Militant neo‐Nazism in Sweden

This study examines the emergence of a neo‐Nazi terrorist movement in Sweden, focusing on the largest group, Vitt Ariskt Motstånd (White Aryan Resistance). VAM is inspired by traditional national socialism, the militant wing of the skinhead movement, South African apartheid ideology and, especially, US racist groups like ‘The Order’. Notions of the ‘Zionist Occupation Government’ (ZOG) and the coming ‘racial war’ are central in VAM's worldview. The adaptation of this extreme revolutionary ideology radicalized the group towards terrorism. The quest for status and prestige within the group and vis‐à‐vis other groups has also been an important factor in this radicalization process.1     

The PLO and Israel in Central America: The geopolitical dimension

Recently, attention has been drawn to the close relations between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the ruling Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. The support, training, and arms furnished by the PLO to the Sandinistas and like‐minded revolutionary movements in surrounding Central American countries have often been cited as proof that Nicaragua has been transformed into a base for international terrorism in the Western Hemisphere.

This article assesses the relationship between the PLO and the Sandinistas. In particular, it examines the geopolitical dimension of this relationship, that is, the extension or transposition of the conflict between the PLO and Israel in the Middle East to Central America. In this respect, PLO support and assistance to the Sandinistas and other revolutionary movements in surrounding countries has served as a counterbalance to Israeli support and arms sales to Nicaragua's neighbors in Central America.     

The use of assassination as a tool of state policy: South Africa's counter‐revolutionary strategy 1979–92 (part I)∗

This article will discuss the use of assassination as a tool of state policy, examining a number of cases in which assassination has been so used in the modern era. It will focus on the role of the apartheid‐era security forces in South Africa, and the policies that developed under South Africa's counter‐revolutionary strategy against the various liberation movements in Southern Africa during the last 15 years of the apartheid government.     

Revolutionary Power and Socialization: Explaining the Persistence of Revolutionary Zeal in Iran's Foreign Policy

Why do states stay revolutionary for so long? The question of why and how some political players of a country successfully pursue a revisionist strife against the status quo has neither theoretically nor empirically received systematic attention. I use a current policy issue, the crisis regarding Iran, as a single-case study to examine the issue. This article argues that answers are found in the interconnected realms of domestic politics and revolutionary ideas. In Iranian politics specifically, it is both the ideological conservative faction's occupation of key constitutional positions and pursuit of revolutionary ideas, which have caused the recurring and large degree of revolutionary zeal. In turn, this has had a significant effect on the extent of the Islamic Republic's socialization to regional and international politics.     

Terrorism and public opinion: A five country comparison

This article examines public attitudes towards terrorism in five countries: Uruguay, Spain, Italy, Germany and Northern Ireland. It analyzes public concern over terrorism, images of the terrorists, support for the terrorists' goals, and public approval of anti‐terrorist measures. There are significant differences between nationalist and revolutionary terrorism. Nationalist terrorists have a high degree of support from an ethnic constituency, while revolutionary terrorists attract a much smaller degree of support primarily from the educated young. It is concluded that public opinion towards terrorism is a product of complex historical situations, and that public attitudes are unaffected by the terrorist campaign itself.     

The U.S. and third World Revolutionary States: Understanding the Breakdown in Relations

Although scholars focused on Soviet–American relations during the Cold War, the greatest number of conflicts for the U.S. occurred in the Third World, and most of these were with revolutionary states. Could U.S. policies toward the new revolutionary states have prevented the almost universal collapse in relations? Two dominant explanations for this breakdown are (1) American hostility toward revolutionary change and (2) Stephen Walt's variant of the spiral model. Using the comparative case approach and selecting "hard cases," this article disputes these explanations and offers a new theory based on the externalization of domestic conflict in the revolutionary states. Given their ideological goals, the radicals externalized their domestic conflicts with the moderates, who had transnational ties with the U.S., by fomenting tensions with Washington. To demonstrate that this theory can be generalized, this article varies the dependent variable and shows through a critical case that its lack of conflict can best be explained by the absence of the conditions that lead to externalization. The foreign policies of both the U.S. and revolutionary states are explained by classical realism as opposed to Walt's structural realism, which fails to account for the foreign policies of Third World states.     

Racist violence and criminal behaviour in Sweden: Myths and reality

Since World War II, Swedish national socialists and right wing extremists have been divided into two main factions: nationalists, who are parliamentarian, non‐racist but ethnocentric, non‐revolutionary; and race ideologists, who are revolutionary, racist and internationally oriented. During the 1980s a new generation took over, and activities increased. The militant racist subculture, consisting of small independent networks, exists within a long tradition of organised racism or extreme nationalism in Sweden. The organised activists of small militant race‐ideologist sects can be described as the most extreme form of the organised hostility towards refugees and migrants, while the unorganised perpetrators of attacks against refugee hostels can be regarded as the extreme expression of an established mentality in the local community. The organised and unorganised exist in a symbiosis. The perpetrators of violence are in most cases to be found at the intersection between the subculture of ‘white power’ and the general hostility towards refugees in the community.     

国际冷战初期的一个地方热点 ——1945年至1950年间的中越边境跨国革命区

自1920年代起,东亚各国,特别是中国、朝鲜和越南的共产主义运动即互相交织并连成一片。东亚三国共产党之间的合作,促成了南北两个跨国革命区的形成,本文探讨的即是1945年至1950年间南方中越边境跨国革命区形成的条件、中越双方合作的方式,以及1950年前与1950年后中越同盟关系的区别。学术界对于1950年后的中越同盟关系已多有论述,但1950年前中共与印支共之间的合作则未引起同等重视。1950年前的中越跨国革命区值得探讨,一是因为这一时期的中越革命同盟关系实际上是第二次国共内战和第一次印支战争的延伸,也是这两场战争的连接点。这种联系突显了这两场战争的国际性,进一步证明第二次国共内战和第一次印支战争都是与冷战密切关联的热战,中越跨国革命区因此成为冷战初期的一个地方热点,并代表了国际冷战的一种地方形态;二是因为这一阶段两党之间的合作为1950年代至1970年代末期的中越关系奠定了基础。在国共内战期间,中共不仅得到了苏联共产党和朝鲜共产党的支持,也得到了印支共产党的援助,中共对于胡志明和越南革命运动的支持也是从印支战争爆发之日起即已开始,1950年后只是扩大了援助的范围,并提高了援助的规模和合作的级别。1950年前两党关系中发生的一些问题也将在1950年后重复出现并带来严重后果。     

奥斯曼、伊斯兰还是土耳其?——浅析土耳其独立运动的革命话语问题

土耳其革命史把1919～1923年间在安纳托利亚发生的革命斗争定性为一场为了建立土耳其共和国而进行的民族独立运动。这种革命意识形态主导下的史观忽略了当时历史情形的复杂性,带有很强的革命目的论色彩。在安纳托利亚的革命阵营中,存在着对奥斯曼王朝、伊斯兰教或土耳其民族等不同身份的忠诚,以及对所有这些忠诚的混合;更多人是忠于苏丹-哈里发的,并非一开始就有建立独立的土耳其国家的明确目标。以凯末尔为首的共和主义者为了其革命目的和统一战线的需要,不得不暂时与强大的保守势力妥协。     

Confining conditions and breaking with the past: Historical legacies and political learning in transitions to democracy

Historical factors have more often been assumed than explored in democratization studies. Their importance has been acknowledged broadly in reference to matters of change and continuity, including the effects of predecessor dictatorships on transition trajectories. But historical factors can have varied and sometimes persistent influences on the democratization process as a whole. These influences therefore need examining in a systematic way that considers also their implications for democratic consolidation. Developing from Kirchheimer's thesis of ‘confining conditions and revolutionary breakthroughs’, the discussion turns to forms of interaction and the changing balance between past impacts and the dynamics and changing agenda of regime change. A three‐part approach is presented and applied: historical patterns and historical memory; historical legacies and ‘overcoming the past'; and, then, political ‘learning’ and its ability to look to the future. It is generally argued that focusing on ‘history’ opens up new avenues in the study of regime change.     

Revolutionary Pathways: Leaders and the International Impacts of Domestic Revolutions

How much and in what ways do individual leaders matter for international politics? This article sheds new light on these questions by considering the consequences of domestic revolutions in international relations. We argue that revolutions have international effects due to two separate pathways, one associated with the event and one associated with the new leader’s administration. In the first pathway, a revolutionary event disrupts established relationships and perceptions, creating uncertainty both within the state and abroad. In the second pathway, revolutions put individuals into office who are more willing to challenge the status quo and who have publicly committed to a sustained shift in policies during their administration. These two distinct pathways suggest that the important question about revolutions is not whether leaders or events matter most but rather the conditions under which they matter. Consequently, we studied these pathways on three phenomena: international economic sanctions, domestic economic growth, and interstate alliances. We find that revolutionary events have a short-term negative effect on domestic economic growth, while revolutionary leaders have a long-term effect on the probability that a revolutionary state is targeted for sanctions. Both the revolutionary leader and the revolution’s immediate events alter the state’s international alliances. Our findings suggest that no single level of analysis completely dominates, and the answer depends on the outcome of interest.     

The revolutionary model of Dr William L. Pierce

This essay explores the revolutionary model propounded by the late Dr William L. Pierce, the founder of the National Alliance. Pierce was keenly aware of the opposition arrayed against his movement and thus outlined a strategy that he saw as viable under current conditions. Although his National Alliance organization was large by American far right standards, it still constituted a relatively small movement. Furthermore, Pierce assumed that the mainstream media were generally hostile to his message. Thus Pierce developed a revolutionary strategy to take these and other factors into account. Although no previous single source fully captured his revolutionary strategy, this essay surveys his previous writings and broadcasts so that his model comes into clearer focus.     

Mainstream Revolutionaries: Sinn Féin as a “Normal” Political Party?

Despite the seismic shift of Sinn Féin from being the “mouthpiece” of the Provisional Irish Republican Army to the largest nationalist force in Northern Ireland, the party continues to project its objectives within the revolutionary politics and tradition of 1916. Whilst various groups across the island of Ireland stress their loyalty to Irish independence and allegiance to their republican forefathers, 2016 also plays host to devolved assembly elections in Northern Ireland. The centenary of the Easter Rising is therefore a poignant moment to reassess republican politics, more specifically, the relationship between the armed revolutionary tradition and constitutionalism. Within the post-peace process era Sinn Féin have been accused of maintaining an autocratic culture and an intra-party framework that is more representative of a clandestine revolutionary organisation than a political party. Yet, simultaneously, Sinn Féin have not been immune to the pressures experienced by other modern political parties, bound by the laws of electoral competition and driven by office-seeking priorities. In order to explore Sinn Féin within the modern political arena, this article firstly examines the broader debate surrounding how armed groups make the transition into constitutional politics. Secondly, public opinion survey data is used to judge the basis of Sinn Féin's electoral appeal. Finally, internal party documents are used to examine party structure, intra-party democracy, and professionalisation in order to judge the extent to which Sinn Féin have completed the transition from being a “mouthpiece” to their armed counterpart, towards being a “normal” political party.     

关于民粹派评价的几个问题

民粹派是俄国近代史上一个代表农民小生产者利益的政治团体。 186 1年农奴制改革后 ,开始登上历史舞台。 19世纪末期 ,民粹派基本消亡。民粹派的革命思想十分丰富 ,革命活动非常广泛 ,对俄国社会产生了较为深刻的影响     

The strange imputation of violence to liberation theology

Liberation theology identifies the existing distribution of power as a form of oppressive domination rooted in violence. The existing system justifies itself through a tightly woven fabric of economic, political, religious and social rationalizations. The most basic rationaliztion is the ‘paradigm of the inverted sacrifice’, wherein aggressive groups perceive harmless outsiders as ‘different’, as a threat, and ultimately sacrifices them, either through direct extermination or through oppression. In the modern era, this oppression is reflected in a ‘structure of dominance’ which guarantees the enrichment of a few and the disenfranchise‐ment of the masses. Liberation theology challenges the rationalization of the status quo on several key points: (1) the inappropriateness of using God to justify the ‘sacrifice’ of the poor and downtrodden to a system based on their exploitation; (2) the need for a fundamental redefinition of God to expunge the need for victims as the basis of the socioeconomic system; (3) the need to understand that history is a process of conflict; (4) the necessity to ‘desacralize’ all violence.

The critics of liberation theology reject these propositions either because they misunderstand them, or because they currently enjoy advantages that would be lost if these ideas were actualized. Noting the reference to violence in the literature of liberation theology, biased critics falsely assert that it preaches revolutionary violence and that liberation theologians are enemies of the poor. Over the past few years, these arguments have become less persuasive: the Vatican has recognized the need to correct structurally‐determined inequalities, and political candidates linked to liberation theology have made better showings in polls. Unfair criticism continues, but liberation theology shows promising glimmers of success in Latin America.     

广府籍华侨与孙中山革命党人——兼论晚清南洋华侨帮派对国内政治的态度

晚清时期,中国革命主张的提出和革命组织的发起,始于海外华埠。华侨是革命党的坚定支持者。清末华侨多因地域、方言、宗族纽带而聚合,华侨各帮对革命的态度差异较大。广府人领晚清中国开放和革命风潮之先,海外广府人绝大多数是华工为主的下层华侨,更具革命精神和反清意识,加上孙中山是广府人,海外广府人即成为孙中山最坚定的支持者。     

Measuring international conflict: Developing cross‐country time‐series data

This paper develops a new time series of conflict data from 1948 to the present through statistical estimation of a pooled time‐series of the two most frequently used dyadic events data sets: Conflict and Cooperation Data Bank (COPDAB) (1948–1978) and World Events Interaction Survey (WEIS) (1966‐present). The resulting data series is the longest possible time‐series annual data of dyadic interaction based on daily events. The paper also provides an example of performing a Vector Autoregression (VAR) analysis of conflict and trade in a three‐country setting, utilizing the integrated data. Compared to the COPDAB and WEIS data, the integrated data have a large degree of variation and produce forecasting results that are more complex than those from the COPDAB and WEIS separately.     

1861—1917年间俄国革命的起因

从1861年到1917年十月革命前夕,沙俄帝国充满了矛盾和反差现象,新生的政治力量和革命知识分子始终被禁锢在一个专制的僵化政体中。但专制与反专制的斗争没有停止,俄罗斯人民的革命传统得到发杨。     

National liberation and the conflicting terms of discourse in South Africa: An interpretation

Abstract

Underlying the moves and countermoves of the current communal conflict in South Africa is a struggle to control the meanings of the key terms of discourse—race, nation, apartheid and socialism—by which the conflict is characterized within and outside the country. Although no definition, therefore, of any of these terms can escape politicization, there is a case, historically and with a view to a negotiated settlement, for having apartheid, the most emotion‐laden of these terms, limited to post‐1948 doctrine and practice. The foundation for a negotiated settlement unaccompanied by overt civil war must be rather detailed agreement, tacit or explicit, on what the end of apartheid means. But if there is to be such agreement, it must be the work of a broad coalition from all of the race/nations acting probably against the desires of two major groups: defenders of the status quo and proponents of revolutionary socialism.