Capital Changes

THE handover clock in Tian’anmen Square counting down the seconds till Hong Kong’s return to the motherland, smatterings of Cherokee jeeps, yellow miandi mini-buses and red Xiali taxis amid a sea of bicycles, and waistbands sporting bibiji are characteristics of the 1996 Beijing streetscape long since gone.     

Dreamless Sleep and Bye Bye Beijing Belly——The TCM Route to Senior Health

HAVING entered the penultimate of Shakespeare’s seven ages of man,or in my case,woman,I find that hitting 60 and official old age sparks a general reevaluation of what constitutes enjoyment and a sense of well-being.The saying you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone truly hits home with the realization that life without physical fitness is a weary,worrisome trudge.Consequently good health,along with gray hair in recession,     

Structural Deficits and State Borrowing Costs

This study examines the factors that affect the borrowing costs of state governments with specific attention being paid to the impact of state structural deficits (or fiscal imbalances) on borrowing costs. The findings for 1999–2000 suggest that interest costs for state competitively sold municipal securities reflect estimates of state structural deficits. States with a higher structural deficit were found to pay significantly higher interest costs. The evidence implies that bond ratings do not fully reflect the fiscal problems faced by state governments.     

REPRESENTING EUROPE: THE EMERGING ‘CULTURE’ OF EU DIPLOMACY

Debate over ‘loyalty transfer’ in the European Union (EU) centres on the assumption that elite socialisation and ‘spillover’ processes lead inevitably to changes in the behaviour and identities of European officials. This article interrogates that notion by exploring how officials in the EU external delegations represent Europe. The Lisbon Treaty (2009) will transform the delegations in ways that are emblematic of the EU's evolution as a global actor. Drawing on empirical insights we examine the way EU diplomats embody the European idea and understand their role in promoting ‘the European Union interests and values around the world’. At a moment of historic transition, the article highlights some of the cultural dynamics currently transforming European diplomacy and how officials conceptualize their work of ‘delivering EU external relations policy’. We argue that Europeanization and loyalty transfer are complicated by inter‐institutional rivalries that raise problematic questions over who can best claim to ‘speak for Europe’.     

South-West Africa

Our Vice-Chairman has recently visited South Africa, includingthe mandated Territory, and this article represents the greaterpart of a lecture to a combined meeting at the Royal EmpireSociety, with our President, the Earl of Athlone presiding.