The American-Japanese ‘Co-prosperity sphere’

Abstract

For many years Jane Hamilton-Merritt has carried out a publicity campaign in support of Vang Pao and the so-called “Lao resistance,” while condemning the government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and anyone who challenges her own views. Hamilton-Merritt has demonstrated great effectiveness in marshaling the mainstream media, reputable public figures, and otherwise respected institutions as the channels or even mouthpieces for her campaign. The publication of Tragic Mountains highlights her ongoing efforts to find acceptance for her fanciful vision of the recent history of Laos (and the United States). Her success in this campaign has been possible only because few in her audience know the facts behind her distorted misrepresentations. In this book, Hamilton-Merritt constructs a fantastical account of “the Hmong, the Americans, and the secret wars for Laos” that bears little relation to the truth of the events and personalities she discusses.     

The diplomacy of ‘Disregard’

Abstract

The recent revival of interest in the state in post-colonial societies is, in large part, a consequence of the decline of dependency theory as a general tool for the analysis of society and economy in the “third world” and a move towards an approach based upon the concepts of mode of production and social formation. The focus of analysis has consequently moved from global structures of capital circulation to class struggle within specific peripheral social formations. This paper is not the place to follow the complex debate which has surrounded the decline of dependency theory but the following quote by Leys puts succinctly the major thrust of the critics:     

The ‘Westminster model’ in Israel

Israel's Parliament—The Law of the Knesset, by Eliahu S. Likhovski. Oxford; Clarendon Press, 1971. pp. 236; £4·25.     

The ‘Ottoman-German Jihad’: Lessons for the Contemporary ‘Area Studies’ Controversy

The ‘Arab Spring’ added new fuel to the ongoing controversy over the validity of regional or area studies. None of the Middle East ‘area experts’ predicted the revolutionary events that led to the fall of a number of authoritarian rulers in the Arab world. As a result, scholars, the media and policy-makers have again questioned the public relevance and scientific nature of Middle East studies. Do they actually provide the basis for an understanding of the real world? To address this issue, this article considers a historical case study with a view to throwing light on this debate and putting it in perspective. It looks more closely at a debate between two founding fathers of Islamic studies. After the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet V declared jihad against the Entente powers in 1914, Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje and Carl-Heinrich Becker disputed the role allegedly played by German Orientalists in this affair. The article would argue that this historical dispute already reflected some of the core issues of the contemporary controversy of ‘area studies’ and contained some lessons for us to learn regarding the analysis of Middle Eastern economy, society and politics.     

The ‘Arab Uprising’, Islamists and Democratization

This article surveys political activities of selected Islamists in three Arab countries in the Mediterranean region: Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. Each is notable for recent growth in Islamist political activity in the context of democratization (Tunisia, Egypt) and political liberalization (Morocco). Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco are undergoing political changes consequent to the recent ‘Arab uprising’. The ‘Arab uprising’ involved country-specific yet variable outbursts of popular political anger, although not necessarily with a clear and consistent democratizing focus. Generally, protests focused on interrelated political and socio-economic demands, including: greater ‘freedoms’, improved human rights, better social justice and economic progress, especially more jobs for millions of unemployed youths. The aim of the article is to explain recent developments in relation to the ‘Arab uprising’ in three Mediterranean Arab countries – Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. The purpose is to complement the individual foci on these countries in subsequent papers in this special issue by providing a thematic overview and to locate the activities of Islamist entities in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco in comparative context.     

‘The Bedoun’: Kuwaitis without an Identity

The Bedoun (stateless/without nationality) in Kuwait constitute a controversial concurrent social, political and legal issue, which was and still is the subject of heated political debate, a vivid example of social conflict, and a platform of extensive legal deliberation concerning its thorny dimensions. The problem of Bedoun is not only politically and socially complex, but it has its problematic legal dimensions, which have made it, since the 1950s, a complex and chronic problem. The recent growing interest in addressing the issue and the extensive strife to determine its degree of complexity and entanglement could be ascribed to the margin of freedom enjoyed in Kuwait more than the rest of the Arabian Gulf states, since active social and political participation constitute the pillars of the democratic system in Kuwait, in light of the growing political and media freedoms and the focus on the Bedoun as a marginalized community legally, politically and socially. Therefore, the current problem of Bedoun constitutes the strongest internal concern for the Kuwaiti authorities and people after the external threats, especially because it has always been ignored or treated as a security issue at times. This study seeks to shed light on the issue of Bedoun to decipher its causes and its historical development until it became a pressing issue at government and community levels in the State of Kuwait. The study will avoid the complex legal and social complexities of the issue     

‘Surrounding Areas’ and The Recalibration of Japan’s Threat Perception

The official narratives of Surrounding Areas in the 1997 New Guidelines are a curiosity: on the one hand, they signify Japan??s readiness to increase its international involvement, while on the other hand, the geographical designation remains vague despite Japan??s preoccupation with Asia. This suggests that Asia as Japan??s neighbourhood is considered along with international developments to facilitate the emergence of an ambiguous language for Japanese policy makers as they seek to adapt to changes in the international environment. As such, the term ??Surrounding Areas?? signifies Tokyo??s anxieties in facing up to new challenges, as well as the willingness of the government to enhance Japan??s international role while maintaining its status as a pacifist state.     

‘We Looked after People Better when We Were Informal’: The ‘Quasi-Formalisation’ of Montevideo's Waste-Pickers

Drawing on participatory research, this article explores the state formalisation of Uruguayan clasificadores (waste-pickers). It goes beyond the informal/formal binary, instead proposing the concepts of ‘para-formality’ to describe economic activity that exists in parallel to regulated and taxed spheres, and ‘quasi-formality’ to describe processes of formalisation that are supported by underlying informal practices. When unregulated, clasificadores enjoyed parallel services in health, finance and social security, implying that benefits of ‘formalisation’ must be explored ethnographically rather than assumed. The persistence of ‘quasi-formal’ activity within formalised recycling plants complicates simple narratives of informal to formal transitions and suggests that the concept can be useful for the study of labour policies in Latin America and beyond.     

‘The Right to Live with Dignity’: Politicising Experiences of Precarity through ‘Popular Economy’ in Argentina

This article takes an ethnographic perspective to analyse the ways in which social movements in Buenos Aires, Argentina, politicise experiences of precarity through the creation of popular economy initiatives. I argue that we cannot understand these organising processes exclusively in relation to the pursuit of ‘formalisation’ or the improvement of working conditions. In the context of new forms of State intervention, the notions of ‘rights’—to labour and to the city—that these movements put forward, express ways of envisioning full inclusion in society that encompass notions of worthiness and ‘dignified life’, forged over the course of grassroots political action.     

The ‘Louis XVI of the Turks’: The Character of an Ottoman Sultan

Selim III ruled the Ottoman Empire in the Age of Revolutions, but his rule did not reflect the vigorous, expansionist and aggressive spirit of this age. He more resembled a ruler forced to defend his empire from the turbulence of the age, an effort which also shaped his character and perception of rulership. During his years in royal confinement, he clung passionately to the revival of the warrior-sultan through charismatic leadership. While on the throne, there was a gradual transformation of his perception of rulership and he became satisfied with being the bureaucratic ruler of the empire.     

The ‘heart’ of Eurasia? Kazakhstan's centrally located capital city

In a world still dominated by a geopolitical system of territorial states, one tool in the state- and nation-building repertoire is the strategy of moving a capital from one city to another, and to an ostensibly more ‘central’ location of a geometrically conceived territory. From Ankara to Brasília, the technique has been used in a variety of places around the world, and Kazakhstan's new capital since 1997, Astana, is one more recent iteration. Taking a Foucauldian approach to analysing political technologies of government, the author examines the strategy of the centrally located city and considers how it has been instrumental to simultaneously producing a ‘state effect’ and a ‘territory effect’ in newly independent Kazakhstan. Part of a larger mixed-methods study, this article draws on a diverse range of methods, including data from interviews, participant observation, textual analysis, focus groups and a country-wide survey.