除其金融体制中存在的多种结构性缺陷。进入90年代以后 ,随着日本泡沫经济走向崩溃和金融危机的爆发 ,这些结构性缺陷开始充分暴露。据此可以认为 ,70年代后半期至 90年代初的金融体制改革的不彻底即金融体制中存在的结构性缺陷 ,是导致金融危机的根本原因。     

Saving the league: V.K. Wellington Koo, the league of nations and Sino-Japanese conflict, 1931-39

In 1919, VK. Wellington Koo, the most famous Chinese diplomat of the early twentieth century, participated in the creation of the League of Nations at the Paris Peace Conference. Little over a decade later, as Japanese forces expanded into Manchuria and North China, Koo struggled to save the League he had helped found. He argued that inability or refusal to brand Japan as an aggressor would sound the League's death knell. In vain, Koo tried to convince European statesmen that the Far Eastern Crisis was a litmus test of the League's viability as a collective security organization. From 1936 on, League inaction in the face of Japanese, German and Italian expansion left Koo thoroughly disillusioned. The lessons of the League were not forgotten during World War II, when Koo argued that a more effective collective security organization, in the form of the United Nations, be created on a basis similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Policemen concept.     

金融危机治理：以次贷危机引发的全球金融危机为例——中国角色的思考与探析

美国次贷危机引发的全球金融危机对世界各国影响巨大。鉴于此，对金融危机进行有效治理显得尤为重要。作为发展中大国的中国，更有责任对其进行认真研究，探寻危机治理的合理且有效的策略和方式，以此为其他国家应对和治理危机提供经验借鉴和策略支持，从而展现自身价值和角色作用。     

The National Dialogue,Collusive Transactions and Government Legitimacy in Tunisia

The Tunisian political crisis that started in July 2013 was resolved thanks to the National Dialogue hosted by the Quartet who were recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The ND was a collusive transaction that allowed Ennahdha to escape accountability for its political responsibility. Nevertheless, by resolving the crisis, it generated legitimacy. It also contributed significantly to the current configuration of alliances within the power circle by making possible the alliance between Ennahdha and Nidaa Tounes after the 2014 elections. The mechanisms of mutual recognition between Ennahda and Nidaa Tounes help ensure political stability by reinforcing the government’s position. However, this alliance appears to be a source of delegitimation now that the government is facing many challenges (economic crisis, security crisis and disputed political decisions). The critical situation, particularly at the security level, challenges the idea of compromise and undermines the government’s ability to make the people believe in its legitimacy.     

Realism, Rationalism, Race: On the Early International Relations Discipline in Australia

The received view of the development of the international relations discipline in Australia discounts its early history, maintaining that it only came into existence in the 1960s. It was then confined, according to this account, within a realist-rationalist discourse. This article shows that if realism-rationalism is the identifying feature of the discipline in Australia, then many exemplars can be found in the earlier period from the 1920s to the Pacific War. Problems regarding empire, obligations towards the League of Nations, and Australia's position in the Pacific region were major concerns. Arguments in support of the League, or for an emerging Pacific order, were often couched in rationalist terms; with the increasing international uncertainty of the 1930s, realist arguments became more prominent. There are also some examples of revolutionist theory. However, a major preoccupation across the spectrum of international thinkers was the issue of race and the exclusionary White Australia immigration policy. It is argued that this theme cannot be readily assimilated to realism-rationalism.     

Arbitrator in a World of Wars: The League of Nations and The Mosul Dispute, 1924–1925

The League of Nations is primarily remembered for its failures in the 1930s. Indeed, the established perception of its history usually emphasizes weaknesses. Failing to settle the question of which Power should possess the former Ottoman province of Mosul after the First World War, Turkey saw the dispute addressed to the League in summer 1924. Within a short time, a multi-leveled negotiation process that involved a large number of politicians, diplomats, and lawyers was put in motion. Sixteen months and many crises later, the League Council awarded the entire Mosul province to Iraq. The arbitration had been based upon data collected by two enquiry commissions comprising representatives from eight different Powers, the work of both numerous mediators, and a Council sub-committee. Though certainly not perfect, the League's role averted war and renewed disaster.     

The European Union’s partnership policy towards Brazil: more than meets the eye

This article focuses on the evolving nature of the foreign policy of the European Union (EU) towards Brazil, which gained momentum and became more dynamic and denser after the establishment of a formal strategic partnership (SP) in 2007. It provides a historical overview of the institutional relations between Brussels and Brasília, before proceeding with an analysis of the main drivers behind this novel development. The study goes on to offer a critical examination of the implementation of the EU–Brazil SP by casting light on both its major achievements and the challenges it has faced. It concludes that the establishment of a formal strategic partnership with Brazil has contributed to the strengthening of the EU’s globally oriented partnership policy and ultimately to the incremental empowerment of the EU necessary to the assertion of its values, objectives and interests on the international stage.