The politics of the pipeline: The Iran and Afghanistan conflict

A war between Iran and the Taliban's Afghanistan was averted in September 1998. The roots of the animosity between the two sides go much deeper than the killings of Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan and the reported massacre of Afghan Shi'ites by the Taliban. As the Iranians see it, an Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban is a threat to Iran's national security and economic and political interests not only in Afghanistan but, more importantly, in oil-rich Central Asia. The article argues that at the heart of the conflict between Iran and the Taliban is the question of whether Iran or Afghanistan should be the route for the export of oil and gas from landlocked Central Asia to world markets, as well as Pakistan's plan to use Afghanistan as a corridor to Central Asia. As explained in the article, for commercial and political reasons the Afghanistan route is preferred by both Islamabad and Washington. However, international oil companies prefer the Iran route as it is the shortest, safest and most economical.     

The presidential dynamics of leadership decline in contemporary British politics: the illustrative case of Tony Blair

The presidential analogy has provided many explanatory insights into the contemporary development of the British premiership. Nevertheless, the usage of this analytical device is almost invariably confined to the establishment and consolidation of leadership. This article demonstrates that the presidential dimension has comparable utility in accounting for the erosion and decline of leadership. In examining the Blair premiership in relation to three signature themes of the American presidency – public outreach, personalized leadership, and democratic disjunction – the analysis reveals a set of dynamics that not only provides a vehicle for political opposition but largely predetermines the nature and formulation of that critique.     

美欧军事干预利比亚对伊朗核问题的影响探析

美欧军事干预利比亚对伊朗核问题将产生如下主要影响：伊朗在核问题上的立场将更加强硬;伊朗在核问题上所遭受的现行国际经济制裁的效力将减弱;美欧将更难对伊朗在核问题上施加新的有实际意义的压力。尽管如此,美欧将会在民主、人权问题上对伊朗施加更大压力,从而间接影响伊朗核问题。     

抗战时期在延安的美军观察组

1944年7月22日,以包踹德上校为组长、包括美国驻华使馆二等秘书谢伟思等人组成的美军观察组抵达延安.在两年多的时间里,他们向美国政府报告了延安和解放区的比较真实的情况.中共和美方都表示了相互合作的愿望.这在中美关系史上写下了浓重而奇特的一笔.     

The past in the present: time and narrative of Balkan wars in media industry and international politics

In this article, we explore various forms of travel writing, media reporting, diplomatic record, policy-making, truth claims and expert accounts in which different narrative perspectives on the Balkan wars, both old (1912–1913) and new (1991–1999), have been most evident. We argue that the ways in which these perspectives are rooted in different temporalities and historicisations and have resulted in the construction of commonplace and time-worn representations. In practical terms, we take issue with several patterns of narratives that have led to the sensationalism of media industry and the essentialisation of collective memory. Taken together as a common feature of contemporary policy and analysis in the dominant international opinion, politics and scholarship, these narrative patterns show that historical knowledge is conveyed in ways that make present and represent the accounts of another past, and the ways in which beliefs collectively held by actors in international society are constructed as media events and public hegemonic representations. The aim is to show how certain moments of rupture are historicised, and subsequently used and misused to construct an anachronistic representation of Southeast Europe.     

大中东:美国对外战略的前沿

2006年11月美国中期选举结束后,美对外战略及其政策策略向何处去,布什余任内如何作为,成为国际关注的焦点.迹象显示,受多重因素影响和制约,美对外战略前沿仍会继续聚焦于大中东地区(沿北非、中东、中亚延伸至南亚、西南亚的"动荡弧地带"),美中东政策将保持一定的延续性和稳定性,大中东地区仍是美优先推进反恐、防扩散战略的主要场所及推进"民主、自由"改造的重要试验场.大中东地区形势走向对国际局势和地区格局将持续产生深刻影响.     

The Evolution of the U.S. Government's Annual Report on Terrorism: A Personal Commentary

This article examines the evolution of a key U.S. Government annual publication on terrorism. From its inception in 1977 to the present, the U.S. Government's annual terrorism report has been the primary statistical compiler of international terrorist incidents. Given the magnitude of this task and the inherent difficulty in defining the term “terrorism,” this report has been controversial and criticized. Love it or hate it, for many decades, this report was the sole source of statistics on international terrorism. The author argues that despite its flaws, this unclassified annual report does provide value and usually paints a fairly accurate picture of the international terrorism landscape. Over the last two years however, there have been claims that this report has become politicized and tailored to fit the views of the administration on the terrorist threat. The author rejects this charge and claims that this publication has been objective and that it has evolved over time into a more credible and useful report.     

Sovereign immunity and international organization: The case of DeLuca v. the United Nations

Conclusion DeLuca v. the United Nations has brought many unanswered questions to the American and international public regarding the immunity of the United Nations and the consequences such a policy has had on that organization over the last fifty years. By diplomatic tradition, immunity has been very important to the United Nations in maintaining its freedom of action, as called for in Articles 104 and 105 of the United Nations Charter. Through immunity, the United Nations has escaped the fate of the former League of Nations and has become an organization which has contributed tremendously to the solving of the world's many political, economic and social problems.Yet, immunity has also cloaked and protected the United Nations from its own internal administrative weaknesses and abuses. Accountability has become harder to obtain from the UN bureaucracy due to this immunity. Simultaneously, for the American legal system, immunity has become somewhat analogous to the previous difficulties of piercing the corporate veil, namely attempting to redress the wrongs by preserving the legal rights of individuals through the effective use of the judicial system.Should the world continue to grant immunity to actions which can be classified as suspect or being with improper motive or bad faith by the United Nations or any other international organization? Will the United Nations ultimately be above the law? Only future actions by the UN General Assembly, national legislatures such as the United States Congress or cases likeDeLuca v. the United Nations will determine the final answer.     

美国强奸罪分类研究之述评

一、概述美国犯罪学家擅长于对个罪进行分类研究,辨析其中重要的特征,把握微妙的区别,以便指导相关部门制定切实可行的刑事政策,精准地、高效地打击犯罪。强奸罪分类研究的要旨在于:努力在纷乱的现实中总结人类强奸恶行的特征,通过设置不同的标准进行系统化的归纳,以期使犯罪学教义在实践中被卓有成效地运作。美国各派犯罪学家对于强奸罪的分类研究可谓百花齐放,本文仅对其中两种较有代表性的分类——选择性身体损害的强奸与并发性身体损害的强奸、陌生型强奸与相识型强奸——进行介绍并作评价。它山之石,可以攻玉——想必可以从美国犯罪学…