Prime Minister Badawi:A New Look for Malaysia

Prime Minster Abdullah Badawi has successfully presented a new look for his country since he took over from his much-respected predecessor former Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir and won a landslide election victory last March. Domestically, he has improved the image of the ruling National Front coalition (Barisan Nasional) and his party the United Malay‘s National Organization (UMNO) by pressing ahead with drastic reforms including crackdown on corruption and social crime. Externally, he has adopted a flexible, pragmatic foreign policy, boosting ties with other Asean partners and China while mending fences with Western nations alienated over the past decade.……     

'Incidents' and foreign policy: A case study

Anglo-Russian relations during the period 1894-1914 were filled with incidents in large part stemming from the very different social and political frameworks of the two countries. The two countries had sharply differing traditions concerning individual liberty, freedom of the press and other such matters usually covered by the rubric of human rights. While the realities of great power politics forced the two countries to work together, it is not surprising that their collaboration was often marred by clashes of political and social sensibilities.     

泰国总理沙马·顺达卫

2007年12月23日,泰国国会下议院举行2006年9月政变以来的首次大选,亲他信的人民力量党(以下简称"民力党")获胜。2008年1月28日,民力党主席沙马·顺达卫(Samak Sundaravej,以下简称沙马)以绝对多数票被下议院推选为该国第     

澳大利亚总理朱莉娅·吉拉德

2010年6月24日,朱莉娅·吉拉德（JuliaGillard）通过党内选举取代时任总理陆克文（KevinRudd）,出任澳大利亚执政党工党党首、联邦第27任总理,成为澳历史上首位女性总理。8月21日,澳举行联邦大选,在出现70多年来首个“悬峙国会”的情况下,吉拉德最终赢得绿党和部分独立议员支持,获得连任。     

国家认同与族群认同:以马来西亚为例

国家与族群具有不同的结构与功能,因而国家认同与族群认同的要素,特别是二者的认同基础存在较大的差异。正是这种差异决定着二者关系的基本形态。国家的公共性要求它不应该将政治政策偏向任何一个族群。族群平等是国家认同与族群认同的平衡点,否则,可能会导致政策所损害的族群对国家存在意义的质疑。马来西亚独立后,特别是20世纪70年代后,实施的正是偏向马来人的政策,从而造成非马来人对国家的不满。     

泰国新总理阿披实

2008年12月15日,泰国民主党主席阿披实·维乍集瓦(Abhisit Vejjajiva)在国会下议院组织的总理选举中以235票对198票战胜了为祖国党领袖兼前警察局长巴差·蓬诺,当选泰国第27任总理,成为泰国历史上最年轻的总理.     

荷兰新首相马克·吕特

2010年10月14日,43岁的自由民主人民党（以下简称自民党）领导人马克·吕特（MarkRutte）接替担任8年首相的巴尔克嫩德,宣誓就任荷兰王国新首相。吕特是自民党1948年成立以来产生的第一位首相,也是自上个世纪初以来荷兰的第一位自由主义首相;新政府是荷兰王国二战以来的第一个少数派政府,也是第一屑由民粹党支持的政府。     

Endgame at the Kennedy round: A case study of multilateral economic diplomacy

During the details stage of multilateral economic talks, agreements are usually negotiated using a combination of two methods - compromise on individual issues and tit-for-tat exchanges. This article identifies the circumstances in which the the US, EEC and British delegations employed these traditional diplomatic techniques, and assesses the effectiveness of these techniques in forging agreement in the details stage of the Kennedy Round, Providing a detailed account of these talks, the article demonstrates that the negotiating techniques of the American delegation were far more flexible than those of the European and British delegations and that this flexibility was vital to the successful completion of the talks. The article concludes that differences in negotiating technique are best explained by a combination of two factors - the contrasting decision making structures of each negotiating team and the international political context of the negotiations.     

Endgame at the Kennedy round: A case study of multilateral economic diplomacy

During the details stage of multilateral economic talks, agreements are usually negotiated using a combination of two methods ‐ compromise on individual issues and tit‐for‐tat exchanges. This article identifies the circumstances in which the the US, EEC and British delegations employed these traditional diplomatic techniques, and assesses the effectiveness of these techniques in forging agreement in the details stage of the Kennedy Round, Providing a detailed account of these talks, the article demonstrates that the negotiating techniques of the American delegation were far more flexible than those of the European and British delegations and that this flexibility was vital to the successful completion of the talks. The article concludes that differences in negotiating technique are best explained by a combination of two factors ‐ the contrasting decision making structures of each negotiating team and the international political context of the negotiations.     

Guest learning and adaptation in the field: A Navajo case study

In many development projects, individuals from one organisation are assigned and relocated to another organisation. For these 'guests' to be effective in the provision of technical assistance, they need to learn about and adapt to the local milieu. Using a Navajo case study, this paper analyses how practices called acts allow guests to make effective contributions through learning and adaptation. It is shown that two categories of acts, calibrating and progressing, are crucial in this regard. Calibrating allows guests to assess the appropriateness of assumptions, and progressing allows them to elicit information and explanations to help develop an understanding of the context. These sets of acts contribute to cross-cultural communicative competence and, thereby, to the success of the development project.     

Fifteen minutes of glory: A Burkean analysis of press coverage of Oliver north's testimony

Public esteem for Lt. Col. Oliver North prior to his testimony before the Iran‐contra Committee was low. As he testified, his popularity and support soared, and then tailed off after he left the witness stand. This analysis suggests that these dramatic shifts in audience response to the drama of Oliver North are attributable to the evocation of different audience values before, during, and after his testimony by press coverage of his story which placed differential emphasis on the elements of Kenneth Burke's dramatistical pentad. The differential impacts of print and electronic media to these audience effects are assessed through content analysis. Implications for political processes in general in our media society are discussed.     

Turkey and the IMF: A case study in the political economy of policy implementation

Research into IMF program implementation has usually taken the form of large sample regression analyses. A more detailed explanation is offered in this paper through a case study of program implementation in Turkey between 1999 and 2004. Our research is based on a series of in-depth interviews with policy makers, program negotiators, bureaucrats, interest groups and IMF personnel. Our results reinforce hypotheses that emerge from the theory of implementation and the large sample econometric work, but they also offer new and enhanced explanations. Program implementation depends on a range of factors which interact with one another. These include domestic political economy factors, such as the importance of special interest groups, political cohesiveness and program ownership by the government and the IMF, but also other idiosyncratic factors such as, in the case of Turkey, the existence of a crisis, the desire to join the EU and the role of influential technocrats. Our research has implications for the design of IMF programs.

Aids and political cartoons: a case study

ABSTRACT

Broadly, this article looks at the role played by political cartoons in the Aids struggle. A sample drawn from the period 1988 to 2001 was used for this study, the purpose of which is to discover how Aids has been represented in political cartoons published in major South African newspapers. Two sub-problems are identified. The first sub-problem looks at the frequency of Aids-related cartoons over the study period and follows a quantitative approach using content analysis. The second sub-problem considers the representation of Aids in cartoons and uses a qualitative approach through the application of semiotic analysis. This analysis is based on the interpretation of the sign system drawing on the iconic, indexical and symbolic elements in the cartoon. In conclusion, the value of political cartoons is debated. Political cartoons serve as an important adjunct to editorials, providing a summary of a certain situation or event. As a visual image, cartoons can instantly make a point that would be difficult to articulate in written text and often leave a lasting impressions on the reader. A problem in analysing political cartoons is the lack of definitive supportive theories. A model devised by Medhurst and Desousa, based on the assumption that the political cartoon is a rhetorical device, is used as the starting point.     

普京时期俄新闻检查状况研究

苏联解体后,俄罗斯选择了西方式的新闻自由,将有关言论自由以及取消新闻检查的条款明确地写在《宪法》与《俄联邦大众传媒法》中。俄罗斯在叶利钦时期也确实经历了一段新闻自由的日子,但作为"第四权力"的大众传媒却越来越多地干涉国家的政治,在很大程度上成了政府的反对派。在这种情况下,整顿俄罗斯传媒市场,将大众传媒的管理权收归国有的重任自然就落在了2000年当选的新一任总统普京的肩上。普京当选俄罗斯总统后,充分吸取了戈尔巴乔夫放弃新闻检查和叶利钦时期舆论失控的教训。普京深刻地认识到,如果想巩固国家政权,必须控制传媒舆论导向。