Expressed attachment to Russia and social integration: the case of young Russian speakers in Latvia, 2004–2010

The aim of this article is to establish if expressed attachment to Russia, amongst surveyed Russian-speaking youths in 2004 and 2010 in Latvia, demonstrates any noteworthy correlations with factors promoting integration and feelings of belonging to Latvia. The correlation analysis shows that a sense of belonging to Russia and a sense of belonging to Latvia are not mutually exclusive. However, those Russian speakers in Latvia expressing a closer sense of belonging to Russia are also more likely to prefer an all-Russian environment, are skeptical of their rights and influence in Latvia, and are more likely to perceive discrimination in terms of citizenship status and ethnicity. These preferences suggest either a lack of integration or an “external homeland” influence.     

Ministry of Fear: The 1947 National Security Act in Historical and Institutional Context

The Bush administration's plan for a new Department of Homeland Security is often described as the most comprehensive effort at institutional reform since the 1947 National Security Act (NSA). Unfortunately, many of the references to the NSA are misleading. This study surveys the debates that culminated in the passage of the NSA, then traces the evolution of the key agencies created by the NSA from 1947 to 1991. The author considers why so little institutional reform took place during the period between the end of the Cold War and the attacks of September 11, 2001, and then offers some points of reference for the evolving debate about post-9/11 reform of the national security bureaucracy. He concludes that the president and Congress risk weakening, rather than strengthening, U.S. national security if they create a Department of Homeland Security but leave in place an institutional infrastructure that was designed for a different time and a different set of problems.     

Securing the Homelands: Transatlantic Co-operation after Bush

Since 9/11, internal security co-operation has grown into a major feature of transatlantic relations. This article seeks to appraise both the achievements of the Bush administration in this field and the prospects for President Obama's period of office. Homeland security has been a new and difficult area of co-operation to foster, yet both sides of the Atlantic have come to recognise their shared interests in working together. The article cautions those European policy-makers who are hoping for a major change in homeland security co-operation under the new president. It is likely that the policies of the new administration will be characterised more by continuity than by change.     

Changing perception of homeland for the Kazakh diaspora

There is a sizable Kazakh diaspora living in Turkey and Europe. Since their initial migration, these Kazakhs have been involved in actions aiming to preserve their group's cultural and ethnic boundaries. By studying these actions and related discourses, this article seeks to explain how these groups formulated and reformulated their identities and loyalties in their host states over generations. Many Kazakhs in Turkey and Europe originally came from Eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang) and considered this area their homeland. However, Kazakhstan's independence in 1991 led to an important change in their homeland orientation and, after 1991, the activities of an increasing number of Kazakh diaspora organizations shifted toward Kazakhstan as the homeland. Therefore, this article focuses mainly on two periods: the period before and the period after Kazakhstan's independence. The fieldwork was conducted in Turkey, Germany, France, and the Netherlands and includes interviews with leaders of Kazakh diaspora organizations and other members of the diaspora.     

Disasters,Catastrophes, and Policy Failure in the Homeland Security Era1

The September 11 attacks triggered federal policy changes designed to influence emergency management in the United States, even though these attacks did not suggest a need for a wholesale restructuring of federal policy in emergency management. Instead, for several reasons, federal policy's emphasis on terrorism and emergency management significantly degraded the nation's ability to address natural disasters. The federal government sought to create a top‐down, command and control model of emergency management that never fully accounted for, positively or normatively, the way local emergency management works in practice. The Obama administration will have to address the questions raised by the reorganization of federal emergency management responsibilities. While the context in which these changes have occurred is unique to the U.S. federal system, there are interesting implications for emergency management in nonfederal systems.     

乡情治理:县域社会治理的情感要素及其作用逻辑--基于顺德案例的考察

公共管理的现代性发展相对忽视了情感要素的治理功能,本文基于顺德案例提出"乡情治理"概念并探析其运作逻辑,以呈现传统文化和情感要素对县域社会治理的重要价值。经验考察表明,乡情治理的核心是基于经济、社会纽带和共同文化符号的情感场域,并通过以下特征治理要素发挥作用:乡情凝聚下的"新士绅"和议题网络作为主体;传统节日和文化场合作为公共平台和议事空间;爱乡、奉献、共荣等地方价值内嵌为利益协调和集体行动规则;发达的民间和社区慈善作为内生治理资源。乡情治理是对基层自治、法治和德治的补充和催化,为"共建、共治、共享"的社会治理格局增加了"共荣"的精神动力和文化内涵,为乡村振兴和城市化进程带来新的治理想象力。     

Changes in homeland security activities since 9/11: an examination of state and local law enforcement agencies’ practices

This study investigated differences in state and local law enforcement agencies participation in homeland security activities within the year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and 13 years later. Further, this investigation assessed whether there were regional differences for these practices during these same time periods. Activities assessed were based on a homeland security initiatives index. Data suggest that, in the year after the attacks, agencies’ participation in all of Stewart and Morris’ homeland security activities was not high and statistically significant differences existed across several regions for some of these practices. However, since then, the number of agencies participating in all of Stewart and Morris’ homeland security activities increased and statistically significant differences between regions decreased. The increase in participation may be attributed to incentives provided by the federal government. Nevertheless, data suggest that support may be waning within law enforcement agencies to participate in homeland security activities.     

Being here and there: migrant communities in Sweden and the conflicts in the Horn of Africa

Abstract

The largest migrant communities in Sweden come from Africa's most troubled region, the Horn. These are the Somali and Ethiop-Eritrean communities. This paper examines the not-so-obvious ways in which Ethiop-Eritrean and Somali communities in Sweden influence the political developments, particularly the conflicts at ‘home’. Many of these immigrants living in Sweden keep up with social and political developments in their countries of origin almost on daily basis and remain engaged, to a large extent, in the affairs of both their families and communities ‘out there’ while they ‘are here in Sweden’. This article therefore focuses on the particular forms of engagement that have either intended or unintended impact on the intractable conflicts in which the societies in these countries are engaged. I argue that ‘nostalgia underpins the immigrants’ sense of commitment to the affairs of their countries of origin, and therefore, providing moral and material support to warring groups derives the impetus largely from the affective dimension of migration.     

Practising homeland security across the Atlantic: practical learning and policy convergence in Europe and North America

Abstract

Despite different traditions, interests and perceptions characterizing North American and European approaches to homeland security, since 9/11 policy-makers across the Atlantic have formulated increasingly similar policies to deal with terrorism and other international security threats. Challenging mainstream accounts elaborated in the policy convergence literature, and drawing from sociological works in performance studies, this essay argues that the recent evolution of homeland security policies in Europe and North America can be understood as an instance of ‘practical learning’. From this perspective, this outcome is the result of the acquisition on the part of European and North American policy-makers of the practical knowledge necessary to carry out the new policies, policies learned by mimicking the practices of their counterparts across the Atlantic. This argument is then applied to examine two cases of policy convergence in Europe and North America – the proposal for a ‘European Passenger Name Record’ system and the project of a regional ‘Security Perimeter’.     

试论国内华侨博物馆的地域特点及文化认同功能

华侨博物馆作为华侨华人文化遗产收藏、保护、研究、展示的专门机构,其兴建主体、捐赠主体、展陈内容等方面有着明显的地域特点。华侨博物馆在促进华侨华人乡土文化认同及中华文化认同方面有着得天独厚的条件和方法,它通过具有地域特点的藏品和展览为海外华侨华人的乡土文化认同构建提供了基础和途径。基于这些优势,华侨博物馆将在促进华侨华人乡土认同方面发挥越来越重要的作用。