中国国际关系理论研究的现实思考

世纪之交 ,中国国际关系理论研究愈来愈重要。就现状而言 ,中国国际关系理论研究仍处于草创和摸索阶段 ,尽管取得了重要的进展 ,但还存在一些不尽人意之处。冷战结束后 ,中国国际关系理论研究更是面临着新的课题、新的挑战。     

Domestic–External Linkages and the Cold War in 1953 and 1989: Using International Relations Theory and Comparative Politics to Explain the End of the Cold War

Drawing on theories of international relations (IR) and comparative politics, this article explains why the cold war ended in 1989 rather than 1953. Numerous scholars have used IR theory to discuss the end of the cold war, but most of the circumstances they highlight were also present in the spring of 1953, right after the death of Joseph Stalin. This article presents three broad theoretical approaches that deal with the connection between domestic politics and international relations, and it then shows how these approaches can help us understand the similarities and differences between 1953 and 1989. In particular, the article emphasises the importance of time. In the spring of 1953, the window of opportunity was very brief—only a few months, which was insufficient for the two main cold war antagonists to overcome their deeply entrenched suspicions and make far-reaching adjustments in their policies. In the latter half of the 1980s, by contrast, the sweeping reorientation of east–west relations occurred over several years, giving policy-makers on both sides sufficient leeway to adapt and to 'learn' new ways of interacting.     

Eurasian integration: elite perspectives before and after the Ukraine crisis

A European scholar explores the changing dynamics of integration processes within the Eurasian Customs/Economic Union in the new context created by the Ukraine crisis. The article examines positions adopted by member states Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus before and after onset of the crisis in Ukraine. Several rationales for justifying the Union are derived from international relations theory and documented in the rhetoric of actors from these three countries. The evolution of conflicting rhetorical postures mirrors a slowdown of the Eurasian integration process and growth in the bargaining leverage of Belarus and Kazakhstan vis-à-vis Moscow.     

South Africa’s multiple faces in current climate clubs

Climate clubs emerged as a concept to revitalise the international climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and mitigate the free-riding problem. The underlying idea suggests that countries committed to reducing emissions can advance a stable coalition in the form of a club with other countries. As a result, more countries would put forth targets for more ambitious emissions reductions. This article analyses South Africa’s memberships in current climate related clubs. We contextualise South African climate club governance in its wider geopolitical and national context of low-carbon development. The purpose of the analysis is to identify if and how South Africa can possibly contribute to advancing ambition for change within climate clubs. Furthermore, it advances ideas about possible design options for climate clubs that may appeal to developing countries.     

Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zahra (1898–1974) on international relations: the discourse of a contemporary mainstream Islamist

The literature on Political Islam has not devoted ample space to the intellectual contributions of contemporary moderate Islamists. This article attempts to rectify this by examining the international relations discourse of a twentieth-century Egyptian religious scholar: Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zahra. Despite Abu Zahra's prominence in the Islamic world, his writings have received scant attention from academics. The article provides a close reading of his three principal works on international relations: al-?Alaqat al-Duwaliyya fi al-Islam, Nazhariyat al-Harb fi al-Islam and al-Wihda al-Islamiyya; as well as a fourth work with a significant bearing on the subject: al-Mujtama? al-Insani fi Dhil al-Islam. It contends that Abu Zahra's international relations discourse is part of a more than a century-old tradition of theorizing on international relations that dates back to the religious reformers Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu. Accordingly, Abu Zahra is treated here as an exemplar of what I refer to as the moderate and reformist school in contemporary Islam, in contradistinction to the radical school that is associated with salafi-jihadist figures and movements. A close analysis of Abu Zahra's international relations discourse thus provides penetrating insights on one pivotal, albeit understudied, dimension of this reformist/moderate current in contemporary Islam: its perspectives on international relations.     

美国的世界秩序观与东亚国际体系的演变(1900-1945)(Ⅰ)

本文从美国的国际秩序观入手,通过考察20世纪上半期东亚国际体系的演变,尝试为这一时期的东亚国际关系建立一个多国的、宏观的分析框架。作者认为:美国从世纪之交就开始谋求在东亚建立一个不同于欧洲权力政治的新的国际秩序,这是美国从建国之初就萌生的改造国际秩序思想的延续;20世纪上半期东亚国际关系的演变过程是美国不断推行和实施其国际秩序思想的过程,美国新的国际秩序思想集中体现在华盛顿体系的建立上;从30年代初直至二战结束,东亚国际关系的演变可以被视为美国捍卫、中国认同、日本挑战华盛顿体系的过程;战后初期美国试图建立的东亚国际秩序不过是华盛顿体系的修正版;华盛顿体系并非仅仅是帝国主义的工具,相反在很多方面有助于中国国家利益的维护。     

可持续发展位:当代国际关系研究的新视角

研究视角的选择对于国际关系理论的构建具有重要的意义.在新的时代背景下,由生态位发展而来的可持续发展位可作为当代国际关系研究的新视角.可持续发展位有其特定的内涵,它与综合国力、国家权力、国家利益和国家的国际地位有着密切联系,但又存在着重大区别.可持续发展位对当代国际关系研究具有十分重要的理论意义和现实意义.     

The Commonwealth in contemporary international relations

The Commonwealth functions in contemporary international relations as a ‘mini’ version of multilateralism, encompassing issues of geopolitics, the global economy, climate change, and human rights and democracy. While essentially an organisation of developing countries, it also includes the United Kingdom and the ‘old Dominions’. There is a particular focus on the role of small states, even though the Commonwealth also includes some very large developing countries. Apart from its global role, the Commonwealth can be significant in regional contexts where there is some concentration of Commonwealth members. The Commonwealth also has a role as a context for civil society organisations. The article provides an assessment of the role of the Commonwealth within these various settings.     

From Racial Mixture to Black Nation: Racialising Discourses in Brazil's African Affairs

The article links reflections about Brazilian race relations with institutional transnational dialogues between Brazil and ‘Africa’. I point out that although racial/cultural mixture and the ‘brown’ census category have traditionally reflected much of national identity in Brazil, Brazil today is increasingly spelling out its blackness, both on the national and international scenes. I highlight that, not by coincidence, this fact is happening at a historical moment when programmes of ‘black’ affirmative action and other differential politics in favour of Afro‐descendants are taking off in the country, and also at a time when Brazil is expanding its geopolitical and economic interests in Africa.     

国际直接投资的变化及对国际经济关系的影响

二十世纪九十年代以来 ,全球化进程加快 ,跨国直接投资对此起了较大的推动作用。跨国直接投资呈现出新的特征 ,本文分析了国际直接投资的新变化及对国际经济关系造成的影响。     

传统与非传统:十年国际关系的两种解读--兼评亨廷顿《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》

近十年来,传统的安全威胁与非传统的安全威胁相互交织,非传统威胁的影响日益上升;相应地,传统的国际关系理论与非传统的国际关系理论难决高下,非传统理论似将占据上风.根据近十年来的国际大事进行检测,也许可以较客观地评判以"文明冲突论"为代表的非传统理论的现实有效程度,也许还可以评判传统理论在目前"非传统环境"中的生存能力.     

可持续发展位视角内的当前中日关系

可持续发展位是用来分析当前国际关系的一个新视角。本文从这样一个视角来分析当前错综复杂的中日关系,并认为当前中日关系发展的症结在于中日之间的可持续发展位优势之争。     

Sub-state diplomacy and the foreign policy-development nexus in South Africa

This article examines the role of sub-state diplomacy, defined as the transnational linkages of sub-national governments, in bridging the gap between foreign policy and the domestic development agenda in South Africa. It argues that, as territorial sub-state actors, provinces and municipalities are strategically positioned to use their international relations to make foreign policy more responsive to domestic socio-economic priorities. In the South African case, however, this potential is yet to be fully realised, mainly because of institutional fragmentation of the foreign policy apparatus, but also owing to enduring challenges in the foreign activities of sub-national governments. The article concludes by making the case for a new diplomatic paradigm in South Africa, one that actively promotes and harnesses the foreign activities and capacities of different national stakeholders, including those of sub-national governments, in the interest of the domestic development agenda.     

Russia and South Ossetia: conferring statehood or creeping annexation?

Abstract

Events in Ukraine have distracted international attention from the ongoing Russian involvement in the unresolved conflicts of the South Caucasus. This article explores the intensification of relations between South Ossetia and Moscow, focusing on the extent to which South Ossetia exists as a functioning state entity. Are the authorities in Tskhinvali able to provide vital services such as defence and control over ‘state’ borders and territory without Russian involvement? What has been happening in South Ossetia is important, despite being overshadowed by events in Ukraine, as it is indicative of what may well occur in eastern Ukraine: a simmering separatist conflict that is far more than a domestic territorial dispute, with both regional and international implications.     

Liberal International Theory and Imagining the End of the Cold War

Liberal international theory foresaw neither the end of the east–west rivalry nor the fall of the Soviet Union. However, from the 1960s up through the 1980s, several liberal international theorists put forward insightful analyses of the evolution of the cold war, its changing importance in world affairs and the problems that increasingly confronted the Soviet Union. Well before the fall of the Berlin Wall, several liberal international writers sensed that the cold war was abating, that this abatement was important for world politics and that the Soviet Union was having serious problems in maintaining its status as a superpower with an Eastern European empire.     

COVID-19 and Historical Global Rupture in Latin America

This article contrasts two significant ruptures in globalisation. World War I in 1914 was a significant break from the Latin American export-oriented development that was firmly connected to economic globalisation. This article uses the Argentine case study to reveal the ramifications of the post-1914 global breakdown for the republic's internationally dependent development. It draws comparisons with the current COVID-19 crisis as a significant departure from rapid globalisation. Both events altered the trajectory of international activity. Analysis of the 1914 rupture exposes the parallels with COVID-19 and its potential severity for Latin America's internationally connected development.     

Of demons and angels: The “international” gaze on electoral democracy in Africa

This article reflects on the role of international election observers in African elections, following the so-called wave of democratisation at the end of the Cold War. When analysed against the role of the “international” as a geopolitical entity and the construction of the political as an epistemic heritage of the West, international observation comes across as a western gaze over the gale of democratisation sweeping through Africa. This observation is not motivated by meeting the expectations and aspirations of generations of Africans who have been waiting for and working towards freedom, but by the convergence of elite interests locally and abroad. The article therefore suggests that international observation of Africa in a neo-colonised post-colonial environment raises suspicions of imperialist designs to impose on Africa the manner in which it must organise the political arena, and the kind of democracy that it should pursue.     

The 2008 Guinea Conakry coup: Neither inevitable nor inexorable

This article examines the issue of democratic governance in Guinea–Conakry and the impact that international donors had on the political debate in the last years of the Conté regime. Our contention here is that there was and continues to be an evolving pluralism and embryo group of self-defined civil society organisations in both urban and rural Guinea but as a result of the December 2008 military coup opportunities have been lost in the promotion of democratic governance and more pluralistic group dynamics in Guinea. Support for indigenous (and self-defined) civil society groups, including the development of political parties by the international community, is essential to the return to institutionalised governance.     

现代系统论视野下的国际政治理论

本文拟以广义系统论一般模式的构造为基础,从国际政治体系的结构和层次、国际政治体系的功能和环境、国际政治体系的稳衡和变革四个方面,对20世纪70年代以来国际关系思想史中的主要理论,加以梳理、比较和分析,进而揭示系统论对国际政治理论研究所产生的巨大影响,并彰显诸理论之间的区别和联系.最终,希望通过对科学知识之间的渗透交叉与相互借鉴关系的辨明,能够在更广阔和深远的背景下建构中国的国际关系理论研究体系.     

Seeking Domestic Approval: Determinants of Ratification Duration in International Trade

Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have proliferated rapidly since the early 1990s. The ratification of these agreements matters both economically by rendering commitments legally enforceable for outward‐oriented industries and politically by revealing the domestic‐ and international‐level factors which delay or accelerate the entry into force of a PTA. This research note investigates the institutional design and domestic political determinants of the ratification duration for 270 PTAs concluded in the post‐1990 period. The Weibull survival analysis yields two main results: First, neither domestic political constraints measured through veto players nor PTA depth affect ratification spells. Second, ratification processes become more protracted in the presence of stringent formal domestic ratification requirements as well as with a higher number of partner states. These findings suggest that trade negotiators factor in the shadow of ratification in the bargaining phase but still remain subject to formal ratification hurdles and PTA membership dynamics.