The rise of the Global South,the IMF and the future of Law and Development

Following the onset of the Asian Financial Crisis the world has witnessed a re-accommodation of the global financial system. In the particular case of middle-income countries they have disentangled themselves from the conditionality of the IMF and grown into more assertive actors in international forums, proposing new alternative mechanisms to become more financially independent and for the provision of development assistance. This article critically reviews the new reality by assessing the strategies deployed by developing countries to reduce the IMF’s influence, and explores the potential consequences of the rise of middle-income nations for Law and Development.     

Complex political emergencies and the state: Failure and the fate of the state

It is argued that an understanding of the role and nature of the state and of processes of state collapse are vital for understanding Complex Political Emergencies for various practical reasons and for drawing general lessons from particular experiences: CPEs are often rooted in prior state collapse; humanitarian assistance may have to contend with a fractured, ineffective or nonexistent state; part of post-conflict recovery will involve reconstituting the state. Such lessons can only be generalised where there is some degree of shared context and experience. As a tool for facilitating comparisons of like with like and for understanding the inter-relatedness of several factors, a typology of situations is drawn up on the basis of the state and its dynamics and of the origins, forms and trajectory of the CPE and of interventions into it.     

Using and abusing the concept of the Third World: geopolitics and the comparative political study of development and underdevelopment

This article argues that, while the notion of a ‘Third World’ retains relevance and usefulness in the context of geopolitical analysis, generalisations about Third World politics are no longer helpful or justifiable. It begins by reviewing the historic rationales for the notion of the Third World together with criticisms made of these arguments. It then considers reasons why the term may retain some value at a geopolitical level: in signalling a major axis of inequality, providing a symbolic basis for collective action and, possibly, as an alternative to less attractive perspectives. The article then turns more specifically to the field of comparative politics, suggesting that in the past the notion of a Third World could be justified pragmatically as a response to the insularity of Western political science and because there was, up to a point, a common paradigm of Third World politics. Such justifications have been undermined by the growth in specialist knowledge of individual Third World countries or regions together with increasing differentiation among them.     

奥巴马当选与美国变革

2008年11月5日，耗时近两年的美国总统大选落下帷幕，据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）最新统计，民主党总统候选人奥巴马共获得365张选举人票和53％的普选票，麦凯恩仅获得162张选举人票和46％的普选票；在同时进行的国会两院改选中，民主党分别获得参议院100席中的57席和众议院435席中的255席，继续控制国会且优势进一步扩大，奥巴马高票当选美国第56届总统、第44任总统，将于2009年1月20日正式宣誓就职。本次大选是美国发展到关键阶段举行的具有里程碑意义的历史性选举，     

Descent of the Dollar and Rise of the Rest

Though another Great Depression seems to have been averted for the moment, great geo-economic shifts are in the works as a result of the global meltdown emanating from Wall Street. Four Nobel laureates in economics take a look at where we are headed.     

从宪法性条约到条约性宪法--欧盟宪法的进步与局限

欧盟宪法与以前的欧洲一体化重要条约的区别在于,它已经超越了"宪法性条约"而成为"条约性宪法".欧盟宪法主要是欧洲的联邦主义者借欧盟扩大之机推进欧洲政治一体化的产物.欧盟宪法既有其巨大进步的一面,也有其难以克服的局限性一面.相比于现实意义,欧盟宪法的象征意义更大.欧盟宪法在批准过程中遇到的挫折是可以克服的,但是欧盟领导人不应当把一体化仅仅当作目的,而忽略其他对欧洲前途来说更重要的政治任务.     

互联网普及对青少年健康成长的消极影响与对策

计算机国际互联网的发展,给人类社会带来积极效应的同时,其消极影响也越来越引起人们的关注。本文着重分析网络普及对青少年的消极影响,探求原因并提出相应对策。     

热话题与冷思考(二十三)--关于时代发展与政党现代化的一些思考

早在1996年,您就在<政党的危机--国外政党运行机制研究>一书中提出:"政党政治进一步现代化的问题已经提上日程."现在越来越多的人关注"政党现代化"这个问题,但在那时人们对"政党现代化"这个词还相当陌生,所以您的提法应该说十分"前卫".那么,您当时是如何考虑这个问题的呢?     

台湾贫富分化的实像与虚像

进入转型期以来,台湾贫富分化呈现出扩大的趋势。但是检视台湾贫富分化的数据可以发现,台湾贫富差距的客观状态并不严重,相反则是台湾民众对贫富分化的感受远远超过其客观事实。台湾贫富分化这种主观感受与客观状态不匹配的状况不仅是民进党“阶级论述”中对贫富分化议题宣传操纵的结果,更重要的它还是台湾各种经济社会矛盾在台湾民众生活感受中的综合体现。因此,即使抛开政治因素,台湾贫富分化问题也值得台湾当局予以深度重视。     

Political Symbolism and the Fall of the USSR

When Gorbachev came to power he inherited not simply a system in crisis, but a structure of symbols that was embedded within the broader political system and which was also in crisis. Given the ideocratic nature of the Soviet system, any change to that system would require symbolic change as well. This essay charts how Gorbachev sought to come to grips with this problem, investing some symbols with new meaning while rejecting others. It shows how ultimately he was unable to produce a new, coherent narrative.     

Ad-hocracy and the future of the civil service

Negative attitudes of citizes toward bureaucrats, the growing attention to contracting out and privatization, and the increasing sense of professionalism among public sector employees will shape the future of the civil service. The need to employ technocrats in order to carry out mission that are growing in complexity requires new organizational arrangements. For some agencies Alvin Toffler's idea of ad-hocracy may be the basis for such new arrangements.     

China's Stimulus and the Fall of the Dollar

As British Prime Minister Gordon Brown notes in this section, we are witnessing the birth pangs of a new global order in this deepest financial and economic crash since the Great Depression. There will be plenty of pain all around for a while. And when the quarter-century leveraged-debt bubble of the United States—the explosion of which detonated the crash—is finally unwound, the new global balance will favor an Asia flush with cash. The G-20 will replace the G-7 as the executive committee of globalization. And, if wise leadership stays the course, there will be a "green lining" to the recovery as the fiscal stimulus is imbued with an environmental sensibility.     

悖论与反正：论未成年人的教育改造——兼评教育刑的否证性

未成年人作为特殊的主体类群，需要从行为人角度予以区别对待，其特殊性决定了对未成年人教育改造是整个刑事程序的根本性原则。该原则的产生有自己的多元理论基础，但是面对现实的社会背景和刑罚理论，教育改造原则又存在相当多的悖论。在承认这一原则的基本前提之下，从刑罚目的辩证性认识的角度出发，以非犯罪化一非监禁刑一社区矫正——前科刑消灭制度进行层次性推进，从而对未成年人的教育改造原则进行反正和解读是我们的应有选择。     

Role and place of the parliament of Kazakhstan in the system of checks and balances

This article examines the system of checks and balances in post-Soviet Kazakhstan in general and the role of the Parliament of Kazakhstan in that system in particular. As opposed to the scientific mainstream in Kazakhstan which explains established system of checks and balances as a result of formal constitutional reforms, this article undertakes broader analytical framework and examines the system of checks and balances in Kazakhstan taking into account a correlation of formal and informal practices. The goal of the article is to show that in post-Soviet Kazakhstan the separation of powers is established without proper checks and balances. The inference drawn from the article is that the separation of powers in Kazakhstan is blocked by the strong constitutional and informal powers of the President, which allows him to control and interfere in affairs of all branches of power.     

Propaganda and the Question of Criminal Intent; the Semantics of the Zachistka

This article seeks to explore the origins and evolution of zachistka (‘cleansing’) and the particular role it played in the second Chechen war of 1999–2005. It argues that zachistka has become part of state, military and media representations of violence, building a psychological environment in favour of war. The article seeks to understand how the propaganda of the Russian Ministry of Defence might have contributed to the perpetuation of war crimes or incitement to atrocity crimes in the region.