Moving Beyond the Policy of No Policy: Emigration from Mexico and Central America

Do Caribbean Basin states influence U.S. immigration policy? Although the terrorist attacks of September 2001 eventually derailed migration talks, before that time Mexico and the United States appeared poised to negotiate a major bilateral agreement, largely on Mexico's terms. Drawing on 88 detailed interviews conducted with Mexican and other Caribbean Basin elites, this article examines sending‐state preferences for emigration and their capacity to influence policy outcomes. The informants considered migration to be the most problematic issue on the bilateral agenda, but also saw migration policy as relatively open to source‐state influence. A case study of Mexican emigration policymaking details the national and transnational changes that make migration increasingly an inter‐mestic policy issue.     

Paisaje antes de la batalla. Notas sobre el contexto de la guerra contra las drogas en México

Mexico’s security crisis and Felipe Calderón’s (2006-2012) security strategy had its roots in drug trafficking, the prohibition of drugs, contraband and the border shared with the United States. Standard accounts of the violence experienced in the country, which reduce it to confrontations between drug cartels, are of little use. This article presents part of the context in which the security crisis developed, putting it in a historical perspective, and attempting to take a step towards a more nuanced interpretation. It holds that drug trafficking between Mexico and the United States is a complex, many-sided reality which admits dense symbolic elaboration. Apart from the very concrete shipping of drugs, drug trafficking is part of Mexico’s relation with the United States, a register that imbues the asymmetry between both countries with meaning, a space of political negotiation and a resource of American global diplomacy which is crystallized in a clandestine foreign policy system. Furthermore, through the demystification of the imagery that envelopes organized crime, corruption and contraband are examined, conceiving these two as phenomena that are integrated organically into borderland society.     

The World Bank and Policy Reform in Mexico and Argentina

This article examines the World Bank's role in the market policy reform experiences of Mexico and Argentina. It argues that while reform was driven by domestic elites, the bank played an important role, providing technical advice and financial support and helping to spread market reform ideas. The nature of the bank's involvement, however, differed substantially in the two countries because of their distinct political arrangements, histories, and geopolitical positions in regard to the United States. In the recent era of second-generation reforms, the World Bank's involvement in compensatory policy development has become more focused, although still more intense in Argentina than in Mexico. This involvement has important implications for the quality of democracy, insofar as the 1990s market reforms were formulated by insulated international policy networks unaccountable to the public. Recently, the bank has declared its commitment to involve civil society in its lending policies, a move that may have important implications for democratic development.     

The East Asian financial meltdown

In view of China's economic growth and rising international status, Latin American and Caribbean countries will accord increasing priority to their relations with the Asian giant. China's permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council is also a factor to reckon with. Today, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico have established strategic partnerships with China. While the vast distance between China and Latin America generates difficulties in transportation and mutual understanding, it also means that both parties have no serious conflicts of strategic and political interests. Their Third World orientations in diplomacy contribute to a 95% concurrence in their votes in the United Nations. While the Chinese leadership seeks to promote multipolarity to curb US unilateralism, it appreciates its limitations in Latin America. In addition, China and the Latin American and Caribbean countries value good relations with the US. In the foreseeable future, China will increase its investment in Latin America and more Sino-Latin American business joint ventures will be formed. These trends may well reduce trade frictions associated with China's economic expansion.     

Japan’s new role in peace-building missions

Japan’s policy towards peace operations has been in a state of evolution. One of the issues on its peace operations policy was that the Japanese Government tended too much attention to possible tasks involving the Self Defense Forces (SDF). However, the Japanese society should consider the possibility of its participation in peace operations in the wider framework, such as multifunctional peace-building missions. In fact, the concept of peace-building is compatible with UN Millennium Declaration in 2000, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also recommends that peace-building should be included as one of the priority issues in Japan's new policy on Official Development Assistance (ODA). Meanwhile, Japan will be required to participate in peace-building with the framework of multinational forces as well as the United Nations in the current post-9/11 era, such as its current mission in Iraq.     

China’s entry to the WTO and the jackson-vanik amendment

When Senator Henry Jackson, of Washington State, took aim at the USSR in 1974 he hit China more than two decades later. With the end of the Cold War, the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974, passed in order to help Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union, now annually disrupts the United States relationship with China to no purpose and poses serious problems for the accession of the People’s Republic to the World Trade Organization, which came into being in 1995 as the foundation of the new world trading system. What is to be done about removing this obstacle in the Congress of the United States to the integration of China into the world economy?     

Assessing Candidates at Home and Abroad: A Comparative Analysis of Colombian Expatriates in the 2010 Presidential Elections

This article examines candidate favorability among Colombian expatriates and Colombians in the home country in the 2010 Colombian presidential elections. It analyzes the influence of several socioeconomic, migratory, mobilizing, and contextual factors on candidate appraisal using a large exit poll conducted at Colombian consulates in five cities in the United States and Europe and five cities with high emigration rates in Colombia. Aside from differences in candidate favorability stemming from socioeconomic variables (education, income, and religious affiliation), Colombians living abroad largely evaluate candidates in ways similar to Colombians living in the country.     

Contesting and upholding the rights of the Irish Parliament in 1698: the arguments of William Molyneux and Simon Clement

SUMMARY

This paper explores the constitutional relationship between England and Ireland at the end of the seventeenth century with a focus on the contemporary debate around the prerogative of the Irish legislature. It examines and contrasts the arguments developed in the pamphlets of William Molyneux of Dublin (1656–98), representing the ruling Irish Protestant nation, and of English Whig Simon Clement (1654?–1730?), asserting the rights of the English empire. Molyneux's The Case of Ireland's being bound by Acts of Parliament in England, Stated (Dublin, 1698) and Clement's An answer to Mr. Molyneux his case of Ireland's being bound by Acts of Parliament in England, stated: and his dangerous notion of Ireland's being under no subordination to the parliamentary authority of England refuted by reasoning from his own arguments and authorities (London, 1698) are compared and analysed in the context of renewed tensions around the woollen trade. These pamphlets highlight the nature, and the perceived nature, of the constitutional relationship between the two polities in the aftermath of the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. The main discussion was whether Ireland was a colony of England or an independent kingdom, and how its nature affected the relationship between both legislatures. Molyneux argued that Ireland, although sharing a monarch with England, was an independent kingdom. To Molyneux, Ireland's independence, as a kingdom, signified the independence of its legislature and the unconstitutionality of the English Parliament's claim to legislate for Ireland. Clement refuted Molyneux's assertions point by point, contending that Ireland was part and parcel of an empire. In Clement's opinion, Ireland's subjection to England meant that the English Parliament had a legitimate right to legislate for Ireland.     

气候政策立场的国内经济基础——对欧盟成员国生态产业发展的比较分析

由于气候变化问题本身所具有的全球性特征,应对气候变化的技术革新及市场化所形成的生态产业对于一国未来发展潜力及经济地位无疑具有非常重要的影响。一个国家生态产业的力量越强,则越倾向于采取积极的气候政策,其参与国际气候谈判的立场也越积极与超前。本文通过对欧盟15个成员国生态产业和气候政策立场的分析考察证实,生态产业实力较强的德国、奥地利、荷兰一直是欧盟气候变化政策的积极"领导者",而生态产业实力相对较弱的西班牙、葡萄牙、希腊和爱尔兰是欧盟气候政策的"拖后腿者",处于中间地位的英国、意大利、比利时、丹麦、卢森堡总体上政策立场趋于积极,法国、芬兰、瑞典情况复杂。因此,本文认为,生态产业实力的大小是决定欧盟成员国气候政策及其参与国际气候治理立场的重要因素。     

Educated in Germany,Working in Turkey: The Emigration Motivations of Persons of Turkish Origin

Concerns over a possible brain drain and a failed integration policy have been raised by the emigration of qualified persons of Turkish origin. However, there is little reliable data available regarding the profile and the motivations for this in the Germany-trained workforce. In order to explore the relative importance of different migration motivations, an online survey (n = 128) and interviews with selected respondents were conducted. The main finding is that family-related reasons are the most important factor in emigration to Turkey. In contrast, a negative career outlook and/or experience of discrimination in Germany, highlighted in public discourse, played only a secondary or even tertiary role. Instead, motivations for emigration of persons with and without a migration background are often similar, reflecting the increased mobility in a globalised world – a factor confirmed by the fact that a significant number of respondents expressed an intention to return to Germany.     

Another Textual Frontier: Contemporary Fiction on the Northern Mexican Border

This article approaches fiction writing from the northern Mexican frontier from the perspective of the border. It perceives the border between Mexico and the United States as a multispace that permeates fictional texts from the area. In clear contrast with most Chicano and Border Studies perspectives, the border is viewed here as a physical rather that metaphorical space whose dynamics formulates textual discourses and aesthetics. The fiction works of Luis Humberto Crosthwaite and Jesús Gardea are analysed from this perspective.     

试析国际移民组织与中国的关系

国际移民组织是移民领域惟一的全球性政府间国际组织,而中国在改革开放后已逐步成为全球重要的移民输出国,在此背景下,中国与国际移民组织建立和发展关系是历史的必然.随着中国海外移民人数的持续增加,中国与国际移民组织的关系还会进一步密切.     

THE UNITED NATIONS AND CONFLICT IN AFRICA SINCE THE COLD WAR

This article is a brief review of the United Nations' experiencein the prevention, management and resolution of conflict inAfrica between the end of the Cold War and mid-1998. It describesthe various partners with whom the United Nations has workedfor these purposes and the different functions involved—peacemaking,peacekeeping, electoral assistance and humanitarian relief.It assesses frankly the results the United Nations has achieved,giving it low marks for peacemaking (most peace settlementsin Africa have been mediated by non-UN actors) but higher marksfor peacekeeping (both the traditional variety and, especially,the new breed of multi-functional peacekeeping operations tohelp implement negotiated settlements), electoral assistanceand humanitarian operations. It examines critically the feasibilityof using multinational forces to protect humanitarian operationsin the middle of continuing conflict. It concludes by statingthe case for an integrated and properly coordinated approachby the international community as a whole to problems of conflictin Africa, and elsewhere.     

From Paramilitaries to Peacemakers: The Gender Dynamics of Community-Based Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland

Community-based restorative justice (CBRJ) schemes emerged in Northern Ireland during the 'peace process' to provide an alternative to paramilitary systems of justice. These initiatives have received considerable academic attention. A complex and critical literature has now emerged in this area; however, extant explorations of CBRJ have tended to sideline issues of gender power. Feminists and international bodies, such as the United Nations, have highlighted the importance of addressing historical gendered inequities in terms of the design and evaluation of conflict transformation initiatives. Drawing on contemporary feminist frameworks this article exposes the importance of the category of gender in evaluations of CBRJ in Northern Ireland. Moreover, it scrutinises the theoretical processes through which issues of gender power have been filtered out of evaluations of community-based restorative justice schemes in the region.     

Value Pluralism and Multinational Federalism

This article is mainly concerned with the notion of value pluralism. In the first section I present it as a theory of the structure of moral normativity in liberal democracies, and defend its greater suitability compared with rival theories in attempting to revise democratic liberalism from the perspective of the cultural, national and normative pluralism of present-day democracies. In the second section, I link value pluralism with multinational federations in order to discuss its role in establishing the recognition of national pluralism, a plurinational division of powers, the participation of the different national collectives in the processes of constitutional reform, and the constitutional regulation of the right of self-determination, following the 1998 decision of the Canadian Supreme Court.     

Coyotaje and Drugs: Two Different Businesses

This article, based on a qualitative methodology that includes in‐depth interviews with 85 migrant‐smugglers who operate at the border between Mexico and the United States, addresses three research questions: do migrant‐smugglers take part in organised crime? Are criminal groups involved in migrant smuggling? And are migrant‐smugglers engaged in drug trafficking? It concludes that many smugglers have become part of organised crime groups but only after leaving the migrant‐smuggling business; that criminal organisations do not help migrants to cross the border; and that migrant‐smugglers do not carry drugs.     

Why Leipzig? ‘Exit’ and ‘voice’ in the East German revolution

Albert Hirschman's exit‐voice scheme provides a useful starting point for making sense of the East German revolution. Following Hirschman, it is argued that the conjunction of emigration and protest was key to the mass upheaval of 1989. Going beyond Hirschman, however, ‘exit’ is seen as relevant not only as the cumulative effect of individual emigration, but also as a political force in its own right. Different constellations between voice and exit groups then help to explain why the revolutionary upheaval originated not in East Berlin, but in Leipzig.     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Avritzer, Leonardo. Democracy and the Public Space in Latin America.
Demmers, J. [Jolle], A.[Alex] E. Fernández Jilberto, and B. [Barbara] Hegenboom, eds. Miraculous Metamorphoses: The Neoliberalisation of Latin American Populism.
Domingo, Pilar, and Rachel Sieder, eds. Rule of Law in Latin America: The International Promotion of Judicial Reform.
Franco, Andrés, ed. Financing For Development in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mahoney, James. The Legacies of Liberalism: Path Dependence and Political Regimes in Central America.
Herz, Monica, and João Pontes Nogueira. Ecuador vs. Peru: Peacemaking Amid Rivalry.
Bailey, John, and Jorge Chabat, eds. Transnational Crime and Public Security: Challenges to Mexico and the United States.
Hart, John Mason. Empire and Revolution: The Americans in Mexico Since the Civil War.
Williams, Heather L. Social Movements and Economic Transition: Markets and Distributive Conflict in Mexico.
Williams, Mark Eric. Market Reforms in Mexico: Coalitions, Institutions, and the Politics of Policy Change.     

美国南海政策的军事化及其影响

当前,国际社会正处于"百年未有之大变局"中,中美两国竞争加剧。在这一背景下,美国南海政策的军事化倾向尤为突出。通过案例分析、运用比较分析的方法对美国南海政策军事化及其影响进行探究,可以看出美国南海政策军事化的主要目的是遏制中国的崛起。为达到这一目的,美国提升了"航行自由行动"的频率和烈度,增加了在南海内沿和外围的军事战略存在,还加强了与盟国的同盟关系。不过,美国国内有一部分人认为南海政策军事化目前并未达到其希望的效力,反而使美国在战争与和平之间愈加难以保持平衡。美国在南海地区的影响力受到挑战的同时,中美关系也因此有所倒退,南海局势变得更加复杂。鉴于此,中国一方面要保持克制态度,增强危机意识,做好预案,通过高质量外交对话等方式增进与美国的政治互信,另一方面也要加快推进与东盟国家《南海各方行为准则》的谈判与磋商,与东盟国家一道维护好南海地区的和平与稳定。