Commercial Choice of Law in Context: Looking Beyond Rome

English courts are frequently criticised for their flexible approach to the finding of implied choice and the use of the escape clause in the context of the Rome I Regulation/Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations. This paper argues that such criticism is misplaced. Based on empirical evidence, the article shows that those choice of law decisions are directly influenced by their procedural context and respond to the need to balance the multiple policy issues generated by international commercial litigation. In particular, English decisions need to be assessed in light of three distinct factors: the standard of proof required at different stages of the procedure in England, the national policy to promote England as a center for commercial dispute resolution and the incentives to export English law in certain strategic industries. The use of implied choice and the escape clause to achieve these ends constitutes a legitimate practice that does not frustrate the aims of the EU choice of law regime.     

Insurance strategic considerations in coalition-oriented systems: A consideration set model approach

During a vote-decision process, citizens elect between some of the parties – not all of them. In this paper, we explore a potential strategic reason to include an additional alternative in the consideration set. Drawing on research from the field of strategic voting, we study incentives to defect to a party at risk of falling below an electoral threshold in order to elect a winning coalition (”insurance”). Our argument is that these types of strategic considerations occur already in the campaign, but do not always translate into choice. Using the so-called consideration set model approach (CSM), which focuses on how voters select fewer alternatives among a larger number of parties, we model vote choice over an election campaign using panel data from the Swedish National Election Studies of 2014. In line with our argument, we demonstrate that the insurance strategy was prevalent earlier in the decision-making process, when forming the consideration set.     

Minilateral security's relevance to US strategy in the Indo-Pacific: challenges and prospects

The Indo-Pacific region's security landscape is unfolding in highly uncertain and potentially explosive ways. The postwar American-led network of bilateral alliances – underpinned by concrete guarantees of extended deterrence and containment – is now yielding to a more diverse set of alignments and coalitions to manage an increasingly complex array of regional security issues. Multilateralism and minilateralism have emerged as two increasingly prominent forms of such cooperation. Minilateralism's informality and flexibility appeals to those who are sceptical about multilateralism's traditional focus on norm adherence and community-building even as great power competition in the Indo-Pacific is sharply intensifying. However, minilateralism's track record in the region is underdeveloped. The potential for this policy approach to be applied by the United States and its regional security partners as an enduring and credible means of diplomatic and security collaboration in the region will remain unfulfilled as long as the Trump administration's own geopolitical orientation remains uncertain.     

非洲交通发展现状及前景

自20世纪80年代以来,虽然以轨道交通、飞机、汽船、汽车、管道运输为基础的新式现代交通体系进一步打破了非洲各地区之间的地理分割,但是现代非洲交通仍不能适应非洲各国发展经济建设的需要。非洲交通发展存在不少制约因素,如国家贫困,政府用于基础设施建设资金不足;自然环境恶劣,交通建设与维护难度巨大;专业人才缺乏,管理不善;交通方式落后,大陆内部一体水平较低。鉴此,非洲国家宜借鉴其他国家经验,结合本国国情,拓宽筹资渠道,改革管理机制,促进交通运输事业的进一步发展。     

More than wishful thinking: Causes and consequences of voters’ electoral expectations about parties and coalitions

Accurate expectations about the outcome of elections play a central role in psychological and economic theories of voting. In the paper, three questions about voters’ expectations are investigated. First, we identify and test several factors that influence the overall accuracy or quality of voters’ expectations. Second, the phenomenon of “wishful thinking” is tested and confirmed for expectations about the electoral performance of individual parties and coalitions. Finally, two mechanisms how expectations might influence voting behavior are identified and tested. Based on surveys from Austria and Germany, the results suggest that voters not only rely on expectations to avoid casting “wasted” votes for parties without electoral chances, but that they are able to engage in fairly sophisticated strategic coalition voting.     

The second-order election model revisited: An experimental test of vote choices in European Parliament elections

This paper examines the micro-foundations of the second-order elections model of European Parliament (EP) elections. We extend the existing literature in several ways. First, we propose an individual-level model of voting behaviour in second-order elections. Second, we present the first study using experimental methods to test the predictions of the second-order model, allowing us to test the individual-level propositions about vote choice in a controlled environment. Importantly, we also examine the conditioning effect of information on the ‘second-order’ nature of voting behaviour in EP elections. Our findings show that while voters base their EP vote choices primarily on domestic preferences, those who are given additional information about the European integration dimension are also more likely to vote on this basis.     

韩中合作强化方案考察

2012年是韩中建交20周年。在克服漫长的冷战时期积累起来的敌对和不信任的同时,过去20年来韩中关系取得了耀眼的、飞速的发展。在正式层面上,两国经过善邻友好关系—合作伙伴关系—全面合作伙伴关系,最终建立了"战略合作伙伴关系"。在21世纪的新环境中,韩国和中国也可能比过去20年的发展更进一步,发展成追求战略上的共同目标和利益的战略共进关系。但伴随着这种正面的因素,也同时存在着美国和中国、中国和韩国的战略利益彼此冲突的危险。特别是在像美中势力转移时代这样不确定、不稳定因素繁多的时期,反而要在明确核心利益的差异是什么、承认彼此间差异的基础上更进一步,发展实现相互合作和双方利益的"和而不同"的外交。     

国有企业权力监督体系研究

近年来,学术界对国有企业权力监督体系的研究日益增多。从研究的内容上来看,大多数学者是从实践的角度对国有企业权力监督体系进行了探讨,而很少有从理论和实践相结合的角度来论述的。文章采取理论和实践相结合的方式,从权力监督和制约的历史渊源、国有企业权力监督的困境、解决国有企业权力监督困境的路径选择等方面对国有企业权力监督体系进行了初步的阐述。     

论禁毒教育的价值目标

禁毒教育的价值在于通过客体对主体的作用，引导主体的价值观念和行为与社会主流相一致。本文从对人的价值观引导、终极关怀和知识传递的角度，提出禁毒教育的价值目标选择，力求探索有效的预防吸毒的教育途径和方法。     

20世纪世界地缘政治斗争史析论

20世纪世界地缘政治斗争史划分为三个阶段第一阶段始于20世纪初,止于1945年;第二阶段始于1945年,止于1991年冷战终结;第三阶段自冷战结束迄今.与此三阶段相一致,世界地缘政治格局发生了两次大调整,即从以欧洲为中心的多极格局转向以欧亚大陆为中心的两极格局,再从两极格局向新的格局过渡.但迄今为止,这一过渡尚未完成.世界地缘政治格局及地缘政治中心具有可变性,变化的原动力基于大国综合实力,尤其是经济力量对比关系的变化.