1989 Revisited: Getting to the bottom of the GDR'S demise

Aufarbeitung von Geschichte und Folgen der SED‐Diktatur in Deutschland. Nine Volumes. By Enquete Kommission. Frankfurt/M: Suhrkamp, 1995.

Aufarbeitung und Versöhnung, ‘Leben in der DDR, Leben nach 1989’. Three Volumes. By landtag mecklenburg‐vorpommern. Schwerin: Stiller & Balewski, 1996.

The Politics of Economic Decline in East Germany, 1945–1989. By Jeffrey Kopstein. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.

Der Zusammenbruch der DDR am Beispiel der mecklenburgischen Stadt Parchim. By Fred Mrotzek. Hamburg: Kramer Verlag, 1996     

Review Essay: Getting Away With Murder

Book reviewed in this article:
A Death in Jerusalem by Kati Marton.
Anxious for Armageddon: A Call to Partnership for Middle Eastern and Western Christians, by Donald E. Wagner. Foreword by Elias Chacour.
Israel and Syria: Peace and Security on the Golan, by Aryeh Shalev.
My Enemy'S Enemy: Lebanon in the Early Zionist Imagination, 1900-1948, by Laura Zittrain Eisenberg.
Jordan'S Inter-Arab Relations: The Political Economy of Alliance Making, by Laurie A. Brand.
Desert Warrior, by HRH General Khaled bin Sultan.
The Iraqi Economy under Saddam Hussein: Development or Decline, by Muhammad Al-Zainy.
Global Islamic Politics, by Mir Zohair Husain.
Islam in Revolution: Fundamentalism in the Arab World, by R. Hrair Dekmejian.     

What History Cannot Write: Bei Dao and Recent Chinese Poetry

An examination of the dictates and implications of contemporary counter-terrorism in the United States, this article analyzes the rhetorical tropes, historical precursors, and political valences of the “war on terrorism” as they pertain to the nature of sovereignty, the status of law, and the formation of political subjectivity. Building from a consideration of the demonological discourse on terrorism and the history of counterterrorism during the cold war, the article turns to the contingent sovereignty conferred to other states in the Bush administration's NationalSecurity Strategy and as borne out by its recent foreign policy and military actions. It notes a parallel development within domestic politics since September 11, as the administration seeks to consolidate sovereign authority against the other branches of government, evidenced most clearly in contests with the judiciary over the legitimacy of military tribunals and the legal status of “unlawful” and “enemy combatants.” Pursuing its thesis that counterterrorism as promulgated by the Bush administration needs to be registered as an emergent political rationality, the article draws from the thought of Hannah Arendt and Michel Foucault for its concluding analysis of the effects of counterterrorist surveillance and other forms of social regulation on political subjectivity and the enactment of democratic freedom.     

Getting It Right: Japan and Trans-Pacific Partnership

This paper explores the opportunities presented by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to Japan to revitalize its trade policy, bolster economic growth, and increase participation in regional multilateral fora for the 21^st century. Despite its strengths, Japan has continued to face problems caused by its economic, political, and strategic policies. The Japanese economy has been stagnant for the last several decades, and Japan needs to take bold steps to ameliorate this situation. Politically, domestic political paralysis has had a negative impact on Japan's alliances and partnerships and eroded Tokyo's ability to act as a major player in the increasing vital and important Indo-Pacific region. Connected to this, it is imperative for Japan to engage itself deeply in Asia in ways that increase strategic trust. This paper will also highlight the necessary reforms Japan must undertake to take full advantage of the benefits of the TPP, as well as what the TPP might mean for its relationship with both the US and other regional partners.     

Why the Philippines Chooses to Import Rice

Embedded in the debate in the Philippines over food security and food sovereignty are three conventional reasons why the country is a longstanding rice importer: geography, exploitative international policy pressure predicated on the dictates of neoliberalism, and colonial history. This paper argues that these conventional reasons share two limitations. First, they attribute mono-causal reasons for perennial rice imports, either in the form of geography, exogenous power, or history. While these perspectives are not wrong, each on its own is inadequate. Multiple, contributing factors have and will continue to abound. Second, each of these arguments limits Filipinos' agency. Through a four-part argument, I show how Filipinos have had more say in the reasons for serial rice imports than these conventional accounts allow.     

Resistance to Privatization: Why Protest Movements Succeed and Fail in Latin America

Why do some protest movements in Latin America succeed in rolling back privatizations while others fail? This article argues that protests against privatizations have tended to succeed under two conditions. First, privatization's opponents form linkages (or “brokerage”) across multiple sectors of society. Broad coalitions are more likely to achieve their goals, while groups acting alone, such as labor unions, are more easily defeated or ignored by governments. Second, civil rights are protected but political representation is weak. In that case, opponents have the legal right to protest, but are unlikely to have opportunities for communicating their concerns through formal institutions, which prompts them to channel their demands outside of existing political institutions. Using case examples and logistic regression, this study confirms these arguments and discusses the implications for democracy in the region.     

俄日领土纠纷难以解决原因分析

俄日领土问题是俄日两国关系中的一大“顽症” ,虽经多次谈判 ,但至今仍未找到解决问题的有效途径。本文分析了北方四岛问题难以解决的原因 ,并认为在中短期内 ,俄日解决领土问题的谈判难有新的突破。     

印度大选:结果何以如此?

2004年5月13日公布的印度大选结果令人颇感意外.雄心勃勃的执政党印度人民党败北,稳扎稳打的国大党胜出.这一结果似乎有悖于全国民主联盟执政时的"辉煌"成绩.本文从影响选举的七个主要因素,即政党的政绩或历史、政党的施政纲领、施政纲领或口号的传播程度、利益集团与捐献额度、投票手段、个人魅力及政党联盟等出发,并结合印度的政治制度等具体背景,对印度的选举结果进行了分析.     

中国和平崛起:何以能与何以为

在人类历史上相继出现了"全面对立与冲突,对内剥削压迫、对外侵略扩张";"局部的和平共处,西方国家共同发展";"共同发展范围的扩大,依附发达国家技术与市场"等三种崛起和振兴模式之后,中国的崛起历史性地创造了"全面和谐与合作,与发达国家和发展中国家协同发展"的第四种模式.与美国霸道地将它的发展理念与模式推向全球的做法不同,中国倡导和而不同,坚持发展理和模式的多样性.中国的崛起将推动东亚地区现有的垂直分工格局朝水平分工方向发展,带动周边国家共同繁荣.