Introduction: Nation-building in China and Vietnam

This introduction explores the changing nature of Chinese and Vietnamese nation-building in the era of globalisation and specifically, transnationalism. The first part sets out a conceptual framework designed to put contemporary Chinese and Vietnamese nation-building in comparative, international perspective. The second part looks at the borders of nation-building from the point of view of diasporas living the nation-state, while the third part focuses on a series of trends working to reinterpret the nation from within.     

改革开放以来美国在广东的投资

广东是中国对外开放和吸引外资最早的省份。美资在粤投资可分为五个阶段 ,各个阶段均有自己的特点。美资投资对广东的产业升级、就业、建立和完善社会主义市场经济等起到了促进作用 ,但也存在投资结构和地区分布不合理的问题。     

Change and Conflict in Contemporary Omani Society: The Case of Kafa'a in Marriage

This article explores the conflict between Omani traditional culture1 ^?1 Bearing in mind the complexity of defining culture, it is defined in this article as what people in Oman think, value, believe and hold as ideas. Thus, culture in contemporary Omani society includes values that are derived from the long-established tribal and Ibadi religious institutions, social structural systems of life and behaviour. View all notes and modern change by examining the practice of kafa'a 2 ^?2 In Arabic, kafa'a literally means ‘equality’. In Islamic legal terminology, kafa'a in marriage refers to the equivalence of the man and the woman, as defined by certain criteria. Specifically, an aspiring husband should be equal or superior to the proposed wife in terms of socio-economic status in order to be accepted as a suitable husband in marriage. In practice, therefore, kafa'a actually perpetuates and indeed promotes inequality between people because it legitimates discrimination against people judged to have lower socio-economic status. Further information on kafa'a in marriage and its legal and historical development in Islamic tradition can be viewed in Amalia Zomeno, ‘Kafa'a in the Maliki School: A Fatwa from Fifteenth Century Fez’, in R. Gleave and E. Kermeli (eds), Islamic Law: Theory and Practice (New York: IB Tauris, 1997), pp. 87–105; and Farhat J. Ziadeh, ‘Equality (Kafa'a) in Muslim Law of Marriage’, The American Journal of Comparative Law, 6(4) (1957), pp. 503–511. View all notes in present-day Oman. kafa'a—which refers to the notion that the husband's family should be equal or superior in terms of social, religious or economic background to the wife's family if the marriage is to be accepted—exemplifies a type of social and legal inequality that is at odds with State rhetoric on equality but congruent with the type of hierarchical social structure traditionally valued by Omanis, which tolerates a high degree of inequality between individuals and groups. I argue that the recognition of kafa'a as a condition of marriage in Article 20 of the Omani Personal Status Law serves to, in effect, reinforce traditional tribal and religious cultural practices in Oman.     

Security in the Gulf: The View from Oman

For a long time, analysts of the Middle East have justifiably focused their attention on Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, three Gulf states holding massive hydrocarbon deposits and financial resources. Their leaders are the main “movers and shakers” of regional affairs and enjoy tremendous influence on the international scene. Still, other Gulf states play significant roles in shaping the Middle East's economic and strategic landscape. Such is the case with Oman, which has been a major US ally in most regional crises and has played a crucial role in mediating Gulf conflicts. This article, based on several visits to the sultanate and interviews with senior officials, analyzes the domestic, regional, and international dynamics being navigated by Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, who succeeded Sultan Qaboos bin Said in January 2020. The argument is that the new Omani leader is likely to follow the domestic and foreign policies of his predecessor, with minor adjustments. Oman may witness major changes when Crown Prince Theyazin succeeds his father. For now, given the crucial role Muscat plays in mediating regional conflicts, the sultanate expects more attention from its counterparts in Washington.