Peasant,Patriot, Environmentalist: Sustainable Development Discourse in Havana

Private urban agricultural ventures, initially a spontaneous response to food shortages during the Special Period, soon became a state‐sponsored project, related to global notions of sustainability. This article explores the relationship between sustainability discourse and its local dimensions to reveal the role of sustainability in the reformulation of the Revolution. Urban gardeners engage with international discourses of sustainability and interact with the Cuban state's articulation of these discourses. While this process forces urban gardeners to adapt to the changing meanings of growing food, it also provides a different language through which gardeners define themselves, especially in the context of a changing relationship with the state.     

The Shape of Frontier Rule: Governance and Transition,from the Raj to the Modern Pakistani Frontier

Abstract

This essay examines British colonial debates about governance in India as a means of positing an analytical framework in which to address the current crises of governance in Pakistan's frontier. In light of the collapse of the antiquated system of tribal governance in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and the spread of insurgent Talibanization into the heart of the ethnically Pashtun settled areas, this analysis maps several possible transition paths for governance reform in both the tribal and settled regions, and argues for an incremental approach that minimizes risks to political stability.     

An Australian Empire Patriot and the Great War: Professor Sir Archibald T. Strong (1876–1930)

Archibald T. Strong, born in Melbourne, was the son of an Australian scholar who went to an academic post at Liverpool. The younger Strong received his secondary and tertiary education in England. There, he became proficient in modern European languages and literature. He initially planned a career in the law, but for health reasons returned to Australia to the Department of English at the University of Melbourne. Prior to the First World War, Strong became prominent in Melbourne literary circles and also a prolific commentator on world affairs. As an early member of the Round Table group in Australia, Strong assessed Imperial Germany as posing an existential threat to the British Empire and hence to Australia's security. The nation's future, he believed, lay in unwavering defence of the Empire. Strong evinced a distinct impatience with fellow citizens, especially on the socialist left, who failed, in his view, to understand the realities of Australia's position in the world and what was at stake in the Great War.     

The historian's quest: Joseph R. Levenson

Abstract

Ever since Confucius remarked that he would not discuss the strange and supernatural, Chinese scholars have delighted in jotting down sensational and unusual events. This is such a favorite pastime that at least two books with the title Zibuyu (What the master refused to say) appeared in imperial times. The one by Yuan Mei (1916–97) has become a biji (jottings) classic. There are several editions published in recent years both in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China. This collection is full of ghost stories and strange tales, including records of “shrimp man,” “ape man,” and so on. Yuan Mei, while not particularly known for his moral rectitude, was nevertheless firmly rooted in the Confucian tradition.     

The crisis in U.S.-China policy, 1991: The role of congress

The history of U.S. government decisionmaking on China policy since the June 1989 Tiananmen incident shows several episodes of dramatic confrontation between President Bush and his supporters in the administration and the Congress, and large numbers of congressional members of both parties critical of the administration’s China policy. Up to the present, 1991 clearly marked the highwater mark in the ongoing U.S. policy debate. In general terms, the debate went through three distinct stages in 1991, with the crisis coming during critical votes on conditional MFN legislation in July. At year’s end, all sides in the debate anticipated continued strong congressional criticism of Chinese practices and Bush administration policy, but critics seemed unable to make substantial inroads among those senators who supported the Bush administration’s stance, assuring continued MFN trade treatment for China.