Chinese Nation Building and Foreign Policy: Japan and the US as the Significant “Others” in National Identity Construction

This article examines Chinese nation building in the post-Cold War era from the perspective of foreign policy. It focuses on the role of Japan and the United States as significant “Others” in Chinese leaders’ construction of three major variants of Chinese national identity: as a victim (past), as a developing country (present) and as a great power (future). The article argues that Japan occupies a primary place in the enactment of the past aspect of Chinese identity, while the US plays a major role in its present and, especially, future aspects.     

The erratic behaviour of the EU ETS on the path towards consolidation and price stability

The Kyoto Protocol envisages the use of various instruments to achieve emission reduction targets, one of which is the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the most important market worldwide for CO₂ emission allowances. The volume of European Union Allowances traded represents over 45% of all the carbon dioxide generated by human activity within the continent. In its first two phases (2005–2012), the behaviour of the EU ETS was erratic, as a result of discretionary policies, an oversupply of allowances and reduced economic activity due to the global crisis. These factors caused excessively low prices that distorted the initial goals of achieving low-carbon solutions. From 2013, changes were made to the market regulation mechanisms in order to correct these structural deficiencies. Empirical analysis of daily prices in the two central phases of the market, following the pattern of ARCH and GARCH models, shows that the measures taken within the EU generated greater confidence and stability in the market and thus reduced volatility. Subsequent price behaviour, following a bullish path, has confirmed the success of the measures taken and their contribution to fulfilling emission reduction targets.     

From a Counter-Society to a Counter-State Movement: Jemaah Islamiyah According to PUPJI

The General Guide for the Struggle of Al-Jama’ah Al-Islamiyah (Pedoman Umum Perjuangan Al-Jama’ah Al-Islamiyah)—commonly known under its acronym PUPJI—is an essential document for understanding Southeast Asia's most deadly terror network. Issued by Jemaah Islamiyah's Central Executive Council (Qiyadah Markaziyah), it outlines the group's administrative structure and guiding religious principles, in addition to providing insights into its organizational development, membership recruitment, and operational strategy. From the time Jemaah Islamiyah was established on 1 January 1993—as the result of an internal split within the Darul Islam (DI) movement—until the time it first engaged in terrorist activities—with the Medan church bombings on 28 May 2000—the group was structured and managed in accordance with this handbook. To understand Jemaah Islamiyah, therefore, one must understand PUPJI. ¹ 1. A copy of the original PUPJI document was obtained and translated by the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The author first reviewed and analyzed the document while working as Manager for Research at ICPVTR. The results of this study can be found in Rohan Gunaratna, Elena Pavlova, and Muhammad Hassan Haniff, “A Preliminary Analysis of the General Guide For the Struggle of Jemaah Islamiyah,” ICPVTR, IDSS, February 2004.      

Consumer Preference for Neotraditional Neighborhood Characteristics

Abstract

Much research on residential mobility relies on examining people's choices within the context of what is available in a local housing market. However, it is difficult to determine the demand for alternative housing or neighborhood types that may not be available or are available only in limited quantities. Hence, the market may not accurately reveal consumer preferences for such alternatives.

We estimate a discrete choice model of neighborhood choice by using data from a choice‐based conjoint analysis survey that allows us to vary characteristics experimentally. The model is used to determine consumer preferences for neotraditional neighborhood design features, including neighborhood layout, housing density, surrounding open space, and commuting time, while holding other characteristics, including school quality and neighborhood safety, constant. The results indicate that the neotraditional design with higher density is less preferred on average, but that niche marketing, additional open space, or other amenities can overcome its negative effects.     

The Deep Colonizing Practices of the Australian Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

This paper demonstrates how legal processes utilized by institutions established to reverse the effects of colonization, can continue the colonizing agenda. The processes reflect 'deep' rather than 'de-'colonizing practices. The Australian Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC), which tabled its National Report over a decade ago and which was heralded as the inquiry which would transform race politics for Indigenous Australians, is used as an example of a 'decolonizing' institution that inadvertently adopted deep colonizing practices. Using data from interviews with 48 Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who were associated with the RCIADIC, this paper expands Deborah Bird Rose's theoretical construct of 'deep colonizing practices' and illustrates how difficult it is to shift hegemonic legal processes and beliefs, despite intentions to empower and embrace Indigenous views.     

Forecasting the 2010 general election using aggregate local election data

The paper presents a revised method for estimating national vote shares using aggregate data from local government by-elections. The model was originally developed to forecast the annual outcome of local elections but was adapted in time to provide an accurate forecast of Labour’s landslide victory at the 1997 general election. However, over the past decade the changing pattern of party competition which has seen parties becoming more selective about which elections to contest has led to more elections being excluded from the modelling because they failed to meet the exacting criteria that all three major parties, Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats, had contested both the by-election and the previous main election, normally held in May. Relaxing these criteria, although increasing the number of available cases would adversely affect the forecast, over- or under-estimating party votes. Instead, the revised method overcomes the problem of differential competition by estimating vote shares for parties that contest one but not both elections. A further innovation is the calculation of a weighted moving quarterly average which takes account of the number of days elapsed between the by-election date and the date of forecast. Using the new method we provide estimates for likely party shares for the 2010 general election.     

In Pursuit of an Alternative Model? The Modernisation Trap in China’s Official Development Discourse

This article contributes to the debates on China’s socio-political transformations by tracing the link between China’s modernization and nationalism, and analysing their mutual interplay. Many recent studies discuss post-Mao China’s development as a unique model challenging earlier development approaches. Instead, the argument pursued here points to the dependence of China’s dominant development thinking on the paradigm of modernization and its symbolic celebration in official discourse and public rituals. By tracing the impact of the modernization paradigm in the influential annual publication China Modernization Report and in the 2009 National Day mass parade, the article shows how and what kind of Chinese nation is produced. I argue that China’s ostensibly unique development model is constrained by the modernization thinking underlying it. Analysis of the discourses on modernity and ‘scientific development’ and the symbolism associated with them reveals a series of dichotomies and oppositions underpinning China’s nation-building. China’s pursuit of modernization relies on the suppression of other possible development paths within China and subsumes Chinese development experiences under those of the generalised West, thereby restricting development alternatives to those allowed within a hierarchical view of the world.     

Fatal hypernatraemia after laparoscopic treatment of hydatid liver cyst: medical and legal concerns of a rare complication

A case of fatal hypernatraemia after laparoscopic treatment of hydatid livers cysts is presented in order to highlight the risks associated with the implementation of newer techniques and the use of hypertonic saline as a scolecocidal agent in hydatid disease. Additionally this case raises some concerns on the importance of obtaining a patient's informed consent.