From Financial Assets to Financial Statecraft: the case of China and emerging economies of Africa and Latin America

Over the past few decades, China has accumulated over US$3.4 trillion of official foreign exchange reserves as it rises to become a global power. Do China's financial assets increase its ability to pursue its national interests internationally? With the globalisation and rising influence of Chinese state-owned enterprises, state-owned banks and sovereign wealth fund, as well as China's growing clout in several regional groupings, it is clear that China does possess the necessary mechanisms to assert its financial power. This article examines the efficacy and limitations of these mechanisms in Africa and Latin America, in the economic and political domains. In the economic domain, China has consistently used foreign oil contracts and acquisitions to secure direct oil flow from developing nations. An analysis of recent cases shows that while China is able to successfully harness its financial power in its pursuit of oil, it needs to fulfil its promises to the satisfaction of the recipient countries in order to maintain the value of its offers. In the political domain, China has used its financial assets to purchase diplomatic allegiance from various African and Latin American countries in support of its One-China policy. Studying both successful and unsuccessful cases reveals that while China is generally able to use its financial power in third-world countries against Taiwan successfully, its national goals have, in recent years, shifted to the economic realm, even with countries that still recognise the Taipei government.     

Progressiveness and the New Right: The Electoral Relevance of Culturally Progressive Values in the Netherlands

Whereas electoral support for new-rightist parties is often understood as driven by ethnocentric anti-immigrant sentiments, scholars have noted that new-rightist politicians have, surprisingly, stressed culturally progressive arguments in the last decade. Using recent Dutch survey data (N = 1,302) especially collected for this purpose, the article analyses the electoral relevance of three types of cultural progressiveness for voting for the new right and their relation to the well-documented anti-immigrant agenda. The analysis shows that neither moral progressiveness nor aversion to public interference of religious orthodoxy underlies the new-rightist vote. Support for freedom of speech proves relevant, but, in accordance with literature on the new right’s electoral strategy and with theorising on framing, this only leads towards the new right among those who are ethnocentric. These findings are discussed in the light of electoral competition, and questions for further research are formulated.     

Wrongfully Convicted: How the Dutch Deal with the Revision of Their “Miscarriages of Justice”

During most of the twentieth century the very existence of judicial errors was considered an awkward subject in the Dutch legal system. This article considers the change of attitude in recent years. In previous years there was a remarkable self-confidence within the criminal justice system (and in most of the scholarly writings) in doing things the ‘right way.’ After a few warnings from (only partly legally trained) scholars, who became interested in the functioning of the system, and moreover, after a few clear and undeniable cases of judicial error, there was a volte-face in the general feeling amongst both the public and the profession. It is the opinion of the authors that this shift in opinion is historically important. This article therefore intends to draw a picture of the current state of affairs in The Netherlands.     

Dichroism measurements in forensic fibre examination: Part 3 — Dyed cotton and viscose fibres

A number of dyed cellulosic fibres were examined with plane polarized light on their dichroic behavior by microscopy and microspectrophotometry (MSP-PPL). Significant dichroic effects (mostly hypochromic effects and hypsochromic bands shifts) were reported. The effect is related to the chemical structure: some dye structures always possess dichroism (azo, stilbene, thiazole and oxazine), some dyes demonstrate sometimes dichroic effects (anthraquinoid, indigoid) while other structures never demonstrate dichroic effects (sulphur, diphenylmethanes, triarylmethanes, phthalocyanines). In some cases a different dichroic behavior was found for the same dyes applied on cotton and on viscose.     

Did Covid-19 Change Armed Group Governance? Evidence from a Survey of Local Security Authorities in Colombia

As the Covid-19 pandemic began, initial reports suggested that armed groups would seize the opportunity to expand their control over territory and civilians. However, drawing on an original survey of local security officials responsible for monitoring armed group behaviour in Colombia, we find little evidence of significant shifts in the presence or behaviour of political or criminal groups. Contrary to prevailing expectations, we also find that armed group governance is common in areas contested by multiple groups. Our findings shed new light on armed group adaptation to shocks, and challenge the assumption that territorial control is a prerequisite for governance.