A matter of balance: the European Union as a mediator in Yemen

The mediation efforts of the European Union (EU) Delegation in Yemen started with the uprising in 2011 which led to the conclusion of the National Dialogue Conference in 2014. This article examines the EU's understanding of mediation vis-à-vis its practice. The case of Yemen lends itself to trace EU mediation capabilities from the implementation of the “Concept on Strengthening Mediation and Dialogue Capacities” to a more systematic approach because the Mediation Support Team (MST) of the European External Action Service took office in 2011. Building on an analytical framework of mediation as a tool of EU foreign policy, this article demonstrates how EU mediation presents itself along a political and a technical dimension. The collaboration of the MST and the EU Delegation personnel in Yemen fostered an increase in mediation awareness. However, it could not develop its full potential as the UN Special Advisor sidelined the EU and other members of the Group of Ten Ambassadors through his proactive approach. Despite those difficulties of standing up to established actors in the field, this study argues that EU mediation is about balancing its political and technical dimension. For now, the political seems to outweigh the craft of mediation in the case of Yemen.     

Internationalized regimes: a second dimension of regime hybridity

Traditional approaches have conceptualized political regimes almost exclusively with reference to domestic-level political factors. However, many current and historical political regimes have entailed a major role for international actors, and in some cases the external influence has been so great that regimes have become internationalized. This article explores the concept of ‘internationalized regimes’ and argues that they should be seen as a distinct form of hybrid regime type that demonstrates a distinct dimension of hybridity. Until now, regime hybridity has been conceived along a single dimension of domestic politics: the level of competitiveness. Yet, some regimes are characterized by a different type of hybridity, in which domestic and international authority are found together within a single political system. The article explores the dynamics of internationalized regimes within three settings, those of international occupation, international administration and informal empire.     

国际法的和平软肋——从康德的《永久和平论》说起

国际法是以维护和平与促进发展为根本价值取向的国际法律体系。实现和平的使命是国际法赖以存在的重要基础。康德的永久和平思想重视国际法的制度和组织建设,但忽视了实现和平的心理因素。深受康德永久和平思想影响的现代国际法体系也偏重于法律制度和国际组织的建设,对人类内心和平的建设重视不足。虽然一些国际法律文件和个别国际组织已经意识到了内心和平对世界和平的重要性,并做出了积极努力,但显然还是很不够的。真正的永久和平只能从人的内心开始实现。国际法应该在进一步加强和完善现有国际法制度和国际组织建设的基础上,更加重视人类内心和平的宣传和建设。这是国际法的新使命。     

The undoing of a unique relationship? Peace and security in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership

ABSTRACT

When the European Union (EU) and South Africa acceded to a strategic partnership, they expanded into new areas of partnership. One of these areas was peace and security, which is the focus of this article. The article argues that, although there appears to be a shared understanding of what security means, the strategic partnership has not been utilised significantly to further this understanding in practice. This is largely due to the EU's preferences for a continental, multilateral approach over the bilateralism of a strategic partnership. At the same time, South Africa sees its strategic partnership with the EU as being outside of its broader commitment to regional security. As a result the peace and security element of the strategic partnership has not been leveraged effectively despite several entry points for action. The article thus concludes that both the EU and South Africa need to re-think the current arrangement.     

Elections and democratic transition in Pakistan: one step forward and two steps backwards

Expectations in Pakistan rose, when for the first time, in its history a political government in 2013 completed its full term of office and was replaced not by the military but by another political government after being defeated at the ballot box. It raises questions about what kind of democratic space is developing and what type of hybrid regime is emergent. The paper reflects upon the concept of hybrid regime and draws out key variables: turnover, tutelage and neo-patrimonialism and then considers how to categorise development in Pakistan. It concludes that Pakistan is in a ‘gray zone’ and that during the period there was evidence of it moving towards becoming an illiberal hybrid regime but the military went on the offensive and the democratic space contracted returning to being an illiberal tutelary hybrid regime. Unless tutelage and neo-patrimonialism are not challenged Pakistan will not progress in the democratic transition and remain a hybrid regime.     

Learning to Mediate? The Mediation Support Unit and the Production of Expertise by the UN

The UN Mediation Support Unit (MSU) was created to support peace processes and enable organizational learning. This article analyses the unit through a sociological lens with the aim to understand its present configuration, and what this reveals about the production of knowledge about mediation at the UN. It argues that, because of the constraints imposed by intrastate wars and the existing institutional setting within the Secretariat, the MSU emphasizes generic and depoliticized expertise, by contrast with mediation's traditional reliance on non-transferable skills. This approach, in spite of its pitfalls, enables the unit to justify its own existence and to claim a position of authority within the organization and beyond.     

Neo-Kantianism and Coercive Diplomacy: The Complex Case of Economic Sanctions

Although voluminous research connects the neo-Kantian triad—democracy, economic interdependence, and intergovernmental organization membership—to amelioration of conflict processes, comparatively little is known about how these factors relate to economic coercion. We advance the relevant literature on neo-Kantianism and the determinants of sanction decisions by (1) analyzing the impact of all three neo-Kantian factors on economic coercion and (2) assessing the effects of these factors across both the onset of threat and imposition of sanctions. Results from the time-series, cross-national data analyses indicate a significant but complex connection between the neo-Kantian variables and sanctions. Specifically, we find that although democratic regimes are less likely to threaten each other with sanctions, once a threat is made, democracies are more likely to impose sanctions against each other. Economic interdependence and common IGO membership are likely to increase the probability of sanction threats. Yet, the results also suggest that common IGO membership decreases the probability of sanction imposition while economic interdependence has no statistically significant effect on the decision to impose sanctions. Overall, these results highlight the importance of a more nuanced study of sanction decisions for a better understanding of the factors that lead to sanction use.     

现代职业警察建立前的英国传统警务模式研究

英国在世界范围内率先建立起现代职业警察制度,创现代治安管理模式之先河。然而在现代职业警察制度建立之前,英国经过原始部落时期、罗马不列颠时期、盎格鲁—撒克逊时期等不同的历史阶段,在每一个阶段中都孕育出了适应其历史发展的警务工作模式。通过对各个时期的警务模式研究,我们可以归纳得出英国传统警务模式的发展轨迹,即由早期的"自我警务"到"社区集体警务"再到"王权监督下的地方自治警务"。     

与宿敌为友：国家间和解的政治经济学

和解是国家间关系中一种典型的、然而在过去很长一段时间里没有得到足够重视的国家间互动形式。与和平不同,和解是发生在那些有严重历史恩怨的“宿敌”或“世仇”国家之间,它不单单是物质层面上的冲突解决,更涉及民族心理和精神创伤的愈合,是一个从冷和平走向暖和平、从不稳定和平走向稳固和平的长期过程。目前,学术界既有的关于国家间和解的研究描述多于诠释、案例多于理论,存在着忽视和解的阶段性特征、割裂政治与经济的关联性逻辑等缺陷。国家间和解的发生本质上是一种政治行为,它或是等级制作用的结果,或是在面临较为强烈的安全关切下,国家在维护国内政治合法性与国家安全之间作出的一种平衡。国家间和解的巩固与深化本质是一个将和平制度化的过程,它涉及三个密不可分、又相互递进的机制：从承认(对历史事实的再确认)到补偿(对非正义的弥补和纠正),再到融合(多层次的社会融合与交流机制),是在内力与外力、政治与经济等多重复杂因素互动作用下的结果。国家间和解的实现会带来广泛而又深远的影响,能够显著地改变国家内部的政治经济生态,又能够获得超越双边关系的意义,不仅有助于推动国家与地区和平的深化,而且也是推动地区经济一体化的重要力量。     

Hybrid processes within parenting plan assessments: Rationale and an illustrative model

Parenting plan Assessments, also known as child custody evaluations, are forensic psychological investigations into the needs of children, the parenting capacities of their caregivers, and the resulting fit between the children's needs and caregiver capacities. Typically, they result in recommendations that are, in the opinion of the assessor, formulated to meet the best interests of children regarding a parenting plan, child sharing, parental responsibilities and ancillary services that are likely to support the children's optimal functioning as well as the functioning of the now reconfigured family. Such assessments are part of a pathway to untangling conflicts between the parents regarding the most appropriate parenting plan for the reconfigured family. Paradoxically, the assessment process can exacerbate the conflict, entrench parental polarization, and create lingering feelings of helplessness, frustration, and disempowerment in the parents. This article provides a rationale for the use of a hybrid process that incorporates alternative dispute resolution as an integrated part of the parenting plan assessment and provides an illustrative model of such a hybrid process.