Will there be a new ASEAN in the 21st century?

Asia Europe Journal -     

The European Union in the new millennium

The Bush administration has been too quick to dismiss containment as an obsolete hangover of the Cold War. Appropriately modified to operate through international institutions and regional alliances, containment provides the most viable available basis for responding to terrorist threats emanating from rogue regimes and weak states.     

The Wounded Bear and the Rising Dragon. The Sino-Russian relationship at the beginning of the 21st century: A view from Europe*

The evolving Sino-Russian relationship to a declared strategic partnership from the mid1990s until today is one of the most important strategic developments in the Asia-Pacific region. But despite an increasing strategic convergence between both sides in their foreign policy agendas, the pro-western foreign and security policies of the new Russian president Vladimir Putin have also complicated the bilateral Sino-Russian relationship already before September 11, 2001. While the Sino-Russian relationship is still guided by co-operation and common strategic interests in specific economic and foreign policy fields of both sides, it is also characterized by still existing mistrust as well as strategic rivalry. Meanwhile, Putins modified foreign policy has grown more cautious vis-à-vis China and, at the same time, has become more active in Central Asia, on the Korean peninsula, towards the United States and Europe in order to counterbalance the strategic trends of changing balances of regional forces to a perceived disadvantage of Moscow during the last years. In a broader context, however, the triangular relationship between these two great powers and the United States should no longer been exclusively seen through the prism of zero-sum games. A stable bilateral relationship between Moscow and Beijing that significantly contributes to both regional and global stability is also in the strategic interest of Washington and Europe.     

Doing Europe: agency and the European Union in the field of counter-piracy practice

ABSTRACT

The practice turn provides new avenues for core questions of international relations and European Studies. This article draws on a practice theoretical account to shed new light on the constitution of agency in global politics. An understanding of agency as achievement that requires significant practical work and the participation in international fields of practice is developed. Drawing on the case of the field of counter-piracy practice and the European Union’s (EU’s) work to counter piracy off the coast of Somalia, it is shown how the EU achieved the position as a core actor in the field. A detailed discussion of the EU’s work in interrupting and knowing piracy, in building capacity, and in governing piracy is provided.     

21世纪初美国经济发展趋势分析

美国经济在全球经济中占有非常重要的地位,因此美国经济的未来走势直接关系到全球经济的发展,美国在经济发展中所具有的优势地位以及在未来经济发展中所要面对的挑战与风险,美国未来经济面临着巨额的经常项目逆差、财政收支赤字、能源价格高涨以及房地产泡沫破灭的威胁,使美国必须采取措施进行调整,这将导致本世纪初美国未来经济发展速度减慢。