Majority,State Nationalism,and New Research Pathways

Abstract

In this contribution, Alain-G Gagnon reflects on existing scholarship on majority and state nationalism, arguing that minority and majority nationalism are broadly similar in their intent. Both seek to promote a set of values, myths and meaning systems within a given political community which exists on a specific territory, shares a common language and a history. As a result, there are several promising avenues for research on state and majority nationalism, outlined in this piece.     

From Civic Pluralism to Ethnoreligious Majoritarianism: Majority Nationalism in India

Abstract

This article analyzes the changing nature and substance of Indian nationalism since independence in 1947. India provides insights into how state and majority nationalism manifests itself in a democratic post-colonial society. It also draws attention to how state-making and nation-building reflect the dominant political position of the majority nation in a specific state. In India, the state actively sought to accommodate ethnic and linguistic demands through a consensual federal system. In this form, the majority nationalism did not always imply majoritarianism. The outcome was complex asymmetrical federalism that sought accommodation but also actively opposed secessionist demands by nationalist movements. This accommodationist form of majority nationalism has in recent decades been replaced by an ethnoreligious nationalism based on majoritarian and exclusivist principles. The political success of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has weakened India’s asymmetrical federalism. The trend is away from pluralistic possibilities to a unitary nation-state model. This majoritarian nationalism is characterized by an insistence on Hindutva or Hindu nationalism, intolerance of difference and an insistence that all those who live in India share a common culture, Identity and historic past. The decision to repeal Article 370 of the Constitution, which provides a special status for Jammu and Kashmir, is discussed in this context.     

Responding to Our Peripheral Security Challenges

Current challenges to the security in China＇s surrounding areas, the ＇strategic belt for China＇s ascendance, can be characterized as follows：     

国家民族主义与阿拉伯国家的文化整合

在阿拉伯世界 ,国家民族主义在文化整合过程中发挥着主导作用。这种以国家为载体的国家民族主义主要是通过宣扬传统文化、改变原有社会规范和价值观、发展现代教育和大众传媒等方式来进行文化整合。然而 ,这种由民族主义主导的文化整合进程 ,由于无法妥善地处理寻求差异与追求共性的矛盾 ,无法有效地区分政治认同与族裔认同 ,因而导致了政治认同的混乱和文化整合的不成功。     

以政治和经济优势应对中非关系的新形势和新挑战

上个世纪,中国在政治上、经济上给予非洲真诚的援助,有力支持非洲国家和人民争取民族独立的正义斗争,奠定了中非友好关系的牢固基础。当今,中非关系的内涵和形式发生了较大的变化,但非洲对中国的重要性没有改变,中非互有需求。当前,中国对非工作面临新机遇、新问题和新挑战,必须有新思维和新举措。中国和非洲的领导人要做到长相知,不相疑;必须妥善应对非洲民主化、多党制带来的挑战,处理好同媒体、非政府组织和工会的关系;中国与非洲国家的利益交汇或利益冲突增多,在对非援助、投资、贸易等方面,我们要进行理念的转变、方式的更新、结构的调整;要积极化解国内在中非合作中的一些消极因素;要认真应对中非关系中西方大国的消极因素;进一步发挥中国的政治优势,充实和增加中非关系的政治内涵,努力打造中非外交合作的新领域和新亮点。     

Deadly Doves: Liberal Nationalism and the Democratic Peace in the Soviet Successor States

This article's purpose is to assess the arguments of democratic peace scholars as they apply to the states of the former Soviet Union. The claim that liberalism is associated with nonviolent means of conflict resolution, in particular, is questionable in the case of newly independent states, in which liberalism bears a closer resemblance to nineteenth-century European liberal nationalism than it does to the universalist liberalism envisioned by theories of the democratic peace. I argue that this nonuniversalist form of liberalism is in fact widespread among the Soviet successor states and that, as a result, liberalism's implications for peace are not nearly as benign as had previously been believed. In other regards, however, the attitudes of elites, the mass public, and liberals are in fact fairly consistent with those posited by democratic peace theory, though relative elite bellicosity declines as the policy-making arena broadens. A democratic peace in the region is therefore viable but particularly vulnerable to national issues, as well as to the effects of concentration of political power in the hands of a narrow group of elites.     

Making Hong Kong Chinese: State Nationalism and its Blowbacks in a Recalcitrant City

Abstract

Drawing from the literatures on strategic identity shift and on signaling, this article examines the strategies used by Beijing to impose its monist brand of state nationalism on Hong Kong. Given the nominally high degree of autonomy granted to Hong Kong, Beijing has been unable to impose its nationalism directly from above. Instead, it has made use of cooptation strategies so as to cultivate increasingly vocal and influential loyalist circles among local elites, who have promoted state nationalism from within. This logic, this article argues, has led many among Hong Kong’s political elite to compete in expressing an increasingly overt Chinese nationalistic posture as a way to signal loyalty to Beijing. These strategies have however backfired, raising doubts as to the actual extent of Hong Kong’s autonomy and triggering an existential crisis that led to the emergence of a reactive form of popular Hong Kong sub-state nationalism. In this context, state and popular sub-state nationalisms have fed on each other and grown increasingly irreconcilable, echoing the intensifying radicalization and polarization between the authoritarian establishment and the democratic opposition.     

Why Stay Together? State Nationalism and Justifications for State Unity in Spain and the UK

Abstract

This paper examines the way party elites in the UK and Spain discursively construct the nation and justify state integrity in the face of resurgent Catalan and Scottish demands for self-determination and independence. While in each case there is a plurality of conceptions of the state, in Spain the demos is predominantly defined as a single, indivisible nation of equal citizens while in the UK the focus is typically on a plurinational Union. This, we contend, shapes the arguments made in favor of state unity. The dominant case for state integrity in Spain is more negative, focused primarily on the unconstitutionality of independence and delegitimizing the independence agenda. In the UK, the predominant appeal to the Union is more positive and instrumental: as the country is perceived as a partnership entered into willingly, a case must be made for its continuation. This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of state nationalism and political dynamics in plurinational states by shedding light on the ways in which party elites understand and legitimize the state at moments of profound internal challenge.     

新世纪初的独联体:转机与挑战

从2000年开始,独联体国家间的合作一改“车轮转而车难行”的低迷状态,开始给人耳目一新的感觉。独联体各成员国在“独”与“联”的问题上基本消除分歧,普遍认为独联体是进行多边合作的最好形式;次地区一体化呈现出超越独联体集体合作的发展势头,这种趋势有利于使整个独联体联合起来;作为两大次地区一体化组织“领头羊”的俄罗斯与乌克兰的双边关系日渐成熟且具有了特殊的意义;独联体反恐中心、联合快速反应部队和独联体集体安全条约组织的建立标志着独联体国家间的军事合作正在出现不同于以往的全新变化。然而,这些积极因素的出现并不意味着独联体一体化出现了根本性的“质”的飞跃。这不过是独联体一体化进程中加速量变的过程,是总的量变过程中的部分质变。独联体一体化若要达到量变的关节,实现量变到质变的飞跃,还有相当漫长的路要走。     

简评拉美和加勒比国家共同体的特征及其面临的内部挑战

2011年年末,经过3年的准备,第一个代表拉美和加勒比国家共同利益的区域一体化组织——拉美和加勒比国家共同体宣布成立,这是一个具有标志性意义的重大国际事件。将美国和加拿大排除在外的共同体是全体拉美和加勒比国家共同努力的结果,继承了玻利瓦尔衣钵,致力于建成类似欧盟的区域性组织,谋求在政治、经济、文化等方面协调一致、共同发展,表达了日益强大的区域自主意识,是对美国霸权的一次巨大挑战。但由于共同体成员国在各自执政模式、经济水平、外交重心、战略预期等方面存在着差异以及美国因素的掣肘,共同体未来的发展将充满挑战。     

小泉、安倍政权交替与日本的民族主义

小泉、安倍政权的内外政策表明,民族主义正在成为主导日本政治的重要因素,走出战后体制,成为"正常国家"是日本当前的主要目标.日本仍然要保持日美同盟,不会改变和平发展道路.当前日本的民族主义与战前不同,有其发展的必然性,但也有为右翼势力操纵的可能.因此,必须关注和研究日本的民族主义趋向,认真应对日本正在发生的变化.     

The Regime Change from Koizumi to Abe and Japanese Nationalism

During his term of office, Prime Minister Koizumi time and again paid homage to the Yasukuni Shrine where the Class-A     

Responding to radical populism: Chavismo in Venezuela

What are the effective ways of responding to populists, especially radical populists in government? The pessimistic answer provided by Chavismo is that little can be done; most of the negative impact of highly populist movements cannot be avoided in the short to medium term. The reasons lie not only in Venezuela's unique oil-based economy, but in the country's previous failures of democratic governance, a condition shared by many developing countries. Such failures make it likely that radical populists will receive broad popular support. This does not suggest that international actors cannot play a useful role in responding to populism. But the most viable democratic strategy is a long-term one emphasizing patient efforts by domestic opponents to reorganize themselves into programmatic, pluralist options for the future.     

国家民族主义情结,文化民族主义焦虑--评塞缪尔·亨廷顿新著《我们是谁?-美国国家精神面临的挑战》

塞缪尔·亨廷顿是大名鼎鼎的美国哈佛大学教授,哈佛大学国际和地区问题研究所所长。他勤于笔耕,有大量学术著作和论文问世。代表作有《变化社会中的政治秩序》、《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》、《孤独的超级大国》等。亨廷顿以深刻的观察力和敏锐的洞察力著称。其著作评论如潮,名声鹊起,成为美国政治学和国际政治学界一代名家。《我们是谁?——美国国家精神面临的挑战》是他最新推出的又一力作,在美国国内和国际学术界引起广泛的争议与批评。     

The Effects of Majority State Ownership of Significant Economic Sectors on Corruption: A Cross-Regional Comparison

Given both corruption's and bureaucratic inefficiency's importance for development and good governance, understanding their causes is paramount. This paper argues that majority state ownership of most the most important economic sectors of a country results in higher levels of corruption and inefficiency. When political and managerial elites both own and manage the country's most important economic resources, they have greater incentives for corrupt or inefficient behavior. These elites use national resources at their disposal more for short-term personal and political goals than for long-term economic ones. This paper tests this hypothesis on a relatively underused, but often cited, data set from the 1980s. Using a cross-national, regression analysis, this paper finds that the best predictors a country's level of corruption or bureaucratic inefficiency are these: majority state ownership of significant economic sectors, levels of GDP per capita, levels of government spending, and levels of democracy. Other factors, such as common law heritage, percent of population that is Protestant, federalism, economic freedoms, or mineral/ oil exporting, were not consistent, significant predictors of either bureaucratic inefficiency or corruption. We also argue that Tobit may be the best estimation procedure for these data.     

阿拉伯国家信息技术发展与面临的挑战

进入21世纪,全球信息技术飞速发展.国际上传统的经济竞争模式转移到以科技、信息为代表的技术竞争上,信息竞争已成为在该领域处于弱势的发展中国家不得不面对的现实.阿拉伯地区各国政府面对信息全球化的机遇与挑战已开始重视并着手制定相应的发展战略.阿拉伯国家在信息技术领域与发达国家还有很大差距,但一些阿拉伯国家依托自身优势条件已在这一领域崭露头角.在信息全球化氛围中,阿拉伯国家如何面对信息技术发展的挑战,及采取何种应对策略,值得我们关注.     

Weak States,State Failure,and Terrorism

It is common to hear the assertion that weak or failed states are fertile ground for terrorism. Yet terrorist groups have emerged from, and operated within, countries which have strong, stable states and a variety of systems of government. Terrorist organizations operate in weak and failed states but it is not necessarily the condition of weak or failed statehood which explains their presence. Moreover, it is not necessarily the weakest states which do host such groups. Therefore, this condition is not a sufficient explanation for their presence. While weak or failed states might provide an enabling environment for certain types of terrorist groups to operate, additional explanatory variables need to be identified.