The Doha Development Agenda: Reflections on the Road Ahead

From 9 to 14 November 2001, Qatar hosted the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a new trade round, the successor to the Uruguay round, was successfully launched in Doha. This was by no means a foregone conclusion and was a major feat. The outcome of the Doha Ministerial Conference was in doubt until the very end. Failure at Doha to resolve the issues left over from the inconclusive Seattle Ministerial Conference of 1999 would have seriously weakened the WTO and threatened the future of the multilateral trading system. In this article, WTO Director-General Mike Moore, describes the steps taken in a more transparent and inclusive preparatory process for the Doha meeting and the key achievements of the new round--the Doha Development Agenda. He concludes that as a ''member-driven'' organization, all WTO members share joint responsibility for a successful and inclusive multilateral trading system and describes the current preparations being made for the conclusion of the new round by the three-year time-frame, as agreed by ministers.     

Yunnan,China: minority peoples observed

An account of the time which the author spent among the Iban more than 30 years ago. He describes the customs, festivals and way of life of a people who were still headhunters in recent memory. More particularly he explains how people who lived in longhouses the way their ancestors had lived were slowly brought to change their traditional beliefs, thus enabling development to take place.     

The New Cabinet Crisis Management Center and the Leadership of the Prime Minister

In May 2001, a cabinet crisis management center was set up below the prime minister's new official residence. It is from here that Japan's national crises are now to be managed. In an era of constant flux, questions over the circumstances surrounding Japan's strategic security are being raised. Clearly, the structure of crisis management and legislation are crucial for a nation'ssecurity. In this article, Lt. Gen. Toshiyuki Shikata of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (retired) and professor of Law at Teikyo University, examines 30 international and domestic crises that Japan had to deal with in which the leadership of the prime minister determined the outcome. He describes the history of Japanese crisis management, pointing out the current problems and argues that in a post-Cold War era, Japan needs to confront the discrepancies in the structure of its security if it wishes to become a credible member of the international community.     

Globalization and the Growth in Free Trade Agreements

In this article, Professor Shujiro Urata of the School of Social Sciences at Waseda University and of the Research Institute for Economy, Trade and Industry, gives an overview of the various types of regional trade agreements (RTAs), and examines the background to the growing trend towards regionalism in the 1990s. Focussing on the surge in free trade agreements (FTA), he explains why FTAs have become more popular than multilateral trade liberalization under the WTO. He describes the different types and characteristics of RTAs, the economic effects of FTAs including the static and dynamic effects, and their significance for the global and Japanese economies. He concludes that if Japan does not actively participate in FTAs, and instead chooses to ''cherry pick'' from the full range of agenda items, there is a danger that it will not be considered by other countries as a worthwhile FTA partner. If so, Japan will suffer the consequences of being excluded from other FTAs.     

Weapons of Mass Destruction: Major Wars,Regional Conflicts,and Terrorism

The twentieth century saw the creation and development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD): nuclear, chemical, and biological. In the following article, Ryukichi Imai, distinguished research fellow at the Institute for International Policy Studies and visiting professor at Kyorin University, Japan, describes the history of WMD and the international treaties that have been negotiated on their non-proliferation. He focuses on the history of the nuclear bomb from its first tests, to the nuclear arms race and the subsequent deterrence. He goes on to examine the issues surrounding the nuclear hot-spots of South Asia and North Korea, as well as the feasibility and effects of chemical and biological weapons. He argues that the suicide plane attacks on 11 September changed the very concept of WMD and that any future threat of a mass destruction is likely to come from terrorists beyond the reach of governments.     

Les députés du Territoire d'Otrante au parlement napolitain de 1820–1821

SUMMARY

In this article, Éric Anceau examines the coup d'État of 2 December 1851, which was carried out by the President of the French Republic at the time, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, against the Legislative Assembly. By viewing the coup from the parliamentary side and by using the method of prosopography, the author reevaluates an apparently well-known period, while refraining from partisan judgements and hasty generalizations. In the first part, the author analyses the immediate and contrasted reactions of the 741 parliamentarians to the coup. He then describes their negotiations and alignments. He finally shows the consequences for the parliamentarians of their different attitudes towards the coup: active support, acceptance, total abstention (a stance chosen by approximately a fifth of them) or outright resistance. In fact, Éric Anceau shows the great variety of their responses. Nevertheless he underlines the undecided, wait-and-see and pragmatic attitude chosen by most of the representatives. He concludes by mentioning the long-lasting consequences of the coup on the relationship between the new regime and the former Assembly representatives.     

PERSIA THROUGH WRITERS' EYES

This article examines the experiences of Persia of four British writers, whose travels were spread over the nineteenth century. David Blow describes, and quotes extensively from, their published works. He begins with Captain John Malcolm, who first visited Persia as a diplomatic envoy in 1800, then turns to the archaeologist, Henry Layard, who spent months with the semi-nomadic tribes in south-west Persia in1840/1841. Blow then relates the journeys of Isabella Bishop through western Persia which took place in 1889. Coincidentally this was almost at the same time as the journey to Persia of Lord Curzon, whose great work Persia and the Persia Question, crowns all 19th century writing on Persia. This is the edited text of the lecture which he gave to the Society on 21st May 2008.     

一本向“禁忌”挑战的书——评三岛由纪夫《禁色》

三岛由纪夫的《禁色》公然“以男色作为小说的主题”,大胆挑战“禁忌”。其意义在于拓宽了文学的表现领域,深化了对病态心理的研究,颠覆了传统的价值观念。     

A US Security Approach in the Asia-Pacific Region in the Age of Globalization

Globalization has not produced a safer world. Rather, there have been occasions when the tools of globalization have been misappropriated for the opposite purpose. The most gruesome example of which was the terrorist act of 11 September. Its impact was shocking and the tremors are still being felt. In this article, Lt. Gen. H.C. Stackpole, U.S.M.C. (retired), president of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, examines the impact of globalization on the Asia-Pacific region and its security landscape. He focuses on the implications for security in Northeast Asia and in particular, on the challenges facing the US- Japan alliance as well as the perceptions that South Korea, China and Japan have of the US. He concludes that multilateral efforts are essential to deal with the shift in security paradigm.     

Abdürreşid İbrahim's journey to China: Muslim communities in the late Qing as seen by a Russian-Tatar intellectual

An eminent Russian-Tatar alim (a scholar, or an intellectual) and Pan-Islamist known for his role as a collaborator in Japan's Islamic campaigns in the first half of the 20th century, Abdürre?id ?brahim went on a grand tour of Eurasia from 1907 to 1909. This article focuses on his journey to China in the late Qing by drawing mainly on his travel book Âlem-i ?slâm, in which he describes China's politics, society, economy and culture, as well as the Muslims dwelling there, anticipating that Chinese Muslims would join in an alliance with Japan to form an anti-imperialist corridor. In general, ?brahim succeeded in enjoying Muslims' favour in Beijing, lamenting the place of Islam in China while also being scathingly critical of its practice. He was invited to Japan again in the 1930s and played an important role in drawing foreign Muslims' attention to Japan.     

Launch of the centenary history of the society: 13 November 2002

Michael Rank is a graduate in Chinese from Downing College, Cambridge University. He also studied at Beijing University and Fudan University, Shanghai in the mid-1970s. He was a journalist in China in the early 1980s and visited Tibet in 1983. He is now a Chinese–English translator and freelance journalist. His interest in ornithology also drew him to Ludlow and to do research on his life.     

Social Development in the Gezira Scheme

Mr. Beer is Social Development Officer of the Sudan Gesira Scheme.He gave the address which follows at a joint meeting of theRoyal African and Royal Empire Societies on July 22. He wasintroduced by Mr. Arthur Gaitskell, C.M.G., who presided.     

The IT Revolution in Japan: Past,Present and Future

Despite phenomenal mobile telephone sales and a reputation for technological innovation, Japan lags behind many other countries in the application of IT technology. In part, this may be attributed to a telecommunications industry which lacks competition, with a conventional corporate culture; but this is insufficient to explain all the factors behind Japan'slackluster performance. In the following article, Shinji Fukukawa, CEO of the Dentsu Institute for Human Studies, describes the history of IT in Japan and makes an international comparison of the development of IT. He argues that unless Japan manages to catch-up quickly with those IT-proficient countries, it may be too late and she will be left behind. Nevertheless, the future is not bleak, and if vital policy measures are implemented; the markets deregulated; the corporate culture changed; and societal knowledge of IT improved; Japan may still succeed in the IT revolution.     

李穑与《论语》在高丽末期的传播

高丽末期著名学者李穑入主成均馆之后,积极推广朱子学说,研读、讲授《论语》等经典。他还为国王讲授《论语》,并创作了富有特色的《论语》"经筵诗",他的其他诗文也大量引用了《论语》,理学意味很浓厚。由于李穑的这些努力,《论语》的传播随着性理学的发展而呈现出了新的面貌,其在高丽末期政治、文化生活中也发挥了积极的作用。     

Understanding Chinese Economy Accurately—John Wong and His China Research

How and to what extent can China be more accurately understood? Is China best understood as it is or through theories that appear to reveal its nature? John Wong is an example of the former approach, a pursuer of economic realism in the discipline of economic analysis. This paper first describes John Wong’s conceptual model of Chinese economic development, which consists of three major components: Singapore as the reference point; economic scale as the first adjusted variable; and economic development phase as the second variable. The paper further explores sources of his choice of methodology through the positionality of his research. He cannot be neatly categorized in any existing school of economic analysis of the Western academic tradition but pursues his accurate understanding of China through pragmatism; his institutionalized research position constitutes the methodological foundation for his research strategy and conceptual framework.     

The Problem of African Advancement on the Copperbelt of Northern Rhodesia

The following is an address which was given by Mr. R. L. Prainat a joint meeting of the Royal African Society with the RoyalEmpire Society. He is Chairman of the Rhodesian Selection Trust,which controls the mines at Luanshya and Mufulira.     

Über Sklaverei,Rassismus und die Segmentierung der Gesellschaft. Tocquevilles Analyse sozialer Ausgrenzung in der Demokratie

In Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville gives an explanation why the liberation of slaves was promoted in the northern states of the US in the Jackson era and why, nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of the blacks still remained excluded from society. He thoroughly describes the different forms of social distinction that enabled the Whites to maintain social hierarchies, even if the legal barriers fall. Not only privileges, educational differences and lifestyles create social hierarchies, but also language, taste and an awareness of tradition. Tocqueville clarifies these manners of boundary making on a concrete example: the attitude of the white Americans towards labor. The paper presents Tocqueville’s differentiated picture of those hidden social mechanisms that preserved and even intensified the existing social differences.     

Malaysia: the making of a grand design

Anthony Stockwell is Professor of Imperial and Commonwealth History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He was President of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2002–2003 and is currently a Vice-President. His publications include British Policy and Malay Politics during the Malayan Union Experiment (1979) and, as editor, British Documents on End of Empire: Malaya, 1942–1957 (three parts, 1995). He has been joint editor of the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History since 1990. This is a version of a lecture delivered to the Royal Society for Asian Affairs on 26 February 2003.     

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and the Turks

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was a pioneer of higher education for the Muslims of India after political power passed to the British in the nineteenth century. He was a leader who foresaw with clarity that Hindus and Muslims were bound to seek separate national destinies after the British left India. After the collapse of their own empire, the Indian Muslims aligned themselves with the Ottoman Turks and Sir Syed therefore deliberately chose Turkish models for educational, cultural and even sartorial reform. He was loyal to British rule in India mainly because, though it subdued all Indians, it simultaneously prevented the Hindu domination of Muslims.