South Atlantic relations: from bilateral trade relations to multilateral coalition building

South Atlantic relations, under the leadership of Brazil and South Africa, have recently received a fresh breath of life. This article provides a general overview of developments and assesses aspects such as preferential trade agreements, multilateral coalition building and security cooperation in the context of South–South relations. The renewed impetus has resulted in improved influence and leverage from less developed Southern countries over the global political and economic agenda. New initiatives that have helped place the leaders of the South at the centre of the decision‐making process have emerged and are widely regarded as viable options for future progress in the developing world. These initiatives, which are driven by the growing strength of South Atlantic relations, are looked at in the broader context, from a practical perspective where tangible results are required over and above the ideals of solidarity to ensure sustainable socioeconomic development.     

BRICSAM and the non–WTO

We highlight the seeming emergence globally of a non–WTO; a patchwork quilt of regional and bilateral trade management arrangements dealing with issues well beyond what the WTO covers and reflecting a wider and different set of concerns. In particular, we discuss recent regional trade and economic partnership agreements of a group of large population, developing economies (BRICSAM: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, ASEAN, and Mexico). Perhaps 50 out of 300 agreements that exist worldwide involve BRICSAM countries; most are recently concluded and will be implemented over the next few years. They exist along with extensive bilateral investment treaties, mutual recognition agreements, and other country to country (or region) arrangements. This paper aims to document and characterize the agreements and analyze their possible impacts. Agreements differ in specificity, coverage and content. In some treaties there are detailed and specific commitments, but these also co–exist with seemingly vague commitments and (at times) opaque dispute settlement and enforcement mechanisms. No overarching bloc–wide strategies seem to exist but whether these represent an emerging structure for newly negotiated reciprocity and trade management or instead largely limited content diplomatic initiatives which co–exist alongside significant WTO (World Trade Organisation) disciplines is the issue. This paper has been written as part of the BRICSAM project underway at The Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. We are grateful to Andrew Cooper, Sylvia Ostry, Daniel Schwanen, Terry Sicular, Gilbert Winham, Ron Wonnacott, and three anonymous reviewers for discussions and suggestions.     

韩国—东盟FTA建立的背景与内容解析

韩国与东盟的自由贸易协议(FTA)起步较晚,直到2005年12月才达成《全面经济合作框架协议》,排在中国、日本与印度之后。但韩国积极推进FTA战略,在中、日、印3国之前与东盟完成了FTA所需协议文本的签署,使得韩国—东盟FTA与中国—东盟FTA同时于2010年1月1日建成。本文对韩国与东盟签订FTA的背景及内容进行了较为详细的解析。     

Neo‐nationalism and Neo‐Atlanticism in Italian foreign policy

The European Union has low expectations for the international climate regime after 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol effectively expires. The United States is not thought likely to sign up to new binding international commitments, whereas EU countries have experienced unexpected difficulties in implementing existing commitments. As a consequence, the European Union may be prepared to settle for a surprisingly weak follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol. At the same time, the European Union will pursue bilateral and regional climate agreements with like-minded countries, parallel to the UN framework and possibly independently of it. Collectively, such agreements could produce an international climate regime that is more robust than what could be agreed at the consensus-based UN level. Nevertheless, the European Union will continue to support the UN process as the only legitimate forum for international negotiations on climate change.     

1999——依然难以平静的朝鲜半岛

朝鲜半岛形势在不断地走向缓和 ,但并不平静 ,迭起波澜。朝、韩经济在走向好转。朝、韩都在积极发展对外关系 ,韩国金大中政府已完成了四大国首脑外交 ,朝鲜在积极改善同四大国的关系。韩、韩之间也在稳步改善政治关系 ,发展经济关系。但朝、韩之间的对峙、敌视情绪仍然存在 ,不时出现各种争执、摩擦。朝鲜形势仍处于扑朔迷离、难以把握的状态 ,值得我们密切关注和深入研究。     

The Resource Curse Reconsidered: Cash Crops and Local Violence in Kyrgyzstan

It is often noted in resource curse literature that agricultural economies are less conflict-prone than countries managing mobile, high-value resources. In the vast literature linking resource endowment and conflict, cash crop economies are often considered immune to civil violence, believed to stand apart from the many horrific episodes of violence and civil war centered on “lootable” wealth (such as alluvial diamonds, tin, tungsten, or other conflict minerals). But many incidents of violence—especially local violence—are in fact occurring in cash crop economies. Drawing on newspaper accounts, policy analyses, ethnographic interviews, and in-depth reports by international organizations, I examine an episode of local violence in 2010 in Kyrgyzstan. Through this case study, the article provides a better understanding of local violence in cash crop economies that can apply to other weak states.     

朝鲜半岛与东北亚和平安全机制:构想与问题

在2007年随着"六方会谈"出现进展,朝鲜半岛和平机制和东北亚和平与安全机制的构建被提上了日程。目前,有关国家对朝鲜半岛和平机制的发展路径和参与谈判的主要成员是2+2,还是四方仍然存在着分歧。从持久的和平需要看,应该最终签署四个协定:《朝韩基本协定》、中美朝韩四国协定、美朝关系正常化协定和美朝韩军事信任措施协定。东北亚和平与安全机制,需要确立一套能够普遍遵守的原则或行为准则。它的运行模式,既不能完全照办欧洲的经验,也不是绝对排斥欧安组织有参考价值的一些做法和相关的目标。该机制的功能定位不能过低,它必须介于论坛和高度组织化的机制之间,要就广泛的安全与合作问题进行协商,要向机制性监督约束的方向发展。     

Reputations,Perceptions, and International Economic Agreements

How do countries’ actions on the international stage affect their reputations? We propose that, particularly when evaluating countries about whom individuals may have few prior beliefs, international agreements may hold particular sway in establishing countries’ reputations. Specifically, if a relatively unknown country joins an organization with a country that has a good reputation, individuals will judge that original state to be less risky; if the better-known countries are generally perceived to have a bad reputation, the less-known state will also look more risky. This article presents evidence from a survey experiment in which individuals are asked about the weight of various factors in their perceptions of countries’ reputations. Subjects would randomly receive a prompt about a country’s domestic policy reform or its ties to other countries via economic or cultural agreements. The results show that states’ international ties play a role in assessments about country reputations. We also examine possible mechanisms underlying this finding. Lower risk associated with agreements with good countries is largely a function of anticipated economic benefits. However, the higher risk associated with agreements with bad countries seems to be more a function of anticipated political closeness between countries.     

The Role of Political Exclusion and State Capacity in Civil Conflict in South Asia

Extant literature on intrastate conflict independently explores terrorism and civil war. However, both terrorism and civil war are probably parts of a continuum of intrastate conflict with the former at one end and the latter at the other end in terms of intensity. I argue that two factors play important roles in rebels’ decision-making calculus, namely, the size of their support base and state strength. Terrorism, as a strategy of the weak, is optimal when the rebel groups have little support among their audience and the state is strong. On the other hand, guerrilla warfare is an ideal strategy when such groups have a greater support base and the state is weak. The theoretical argument is tested on a dataset of Myanmar and six countries of South Asia and for 1970–2007.     

《中日韩投资协定》的构建

签署双边投资协定是国家间相互保护投资的主要法律途径。但是近年来,越来越多的经济一体化协定尤其是自由贸易协定在对贸易自由化问题进行规范的同时,也对投资等问题加以规定,形成了自由贸易协定投资规则与双边投资协定并存的局面。为了加速中日韩经济一体化进程,三国决定先行签署《中日韩投资协定》,作为未来中日韩自由贸易协定的组成部分。在这种背景下,对《中日韩投资协定》构建的基本原则、具体条款的设计、与双边投资协定的关系进行深入探讨,可以对正在进行的中日韩三边投资协定谈判提供可行性建议。     

Universities,NGOs, and civil society sustainability: preliminary lessons from Ecuador

The context for NGOs in the Global South – delegitimising discourse, restrictive policies, and decreasing international funding – leads to major concerns about the sustainability of organised civil society. As a result, NGOs are exploring new means to contribute to social development. This article explores developing university–NGO collaborations through the case of Ecuador. It contributes to development research on two fronts. First, it examines the role of the university in the South and their collaborations with NGOs. Second, it situates university–NGO collaborations within concerns about civil society sustainability. The article presents lessons learnt by Ecuadorian NGOs.     

Reversing Course: Fiscal Policy and Economic Interdependence

In response to the 2008 financial crisis, countries throughout the developed world widely embraced fiscal stimulus policies. But about one year later, with their economies still weak, a majority of these countries reversed course and adopted austerity measures, despite having the ability to maintain fiscal expansions. With little variation in domestic interests, institutions, or political ideologies over this short time period, theories of budgetary politics struggle to explain this policy shift. This shortcoming may be the result of the literature generally ignoring the international effects of fiscal policy. I argue that policymakers strategically consider their trade partners’ likely fiscal policies before setting domestic fiscal policy. If incumbents expect their major trade partners to enact fiscal expansions, they are more likely to pass expansionary policies of their own. But when incumbents expect their counterparts to enact contractionary policies, they are less likely to fund expansionary policies, as these policies may boost foreign economies with suppressed effects at home. I test this argument using spatial econometrics and a data set of OECD countries from 1998 to 2015. The evidence suggests that shifting expectations of fiscal policies abroad explains much of the move from stimulus to austerity over the short time span.     

我们的主要目标：把俄中经贸关系提高到21世纪所要求的水平

今年5月,俄中两国首脑在莫斯科会晤并签订了一系列旨在进一步发展两国经贸合作和睦邻友好关系的协议,决定把两国经贸关系提高到21世纪所要求的水平。落实这些协议将给两国人民带来实际利益。     

影响中韩产业内贸易发展因素的实证分析

影响产业内贸易的因素主要包括各国经济发展水平、规模经济、产品差异化、国际直接投资、区域经济与地理区位等。中国与韩国的地缘优势及不断加强的区域经济合作为中韩产业内贸易的开展打下了现实基础;韩国对华直接投资是促进产业内贸易发展的关键因素;而中韩两国经济发展水平的差距和规模不经济在一定程度上阻碍了中韩产业内贸易的发展。为顺利开展与韩国间的产业内贸易,我国应采取相应的对策:实施规模经营战略、提高引进韩国FD I的档次、促进中韩间加工贸易的转型升级。     

Egypt versus Ethiopia: The Conflict over the Nile Metastasizes

Egypt and Ethiopia continue to oppose one another over the allocation of the waters of the Nile River basin, despite a succession of provisional multilateral agreements. Officials in Cairo insist that Egypt be guaranteed its “historic rights” to two-thirds of the river’s flow, while their counterparts in Addis Ababa demand an “equitable” distribution of water among all of the riparian countries. More important, Sudan’s shift in alignment from Egypt to Ethiopia has injected new tension into the dispute, and the sustained involvement of South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Eritrea heightens the likelihood that periodic crises will escalate into armed confrontations. Consequently, existing studies that offer sanguine assessments of the potential for a compromise settlement fail to address the key dynamics that drive the conflict.     

De-idealizing the democratic civil peace: on the political economy of democratic stabilization and pacification in Argentina and Ecuador

In the liberal concept of a ‘democratic civil peace’, an idealistic understanding of democratic stabilization and pacification prevails: democracy is seen to guarantee political stability and social peace by offering comprehensive representation and participation in political decisions while producing outcomes broadly in accordance with the common interest of society. This contrasts with the procedural quality and the material achievements of most, if not all, really existing democracies. South America is paradigmatic. Here, the legitimation of liberal democracy through both procedure and performance is weak and yet ‘third wave democracies’ have managed to survive even harsh economic and political crises. The article presents a conceptual framework to analyse historically specific patterns of democratic stabilization and pacification. Analyses of the processes of socio-political destabilization and re-stabilization in Argentina and Ecuador since the late 1990s show how a ‘de-idealized’ perspective on the democratic civil peace helps explain the viability of democratic regimes that systematically deviate from the ideal-type conditions for democratic survival that have been proposed in the literature.     

Brazil as ‘Southern donor’: beyond hierarchy and national interests in development cooperation?

This article analyses Brazil's growing role in external development assistance. During Lula da Silva's presidency, cooperation with developing countries grew dramatically. While the official position is that Brazilian development assistance is moved not by national economic or political interests, but by international ‘solidarity’, and does not reproduce the North–South traditional aid relations, we suggest that it is not completely divorced from national, sub-national or sectoral interests and cannot be viewed apart from Brazil's broader foreign policy objectives. Brazil does pursue political, economic and commercial interests and, concomitantly, has made a positive difference in the recipient countries. However, more empirical research and field investigation are needed to better gauge the impact of Brazil's assistance initiatives and their contributions to South–South cooperation more broadly. During Lula's terms (2003–2010), Brazil could be classified as a ‘Southern donor’, which expresses the country's own novelties, and tensions, of simultaneously being a donor and a developing country.     

Long-term growth perspectives in Japan and the Euro area

Euro area countries and Japan are confronted with similar challenges. Potential output is on a declining trend in the Euro area, and the decrease started well before the financial crisis. In Japan, low-output growth is a striking feature since many years, despite the unconventional monetary policy stance and numerous fiscal stimulus programs provided by the government. According to a growth accounting exercise based on a Cobb-Douglas production function, the development in both economies can be traced to a weak evolution of TFP. Weak capital deepening is detected especially in the Euro area. Driven by high uncertainty, the willingness of firms to undertake investment is only modest and constitutes the Achilles’ heel for a smooth recovery. Both economies are not well prepared to manage the demographic challenges caused by an elderly population. Given that debt-to-GDP ratios are already at record heights, the scope for further demand-driven policies is limited, especially in Japan. Instead, structural reforms are on the agenda to promote the framework conditions for higher investment and long-run growth in both regions.     

Equality and Inequality in the WTO Dispute Settlement (DS) System: Analysis of the GATT/WTO Dispute Data

This article explores the distributive aspects of the dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) of the World Trade Organization WTO. Even though the strictly binding dispute settlement (DS) system can operate in an unbiased way and thereby minimize power disparity among disputants, in general, the content of law on which the whole DS system is based is favorable to developed countries in the system. This study of the WTO DSM demonstrates that (1) the procedural/substantive dispute outcomes of the WTO are not significantly affected by power disparity between disputants (thus, enhancing the principles of “equality before the law” and “protecting the weak”), but that (2) the strict substantive provisions and the newly included provisions of the WTO agreements are advantageous to developed countries and disadvantageous to developing countries (thus, increased inequality in the content of the law). In order to understand the distributive consequences of the legal DSM, we need to combine an analysis of the operation of the legal body with an examination of the content of the law.     

跨入21世纪后的东南亚经济

在世纪之交,东南亚国家经济出现了急剧的波动。2001年,各国家经济又急转直下,甚至出现负增长。面对国内经济的迅速衰退,东南亚国家政府积极采取措施,大力实施国内经济重组与调整。在世界经济周期波动的冲击和金融危机后国内经济转型与结构调整的拖累下,东南亚经济短期前景不容乐观。