Voluntary multilateralism and institutional modification: The first two decades of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

The voluntary multilateralism and consequent institutional weaknesses that have characterized Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) since its inception in 1989 are explained by the multiple geo-political fractures that characterize the Asia Pacific, as well as bureaucratic constraints and the missed opportunities to incorporate civil society. The history of APEC is the on-going creative struggle between ambitious multilateralists and national-sovereignty realists. While APEC has fallen short of its most ambitious goals, it has achieved some notable results in the cognitive diffusion of values and information, policy innovation to promote economic integration, and institutional modification in response to trial-and-error learning and to global shocks. The normative conclusions suggest additional institutional reforms and substantive agendas consistent with a flexible, evolving voluntary multilateralism.

上海会议与APEC发展前景

198 9年成立的APEC ,是亚太地区经济合作的一个标志性事件。经过十多年的运作 ,该组织对促进本地区各成员的相互沟通、理解及合作贡献良多 ,在世界上形成了一种独特的区域经济合作方式 ,但也逐渐显现出了自身的内在局限性 ,其成员中甚至出现了普遍的失望情绪和“APEC何去何从”的疑虑。今年适逢APEC峰会由中国主办 ,在上海举行 ,这对国人来讲当然是一件大事。上海会议之于APEC的意义 ,相信也是人们感兴趣的话题。本期我们特邀集了中国现代国际关系研究所的 6位专家举行对谈 ,就这一话题从不同的角度进行了有益的探讨。     

China's changing images of Japan, 1989-2001: the struggle to balance partnership and rivalry

Chinese views of Japan, both official and popular, grew morenegative after the end of the cold war. From 1989 to 1993 theJapanese side bears much of the blame for failing to overcomethe distrust of the Chinese people. When the major deteriorationin Japan's image occurred from 1994 to 1998, however, it wasChina's leadership that was chiefly responsible, arousing nationalistemotions. When China's leaders sought to reverse this processfrom 1999 to 2001 they were unsuccessful both because of theintensity of public emotions and the lack of reassurance fromthe Japanese leadership and public. Divisions inside China revealthe hesitation of leaders to foster a realistic image of Japan.By tracing the content of changing Chinese perceptions, we canobserve the effects of overconfidence and insensitivity in eachstate and recognize the difficulty at times of uncertain nationalidentity of finding a coordinated strategy for expanding mutualtrust.     

NATO, APEC and ASEM: triadic interregionalism and global order

Among the three core regions in today's world, Europe, North America and East Asia, interregional arrangements have been developed in various forms. Transatlantic relations were institutionalized in the form of a security alliance (NATO), although not in the field of economic relations. The transpacific relations were institutionalized in the economic field with the creation of APEC in late 1980s. The Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) emerged in 1996, with an aim to strengthen the ‘weak leg’ in the triadic interregional relationship. Although the three sets of triadic interregional arrangements display discernable differences, they tend to share some identical functions, such as balancing, governance and identity building. Interregionalism rests on and promotes multi-polarization, complementing the multilateral system, and could be seen as an indispensable element of the world order, which may be better characterized as a multi-level governance system.     

面对全球化的APEC——从亚太经合组织第八次领导人非正式会议看其发展

亚太经合组织是全球最大的区域经济合作组织,十年来成就斐然。然而,在世界经济日益全球化的今天,它也面临着新的挑战。APEC第八次领导人非正式会议展示出一种新的趋势：APEC一方面努力增进其成员参与全球化的能力,促进全球化进程,另一方面致力于增强防范、应对全球化风险的能力。通过两方面的努力全面应对全球化的挑战。     

论APEC的制度再创新

制度经济学认为,制度并非一成不变,它要经历一个均衡到非均衡再到均衡的循环反复的变迁过程。这种变革或变迁是多种因素共同作用的结果。制度变迁是一个渐进的过程,它包括制度的替代、转换与交接过程,它是通过复杂的规则、标准和实施的边际调整来实现的。因此,从理论上讲,任何一种制度都要经历由均衡到不均衡再到均衡的循环反复过程,APEC的制度安排也不例外。一、APEC实行制度再创新的必要性分析(一)APEC成立之初的制度创新本身就蕴含着难以解决的矛盾APEC通过“坚决反对建立一个有悖于全球自由贸易目标的内向型贸易集团”的目标取向…     

Politics of differentiation: enhanced cooperation in the EU and the pathfinder in APEC

A large majority of studies on differentiated integration focus their attention on closer or enhanced cooperation in the EU, neglecting similar developments in other regions, for example, the pathfinder in APEC. In comparing enhanced cooperation in the EU with the pathfinder in APEC, this article aims to discover conditions under which ideas of differentiation can emerge and then be transformed into common policies endorsed by all member states in regional integration. It shall also make clear the reasons why the pathfinder has been applied in APEC while enhanced cooperation has never been used in the EU. It will begin with a detailed categorization of sub-integrations. Then, the author comparatively analyzes the developments of enhanced cooperation in the EU and the pathfinder in APEC, and as a conclusion, evaluates the contribution of this analysis to better understanding of differentiation.

Inter-regionalism in international relations: Comparing APEC and ASEM

  Depending on one's theoretical perspective, inter-regionalism is assumed by IR scholars to have arisen in response to the need to check the exalted power of the United States (and, in the economic realm, also the European Union and East Asia) and/or the growing complexity of world politics (the rise of “interdependence” or “globalisation”). More recently, inter-regionalism has also been interpreted as a way to enhance regional collective identities. This paper looks at the evolution and recent performance of APEC and ASEM in the light of these theoretical assumptions about the origins and the functions of APEC and ASEM. Its principal findings are puzzling: while there are indications that APEC and ASEM were indeed meant by governments to fulfil some of the functions identified by those theoretical perspectives, the evidence that APEC or ASEM effectively served any of them is thin. Their actual functions and their durability against the background of a seemingly poor political track record therefore need to be rethought. RID="*" ID="*" A more extensive version of this paper will be published in: H?nggi H/Roloff R/Rüland J (eds), Interregionalism and International Politics: Stepping Stone to Global Governance? London & New York: Routledge (forthcoming).     

Tools for Anticipating Asylum Denials: An Application to Afghan Refugees in Pakistan, 1997-2001

The growing tendency toward non-compliance with internationalobligations to refugees requires UNHCR to make contingency plansfor asylum denials. Making such plans calls for tools, suchas game theory and confrontation analysis, that link non-compliancein refugee asylum with the configuration of interests for asylumand donor countries in a potential crisis. We illustrate suchtools in a case study of Afghan refugees in Pakistan in 1997–2001,which generated asylum denials by Pakistan ranging from briefborder closings to threats of mass refoulement, linked to thewithholding of assistance by the United States and other donors.We also consider the prospects for using these tools to informcontingency planning for an impending crisis.     

1989-2000年外国直接投资流入和流出区域分布

表3:单位:10亿美元世界200.1 331.1 384.9 477.9 692.5 1075.0 —228.3 355.3 391.6 466.0 7 J1.9 1005.8 1149.9137.J 203.5 219.7 271.4 483.2 829.8 —203.2 3()5.8 332.9 396.9 672.0 945.7 1046.3 79.8 117.2 114.9 137.5 273.4 485.3 —1】4.2 173.6 204.3 242.4 475.2 761.1 820.3 76.6 113.5 109.6 J27.6 261.1 467.2 一105.2 159.0 183.2 220.4 454.3 720.1 772.9 3.1 3.7 5.2 9.9 12.3 18.2 —9.0 14.6 21.1 22.0 21.0 41.1 47.4 1.0 ～0.2 3.2 3.3 12.7 —29.6 22.5 23.4 26.1 24.2 22.7 32.9 42.5 58.8 84.5 103.4 174.4 295.…     

Sometimes You Just Have to Leave: Domestic Threats and Forced Migration, 1964-1989

In this study we explore why persons flee their homes to become refugees and internally displaced persons. We contend that individuals will tend to flee when the integrity of their person is threatened. Further, we argue that they will flee toward countries where they expect conditions to be better. We conduct statistical analyses using fixed effects least squares, on a pooled cross-sectional time-series data set, consisting of data from 129 countries for the years 1964-1989. Our findings support the conclusion that threats to personal integrity are of primary importance in leading people to abandon their homes. Measures of state threats to personal integrity, dissident threats to personal integrity, and joint state-dissident threats each have statistically significant and substantively important effects on migrant production. We also find that countries making moves toward democracy tend to have greater number of forced migrants, once other factors are considered. We conclude the analysis by identifying several lucrative areas for further investigation.     

Power Preponderance and Domestic Politics: Explaining Regional Economic Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1960-1997

As the global economy expands, there is an increasing opportunity for trade between diverse regime types. Simultaneously, human rights have become an increasingly important issue as regimes are faced with greater pressure to adopt democratic policies. As a result, it is common for contemporary western political rhetoric to advocate the use of trade policies in an attempt to deter human rights violations. Within the political science literature, the liberal position asserts that increased trade will lead to improved human rights practices. Critics of this view, on the other hand, argue that trade policies do not alter a regime's treatment of its citizens. The extent to which the level of trade in a country affects human rights remains a point of contention. This paper sets out to empirically test the liberal perspective regarding the effect of trade on human rights practices. A pooled cross-sectional time series analysis is utilized to investigate the effects of trade on human rights. We examine developing countries from 1976 to 1996. We find support for the liberal position, specifically that trade is negatively related to human rights violations.     

Terrorism in the textbook: a comparative analysis of terrorism discourses in Germany,India, Kenya and the United States based on school textbooks

This study traces the (geopolitical) knowledge on terrorism circulating in Germany, India, Kenya, and the United States based on an analysis of school textbooks. It contributes to the existing literature in three ways. First, it transcends the Western-centrism of International Relations by analysing discourses from the Global North and the Global South. Second, it introduces school textbooks as a crucial object of research in constructivist terrorism studies and International Relations. School textbooks indicate the (geopolitical) knowledge deemed essential in a given society, but are also widely distributed among young people. Third, I address the debate about a presumed homogenization and internationalization of terrorism discourses in recent years. Results show that all four discourses depict terrorists as evil, focus on external non-state groups as perpetrators and associate terrorism with Islam. But there are also considerable differences regarding the relative importance of terrorism as a security threat, the referent object affected and the countermeasures deemed appropriate.     

Resistance and reform: discourses on marital law in Japan*

This article examines opinions concerning fūfubessei (a married couple retaining their birth surnames) posted on an online forum. Recently, the topic of fūfubessei has once again come under a spotlight, since the Japanese Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Code Article 750, which stipulates that a married couple must choose either the husband's or wife's surname upon marriage registration. Owing to the large number of women forfeiting their surnames, the fūfubessei issue has often been researched from feminist perspectives, which may have hindered the voices of others. This article analyzes, using text mining (quantitative analysis) and discourse analysis (qualitative analysis), a large number of opinions from people of various cultural backgrounds. The results of this study reveal a diversity of beliefs and attitudes towards Article 750, reflecting the complexity of the issue. In general, proponents of reform claim the law violates equality, rights and liberty. From opponents there was a strong push to conform rather than to recognize a need for individual choice. Moreover, the many personal narratives provided insight into issues on the ground and revealed how many in Japanese society have dealt with the law, social pressure and social expectations and why they have followed the path they have chosen.     

British Muslims and the discourses of dysfunction: community cohesion and counterterrorism in the West Midlands

This article analyses how British discursive representations of Muslims during the last decade were utilised in a local context during the planning stages of a proposed mosque in the West Midlands town of Dudley. Locating the central narratives in dominant national discourses of community cohesion and counterterrorism, this article analyses how correspondents to a local newspaper re-articulated national representations of Muslims as culturally dysfunctional in a local context and used these representations to argue against construction. By critically analysing the local expression of dominant national discourses of threat and blame, in terms of both inherent contradictions and ideological effects, this article highlights the ways in which these discourses worked to exclude Muslims while simultaneously reprimanding them for failing to integrate into a national and local culture that regarded them as inherently ‘other’.     

APEC拉美成员亚太区域经济一体化战略探析

作为APEC拉美成员,墨西哥、智利和秘鲁对亚太区域经济一体化问题给予了高度关注。拉美3国在积极参与APEC贸易投资自由化进程的同时,还在亚太地区缔结了多个FTA。通过APEC策略和FTA策略的有机结合,APEC拉美成员形成了多元化的亚太区域经济一体化战略,不仅为自身带来了显著的经济收益,也为亚太区域经济一体化进程注入了新的活力。     

目标与现实之间:论俄罗斯与亚太经合组织的经济合作

21世纪初期,俄罗斯积极致力于发展与亚太经合组织的经济合作并取得了一系列积极成果。俄罗斯的战略目标在于,通过"搭乘亚太地区经济快速发展的列车"来推进本国远东地区的发展和国家经济的现代化,维护并增进俄罗斯在亚太地区的经济利益,实现俄罗斯对外经济联系的多元性与平衡性,提高俄罗斯在亚太地区和全球的大国地位。然而,在俄罗斯与亚太经合组织的经济合作中存在一系列无法回避的严重问题和制约因素,这使俄罗斯面对的客观现实与希望达成的目标之间存在巨大"鸿沟"。     

Japanese political economy revisited: diverse corporate change,institutional transformation,and Abenomics

Abstract

This introductory article to the special issue on “Japanese Political Economy Revisited: Diverse Corporate Change, Institutional Transformation, and Abenomics” starts with a short summaryof the changing perceptions of Japan's political economy from its meteoric rise as worldwide leading model in the 1970s and 1980s to its demotiontoa problem and reform case since the later 1990s. Based on this overview, it identifies some striking issue and open questions in this conventional view of Japan's political economy as problem and the high expectations on Abenomics as Japan's current economic reform programme. Then we discuss the articles of the special issue and their new contributionsto a better understanding of the developments at the corporate level as well as institutional change and economic reforms at the macro level in the last two decades. Finally, this introductory article ends with a short outlineof a new research programme and four central research questions about the Japanese political economy.