The Rule of Law and EU Expansion

The article seeks to further discussion about the European Union's identification of the rule of law as a fundamental principle and pre-requisite for EU membership by prospective member states, despite the lack of a uniform Community-wide understanding of this concept. In this article, three points will be explored. Firstly, it will briefly examine the rule of law principle within the EU, as a contested concept, despite its pre-eminence as a fundamental principle upon which EU membership is based. Because of its contested nature, there exists across the EU, conceptual variations, leading to the problem of an apparent absence of a uniform conception of the rule of law. Secondly, the article will identify some of the main conflicts between the EU making this rule of law a pre-requisite for membership and the lack of a uniform conception for this fundamental principle. Thirdly, the article explores how these conflicts affect the development of legal cultures of prospective member states and what potential problems these conflicts imply. The article focuses on the European Union's lack of a uniform understanding of the rule of law and how this affects prospective member states from Central and Eastern Europe. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

中小企业融资困境及对策研究

融资困难是目前制约中小企业发展的瓶颈因素。解决这一问题的主要对策应该是:创新要重点突破,不能急于普及;要与企业经营的专业化、产业结构升级紧密联系起来,加快法律配套,加强政府引导。     

Unrecognized states as a means of coercive diplomacy? Assessing the role of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Russia’s foreign policy in the South Caucasus

The scholarship on unrecognized or de facto states has been booming in the recent decades exploring this phenomenon from a variety of perspectives. Yet, as this article illustrates, a crucial accent on the instrumentalization of unrecognized states by regional actors – or, to put it differently, on unrecognized states as a source of coercive diplomacy – has been neglected. This article seeks to fill that gap by offering an empirical analysis of Russia’s instrumentalization of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as unrecognized states as a means of putting effective pressure on the Government in Tbilisi – usually with respect to issues unrelated to the unrecognized states themselves. More specifically, this article shows that Moscow has used three instruments (military deployment, passportization of residents of the unrecognized states and responsibility to protect).     

The Commonwealth in contemporary international relations

The Commonwealth functions in contemporary international relations as a ‘mini’ version of multilateralism, encompassing issues of geopolitics, the global economy, climate change, and human rights and democracy. While essentially an organisation of developing countries, it also includes the United Kingdom and the ‘old Dominions’. There is a particular focus on the role of small states, even though the Commonwealth also includes some very large developing countries. Apart from its global role, the Commonwealth can be significant in regional contexts where there is some concentration of Commonwealth members. The Commonwealth also has a role as a context for civil society organisations. The article provides an assessment of the role of the Commonwealth within these various settings.     

The Changing Paradigm of Pacific Regional Politics

Abstract

Analyses of recent developments in Pacific regional politics have emphasized the role of ideas and new thinking about how the Pacific should engage in global and regional diplomacy (the so-called ‘paradigm shift’). These ideas include the call for regional self-determination, the claim that Pacific island states need to engage more assertively in global diplomacy, the call for a ‘genuine Pacific voice’ to be heard in global forums, recognition that a ‘one region approach’ need not be the best approach, the reconfiguring of diplomatic alliances to leverage Pacific island positions better in global forums, and embracing non-state actors as equal partners. The importance of this paradigm shift is that it challenges many prevailing stereotypes and assumptions about Pacific islands diplomacy. It recognizes and facilitates choices and alternatives. It emphasizes the imperative of being proactive and of taking responsibility for the challenges facing the Pacific islands; and being creative in finding solutions. This is a fundamentally empowering transformation. But in order to understand where this might lead, it is necessary to explore where this transformation has so far played out. Case studies at the national, regional and global levels give insights into the impact and potential of the new Pacific diplomacy.     

“Zones of indistinction” and visions of post-reconciliation South Africa in District 9

In this article, I explore the ways in which District 9 reflects South Africa’s current socio-political transition through the problematical representation of the film’s eponymous slum and its impoverished inhabitants as well as its protagonist, Wikus van der Merwe. Drawing on Giorgio Agamben’s influential ideas of biopolitics, I demonstrate the ways in which the film provides a compelling critique of the effects of neoliberal capitalism on post-apartheid transition and South Africa’s complex geopolitical landscape. In this regard, I analyze how the slum figures as a “zone of indistinction” where political and economic forces combine to produce the paradoxical conditions in which impoverished South Africans are included in a democratic social contract, but are simultaneously excluded from the socioeconomic benefits that it promises.     

中国创业板上市条件法律问题研究

目前我国的创业板主要面临三大困境:一是对上市公司的资金、盈利性等方面要求的门槛较高,造成了许多真正有潜力的国内中小企业上市融资非常困难,这无疑与我国创立创业板的初衷大相径庭;二是各创业板市场正面临激烈竞争,国外的创业板(例如纳斯达克等)制定了很多政策吸引我国中小企业去该市场上市;三是在创业板第一批解禁潮来临之时,首批上市的28家企业中大批高管离职套现,这充分证明了我国创业板市场的不完善性。我国的创业板应该制定怎样的上市条件才能既满足中小企业的融资需求,又能够维持自身的稳定发展,还能切实保证投资者的利益,这是一个值得深思的问题。     

Examining the immanent dilemma of small states in the Asia-Pacific: the strategic triangle between New Zealand,the US and China

ABSTRACT

Small states throughout the Asia-Pacific are confronted by a growing dilemma over how to balance their traditional security ties with the US and rapidly growing trade with China. This gives Washington and Beijing potential leverage over small states to use within their competition with one another. This article explores the implications of this for New Zealand – a small South Pacific state that prides itself on maintaining an independent foreign policy. Situated within the small state literature, it utilises a material-based strategic triangle to illustrate the fundamental facets of New Zealand's position. Relatedly, the article examines how Wellington has managed its burgeoning relations with China and the US over the past decade and critically considers New Zealand's independent foreign policy. It finds that New Zealand has adopted a mixed set of strategies to manage its position between the US and China, closely aligning itself with Washington while remaining nonaligned on some key security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. New Zealand has certainly not opted for neutrality. The article concludes that New Zealand and other small states must remain vigilant, may want to consider alternative strategies of alignment, and outlines a number of areas where additional research could prove fruitful.     

Can constituent states influence foreign and security policy? Coalitional dynamics in India

Abstract

The Indian state has undergone significant transformation since the late 1980s, most notably the extensive decentralisation of power, with consequences for the formation and implementation of Indian foreign policy. This article explores the role of India’s constituent states explaining the extent and limitations of their autonomy and influence. It deploys and extends the state transformation approach to incorporate considerations of issue area and coalition type. Under coalitions led by typical national parties, subnational governments are less likely to influence foreign and security policy. Under the same coalition type, they are more likely to behave autonomously on non-traditional security issues such as sharing of water resources with neighbouring countries. They are less likely to behave autonomously on security issues such as the transnational expression of ethnic solidarity. Under coalitions led by atypical national parties or regional parties, subnational governments are likely to exercise a moderate level of autonomy and influence on issue areas such as transnational expression of ethnic solidarity. They are likely to exercise a high level of autonomy and influence on non-traditional security issues such as sharing of water resources. The framework is illustrated through Tamil Nadu’s activism on Sri Lanka, and West Bengal’s position on water-sharing with Bangladesh.     

国际海底区域内活动的 担保国的赔偿责任

1982年《联合国海洋法公约》（简称《公约》）为缔约国规定了确保其所担保的个人和实体在进行国际海底区域内活动时遵守《公约》相关规定的义务以及对所担保的承包者没有遵守其义务而造成的损害承担赔偿责任。然而，担保国的此种赔偿责任并非严格责任。只有当同时满足以下条件时担保国才应对其所担保的承包者造成的损害承担责任：担保国未按照《公约》履行其确保遵守的义务；所担保的承包者没有遵守其义务并因此造成损害；担保国的不履行与损害发生之间存在因果关系。在担保国需要承担赔偿责任的情况下，其责任的上限是其所担保的承包者的不法行为造成的“实际损害”，同时还应考虑管理局和对有关活动行使管辖或控制的国家的潜在责任。然而，担保国和承包者并不承担连带责任，担保国赔偿责任的存在并不影响承包者承担和履行其赔偿责任。承包者应先于担保国履行赔偿责任，而只有在承包者不能完全赔偿其应负责的损害时，担保国才有义务对未能赔偿的损害部分承担剩余责任。由于担保国根据《公约》承担的确保遵守的义务是一种“行为义务”，而并非杜绝损害发生的“结果义务”，因此，如果担保国已经履行了公约规定的尽责义务，那么即使发生损害，也不应要求其承担责任。