The distribution of conflict and attention across energy infrastructure

Across the world, public administration and policy decisions are related to diverse levels of conflict and attention. However, the degree and variance of conflict and attention remain largely unspecified. This article examines how types of energy infrastructure and characteristics of project location are associated with the distribution of conflict and attention around the energy infrastructure siting process. Our empirical focus is on gas pipelines, electricity transmission lines, solar power projects, and wind power projects across the United States in 2018. Primarily relying on regression analysis and interviews, this article finds differences in the distribution of conflict and attention intensity within and between these energy infrastructure types, with gas pipelines and wind power projects presenting relatively higher conflict and attention intensities. However, conflict and attention are skewed to low intensities across infrastructure types. Characteristics of project locations that are positively associated with high conflict and attention intensity include the proportion of Democratic voters and the level of urbanization in the places where projects are sited. In contrast, the proportion of Black or Hispanic residents is negatively associated with high conflict and attention intensity.     

European experience for East Asian integration: ideas, national interests, and the international circumstance

This paper traces the possibility of East Asian integration through comparison with the early stage of European integration on three different levels: ideas, national interests, and international circumstance. Judging from the European experience, ideas always come first, then national interest contests, and eventually the international circumstance conditions the context. I compare the multilateral approach in Europe with the imperial hegemony competition in East Asia, Adenauer’s regionalization policy in Europe with the Yoshida line of Westernization detouring from Asia, and the US and Russia’s different roles in the two regions as external forces constraining the international order. My conclusion for the future of East Asia is located somewhere between views of procedural divergence and fundamental skepticism. I worry about integration for the sake of integration in which regional integration is presupposed as inherently good. Such discourse will easily be deteriorated and such a blind community simply collapses when circumstances change. For these reasons, there needs to be an adequate discussion regarding for what, by whom, and through which method integration is achieved.     

关于斯大林是否劝阻中共渡江问题再分析

在斯大林是否曾"劝阻中共渡过长江"的问题上,上世纪80年代中国史学界曾进行过热烈争论.1994年俄国学者齐赫文斯基在俄国<近现代史>杂志发表了<1949年1月的函电往来>一文,公布了斯大林与毛泽东就国共和谈问题的往来电报,有的学者根据1月14日电报,认为斯大林没有"劝阻渡江".①笔者在俄罗斯查到了斯大林与毛泽东往来函电的原件以及其他原始文件,依据这些文件对斯大林是否曾劝阻中共渡江问题试做一次新的辨析,认为斯大林的几封电报及1949年1月底米高扬所说的"联合政府"就是斯大林"劝阻渡江"的根据.     

文在寅政府外交的"模糊性战略":动因、 内涵及影响因素

"模糊性战略"本是文在寅政府为处理中韩因"萨德事件"产生的矛盾而推行的外交政策,但随着中美从"合作"走向"竞争","模糊性战略"逐渐成为韩国处理同中美关系的外交战略.韩国在处理中美战略竞争相关议题时,不追求在所有问题领域追随哪一个国家,而是根据不同问题具体做出应对,在每一个问题领域都体现出韩国对国家利益的追求.文在寅政府的"模糊性战略"受制于中美韩三边关系互动和国内进步势力与保守势力斗争的双重影响.从自身利益出发,中国应尊重韩国的这一外交战略选择,加强中韩外交关系,推动中韩走向合作共赢.     

Securities laws ‘facilitating’ private enforcement

La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, and Shleifer (J Financ 61:1–32, 2006) (LLS) have undertaken an empirical analysis, making a critical but somewhat provocative proposition that “securities laws ‘facilitating’ private enforcement, rather than providing for public enforcement, benefit the securities market.” After briefly providing a theoretical connection to the existing law and economics literature, I attempt to empirically advance this LLS proposition two-fold, particularly on the ‘joint use of regulation and the liability rule,’ by exploring the most meaningful word ‘facilitate’ therein. Firstly, I explore the cross-country LLS data associated with the specific case of an initial public offering to seek possibly more solid evidence on the facilitating effect. Secondly, motivated by LLS, I pursue a within-country positive analysis, regarding the major determinants of the joint use, but across overall harmful activities covered in the Korean Securities Law. The major tenet underscoring this second empirical exploration was the clear message from the existing theoretical literature that the joint use should be adopted in a selective manner even within a single substantive statute, because it usually governs vastly different harmful activities. Finally, I call for some essential research agenda, prior to approving the ineffectiveness of public enforcement claimed in the second part of the LLS proposition.

Asphyxiating death due to basal lingual cyst (thyroglossal duct cyst) in two-month-old infant is potentially aggravated after central catheterization with forced positional changes

There are various causes of possible upper airway obstruction in infants. Particularly, large cysts on the base of tongue may cause severe airway obstruction by a mass effect on the hypopharynx and by displacing the epiglottis. Of these basal lingual cysts, thyroglossal duct cyst is rare but occasionally its remnants can be found at the base of the tongue. Although they are pathologically benign, basal lingual cysts may result in death by asphyxia. There are a few reported cases of asphyxia caused by basal lingual cyst. All died suddenly in the bed or cot while sleeping without any significant symptoms and signs. The authors experienced a unique case of death due to airway obstruction by basal lingual cyst (thyroglossal duct cyst), confirmed by postmortem examination, probably aggravated after central catheterization in 2-month-old infant who had open heart surgery for atrial and ventricular septal defect and report with a literature review.     

Estimating the size of criminal populations

The estimation of total population size for various phenomena of crime is an important factor critical for criminal justice policy formulation and criminological theory development. In this paper, methods are discussed for estimating the size of a criminal population from police records. Capture-recapture analysis techniques, borrowed from the biological sciences, are used to predict the size of population for migrating (or fleeing) fugitives and for street prostitutes. Heterogeneity and behavioral responses to previous police encounters are identified as major complicating factors. The basic problem is that the police records are virtually unaffected by a potentially large pool of cryptic criminals. It is shown how independently collected auxiliary data can address this problem.     

North Korea’s perspective on the U.S.-North Korea peace treaty

Kim Byong Hong is deputy director of the Institute for Disarmament and Peace, Pyongyang, DPRK. This paper was presented at a conference in Pyongyang in fall 1994.