Sponsorship behaviour of the BRICS in the United Nations General Assembly

The formation of informal groupings of states is a manifestation of the global shift in economic power. One such a grouping is the BRICS, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which stands out for its importance due to its economic weight, its coverage across continents and the numerous internal differences. The BRICS have collectively flexed their muscle and expressed their intentions to extend their cooperation at the United Nations (UN). Proposals in the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) take the form of resolutions, which can be written and co-written by the UN member states. This so-called sponsoring of resolutions is a way to push agenda items forward. Using a large-N network analysis, we examine the patterns of co-sponsorship of the BRICS of resolutions adopted in the UN GA plenary sessions. We find that the BRICS cooperate on fields such as economic issues, however, they do not form a coherent bloc when it comes to resolution sponsorship. These results raise the question in what way the BRICS actually cooperate at the UN level.     

Regulating religious authority for political gains: al-Sisi’s manipulation of al-Azhar in Egypt

The shedding of blood is a serious matter in Islamic law; disregard for human life negates the very essence of just rule. By standing by General al-Sisi as he suppressed the Muslim Brotherhood, the popular legitimacy of al-Azhar – the oldest seat of Islamic learning – was called into question. This article shows how the al-Sisi government skilfully deployed the two other state-controlled religious establishments, the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Endowments) and Dar-ul-Ifta, to boost al-Azhar’s popular legitimacy in this context. Existing scholarship highlights the importance of competition within the Egyptian religious sphere to explain how the Egyptian state co-opts the al-Azhari official establishment. This article instead shows how the state, equally skilfully, uses state institutions to boost al-Azhar’s popular legitimacy – albeit to ensure that it remains useful for the purposes of political legitimisation. Political authority and religious authority in Egypt thus remain closely entangled.     

中国共产党与中国特色社会主义事业总体布局

摘要：中国特色社会主义事业总体布局大体经历了四个发展阶段：前期探索阶段、初步形成阶段、完善与充实阶段和重大推进阶段。这是中国共产党在领导人民建设中国特色社会主义的探索实践中不断深化认识的结果,反映出我们党是一个实事求是、与时俱进、开拓创新的马克思主义政党,这必将坚定我们在其领导下实现中华民族伟大复兴的信心。     

Why George W. Bush Is a Unilateralist and How It Will Affect the 2004 Presidential Election

ABSTRACT

U.S. President George W. Bush has had a stormy relationship with Europe. Bush campaigned on a theme of putting America's interests first and eschewing multilateralism when necessary. Since taking office, Bush has been true to his campaign pledges. Bush's style and substance have caused many in Europe to regard him as a “buffoon” at best and a dangerous cowboy at worst. What the Europeans do not seem to understand is that, for better or worse, George W. Bush's view of the world is held by a substantial portion of the American people, and even when the U.S. had a more Euro-friendly leader in President Bill Clinton, America's policies were often at odds with those preferred by its allies in Europe. This is due to a fundamental difference that has developed between Europe and the United States over the last century. Today, no matter who occupies the White House, American foreign policy is likely to be in conflict with Europe's. Far from being a liability, this difference is likely to be a political asset to George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.     

Are you sitting comfortably? Estimating incumbency advantage in the UK: 1983–2010 – A research note

This note adapts two models commonly used to estimate the incumbency advantage that US members of Congress enjoy – the ‘slurge’ and the Gelman-King Index – to provide comparable estimates for UK MPs. The results show that Liberal Democrats enjoy extremely large such advantages on a par with those of US Congressmen of between 5% and 15% of the vote. Labour and the Conservatives have incumbency advantages at around 2% and 1% respectively. The note estimates that effects could have changed the outcome in as many as 25 seats in some elections, and that they cost the Conservatives the chance to govern alone after the 2010 election.     

Intellectual Property Counterfeiting and Piracy – Response of Small Commonwealth Jurisdictions∗

This article provides an analysis of some recent developments relating to Constitutional law in Jamaica, including the legal issues arising from tied elections and the dual nationality of parliamentarians. It also discusses a case relating to the failure to incorporate the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (the Palermo Convention). In this case, though the Palermo Convention contemplates investigations by agents of one country on the territory of another for certain crimes, one state party found it was unable to carry out such investigations on the territory of another. Although the latter country, a CARICOM member state, was also a party to the Convention, it had not enacted the required implementing legislation     

公海保护区的国际法基本原则辨析

目前,国际社会对公海保护区进行了一定程度的规范,但依然存在着没有直接的法律依据的处境。在此背景下,现有相关公约、条约或宣言等体现出来的法律原则为公海保护区提供了主要法理基础。公海保护区包括不同类别的法律原则,即国际法基本原则中直接与公海保护区有关的原则,国际环境法基本原则以及国际海洋法基本原则。公海保护区是适用于基本原则的领域,同时,它也是基本原则引中和发展出来的具体规则。     

日本国际私法现代化的最新进展——从《法例》到《法律适用通则法》

《法律适用通则法》是日本为实现其国际私法立法现代化的目标而对《法例》进行修订的结果。《通则法》对《法例》的修订,不仅体现在立法名称和法律语言的现代化上,更体现在法律适用规则的现代化上。在法律适用方面,《通则法》主要对行为能力、后见开始的审判、失踪宣告、合同、侵权、无因管理、不当得利益以及债权转让等领域的法律适用规则进行了完善。《通则法》的制定对我国国际私法立法的完善有一定借鉴作用。     

《深圳经济特区商事条例》之商人概念研讨——以“依法登记”要件为例

工商行政管理法选择商人身份的要件,旨在解决市场准入方面的管理问题,而商法规定商人身份的要件,则是为了解决商法规范适用的主体范围问题。规整目的不同,在商人身份要件的选择上亦应有所不同。在商法领域,在实际商人的一般定义中,不以依法登记为要件应是比较妥当的选择。未来制定《商事通则》时,应当考虑将《深圳经济特区商事条例》第5条第1款一分为二：以“法律形式”为核心要件建构要式商人,以“营业经营”为核心要件建构实际商人。