Peace in Northern Ireland and the Remaining Issue of the “On-the-Runs”

The return of devolution to Northern Ireland in May 2007 marks an important turning point in the Northern Ireland peace process, but there remains the issue of the “on-the-runs”—a term used to describe persons suspected of committing a range of terrorist acts during the Troubles, who were never arrested, charged, prosecuted, or tried. It is thought that the On-the-Runs want to return to Northern Ireland, but determining the conditions for their return is a difficult and controversial issue, raising legal and moral concerns and causing strong and painful reactions among the victims of terrorist violence on all sides of the Northern Ireland conflict. It is also an issue that is complicated by the fact that while the Belfast Agreement of 1998 did not address expressly the situation of the On-the-Runs, it did provide for the accelerated release of a significant number of paramilitaries, both republican and loyalist, from prisons in both Ireland and Northern Ireland. This paper reviews the possible options in law for addressing the situation of the On-the-Runs, including extradition and prosecution, as well as trial and amnesty, and pardons. While the paper makes clear that the political offence exception to extradition is no longer the obstacle it once was, it also concludes that politics, rather than law, or simply the passage of time is more likely to offer the solution to the problem posed by the On-the-Runs.

Policy and Non-Policy Barriers to Trade and Implicit Taxation of Exports in Uganda

Uganda has made significant progress in reducing policy-induced anti-export bias in its trade policy in the 1990s. Taxes on exports have been abolished, and import protection has been reduced considerably. Such trade barriers are only a component of thee transaction costs associated with trade. Poor infrastructure, notably by increasing transport costs, and institutional inefficiencies can significantly increase trade costs. The effective protection of imports, and implicit tax on exports, due to transport costs is calculated and compared to effective protection due to trade policy barriers for Uganda. The results reveal that transport costs are often very high, in many cases representing a greater cost (tax) to exporters than trade policy.     

近代陕北的边客及其社会影响

近代陕北地区的边客,是基于陕蒙民众的供需格局,在私市贸易逐步发展的基础上,通过交易日常用品并以此获取利润而形成的个体小商贩。以物易物、钱物交易及固定之会是其基本的运作方式。陕北边客群体的长期边贸生涯,不仅改变了自身生活状况与生活方式,而且在一定程度上也改变了蒙民的经济生活与经济观念,产生了广泛的社会影响。     

墨梅始祖花光仲仁生平事迹考

水墨画梅的创始者仲仁,大约在宋神宗熙宁六七年间(1073-1074)"渡淮涉湘",来到南岳衡山,宋哲宗元祐末年入驻衡州花光寺,为长老,由此闻名,并在此度过余生.宋徽宗宣和四年谋归故乡越州山阴未成,次年(1123)二月卒.在衡岳一带生活近五十年,善绘画.宋哲宗绍圣以来,仲仁以绘画与贬谪南下的各路官僚文人广泛交往,深受欢迎.苏门文人的品题、赞誉,扩大了其影响.黄庭坚<山谷别集>卷六<书赠花光仁老>两信当为秦观所作.     

Brexit,the Belfast Agreement and Northern Ireland: Imperilling a Fragile Political Bargain

The major impact of the Belfast Agreement was to engineer a peaceful coexistence between nationalism and unionism that involved each bloc recognising it had sufficient power to thwart the political ambitions of the other side, but not enough to push through its own agenda. This paper argues that Brexit seriously damages this peaceful coexistence and could trigger what is termed an Ulster war of attrition in which Northern Ireland becomes entrapped in a political stalemate where each side strives to triumph without having sufficient power to do so. It also argues that to restore internal political stability in Northern Ireland, and to indemnify against the risk of disorderly relationships between the British and Irish governments in the future, the strategic importance of Strand 3 of the Belfast Agreement requires strengthening.     

魏晋南北朝时期中国与东南亚的佛教文化交流

魏晋南北朝时期，在中国与东南亚地区的交往中，佛教文化的交流构成了彼此间相互往来的一个重要内容，充分体现了物质文化与精神文化的交流二者并行不悖、相辅相成的密切关系。这一时期往来或取道东南亚地区而来的中外僧人所带来的大量佛教经典及其译经活动，极大地促进了佛教文化在中国的传播，为隋唐时期中国与东南亚地区佛教文化交流的进一步深化和发展奠定了坚实的基础。     

Sex offender (re)integration into the community: realities and challenges

Abstract

This paper explores the benefits of engaging with self-defined communities in Northern Ireland on the issue of sexual offending and argues the case for building on existing community structures, by identifying people with leadership skills and by empowering them with the knowledge, and with connections to statutory services, that will support public protection. We address the historical context in terms of the impact of the conflict on these communities and describe the role and experience of NIACRO working in Northern Ireland, in particular its Base2 project supporting people under threat. We reference the development of current statutory arrangements for Public Protection Arrangements for Northern Ireland (PPANI) and argue the case for preparing people in the community to receive and understand the messages promoted through PPANI on the basis of our belief that public education is most effective when the people receiving it are receptive.     

Geopolitical Priorities in Russia's Regional Policies

State regional policies are generally based either on the goal of stimulating the development of specific regions or of equalizing the level of development among the regions. The first path is generally pursued by developing states while rich states favor the second path. Russia has in the past experimented with both vectors of regional policy. Since the annexation of Crimea, a third factor has come to dominate: geopolitics. The main goal of Russia's regional policy is securing control of geopolitically significant territories. The high expense of such a policy makes it unsustainable during a period of economic retrenchment.     

Zambia: The First Fifty Years

As Zambia completes 50 years of independence from British rule, an assessment of the present state of the country is topical. This article argues that, for all the setbacks that Zambia has suffered over the past half century, substantial progress has been made in a number of areas and that the Zambian people have maximised the opportunities that this progress has generated.     

Battles over boundaries: the politics of territory,identity and authority in three Ugandan regions

In Uganda, contested relations between the central government and sub-national regions have, since independence, shaped state formation and national identity in fundamental ways. Today, the country is characterised by regionally uneven state presence, and distinct sub-national identities and ongoing contestation over territorial demarcations, loci of authority and political identities. This article explores the politics of territory, identity and authority in three Ugandan regions in this context, in order to analyse the implications for exclusion and conflict at the sub-national level. This involves struggles over the territorial and administrative demarcations of and within regions; the loci and scope of authority with regards to these units; struggles over access to land; and the (non-)recognition of various cultural–political identities in these regions.