Cold War redux in US–Russia relations? The effects of US media framing and public opinion of the 2008 Russia–Georgia war

This paper examines the Cold War rhetoric in US–Russia relations by looking at the 2008 Russia–Georgia war as a major breaking point. We investigate the links between media, public opinion and foreign policy. In our content analysis of the coverage in two major US newspapers, we find that the framing of the conflict was anti-Russia, especially in the initial stages of the conflict. In addition, our survey results demonstrate that an increase in the media exposure of US respondents increased the likelihood of blaming Russia exclusively in the conflict. This case study helps us understand how media can be powerful in constructing a certain narrative of an international conflict, which can then affect public perceptions of other countries. We believe that the negative framing of Russia in the US media has had important implications for the already-tenuous relations between the US and Russia by reviving and perpetuating the Cold War mentality for the public as well as for foreign policymakers.     

当代国际体系的渐变和嬗变--基于两个三十年的比较与思考

当前国际体系正处于新旧交替和质变飞跃的过渡期,筹划和推动新的国际体系建设是事关国际政治经济发展的重大问题。冷战结束以来三十年的国际体系延续和发展了二战后国际体系的主体框架,处于突变后的渐变过程,世界在“后冷战体系”和“前多极体系”之间探索和徘徊。越来越多的非西方国家在批判过时的国际关系理论,国际社会作为一个整体也在扶正祛邪中不断促进国际体系朝着更加公正、合理的方向前进。未来三十年世界将开启东西方力量相对平衡和世界多极化基本稳定的新时期,这一进程大体上与中国的第二个百年奋斗目标同步推进,国际体系将从后冷战转型期朝着构建新型国际关系和人类命运共同体的方向演进,并最终成熟定型。中国在逐步走近世界舞台中央的历史进程中,应注重加强国际体系理论建设,准确把握国际社会的主要矛盾。解决各自的发展问题和国际社会的共同挑战,对公平正义的普遍需求和供给的相对不足将越来越成为国际社会发展的主要矛盾。中国要着力解答当前和未来的时代命题,勾勒国际体系改革基本架构,进而促进和平、发展、合作、共赢的时代潮流不断向前,推动实现公正、共同富裕的新时代目标。     

Toward a Sociology of the International? International Relations between Anarchy and World Society

To develop a sociology of the international, it is common in international relations (IR) to use a notion of inter-subjectivity defined as the space "in-between" individual actors. This approach is based on a parts/whole systems theory where common norms and values inscribed in international law not only create a "world society" but also provide for its social cohesion. Rooted in a parts/whole distinction, the very term of inter-subjectivity takes on a rather positivist meaning as the social quality of the international is then "measurable" and possibly even falsifiable by observing states' behavior. In the end, the inter-subjective quality of rules and norms is then ultimately reduced to the individual level. This article proposes a different avenue that breaks with the parts/whole distinction to emphasize the connectivity of communications. From this perspective, the notion of inter-subjectivity appears to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution and is thus replaced by the distinction between system and environment. The changing contours of international law are then decoupled from states' interests to emphasize the "relative autonomy" of the legal discourse as represented in its shifting paradox and programs.     

Taiwan and the Soviet Union during the Cold War

Taking into account recently published evidence on Taiwan's relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War, this article examines the official and secret contacts between Moscow and Taipei from 1949 to 1988. It argues that despite some consideration given to a possible cooperation, Cold War hostility suited Taiwan and the Soviet Union more than collaboration. Taipei resorted to the ‘Soviet card’ in the 1970s to hinder Sino–American rapprochement, but never abandoned anti-Sovietism as the foundation of its diplomacy. The Soviet Union, for its part, prioritized normalization of relations with China and avoided rapprochement with the ROC, which could have only further strained ties with the PRC and accelerated the formation of the Sino–US united front against Moscow.     

Neoliberal governing through social enterprise: Exploring the neglected roles of deviance and ignorance in public value creation

This article makes a case for paying greater attention to how informal relationships between government officials and civil society practitioners impact processes of public value creation. Drawing on data from a five‐year qualitative longitudinal study, we illuminate how civil society practitioners deviate from the formal objectives of social enterprise policies in order to create what they see as having public value. Through a process of theory elaboration, we demonstrate how government officials’ wilful ignorance of, or informal collaboration in, such deviance, precipitates forms of public value that are consistent with wider political objectives. Our analysis adds nuance and granularity to the debate on public value by drawing attention to the arcane ways it may be informally negotiated and created outside of the public sphere. This opens up new empirical and theoretical opportunities for understanding how deviance and ignorance might be symbiotically related in processes of public value creation.”     

A Sociology of Dependence in International Relations Theory: A Case of Russian Liberal IR

This article addresses the question of interaction between Western and "non-Western" international relations (IR) by analyzing liberal theory of IR that is emerging in contemporary Russia. We argue that, despite a growing diversity within Russian scholarship of liberal orientation, it remains largely a product of Western, particularly American, intellectual hegemony, and more so than any other theoretical perspective. As compared to two other existing traditions in Russian IR—realism and critical studies—liberalism remains the most dependent and therefore must be explored before any other traditions as a crucial case for understanding the dialectic of cultural dependence and hegemony in production of global knowledge. We argue that the greater dependence of Russian liberal IR results from its relatively weak indigenous tradition, perception of Russia's material weakness as opportunity, and greater availability of Western research funds. We also discuss an alternative, less dependent version of Russian liberal IR, and opportunities that its existence implies for development of a global, de-centered international relations theory.     

All Quiet on the Eastern Front? Media Images of the West and Russian Foreign Political Identity1

National and foreign political identities are discursively constructed, not least through the media. Starting from the contention that Europe serves as the main Other used to define the idea of Russia, this article uses media texts (online and press) to analyse how Russia is constructed as a foreign policy actor in relation to Europe and the ‘West’ more generally. In so doing, the article draws on three discourses around Russia’s foreign policy: ‘Russia as Europe’; ‘Russia as part of Greater Europe’; and ‘Russia as Alternative Europe’. The article suggests that discursive developments in the 2000s have paved the way for a return of Cold War discourses in characterising relations between Russia and the West.     

The Cold War and Third World revolution

Much of the Cold War took place in the Third World. The three works authored by Gregg A. Brazinsky, Winning the Third World: Sino-American Rivalry During the Cold War; Jeffry James Byrne, Mecca of Revolution: Algeria, Decolonization, and the Third World Order; and Jeremy Friedman, Shadow Cold War: The Sino-Soviet Competition for the Third World, are reviewed here and they provide historical details. A consistent theme that emerges is the importance of ideological factors in driving the events are discussed. It is also clear that the Third World states were not passive objects of pressure from great powers but had agendas of their own. These books provide useful material for theorists of international relations and policy makers.     

Public Participation and Public Service Modernization: Learning from New Labor?

The public participation agenda is a significant element of public service reform in Europe and beyond. This article examines how citizen participation in local public services was conce ived and enacted under successive New Labor governments in the UK during the period 1997–2010. It is suggested that the emphasis on public participation was central to the ethos of New Labor. This accounts for the persistence of the participation agenda even in the face of scant empirical evidence that specific engagement and empowerment initiatives were successful. Significantly, there was no single New Labor participation narrative. There were instead several distinct strands, drawing variously from the Party's received traditions of State welfarism, corporatist central-local relations, municipal socialism, Blairite managerialism, and, lastly, mutual cooperativism. The article assesses the legacy of New Labor and public participation in the UK before drawing wider conclusions relating to international experience.     

Public Policy Analysis in Contemporary France: Academic Approaches, Questions and Debates

Today French academic studies of government are dominated by a particular form of public policy analysis which cannot be explained using literal translations. Instead this article endeavours to explain the nature of French research carried out in this vein by tracing its development over the last thirty years and focusing in particular upon the role of conflict within political science and sociology. Despite the considerable strengths of public policy analysis, however, doubts have recently emerged as to its capacity to adapt to the theoretical and empirical challenges raised by contemporary politics     

Is India a Responsible Great Power?

Abstract

To what extent does rising responsibility accompany rising power in international relations? This article focuses on India to address the question: is a responsible great power in the making? Following a brief theoretical discussion on the notion of responsibility and its relationship to rising power, the article offers an empirical overview of India's achievements thus far, and also the international and domestic challenges that it faces today. It argues that despite the attempts by observers to thrust greatness upon India, the country is yet to achieve greatness. The article further illustrates that India's record of assuming global responsibility has been lacklustre at best. A central argument of the article is that India's reluctance to share the burden of providing global public goods is inseparably bound with the nature of its rise to power.     

The violence work of transnational gangs in Central America

Abstract

According to international relations scholars, an important change taking place in the post-Cold War context concerns the lethality of non-state armed groups (NSAGs). Underlying this observation is the conventional assumption that non-state violence is intrinsically illegitimate. This article shifts the analysis of violence away from the terrain of legitimacy, which tends to moralise the difference between state and non-state forces, and towards the terrain of work, where their violence features as part and not separate from a shared political economy. I propose the notion of violence work as a resourceful analytic into the dialectics of everyday violence and the complex processes of value production in social life. Against the background of the extreme cruelty attributed to transnational gangs in Central America, I argue that their violence work is expressive of prevailing modes of accumulating wealth in the region. Drawing on multi-sited fieldwork in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, I show how gang violence work animates a system of economic cooperation that engages a wide array of subjects who traverse state/non-state and legal/illegal divides.     

INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

The field of intergovernmental relations has been strongly affected by the considerable processes of upheaval and change that have been experienced within the British system of central-local relations. Researchers have tried to understand these changes both at an empirical and theoretical level. This article reviews four of the main perspectives on the changing nature of intergovernmental relations. The first perspective provides a historical and institutional analysis within the tradition of public administration. The second perspective draws on organizational theory. The third develops insights through rational choice analysis. The final perspective draws on neo-Marxist influenced state theory. It can be concluded that in a search to understand the turmoil of recent years, students of intergovernmental relations have ranged far and wide in their theoretical concerns. The article closes with an assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of this approach.     

“经典路径”与国际关系理论建构——对国际关系学科史上“第二次论战”的再思考

长期以来,学界对国际关系学科史上的"第二次论战"存在误解,实质上这场论战围绕如何对国际关系进行理论化概括展开,"经典路径"和"科学路径"的信奉者分别构建了不同形态的国际关系理论。"经典路径"构建的理论是一种哲理性思想,它由一系列有关国际关系且彼此间密切联系的普遍性命题构成,其重点是展示对国际关系中心问题的哲理思考;"科学路径"构建的理论是一种简洁的理论模型,它由一整套彼此联系且清晰扼要的假说组成,其重点是揭示特定研究领域的组织原则和内在逻辑。两种形态的理论各有特殊价值,难以相互取代。"科学路径"在理论构建过程中离不开"经典路径"的思维工具,这有助于破除以单一的实证主义标准来衡量理论合理性的观念。     

Academia and the Legitimising of International Politics: studies of democratisation and world politics

This article aims to highlight the connection between academic studies and international politics and to provide an academic justification of foreign policies with particular reference to the case of democratisation studies. It embodies a two-way relationship. On the one hand, the conjunctures of international politics influence the nature of academic studies in the discipline of Political Science; on the other hand, academic studies may sometimes be employed as sources of legitimisation of the foreign policies of states. The article discusses these connections, providing particular examples of academic studies of the democratisation process during the Cold War and the post-cold war era.     

从历史面对现实：解读两岸政治关系“合情合理安排”

两岸的问题是内战与冷战共同造成的结果，再加上两岸长期的分裂与隔绝，致使两岸之间存在的历史一致性被隐没。当前两岸关系进入和平发展的“深水区”，两岸之间在政治上的“合情合理安排”，必须奠基于两岸自身的历史脉络，从历史面对现实，正视历史事实与历史正义，最终才能解决两岸之间的紧张矛盾关系，追求有进步意义的国家与民族再统一。     

MAO’S ROLE IN THE KOREAN CONFLICT: A REVISION

Abstract

In October 1950, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was only one year old, and the Beijing regime faced daunting tasks of regime consolidation and economic reconstruction. Thus, the CIA consistently predicted that China would not enter the Korean War, even if the United States crossed the 38th parallel. Acting on the CIA’s prediction, US forces invaded North Korea on October 8, 1950. China proved the CIA’s analysis wrong by sending masses of troops into Korea late in October, pushing the US force back south of the 38th parallel before the end of 1950. This article uncovers historical evidence to revise the existing literature on the topic of the Chinese intervention in Korea. Why did China intervene despite all the odds against Beijing? This study demonstrates the historical role of “agents,” that is, individual with various personal attributes. By using newly available sources from China and Russia as well as a new interpretation, this article breaks new ground on a significant topic in the fields of international relations and the Cold War international history.     

冷战初期越共结盟政策的缘起与形成(1947—1950)

冷战初期,越南共产党试图延续其自建国以来带有中立色彩的对外政策,极力避免法越战争国际化。但在冷战向亚洲蔓延、法越战争进入僵持阶段、中国革命形势快速发展、美法关系升温等因素的作用下,越共逐步走上了结盟之路。1950年初,越共追随中共倒向以苏联为首的社会主义阵营标志着其结盟政策的形成。该政策不仅导致越共获得了足以改变战场形势的军事援助,并促成了以中国支援越南进行民族解放斗争为主要形式的中越准军事同盟。更重要的是,越共借社会主义阵营的外交承认解决了法国选择扶植保大政府所引发的政权合法性危机,这也是越共实施结盟政策的直接动因。     

公共外交与中美软实力战略

全球化的发展和信息化的进程带来了国际政治权力资源的变化,文化、科技、知识和信息等软实力资源在国际关系中的地位日益凸显。这不仅催生了软实力理论的产生和发展,而且也影响了国家外交形式并正改变着外交的内容,由此公共外交在国际舞台上扮演着越来越重要的角色。软实力成为理解国际关系变化和外交政策的一个新的理论视角,理所当然地成为了公共外交的理论支撑,而公共外交本身也是软实力建设的重要内容和战略路径。中美软实力战略的差异导致了双方对公共外交认知的差异。本文在比较中美软实力战略的视角下,从公共外交的主体、受体、传播内容以及传播媒介等方面来分析美国公共外交的特点,同时从这四个方面来论述中国公共外交体系的构建。