Afghanistan in the Great War

The period of the Great War in Afghanistan was one of the most transformational periods of her entire history. Less than a year after the end of the Great War, both Afghanistan and her relations with the rest of the world had changed forever. The article covers Afghanistan and the outbreak of war, the Niedermayer-Hentig mission from Germany, pressure on the frontier and at court, and the aftermath of the Assassination of Amir Habibullah. At Kabul, the emergence of a ‘War Party’, which favoured the declaration of war on India on the side of the Central Powers, caused difficulties for Habibullah's attempt to remain neutral. Although the War Party was to have some support from the Niedermayer-Hentig Mission to Kabul, it was never strong enough to act until the Great War itself was over. On the other side of the frontier, the tribes were expecting to be called to fight at any moment. Keen to raid into the plains, they initially moved too early and were rebuffed but low-level tribal activity took place all over the frontier, though not at the intensity seen in previous large uprisings. At the same time, the Indian Army was taking out the best troops to send to Europe and other fronts, leaving a comparatively small force to protect the frontier. Large scale response to tribal raiding was not possible but the Indian Army was able to deploy aeroplanes, artillery and machine guns as force multipliers to help make up for the lack of fighting men. The cumulative experience was one of change which needed to be understood and accommodated in short order. Men like Sir Denys Bray of the Foreign Department and Mahmud Tarzi and Abdul Quddus Khan in Kabul were able to do this and, in so doing, facilitated Afghanistan's emergence to independence and nationhood.     

Old Laws,New Citizens: Trust in the Courts in the New Federal States

After the reunification of West and East Germany, West German laws, lawyers and judges almost completely replaced the East German legal system, giving rise to a unique situation in which ‘old laws’ governed ‘new citizens’. Are West German laws and legal institutions incompatible with the socialist values of East Germans? Or do East Germans judge legal institutions based on their performance? Using three surveys from the 1990s and 2000s this article shows support for both cultural and performance approaches to institutional trust, but suggests that the impact of cultural factors may have declined over time. Improved economic and political performance in the 2000s, moreover, has led levels of trust in the East to reach nearly the same levels as in the West. Surprisingly, the results show as well that ‘socialist values’ in West Germany are also a barrier to trust in the courts.     

“Zdravljica” – toast to a cosmopolitan nation anthem quality in the Slovenian context

As with many states, in the case of Slovenia two songs principally contend for the position of national anthem. In this case an apparent ideological gulf masks perhaps a more essential temperamental divide: the bellicose army song versus the happy drinking “all together?…?” number. Vacillation between “Zdravljica” (“A Toast”) and “Naprej zastava slave,” (“Forward, Flag of Glory”) might be taken as reflecting the ambivalence with regard to potentially hostile others one reads attributed to Jesus Christ in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke: who's not with me is against me/who's not against me is with me. The 1989 adoption of “Zdravljica” (lyrics courtesy of Slovenia's national poet France Pre?eren) is strongly suggestive of an outward looking state, one hoping for a place in a cosmopolitan Europe. “Naprej zastava slave” has remained the anthem of the Slovenian army and so is far from being discarded for the purpose of asserting Slovenian national aspirations. Perhaps retaining it in this minor role has been necessary because “Zdravljica” is a song which – at least as it is presently sung – de-emphasises national aspiration to a degree unusual for the anthem genre. In a crossroads of Europe dominated historically by the national (or imperial) aspirations of larger and more powerful political entities, “Zdravljica” is a song which tests the limits of what an anthem can be by holding out a hope of rising above the national.     

The Asian Development Bank and Developmental Regionalism in East Asia

The Asian Development Bank (adb) has made increasingly important contributions to Asia's (and particularly East Asia's) regionalism over recent years, and especially since Haruhiko Kuroda became the Bank's president in February 2005. This paper argues that the adb's role here has become more significant because of the strong ‘developmental’ characteristics of East Asia's new regionalism. This is not least because, as a regional development bank, the adb has a predilection for linking development, regionalism and capacity-building together when promoting regional co-operation and integration (rci) in Asia. We may refer to this as ‘developmental regionalism’, where rci activities are particularly orientated to enhancing the economic capacity and prospects of less developed countries with the view of strengthening their integration into the regional economy, and thereby bringing greater coherence to regional community building overall. This analysis is partly based on field research undertaken by the author involving a series of research interviews conducted amongst adb officials and with outside analysts of the organisation. It first examines the evolution of the Bank's stance and policies on rci, and the impact made by President Kuroda and the newly formed Office of Regional Integration (orei) in this regard. The main developments of East Asia's new regionalism are then outlined from finance and trade perspectives. Thereafter, an evaluation is made of the adb's contributions toward the emerging developmental regionalism in East Asia.     

French local government reform and urban planning

Early Retirement, Ann E. McGoldrick and Cary L. Cooper, Gower, 1988, £30.00.

The Reform of Local Government Finance in Britain, edited by Stephen J. Bailey and Ronan Paddison, pp. 223, Routledge, 1988, £27.50 (hardback).

Britain's Industrial Renaissance: The Development, Manufacture and Use of Information Technology, edited by Philip Blackburn and Richard Sharpe, Comedia, pp. 180, Routledge, £7.95.

Local Business Taxes in Britain and Germany, edited by Robert J. Bennett and Günter Krebs, pp. 344, Nomos Verlags Gesellschaft, Baden‐Baden, 1988, 87.00 DM.

Marketing in Local Government, Kieron Walsh, Longman, 1989, pp. 128, £8.95 (paperback).

Remaking Planning, The Politics of Urban Change in the Thatcher Years, Tim Brindley, Yvonne Rydin and Gerry Stoker, Unwin Hyman, 1989, pp. 197, £25.00 (hardback), £8.95 (paperback).

Needs Assessment in Post‐16 Education, Tim Packwood and Tim Whitaker, The Falmer Press, 1988, Basingstoke, pp. 233, £18.95 (hardback), £9.95 (paperback).

The State and the City, Ted Robert Gurr and Desmond King, Macmillan, 1987, pp. 242, £30 (hardback), £8.95 (paperback).

Faith in the City and Local Politics, R. Farnell, General Synod Office of the Church of England, 1988, available from Church House Bookshop, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3NZ, £1.00 (by post £1.30).

Managing Fire Services (Second edition), R. J. Coleman and J. A. Granito (eds), International City Management Association, 1988, pp. 528, $38.95.

Area Initiatives Evaluation Handbook, prepared by PIEDA Consultants for the Industry Department for Scotland and Scottish Development Agency, IDS Economics and Statistics Research Paper 16, 1988, pp. 61 plus appendices, £5.00.

Local Labour‐Market Policies in Britain and Germany, Anglo‐German Foundation, 17 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LP 1988, pp. 134, £4.50 (paperback).

Land and Housing Policies in Europe and the USA: A Comparative Analysis, Graham Hallett (ed.), Routledge, 1988, pp. 215, £27.50 (hardback).

Town and Country Planning in Britain, J. B. Cullingworth, Unwin Hyman, 1988, pp. 408, Tenth edition, £10.95.

Basic Planning Law and Practice 1988, College of Law, 1988, pp. 127, £9.00.

Current Problems in Planning 1988, College of Law, 1988, pp. 94, £6.30.

Effective Planning Appeals, Hilaire McCoubrey, BSP Professional Books, 1988, pp. 147, £17.95 (hardback).

Reviews of United Kingdom Statistical Sources, Vol.XXIV: Local Government, J. M. Gillespie, Chapman &; Hall, 1988, pp. 342, £42.50 (hardback).

Performance Evaluation ‐ An Essential Management Tool, Christine Baker (Ed.), (ICMA), 1987, pp. 20, $21.00     

Australia and the Threat of Terrorism in the Decade after 9/11

In February 2010, the Australian government released its second Counter-Terrorism White Paper, claiming that terrorism continues to pose a serious security challenge to Australia. The article critically re-examines the terrorist threat to Australia and explores the threat posed by the traditional Al-Qaeda leadership, by regional organisations like Jemaah Islamiyah and by so-called ‘home-grown’ terrorists. Arguing that it is imperative to differentiate clearly between the threat to Australia and Australian interests abroad, the article identifies the sources of threat in the Australian context. It concludes that neither Al-Qaeda nor Jemaah Islamiyah nor home-grown terrorism poses any significant objective threat to Australia. At the same time it is acknowledged that the subjective perception of the terrorist necessitates the government to develop an effective counter-terrorism strategy. However, given that the terrorism threat is objectively low, policy measures addressing the threat ought to be carefully designed to meet the requirements of proportionality and (potential) effectiveness.     

The Enduring Power of Isolationism: An Historical Perspective

Are Americans becoming more “isolationist”? Four years ago, for the first time since the Vietnam War, almost half of those polled by the Pew Research Center stated they would rather the United States “mind [its] own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own” and work to “reduce military commitments overseas” in order to decrease the deficit. Such cautious views about American involvement abroad are on the rise, up ten percentage points over the past decade, according to Pew polls released in 2011 and 2012. A majority of Americans think the United States is withdrawing from Afghanistan too slowly and are reticent to take direct action in Syria. This article explains the long historical context of these recent events to argue for the enduring power and significance of isolationist thought.     

New Security Dynamics in the Asia-Pacific: Extending Regionalism from Southeast to Northeast Asia

This article explains the emerging security dynamics in the Asia-Pacific in the context of the project to establish an “Asian Community”. Although the model of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been constrained by a post-colonial attachment to sovereignty, new processes of domestic democratisation, taking in new members and dealing with non-traditional security threats have led to an acceptance of the need to deepen its social and political pillars. The real test for this project, however, will be whether it can be extended to Northeast Asia, where relations between states are still characterised by traditional power-balancing and rising nationalism.