国际政治中的权力是什么?

国际政治中的权力概念,体现的是政治语境的互动关系,指国际行为体为改变其他行为体的行为而施加的影响或施加影响的能力。这种能力无论体现为强制方式还是非强制方式,最终都是要使他者的意志发生改变。判断行为体互动是否是权力关系,有两个维度,一要看行为体是否具有政治意图,二要看互动结果是否体现了权力的影响。由于国际关系中的行为体可能把权力作为目的,也可能作为手段,因此在权力政治中会有不同的行为模式。     

The “Middle Power” Concept in Australian Foreign Policy

During the early 1990s, the Hawke and Keating Labor governments promoted Australia's diplomatic credentials as an activist and independent middle power. Labor claimed that by acting as a middle power Australia was constructing a novel diplomatic response to the challenges of the post-Cold War world. But a closer reading of the official foreign policy record since 1945 reveals that previous conservative governments have also taken a similar view of Australia's place and position on the international stage. This essay traces the historical evolution of the middle power concept in Australian foreign policy and concludes with an assessment of the Howard government's more recent reluctance to use this label and its implications for Australia's future middle power credentials. Although its use has waxed and waned in official policy discourse and it is more commonly associated with Labor governments, the middle power concept itself and the general diplomatic style it conveys have been one of the most durable and consistent elements of Australia's diplomatic practice.     

自由政府间主义及其挑战——爱尔兰与欧盟制宪进程的个案研究

《里斯本条约》在爱尔兰全民公决中遭到否决,爱尔兰与欧盟制宪进程的互动引起了广泛关注。①本文首先考察了解释欧盟条约改革进程的主要理论模式——自由政府间主义的基本假设及其在欧盟条约宪法化不断加强的背景下面临的挑战。其次,在回顾爱尔兰参与欧共体/欧盟条约改革历史与逻辑的基础上,着重分析了在欧洲制宪会议阶段爱尔兰政府的政策以及《里斯本条约》公决期间的辩论情况。最后,文章提出,小国爱尔兰参与欧盟制宪进程的案例对于自由政府间主义关于欧盟条约改革理论的完善发展,以及未来欧盟条约改革的实践具有多方面的启示意义。     

Presidential Attribution as an Agency of Prime Ministerial Critique in a Parliamentary Democracy: The Case of Tony Blair

The allusion to presidentialism in relation to the status, role and meaning of a prime minister's position is almost invariably skewed towards positive, purposive and expansive interpretations of strong executive authority. This study examines the negative and critical dimensions of the presidential attribution, and analyses the nature of its appeal as a device for organising and rationalising political dissent. The incidence and conditions of its usage in political argument during Tony Blair's premiership are reviewed. As a consequence, seven strands of usage are identified in the selection of presidentialism as a focus of opposition. In assessing the relative strengths and weaknesses of the presidential critique, the analysis not only shows its utility in drawing upon other sources of complaint, but also demonstrates its limitations in the delegitimation of executive authority.     

THE ECONOMIC CRISIS IN JAPAN: Mainstream Perspectives and an Alternative View

Various explanations have been proposed for Japan's deepening economic crisis: (1) the country's “anticapitalist” economic institutions, (2) the failure to clean up bad bank loans and bankrupt companies, (3) a deflationary liquidity trap, (4) upward pressures on the value of the yen, and (5) balance-sheet adjustments instigated by the collapse of the 1980s “bubble economy.” Our critical survey suggests that the kernel of truth in all these perspectives lies in their common (mostly unstated and unconscious) implication that Japan faces a crisis of capitalist maturity involving a worsening trade-off between economic stagnation and the exploitative, wasteful, and destructive utilization of productive capacity. This dilemma can only be overcome through an explicit rejection of capitalist priorities and a movement toward a more worker-community-centered economy.     

Evicting the Speaking Subject: A Critique of Latvian Concepts of Language

This paper highlights some peculiarities of the nation–language conflation in Latvian linguistics and traces their evolution. Treating language as the perfect structure consolidating ideal speakers, linguists perceive native speakers as a homogenous community whose task is to reproduce the normative language structure. Speaking subjects are denied social agency, and divergence from the norm in communication is treated as an error. The paper argues that empirically observed language use can be explained by taking into account the pragmatic intentions of speaking subjects.     

Francis Fukuyama and the Origins of Political Order and the State: A Historical Critique

This essay examines the model of state development put forward by Francis Fukuyama in his book, The Origins of Political Order. It argues that the evolutionary model used by Fukuyama experiences problems when it comes to dealing with specific historical examples. Its emphasis on the Qin state as the “first modern state” places an excessive emphasis on coercion and violence as the basis of the state. It attempts to relegate Rome to being equivalent to a chiefdom to fit it into his model whereas in reality Rome evolved differently to China and relied much more on cooperation and networks. England after 1688 provides another example of how Fukuyama's model is deficient. On this basis the paper argues that a universal evolutionary model is insufficient to explain political development and it is more appropriate to begin analysis with real political societies.     

Indonesia and the West: an Ambivalent,Misunderstood Engagement*

The relationship between Indonesia and the West has always been deeply ambivalent. On the one hand, Indonesia, since it began its search for modernity a century or so ago, has always felt a deep attraction for things Western, which promised technological mastery and economic success which might overcome the humiliation of colonial subjection. On the other hand, Indonesians were wary that any engagement that ran too deep and uncritically might prejudice their own specific sense of identity. That ambivalence was deepened and consolidated by Indonesia's own failure to develop and deepen the legitimacy, both domestic and international, of the state that its leaders had created as the vehicle of becoming modern. As a result, Indonesia's engagement with the West remained uncertain in style and often characterised by the unhelpful stridency that issues from insecurity.