Christianity and violence: The case of liberation theology

In the late 1960s a form of Christian radicalism known as liberation theology emerged in Latin America that argued that Latin America's ills were caused by dependent capitalism, and that Latin America could be liberated only by a socialist revolution. The theory of liberation theology had a direct impact on Central America in the 1970s since it justified the alliance of Christians and Marxists in attempting to overthrow repressive regimes in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican has been critical of liberation theology's borrowings from Marxism and its implied endorsement of violence, although a moderate version that stresses the organization of the poor into Christian Base Communities has been more favorably received. Partly as a result of Vatican pressure and partly as a result of a generalized disillusionment of the Latin American left with violence as a means for social change, liberation theologians today have moved away from their earlier infatuation with revolution, and they argue for a deepened democracy that is aware of ‘the preferential option for the poor’.     

The strange imputation of violence to liberation theology

Liberation theology identifies the existing distribution of power as a form of oppressive domination rooted in violence. The existing system justifies itself through a tightly woven fabric of economic, political, religious and social rationalizations. The most basic rationaliztion is the ‘paradigm of the inverted sacrifice’, wherein aggressive groups perceive harmless outsiders as ‘different’, as a threat, and ultimately sacrifices them, either through direct extermination or through oppression. In the modern era, this oppression is reflected in a ‘structure of dominance’ which guarantees the enrichment of a few and the disenfranchise‐ment of the masses. Liberation theology challenges the rationalization of the status quo on several key points: (1) the inappropriateness of using God to justify the ‘sacrifice’ of the poor and downtrodden to a system based on their exploitation; (2) the need for a fundamental redefinition of God to expunge the need for victims as the basis of the socioeconomic system; (3) the need to understand that history is a process of conflict; (4) the necessity to ‘desacralize’ all violence.

The critics of liberation theology reject these propositions either because they misunderstand them, or because they currently enjoy advantages that would be lost if these ideas were actualized. Noting the reference to violence in the literature of liberation theology, biased critics falsely assert that it preaches revolutionary violence and that liberation theologians are enemies of the poor. Over the past few years, these arguments have become less persuasive: the Vatican has recognized the need to correct structurally‐determined inequalities, and political candidates linked to liberation theology have made better showings in polls. Unfair criticism continues, but liberation theology shows promising glimmers of success in Latin America.     

National liberation and the conflicting terms of discourse in South Africa: An interpretation

Abstract

Underlying the moves and countermoves of the current communal conflict in South Africa is a struggle to control the meanings of the key terms of discourse—race, nation, apartheid and socialism—by which the conflict is characterized within and outside the country. Although no definition, therefore, of any of these terms can escape politicization, there is a case, historically and with a view to a negotiated settlement, for having apartheid, the most emotion‐laden of these terms, limited to post‐1948 doctrine and practice. The foundation for a negotiated settlement unaccompanied by overt civil war must be rather detailed agreement, tacit or explicit, on what the end of apartheid means. But if there is to be such agreement, it must be the work of a broad coalition from all of the race/nations acting probably against the desires of two major groups: defenders of the status quo and proponents of revolutionary socialism.     

European Security,Strategic Culture,and the Use of Force

This article examines post-cold war European attitudes to the use of force, focusing on the UK, France, Germany and Poland. It argues that European strategic culture reflects the security environment of the second half of the Twentieth century, and increasingly acts as an impediment to developing new European security strategies relevant to the early twenty-first century. The author argues that new thinking about security and strategy is required in Europe, and suggests six principles that should inform a revised European security strategy appropriate to the post-9/11 world.     

从中日法文化的历时性比较看日本文化的基本结构

日本古代法文化的基本精神源于中国儒学的思想体系。但随着日本社会形态的变化,以庄园制为中心的武家政治逐渐取代了传统律令政治,其法律内涵也发生了嬗变。故日本在明治维新之前是一种双重结构的氏族律令国家,这一政治形态与文化形态是一致的。而且,时至今日,仍然可以见到这一基本结构对日本社会的影响。     

Structural Sources of Post-Communist Market Reform: Economic Structure, Political Culture, and War

Why did some post-communist countries implement more thorough market reforms than others? Four different structural explanations are considered: (1) relative size of economic interest group coalitions hurt by market reform; (2) predominant religious traditions, which may incorporate norms and institutions more or less favorable to market reform; (3) variation in historically based national economic and political expectations, in which greater pre-communist political and economic achievements may create collective rationales for more aggressive institutional and policy reforms; and (4) duration of large-scale military conflict, which may distract and undermine reformist governments. These explanations are tested both directly, and mediated through plausible process predictors—democratization, party ideological moderation or extremism, strength of the presidency, and party system concentration. The 28 post-communist countries are examined over shorter and longer time spans—2 years after the fall of the old regime and a decade or so after the fall. The two political culture variables—predominant religious tradition and national economic and political expectations—provide the most statistically significant and powerful predictors. War is also a significant and powerful predictor. Relative size of economic interest group coalitions is estimated to have little impact. Among the process variables, democratization and party ideological moderation have the most consistently significant and powerful impacts. One implication is that middle-range theories of political culture, which can be more firmly grounded in rational calculation and historical context, may be a promising way to remedy the weaknesses of political culture theories operating at the broader level of religion or civilization.     

Remarks by Liu Li,President of Beijing Language and Culture University

<正>We are gathering here today to jointly launch the opening ceremony of the World Sinology Lecture.On behalf of BLCU,I’d like to express the warmest welcome to all the leaders,experts and guests attending this event online and offline.     

D. Rossini,Woodrow Wilson and the American Myth in Italy: Culture,Diplomacy, and War Propaganda

The period 1967–1968 was a difficult one for the Anglo–American relationship, as a result of developments such as British defense cuts “East of Suez.” In the run-up to a visit to Washington by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in February 1968, the State Department's Intelligence and Research Bureau provided a lively and detailed evaluation of American bonds with Britain. The analysis maintained that the relationship was based on deeply established cooperation in defense, diplomacy and intelligence, and that despite recent problems Britain would remain of unparalleled importance as an American ally. The immediate impact of the memorandum in the White House of Lyndon B. Johnson was quite limited, but among other things the document helps to explain the ready blossoming of close high-level Anglo–American bonds during, for example, the Falklands War of 1982. The most important sections of the memorandum are reproduced, and a brief analysis is provided to put the issues in context.     

Culture and Negotiation Pedagogy

Both in theory and practice, our understanding of what culture is remains limited; the subject, in fact, is either misrepresented or all but ignored in most of the popular and scholarly literatures. The author offers six mutually related ideas that help to explain what culture is not. He then describes an approach to understanding cultures that he finds more useful. The implications of that approach have led him to several different techniques for teaching the subject in negotiation classes.     

Managing Military Transformations: Agency,Culture, and the U.S. Carrier Revolution

The marketplace of ideas within a mature democracy such as the United States is supposed to fairly reliably vet foreign policies through open, wide-ranging debate. It is widely recognized that the U.S. marketplace of ideas failed during the 2002-03 debate over going to war in Iraq. Examinations of this market failure have emphasized executive powers and public fear after 9/11 as the main reasons threat inflation succeeded; I show neither explains this case. The majority opposition was silenced throughout early 2002 and ultimately defeated in a struggle over the Iraq War Resolution by pressures to be patriotic. I contend that this silencing patriotism should not be considered ordinary patriotism for a democracy as it is anti-democratic. I discuss how two critical norms of behavior which silence debate of national security policies and cause deference to the executive branch on war powers became established as part of the militarized political culture that took root in the United States during the Cold War. Thus these norms, enforced by what I term to be militarized patriotism left over from the Cold War, silenced debate over Iraq and led to the failure of the marketplace of ideas.     

语言、文化与经济--从东北亚的经济发展看语言与文化的作用

同在东北亚文化圈中的日、韩、俄、蒙、中5个国家有着相同的儒学文化和相近的地理文化这种宏观文化氛围,而各国间不同的语言所引起的文化因素的微观差异使这一地区呈现出国家和区域特色。文化背景不同,其价值观、道德观就不一样,而由此所产生的不同发展理念,决定了不同的经济发展模式。东北亚5国由于地理上的接近以及汉字文化和儒学、佛教的影响,使各方在沟通和理解上比较容易,这种文化同质性是东北亚各民族进一步发展固有文化传统,建设和平共处、文化交融、互利互助、经济合作、繁荣共享的区域构架的基础。     

From Israel with Deterrence: Strategic Culture,Intra-war Coercion and Brute Force

This study contributes to the debate on the role of nonnuclear (conventional) deterrence in international security by examining the Israeli practice of this strategy. By analyzing a case outside of Western strategic thought, which traditionally has dominated deterrence theory, it demonstrates how strategic thinking evolves differently in various ideational realms. The article highlights the impact of strategic culture on the Israeli conceptualization of deterrence, explores its deficits, and yields lessons for theoreticians and practitioners from the challenges of intra-war coercion operations. The study introduces the innovative term “culminating point of deterrence,” calls for improving analytical techniques for deterrence evaluation, claims that successful conventional deterrence perpetuates political conflict, stimulates the adversary's dangerous innovations, and argues for a tailored approach not only for formulating deterrence strategy, but also for exploring deterrence policies of different actors. The findings of the study are applicable beyond the Israeli case and are relevant to actors utilizing coercion strategies.