The Security Dilemma: A Conceptual Analysis

Critically building upon the work of Herbert Butterfield, John Herz, and Robert Jervis, this article advances a more rigorous definition of the security dilemma. It demonstrates critical implications of the rigorously redefined concept. It examines several influential extensions and expansions of the original concept, showing that most have been inaccurate and misleading, and proposes remedies for correcting the mistakes. Finally, it identifies several areas of future research that may yield important new insights into the dynamics of the security dilemma.     

Intent to Destroy: The Genocidal Impact of Forced Migration in Darfur, Sudan

The conflict in Darfur is now nearly three years old. Hundredsof thousands of civilians have been killed and millions moreremain unable to return to their homes, living the barest ofexistences in remote and often under-stocked and under-protectedcamps. Displaced populations are subject to malnutrition, diseaseand ongoing violence. Rape and other forms of sexual violenceremain a tool for instilling fear and controlling the civilianpopulation. Yet international will to protect and assist thevictims of the conflict remains weak, with governments and worldbodies bogged down debating the definition of genocide and theproper venues for eventual tribunals. This paper will examinewhether or not the conflict in Darfur does indeed amount togenocide, including a discussion of the role of forced displacementin reaching such a determination. It then looks at the 2005findings of the United Nations-sponsored International Commissionof Inquiry and discusses some of the reasons behind the internationalreluctance to reach a determination of genocide in the region.Lastly, it addresses the constructiveness of the genocide labelin the context of Darfur, and presents options for moving forwardwith a protection agenda regardless of what the conflict iscalled.     

The Birth of a 'Discipline': From Refugee to Forced Migration Studies

This essay seeks to understand and explain the birth of ForcedMigration Studies. It argues that the turn from Refugee Studiesto Forced Migration Studies must be viewed against the backdropof the history and relationship of colonialism and humanitarianism,as a certain commonality binds the past and present eras. Themove to Forced Migration Studies accompanies the inaugurationof a phase of political humanitarianism with a distinct accent,albeit encapsulated in new forms and issues, on ‘civilizing’the Other. In making this contention the paper distances itselffrom both the defenders and critics of the turn to Forced MigrationStudies. It inter alia contends that Refugee Studies, like ForcedMigration Studies, has served the geopolitics of hegemonic states.But since all knowledge is dual use, both have also had humanitarianeffects. But a greater degree of disciplinary reflexivity wouldgo a long way to ensure that the genuinely humanitarian strandin Forced Migration Studies prevails.     

Buufis amongst Somalis in Dadaab: the Transnational and Historical Logics behind Resettlement Dreams

The Somali word buufis is commonly used in the Kenyan refugeecamps of Dadaab, referring to a person's dream of resettlement.It is an ambiguous phenomenon, bringing hope and remittancesinto the camps but also removing investments from the regionand, when the dream cannot be reached, sometimes having adversepsychological effects. Buufis is triggered by the fact that,due to transnational flows of remittances and information, refugeesin remote camps like Dadaab can compare their lives in the campsto those of others elsewhere. This illustrates how the opportunities,constraints, hopes and dreams that refugees experience locallyare often determined by transnational factors. Whereas the resettlementdreams analysed in this article are thus likely to occur inother contexts as well, it is argued that they are more intenseand elaborate amongst refugee communities with a strong cultureof migration, like the Somalis.     

Norms in International Relations: Some Conceptual and Methodological Reflections

Acknowledging the social constructivist turn in the study of norms, this article offers to demonstrate that the notion of norms is useful as an analytical tool and likely to become a lasting element in international relations theory. Ideational causality and the independent explanatory power of norms are methodological issues that have been debated widely. Despite arguing that norms matter, social constructivism has problems making a successful case for the independent influence of norms. This article explores social constructivism as an approach to understanding international norms and their origins.     

Sorting out the Conceptual Muddle: The Role of the Japanese Economy in the Asian Financial Crisis

Karel van Wolferen argues that, since Japan's political economy was the main factor in creating the circumstances that led up to the East Asian financial crisis, studies must focus on it to understand this event. The Japanese economy, which is here described as a war economy operating in peacetime, provided the model for East Asia's 'tiger economies' that imitated the Japanese government in its targeting of sectors for investment, especially the construction industry in the 1980s. These other East Asian economies proved more vulnerable to crisis than the Japanese economy because they were more open to foreign investment and did not have Japan's closely knit economic and financial networks and institutions. After presenting this preface to the crisis, van Wolferen then criticizes the current East Asian economic situation, in which international institutions continue to force the Western ideals of transparency and deregulation on most of the East Asian economies while permitting Japan to remain the least transparent economy of the entire region.     

The International Migration of Talent and Talent Security

There are basically three different types of internationally mobile talent： industry talents, professionals, and talents of the social sciences and culture. There are seven different factors underlying the international migration of talented people： the global income gap, the pursuit of personal worth, requirements of national development, technical innovation, industrial agglomeration, language and cultural compatibility, and immigration policies. The international migration of talent increasingly highlights the issue of international talent security, and has a far-reaching impact on personal safety, as well as national and global security. Therefore, cooperation on international talent safety issues should be strengthened in order to establish a more regular order to the international migration of talent, and to reduce the negative effects brought about by it, so as to promote economic globalization and sound economic and political progress in the international community.     

Involuntary Resettlement as an Opportunity for Development: The Case of Urban Resettlers of the Three Gorges Project, China

The restoration of livelihoods in the event of involuntary resettlementis commonly based on providing compensation to those who aredisplaced. This policy has led to a series of horror stories.For this reason, it is proposed that by conducting resettlementas a development project in its own right, the performance ofresettlements can be improved and the benefits will accrue tothe local population. The Three Gorges Project on the YangtzeRiver is the first project in China in which the policy of resettlementwith development was translated into practice. This paper usesthe results of a survey of urban resettlers in two countiesto demonstrate that development policies have been unevenlyapplied across the Three Gorges Region and that in some countiesthe policies have had some success in maintaining and raisingthe incomes of resettlers.     

Global Collective Memory: Conceptual Difficulties of an Appealing Idea

The idea of “collective memory” has attracted substantial attention since Maurice Halbwachs’ path-breaking work in the 1920s. Recently we have started to notice references, at an increasing pace, to a global(ised) version of collective memory. This essay argues that “global collective memory”, especially in light of Halbwachs’ original understanding, is not a particularly strong or promising concept. First, the essay discusses three kinds of memory, namely individual, organisational, and institutional, and juxtaposes them with the idea of collective memory. Then it turns more specifically to a discussion of the global scale, and suggests that the intricate connections between these different types acquire a new degree of complexity when transposed to the global level due to the questions of politics and identity. The essay suggests further that a global memory, conceptualised with reference to its institutional rather than collective characteristics, may well be in the making.     

印度水资源开发过程中的非自愿移民问题

印度为了满足工业和农业用水以及对能源的需求,进行了大规模的水坝建设,从而引发了愈来愈严重的非自愿移民问题。历史经验表明,印度国家层次的移民政策框架的缺乏、流域开发决策为少数利益集团所左右、移民的社会整合被忽视、移民参与机制的不完善等问题导致移民在搬迁安置过程中的贫困化和边缘化。水资源开发利用的结果有背于政府缓解贫困的初衷。虽然印度政府迫于外部压力,对越来越严重的非自愿移民问题给予了回应,但在当前的政治格局和经济环境下,印度政府在改善非自愿移民政策过程中仍然面临重重阻力,还有很长的路要走。     

Stories as Lived Experience: Narratives in Forced Migration Research

Stories are part of everyday life and constitute means for actorsto express and negotiate experience. For researchers, they providea site to examine the meanings people, individually or collectively,ascribe to lived experience. Narratives are not transparentrenditions of ‘truth’ but reflect a dynamic interplaybetween life, experience and story. Placed in their wider socio-politicaland cultural contexts, stories can provide insights into howforced migrants seek to make sense of displacement and violence,re-establish identity in ruptured life courses and communities,or bear witness to violence and repression. The researcher mustpay particular attention to his/her own role in the productionof narrative data and the representation of lived experienceas text.     

缅甸发展透出一线曙光

２００１年的缅甸形势是喜忧参半 ,喜的是缅甸人民终于在黑暗中看到了走向民主的曙光 ,军政府内部矛盾有所缓和 ,对外关系局部好转 ;忧的是缅甸经济形势严峻 ,社会不稳定加剧 ,对外关系中仍存在“死结”。一、政治上 ,军政府与反对派的谈判取得了突破性进展 ,军政府内部斗争朝着有利于打破政治僵局的方向发展 ,但社会问题严重。在世界日趋民主化的浪潮中 ,缅甸如同一片孤舟 ,自１９８８年以来一直顽强地抗拒着民主化浪潮的冲击。尽管军人一再强调其无意长期执政 ,但军政府一直拒绝将权力移交给在１９９０年５月大选中获胜的全国民主联盟 (简…     

公元前朝鲜半岛的民族迁徙与融合

朝鲜半岛最古的土著居民是鸟夷 ,也被称为东夷、九夷。约公元前 11世纪 ,殷移民迁入大同江流域 ,与当地民族发生民族融合 ,形成良夷 ,半岛其他地区的夷人发展成为秽人。自西周中后期开始 ,生活在北方蒙古草原上的貊系部族渐渐向东、南迁徙 ,一支进入朝鲜半岛 ,与当地的秽人融合形成马韩。公元前 3世纪初至公元前 2世纪末 ,中国人大量迁居朝鲜半岛 ,移民最多的是大同江流域、汉江流域。公元前 1世纪中后期 ,夫余人东迁、南下 ,其中一部分进入朝鲜半岛南部 ,使这里形成新的民族格局。