Enforcing consensus? The hidden bias in EU democracy promotion in Central and Eastern Europe

Democracy is a primary export norm of the European Union (EU). It has also played a key role in the conditionalities that have governed the accession processes of new member states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The EU has often been accused of offering little guidance regarding the specifics of desirable democracy models and the means of their consolidation. But are these accusations justified? In the first part of this article a detailed examination of European Commission opinions and reports reveals that it has consistently promoted a specific model of democracy in future member states. It shows a strong bias in favour of Lijphart's model of consensus democracy, which is indiscriminately advocated for prospective member states. The second part of the article draws attention to the serious obstacles which exist in the region to the realization of this model. We question the wisdom of the Commission's one-size-fits-all democratic model given these obstacles and the real-life diversity of political contexts in the region.     

Potential,freedom and space: reflections on Agamben’s potentialities in the West Bank

A special kind of infrastructure has emerged around the West Bank, which lays bare Israel's capacity to spatialise its colonial power and to constantly solidify its presence. Reading these spatial devices through Agamben's work, this paper proposes a reflective attempt to read this site of contemporary occupation through a “resistant” lens as a novel take on Agamben's spatial topology and political aesthetics. The paper offers preliminary remarks on the search for alternative theoretical construction of Agamben “potentialities”. The paper allow speculations on the heterotopian nature of Israeli produced infrastructures, perceived at once as actualised potentials in space, and spaces of potential.     

“中三角”空间范围与发展定位

"中三角"以湘鄂赣三省为宜,以武汉城市群、长株潭城市群和大南昌城市群为主要载体。应分别从空间定位、功能定位、产业定位、特色定位等四方面对"中三角"及各大片区发展进行战略定位。研究表明,"中三角"应定位为我国重要的"两基地三区、一中心一枢纽",成为中部地区崛起的重要战略支点和核心增长极,成为我国具有国际性功能、跨省域影响力和较强创新能力的区域性经济中心和重要的经济区,成为继珠三角、长三角、环渤海之后中国经济增长的第四极。     

苏区红色标语及其现实价值探析

苏区红色标语,为建设和巩固革命根据地发挥了积极的宣传鼓动作用。目前,在井冈山及中央苏区所在地,仍保存着大量的红色标语。这些历经磨难保存下来的红色标语,既是革命前辈留给后人的一批珍贵的革命历史档案,也是中国共产党的极为珍贵的精神财富,其价值功能不仅彰显在革命历史时期,更体现在对现实社会的深远影响。     

Civil society

The idea of civil society has proved very elusive, escaping conceptual grasps and evading sure-footed negotiation of the concept itself. Resurrected in a very definite historical setting, that of authoritarian states, the concept of civil society came to signify a set of social and political practices that sought to engage with state power. The close connection with the re-emergence of the concept and the collapse of dictatorial states made civil society attractive to a variety of political agents pursuing different agendas: expanding the market at the expense of the state, transiting from mass politics to single-issue and localised campaigns, undermining confidence in accepted modes of representation such as political parties, and in general shrinking the domain of the state and that of accepted modes of politics. That the concept of civil society could suit such a variety of different political projects is cause for some alarm, for it might well mean that civil society has come to mean everything to everyone remotely interested in it.     

中亚安全形势的变化及其影响

2014年以来,中亚安全形势发生了较大的变化。塔利班频频越境袭扰,"伊斯兰国"不断向中亚渗透,加之跨境贩毒的有增无减使得中亚面临的安全压力不断增加。中亚安全形势变化的背后有着较为复杂的原因,其中既有美国对中东和阿富汗政策调整的因素,也有中亚国家自身政治经济军事体制转型过程中诸多问题的反应,此外还与中亚地区复杂的历史和民族问题有关。中亚安全形势的变化不仅迟滞了中亚国家的社会政治转型进程,还对参与该地区博弈的俄美欧等大国,尤其是对俄罗斯产生了重要的影响,对中国西北边疆的安全及即将实施的"丝绸之路经济带"战略也带来了较大的挑战。虽然目前中亚安全形势总体上仍在可控范围,但是中亚安全问题解决的前景仍然充满了不确定性,中短期内中亚的安全形势难以大幅改观。未来,我们必须要从多边、双边和个人等多个层面入手,加强国际合作,以有效应对中亚安全问题对中国的威胁。     

The South African National Credit Act fails to protect homeowners against various interest rates hikes

Where a credit provider makes a proper financial assessment and finds that the low-income consumer will be able to satisfy in a timely manner all the obligations under all the credit agreements to which the consumer is a party he will in all probability conclude the credit agreement with the consumer. Obviously the affordability assessment made by the credit provider will depend on the prevailing interest rates at the time. There has been several interest rate hikes since June 2006 to December 2008 in South Africa that has had a detrimental impact on low-income home owners. Due to the various interest rate hikes and the prevailing high interest rates many consumers have lost their mortgaged homes. The South African National Credit Act of 2005 has failed to take into its purview cases such as these, and as a consequence there is no sort of consumer protection available for the low-income group who become over-indebted, because of the constant rising interest rates on their mortgage loans.     

中国中亚安全战略的构建

中亚独特的地理位置及丰富的战略资源和能源。已成为大国地缘政治竞赛战略区。作为中亚地区近邻的中国。应制定明确的中亚战略以维护自身安全。中国在中亚地区的地缘战略选择上。一方面要体现合作求发展、合作求双赢的精神。以“和而不同”的外交理念为指导。倡导新安全观。在中亚努力营造一个有利于保障和平、稳定的地缘政治环境。另一方面结合国家利益的需要。以上海合作组织为战略依托。以能源合作为战略重点。平衡中亚各方势力,保持中亚地缘战略的灵活性。为战略机遇期中国的和平崛起提供良好的外部环境。     

香港修例风波背后的深层次问题

香港2019年爆发的修例风波是香港回归祖国后遇到的最严峻的政治局面,也是“一国两制”在香港实践以来遇到的最大挑战。这场风波清晰地暴露了一系列严重妨碍“一国两制”在香港全面和准确贯彻的因素和情况。这些因素和情况包括:国家安全漏洞明显、政治体制内“自由”和“威权”失衡、“一国两制”的“另类诠释”存在、香港“核心价值”并不牢固、部分香港人“亲西方、抗中国”固有心态、国家宪法和基本法教育不到位、香港自由放任资本主义体制的缺失。中央对此已有察觉,并针对部分因素和情况制定了应对之策,从而为在香港全面和准确贯彻“一国两制”营造有利条件。     

金融市场的开放及我国银行法的完善

入世意味着我国服务贸易市场的全面开放 ,特别是中美协定为我国金融业开放提出了期限。我们根据WTO规则及国际惯例 ,检讨了我国现行银行法的缺陷 ,并提出了放宽内资银行的经营范围 ,树立混业经营的长期目标 ,鼓励内资银行拓展海外业务及加强对外资银行有效监管等完善措施。