Are We Concerned Yet? Environmental Crisis and Economic Development in China; China on the Edge: The Crisis of Ecology and Development,by He Baochuan; China's Environmental Crisis: An Inquiry into the Limits of National Development,by Vaclav Smil

Abstract

The storyline of China's late imperial and modern history typically revolves around questions of economic development: Was China's economy in the late imperial period developing on its own? If so, what is the evidence? If not, why not? What impact did imperialism have? What have been the developmental strategies of the People's Republic of China (PRC), and how successful have they been? Regardless of whether or not the scholar pursuing these questions is a Marxist (of whatever flavor) or neo-Smithian economist working for the World Bank, development remains at the core of the inquiry and is its central problematic.     

J.B. Jeyaretnam: Three decades as Lee Kuan Yew's bête noir

Abstract

J.B. Jeyaretnam was Singapore's most celebrated opposition leader when his career came to an abrupt end in 2001, but he is better known for the injustices he has suffered at the hands of the People's Action Party regime than for anything he has achieved or said. Bankrupted, imprisoned, deprived of his livelihood and expelled from Parliament twice, he has acquired the aura of martyrdom, yet little is known about his life, his ideas or his motivations. Drawing on interview and archival research, this article studies him with a view to better understanding both the man himself and — probably of greater significance — what his experience can tell us about the dynamics of the Singapore policy.

Why did he enter opposition politics and keep coming back for more in the face of persecution? Why did the government set out to destroy him with such vehemence? What does this tell us about the limits of political tolerance in Singapore, both today and in the past? What lessons can other opposition figures learn from his experience? And why has Jeyaretnam been treated so harshly while the government nurtures some other opposition MPs as responsible and courteous players?     

Pinyin Roumaji to Wade-Giles conversion table

Abstract

Ben Kiernan and Chanthou Boua, in collaboration with numerous Khmer people, have produced a unique, scholarly volume about Kampuchea that endeavors to answer the critical question of “why?” What are the events that precipitated the rule of the Khmer Rouge and why did they turn against their own people? This book is a collection of well-documented essays, arranged in chronological order, that examines the long-term, endemic conditions that resulted in Kampuchea's dark age of 1975–79. Much of the work was translated from original Khmer sources, and two of the Kampuchean writers, Hou Yuon and Hu Nim, were prominent socialists who were executed by the Khmer Rouge after 1975. Well-known and sometimes obscure events are described through the eyes of witnesses interviewed in Kampuchea, Thailand, Australia and France. This book is not a diatribe against the unspeakable horrors that befell the Kampuchean people. The facts have their own grim eloquence.     

An “Assertive” China? Insights from Interviews

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of a more assertive China. What happened to China's “peaceful rise” and “charm offensive”? What explains the changes in China's foreign policy? According to interviews with Beijing and Shanghai-based analysts, China's assertiveness between 2008 and 2010 can be divided into two waves, each triggered by a different cause. The first wave seems triggered by a sense in Beijing that Washington, DC was more differential to China's interests, and less committed to East Asia. The second wave seems best explained as China's response to what it perceived as a far more assertive and threatening United States. Both waves were amplified by two domestic challenges: Chinese leaders’ hypersensitivity to popular nationalism and poor bureaucratic coordination among an expanding number of foreign policy actors.     

The Greening of the Brass: Taiwan's Civil–Military Relations since 2000 1

Abstract

Since the Democratic Progressive Party's stunning victory in the 2000 presidential election, Chen Shui-bian has accelerated the process of creating an officer corps without strong party inclination toward the KMT. What is the impact of Taiwan's democratization on its civil–military relations? What is the prospect of transitioning from a party-army to a “national army”? Will the DPP's zealous advocacy for Taiwan's independence be incompatible with the military's long-held belief in “China-centered” nationalism, straining relations between the military and the new administration? The analyses, implications, and conclusions of this study will shed light on the general role of the military in Taiwan's democratic transition and consolidation.     

Under the conflicting pressures of the ideals of the era and the burdens of history: Ethnic relations in Estonia, 1918–1925

Abstract

One of the many challenges that Estonia faced when it gained independence was the minority question. The history of certain minorities, above all that of the Baltic Germans, has already been studied fairly intensively. Nevertheless, the scope of all previous studies has been rather narrow (the position of a single minority). This article traces the history of all ethnic minorities in Estonia and views them from a broader perspective. Answers are sought to the following questions: What were the ethnic relations like in Estonia in 1918–1925? Why were they so? Did they change in the course of time? The article is based on the systematic study of Estonian press and archival sources. It constitutes an expanded version of the conclusion of the author's Finnish-language monograph Ajan ihanteiden ja historian rasitteiden ristipaineissa: Viron etniset suhteet vuosina 1918–1925.     

Unwelcomed? The Effects of Statelessness on Involuntary Refugee Repatriation in Bangladesh and Myanmar

ABSTRACT

Refugees are among the most vulnerable populations, often denied rights of residency, treated as hostile intruders, even forced into unsafe camps. This has been particularly true of the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority group which has fled Myanmar by the hundreds of thousands since 2012. Having found little refuge in Bangladesh, the group faces growing fears of involuntary repatriation. This is not the first time that the group has faced forced repatriation. What explains the shortcomings of past repatriations and why does the cycle persist? This paper contends that statelessness is a contributing factor in the continual failure of repatriation processes. An examination of the 1992–1997 repatriation of Rohingya refugees reveals that the condition of statelessness can undermine safeguards often granted to refugees, decrease incentives for refugees to return, and impair opportunities for long-term solutions, while exacerbating state and human security issues. An illustrative case of successful refugee repatriation in Angola suggests that the absence of statelessness can improve prospects for successful repatriation.     

My Business Pays Me: Labourers and Entrepreneurs Among the Self–Employed Poor in Latin America

Are the independent economic activities of poor people “petty commodity production”—an informal way to earn a subsistence wage? Or are they “microentrepreneurship”, a launching point for capital accumulation and growth? This paper draws on fieldwork in Bolivia, Peru and Guatemala, focusing specifically on the poorest businesses. In–depth interviews indicate that even the smallest–scale producers, merchants and service providers have goals of “improving” their business and “growing” their capital, not unlike their capitalist counterparts. Yet, while growth is desirable, maintaining one's business as a steady source of income is a sufficient achievement for many. Poor self–employed people are both “labourers” and “entrepreneurs”; the key macro–level question becomes, not “Do petty–commodity producers have different goals than capitalist entrepreneurs”, but “What resources are lacking, and what obstacles exist, that keep many microentrepreneurs in low–yield activities, with little opportunity to grow their resources?”     

Compulsory Voting and Income Inequality: Evidence for Lijphart's Proposition from Venezuela

What difference does it make if the state makes people vote? The question is central to normative debates about the rights and duties of citizens in a democracy, and to contemporary policy debates in a number of Latin American countries over what actions states should take to encourage electoral participation. Focusing on a rare case of abolishing compulsory voting in Venezuela, this article shows that not forcing people to vote yielded a more unequal distribution of income. The evidence supports Arend Lijphart's claim, advanced in his 1996 presidential address to the American Political Science Association, that compulsory voting can offset class bias in turnout and, in turn, contribute to the equality of influence.     

The Power of Prestige: Explaining China’s Nuclear Weapons Decisions

ABSTRACT

The majority of the nuclear proliferation literature is dedicated to understanding why states acquire nuclear weapons. While this question remains important, it is also advantageous to push beyond this inquiry to ask what motivates a state’s nuclear decisions after acquisition. Recent research indicates that a state’s nuclear force structure is heavily influenced by its threat environment. But what explains decisions relating to specific nuclear weapon systems? If security is a sufficient explanatory variable, then why would a state pursue nuclear weapons with high development and production costs but relatively low security gains? Using China as a case study, this article explores the power of prestige in explaining such decisions.     

The Limits of Civil Society in Democratic Indonesia: Media Freedom and Religious Intolerance

Abstract

Indonesian democracy has been challenged by rising religious intolerance and discriminatory attitudes in civil society since the mid-2000s, despite expanded freedom in many areas including the media. Why has Indonesian civil society been put on the defensive by radical and conservative Islamic elements in the context of democratic consolidation? What role has expanded freedoms and a flourishing of new media and information technologies played? This article argues that two factors have contributed to the rising influence of religious hardliners/radicals and increasing religious intolerance. The first is hardliner access not only to new media but, more importantly, to traditional means and institutions for religious and political mobilisation, including state apparatus, to cultivate antagonistic sentiments and attitudes against what they consider the enemies of Islam within the Muslim communities while disseminating narrow and dogmatic interpretations of Islam. The other is the rise of conservative Muslim politicians within the state who are ready and eager to embrace new media and communication technologies while using the state office and prerogatives to advance conservative religious visions and agendas. In order to assess how those conservative politicians exploit their ministerial prerogatives and state patronage to curtail civil society, particularly the freedom of expression and religion, this article examines two prominent and controversial Muslim politicians: Tifatul Sembiring from the Islamist Prosperous Justice Party and Suryadharma Ali from the United Development Party.     

From Socio-nature to Spectral Presence: Re-imagining the Once and Future Landscape of Johannesburg

What distinguishes the global novel from other kinds of boundary-crossing narrative? And why are there so few examples of this genre from South Africa, a country of such salient worldwide interest? This essay reads Mark Behr’s 2009 novel Kings of the Water as a conflicted attempt to globalize South African literature, specifically the farm novel or plaasroman. In contrasting the complexity of the work’s South African setting with its under-developed representation of San Francisco, it traces Behr’s problematic relation to conventional thinking on global émigré fiction. The essay concludes that Kings of the Water is a timely case study in the ethical challenges of locational fixation, one that through its narrative configuration questions the dominance of the transnational paradigm.     

Ambiguous activists. Estonia's model of cultural autonomy as interpreted by two of its founders: Werner Hasselblatt and Ewald Ammende

Abstract

Baltic Germans who were active on behalf of especially German minorities throughout Europe during the 1920s have already found some recognition in especially German-language studies. Now they are receiving a wider coverage. Two of these men, Werner Hasselblatt and Ewald Ammende, came from Estonia and played a part in the development of the cultural autonomy legislation enacted in 1925. Traditionally this has been counted a positive contribution to the management of Europe's minorities during the inter-war period. During the 1930s at the latest, however, both Hasselblatt and Ammende drifted towards German National Socialism. Through an investigation of the ideas of these men, this paper attempts to interpret lives which helped to create apparently progressive legislation in the 1920s, but which compromised with a dreadful political movement soon afterwards. What were the motives behind their actions?     

Liberal governmentality in Spain: bodies,minds, and the medical construction of the “outsider,” 1870–1910

Abstract

This paper traces the fragility of the subject in the period extending from the aftermath of the Sexenio through to the early twentieth century. In particular, two case studies are focused upon: the question of gender “deviance” and the figure of the genius, in order to understand how medicine participated in the construction of “outsider” identities within the context of the emerging liberal order. How did liberal rationales exclude or curtail certain wayward expressions of identity and subjectivity? What consequences did the marking of “excessive” figures or outsiders have for notions of inclusiveness and citizenship within the late-nineteenth-century liberal order? By concentrating primarily on medical texts and journals published during the period, this study builds on existing research to tease out answers to these questions.     

Inherent contradictions in the Saudi rentier state: distributive capacity,youth employment preferences,and attitudes to education

ABSTRACT

This paper endeavours to answer several key questions: Firstly, why do many young Saudis have a continued preference for public sector employment over private sector jobs despite the government’s promotion of the private sector as a key pillar of Saudi Vision 2030? Secondly, what are the reasons behind a widespread perception among Saudi undergraduates that the current education system, spanning elementary to high school, does not prepare school pupils for entry into tertiary education? Thirdly, why do young Saudis maintain that the education system frequently fails to prepare them for future jobs or, indeed, does not provide them with adequate opportunities to think about their future jobs? Primary data gathered for this paper demonstrate that there is still a marked preference for public sector employment among young Saudis due to a widespread belief that the public sector offers more ‘job security’. In addition, the paper finds that the failure of the education system to prepare young nationals for entry into the labour market is considered to be particularly true for private sector employment.     

The society's tour in Syria and Jordan

Black Box: KAL 007 and the Superpowers. By Alexander Dallin. Berkeley and London. University of California Press. $14.95.

KAL 007: The Hidden Story. By Oliver Clubb. Sag Harbour, NY. The Permanent Press. $16.95.

Shootdown. The Verdict on 007. By R. W. Johnson. London. Chatto &; Windus. £10.95.

"The Target is Destroyed.” What really happened to Flight 007. By Seymour Hersh. London. Faber and Faber. £9.95     

An Ever-Shadowed Past? Citizens’ Attitudes towards the Dictatorship in Twenty-First Century Portugal

Abstract

Several years after the transition to democracy, positive attitudes towards the authoritarian past are still observable in Portugal: the belief that the previous regime had more good things than bad things is expressed by about one-fifth of the Portuguese. What explains this nostalgic sentiment? Are factors such as socialisation under the regime, party identification or religiosity more important than satisfaction with democracy and the state of the economy? The empirical analysis suggests that the relevance of these factors varies considerably, but socialisation phases lead to different stances on the past both in routine times and in times of economic crisis.     

Climate change: Double-edged sword for African trade and development

Abstract

African governments face increasing pressure from major export destinations, primarily former colonial and slave-owning countries, to be climate change compliant. This will certainly be on display at the upcoming December 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which will seek to strengthen climate change rules agreed on in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, and adopt new protocols on global climate change regulation. Climate change is a double-edged sword: on one side it is hitting Africa's agricultural sector with increased droughts, floods, extreme frost and wildfires; and on the other, African governments are being forced to respond to stringent regulatory regimes imposed by international export destinations. Currently, the per capita greenhouse gas emissions from the highly industrialised nations – the North – is estimated to be four times that of Africa and the rest of the developing world. Twin research questions were investigated in this article: (1) to what extent does climate change impact on African trade and development, and (2) how can African governments stay on a path of sustained trade and development in this era of climate change? The article argues that Africa's survival in these times of climate change compliance rests on a shift to greater intra-African trade, as individual nations move towards cleaner and more organic technologies to become full-fledged partners in the international climate change regulatory regime.     

“Neo-Sultanistic Tendencies:” The Trajectory of Civil-Military Relations in Cambodia

Abstract

This study examines the evolution of civilian control in Cambodia and its impact upon that country’s security sector reform efforts. It argues that Cambodia has witnessed a historically entrenched path dependence of civil-military relations, whereby ruling personalities and parties have consecutively dominated subservient, authoritarian militaries. Today security forces appear as a partisan, corporate arm of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). While this has ensured civilian control, it is not an institutionalized form of control. Instead Prime Minister Hun Sen has personalized supremacy over security forces through what might be termed “neo-sultanistic tendencies.” Yet how have Cambodia’s civil-military relations evolved? What is the current state of civilian control and security sector reform efforts? What is the future of civil-military relations? This analysis addresses these questions.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed: Bernard Lewis, What Went Wrong? Nils A. Butenschon, Uri Davis and Manuel Hassassian, (eds.) Citizenship and the State in the Middle East: Approaches and Applications Benjamin W. Wolkinson, Arab Employment In Israel: The Quest for Equal Employment Opportunity James A. Bill and John Alden Williams, Roman Catholics and Shii Muslims: Prayer, Passion, and Politics