Communication,Politics, and the Notions of Martin Spencer

This essay calls attention to the work of sociologist Martin Spencer, who once offered an uncommon understanding of political communications in the United States. According to Spencer, public discourse not only propels action but constitutes action in and of itself on occasion. This means that political rhetoric can have both an injunctive effect on political actors and can also stand as a kind of completed “action” in its own right. The importance of these principles is examined here, and some of their implications are delineated.     

Martin Wight's Thought on Diplomacy

Martin Wight was a founding member and one of the most influential thinkers of the 'English School' of International Relations. His thought on diplomacy is at the heart of his international theory. He portrays diplomacy as a defining activity of international relations; it marks the international sphere. His diplomatic thought is shaped by, more than anything else, a traditional Christian outlook that can be characterized as Augustian. Unless one comprehends that religious disposition of Martin Wight's thought one will not properly understand it.     

加拿大新总理保罗·马丁及其对外政策主张

2003年12月12日,加拿大自由党领袖、前财政部长保罗·马丁(Paul Martin)正式接替让·克雷蒂安,成为加拿大第21任总理。马丁承诺上台后将对加拿大的外交政策进行彻底改革,确立新型安全观,全面提升军事力量,强调“人权外交”,加强对外干预力度,领导重建国际体制,强化加美安全合作,重点发展加中关系。     

How Martin Luther King,Jr’s Pacifist Liberation Theology Makes Reinhold Niebuhr’s Political Realism Possible

Reinhold Niebuhr crafted a compelling theologically based theory of political realism, which became the basis for a withering critique of pacifism. Martin Luther King, Jr was influenced by Niebuhr’s Augustinian realism in his own political theology and practice. However, King lived and thought from a different perspective, had more apocalyptic expectations of divine intervention in history, and embraced pacifism. I argue that Niebuhr fell short of his own realist vision through his idealistic faith in US democracy, and that King’s political theology better enacts Niebuhrian realism. I suggest King achieves this largely because his theology is a liberation theology grounded in pacifist praxis in solidarity with the oppressed. By rejecting Niebuhr’s acceptance of American violence and basing his theology on lived confrontation with American violence, King makes Niebuhr’s political realism possible. This reading of King and Niebuhr illustrates the value of pacifism and theology for political theory and practice.     

美国新任陆军参谋长马丁·登普西

今年1月6日，美国国防部长盖茨提名陆军训练与条令司令部司令马丁·登普西（Martin Dempsey），接替即将于今年4月退休的乔治·凯西，出任美国陆军第37任参谋长。在当前两场战争逐渐进人收尾阶段，美军军费预算下滑趋势已日渐明显的大背景下，这位同样因伊拉克战争发家的新任参谋长，将为近年来风雨飘摇的美国陆军带来何种新气象，已成为各方关注的焦点。     

“先秦国际法”研究与中国“世界图景”的重建——从丁韪良到陈顾远

从晚清到民国,出现了一股持续半个世纪的"先秦国际法"研究思潮.丁韪良试图通过附会"中国古世公法"使中国人接受近代西方普遍主义公法观,置换中国人传统的"世界图景",从而将中国纳入到正在扩展中的资本主义世界体系.晚清士大夫试图通过对儒家经典的重新阐释,建构新的"世界图景",以儒学的内在脉络作为建立普遍主义世界观和公法观的依据.陈顾远试图在坚持中国文化本位的基础上,通过与西方国际法概念的部分对接,重建中国人的"世界图景",在西方普遍主义与儒家普遍主义之间寻求折衷.这些不同关切的实质都指向了如何重建中国人的"世界图景"这一核心问题.     

Terrorism,counter-terrorism,and critique: opportunities,examples, and implications

This article explores the parameters, value and limitations of different critical strategies for those dissatisfied with the contemporary politics of terror. It argues, first, that the prominent (counter-)terrorism paradigm – in which terrorism is approached as a ubiquitous and very specific security challenge meriting appropriately exceptional responses – is far more critiqued than we might anticipate. And, second, that such critiques – which can be found across political language, popular culture, everyday life, and beyond – employ distinct critical resources to serve varying ends. Reflecting on these, the article offers a new heuristic distinguishing five critical strategies which seek to: (i) repudiate; (ii) question; (iii) subvert; (iv) replace, or (v) deconstruct the prominent counter-terrorism paradigm. This typology, it argues, offers scope for optimism and strategic resources for those attracted to a critical terrorism studies project going forward.     

Population, Prophets, Pensions, and Politics

As immigrant populations in Western welfare states grow at a faster rate than the native populations, whose birthrates have declined dramatically in recent years, Europe's tradition of democracy and tolerance is threatened. The reasons for the birthrate decline and the resultant aging of the native population are many and complex, but one important contributing factor is the pay-as-you-go pension system, which reduces people's immediate dependence on children. Moreover, the payroll and social security taxes that support the welfare state reduce the earnings capacity of men and women of the traditional age for having children, thus pushing down the birthrate. It is time to consider whether modern Europe's small-size families and high pensions are sustainable     

Indigeneity,Ethnicity, and the State: Australia,Fiji, and New Zealand

This article draws on the politics of indigeneity to distinguish the claims of first occupancy from simple ethnic identity politics, illustrating that relative political marginalization in Australasia is not so much a function of minority status but of indigeneity itself. The politics of indigeneity's aim is to create political space for self-determination and a particular indigenous share in the sovereign authority of the nation-state itself. The Australasian states are compared with Fiji to demonstrate that the significance of historical constraints on political authority transcend the withdrawal of a colonial power and the restoration of collective indigenous majority population status.     

The roles of,and relationships between,expatriates, volunteers,and local development workers

This article reports on exploratory research based on interviews with expatriate and local aid workers employed by local and international NGOs in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Thematic analysis of the interviews found that personnel were placed in groups based on their job category – consultant, volunteer, or permanent staff – regardless of experience. These categories logically reflect each worker's pay level, purpose, and role, but they may also have an implicit power meaning which reinforces group differences and inhibits inter-group relationships. Relationship building was reported to be the most important factor contributing to the success of capacity-development initiatives. Four sub-themes were identified: communication, friendship, reciprocal learning/teaching, and confidence.