Nation''s Fate and Its Founding Principles

The height of the U.S. strength is at the period from President Clinton's coming to power in 1992 till the end of the large-scale battles in the Iraq war on May 1, 2003. How America's national fortune will develop depends on how America will resolve the Iraq issue, implement its program of reforming Middle East, and maintain instead of damaging its national fundamental principles at home.     

Three Superiorities in Ensuring U. S. International Status

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the United States has become the world's only superpower and played a leading role in international affairs. The trend of U. S. international standing depends on the development of its comprehensive national strength and changes in the balance of great powers. Here comprehen- sive national strength includes "hard power" (namely economic, mili- tary and scientific/technological powers) and "soft power" (mainly re- ferring to nat…     

Collective Blindness： A Reflection on Predictions by Chinese Academics about the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

During the early part of the 21 st century,Chinese academic circles made judgments and forecasts about U.S.war aims in Afghanistan and the Middle East,the possible process of the wars,and outcomes of postwar reconstruction.After the U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan on October 7,2001,and its military invasion of Iraq on March 20,2003,these big events were analyzed in the context of the international politics of the time.Since these two conflicts are coming to a conclusion,at least in their direct military scope,it is time to look back upon the forecasting framework to see whether alterations and improvements can be made.On December 18,2011,all American combat troops pulled out of Iraq,and the end is in sight for U.S.withdrawal from Afghanistan—either in December 2014,or thereafter.     

What Strategic Outlook Holds for America in Iraq?

Agreat controversy is stirring up the world opinion over the future direction of developments in Iraq, a matter affecting overall U.S. foreign policy and even the international power configuration as well. An accurate assessment, however, requires analyzing the relevance of the issue to U.S. vital interests, the results of its current policy over there and its ability to cope with further potential challenges. The author rules out U. S. giving up its cause in Iraq or the likelihood of any drastic modifications in its present policy. He also concedes its ability to achieve partial successful reconstruction in the war-torn country, albeit in a scaled-down version, far short of its original much-vaunted expectations. In sum, Washington will naturally make constant policy adjustments to meet challenges for realization of its dynamic phased goals and maintain its continued military presence there in a certain form so as to ensure its strategic interests in Iraq,the Greater Middle East and even the entire "arc of instability."     

Business as Usual

In the years since 9/11, there is no doubt that the emphasis of U.S. global strategy has been on counter-terrorism and the war in Iraq. During this period of time, the U.S. investment in strategic, political and military resources in the Middle East, Iraq, and the war on terror, which are the top priorities on the list of Bush＇s foreign policy, has been far greater than in any other fields. However, there are some in the U.S. who believe that China＇s rise has been much ignored by the U.S., due to the global war on terror （GWOT）, and that America should, in fact, be focusing more on China, not the Middle East. However, as we see it, China has by no means been ignored by the U.S., neither has China＇s rise been the result of U.S. ignorance.     

U.S. Strategic Predicament in Iraq

The Iraq war is the biggest experimental site of Bushism and the success or failure of the war there has a direct bearing on the spread of Bushism as a strategic model. Hence it is necessary to make a systematic assessment of America's situation in Iraq. The current situation shows that the United has got into an unprecedented strategic haziness. In the security field, U.S. forces have dispatched large number of troops to carry out suppression and won frequent victories,but they are suffering stronger resistances. In the realm of political reconstruction, the democratic process in Iraq is now under in accordance with the prescribed order, but religious contradictions are on the rise, and political structures become more fragile. Over economic reconstruction, the United States has kept increasing input and at the same time appealed to the international community for more assistance. Even though Iraq is faced with difficulties in the reconstruction. Therefore, there is a widening disagreement in America over "whether the U.S. is winning or losing the war in Iraq. "① Based on the major views of experts and scholars from both China and overseas,the author thinks that the following three criteria are important for judging whether the United States has succeeded or failed in pursuing its strategy in Iraq: the feasibility of strategic objectives, balance of objectives and means and adaptability of strategic means. Judged by the above-mentioned criteria, the United States is now landing in a strategic predicament in Iraq.     

Looking at U.S. Int‘l Status in the Perspective of Its Inner Institution

America's international status is the key factor that determines the overall international structure. This is an old as well as a new topic in the academia of international relations. The Iraq war in 2003 reveals America's strong points and weak points as well. On the one hand, U. S. military strength is unmatched in the world; on the other hand, America is incapable of doing anything in dealing with many problems. This paradox caused scholars to ponder over the issues such as how strong Am…     

Two Focuses Affect the Situation as a Whole

Lu:As international anti-terrorism goes deeper in 2003,U.S.-I-raq relations and U.S.-Korea relations will become two focuses of con-tradictions.In comparison,contradiction between the United Statesand Iraq is sharper than that between the United States and Korea.Butwhen America-Iraq contradiction is settled either by war or by peacefulmeans,will U.S.-Korea contradiction be transformed from the sec-     

U. S. Plan to "Transformation of Iraq"

Wang: I believe that the above comparisons of the two "wars on Iraq" are excellent. The United States has made it clear that its present military actions are aiming at "toppling Saddam. " It seems that Washington has long made preparations for the actions, and will do more in the future.     

Evolution of the Middle East Situation and Policy Adjustment by the Bush Administration

Since U.S. president Bush adopted the new Iraq plan on January 10,2007 for sending more troops to Iraq,the situation in Iraq has remained in a state of chaos. The Iraq issue continues to stand as a focal point of the Middle East crisis,     

Assessment on the Trend of U. S. Int''''l Status (II)

Editor's notes: Considerable erosion on U. S. international prestige from worldwide waves and even anti-Americanism since the Iraq war has fueled a controversy among the international academic community over the future of U. S. international status a major issue related to the trends of the world situation as a whole. For further exploration, a one-day symposium of the Experts Forum of our journal was held at China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing on March 3, …     

Superiority and Restricts Exist Simultaneously

In assessing the tendency of the U. S. international status, I think that the United States will keep its super strong position in the future decade. This can be analyzed at least from the following 5 respects. In military respect, taking advantage of its victories in Cold War and the consequence of the 4 partial wars, the United States will be able to keep its overall superiorities. America has maintained huge mili- tary expenditures (In 2004, the U. S. military expenditures have reached…     

U.S. Int‘l Power: Comparison and Change

Four angles come to mind for an examination of vicissitudes in U. S. international power. You may take either a longer time span in as- sessing the basic situation of contemporary international power configu- ration and U. S. clout or opt for a much shorter time span in your sur- vey , say from the September 11 events up to the Iraq war. Or rather, you may start with the war on Iraq and focus on recent reverses in U. S. international power. Finally, a medium- to- long-range perspective is …     

China Needs a New Diplomatic Focus

Thanks to an improved external environment and a growing national strength,conditions are ripe for China to shift the focus of its foreign policy from politics/security to the economy.In the long term,China should concentrate solely on becoming a global economic power and not dilute its strategic resources in the pursuit of unrealistic political/security goals.Meanwhile,China should redirect its foreign policy away from the U.S.-led West and towards the developing world.These readjustments should be made according to the distribution of its diplomatic resources,makeup of its diplomatic personnel and with the aim of broadening their horizons and improving their work methods.     

An Analysis of China's Power Status and International Standing

Many Chinese scholars have described China as the world＇s second biggest power after the U.S.. This is based on two facts. First, China overtook Japan in total economic output measured by GDP in 2010 to become the world＇s second biggest economy. Some scholars argue that China still lags behind the U.S. in comprehensive national power and in this sense it is also ranked second） The other is that Sino-U.S. relations are frequently described as the rise and fall of big powers, especially when referring to the Asia-Pacific region. It is the latest example of how relations between a rising power and one struggling to maintain its status have been so complex in the long history of international relations. While many people talk about the possibility that China will overtake the U.S. in the future, others talk about a G2.2 If we look closely at global trends and changes to China＇ s international environment, if we examine what exactly we mean by power status, we will have a much deeper understanding of China＇ s current power status from which we can build a solid foundation for this country＇ s foreign strategy and diplomacy.     

A Study of China’s National Security System

In order to address the increasingly complicated and volatile security situation at home and abroad, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has put forward clear strategic requirements “to improve the national security system” and taken as its general goal “to institute a centralized, unifi ed, effi cient and authoritative national security system,” which gives full expression to the important position of a national security system in the work of national security. China’s national security system refers to the sum total of the specifi c institutions and codes of conduct for the administration of national security and is aimed at providing institutional support to ensure that China is a secure state and has the capacity to remain so. The division of functions of national security, the administration system of state security organs, the management system of human resources for national security, the power-responsibility mechanism and legal guarantees are the essential elements that constitute China’s national security system. We can clearly understand the characteristics of China’s national security system in different periods and trace its development by studying its history. Besides, we must be fully aware that such problems as insufficient research into the national security system, unclear division of the functions of national security, lack of strength in the building of state security organs, and a lag in the construction of the legal system concerning national security, inhibit the full functionality of China’s national security system. If these problems are not solved in a timely manner, China will have diffi culty resolving the various challenges to its national security. Therefore, the most effective ways to improve China’s national security system are: to defi ne in a scientifi c and rational style the functions of China’s national security at the present stage, give full rein to the powers of the National Security Committee of the CPC Central Committee; and forge a high-quality national security force.     

尚鸿文英译文

In the nationally televised address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N. Y. on December 1, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announced his decision to make readjustment plan to the new AFPAK strategy. It was done under the difficult circumstances surrounding the selection of choices after a time-consuming weighing up its pros and cons at a time when the U.S is bogged down in the Afghan War and a wide difference of opinions is in existence on the surge inside the U.S. This has come as a revelation about the U.S deep-going considerations and policy directions on the Afghan issue.     

Assessment on the Trend of U. S. Int''''l Status(I)

Editor's note: Considerable erosion of U. S. international prestige from worldwide antiwar waves and even anti-Americanism since the Iraq war has fueled a controversy among the internationalacademic community over the future of U. S. international status a major issue related to the trends of the world situation as a whole. For further exploration, a one-day symposium of the Experts Forum of our journal was held at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing on Ma…     

The Balance Idea of Integration

Changes in the content of European balance constitute the biggest difference between the economic integration model and its predecessors. Armament, territory and resources were considered as key factors for enhanced strength and sustained power parity with other nations. Transition to economic integration has however entailed decoupling of the two. Enhanced national strength now aims instead at power parity and shared power based on common European interests and inter-dependency rather than at weakening other nations. As a result, state relations there are moving toward fusion and convergence.……     

Japan''''s Military Transformation and Sino-Japanese Military Relations

Military reform, which is led by the U. S. and sweeping its way to the rest of the world, has now become one of the hottest topics in inter- national military arena. Japan makes no exception. The reconstruction of its military forces, which is still in progress, is concentrated on the following two aspects. One is the enlargement of the functions of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF). Participation in overseas operations is in-