Is an Ideological Clash a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

正Amid the recurrence of the COVID-19contagion across the globe,prospects for forging coordinated and coherent multilateral cooperation remain abysmal.While the blame game over the virus origin still rages on,a new dimension of schism along ideological seams is becoming increasingly pronounced.Jingoistic drum beats accompanying abrasive geopolitical rhetoric have been gaining traction at the expense of international cooperation.     

Japan and China: Security interests in the post-Cold War era

This article examines the role of Japan in relation to China’s security interests in the post-Cold War era. The first section assesses Japan as a potential security threat to China at a time when Japan appears to be re-emerging as a great power. It analyzes the possible rise of nationalism in Japan today, including discussion of China’s dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands. The second section looks at how Japan can actually enhance China’s security interests, particularly in the economic sphere. Japan’s contribution to China’s modernization drive is assessed. It is argued that Japan seems to enhance China’s security interests more than it poses a threat, partly because of the economic benefits China derives from trading with Japan, and partly because Japanese foreign policy has hitherto been kept in check by the U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty.     

Anti-Terror In a Tangle?

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks that triggered the American "war on terror," a blanket term for all preemptive military strikes intended to reduce the threat terrorism posed to the U.S. homeland. It was foreshadowed by the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, which had brought about enormous sorrow, wanton destruction and civilian casualties to the Afghan nation before the American troops finally made their chaotic exit two decades later.     

A Communal ASEAN Outlook

The coming of age of China's dialogue relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after three decades has borne the most successful model of cooperation in the Asia Pacific. The largely economic-driven relationship has presented the world with a stable, resilient and symbiotic prototype of collaboration, albeit not without the occasional unyielding litmus test of mutual trust stemming from external maneuvers.     

Job accessibility and welfare usage: Evidence from Los Angeles

Previous scholars have explored the effects of local labor market conditions on welfare usage. However, none of these studies use direct measures of geographic access to nearby jobs. Responding to this limitation, our research combines data from the 1990 census with three administrative data sets to examine the effect of geographic job access—defined as the relative supply of low-wage jobs located within a three-mile radius of a census tract—on welfare usage rates among the Los Angeles population with a high school degree or less. After controlling for other characteristics likely to affect welfare behavior, we find that welfare usage declines as geographic job access increases. This relationship holds not only among African-Americans, the subject of much of the scholarship on job access and economic opportunity, but also among whites, Asians, and Hispanics.     

China,US and the North Korean issue

This article explores the strategic interests of China and the US in the North Korean issue. It examines their different perceptions of North Korea. For China, North Korea is needed as a friendly buffer state as well as a political ally. As the lone superpower and lynchpin of international security, the US wants to stop unpredictable North Korea from further developing its nuclear capabilities. The article then explores the shared goal of both great powers in promoting stability on the Korean peninsula and in preventing nuclear proliferation. It is argued that the interplay of Sino–US security interests has a huge impact on the evolution of the North Korean issue.     

海上恐怖主义和海盗威胁

在打击马六甲海峡沿岸的海盗中,区域各方力量已迈出了可喜的一步。在960万公里的海岸线上,沿岸国家印度尼西亚、马来西亚和新加坡为了海上安全,在首次提出“天空之眼”优先战略3个月后,便于2005年9月13日进行联合海上空中巡逻。事实上,“天空之眼”构想是在3个海岸国家共同制定     

Subsidized housing and work among welfare recipients

Abstract

Some studies suggest an inverse relationship between housing assistance and employment. That is, when housing assistance increases, employment decreases. A popular view holds that subsidized housing generates an economic disincentive to work. This article examines the relationship between subsidized housing and the number of hours female recipients of public assistance work. A California survey reveals that residents in Section 8 housing work considerably more than do those renting in the private market or residing in public housing. This finding holds after controlling for observable personal characteristics and accounting for income effects. Additional analysis comparing the two housing programs shows a consistent, robust difference, with those in Section 8 working more.

One explanation is that the finding is a statistical artifact caused by programmatic creaming or self‐selection among applicants. The second, more plausible explanation is that Section 8 housing offers residential choice and mobility that improve opportunities for employment.