Christians and Muslims in Nineteenth Century Liberia: From Ideological Antagonism to Practical Toleration

Liberia was established, among others, as a Christian nation that would spearhead the spreading of the gospel to the black continent. This endeavor had the potential to bring about a collision between the Liberian settlers and the other imported monotheistic religion that had already been proselytizing in large areas of West Africa for centuries, namely Islam. This article analyzes the process by which the harsh reality defeated the Christian enterprise, turning the initial ideological antagonism into practical cooperation. It also discusses the initiative to formalize the relations between the two religions within a political framework and the reason for its failure. Relying on available sources, the article traces the penetration first of Islam, and later, in the nineteenth century, of Christianity into Liberia, and analyzes the consequences of the encounter between these religions.     

对华友好的罗马尼亚国家自由党

罗马尼亚国家自由党原建于1864年,是一个有较长历史的党,二战结束后,一度停止活动.1990年1月恢复重建,现为自由党国际成员.主席为现任政府总理克林·特里恰努,现有党员16万人.     

Terrorism and Beyond: a 21st Century Perspective

Abstract

This study examines trends in the incidence of international hostage‐barricade terrorism (HBT) since the late 1960s, the concurrent development of elite hostage rescue units (HRUs), and the relative effectiveness of American, Soviet, West European, Israeli, and other Third World responses—using dialogue or force—to HBT actions. Although HRUs have scored some dramatic rescues, three major hostage massacres in Third World countries in 1985–1986 and other bloody HBT incidents in 1988 demonstrated the high cost of using force prematurely and ineptly to resolve HBT crises. Focusing on these and other HRU failures, this study questions the American and Israeli “no‐ransom, no‐negotiation” policies in HBT situations and concludes that a more flexible approach of patiently “talking down” and “wearing down” the hostage‐takers through basic hostage‐negotiation techniques—even if only as a delaying tactic—is vital for maximizing the chances for rescuing hostages safely, whether through dialogue or force. Conversely, if authorities quickly resort to military action, hostages are far more likely to suffer casualties than to be rescued safely.     

The Century of Biology

If the 20th Century was the century of physics, the 21st Century is the century of cybernetics, biology and ecology. Technological advance has both crossed new frontiers and discovered old limits. Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine broke new ground with his understanding that nature, including its human component, seeks to establish order out of chaos by “self‐organizing,” not only according to pre‐determined laws, but through random creative choices as well that are responsible for the endless novelty and potentiality of being. The technologically‐armed purposive role of humans in the Anthropocentric Age thus takes on a new significance: “What we do today depends on our image of the future rather than the future depending on what we do today” as Prigogine puts it. “The equations of the future are written in our actions as well as in nature. Time becomes construction.” Nowhere is this truer than in the new science of genomics, which touches the soul, and in the effort to preserve the ecological balance that has enabled humanity to flourish within the narrow band of earth's livable climate. In this section we bring together leading thinkers, scientists and technologists of our age to address these issues of mankind's fate.     

Notes from an Intruder: Explorations in Political Macroanalysis

This paper traces the development of my theoretical and methodological approach to political sociology by referring to important intellectual influences and recounting the considerations that led me to choose particular research subjects. The term “intruder” emphasizes my discomfort with the separation of sociology and political science into distinct professions, as I ended up choosing political science as my academic profession but have always felt intellectually more at home in sociology.     

20世纪的法兰西玫瑰潮--法国社会党100周年札记

以"拳头和玫瑰"为标记的法国社会党于2005年4月22日和23日,在巴黎举行了盛大的纪念活动,庆祝法国社会党成立100周年。回眸20世纪的法国史,我们可以看到,法国社会党是法国和西欧社会主义运动的一支重要力量,其百年史是一部玫瑰潮在法兰西大地涌动的历史,是一部不断探索社会主义理论和实践的历史。     

"美国世纪"命题及其影响

美国作为一个大国崛起之后开始缓慢地走出了“孤立”状态,在20世纪期间的国际事务中发挥着越来越重要的作用,世界上发生的很多引人注目的大事,美国很少能够摆脱干系。本文从亨利·卢斯提出的“美国世纪”这个角度出发考察了美国借助其不断强大的政治、经济、军事和文化力量实现世界领袖地位的过程,分析了“美国世纪”这一命题提出的背景、主要内容及其产生的影响,特别强调了在“美国世纪”中文化在实现和维护美国的世界霸权中所扮演的重要角色。     

Isaiah Berlin: Russo-Jewish Roots,Liberal Commitments,and the Ethos of Pluralism

Isaiah Berlin contributed significantly to the study of the history of nationalist ideas in modern Europe, to the revival among political theorists (and others) of interest in nationalism as a theory, and to the articulation of theories of “liberal nationalism” in the 1990s. Berlin was also a life-long Zionist, whose reflections on the impulses behind nationalism owed much to his reflection on the condition of Jews in the diaspora. While Berlin’s views on nationalism have long claimed attention, and while there has more recently been excellent work done on his Jewish identity and commitment to Zionism, the connection between both his liberalism and his views on nationalism, and his personal background and experiences, remains to be more fully explored. Deploying biographical reconstruction and textual analysis, I here undertake to draw such connections, emphasizing how Berlin’s personal condition and the response to nationalism that it influenced in turn shaped his liberalism. I conclude that Berlin’s experiences coming from a specifically Russian-Jewish background, as well as his position in British society, his wartime service in the British government, and his intellectual formation, significantly shaped his views on nationalism. I also suggest that both his response to nationalism and his advocacy of a distinctive liberalism reflect Berlin’s commitment (never made fully explicit) to a pluralistic ethos, which itself may be seen as a response to the condition of Jews (and other minorities and migrants) in the modern world.     

马克思主义:西方与东方--20世纪马克思主义的演变及其21世纪的前景

20世纪马克思主义在东西方走上了不同的发展道路.东西方马克思主义在这一百年中产生了五次重大分歧,基本格局是东方的制度社会主义成为马克思主义发展的主流和中心.二者的百年争论集中在市场与民主两大主题上,分歧的根源在于双方历史阶段和文化背景的差异以及对马克思主义基本理论和20世纪实践关系的不同看法.马克思主义的两股潮流将在21世纪反对全球资本主义的斗争中重新合流,走向马克思主义发展的新阶段.     

Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the 21st Century

In this section, NPQ takes a look at the history of relations with the Other and how that has changed with globalization. Ryszard Kapuscinski writes of the moral imperative of embracing the Other. Tariq Ramadan speaks urgently of the Muslim Other in Europe. Taking the New Orleans calamity as a point of departure, Richard Sennett reminds us that stupidity for the Greeks meant ignorance of the Other.     

The Fourth Revolution: Reinventing the State and Democracy for the 21st Century

Historically, liberal democracy was born as a means to curb the power of kings and tyrants through mechanisms that would ensure accountability and consent of the governed. A system of checks and balances—two legislative chambers, executive and independent courts—were instituted to ensure power did not become too concentrated. Today's highly diverse, mass consumer societies, however, have presented another set of challenges. Power is so diffused governance is becoming ineffective. The short‐term mentality of voters and the lobbying of special interests undermine the ability of democracies to focus on the long‐term and the common interest. Because there are more checks than balances, gridlock has supplanted consensus. In this section, we compare Chinese and Western systems on their ability to deliver good governance. The editors of the Economist magazine put the debate in historical context.     

走笔鹿特丹

亚欧大陆桥西桥头堡 鹿特丹被誉为新亚欧大陆桥西桥头堡城市.是世界第一大港,荷兰第二大城市,城区面积200多平方公里,市区人口65.4万.我当海员时曾多次出入这个港口城市,至今不能忘怀的就是当地人那句谚语:当上帝创造世界时,把荷兰给忘了,因此荷兰人不得不自己创造出一个荷兰来.如果不是我身临其境行船到这个国家,很难理解这句谚语的真实意义.