"Small Peoples": The Existential Uncertainty of Ethnonational Communities

This exploratory paper attempts to extend the boundaries of research on the "smallness" of polities. It introduces the concept of "small peoples," a term coined by Czech author Milan Kundera to denote communities that lack a "sense of an eternal past and future." The paper posits "small peoples" as ethnic communities characterized by prolonged and deep-rooted uncertainty regarding their own existence. I argue that in modern times, "small peoples" doubt the validity of their past-based ethnic identity and the viability of their future-driven national polity . Empirically, I analyze two distinct "small peoples"—Israeli Jews and French Canadians (Québécois)—and argue that while the former have been more concerned with the future survival of their polity, the latter have been more concerned with insecurity about their identity. The paper suggests that a focus on communities and their intersubjective processes can enrich the study of states and their objective state.     

Agricola: A Man for Our Times

Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40-93 AD) is a man for our times. Facing the capriciousness of imperial power, he, a successful provincial Roman governor, chose to withdraw from public administration. Yet, by protecting his family, Agricola did not shirk politics. On the contrary, he retreated to the founding cell of any polity, the family, which buttresses and at the same time limits the state. By doing so, Agricola reached greatness despite living under bad emperors.     

华人政治文化和关于马来世界的华人学术著作

中国和马来世界相互关系的重要事实是:他们保持了至少1 500年虽反复无常但基本良好的贸易关系,以及随后一个世纪的不信任和疏远。中国和各个马来国家的政治文化转变对这种关系的转变产生了决定性的影响,这些都反映在华人的学术著作中。也许我们可以指望,在新的条件和情况下,中国和马来世界将能找到新的出发点来重建一种持续稳定的关系。     

The Vatican and the Chinese Party-State: Where Do the Parallels End?

Some observers are drawing parallels between governing the Catholic Church and governing the party-state in China. Analogy can be illuminating, but it also can obscure or mislead. This article contends that there are three quintessential similarities between the two polities. Both are permeated perennially by agency problems. Each is a self-claimed “virtuocracy.” And both hold aloft distributive justice, a mission that, if overlooked, would undermine the polities’ raisons d’être. This essay also contends that the two polities differ in three fundamental aspects. Seemingly functioning beyond a legal framework, the clerics and others who broadly implement the policies of the Catholic Church actually are as subject to the law as anybody in a liberal democracy, unlike the leaders of the party-state in China. Second, the party-state in China is more obsessed with blame avoidance than claiming credit, while the reverse is true for the Holy See. Finally, and paradoxically, the party-state in China is far less ideologically constrained than the Vatican. These comparisons and contrasts between the two polities help to shed light on the intrinsic nature of each regime.     

美国构建后冷战东亚安全模式

冷战结束以来,美国的东亚安全战略经过近20年的发展与调整,已初步形成和正在努力打造后冷战时期的安全网络模式,即：以保持前沿军事存在和海外基地为基石,以双边军事同盟与准同盟为轴心,以地区多边安全合作机制为辅助模式,以与区域内非同盟、准同盟国家和区域组织进行高层对话为补充形式,在美国的主导下交叉运用。     

俄罗斯政治学研究概论

国内学者对俄罗斯政治学的研究经历了 3个发展阶段,目前,该学科已日益系统化。俄罗斯学者始终关注俄罗斯发展的道路问题,并致力于政治社会学和法学特别是宪法学的研究。西方学者注重考察俄罗斯的政治变迁过程,突出重要政治事件研究,同时也侧重政治制度的专题研究。当前,俄罗斯政治研究中的重大问题包括 5点。俄罗斯政治学科的发展完善必须建立在更加广泛的学科基础上,并需要正确运用研究方法。     

Morphing the Demos into the right shape. Normative principles for enfranchising resident aliens and expatriate citizens

In this article I criticize, first, democratic inclusion principles that are indeterminate with regard to democratic boundaries and indifferent towards the structural features of polities. I suggest that a democratic stakeholder principle passes these critical tests and can be applied to democratic polities of different kinds. Second, I compare birthright-based and residence-based membership regimes at state and local levels and consider how they can accommodate international migrants. Third, I argue that these two regimes are not freestanding alternatives between which democratic polities have to choose, but are combined in a multilevel architecture of democratic citizenship, in which the inclusion and exclusion dynamics of birthright and residence mutually constrain each other and every individual is included as a citizen in both types of polities.     

Evolution of Maya Polities in the Ancient Mesoamerican System

The analysis of politics in antiquity presents new opportunities for political science and international relations, particularly the ancient New World ( c . 2000 B.C. to A.D. 1521). Governance through leadership and institutions, collective action, war and peace, alliance dynamics, regional hegemonies, interstate rivalries, and other universal patterns of world politicsexisted in Mesoamerica, antedating the modern state system. We report findings from a study to record systematically the rise and fall of Maya polities in the Mesoamerican political system, using sources from archaeology and epigraphy. Based on tests of competing hypotheses and new distribution statistics and hazard rates (survival analysis) for 72 Maya polities, our findingssupport a model of Maya political dynamics based on Preclassic origins, punctuated phases of development, multiple cycles of system expansion and collapse, and weaker political stability for increasingly complex polities. We draw two main implications: (a) a new theory of the Maya political collapse(s), based on their failure to politically integrate; and (b) confirmation for a newperiodization of Maya political evolution, different from the traditional cultural periodization, based on several cycles of rise-and-fall, not just one. Our findings may also make possible future investigations in areas such as the war-polarity and war-alliances hypotheses.     

Between logframes and theory of change: reviewing debates and a practical experience

Theory of Change (ToC) is an emerging methodology in the practice of development programmes, often contrasted with the dominant logical framework. This article reviews current debates around ToC before identifying five aspects that are appreciated in practice. It appears that these aspects mostly cover areas where the logical framework is not – or is no longer – meeting the needs of practitioners. Subsequently, the article analyses experiences in ToC training for NGO staff and concludes that ToC can address shortcomings of the logical framework – if only by going back to some of the roots of the logical framework.     

State making in the Horn of Africa: notes on Eritrea and prospects for the end of violent conflict in the Horn

This paper looks at the Eritrean state-making process in light of the 1998–2000 Eritreo-Ethiopian war and its aftermath. Three historical layers are discussed as determining the workings of the present Eritrean state. Their most important legacies are concerns around territorial integrity coupled with a deep mistrust of the international community, and a political system based on mobilisation coupled with authoritarian control. The war had two major consequences for the Eritrean polity: It led to many ruptures within the state, and it re-enforced deeply held suspicions towards the main international actors engaged in finding a sustainable solution. The latter's involvement has resulted in a stalemate. Looking into the future, in a best-case scenario, pressure will be put on Ethiopia to accept once and for all its boundary with Eritrea as defined by international law. At the same time, this could open the way for domestic change towards constitutional government in Eritrea. At present, lacking a base for mutual engagement, future prospects for both countries, but more so for Eritrea, look bleak.     

Preparing NATO for the Future – Operating in an Increasingly Contested Environment

The global proliferation of precision-strike systems may be challenging the foundations of Western military-technological supremacy. Relatedly, the development of so-called Anti-Access and Area Denial (A2/AD) capabilities across the globe threatens to complicate Western freedom of military movement and access, and could give way to a more contested military-strategic environment. The twin challenges of precision-strike proliferation and A2/AD strongly impact NATO’s agenda, which revolves around strengthening deterrence and defence in Eastern Europe, and addressing the different threats emanating from the so-called Southern European neighbourhood. In order to address or mitigate such challenges, the Alliance needs to produce operational concepts and capabilities able to deliver deterrence and expeditionary warfare in a maturing precision-strike environment, one characterised by the emergence of A2/AD capabilities.     

Meiji Japan's China solution to Tokugawa Japan's China problem

The underlying concern of this article is with the function and purpose of the normative imaginary of ‘China’, Chūgoku (Zhongguo) or Chūka (Zhonghua) in the Japanese discourse up to and around the mid-nineteenth century; namely, how it was deployed to make sense of the historical situation facing the contemporaries amid the combined internal and external crises and how it structured the range of options available to them. To exemplify this, we first turn to the debate of the shape of the polity that straddled the critical decades of 1850s–1860s. The self-conscious restoration of a past political ideal was the ostensible justification of the revolutionary overhaul, but in terms of the models of polity, there existed very different versions and understandings of what past could or should be restored. In the classical conceptual language of politics, the choice was between the hōken and gunken model. While the year 1871 saw a closure that cast Meiji as a gunken revolution, the debate continued beyond and the shift of preferences from hōken to gunken needs to be explained. In arguing for Meiji as a ‘Chinese revolution’, we can further point to the surprising degree of overlap between the concerns of earlier Edo-period commentators and the actual factors of the revolution when it finally arrived. Lastly, the normative imaginary of China is shown to have served as the key mediating filter for processing and appropriating the West both before and after the Meiji revolution.     

中国参与湄公河次区域经济合作及其进展

中国参与湄公河次区域经济合作已有10多年的历程,呈现出广阔的发展前景。我国参与湄公河次区域经济合作具有十分重要而深远的意义,它将极大改善我国经济发展的周边环境,推进实施大西南对外开放与开发战略,并使之成为中国-东盟自由贸易区的实验区。     

韩国民主的美国因素

一个国家的民主化主要依赖于内部诸条件的发育成熟,但外部因素也是影响民主化进程的重要变量之一。由于特殊的历史原因,韩国民主进程受美国因素的影响特别大。在制度上,美国坚决地把韩国纳入资本主义世界体系之中,全面介入韩国的军事、经济和文化等各个方面。在政治上,美国奠定了韩国的基本政治制度,支配了韩国的主要政治人物,干预了韩国的重大政治事件。美国对韩国民主化的影响具有两面性,既促进了韩国民主化的发展,又扮演了韩国威权政权保护人的角色。美国因素的影响也是有限的。韩国民主首先应归功于韩国人民不屈不挠的民主斗争,韩国的国情使得韩国政治朝着自主性方向发展。     

The Faulty Logic of the European Union & Its Consequences for the United States

The European Union is in crisis because it is based on a wrong understanding of political development. Its founding assumption is that a common market and a common currency would lead to a unified polity; that Europeans would arise out of the euro. This has not happened and Europe is fraying economically and politically. And the United States is not a disinterested spectator because a weaker and more divided Europe undermines a key foreign policy objective pursued over the last century—of a Europe whole, secure, and free. Consequently, it is premature for Washington to reorient its strategic attention away from Europe.     

Options,functions, and skills: What an organizational ombudsman might want to know

Conclusion In this article I have tried to outline the present day practice of organizational ombudsmanry in North America, as I understand it thus far. I have drawn on very generous contributions from others in the profession, from my own experience, and from research. Probably no ombudsperson lives up, every day, to the standards he or she has set for good judgment, fairness, compassion, neutrality, respect for others — for true and ethical professionalism. These are qualities that may be instinctive in some people but which may be acquired by all of us in greater measure through study and self-reflection — as I learn from the steadfast examples of close colleagues around North America.also adjunct professor of management at MIT's Sloan School of Management. A practicing ombudsperson for 22 years, and co-founder of The Ombudsman Association, she has consulted, lectured and written extensively in this area of dispute resolution.     

关于东北优化开发主体功能区建设的战略定位论证

根据国家"十一五"规划纲要关于主体功能区的类型界定,跟从党的十七大关于加强主体功能区建设的战略部署,以老工业基地和粮食主产区为主要开发对象的东北综合经济区,应当从整体上认定为优化开发主体功能区的现实价值,具有从整体上认定东北地区为优化开发主体功能区的资本依托、制约因素、发展目标,特别是优化开发主体功能区的推进措施,加快东北优化开发主体功能区建设进程,才能在东北老工业基地振兴进程中建成东北优化开发主体功能区。     

优良的社会治理与相对的平等——日本经验的再思考

即使在"日本奇迹"风光不再的今天,如何正确认识日本的经验和教训这个问题对中国今后要走什么样的发展道路仍然有着很大的启示和借鉴意义。日本是一个成熟的发达国家,具有很多发达社会的特征和东方现代化的独有特点,其中优良的社会治理和社会中相对较高的平等程度是最具特色和最有启发意义的。中日两国有着相近的历史文化传统,在中国现代化和社会转型的过程中,日本在社会治理方面的经验比西方经验更值得借鉴。同时,日本在高速经济增长之后长期的经济低迷也足以使中国引以为戒。     

近年来菲律宾在黄岩岛的活动评析

黄岩岛不属南沙群岛争议范围,向来在中国的主权管辖之内,过去从未遇到过挑战。自1997年5月菲律宾开始对黄岩岛提出主权要求以来,频繁地在黄岩岛周围海域进行活动,使黄岩岛成为继南沙群岛之后又一新的争议区。本文评析了近年来菲律宾在黄岩岛的活动,并对其挑起新争议的原因进行了分析。     

Accredited to Africa: British diplomatic representation and African experience, c. 1960-95

How justified is the complaint sometimes voiced by British businessmen and other UK visitors to contemporary Africa that, compared to 'the [good old] colonial days', Britain's FCO representatives have no experience of Africa and little idea about who's who and what's going on in their bailiwick? The aim of this article is to construct a professional profile of Britain's Heads of Mission assigned to newly independent African states over the past 35 years, with a view to assessing the extent of their African experience. This period also neatly coincides with what in one sense can be interpreted as a single FO generation, in that the mean entry age into the Diplomatic Service is around 25 and the maximum retiring age is a strict 60. The statistical biodata on which the argument is premised are presented in the 19 Mission Tables appended. The article concludes with an examination of the major issues surrounding the question of 'African experience' among those Heads of Mission.