The Panama invasion and the laws of war

This article considers the conduct of armed parties in the invasion of Panama on 20 December 1989 by United States forces, in relation to the standards established by the international laws of war and the Geneva Conventions of 1949. The article confines itself to the conduct of US and Panamanian armed forces from the commencement of hostilities, and does not consider arguments for or against the invasion itself. The authors, on behalf of the US‐based Americas Watch, a human rights monitoring organization, visited Panama in January 1990, and collected information contained in the article. The article concludes that US forces failed in their Geneva Convention obligations with respect to the detentions of Panamanian POWs and civilians. It also concludes that US forces failed to exercise precautions to minimize collateral civilian casualties in the attack on the Panamanian military headquarters. It finds that Panamanian forces put non‐combatant civilians at risk by dressing in civilian clothes and firing from civilian‐occupied structures. It estimates the number of Panamanian civilian dead at approximately 300. The article further considers protection of human rights under the new Endara government, and the plight of refugees left homeless by the invasion.     

Crafting competitive party systems: Electoral laws and the opposition in Africa

After the resurgence of democracy in the 1990s, as was the case after independence, dominant party systems are predominant in Africa. This has occurred irrespective of the particular electoral system used. Both scholars and practitioners have so far failed to appreciate the fact that not fragmentation but concentration of the party system is the main challenge and that a choice between proportional representation or a plurality electoral system will do little to change the fortunes of the majority party and the opposition. This article goes beyond the current debate by suggesting that opposition parties in Africa could be crafted through a minority premium, preferably in combination with a majority ceiling. Such electoral engineering would in the long‐term contribute to the emergence of a two‐party system, generally recognized as the environment most congenial to a strong parliamentary opposition. In the short‐term, adoption of a minority premium would increase competitiveness.     

Foreign aid,democracy, and gender quota laws

Why do so many developing countries have gender quota policies? This article argues that foreign aid programmes influence developing countries to adopt policies aimed at fulfilling international norms regarding gender equality. This relationship is driven by two causal mechanisms. On the one hand, countries may use gender quotas as a signal to improve their standing in the international hierarchy, possibly as an end unto itself, but more likely as a means towards ensuring future aid flows. On the other, countries may adopt gender quotas as a result of successful foreign aid interventions specifically designed to promote women’s empowerment. I test these two causal mechanisms using data on foreign aid commitments to 173 non-OECD countries from 1974 to 2012. The results suggest that while programmes targeting women’s empowerment may have some influence on quota adoption, developing countries dependent on United States foreign aid are also likely to use gender quotas as signalling devices rather than as a result of ongoing liberalization efforts.     

Transnational advocacy and domestic law: International NGOs and the design of freedom of information laws

Can international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) influence domestic policy? This paper offers new quantitative evidence of the impact of INGOs in one specific policy area—Freedom of Information (FOI) laws—as well as highlighting an under-studied mechanism of INGO influence on the design of domestic laws. I test this argument by examining the effect of legal analyses of draft FOI legislation published by the INGO Article 19. These analyses provide expert legal assessments and make normative evaluations—both information politics and symbolic politics. I find that in countries in which Article 19 conducted legal analyses, the design of the subsequently passed FOI laws was significantly stronger than in countries that were not subject to such analyses. I demonstrate that this finding is not an artifact of Article 19’s selection process. I also present suggestive evidence that highlights symbolic politics, not information politics, as the more salient mechanism. Finally, I examine the process of FOI drafting and adoption in Serbia to illustrate the argument and specific mechanisms at work.     

A porous humanitarian shield: The laws of war,the red cross,and the killing of civilians

An important literature examines the attempts by the international community in inducing or coercing conflict parties in civil wars to refrain from committing atrocities against the civilian population. We examine in this article whether a non-governmental actor, the distinctively neutral and independent International Committee of the Red Cross, whose mission includes the promotion of humanitarian law and the protection of the civilian population, has such a restraining effect on the conflict parties. Our results suggest that the more time has passed since the ratification of the relevant Geneva Conventions and Protocols, the larger is the risk of civilian victimization. We cannot find evidence that the ICRC’s presence in conflict zones and the seminars it conducts to spread humanitarian law make a crucial difference. Case studies of Bosnia and Darfur indicate that shaming strategies and thus a relatively unusual instrument for the traditionally neutral actor did not abate the killings; the statistical evidence in the form of Granger causality tests rather show that the killing and harming precedes the naming and shaming.     

Determinants of firm compliance to environmental laws: a case study of Vietnam

This paper seeks to develop a model of firm compliance behavior to environmental laws with specific focus on firms operating in Vietnam. Using an institutional approach, the paper employs Scott’s (Institutions and organizations, 2nd ed., Sage, Thousand Oaks 2001) “Three pillars of institution” as the generic theoretical framework for the synthesis of literature on compliance across fields. This study used a questionnaire-based survey to examine the validity of the factors identified in the literature. The method was face-to-face interviews with the managers of 63 enterprises operating in Vietnam. The hypotheses were tested using mean importance ratings, t-test of the means, and factor analysis. Almost all the listed factors determining compliance were found to be applicable to the responding companies. The level of importance placed on different factors were analyzed using Anova test and were found to vary across companies with different sizes and business structures.     

在拉美所"2006年拉美大选的影响与拉美左派的发展" 研讨会上的讲话

2007年1月11日,“2006年拉美国家大选及其政治走向”课题结项暨拉美大选的影响与左派发展问题研讨会在拉美所召开。中国社会科学院副院长李慎民与会并发表主旨演讲,深刻分析了当前的世界格局和政治走向,拉美左派的发展对该地区形势的影响。现全文发表如下。     

抗击经济衰退：象和龙

由美国引发的经济危机已经席卷全球,无论是西方发达国家和地区如日本、欧盟,还是发展中国家如印度、中国,都已笼罩在全球经济衰退的阴影中。本文探讨作为正在崛起的亚洲大国——印度和中国,应采取怎样的措施遏制全球经济危机对本国经济造成更严重的伤害,以及印中两国如何借鉴对方在应对经济危机过程中采取的有效政策以尽快重新走上经济发展的正轨。     

论《古兰经》译注的文化意义

<古兰经>树立伊斯兰教与伊斯兰文化之根,塑立教义教法与教理学理之本,确立穆斯林伦理道德与行为纲常之据的文化价值和社会功能,因语言障碍没有得以全方位展现.于是,穆斯林学界基于<古兰经>和圣训的创制原理与基本精神,严格遵循<古兰经>注释学学理原则,展开了译注<古兰经>的长期学术工程.<古兰经>译注解读了伊斯兰教的基本知识,使<古兰经>真正成为人类共享的文化财富;丰富了伊斯兰文化,使之成为世界范围的一大文化系统;加速了伊斯兰教植根于许多国家和地区的步伐,使之顺应所在国的国情,并不同程度地实现本土化与学说化;增进了伊斯兰文明同其他文明之间的理解与包容,认同与交流,对于多元文化和谐相处具有非同寻常的意义.     

从苏共亡党的教训看中共第四代领导集体的党风廉政策略

中国正处于国内经济体制深化改革、社会结构深刻变动、利益格局深入调整、思想观念深度更新之中，党的作风建设和反腐倡廉工作的长期性、艰巨性、复杂性日益突显出来。在这样的背景下，来重新审视苏共亡党的原因对我国当前的党风廉政实践具有重要的价值。从苏共亡党教训可知，党风廉政建设是立党之本。     

简论苏联干部委任制的形成

苏联的干部委任制始于列宁时期 ,形成于斯大林时期。委任制作为俄国文化的积淀在苏联一定历史时期的存在 ,有其合理性。但是委任制毕竟要被现代社会所抛弃。斯大林非但未能及时进行改革 ,反使之登峰造极 ,最后给后代留下了遗患。     

纪念辛亥革命百年为促进祖国统一尽力

1911年（农历辛亥年）,在经过4月广州起义、10月武昌起义之后,爆发了全国规模的辛亥革命。两个月内即有鄂、湘、陕、赣、晋、滇、黔、苏、浙、桂、皖、粤、闽、川等省宣布独立,清政府迅速垮台。12月,孙中山先生出任中华民国临时大总统,成立中华民国临时政府,清帝被迫宣告退位。     

论苏联失败的经济根源

苏联的崩溃无疑是一种社会性失败,社会性失败必须从经济基础找原因,根本的原因在于苏联的基本经济制度--计划经济制度.苏联计划经济制度的种种弊端实际是这一制度内在的不可克服的矛盾的反映,这一矛盾就是计划的指令性与个人消费的不可计划性之间的矛盾.把社会再生产的各个环节--生产、交换、分配、消费纳入统一计划,是苏联计划经济制度的存在前提.个人消费的选择性特征,决定了个人消费不可能由社会统一计划.由此便形成了否定苏联计划经济存在前提的计划与个人消费的对立.在苏联计划经济制度下,解决这一矛盾的惟一办法是压制个人消费,用供应短缺方式使原本不可能由社会统一计划的个人消费变成可以统一计划的,这实际上并没有消除这种对立.计划与个人消费的对立对社会再生产产生了致命的影响,使社会经济陷入危机循环,而危机积累到一定程度就会以猛烈的形式爆发出来,最终导致经济基础乃至整个苏联社会的崩溃.压制个人消费是苏联计划经济赖以存在的内部条件,与外部世界的制度性隔绝是其存在的外部条件,从长期看这些条件都是难以为继的.     

世界石油地缘新图景下的石油安全问题--兼对中国石油安全问题的战略思考

资源战略历来是全球地缘政治战略的重要组成部分,石油安全也成为世界各国在考虑经济安全和国家安全最先关注的问题之一。 石油是“能源中的能源”、现代工业的“血液”和现代经济的命脉。在当前,石油不仅象征一种财富,更是一种战略物资,具有政治特性,能够产生种种政治效应,影响国家的稳定与安全。正是由于石油对现代社会的重要性,     

印度锡克教徒在菲律宾的历史与现状

来自印度的锡克教徒移民菲律宾已有百余年的历史。随着一批又一批移民的到来,菲律宾锡克教徒不断增多,锡克教徒群体在形成的同时,锡克教在菲律宾传播开来。他们在菲律宾主要经营商业,以求扎根于当地;还进行各种宗教活动,以传播和继承锡克教文化。但在与印度家乡宗教与文化都截然不同的天主教国家里,锡克教徒作出了一定的调适,以缩小与当地主体民族之间的文化鸿沟。     

Gendering the Cult of the Offensive

Theorists of the offense-defense balance frequently note that perceptions of technology, as well as military doctrine, play a role in states' perception of offense dominance or the “cult of the offensive.” I argue that gender may constitute the missing link in explaining this misperception and suggest three possible areas of investigation. First, the perceptions and uses of technologies are dependent upon gendered ideologies which encouraged disastrous strategies in the First World War. Second, gender is an integral part of nationalism that promotes offensive policies by defining masculinity in terms of heroic service to the nation. Third, gendered discourses of protection use the language of defense to legitimate offensive policies. By analyzing the roots of perceptions of offense dominance, feminist analysis shows how gender discourses and the production of gender identities are not confined to individuals and the private realm but rather are a pervasive fact of social life on an international scale.     

Appreciating the Movement of the Movements

This review essay surveys the theoretical insights emerging from within the Global Justice and Solidarity Movement, also known as the Anti-Globalisation Movement, or the Movement of the Movements, and also reviews the literature focused on this phenomenon by those closely involved, as well as other observers. The central concern is to understand the nature and significance of the Movement of the Movements as it operates across local, national, and global boundaries, and to consider its capacity to represent and mobilise the many millions worldwide who stand to gain little or nothing, but may lose a great deal, from neo-liberal globalisation.     

从"上海五国"机制到"上海合作组织"

"上海合作组织"是在新世纪之初成立的新型地区性组织,是"上海五国"机制的继承和发展,具有广阔的发展前景.它的成立必将为维护地区安全与稳定、促进经济发展作出应有的贡献.