英国情报体制简介

情报体制不仅包含情报体系与国家决策层的关系,情报体系的职能、管理、监督与预算等,而且还包含情报体系内部各个机构之间的竞争与合作关系.作为西方最为老牌的情报大国,英国的情报体制经过多年的发展已经达到了比较成熟的程度.不少国家在建设自己的情报体制时,均以英国的运作模式为蓝本.     

英国文化委员会

成立于1934年的英国文化委员会(BritishCoun cil),是英国促进国际文化教育交流的准官方文化组织。英委会在全球110个国家的220个城市设有办事处,2004年刚好走过70年的风雨历程。一、成立背景英国文化委员会成立于两次世界大战之间,那是一个短暂的和平年代,也是一个危机四伏的年代,这一时期的英国处境异常艰难,是“内外交困的20年”。①具体而言,促使英委会产生的背景主要有以下三个方面:第一、一战后,英国政府亟需通过建立文化组织来维系英联邦。当时的英国虽然取得了一战的胜利,但却失去了一个帝国。一方面,由于英国在战争中遭受重创,国力…     

英国情报与安全机构

英国是一个有着悠久情报历史的国家,其16世纪中期第一个情报机构正式成立至今已有400多年,可称西方情报机构的鼻祖。随着大英帝国国力的衰弱,其情报安全机构也开始走下坡路,但不可否认的是,英国情报安全机构在欧洲国家中仍是最出色的。     

试论英国国际组织外交的演变

本文比较全面地对英国国际组织外交的发展演变做了考察,将英国的国际组织外交分为借助国际组织支撑衰退中的大英帝国、以国际组织外交支撑"三环外交"、以及积极推进国际组织外交促使英国成为全球中心三个阶段,并逐一分析和研讨。在此基础上,对当前英国国际组织外交的新趋势作研究和分析,并进一步探索后冷战时期英国国际组织外交的国际动因及其作用与不足。     

英国殖民统治前的马来亚印度人

马来亚同印度的接触,大概可以回溯至公元前的几个世纪,虽然还不能完全证实,但几乎已是定论①.从地理位置来看,马来亚与印度正好扼守孟加拉湾的两端,遥相直望.对季风规律的认识和运用使隔海相望的马来亚和印度之间通过海路建立联系成为可能.双边贸易、人员往来、文化的交流随之展开.对于马来亚印度人的研究,国内外一般多限于在英国殖民统治时期,很少关注英国殖民统治前的马来亚印度人情况.从历史上看,早期的马来亚印度人在马来亚的活动留下了不可磨灭的印记,并对马来亚社会产生了深远的影响.     

英国人的契丹认知与航海探险

英国人最早知道契丹,应源自1141年西辽契丹王耶律大石率部打败了塞尔柱突厥人之役。耶律大石由于此役被西欧十字军国度神化成了拯救基督徒和协助十字军东征的"约翰长老",其所建立的西辽契丹也成了基督教的圣地。15世纪末,具备了远航能力的信奉新教的英国航海者梦想通过东北或西北海域以找到一条通往东方契丹的捷径,打破天主教势力对通往东方航道的垄断。这种寻梦型的海外探险持续了三个世纪,虽未打通去东方的新航路,英国人却因寻找契丹而收获了大量的财富和领地,最终认识到了所谓的契丹就是中国。     

British colonialism and the criminalization of homosexuality

What explains the global variation in laws criminalizing homosexual conduct? Recent research has claimed that British colonialism is largely responsible for the criminalization of homosexuality around the world. This article utilizes a newly constructed dataset that includes up-to-date data on 185 countries to assess this claim. We find that British colonies are much more likely to have criminalization of homosexual conduct laws than other colonies or other states in general. This result holds after controlling for other variables that might be expected to influence the likelihood of repressive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights legislation. However, we also find that the evidence in favour of the claim that British imperialism ‘poisoned’ societies against homosexuality is weak. British colonies do not systematically take longer to decriminalize homosexual conduct than other European colonies.     

英国学派安全思想探微

英国学派的安全思想经历了四代学者的继承与发展.它重视安全的价值取向研究,强调规则、制度对于安全维持的作用,注意对现实问题进行实证分析.整体而言,它与英国学派的核心思想--国际社会思想一脉相承,沿着理性主义道路前行,吸收了现实主义与革命主义的合理机理,是三者相互结合的产物.它一方面以独特的研究方式和分析视角丰富了国际安全理论与实践,另一方面也存在着某些缺陷,需要进一步完善.     

COIN Machine: The British Military in Afghanistan

This article assesses the British military effort in Afghanistan looking at three key elements in the campaign: strategy, military operations, and the inter-agency “Comprehensive Approach.” We start by recognising the scale of the challenge that has faced the British: of all the provinces in Afghanistan, Helmand is the toughest to stabilize and secure. We then examine the evolution of all three elements above and find significant improvements in each: a flawed strategy has been corrected; the military have received more resources and become significantly better at COIN; and there is significant progress in the development of the inter-agency approach. In short, what the Americans will find in Helmand is a British COIN machine; a little creaky perhaps, but one that is fit for purpose and getting the job done. We briefly conclude on the prospects and the key to success: namely the development of a more coherent international strategy that accommodates the challenges posed by both Afghanistan and Pakistan.     

British Diplomacy and the Telegraph in Nineteenth-Century China

Until the 1870s British officials in China often acted without the Foreign Office's official consent because they could only communicate with London via mail. In the 1870s telegraph lines connected China to Europe. The Chinese government initially opposed foreign telegraph lines arguing that they undermined Chinese authority. British diplomats in China were also wary of the telegraph because it allowed the Foreign Office to intervene more quickly. From the 1880s the telegraph was increasingly used as an instrument of imperialism in China. The Boxer Rebellion in 1900 showed how important the telegraph had become as means of communication.     

British power and stability: the historical record

This article provides an overview of British foreign policy and the European balance of power from the late nineteenth century to the early Cold War. British attitudes towards the Continent, like those of the continental Powers toward Britain, are bound to remain ambivalent. When looking back to the history of these complex relations, two main readings stand out. The first is that Britain's attempts to underwrite European stability from Waterloo to the present day left the country exhausted and stripped of its Empire. The other reading perceives in these costly efforts a successful preservation of British integrity and independence. What allowed, for many years, the country to have the luxury of choices with regard to its relations with Europe was the underlying security of the home islands and the existence of a vast Empire overseas. Examining in broad brush strokes the idea and practice of the balance as Britain's international position altered in the half century or so before 1950, the case is made that whatever the reading of these complex relations, the British were always 'reluctant Europeans'.     

The British Zone Of Occupation in the Rhineland

The Rhineland Agreement, which was formed at the Paris Peace negotiations in 1919, was in essence a compromise, lacking overall cohesion. Its implementation involved extensive practical difficulties for the British government. This paper examines the events surrounding the Kapp Putsch in 1920, the London Schedule of Payments in 1921 and the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923. It shows how the British zone of occupation in the Rhineland represented an area of vulnerability, exposing Britain to the dynamics of European politics and the increase in tension between France and Germany throughout the early 1920s. Analysis of these case studies also provides an insight into the impact of the Rhineland zone on Britain's policy-making process and the shift towards a more symbiotic relationship between the periphery and Whitehall.     

The British Zone Of Occupation in the Rhineland

The Rhineland Agreement, which was formed at the Paris Peace negotiations in 1919, was in essence a compromise, lacking overall cohesion. Its implementation involved extensive practical difficulties for the British government. This paper examines the events surrounding the Kapp Putsch in 1920, the London Schedule of Payments in 1921 and the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923. It shows how the British zone of occupation in the Rhineland represented an area of vulnerability, exposing Britain to the dynamics of European politics and the increase in tension between France and Germany throughout the early 1920s. Analysis of these case studies also provides an insight into the impact of the Rhineland zone on Britain's policy-making process and the shift towards a more symbiotic relationship between the periphery and Whitehall.     

British power and stability: The historical record

What explains the persistence and proliferation of the resident ambassador? Why is the role apparently important both to the conduct of international affairs and to the work of governments? I do not try to propose a new theory of ambassadors, but I do offer conclusions about the nature of living in a globalized society of states where the economic logic of markets and the political logic of communities are at cross‐purposes. It is a world in which we depend on institutions to help us maintain order and stability. Ambassadors are one of those institutions. At one level they are the concrete day by day reproduction of the society of states. At another level they act on behalf of the members of their community, helping that community to maintain its strength and cohesion by doing what needs to be done, abroad. An increase in the intensity of interactions among states, therefore, seems to lead to an increase in diplomatic representation facilitated rather than impeded by the new technologies of transportation and communications. Ambassadors are still lying abroad, it seems, because changes in technology have brought ‘abroad’ much closer to home while the myriad effects of globalization have made much more of abroad relevant to people and their governments. Far from being in decline, the resident ambassador seems likely to continue flourishing.