Competitive Liberalization,Competitive Imperialism,and Intellectual Property

Aggressive pursuit of free trade agreements (FTAs) and customs unions (CUs) by major and minor trading powers alike challenges the conventional wisdom in favor of such pursuit – competitive liberalization. An equally plausible explanation for an active bilateral and regional trade agreement policy, one which effectively de-emphasizes multilateralism, may be competitive imperialism. The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights is one area in which new provisions, going beyond multilateral rules, are being negotiated and written into FTAs and CUs. Such provisions may yield insights into which characterization of bilateralism and regionalism – competitive liberalization or competitive imperialism – is more apt. Rice Distinguished Professor, The University of Kansas, School of Law, Green Hall, 1535 West 15th Street, Lawrence, KS 66045-7577, USA. Tel. +1-785-8649224. Fax. +1-785-8645054. www.law.ku.edu. J.D., Harvard (1989); M.Sc., Oxford (1986); M.Sc., London School of Economics (1985); A.B., Duke (1984). Marshall Scholar (1984-86). Member, Council on Foreign Relations, Royal Society for Asian Affairs, and Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. Author, Modern GATT Law (Sweet & Maxwell 2005), International Trade Law: Theory and Practice (2nd ed. 2000, 3rd ed. forthcoming 2007-08), and Trade, Development, and Social Justice (Carolina Academic Press 2003). I am thankful to my Research Assistant, Mr. David R. Jackson (B.A., George Mason University, 1992; J.D. Class of 2007, University of Kansas), for his indispensable help on this work. I also am grateful to Dr. Mohammed El Said, University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), for his consistent support and friendship, and for what he has taught and continues to teach me about international trade and intellectual property.     

New Requirements and Key Tasks of the 14th Five-Year Plan under the New Pattern of Modernization in the New Era

The “14th Five-Year Plan” period is a period of change in the transformation of old and new kinetic energies, and is facing a big change that has not occurred in a century. The “14th Five-Year Plan” will link the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects with the opening of a new journey of socialist modernization. In the new historical orientation, the “14th Five-Year Plan” needs to be based on the new pattern of modernization to assess its new requirements, in the planning guidance level requires deepening of the new development concept; in the planning guidance requires high-quality development of the economy, society and people's lives as the core, to achieve the goal of modernization and modernization of human development. The main lines of planning call for modernization, such as strengthening the modern economic system and modernizing the national governance system and capacity. Accordingly, the key tasks of the “14th Five-Year Plan” should include fostering new impetus for modern development, improving the modern market system, developing a modern industrial system, improving the modern mechanism for coordinated regional development and promoting ecological modernization, and then promoting China's economic and social development on the path of modernization.     

开发区管理委员会的法律地位

在开发区发展壮大的过程中,开发区管理委员会发挥了重要作用,但也存在一些问题,法律地位不明确便是其中之一。把开发区管理委员会归类为“法律、法规授权组织”或“派出机构”都明显不妥,而将其界定为一级政府的派出机关更符合实践现状。应积极推进相关立法,明确开发区管理委员会的法律地位,并加强其在职责权限、机构设置、领导体制和管理模式等方面的制度建设,以适应开发区的可持续发展。     

伊拉克战后重建中的政党政治发展

伊拉克战后重建中的政党政治发展,主要体现为伊拉克不同种族和宗派政治势力的扩大与冲突。为适应战后所谓“民主化政治重建”的需要,各种族和宗派势力都积极建立政党,通过参与选举来扩大自己的政治权力。但面对战后现实的政治环境,各政党须靠建立民兵武装维护和扩大势力范围。同时,政党还通过提供就业机会和其他物质利益吸引支持者。这种集政治、军事和经济为一体的政党政治发展,会进一步加深伊拉克种族和宗派势力之间的分化,削弱国家的中央权力,对伊拉克未来的国家建立和政治发展造成深远影响。