Running dry: international law and the management of Aral Sea depletion

The Aral Sea disaster is the result of Soviet-era irrigation policy. The collapse of the Soviet Union left the issue under the purview of international law. This essay addresses how this shift has affected attempts to slow or reverse the sea's depletion. Treaties on the non-navigation use of international watercourses and on the prevention of desertification have had little effect. While a number of regional instruments and arrangements have been brought to bear, they have also done little to reverse damage to the sea. Finally, attempts to regulate the issue through domestic law, as evidenced in the case of Kyrgyzstan, have done little as well. While some progress has recently been made under the auspices of the World Bank, it is not a result of international law. The conclusion is that the shift from domestic to international law has little improved the situation, and may have made matters worse.     

PIRATES OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEAS

Piracy has been endemic in the South China and surrounding seas for centuries. There is a long history of piracy waxing and waning depending on the political and economic situation in the region. There have been differing levels of piracy on the South China Coast and the seas around the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In the Sulu and Celebes Seas as well as off the coast of Aceh, there are examples of piracy used as a tactic by groups also engaged in terrorism. Piracy has periodically been suppressed by a strong naval power in the region. The growth and projection of Chinese naval power to control the South China Sea to the extent of the ‘nine dash line’ has suppressed piracy on the China Coast and in the South China Sea, but had limited impact on the Straits of Malacca and the seas around Borneo and Mindanao.     

FANTASY OR FICTION: MARCHING OF THE DRAGON IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

This article looks at the South China Sea dispute and its impact in international relations. It analyses why the Southeast Asian states are highly sovereignty sensitive, and how such sensitivity has made non-intervention the bedrock of managing their foreign policies. China has long viewed the near seas as regions of geostrategic interest, and thus the SCS is not an exception. On the one hand it brings hope and prosperity, and on the other uncertainty and threat. At the end, the article argues whether China’s assertive position regarding other countries’ sovereignty claims in the Arctic might undermine its own position in contested areas like the SCS, and suggests that China will at least have to learn how to share and bear (term coined by the author) as a member of the international community.     

国际海底区域环境保护制度的发展趋势与中国的应对

2012年以来,国际海底管理局着力推进《国际海底区域矿产资源开发规章(草案)》的磋商进程,其产业政策、管理流程及惠益分享制度等方面的内容攸关深海采矿产业的未来走向,引起了国际社会的广泛关注与参与。其中有效保护海洋环境的基本原则、环境标准和监管制度等内容,承包者在开发活动中的环境保护义务和担保国的责任等议题,更成为利益攸关各方关注的焦点。2019年11月,历经多次讨论与修改《国际海底区域矿产资源开发规章(草案)》再次公布。我国作为担保国,有必要"未雨绸缪",按照《联合国海洋法公约》的规定,尽早通过国内立法,完善我国深海采矿方面的法律体系,对海洋环境进行严格保护;对开展勘探和开发活动的组织、法人、公民进行有效管控,确保与国际环境保护制度的良性衔接。同时,作为负责任的大国,我国在坚持"人类共同继承财产"原则的同时,应深度参与国际立法进程,在提升我国的规则制定能力和话语权的同时,积极反映我国的利益与关切,为合理、有序、可持续开发深海矿产资源贡献中国智慧。     

制造业同构现象与收入变动的国际比较研究——基于中国长三角地区与日本东海地区的比较

运用产业同构系数、人均GDP、人均工资等指标,比较研究了20年来中国沪苏浙地区和日本东海地区产业分工与收入差距的现状和特征,研究结果显示：产业同构系数与收入差距变化间的关系并不确定。调节产业同构现象的措施对于缩小收入差距未必有确定的、显著的作用,解决收入差距应主要运用收入分配政策。     

Negotiating a Victim Identity: Young Men as Victims of Violence

This article is based on an interview study of how 10 young male crime victims talk about violent events and actors involved. It focuses on how the young men present their identities as ‘young men’ who have been victims of violent crimes. In their narrations the men struggle with a cultural understanding that ‘masculinity’ is associated with strength and power, while ‘victim’ is associated with weakness and impotence. During the interviews the young men actualize several balancing acts in their presentation of themselves as men and victims in a delicate manner by use of specific word choice, manner of speaking, laughter, etc. The young men are negotiating a victim identity; they portray themselves by careful positioning as both victims and strong, active young men. By this discursive balancing of identities the young men present themselves as manly at the same time as they present themselves as victims. In collaboration with the interviewer the participants negotiate how they want to be known: as ‘victim-worthy’ young men, with associations to a ‘hegemonic manliness’.     

Urban Irregular Warfare and Violence Against Civilians: Evidence From a Colombian City

Defining terrorism and explaining how it occurs remains a contentious issue. This article attempts to generate new understandings on these topics by applying the work of Ehud Sprinzak's delegitimatization model to the Sea Shepherds. Evidence presented in the article suggests that the Sea Shepherd's present level of political violence passed through gradual phases. In this respect, it is possible to suggest that Sprinzak's model has applicability for maritime organizations, as well as terrestrial based groups. However, we also note that on the one hand, it may be possible to argue that in some respects the Sea Shepherds may constitute either a “blind spot” in the literature on terrorism and political violence, because its actions could in some circumstances be considered activism, militant direct action, piracy, vigilantism, terrorism, or eco-defense, which makes it very difficult to classify. On the other hand, that both the Sea Shepherds and the whalers may both engage in illegal activities, but are not prosecuted, may indicate that states and the international community may have neither the will nor the means to enforce laws against them. Therefore, they may be turning a blind eye to their actions. Throughout the article we maintain that the Sea Shepherds constitute an example of a gray area phenomenon. Despite the ambiguity surrounding their legal status and academic interpretations of their actions, the results of nearly three decades of the organization's activities, including its 2007 campaign to disrupt Japanese Antarctic Whaling, suggest that the Sea Shepherds may be best categorized as a vigilante group, because they claim they are seeking to enforce a legal status quo because of states' and the international community's inabilities or unwillingness to do so.     

‘At least 2001’: US security policy and exit strategy in Bosnia

This article describes and analyzes the United States’ security conduct in Bosnia since the Dayton Accords of November 1995, and its involvement in the multilateral conflict resolution and peacebuilding effort. From this analysis, the conclusion is that it will be difficult for the US to exit from its engagement in Bosnia. Various explanations are offered for the formulation of American policy: norms and values, alliance politics and the role of NATO, bureaucratic and congressional influence, as well as presidential leadership. The most important factor remains affirmation of US leadership to make the peacebuilding mission in Bosnia a successful one.     

侨商中南银行钞票发行权研究

20世纪20年代,纸币发行混乱,北京政府连续颁布取缔纸币条例,以求改善此种情况。但是中国缺乏强有力的国家银行,加之统一发行成本过高,政府无力实现纸币统一发行。中南银行取得钞票发行权就是一个典型例子。中南银行凭借其侨商背景,资本雄厚、人脉广阔等自身优势,利用北京政府政局不稳,财政支绌,急于依赖银行予以资助的心理,取得钞票发行权。直到1935年施行法币政策,中南银行发钞权被取消,中南银行钞票在四行准备库联合发行的体制下,十足准备发行,信誉良好,是中国金融市场上最受欢迎的银行券之一。中南银行也成为近代商业银行的典范。     

Looking for a Jurisdiction for Somali Pirates

One of the surprising things about the resurgence of piracy in the Gulf of Aden is that there is not yet a clear standard of conduct when suspected pirates are eventually caught. There are many cases in which pirates have been released by the military navies that arrested them and other cases of excessive use of force. This article addresses the possibility of providing a fair trial to suspected pirates, also on the ground of new developments in establishing dedicated courts in states of the region. Judging suspected pirates presents a variety of problems associated to evidence collection, availability of witnesses and national laws to be applied. In spite of these difficulties, Western powers, which have invested so much in patrolling the Indian Ocean with their navies, have so far been unexpectedly reluctant to provide fair trials.