The rise of China—challenges and opportunities for the European Union

Asia Europe Journal - China’s growing power and influence raise important and inescapable questions for countries and societies around the world, not least for Europe. A rising China offers...     

The Role of the Alternative Press in the Agenda‐building Process: Spill‐over Effects and Media Opinion Leadership

Rainer Mathes and Barbara Pfetsch. (1991). “The Role of the Alternative Press in the Agenda‐building Process: Spill‐over Effects and Media Opinion Leadership.” European Journal of Communication, 6, 1, 33–63.     

The Fourth Seminar for the Promotion of Locality Exchanges Between China and Japan

Jiang Shuxian, council member and former Secretary- General of CAFIU attended the fourth seminar forthe promotion oflocal exchanges between China and Japan between July26 and July 29, 2005 in Urumqi,Xinjiang. This seminar was sponsored by Beijing Office of Japan Council of Local Authorities for Interna-tional Relations (CLAIR), assisted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, and held by the People'sGovernment of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The opening remarks were giv…     

Crisis studies and the near east: The cases of Lebanon and Cyprus†

This paper is about the relationship between foreign trade and national power in the contemporary Asia Pacific. Imports and exports among the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Community) members are studied over time in order to assess the extent to which this trade has evolved in ways which ceteris paribus provide the larger trading states with more or less leverage to influence the smaller ones. We offer a conceptual discussion of conditions that are likely to shape the incentives to actually use such leverage and, if actually exercised, the prospects that such attempts may succeed. A pattern analysis of trade in the Asia Pacific then follows from which we conclude that the smaller non‐Latin American APEC countries have diversified their trading partners recently and thus reduced their exposure to leverage based on asymmetric dependence in their trade relations. At the same time, we expect from our conceptual discussion that the larger APEC countries are generally more likely to exercise self restraint than to use trade to extract gains on other issues.     

The Taiwan Issue:New Pattern of Interactions Between China and the United States

In the 1990s following the end of the Cold War, the Taiwan issue regained its prominence in Sino-American relations due to adjustments made by the United States in its Taiwan policy as well as political changes taken place in Taiwan. At the beginning of the 21st century, Sino-American relations underwent severe test by the tension across the Taiwan Strait. However, with the policy adjustments of the United States and China, the political reshuffle     

The evolution of the European economy: Implications for Trans‐Atlantic relations

The Russian attitude towards the European Neighbourhood Policy constitutes a serious obstacle to the realisation of the Union's agenda in its neighbourhood. The Russian challenge takes three main forms: 1) with Russia not a part of the EU's overall approach involving the principle of conditionality, the Union's legitimacy and international actorness in general is in danger of being undermined; 2) Russia is increasingly starting to put forward its own model of operation, thus hampering the realisation of the Union's goals in the neighbourhood; 3) Russia is engaging in business activities that are in effect undoing the ENP's energy component. There are no easy fixes to these problems. What the Union must do is believe in its own values and visions: it is only by example that it can promote its ideals outside its institutional boundaries.     

‘No one speaks for us’: security policy,suspected communities and the problem of voice

This article examines some of the detrimental consequences of post-9/11 counterterrorism and security policies on Muslim minority groups in the United Kingdom. Drawing on empirical data from a qualitative study conducted in the north-west of England involving young British Pakistanis, it is argued that both political discourses and specific security policies have unjustly targeted Muslims and fuelled a wider public climate of suspicion and hostility. Three focal issues raised by participants in the study are prioritised. First, we discuss the process of collective attribution through which Muslims are generically treated as a suspect community. Second, a series of experiential ‘safety gaps’ – resulting in part from the pre-emptive turn in counterterrorism regulation – are considered. Third, critical ‘speech gaps’, which have important ramifications for future policy-making, are elucidated.     

Political and economic issues within the alliance: The future of Burden‐sharing and the Southern region

Annuario 1999: la costituzione europea : atti del XIV Convegno Annuale, Perugia 7–8–9‐ ottobre 1999 / Associazione italiana dei costituzionalisti. ‐ Padova : Cedam, c2000. ‐ XXXII, 633 p. ‐ ISBN 88–13–22621–7

La constitution de I'Europe / edité par Paul Magnette. ‐ Bruxelles : Editions de I'U‐niversité de Bruxelles, c2000. ‐ 201 p. ‐ ISBN 2–8004–1245–3

Europe's first constitution : the European Political Community, 1952–1954 / Richard T. Griffiths. ‐ London : Federal trust, c2000. ‐ 275 p. ‐ ISBN 1–903403–21–9

Consolidation of democracy in Africa : a view from the South / edited by Hussein Solomon, Ian Liebenberg. ‐ Aldershot: Ashgate, c2000. ‐ xii, 367 p. ‐ (The making of modern Africa). ‐ ISBN 0–7546–1174–4

The dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Badinter Arbitration Commission : a contextual study of peace‐making efforts in the post‐Cold War world / Steve Terrett. ‐ Aldershot: Ashgate, c2000. ‐ xxii, 395 p. ‐ ISBN 0–7546–2102–2

Europe and the breakup of Yugoslavia : a political failure in search of a scholarly explanation / Sonia Lucarelli. ‐ The Hague : Kluwer Law International, c2000. ‐ xvi, 278 p. ‐ ISBN 90–411–1439–4

Evolution and devolution : the dynamics of sovereignty and security in post‐Cold War Europe / Tom Lansford. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c2000. ‐ viii, 242 p. ‐ ISBN 0–7546–1255–4

Funding virtue : civil society aid and democracy promotion / Marina Ottaway, Thomas Carothers, editors. ‐ Washington : Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, c2000. ‐ x, 340 p. ‐ ISBN 0–87003–178–3 (pbk)

The third force : the rise of transnational civil society / Ann M. Florini, editor. ‐ Tokyo : Japan Center for International Exchange ; Washington : Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, c2000. ‐ viii, 295 p. ‐ ISBN 0–87003–179–1 (pbk)

The geostrategic triad: living with China, Europe, and Russia / Zbigniew Brzezin‐ski. ‐ Washington : CSIS, c2000. ‐ XII, 75 p. ‐ (Significant issues ; v.23, n.1). ‐ ISBN 0–89206–384‐X

Islam and European legal systems / edited by Silvio Ferrari, Anthony Bradney. ‐Aldershot: Ashgate, c2000. ‐ x, 203 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–466–1

The nuclear challenge : US‐Russian strategic relations after the Cold War / Christoph Bluth. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c2000. ‐ viii, 190 p. ‐ ISBN 1–85521–896–8

The politics of British arms sales since 1964 : ‘to secure our rightful share’ / Mark Phythian. ‐ Manchester: Manchester University Press, c2000. ‐ xii, 340 p. ‐ ISBN 0–7190–5907–0

The role of small states in the European Union / ’Baldur Thorhallsson. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c2000. ‐ x, 252 p. ‐ ISBN 0–7546–1423–9.

South American Free Trade Area or Free Trade Area of the Americas?: open regionalism and the future of regional economic integration in South America / Mario Esteban Carranza. ‐ Aldershot: Ashgate, c2000. ‐ xiv, 245 p. ‐ (The political economy of Latin Amrica). ‐ ISBN 1–84014–795–4

Taiwan's security in the post‐Deng Xiaoping era / Martin L. Lasater, Peter Kien‐hong Yu; with contributions from Kuang‐ming Hsu and Robyn Lim. ‐ London : Frank Cass, 2000. ‐ xii, 355 p. ‐ ISBN 0–7146–5083–8

Taiwan Strait dilemmas : China‐Taiwan‐U.S. policies in the new century / edited by Gerrit W. Gong. ‐ Washington : The CSIS Press, c2000. ‐ XVIII, 174 p. ‐ (Significant issues ; v.22, n.1). ‐ ISBN 0–89206–363–7     

The Stockholm solution? Papering over the cracks within the area of freedom,security and justice

Abstract

In 2010, the EU agreed its third five year programme for internal security, with the Stockholm Programme building on pre-existing arrangements from Tampere and The Hague. This article seeks, firstly, to highlight the nature of the problem that has confronted the EU in the area of internal security, by exploring a range of thematic concerns regarding both the institutional and conceptual construction of the EU's internal security regime, from the lack of an effective statistical analysis into the nature of the problem confronting the member states to the continued fragmentation of the European level as a practical venue for policy-making. Having considered the consequences of these continuing structural flaws, in terms of both the EU's wider credibility and legitimacy as an actor in this key security field, the second half of the article proceeds to critically appraise the solutions contained both within the 2010 Stockholm Programme and the Treaty of Lisbon. Having considered both, it will be argued that, at best, the ‘Stockholm solution' simply papers over pre-existing cracks, leaving the EU with a continued credibility gap in this important and developing area of co-operation.     

Terrorism,counter‐terrorism and democracy: The assessment of national security threats

The development of radical Islamist strategic thinking and the impact of post-modern, Western styles of thought upon the ideology that informs that strategy is often overlooked in conventional discussions of homegrown threats from jihadist militants. The propensity to discount the ideology informing both al-Qaeda and nominally non-violent Islamist movements with an analogous political philosophy like Hizb ut-Tahrir neglects the influence that critical Western modes of thought exercise upon their strategic thinking especially in the context of homegrown radicalization. Drawing selectively on non-liberal tendencies in the Western ideological canon has, in fact, endowed Khilaafaism (caliphism) with both a distinctive theoretical style and strategic practice. In particular, it derives intellectual sustenance from a post-Marxist Frankfurt School of critical thinking that in combination with an “English” School of international relations idealism holds that epistemological claims are socially determined, subjective, and serve the interests of dominant power relations. This critical, normative, and constructivist approach to international relations seeks not only to explain the historical emergence of the global order, but also to transcend it. This transformative agenda bears comparison with radical Islamist critiques of Western ontology and is of interest to Islamism's political and strategic thinking. In this regard, the relativist and critical approaches that have come to dominate the academic social sciences since the 1990s not only reflect a loss of faith in Western values in a way that undermines the prospects for a liberal and pluralist polity, but also, through a critical process facilitated by much international relations orthodoxy, promotes the strategic and ideological agenda of radical Islam. It is this curious strategic and ideological evolution that this paper explores.     

Management and Mismanagement of Diversity: The Case of Ethnic Conflict and State‐Building in the Arab World

The European Union has a unique opportunity to develop a positive strategy towards Ukraine. A pro-EU government is now in power in Kyiv, there is a revived civil society pressing for democratic reforms and the actions by Russia have both reinforced Ukraine’s pro-West line and led to the priority given Moscow being questioned by some member states. It is therefore essential to grant Ukraine a membership perspective to strengthen this trend and encourage Kyiv to confront and overcome the basic problems that face the country.     

Policies,priorities, and event‐interactions: The need for distinctions in foreign policy research

The author argues that insufficient attention has been paid to clarifying the distinction between policy and events. Without such clarification the research cannot effectively measure and evaluate the results of specific foreign policies, nor provide policy makers with sufficient information on which to base future decisions. The author makes the point: “Researchers can monitor foreign policy actions and events, but policies themselves cannot be inferred from those actions.” The solution to this nexus of problems lies in a broader, more thorough application of event data analysis.     

‘The limits of international leadership’: The Eisenhower administration,East‐West trade and the cold war, 1953–54

This article examines the Eisenhower administration's trade policy towards the Soviet Union in 1953–54. It argues, contrary to previous scholarship on the subject, that the liberalization of East‐West trade controls in August 1954 cannot be attributed solely to the presidential leadership of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Instead, whilst Eisenhower played a significant role in changing American embargo policy, it was the Churchill government which provided the impetus required for the revision of the international export control lists. Despite conflict and confrontation over the shape and contents of the new embargo between Washington and London, the two governments forged a compromise in the summer of 1954.