‘Good neighbours or distant relatives?’ Regional identity and cooperation in the South Caucasus

Conceptualization of the South Caucasus as a distinct regional unit is a relatively new development. Notwithstanding geographic proximity, the three states of the region face different political, economic and security realities, precipitating different strategic orientations. Conflicting dynamics complicate relations between states and serve to undermine efforts, both internal and external, to establish a sense of regional identity and advance inter-state cooperation. This paper argues that the concept of a distinct ‘South Caucasus’ region is an externally generated, geographical label, which implies a certain degree of unity and positive interdependence that does not exist. The three states may be geographical neighbours, but they are not ‘good neighbours’, as the complex web of enmities that has developed over the centuries means the three states tend to look externally to ‘distant relatives’, undermining both regional cohesion and awareness.     

The Russian Dimension of Baltic Maritime Governance

This paper seeks to reconstruct the development of Baltic maritime governance by filling in the gap in the systematic study of Russian maritime policy. In a review of historical, administrative, economic, and political facets of Russian maritime policy, the paper identifies the logic of “greatpowerness” underpinned by the category of “national interest” as its main driver. In this overall logic, cooperation with the EU in maritime affairs is a part of larger Russia’s EU politics. Thus, Baltic maritime governance depends on the ability of the EU and Russia to maintain constructive relations beyond the scope of the maritime domain.     

DIFFERENTIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY? IMMIGRANT YOUTH AND PEER INFLUENCE*

There is reason to suspect that lower levels of exposure to criminogenic peer‐based risks help explain why immigrant youth are less involved in crime and violence. However, it also is possible that if and when they do encounter these risks, immigrant youth are more vulnerable to them than are native‐born youth. Drawing from literature on the adaptation experiences of immigrant adolescents, we hypothesize that immigrant youth will be relatively more susceptible to the effects of both 1) exposure to deviant peers and 2) unstructured and unsupervised socializing with peers when compared with their nonimmigrant counterparts. Using a sample of approximately 1,800 adolescents from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) study, we find support for our first hypothesis but not the second. Specifically, in both cross‐sectional and longitudinal models, we find that exposure to deviant peers has a greater impact on violence among immigrant youth than it does for native‐born youth. Furthermore, this pattern of results is supported with supplemental, sensitivity analysis using the AddHealth data. In contrast, there are no statistically significant differences across immigrant generation status with regard to the effect of informal socializing with peers on violence.     

统一多民族国家的宪制建构——新中国成立初期民族区域自治制度的奠基历程

对于民族区域自治制度在我国的确立,《共同纲领》的宪政宣示尽管具有最为重要的合法性确认意义,但这一基本宪政制度的真正奠基,则有赖于民族识别、民族干部培养、少数民族地方民主改革等一系列相关政治实践。这其中,少数民族地方民主改革可视为我国民族区域自治制度奠基的关键,它直接决定了新中国的民族治理制度是否坚持和贯彻了社会主义方向这一民族区域自治制度的最实质所在。同时,新中国通过将民族区域自治制度作为我国民族治理的基本宪政制度,也实现了清末以来多民族大国的民族—国家建构的真正飞跃。     

法官视角中的能动司法

能动司法是司法创造力的体现。在美国,这种司法能动的突出表现形式是司法审查权,通过多年的案例发展,美国已经形成了较为完备的司法审查体制。在英国,至今法院尚无对立法的审查权。但在英美法系国家,由于有判例法传统,法官的司法能动性相对较大,在案件审理中,区分相似案件事实和不断发展法律规则是法官司法技术的重要组成部分。英美法系的司法能动对我国司法实践具有积极的借鉴意义。在我国,司法能动在审判领域的主要表现形式是最高法院司法解释、个案法官法律论证,其主线是政策考量与法律考量,也可称之为社会效果考量与法律效果考量。     

Gang Membership,Drug Selling,and Violence in Neighborhood Context

A prominent perspective in the gang literature suggests that gang member involvement in drug selling does not necessarily increase violent behavior. In addition it is unclear from previous research whether neighborhood disadvantage strengthens that relationship. We address these issues by testing hypotheses regarding the confluence of neighborhood disadvantage, gang membership, drug selling, and violent behavior. A three‐level hierarchical model is estimated from the first five waves of the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, matched with block‐group characteristics from the 2000 U.S. Census. Results indicate that (1) gang members who sell drugs are significantly more violent than gang members that don’t sell drugs and drug sellers that don’t belong to gangs; (2) drug sellers that don’t belong to gangs and gang members who don’t sell drugs engage in comparable levels of violence; and (3) an increase in neighborhood disadvantaged intensifies the effect of gang membership on violence, especially among gang members that sell drugs.     

吉林省西部特色经济区区域竞争力的制约因素与发展对策探析

在"十二五"时期和今后相当长一段时间,吉林省西部的经济和社会发展既面临难得的战略机遇和有利条件,又存在诸多制约因素。本文依据区域经济发展的相关理论和统计资料,力图找到提升吉林省西部特色经济区区域竞争力,促进当地经济社会又好又快发展的基本对策。     

促进民族文化与地域经济发展的良性互动——黎族传统文化在海南国际旅游岛建设中的物化

发展民族文化旅游,不仅能够促进民族文化与地域经济的良性互动,也是对民族村寨的一种有效的保护方式。作为旅游景点对外开放的历史文化村寨,能否把旅游业的发展与保护生态环境和自然环境相统一,充分考虑资源、环境的承载能力,做到保护和开发并重,避免无序开发导致的生态环境遭到破坏,民族文化失去特色,值得我们认真思考。本文以海南为例进行分析并提出相关建议。     

区域经济发展中应注意的几个深层次问题——从广西北部湾经济区发展引出的思考

区域经济发展在中国经济发展中具有举足轻重的地位,特别是"四大增长极"不仅关系到中国未来经济发展的格局,而且是中国国际经济发展战略的着力点。随着世界经济一体化的深入发展,我国区域经济发展遇到了一些深层次问题,广西北部湾经济区在应对这些新问题时,取得了不少有益的经验。