试析中国在苏丹西部达尔富尔地区冲突中的立场

本研究主要关注从2003年到2008年12月中国对苏丹西部达尔富尔地区冲突的立场。苏丹国内和国际上都有人指责中国与苏丹政府之间存在着特殊关系,向苏丹政府提供了无条件的支持。中国也被指责阻碍了旨在推动苏丹政府和平解决达尔富尔冲突、停止该地区蔓延的暴力活动的国际决议。这在很大程度上困扰了中国外交,使中国外交投入了宝贵的精力和时间,来为自己的立场辩护,并在国际舆论面前改善自己的形象。实际上,这是对中国在达尔富尔冲突中立场的误读,忽视了中国立场的转变和为冲突解决所发挥的积极作用。     

Does public participation matter? Inclusive growth in East Asia

Inclusiveness in economic development has lately emerged as a critical factor for development. This paper adopts an analytical concept of inclusive growth to evaluate East Asia’s economic success. It contests the Western conceptualization of the critical role of public participation in development, and argues that it has played a limited role in terms of inclusive growth in East Asia. Several factors have influenced the outcome of research in this area including the choice of methodology adopted, the challenge of defining and measuring inclusive growth, and the unclear mode and impact of public participation in the process.     

Attitudes toward suicide bombing in Pakistan

Although suicide bombing is a historical phenomenon, there has been a recent upsurge in such incidents. In Pakistan, over the last year, more than 1,000 people have been killed in suicide bombing incidents. Assessing the attitudes and perceptions of people toward suicide bombing can help understand some of the root causes of this phenomenon. In this pilot study, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of people (N = 215) in Karachi, Pakistan, to assess their attitudes and perceptions toward suicide bombing. The majority of the respondents condemned suicide bombing and disagreed with the notion that Islam or any other religion supports it. Belonging to the Sunni Muslim sect and strong adherence to religion predicted support for suicide bombing. The majority believed suicide bombing to be a result of religious fundamentalism. Opinion was divided as to whether suicide bombers have an underlying psychiatric illness. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to determine the attitudes and perceptions of the Pakistani population regarding this important issue.     

The diffusion of e-government innovations in Turkey： A conceptual framework

This paper aims to draw a conceptual framework about combining the diffusion of innovations literature with the use of e-government applications that are being used newly in Turkey. In recent years, their development still continues to grow rapidly. Thus, these applications can be accepted as innovations. In order to understand the patterns of diffusion that depend on a time process, we argue that the characteristics of e-government applications have effects on diffusion and rate of diffusion itself. With the combining efforts of literature and characteristics of e-government applications, some propositions are suggested with the help of diffusions of innovations literature and the validity of the conceptual framework that is drawn by the study that is aimed to be tested empirically for Turkey in further studies.     

‘Knowing’ Pakistan: knowledge production and area studies

Abstract

This article explores the processes that contribute towards the image of Pakistan as portrayed to the West. It does this by critically analysing the discursive practices through which knowledge, and a general idea of Pakistan, are created, for example in South Asian area studies journals and South Asian studies centres in Western universities. This article demonstrates that most scholarly research on Pakistan, as published in South Asian studies journals, is in fact heavily influenced by the research of American and European scholars. It argues that as the positionality of these Western scholars is further based on ‘academic quality’, this causes a continuous circle of knowledge production. In this circle, the Western academic produces ‘quality’ work in top area studies journals. Their work then receives wider circulation due to the scholar’s positionality and status within elite, Western centres of knowledge production, whereas research in South Asian studies centres is predominantly India-centric. While true to their proposed research ambit, research conducted on India in South Asian studies centres is multidisciplinary in nature. In Pakistan’s case, most of the research, however marginal, remains centred on the country’s security and its international affairs.     

Goods and services tax,cascading, and revenue performance: Analyzing Indian commodity taxation market

Indian economy has finally introduced an improvised value‐added tax commonly known as goods and services tax (GST) with an explicit focus to target cascading. Cascading is by far the most serious issue of a tax structure as it leads to many other challenges like opaqueness, complexity, evasion besides deadweight losses. GST is a fiscal policy reform aimed at integrating and harmonizing the Indian tax structure and hence reduce the incidence of cascading. This study is an attempt to empirically analyze the possible impacts of GST on the cascading and hence revenue collection in the Indian economy. The study has employed a simple but representative simultaneous equation model representing the commodity taxation using time series data from 1990 to 2017. This study finds that reduced cascading under GST will enhance the revenue efficiency of the Indian commodity tax structure. The findings are corroborated by the post‐GST revenue performance of Indian states and the central government.     

Sexual Behavioral Disinhibition Associated with Nucleus Lentiformis Lesion: A Forensic Neuroscience Perspective Through a Case

Organic brain disturbances particularly related to frontal cortex structures and subcortical areas including the basal ganglia may play a role in behavioral disinhibition disorders. Kluver–Bucy syndrome (KBS), which is one of the better knowns of these syndromes, includes hyperorality, visual agnosia, and hypersexuality, has been reported to occur after temporal lobe and amygdala lesions; however, several patients who had focal lesions in areas other than the temporal cortex and amygdala have been reported to present partial KBS symptoms. Nucleus lentiformis refers to a large portion of the basal ganglia including the putamen and globus pallidus, and specific structures within this broad area are known to be important for reward and value-based decision making. To date, KBS symptoms including hypersexual behavior associated with nucleus lentiformis lesions have never been reported. Here, we present a 38-year-old male patient who developed increased sexual interest and hyperorality after infarctions in the right lenticular nucleus and right occipitotemporal region and committed a first-degree sexual assault. He was sent to our institution for the assessment of criminal responsibility to the index sexual crime. According to a comprehensive and thorough forensic psychiatric evaluation, he was diagnosed as having an organic personality disorder with partial KBS symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of deviant sexual behavior and hyperorality developing after nucleus lentiformis infarction. We aimed to discuss possible neurobiologic explanations of late-onset deviant sexual behavior, which resulted in sexual criminal behavior following a cerebrovascular infarction.     

Some Neglected Aspects of Performance in Field Administration in Bangladesh

Performance of public service personnel does not depend solely upon their qualifications and level of training. Rational organization of activities and division of work with effective work processes are important, and it is necessary to ensure that employees have appropriate qualifications and training for performing the tasks assigned to them. Rules and procedures help facilitate their work and provide flexibility to innovate. Attractive terms and conditions of service, and other intangible rewards such as opportunities for contribution to the mission of the organization, participation in decision-making, and recognition by the employer and the clients of public service are also important. Based on data collected from sub-district level public agencies in Bangladesh, this article argues that performance at the field level is affected by a number of additional organizational, political, and social factors. They include personnel turnover, procedural delays, multiplicity of tasks, decision pattern and behavior, politician-administrator interaction, dual loyalty of officials, inadequate facilities for fulfilling family obligations, and attachment to major urban centers for health and educational services. These elements need to be integrated in the framework for assessing performance of public service personnel in developing countries. It is necessary to look beyond the commonly known causes for dealing with performance problems.     

Absence of Vertical Linkages and the Quest for Decentralized Service Delivery in Pakistan: An Innovation under Constraints

Local Government Ordinance, 2001 aimed to create a service-orientated local government by devolving many public services from the provincial to local levels. However, in many cases, local governments either did not have the capacity to manage them or the services extended across different geographic jurisdictions. The new system also restructured the three sub-national levels but without any vertical hierarchical linkages between them, and asked them to coordinate public service provision between them. This article suggests different remedies, including developing vertical administrative linkages and the reconstitution of Zila Mushawarat Committee to undertake coordination functions at intra-district level.     

Reckoning Electronic Government Progress in Bangladesh

In the context of the recent interest and enthusiasm regarding e-government, this article proffers an overview of e-government by focusing on its conceptual development and experimental practices with a particular focus on Bangladesh. The study primarily draws on an extensive review of the secondary literature together with personal insights of the authors gained in the course of engagements with selected e-government related projects in Bangladesh. It explores, inter alia, the conceptual setting by examining the key definitional issues and models of e-government; reviews e-government as a practice at the global and developing country contexts; and examines the policy frame and infrastructural status of e-government in Bangladesh. Major challenges and constraints on wider application of e-government in Bangladesh are identified and some clues on possible improvement of the situation are also explored. Despite many constraints, a degree of positive change is already noticeable in reducing the digital divide in the country.