Similarities and Differences

Since the end of the war in Afghanistan, the United States has been intensely making preparations for military actions to overthrow the "Saddam regime. " Though there existed big differences between the pro-war factions and pro-peace factions in the United Nations, U. S. President George W. Bush vowed that his country "would take military actions against lraq as planned even if the UN Security Council fails to pass U. S. motion to topple the Saddam regime by force." This tells us that the second Persian Gulf War was inevitable. And people would naturally connect in mind this war with the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. What is the difference between the two Gulf wars? What follow-up move would Washington take after the second Gulf war? What impact would the war exert on the political structure of the Middle East? And what's the prospect of relations among the big powers, especially among the United States, the European nations, Russia and China? To find answers to these questions, we invited Professor Wang Zaibang and six of his colleagues to have a panel discussion in early March. It should be mentioned that Contemporary International Relations held a discussion of similar kind in the No. 10 issue, 2002. This discussion can be seen as a follow-up to the last one. We hope it would better our readers' understanding of how the Chinese view this issue of public attention.     

The Message from Boston

The election program entitled "A Strong Nation Respected in theWorld " came out in Boston at the July 26-29 Democratic National Convention along with the nomination of John Kerry and John Edwardsas the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the party. Whatmessage do the Democrats want to convey from Boston?No wonder high on the agenda stands national security a Re-publican strong point with the electorate for years. Relevant issues likenon-proliferation of weapons of mass dest…     

＂Color Revolutions＂ and Beyond

Astring of media-coined "color revolutions" broke out in Georgia, Ukraine and Kirgyzstan one after another inside the Commonwealth of Independent States since October 2003,reminiscent of the drama of collapse of the former Soviet bloc at the turn of the 1990s. Why those upheavals came hot on the heels of the Soviet disintegration merely a dozen or so years ago? Are we expecting more Domino effects down the road? What geographical repercussions will they spark? We have invited some experts over from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations to air their views on these interesting issues.     

Economic Integration vs European Balance of Power

The fifth round of the EU enlargement on May1,2004turns thelong-cherished"utopia"of a unified Europe into reality through apeaceful,economic approach.This paper attempts to make some ex-plorations on the following issues:Why the option for an economic ap-proach?What changes have taken place in the nature and behavior ofthe relevant nations?What impact will the event have on European sta-bility and balance How will the EU keep equilibrium through sys-temic mechanisms in case of inter-state …     

Competition≠Conflict

Fu: The above discussions clearly show that the cooled relations between the United States and Russia lie in the basic factor that the political development in Russia has failed to meet American wishes. The catalytic factor of such relations probably could be found in the issues of strategic competition that confirm with "the cold peace. " Of course, we may discuss whether on earth there is such a competition. If there is,then what are Russia's conditions and considerations in the competition? The competitions between America and Russia are different from that between the United States and the Soviet Union in the Cold War years, but they can also be seen in geostrategic competition as well as in the means of strategic competition.     

New Military Revolution and U. S. Global Strategy

Two years have past since September 11 events. Then to what extent has the U. S. global strategy changed? This is still a question in dispute. From the actions taken by U. S. A. and the various American documents published in the past two years, we can find that there have been no much changes in U. S. global strategic objectives. The essence of the disputes over "New Empire" in U. S. A. is how to maintain U. S. hegemonic position as long as possible. Although the pattern of     

The European Regional ism and "New Triangle"

Today, the major activities in international trade, investment, transnational corporation business and high technique happen in and between North America, Europe and East Asia. This emerging "New Triangle" becomes quite a phenomenon in current international relations. With this as the background, what kind of theory will European regionalism adopt? What are the problems and challenges on its target and principle? Moreover, what influences it might have to "the New Triangle"? These are the problems to which the author tries to find answers in this paper.     

Afghanistan's Military-Political Situation and Regional Security

NATO's "Operation Enduring Freedom" was launched in 2001 under the guise of the fight against terrorism and it is still the defining factor in Afghanistan today.This operation has resulted in more than 10 years of war and a substantial increase in terrorism and drugs production in Afghanistan.An agreement on strategic cooperation between Washington and Kabul aims to create a series of long-term American military bases in Afghanistan even after the withdrawal of U.S.troops planned for 2014.Many countries in the region are unhappy about this move.Such a situation has aroused suspicions that the real purpose of the U.S.' "Operation Enduring Freedom" was simply to perpetuate instability in Afghanistan and the region so as to provide a justification for a long-term U.S.military presence there. Over the last three years,Afghanistan troops,with the support of the American troops,have blocked advances by the Taliban and set up "safety zones" in many areas of the country.However the Taliban have also carved out a stronghold in the east of the country in several provinces.Both sides control roughly equal areas of territory.     

China-US Relations in the Trump Era

正To the astonishment of the whole world,against the protest of the American elites,Donald Trump won the presidential election of 2016.Whether you like him or not,President Trump will usher in a new era.Will he fulfill all the promises of the campaign?Will he"make America great again"?Will he     

The Prospect for Sino-American Relations in 2007

Whither Sino-American relations in 2007? This is one of the focal questions for many Chinese. In my opinion, we can predict the developments of Sino-American relations in 2007 from the changes that happened to the bilateral relations in 2006. According to quantitative analysis, one of the prominent features of Sino-American relations in 2006 is that the relations are     

Some Thoughts on Germany''''s Approach to Handle Historical Issues

This paper is expected to cover the following questions. Howdid the government of the postwar Germanyunderstand and copewith historical issues? What were the features and regular patterns init? What effects did it achieve? Howto assess it? What are the chal-lenges that Germany will be faced with in treating the historical ques-tions in the future?Cognitive Process of Germany s UnderstandingHistorical IssuesThere are many indicators in judging whether Germany has faced upto history, one of…     

Surpassing the Cold War Mentality

Five years have passed since September 11. What has been the influence of these events on international relations? What has changed in the world since then? The majority of scholars hold that the September 11 terrorist attacks were essentially a key event, a "turning point" in the international strategy transformation after the Cold War.Yet some others believe that the September 11 terrorist attacks cannot have had so profound an impact on international relations. For example, in America's Foreign Policy, most articles commemorating the fifth anniversary of September 11 fall into the second category. These articles suggest that, five years after September 11, security issues have not slowed down the pace of globalization; potential strategic competition among the big powers has not been weakened due to their cooperation in counter-terrorism and international terrorist organizations, represented by Al Qaeda, still exist. Meanwhile, many proturning-point scholars think that, after September 11, terrorism has become the main threat to international security and that the strategic focuses of major powers have also undergone a big adjustment, valuing cooperation over competition. There is even a saying that "the central content of international relations is to meet challenges from the non-state actors represented by terrorism."     

Shifts in Leadership Will Create New Uncertainties in Northeast Asia

2012 is a year of elections throughout the world and in Northeast Asian countries in particular marks a year of shifts in leadership. Will the new leaders change previous policies towards the Korean Peninsula?How extensive will these adjustments be and in what direction will they lead? Such questions point to major changes in 2012.     

Ⅱ. Pragmatic Interaction between Big Powers

Lu: It is very difficult to summarize the relationship among bigpowers in 2004. Looking east, there existed a "small cold war" named by some media between Europe and Russia and between the United States and Russia; with regard to the "orange revolution" in Ukraine at the end of the year, a rival show was displayed between America, Europe and Russia. Looking east, a fresh scent seems to fill the air: under the Six Party Talks, China, the United States, Russia and Japan jointly discuss the method to solve the Korean nuclear crisis; China and America's position on the Taiwan issue come closer. Powell regards Sino-U. S. relations as entering "the best period in history." How do we view the phenomenon? How will it develop in 2005?     

俄罗斯中东战略:特点、背景与前景（英文）

正At the end of the first decade of the 21st century,changes took place in the international strategic landscape,with the ability of the West to dominate world affairs widely questioned in the wake of the global financial crisis.And following the series of regime changes that the United States and some European countries pushed in the name of"revolutions"in the Middle East,North Africa and members of the former     

China and Asia： Prospects for Common Development

Asia’s rise has caused waves in terms of both geopolitics and the global economy in the 21st Century. Its rise is also poised to heavily influence future global growth. Many scholars are talking about the eastwards migration of global power and debating who will emerge as a leading power in Asia. While the rise has caused rifts in regional cooperation mechanisms it has also created many channels for Asia’s development path. How should we look at Asia’s rise? How can we ride these changes and how can we create a win-win situation for all Asian countries? How do we ensure that Asia has a bright future? These questions merit the careful attention of academics in political and economic fields in China, Asia and the rest of the world.     

Changes Brought by Reflection

Feng: A number of changes have taken place in Europe after reflection, such as specific anti-terrorist measures, progress in the construction of integration, changes in the structure of political forces and adjustments in the EU foreign policy. Would you make some comments first, Dr. Sun? ……     

Mutual Trust—Key to Sino-Japanese Amity

Drift marked China-Japan ties in most part of the 1990s, accompanied with wild swings. The last decade of the 20th century witnessed the commemoration of the 20th anniversary(1972-1992)of diplomatic normalization, the 50th anniversary(1945-1995)of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the furor over the "No War decision" in Japan, and the shock waves from the reorientation of Japan-U. S. relationship in 1996 and the revision of the guidelines     

The Origin of the Issue

Yang: Hello, everybody ! Recently, the discussion on constructing the security cooperative mechanism of Northeast Asia has been increas- ing both at home and abroad, which has almost t become another hot topic next to the Korean nuclear issue. Why is there such a phe- nomenon? Judging from the perspective of the regional situation, there have appeared two respects of "changing" and "unchanging" factors in the past few years. Should we consider that the "unchanging factors" have led to the br…     

Future International Trends as Predicted from International Situation of 2011

The chaos of the international strategic situation of 2011 will lead to the decline of the West,the growth of the Asia-Pacific as the global geopolitical center,the weakening of the trend towards multi-polarization,the rise of the G2 pattern in international situation,the theme of "peace and development" in addressing new challenges,and increasing importance of the "war and peace" issue.