The Fourth Indo-China War

Against the background of twentieth-century military conflict in Asia, the article concentrates on China’s contemporary relationships with outlying states, regions and provinces. Employing a version of Thomas Malthus’s political economy, we argue that population wars are an important, if often disguised, future of modern foreign relations. Through an examination of a various examples but specifically Tibet, Vietnam and Uyghurs in Xinjiang province, the article considers the current prospects of sinicization by demographic means. We conclude by describing ‘red capitalism’ in Asia as a combination of authoritarian states plus economicv success within the framework of a tributary Han civilization.     

Social Science and the Public Interest

Social Science and the Public Interest

Social Science and the Public Interest July/August 2010     

Public–private partnerships and developing‐country agriculture: Evidence from the international agricultural research system

This study examines the role of public–private partnerships (PPPs) in promoting pro‐poor productivity‐enhancing technological innovation in the international agricultural research system. The study examines the extent to which PPPs are being used to overcome market and institutional failures that otherwise inhibit the development and dissemination of technologies targeted specifically to small‐scale, resource‐poor farmers in developing countries. Drawing on a survey of 75 PPP projects in the international system, findings suggest that while PPPs are changing the way the system manages its research agenda, few partnerships lead to joint innovation processes with the private sector. This indicates the need for closer examination of organizational practices, cultures, and incentives in the international agricultural research system. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The failure of a liberal peace: Sri Lanka's counter-insurgency in global perspective

The victory by the Sri Lankan government over the LTTE in 2009 apparently ended over 25 years of civil war. However, the ramifications of the government's counter-insurgency go far beyond Sri Lanka's domestic politics. The military campaign against the LTTE poses a significant challenge to many of the liberal norms that inform contemporary models of international peace-building—the so-called ‘liberal peace’. This article suggests that Sri Lanka's attempts to justify a shift from peaceful conflict resolution to counter-insurgency relied on three main factors: the flawed nature of the peace process, which highlighted wider concerns about the mechanisms and principles of international peace processes; the increased influence of ‘Rising Powers’, particularly China, in global governance mechanisms, and their impact on international norms related to conflict management; and the use by the government of a discourse of counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency to limit international censure. The article concludes that the Sri Lankan case may suggest a growing contestation of international peace-building norms, and the emergence of a legitimated ‘illiberal peace’.     

State engagement with non-state justice: how the experience in Kyrgyzstan can reinforce the need for legitimacy in Afghanistan

Currently there is a question of whether and how Afghanistan should engage non-state councils of elders to resolve disputes. In order to harness their benefits (e.g. efficiency), control their abuses (e.g. occasional controversial resolutions), and stabilize the resolution of disputes, some have argued that formal links should be established between the state judicial system and non-state councils of elders in Afghanistan. Others argue that mere informal links between the two systems should be established. Still others suggest that prior models of state engagement in Afghanistan should be revived. In Kyrgyzstan, just 65 miles north of Afghanistan, the Tsarist, Soviet and post-Soviet administrations have used various methods to engage non-state councils of elders. Despite these vastly different attempts at controlling local dispute resolutions, elders independently resolved disputes outside of Tsarist and Soviet control and continue to resolve disputes outside of post-Soviet state control in Kyrgyzstan. This phenomenon highlights the need for legitimacy in any models of state engagement that are considered for Afghanistan. If, as observed in Kyrgyzstan, people do not use state-sanctioned local councils in Afghanistan, then their purposes may be frustrated. Therefore, in addition to reviewing the experience with state engagement in other parts of the world, policy makers in Afghanistan should also review the historical and contemporary experience with state engagement in Kyrgyzstan. As the need for legitimacy is reconsidered and applied to the design of models for Afghanistan, it may be more likely that those models will be used by more people in Afghanistan and that their purposes will be furthered.     

世界体系中的后苏联国家:欧盟新成员国、独联体成员国和中国之比较

自1989年以来,后苏联国家呈现出不同的沿革轨迹。这些国家大体上可以分为四个群体:欧盟新成员国(NMS)、独联体在欧洲的成员国、独联体在亚洲的成员国和中国。这四个国家群体对于当今世界经济政治体系的参与和依附程度各不相同。需要对它们在工业和贸易方面的能力作出界定,而这些能力对其经济的全球化和金融化产生着影响。国家群体对于世界体系的特定联系决定了其特定的经济(以及政治)能力和依附水平。通过考察它们各自不同的投资模式、贸易伙伴和金融依附情况,以及2007年以来世界金融危机造成的金融压力方面的影响,可以看到:一方面,欧盟的后苏联国家坚定地融入世界经济体系;另一方面,大型经济体(如俄罗斯和中国)有可能建立起本国的市场及网络,因而其经济自立水平要高于欧盟新成员国。存在着三种对于世界经济危机的主要反应方式:更深地融入占支配地位的世界资本主义制度、走向一个较少新自由主义色彩而较多协调主义的世界体系、形成以"对峙力量"和区域集团为标志的更加多元化的世界体系。     

The perceptions of the European Union among tertiary education students in Singapore

Students from the three main universities in Singapore were surveyed in the third quarter 2008 to assess their perceptions and knowledge of Europe/the European Union. This survey complements and expands upon that done in 2006 by the National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE) which was supported by Asia–Europe Foundation. The student survey showed that this important age and education cohort had a middling to low assessment of the EU in its importance for Singapore, an assessment which was much lower than the objective view of the relation (in terms of trade and the EU as a dialogue partner) would warrant. The sources of this perception were examined, and it was found that there was no immediate correlation between level of assessment of Europe/the EU and: gender, nationality, year of study, subject of study or frequency of accessing the local media for international news. Therefore, such perceptions can be assumed to derive from sporadic, ad hoc intangible contacts and fleeting impressions rather than through formal education, the media and specific, focussed and localised EU-related outreach programmes.

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Socioeconomic impacts of the proposed federal gaming tax

We review the history of gaming and its taxation in the U.S., particularly in regard to the idea of “sin taxes” which were often presented as policy instruments intended to control problem gamblers. The review suggests that raising taxes neither encourages moderation nor replaces negative external costs. We follow the review with a socioeconomic impact analysis of a proposed four percent Federal Gaming Tax by simulating its impact on Clark County, Nevada for the period 1995-2004 using a large scale econometric multi-regional model. Clark County is of interest because it is where Las Vegas is located. The analysis reveals that the proposed tax would lead to a measurable decline in Clark County's jobs, population, disposable income, and total industrial during the forecast period. By 2004, total industrial output would be 1.3 percent lower under the proposed tax and Clark County would experience a loss of $1.39 in real disposable income for every gaming tax dollar collected by Federal Government. These reductions, coupled particularly with the loss of thousands of jobs in Las Vegas area hotels/casinos predicted by the analysis suggest that increased demands on social services in Clark County would result. These findings, together with the lack of evidence that raising taxes would promote moderation or reduce external negative costs, lead us to argue that excise taxes represent an unattractive option.     

A Positive,Communitarian Right to Security in the Age of Super-Terrorism

Post-9/11, and especially with the dramatic rise of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the author advocates a collective right to security. Plotting a course through state absolutism and liberalism, one finds communitarianism as a philosophy to support this right to security. The communitarian right to security is based on an interpretation of European human rights law, particularly positive duties of the state, to protect the rights to life of individuals from violations by non-state actors such as suspected terrorists. But for reasons of practical enforcement, limitations to the exercise of the right are also articulated.