Forced Migration Studies: Could We Agree Just to 'Date'?

This essay questions the soundness of a scholarly shift awayfrom ‘refugee studies’ in favour of ‘forcedmigration studies’. It contends, first, that subsumingrefugee studies into the broader framework of forced migrationstudies may result in a failure to take account of the specificityof the refugee's circumstances which are defined not just bymovement to avoid the risk of harm, but by underlying socialdisfranchisement coupled with the unqualified ability of theinternational community to respond to their needs. Second, itargues that forced ‘migration’ (rather than, forexample, forced ‘migrant’) studies encourages afocus on a phenomenon rather than on the personal predicaments,needs, challenges, and rights of refugees themselves. It maythus contribute to a lack of criticality in relation to policieswhich subordinate refugee autonomy to the pursuit of more systemicconcerns. The first concern is illustrated by reference to theemergence of the ‘internally displaced persons’category, the second by reference to the determination to findand mandate ‘durable solutions’ to forced migration,including to the movement of refugees.     

Jiang Zemin's military thought and legacy

Nearly for 15 years as the Chairman of China's Central MilitaryCommission, Jiang Zemin, albeit lack of real military experience,has gradually developed his military theories and principlesin the process of consolidating military authority. Unquestionably,Jiang is not only the core of the third generation leadershipin China, but also the most powerful man in China's militaryuntil now. That makes researchers interested in exploring militarythought of this man controlling the largest armies in the world.In this paper, Jiang's basic military framework, ‘FiveSentences’, including ‘Politically Qualified’,‘Militarily Tough’, ‘Attitudinally Excellent’,‘Strictly Disciplined’ and ‘Materially Guaranteed’will be separately discussed. With interpretations of ‘FiveSentences’, the author will thereafter provide personalcomments and analysis.     

'Spying for Hitler' and 'Working for Bin Laden': Comparative Australian Discourses on Refugees

This paper argues that the complexity of recent debates about‘illegal’ refugee arrivals in Australia, held sincethe prominent MV Tampa incident of August 2001, might be betterunderstood by placing them in a comparative historical context.Towards this end, an investigation of previous debates on thesubject of Jewish refugees in Australia prior to the SecondWorld War is suggested. Such an exploration reveals a seeminglyidiosyncratic ‘Australian’ slant towards refugeesthat demonstrates a subtle process of marginalization and exclusionbased on notions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’refugees. Such an approach further demonstrates the contradictoryattitudes of immigrant societies towards refugees notwithstandingthe cultural pluralism supposedly inherent in their outlooks.     

The Microphysics of Participation in Refugee Research

This paper examines the involvement of refugees in the productionand reproduction of knowledge of which they are ultimately meantto be beneficiaries. By using examples from research with CentralAmerican refugees and Rwandan displaced children, it considersforced migrants’ roles as participants in research, theirposition in ‘participatory’ research, and the representationof refugees’ voices in refugee-centred research. Poweris intimately connected to the diverse ways in which participationunfolds, and the last part of the paper examines refugees’participation in research in terms of ‘power that circulates’(Foucault) to show that they are not more or less powerful butvehicles for the circulation of power, simultaneously undergoingand exercising it.     

A Profile of Poverty for Palestinian Refugees in Jordan: the Case of Zarqa and Sukhneh Camps

This is one of few known studies on poverty and poverty relatedissues among Palestinian refugees in Jordan. The camp refugeehouseholds identified in this research represent concrete manifestationsof the ways in which the political and historical legacy translatesinto economic hardship today. Poverty among the refugees inJordan represents a legacy of the refugees’ inabilityto generate sufficient income in order to provide for themselvesthe ‘minimum basic needs’. Therefore, poverty shouldbe understood not only in terms of the social and economic circumstancesof Palestinian camp refugees but also as a particular consequenceof various policies pursued by the state over the past fivedecades, including the Jordanization of public and militarysectors of employment, the provision of public services, andwage determination policy. In this context, the paper examinesthe causes of poverty and considers how various ‘implicit’policies contribute towards luring and ‘locking’a large number of camp refugees in poverty.     

Conclusion: On the possibility of a non-Western IR theory in Asia

In the conclusion, we seek to ascertain the possibility of anon-Western International Relations theory (IRT) in Asia. Wefind while there is a good deal of writing that can be regardedas ‘pre-theoretical’, these have not been fullyexploited or exported to other parts of Asia and beyond. Thereis certainly little that can be called an Asian IRT. This isnot because scholars in the region accept that Western IRT isunchallengeable nor that it has found all the answers to themajor problems of international relations. Nor is it becausenon-Western theories are ‘hidden from the public eye’.It is rather due to a lack of institutional resources, the head-startof Western IRT, and especially the hegemonic standing of WesternIRT. At the same time, the case studies point to the existenceof abundant intellectual and historical resources that couldserve as the basis of developing a non-Western IRT that takesinto account the positions, needs and cultures of countriesin the region. There is room in Asia for the development ofnon-Western IRT, but not an ‘Asian School of internationalrelations’ (although national perspectives such as a ‘ChineseSchool’ are possible) which would assume a degree of convergenceof perspectives and interactions among Asian scholars, whichclearly does not exist. This development should and could gobeyond simply ‘joining in to the existing game seekingto add local colour and cases to existing theory’, ordeveloping a localist exceptionalism (‘Asian values’)or organizing local thinking into rebellions against prevailingorthodoxies (especially realism and liberalism) in the mannerof the dependencia theory. Western IRT does not need to be replaced,but can and should be enriched with the addition of more voicesand a wider rooting not just in world history but also in informedrepresentations of both core and periphery perspectives withinthe ever-evolving global political, economic and social order. In the conclusion, we first offer some generalizations fromthe four case studies with a view to addressing the main questionposed in the introduction: the apparent absence of IRT in Asiaand possible explanations behind it. We then reflect on whetherthe question of a non-Western IRT in Asia is a meaningful one,and whether the way it is approached in this special issue couldresult in a productive debate that would advance the disciplineof IR. Although our empirical focus is on Asia, we suggest someinsights that have more general relevance for non-Western IRT. Received for publication May 16, 2006. Accepted for publication June 27, 2007.     

The second face of security: Britain's 'Smart' appeasement policy towards Japan and Germany

Most states have numerous paths to create security for themselves.Foreign policy-makers must recognize that their own securitypolicy will initiate a process that structures the nature ofthe domestic competition over domestic and foreign policy inother countries. I contend that one state's security alternativecan empower or weaken domestic actors and interest groups inopposing foreign powers. I term this process the ‘secondface of security’ since it entails a less direct and morenuanced method of creating security (in contrast to the ‘firstface of security’). I apply this model to explain theintent of Britain's ‘smart’ or targeted appeasementpolicy during the 1930s – to strengthen conservative business,government officials, and economic circles in banking, lightindustry and finished goods, and even heavy industry in orderto steer Tokyo and Berlin away from rearmament and extreme autarky.     

Taking the 'taken-for-grantedness' seriously: problematizing Japan's perception of Japan-South Korea relations

The existence of acrimonious relations between Japan and itsimmediate neighbour, South Korea, is a familiar theme in theliterature on the international relations of the Asia-Pacific.Public discourse in Japan treats this acrimony as the startingpoint for the formulation of diplomatic policy towards Seoul.While not suggesting that such an outlook is wrong, characterizingthe bilateral relations as ‘tough’ has become ‘taken-for-granted’.By focusing on the representation of Japanese collective identitywithin the public discourse, and treating it as a foreign policyspeech act, this article argues that taking the ‘taken-for-grantedness’seriously allows us to unpack the intersubjective structureof Japan–South Korea relations, enabling us to appreciatefully the recurring invective across the Tsushima Straits.     

Japan's cautious new activism in the Middle East: a qualitative change or more of the same?

This article analyses Japanese policy towards the Middle Eastin the post-Cold War era. The article argues that Japanese policyhas begun to move beyond the reactive diplomacy of the ColdWar years. The focus of this new approach has been Japan's growingcontribution to ‘soft’ security in the region. However,Japan retains a tendency to focus on its narrow interests withoutfully taking into account the broader strategic consequencesof its policies. Yet, in order to protect its overall interestsin the region, Japan needs to recognize the diminishing utilityof this ‘free rider’ approach and adopt a more activerole regarding ‘hard’ security issues. Even allowingfor the domestic constraints on Japanese policy, there is muchJapan can do in this regard, especially in coordination withthe US.     

Ethnic Riots in Kosovo: What Went Right?

The world was shocked when deadly riots broke out in Kosovoduring March 2004, after nearly five years of involvement andfinancial support by NATO and the United Nations. But, despitethe widespread nature of the rioting, violence did not spreadinto communities of return that had benefited substantiallyfrom direct international financial aid and interventions inthe same way that riots infected the wider province. This wasthe experience of communities assisted by at least two internationalNGOs, both of which used the ‘Do No Harm’ methodologyof enhancing ‘connectors’ while minimizing ‘dividers’between ethnic groups. American Refugee Committee's programmeis described and displacement data are presented. In those communitiesassisted by American Refugee Committee, 85 per cent of the returneesdid not flee during the riots. It is concluded that communitiesof return succeeded in thwarting violence because they had astake in peace.     

Employment Niches for Recent Refugees: Segmented Labour Market in Twenty-first Century Australia

A survey of three refugee groups (ex-Yugoslavs, black Africansand people from the Middle East) in Western Australia indicatesthat the recent humanitarian arrivals are concentrated in labourmarket niches such as cleaning services, care of the aged, meatprocessing, taxi driving, security and building. Apart fromthe building industry, these employment niches are situatedin the ‘secondary labour market’ comprising low-statusand low-paid jobs that locals avoid. This article identifiesseveral interrelated mechanisms through which the recent Australianrefugee intake has been relegated to undesirable jobs: non-recognitionof qualifications as a systemic barrier, discrimination on thebasis of race and cultural difference by employers, ‘ethnic-pathintegration’ and the lack of mainstream social networksthat could assist in the job search, and the recent ‘regionalsponsored migration scheme’ through which the governmenttries to address the shortage of low-skilled labour in depopulatingcountry areas. The data show massive loss of occupational statusamong our respondents and confirm the existence of the segmentedlabour market, where racially and culturally visible migrantsare allocated the bottom jobs regardless of their ‘humancapital’. Changes in the nature of the segmented labourmarket in the increasingly mobile global workforce are analysed.Some of these insights are drawn from two other research projectson Bosnian and Afghan refugees in Australia undertaken by theauthors.     

Mediated Communication with Minors in Asylum-seeking Hearings

This study evaluated caseworkers’ information-seekingprompts in interviews with asylum-seeking minors and assessesthe accuracy of the translations provided by interpreters. Twentysix Russian-speaking minors were individually interviewed byone of 10 caseworkers assisted by one of 17 interpreters. Aquantitative analysis examined the type of questions asked andthe accuracy of the corresponding renditions. The actual andtranslated content of the messages were examined using a qualitativeanalysis. The study showed that interviewers relied heavilyon focused questions, which are more likely to elicit inaccurateinformation. When open questions were asked, the interviewerstended to ask narrow ‘directive’ questions ratherthan broader ‘invitations’. The interpreters’renditions of utterances were often inaccurate. Almost halfof the misrepresentations altered the content and one thirdinvolved changes in the type of question asked. This indicatesthat both interviewers and translators clearly need specialtraining to ensure that they serve asylum-seeking minors adequately.     

Convention Plus as a Norm-Setting Exercise

This article reflects upon UNHCR's Convention Plus initiative,a multi-lateral process established in order to contribute tothe development of a normative framework for global burden-sharing.Although the substantive achievements of the initiative havebeen limited, the article argues that Convention Plus has helpedto develop significant new ideas relating to UNHCR's potentialrole in norm-creation within the refugee regime. Based on aregime theoretical perspective, and drawing on the wider literaturerelating to the role of norms in the refugee regime, the paperexamines the procedural and conceptual innovations of ConventionPlus, and how these might be adapted in future in light of theinitiative's shortcomings. In particular, the article sets outtwo models for UNHCR's role in facilitating norm-creation, bothdeveloped in the context of the Convention Plus experience:firstly, a ‘top-down’ institutional bargaining modeland, secondly, a ‘bottom-up’ good practice model.The former model emerges from the interests–linkages–normsapproach implicit to the so-called ‘generic’ workof the initiative; the latter, from the situational work ofthe initiative, developed through the revival of ‘comprehensiveplans of action’ and the use of pilot projects. The modelsare argued to be mutually supportive. The paper suggests thatadapting these ideal-type models in light of the ConventionPlus experience has implications for UNHCR's role in norm-creation,with regard both to developing a normative framework for globalburden-sharing and also to developing other norms in responseto other emerging challenges.     

Monetary and financial cooperation in Asia: taking stock of recent ongoings

Ever since the currency crisis of 1997–98, there has beena great deal of interest in enhancing regional economic cooperationin Asia. It is important to keep in mind that economic regionalismis of multidimensional nature. The focus of this paper is onpolicy initiatives underway in Asia to enhance monetary andfinancial regionalism and the analytical bases for these initiatives,rather than on examining the de facto level of financial andmonetary links that already exists (which may or may not havebeen facilitated via regional policy mechanisms). There aremany gradations of monetary and financial regionalism, rangingfrom the weak form involving regional policy dialog and surveillance,on the one hand, to exchange rate and monetary coordination,on the other. To maintain focus, this paper concentrates morenarrowly on ‘medium forms’ of monetary and financialregionalism, broadly defined as the development of regionalliquidity arrangements and regional financial markets.     

On norms, rule breaking, and security communities: a constructivist response

Debates and disagreements about the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) and its status as a security communityare longstanding. In offering one of the first systematic, constructivisttreatments of the subject, Acharya (2001) has helped catalyzenew theoretical interest in Southeast Asia, as well as new debate— as illustrated by Nicholas Khoo's (2004) recent bookreview, in which he challenged Acharya's conclusion about ASEAN's‘nascent’ or ‘ascendant’ security communitystatus. This article continues the debate by offering a constructivistreply to Khoo's review. Although Khoo raises some pointed questionsabout Acharya's thesis, his discussion may be overly broad inits treatment of norms and their effects. Khoo may also missimportant constructivist insights into process and constitution— aspects of which could have been more explicity elaboratedby Acharya.     

拉美国家的贸易开放度研究

贸易开放是经济现代化的基本特征之一,GATT以及WTO等一些国际经济秩序的基本构成机制进一步推动了全球的贸易自由化,背离这一秩序或者趋势的结果是无法从他国的市场开放中获得益处。在出口导向战略实施了多年之后,目前拉美主要国家的贸易开放到底达到了一个什么样的程度正是我们所困惑的问题。本文以亚洲7个国家作为参照组,研究了1995年至2009年拉美7个国家(阿根廷、巴西、哥伦比亚、智利、墨西哥、秘鲁和委内瑞拉)的贸易开放程度。主要结论是,最近10多年,7个拉美国家的贸易开放度有了显著而稳步的上升,但与亚洲国家相比,拉美国家的贸易开放程度普遍略低。本文对于研究拉美国家经济开放程度与经济增长、国际贸易体制以及国内产业发展之间的关系,特别是中拉经贸关系发展前景等问题都具有基础性和阶段性的意义。     

Asia's odd men out: Australia, Japan, and the politics of regionalism

Australia and Japan have frequently had difficult relationshipswith their neighbours. This paper suggests that when seen intheir specific historical contexts, the fact that Australiaand Japan have become ‘Asia's odd men out’ is unsurprising.The central argument of this paper is that the consolidationand institutionalisation of regions is in large part a politicalexercise that reflects, and is informed by, discrete nationalconversations. Until and unless such national discourses alignwith wider transnational developments, regional processes areunlikely to prosper. An examination of Japan's and Australia'srespective attempts to engage with and define their region revealsjust how problematic this process can be. Received for publication April 4, 2006. Accepted for publication October 17, 2006.     

The Long, 'Last Step'? Reintegration of Repatriates in Eritrea

The reintegration of repatriates in Eritrea is a relevant andpressing issue. This study explores four dimensions of refugeereintegration based on primary data gathered from 80 householdsthat repatriated back to eastern Eritrea from Sudan. The aimis to assess their reception by the host population and thenature of resource competition prompted by their arrival. Theanalysis also focuses on changes in livelihood and materialwellbeing among repatriated households as well as their outlooktowards the future. This paper highlights many challenges tointegration that have resulted in keeping returnees in a suspendedstate of poverty and dependence. By way of conclusion, it discussesthe problematic nature of the ‘reintegration’ byunderscoring important contrasts in concepts and perceptionsof ‘home’ on the part of different players in theEritrean repatriation story.     

The transformationalist perspective and the rise of a global standard of civilization

The ongoing process of globalization is transforming the world.States, the principal actors in international systems, are theprivileged subjects of this transformation. State identitiesare changing and state sovereignties are challenged. Some scholarsrefer to this as a ‘Grotian moment’. I argue thata meaningful analysis of contemporary international politicsneeds to consider seriously questions related to the identitiesof actors and the quality of anarchy. Furthermore, I argue thatthe rise of a ‘global standard of civilization’reflects the transformation of the world and is affecting statesovereignty. Finally, I argue that only a truly democratic cultureis able to construct durable, peaceful and generative co-operation.