Pilgrimage to Mecca

The February 2009 elections mark a water-shed in Israeli politics and highlight an increasingly rightward drift in Israeli politics: Labour had its worst ever result. The violent intifada shattered belief that negotiations with the Palestinians could ever be successful and the security barrier seemed increasingly necessary if Israel was to remain both Jewish and democratic. The coalition government constructed by Binyamin Netanyahu was carefully balanced and looks durable, the more so as, somewhat surprisingly, it includes Labour and Barak as defence minister. Kadima could face some hard days in opposition unless Netanyahu falls out with Washington, or the coalition collapses.     

粤泰经贸关系:前景与挑战

文章从广东与泰国经贸关系的基础出发,重点分析粤泰经贸的现状和前景,并介绍了在泰国政治危机和全球金融危机双重条件下粤泰经贸关系进一步发展所面临的挑战.     

Hope and reality in Vietnam and Myanmar

When IIPS Senior Research Fellow Hisahiro Kanayama embarked on this project, he found that information on Vietnam and Myanmar was often biased or insufficient. This article is based on a month‐long factfinding trip to Southeast Asia, where he interviewed analysts in government, international organizations, research institutes, and diplomatic circles. Kanayama notes that Vietnam and Myanmar may become—as part of an enlarged ASEAN—a force ranking fourth in regional political clout after the US, Japan and China. Neither excessive expectations nor indifference to neighbors is an appropriate response from Japan, he states. His research was conducted prior to Myanmar's release of Aung San Suu Kyi. The article has since been updated.     

Imperialism and Democracy: Convergence and Divergence

This article explores two models of non-state education provision in Myanmar (Burma), in order to draw conclusions regarding templates for ethnic education regimes in this fast-changing country. Ethnic Armed Groups in Myanmar have developed education systems in the context of long-running armed conflicts. This paper examines two such regimes. Karen communities struggle with few resources to educate their children. Despite great difficulties, the Karen National Union has developed a curriculum based upon one Karen dialect, which is employed in about 1,000 schools. Graduates of this education regime are mostly unable to speak fluent Burmese, or to integrate with the Myanmar tertiary education system; they are orientated towards a Karen national identity, rather than Myanmar citizenship. However, with the beginnings of a substantial peace process, Karen educators will need to re-think their implicitly separatist agenda. A comparative case study is offered by the Mon ethnic minority. The New Mon State Party has had a fragile ceasefire since 1995. Some 270 Mon National Schools provide Mon language instruction at elementary levels, shifting to Burmese at middle school. As the Mon Schools follow the government curriculum, with extra classes in Mon language and history-culture, graduates are able to matriculate and enter the nationwide tertiary education system. We argue that the Mon experience can be a useful model for education reform in a transitional Myanmar, as political and civil society leaders negotiate a more decentralised state.     

广东“东盟战略”及其与新马的经贸合作

广东在中国与东盟的贸易中占有1/3左右的份额,而对这一领域的最新研究还较少,所以有必要从广东"东盟战略"的角度研究其与东盟的两大贸易合作伙伴新加坡和马来西亚的经贸合作.本文首先分析了近年广东与东盟的经贸关系,并在此基础上探讨了如何解读和践行广东的"东盟战略".接着重点分析了广东与新马经贸合作的表现与原因,探讨这种合作对广东与新马合作的意义.最后,在结论部分提出若干促进广东"东盟战略"和推进其与新马经贸合作的建议.     

两岸经贸关系的发展与趋势

经过 2 0多年的发展 ,海峡两岸的经贸往来在各方面都取得了令人瞩目的成就 ,但由于台湾当局的限制 ,两岸经贸关系存在着明显的间接性、单向性和不平衡性。加入 WTO后 ,两岸在开放市场、减少限制上都做出了相应的努力 ,使两岸经贸关系呈现出范围扩大、程度加深和规模增加的趋势 ,同时也出现了诸如贸易争端浮现、人才争夺加剧等问题 ,并面临经济区域化加速的挑战。为了趋利避害 ,促使两岸经贸健康持续地发展 ,两岸有必要建立经济合作机制 ,实现由“功能性合作”向“机制性合作”的转变。     

Income and Wealth Inequality in Nepal, 1996 and 2004: Changes and Socio-demographic,Spatial and Economic Determinants

Micro-data from national surveys indicate that economic inequality remained high and relatively unchanged in Nepal during the middle 1990s and early 2000s. Using household income and wealth as indicators, this study finds that many of the demographic characteristics, such as age, caste, ethnicity and widowhood, determined mostly along traditional social hierarchies, play influential roles in determining inequality in much of Nepal. In urban areas and especially in Kathmandu, however, these factors have proved increasingly less influential, replacing them with such factors as migration, education and labour market participation. These changes highlight the mechanisms through which different social groups are experiencing inequality, with important implications for the much needed economic, social and political stability of the country.     

Corporatism and Democratic Transition: State and Labor During the Salinas and Zedillo Administrations

A long process of free-market reforms and gradual democratization seems to be dismantling Mexico's corporatist system of labor representation. A thorough analysis of the country's corporatist institutions yields theoretical reasons to believe that Mexico's practice of labor relations is indeed changing. An empirical examination of the nation's labor congress and ruling party during the two previous presidential administrations (1988–2000) demonstrates that corporatism is being transformed at a practical level, although the process of reform has been complex and uneven at best. The continuing strength of an officialist labor sector will complicate the task of establishing a new system of labor representation, a problem that may have important implications for future democratic consolidation.