Being a 'pathetic hero' in international politics: The diplomat as a historical actor

This article posits that the diplomat's weakness as a historical actor stems from two salient factors: (a) the impassivity of the diplomatic practice, and (b) the diplomat is an actor of 'one front' - the external. Politicians and military men act within the internal lines of the domestic and the external. The diplomat is in the service of grand things but is never on heroic tracks; his service is always that of dependency. The apparent political weakness of the professional diplomat makes him, in not a few cases, a 'pathetic hero' of international politics.     

The making of a diplomat: the case of the French Diplomatic and Consular Institute as an identity workspace

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the creation of the Diplomatic and Consular Institute by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conceptualises this new professional school of diplomacy as an “identity workspace” following the analysis of a cohort’s learning experience. This article aims to spark a debate from a practice perspective on diplomatic training as offered by Ministries of Foreign Affairs in Europe.     

Wake-up call for the Lowlands: Dutch counterterrorism from a comparative perspective

The Netherlands is one of the few countries in Western Europe that did not experience massive terrorist attacks and where counterterrorism actions did not feature prominently on the political agenda. Until quite recently, the Netherlands had neither emergency legislation for terrorist incidents nor a specific Act that criminalized terrorist offences. In response to the European Union framework legislation, a bill was produced that penalizes participation in a terrorist organization, flanked by a vast array of other measures. This article analyses the policy, institutional and legislative responses to terrorism in the Netherlands and compares these with responses from other European states. The events of 9/11, as well as the political and public anxiety over the murders of Pim Fortuyn and Theo van Gogh, acted as a firm wake-up call for the Netherlands insofar as the threat of terrorism is concerned. Whilst most countries adopted an incremental approach to countering terrorism, the Netherlands witnessed a radical shift in criminal justice and law enforcement policy following these events.     

新型猪瘟疫苗的研究和应用前景

猪瘟 (ｓｌａｓｓｉｃａｌｓｗｉｎｅｆｅｖｅｒ,ＣＳＦ)以出血和发热为主要特征 ,呈急性或慢性经过 ,是一种对猪危害性极大的传染病[1] ,被国际兽疫局 (ＯｆｆｉｃｅｏｆＩｎｔｅｒｎａ ｔｉｏｎａｌｄｅｓＥ’ｐｉｚｏｏｔｉｅｓ,ＯＩＥ)列为Ａ类动物传染病。在世界许多国家和地区 ,传统疫苗接种是控制猪瘟的重要手段。目前使用的弱毒疫苗主要是中国猪瘟兔化弱毒疫苗、日本ＧＰＥ疫苗和法国的Ｔｈｉｒｅｖａｌ疫苗[2 ] 。我国的猪瘟兔化弱毒疫苗性能稳定、安全、免疫效果好 ,且无残留能力 ,是国际公认的唯一安全有效的弱毒疫苗 ,亦是国内…     

A view from the policy community: a new strategic narrative for Europe?

ABSTRACT

Reflecting on the results presented in articles in this special issue, European leaders should take greater account of external perceptions in crafting the European Union's strategic narrative and guiding its actions. Failure to do so has impaired external policies like the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership. Leaders emerging from the Arab uprisings perceived the EU as complicit with their countries’ former anciens régimes and Russian leaders see EU support for democracy and the market economy in former Soviet states as duplicitous and instrusive. Awareness of such perceptions should be filtered into EU decision-making, without validating views that European officials and diplomats consider misleading.     

Experiencing the war “of” terror: a call to the critical terrorism studies community

ABSTRACT

The Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) community has produced an important volume of work assessing and critiquing epistemological understandings of the War on (of) Terror. Largely missing from this body of work, however, is the experience of those who are directly impacted by the policies of this global phenomenon. By rethinking the War on Terror as an experience of war, I posit a wider understanding, by reassessing its temporal and spatial boundaries, but more significantly, the ways in which it is experienced. By providing a wider understanding of war and expanding our knowledge of its boundaries, I am able to show that those impacted by the policies of the War on Terror can claim to have been subject to an experience of war, even when that experience takes place outside of the war zone. This reflection, however, serves a larger purpose, which is to act as a call to the CTS community to centre the lived experiences of those impacted by the War on Terror in their work and decision-making when engaging with policy and policymakers. This represents a call for an ethical re-centring of CTS scholars to the violence of the War “of” Terror, by reminding us of the many ways in which harm can occur.     

NATO beyond 2000: A new flashpoint for European security

The last decade of the twentieth century witnessed radical and potentially constructive adaptation of NATO. Although retaining its core function of collective defence and serving as the transatlantic security forum for consultation and co‐operation, the Alliance pursued new directions in support of wider stability in Europe through enlargement to its east, forging partnerships with former adversaries, and conducting peace enforcement operations outside the treaty area. But the transformation of NATO remains a work in progress. This article discusses three key questions: the nature of peace support operations, the capability to provide for both collective defence and crisis management, and managing further Alliance enlargement while maintaining a working relationship with Russia.     

中非关系进入新阶段

今年是中非开启外交关系50周年.半个世纪来,中非友谊日益巩固,双方关系发展到一个全新阶段.同时,随着中非关系的快速发展,在非洲出现了"中国威胁论"的论调,但中非友好合作关系有着坚实的基础,所谓的"中国威胁论"不可能撼动中非友好关系的大厦.双方新一轮发展的高潮已经到来.今年年初中国政府发表对非政策文件,1月外交部长李肇星访问非洲,4月胡锦涛主席成功访问非洲三国,6月温家宝总理出访非洲七国,11月即将举行的中非论坛,都是中国为加强中非关系所采取的重大举措.     

Ⅰ型鸭肝炎病毒逆转录套式PCR检测方法的建立

根据GenBank中登录的Ⅰ型鸭肝炎病毒(DHV-Ⅰ)A66株的RNA聚合酶基因序列,设计合成了2对引物,建立了适合DHV-Ⅰ快速检测的逆转录套式PCR方法(RT-nested-PCR),采用该方法对DHV-ⅠA66弱毒株和R85952强毒株进行了检测.结果显示,均能扩增到304 bp的条带,而正常鸭胚、健康鸭肝组织、鸭瘟病毒、鹅细小病毒、禽流感病毒(H9亚型)、新城疫病毒、传染性腔上囊病病毒、减蛋综合征病毒、鸭源大肠杆菌、鸭疫里氏杆菌和鸭源多杀性巴氏杆菌的扩增结果均为阴性.该方法第1次扩增的敏感性是100 Pg,第2次扩增的敏感性是1 fg,第2次比第1次扩增的敏感性高106倍.表明,所建立的逆转录套式PCR方法可用于鸭病毒性肝炎(DVH)的临床诊断、病料检测和分子流行病学调查等.     

鲜猪肉中A型产气荚膜梭菌污染情况调查

对贵阳市部分市场销售的鲜猪肉A型产气荚膜梭菌的污染情况进行了调查 ,从被检肉样中分离获得 3株A型产气荚膜梭菌 ,分离率为 6.2 5 % (3 /4 8)。表明贵阳市部分市场销售的鲜猪肉存在A型产气荚膜梭菌的污染 ,对消费者的健康构成潜在的威胁