The Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and nation building by Muslims/Bosniaks in the Western Balkans

The disintegration of the former Yugoslavia posed challenges for the universal concept of the Yugoslav Muslim nation for which several development paths were imaginable under the new circumstances. The concept of Bosniakdom, which was initially developed to address the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina, gradually grew to become a new and coherent national program to include all the Muslims of former Yugoslavia, primarily due to its new pan-Bosniak orientation. The present article traces the conceptual history of the national ideas of Muslimdom versus Bosniakdom within the former Yugoslav states, as well as the conceptual and institutional history of the pan-Bosniak idea and movement during the 1990s and 2000s. It does this by emphasizing the decisive role the Official Muslim Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina played in their development and divulgence. This article claims that, contrary to some expectations, the strategy of internationalization and universalization of the hitherto territorial concept of Bosniakdom toward Muslims in neighboring countries during the second half of 1990s and 2000s was closely linked to the idea of the construction of the Bosniak national state. It also proposes that the evolution of Bosniakdom into pan-Bosniakdom during that time primarily followed concerns related to that goal.     

从中国人过西方节日谈中西文化交流

从中国人过西方节日 ,我们感到中西文化交流加快的脚步。本文阐述文化交流中 ,我们应以积极、主动的态度去引导、扶植中国的节日文化 ,吸收外来合理因素 ,为我所用 ;同时 ,以时代发展的眼光去审视、改造与时代不相适应的东西。最终迎接世界大文明的到来。     

Revisiting the Cheonan sinking in the Yellow Sea

This paper revisits the sinking of a South Korean naval ship called the Cheonan in March 2010, which profoundly undermined the security environment around the Korean peninsula. Employing an interactionist perspective in analysing the foreign policy behaviour of the Lee Myung-bak government and other key players at the time of the incident, the paper offers new insights into the debate over the mysterious sinking of the Cheonan. The paper reveals that the Lee government's use of the Cheonan tragedy to create a social structure that would pressure the North Korean government was only partly successful due to the counter-roles played by other relevant states.     

转变运作方式，提高退耕还林（草）的效益

实施西部大开发的重要工程──生态环境建设,应当培养市场主体,使民间组织或企业成为生态建设的主体。改变以往的政府行为为市场行为,以提高退耕还林( 草)的效益。     

论"入世"后的西部教育

中国教育随着中国经济的发展 ,开始融入世界经济的大潮中。世界教育的发展趋势 ,将是我国教育接轨的方向。西部经济、教育发展相对滞后 ,但面对国内外的市场竞争将无法回避 ,优胜劣汰是所有市场经济的法则。西部经济的发展 ,必须有大量人力资源的支持 ,西部教育的发展 ,必须以培养人才和留住更多的人才为目的。“入世”之后 ,需要遵循我国对WTO的所有承诺 ,西部 12个省市的教育作为中国教育的一部分 ,也必然融入世界教育之中     

西方公共决策程序比较

从西方政府的职能来看 ,西方公共决策可以分为常规决策和危机决策两大类 ,其中常规决策又可以分为行政决策和参与立法的决策两种。比较分析西方各国公共决策程序的特点 ,有两个方面的做法值得我们借鉴 :其一 ,注意发挥咨询机构的作用 ;其二 ,注意对政策方案的合法性审查     

西方国家政体及其权力制约

政治体制是一定社会的基本政治制度的具体表现形式的总和。其核心内容是政治权力的分配与制约。西方国家的政体可谓纷繁复杂,但总起来讲,比较有代表性的就是英、美、法、德、日等西方发达国家的政体,它们可以按照不同的标准划分为不同类型,而认识这些类型并通过分析比较确定其异同和利弊,找到其存在的合理性与天然缺陷,可以帮助我们正确认识并加以借鉴。     

中西法律信仰差异探源

对法律的信仰是西方法治主义的重要传统和内容 ,而中国缺乏这种普遍法律信仰的传统 ,这是有其历史渊源的。法律不可能同人的精神相脱离 ,法治契合人类的精神需要。因此 ,在中国法治现代化进程中 ,应培育民众对法律的普遍信仰     

The theme of indivisibility in the post-war struggle against prejudice in the United States

Whitfield's essay seeks to identify and explain a tendency that emerged in the United States in the 1940s and extended through the 1950s. It was then that a notion became commonplace, especially among liberals, that the victims of prejudice were interchangeable and that bigotry was undifferentiated. Before the 1940s, the problem of prejudice was not widely believed to be urgent; but the war against the Third Reich heightened awareness of the price of an irrational hostility to minorities. American liberals in particular came to the understanding that bigotry was indivisible; and, for its objects, the cards of identity could easily be shuffled. Whether the victims were Jews or Negroes or homosexuals, the hatred that they elicited appeared to be formed without making any distinctions among them. Evidence can be found in the culture of those two decades, in novels, plays and films. The unitary view of the character of prejudice had some support in social science, including in the authoritative volume The Authoritarian Personality. The theory would also be reflected in a major shift in the agenda of Jewish civil rights organizations, which redefined their mission as promoting the democratic rights of all minorities rather than the particular interests of American Jews. This distinctive tendency vanished in the 1960s, however. One reason for the change was a fuller appreciation of the hostility that minorities could harbour towards other minorities. The realization also deepened of the singular vulnerability of black Americans under the pressure of racism, which demonstrated a tenacity as well as a proclivity for violence that had been largely absent from other forms of bigotry. Finally, a broader legitimation of difference itself emerged in the 1960s to bury the notion that minorities were fungible.     

Is Unilateralism Always Bad? Negotiation Lessons from Israel's “Unilateral” Gaza Withdrawal

Using the 2005 unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a case study, this article exposes an apparent paradox: circumstances may exist in which an outcome that serves the interests of parties to a conflict cannot be achieved through bilateral negotiation but can be achieved by unilateral action. Although the withdrawal was seen at the time as serving the interests of both the Israeli government and the Palestinians, we argue that the same result could not have been achieved through bilateral negotiations. “Behind‐the‐table” internal conflicts on each side would have made it impossible for the leaders to agree on the scope of these negotiations. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's success in implementing his Gaza withdrawal was attributable in significant measure to his ability to maintain ambiguity about his long‐run plans for the West Bank. Only by focusing attention on Gaza was he able to build the necessary coalition to implement the controversial move. The Palestinian leaders, on the other hand, could never have agreed to come to the table to negotiate about Gaza alone — they would have insisted that the scope of any negotiations address a broad range of final status issues. In this article, we identify some of the lessons that the Gaza example teaches regarding the utility and limits of unilateralism as well as the benefits and potential costs of employing ambiguity as a strategy to help accomplish a controversial move. Finally, we also explore the aftermath of the withdrawal and its many missed opportunities for improving the outcome. We suggest that, even when acting unilaterally, leaders should carefully consider the probable impact of their actions on the internal conflicts of their adversaries.