First Movers,Democratization and Unilateral Concessions: Overcoming Commitment Problems and Negotiating a “Nationwide Cease-Fire” in Myanmar

ABSTRACT

The article argues that “first movers” and the bandwagoning effect they trigger can undermine the dynamics that perpetuate civil war and enable a multiparty cease-fire agreement. It looks at the unprecedented “nationwide” cease-fire in Myanmar reached between the government and several ethnic armed organizations in 2015. It shows that democratization and unilateral concessions by the Myanmar government were instrumental in overcoming the commitment problem and provided the necessary incentives for “first movers” to set the stage for a broad cease-fire agreement.     

Why Develop and Support Women's Organizations in Providing Legal Aid in China? Women's rights,women's organizations and legal aid in China

This article argues that women's organizations are central to legal aid for women in China. Chinese women would benefit if more women's legal aid organizations were developed and supported. There are currently too few such organizations, especially in rural areas. Their work challenges the public legal aid programme to develop a rights-based legal aid agenda to achieve greater gender equality through the protection of women's rights. They bring diverse women's perspectives which counter prevailing traditional patriarchal attitudes and male dominance in Chinese society. The emergence of autonomous women's organizations is also important because it helped to break the monopoly of the All China Women's Federation over women's perspectives, identities and interests in China. The article concludes that the competitive yet collaborative relationship between autonomous women's legal aid organizations and the All China Women's Federation is producing a definite and positive impact on gender equality through legal reform.     

Political Ontology and Institutional Design in Montesquieu and Rousseau

Historians of political thought have been puzzled by Montesquieu's simultaneous appeals to the diversity of human practices and eternal norms of justice. Isaiah Berlin famously referred to this as an impassable “contradiction” burdening his work. Careful examination of Rousseau's appropriations from and developments on Montesquieu, however, reveal that these observations are not merely reconcilable—they provide a fruitful way to approach legislation and constitution drafting. This is accomplished by understanding his employment of the principle of transcendent constrained indeterminacy.     

Medios electrónicos de comunicación,poderes fácticos y su impacto en la democracia en México

The concept of factual powers has been increasingly incorporated into the sphere of Latin American politics to refer to actors that exert large influence in diverse sectors of social life. In Mexico, this term is used to refer to Televisa and its allies as part of the debate regarding the so-called “media legislation” that took place between November of 2005 and March of 2006. Moreover, the academic and theoretical discussion has not achieved a conceptual maturity. This article aims to review the antecedents and development of factual powers and their differentiation from other actors or groups that also exercise influence. It discusses as well the power they currently wield in the electronic media, the State and democracy.     

缅甸华人穆斯林研究——曼德勒“潘泰”社群的形成

前殖民时代,“潘泰”是活跃在华南和东南亚北部的出色马帮商人,他们实际控制了整个云南的马帮贸易。从贡榜王朝晚期开始,“潘泰”开始在曼德勒定居。1868年,华人清真寺的建成标志着“潘泰”在曼德勒形成了一个独特的群体。1873年,云南杜文秀起义失败后,大批云南穆斯林逃亡到缅甸,曼德勒“潘泰”的数量逐渐增加。虽然第一代“潘泰”的数量还不多,但是他们保持下来,标志着曼德勒第一批华人穆斯林会众历史的开端。     

The Comfort Women Controversy: Not Over Yet

During the World War II, up to 200,000 women, the majority of whom were Korean, were forced to provide sex to Japan’s military forces. The perceived refusal of Japan to fully take responsibility for the mistreatment of these “comfort women” has been a major obstacle to Japanese-Korean relations for a quarter of a century. Although the signing of the December 28, 2015 Agreement between Japan and Korea purported to “finally and irreversibly” solve the comfort women issue that has divided these two East Asian powers, the voices of Korean and Korean-American civil society indicate the contrary. American local, county, and state governments have become key battlegrounds in the conflict. As comfort women memorials across the USA proliferate, these governmental entities have allowed themselves to be caught up in incomplete narratives, whether Japanese or Korean. Against the backdrop of the tense geopolitics of today’s Asia-Pacific, a more responsible, comprehensive inquiry is needed to bring closure to a tragic chapter of human history.