The controversy over the delimitationof the Turco-Syrian frontier in the period between the two world wars

The main objective of this study is to analyze the effects of discourse in the production of designed landscapes within the urban environment. The study concentrates on the social construction of space within the framework of Lefebvre's spatialization trilogy and Foucault's approach to power in order to investigate a public park as a tool for studying the emergence of order and power relationships in society. In this work, Lefebvre's ‘spatial practice’ concept was considered a ‘discursive practice’ providing a conceptual ground for the discussion of the problem. Additionally, Lefebvre's definition of spatialization is reconceptualised along with Foucault's notions of power, knowledge and discourse. The problem is studied in reference to Atatürk Park in Bal?kesir, a small city and regional capital located in the western part of Turkey. Through the discourse of the modernization process, how Atatürk Park as an urban space been socially constructed has been described and analyzed.     

Media in the Western Balkans: who controls the past controls the future

ABSTRACT

The contribution assesses the role of the media in respect to democratization and EU accession in the countries of the Western Balkans (WB) and the development of press freedom over the long run. The author closely analyses the legislative framework and its implementation in practice and focuses in particular on the economic and political pressure on the media in the region. The article offers three arguments to explain the bad shape of media freedom in the Balkans: structural factors (state advertisements as the main source of income, economic tycoons close to incumbents as media owners), proximate or external factors (the deteriorating level of media freedom in some EU countries and the whole WB region, with an accent on stability rather than democracy) and political-societal dynamics (defamation and libel as means to punish journalists, verbal and physical assaults on journalists). The media in the WB region do not serve as the watchdog of democracy but are instead used as a means to reinforce illiberal regimes.     

A Tale of Two Councils. Explaining the Weakness of the SVP in the Upper House of the Federal Parliament

The SVP is the strongest party in the National Council, but the weakest among governmental parties in the Council of States. This article analyses possible explanations for this surprising difference by combining macro‐level information on electoral results and data from recent election studies. The results presented show that the weakness of the SVP in the Council of States is due neither to its decision to compete only in selected constituencies, nor to “mechanical” effects of the electoral system. Rather, this weakness is explained both by the strategic behaviour of voters, who avoid “wasting” their vote in the majoritarian election of the Council of States, and by incumbency effects. The SVP is further disadvantaged by its ideological position, as its candidates have more difficulty gathering the majority of votes required for election in the Council of States than do, for instance, those of the centre‐right parties.     

In the Eye of the Storm: The Italian Economy and the Eurozone Crisis

Abstract

The eurozone crisis had a more significant and longer-lasting impact on Italy than on virtually any other member state, with the effects still visible a decade after. The extent of the shock was surprising in view of progress Italy had apparently made in the 1990s in terms of enhancing its capacity to meet the demands of European Monetary Union. The explanation for this traumatic economic experience lies in Italy’s deep, long-term, structural tensions which were placed under severe pressure during the 1990s and which were cracked open by the 2011 sovereign debt crisis. These have had long-standing economic effects as well as political ramifications in terms of a significant change in the Italy–EU relationship.     

China and Vietnam on the road to the market

Adopting an analytical approach grounded in the literature on the impact of industrial relations (IR) systems on foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions, this article assesses the workplace practices in Hong Kong-invested garment factories in the regulated IR system in Cambodia. Cambodia opened up FDI in 1993. The country has attracted FDI in light manufacturing, mainly in the export-orientated garment and footwear sectors. The USA is the largest trade partner of Cambodia in garment exports because of a unique agreement, US-Cambodia Trade Agreement on Textile and Apparel. The Agreement granted a quota for Cambodian garment export in return for better compliance with international labour standards. The trade agreement and private sector initiatives have combined to bring about a “labour advantage” in Cambodia. This labour advantage will continue to be its competitive edge in a post-Multifibre Agreement world, and other developing countries may well follow Cambodia's model.     

Causes of the Collapse of the USSR

The paper studies Russia's Ukraine policy since the Orange Revolution. Russia's policy toward its western neighbor has evolved from unhappy relations with Victor Yushchenko to rapprochement with Victor Yanukovich and then confrontation over the revolutionary power change in Kiev in February 2014. The paper argues that Vladimir Putin's actions following February revolution in Kiev demonstrate both change and continuity in Russia's foreign policy. Although these actions constituted a major escalation, relative to Russia's previous behavior toward Ukraine, the escalation of relations with Kiev also reflected a broader policy pattern of Russia's assertive relations with the Western nations adopted by the Kremlin since the mid-2000s. What made Russia's conflict with Ukraine possible, even inevitable, was the West's lack of recognition for Russia's values and interests in Eurasia, on the one hand, and the critically important role that Ukraine played in the Kremlin's foreign policy calculations, on the other. The paper provides an empirically grounded interpretation of Russia's changing policy that emphasizes Russia–Ukraine–West interaction and a mutually reinforcing dynamics of their misunderstanding. It also addresses four alternative explanations of Russia's Ukraine policy and discusses several dangers and possible solutions to the crisis.     

Feudalism in the Service of the Revolution

This article discusses the way the past is being reexamined in modern-day Vietnam, particularly through the medium of heritage. Hue, the old royal capital of Vietnam, provides the case study, as this city reflects the great themes and events of Vietnamese history over the last two hundred years, from the establishment of a unified nation under the Nguyen, through the imposition of colonial control, the devastation of war, reunification, and the establishment of communism, to the consolidation of an independent postcolonial nation. The importance of Hue's heritage is recognized in its status as a “world heritage” site. The author argues that Hue's heritage is, nevertheless, problematic for Vietnam's ruling communists, because to them it largely represents a regime—the Nguyen Dynasty—that was “reactionary” and that had sold out the country to the French. The apparent contradiction between the standard communist view of the Nguyen past and the value accorded to Nguyen heritage in Hue is resolved, the author contends, by recourse to the depoliticized practices of heritage preservation and tourist promotion.     

Changing Israeli perceptions of the relations with the International Committee of the Red Cross in the wake of the June 1967 war: from coexistence to open hostility

Abstract

Since 1948/1949 The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been synonymous in the Arab–Israeli context with processes of exchanging prisoners and caring for human lives. After the 1967 war the ICRC changed in status from that of a mediator to that of the executive arm of larger forces. The processes leading to the partial demise of the ICRC are clearly identified in retrospect. It has to do with the asymmetry of perceptions between Israel and the organisation. Israel did not agree to the application of the Fourth Convention in the territories. The ICRC believed that this population fell under the Convention and therefore under the ICRC. Furthermore, the ICRC failed in getting the Israeli POWs back home, especially after the conclusion of the War of Attrition in 1970. The resulting feelings eliminated in the Israeli decision makers' minds the role that the ICRC saw for itself in future POW exchange deals. After the 1973 war the ICRC would lose its position as a negotiator, leaving that arena to other international actors.     

Power of the law or power of the sword: the conflictive relationship between the executive and the legislative in nineteenth-century Peru

ABSTRACT

The Peruvian parliament was a central institution in the early republic, but so far very little has been written on its history. This is due to the fact that military leaders took control of power for most of the nineteenth century. This article reflects on three main questions: what was the role of the legislative in nineteenth-century Peru? What was its relationship with the executive power? And what part did conflict play in these relationships? Most initial congresses were tasked with writing up constitutions, because institutions had to be created, and there was a strong belief that having a written charter mattered. The strongmen who took power felt the need to obtain legitimacy from both constitutions, and elections, but often did not see eye to eye with congress. This led congress to be closed, particularly when legislators refused to bow down to presidential power.     

'Concentric Circles' at the Periphery of the European Union

After World War II when the governments of several European states attempted to form supranational groupings, colonial obligations posed problems that persist to this day. The article traces immediate postwar history, outlining the present relationship between the EC institutions and what remain of member-state Empires, before proceeding to two case studies. The first concerns the ramifications of 'Euroland' in present or past dependencies after European Monetary Union. The second considers the role of European dependencies in military alliances and analyses how one of the founding Treaties was used in the mid-1990s after the discovery that it applied extra-territorially. The conclusion is that the external border of multi-speed Europe is even more variable than it might otherwise be because of the attachments some member states retain to colonial remnants.     

Recreating the past in the ornamentation of stately homes and the leisure activities conducted within them: the Duchess of Parcent as a case study for the Spanish aristocracy in the early twentieth century

This paper attempts to vindicate the part played by certain Spanish aristocratic women in the management, conservation, and transmission of their artistic patrimony in the decades around the turn of the twentieth century by creating art collections and displaying them in their own homes. The works were exhibited in rooms that were decorated and furnished to suggest historical ambiences in which French trends rubbed shoulders with styles that had been developed in Spain throughout its history, turning their homes into devices that recreated past times. Similarly, retrospective views of Spanish art were the focus of leisure and entertainment activities driven by ladies from the upper echelons of society through the performance of tableaux vivants. The focus of this study will be Trinidad Scholtz Hermensdorff, Duchess of Parcent.     

The financial autonomy of the municipalities and the Valencian Parliament

SUMMARY

In the first half of the fourteenth century and on countless occasions, the Crown granted the leaders of the City of Valencia authorization to collect indirect taxes as a means of collecting the subsidies allocated to its military needs. The ratification of fiscal autonomy can be related to the Crown's interest in gaining control of municipal resources as a way of demanding donations in order to accomplish its policies.

The main reason for the royal privilege to raise taxes in favour of the cities was the extensive expenses caused by the conquest of Corsica and Sardinia during the reign of James II. The Kingdom and the city of Valencia came to the aid of the monarch because they were interested in trading with Sicily and these two islands were impeding trade routes. To make things easier, Alfonso IV granted them a privilege to levy taxes on the grain and meat trades and on merchant shipping within the municipal territory of the city of Valencia. The municipal tax on meat and grain was used as a model for the tax approved in the Cortes of 1329, extending it to exports everywhere in the Kingdom of Valencia. The tax approved by these Cortes, agreed in order to collect the subsidy offered to the monarch, was the first general tax validated in the Cortes following the model of the exisiting municipal tax. To mark the occasion of the war against Castile, Peter IV took a decisive step in 1363 and extended the capacity to levy taxes to all royal towns and cities. The municipalities turned indirect taxation into one of the basic pillars of their economy.     

美国并吞菲律宾过程中在香港之部署——以美国领事活动为中心

香港沦为殖民地后,美国在港活动愈趋频繁。时至美西战争前夕,美国驻香港总领事的委任及其活动为美国军事行动提供了重要支援;在港英当局奥援下,美国方面对菲律宾香港委员会开展舆论、情报及司法等斗争,并思考战后如何利用华人开发菲岛;为策应香港部署,广州、上海、新加坡与马尼拉等地美国领事与香港展开合作,加速并吞菲律宾。上述行动构成美国在东南亚扩张的重要环节,香港成为美国在远东扩张之战略要点,是菲岛以外不见硝烟的"战场"。     

重温20世纪80年代美国学界有关“美国衰落论”的争论——兼及当下的“美国衰落论”

本文对美国学界始于20世纪80年代关于美国是否衰落所引发的辩论进行了分析介绍,特别对其中具有代表性意义的两位学者——美国衰落论的主张者保罗.肯尼迪与美国复兴论的倡导者约瑟夫.奈——的观点进行了分析对比,并就此次辩论对于我们如何看待今天美国的力量状况,以及当下的美国衰落论等问题提出了自己的看法。文章认为,此次辩论所涉及的一系列理论性问题——历史类比方法的适用性问题,如何看待历史发展的延续与变化之间的关系问题,如何量度一国之力量问题,硬权力与软权力的关系问题,文化与文明因素在国际政治中的影响与作用等问题——在今天依然具有一定的学术与社会价值,值得继续关注。     

欧洲议会中的主要竞争层面

欧洲议会政治与传统的国家议会政治有很大的不同,相对于成员国国内政治来说,欧洲议会中的政治内容更加复杂,竞争层面更加多样。理解欧洲议会中的竞争层面是理解欧盟政治的一个重要步骤。本文第一部分大致勾勒了这一议题现有的研究成果;第二部分详细阐述了政治科学领域中学者的观点,即"左-右分野"是欧洲议会中的主要竞争层面,而"支持一体化—反对一体化"竞争层面也存在于欧洲议会之中,且与第一个竞争层面相关联;第三部分选取"港口服务指令"立法的失败作为案例进一步证明"左-右分野"是欧洲议会中的主要竞争层面。     

Behind China and the west: Rules of the game

The article explains the true conflicts behind Sino-Western confrontations in the post-Cold War era. It analyses Sino-Western conflicts from a variety of perspectives. The main argument, as well as conclusion of this article, is that the problems in China-Western relations, especially in Sino-U.S. relations, are not democracy or human rights per se, but China’s emerging power and its challenge to the established rules and structures of the international system. The accommodation of China, trade and weapon technology issues are more important than China’s human rights. Promotion of democracy and human rights is a utility to counter the Chinese challenge and threat.     

Elite intransigence and the end of the Berlin Wall

The impact of ruling‐class obstinacy on the East German revolution of 1989 remains insufficiently explored, despite the numerous studies that now exist of that autumn. This intransigence, when set in the context of the year's events, is shown to have been a key factor in promoting protest and accelerating the collapse of the GDR rulers’ authority. The stubbornness and its effects became especially clear in an examination of the SED ‘s incompetent handling of travel and emigration law reform. This reform, intended to be only superficial, was so badly mismanaged that it produced the accidental opening of the Berlin Wall.     

Changing Emphases in the Activities of the Australian State

Paul Patton and Dianne Austin, eds, Transformations in Australian Society
Paul James, ed., The State in Question
Liz Young, Minor Parties … Minor Players: The Senate, the Minor Parties and the 1993 Budget
Gianni Zappala, Four Weddings, A Funeral and A Family Reunion: Ethnicity and Representation in Australian Federal Politics     

清代东南亚国家贡象研究

清代东南亚国家有向中国进贡驯象的惯例。这些驯象进入中国境内后按照固定的线路行走,到达北京后,由清廷专设的驯象所进行管理。居住在宣武门内的象房里的大象,得到管理人员的精细照顾,主要被清廷当做礼仪大象使用。19世纪中后期,随着越南、缅甸被西方国家占领,东南亚国家停止了向中国进贡驯象。