Short term interests,long term perspectives: Balancing South Africa's peace and security approach in the EU–SA Strategic Partnership

ABSTRACT

South Africa’s peace and security outlook in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership has been guided by the content and substance of the founding document, which incorporates an interdependent approach to development. For South Africa, engagement in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership is framed by its historical background, its identity and the content of its foreign policy. South Africa's foreign policy in particular adopts an integrated approach to securing the state within its surrounding regional and continental geography. This article reviews South Africa's approach to peace and security, in the context of the strategic partnership. The article argues that, overall, South Africa's definition of peace and security is compatible with that of the EU; however, Pretoria's vision of how it provides peace and security has naturally changed in line with the varying international circumstances in which it has found itself. While this has proved difficult at times to reconcile, peace and security collaboration in the strategic partnership has managed to remain intact.     

韩中建交二十周年及今后韩国对华政策的方向

本文的目的在于对韩中关系进行评估。自从1992年正式建交以来,韩中关系实现了全方位的发展,两国关系总体来说前景是乐观的。然而,在某些方面,如果缺少系统的管理,两国关系将会遇到难关。韩中两国尽管建立了重视对方的"战略关系",却也同时表现出了看待对方的认知差距和对彼此作用期待的差距。如果搁置这些差距,就会存在形成某种构架的危险。构架一旦形成,要想解决它就必须花费大量的机会成本。由此,缩小彼此间的认知差距和期待差距将是未来韩中关系发展方面非常重要的一个课题。为此,本文提出了五个目标(共进、三赢、复合性思考、关于韩中关系的民间协商、加强反思对话)和三个方向(中庸的安保本体性、谨慎外交、平衡安保)。     

对合资经营相关法律问题的几点思考

对于“JOINTVENTURE”,应突破仅从企业形态对其认识的藩篱,其实质上是一种直接投资方式,译为合资经营,指两个或更多主体共同致力于一项特定商业事业的结合。国家投资政策与投资法律的要求、外国投资者的天然劣势、分散风险与争取待遇上的优惠等诸多因素促使了合资经营的产生与发展。但我国在利用合资经营这种投资方式时视野较狭窄、立法欠缺统一性且诸多规定与实际不符。建议取消以三资企业法为主体的外资法群,将合资经营直接规定于统一的外资法典的投资形式一章,而合资经营的具体法律形式,则交由相应的国内部门法调整。     

滨海新区实现科学发展的战略构想

新的历史条件下的滨海新区开发开放与以往两个“增长极”相比,具有不同的社会经济背景和历史使命,其政策性优惠驱动,已逐渐让位于区域整体的机制优化和资源的有效配置。滨海新区要实现科学发展,必须创新发展思路,构建具有特色的发展模式,积极推进制度建设,真正成为新时期依托京冀、带动环渤海、辐射“三北”、面向东北亚的新的经济增长极和改革开放的示范区。     

The Legacy of the Northern Way?

Abstract

The Northern Way (NW) was a pan-regional, multi-level initiative between three English northern regions, set up to promote economic growth and close a £30 billion output gap. Some limited research on progress prior to 2006 exists, but hardly anything about achievements between 2008 and closure in 2011. This paper redresses the limitations with data from existing evaluations and key stakeholder interviews. Findings reveal that partners developed good collaborative working, gathered robust data on critical economic and social issues, and learnt much during 2004–2008. Between 2008 and 2011, activities were refocused on a narrower set of critical priorities and partners developed real policy learning and became a credible voice for the Northern regions. After closure, it became evident that NW left a ‘vacuum’ as an effective coordinator of evidence and views from three Northern regions. Many issues that it sought to address remain as critical today as they did when it was created.     

BALANCING RESEARCH AND ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING IN FRONT‐END PROJECT DESIGN: EXPERIENCES FROM DANIDA'S ENRECA PROGRAMME

North–South research capacity building (RCB) partnerships have attracted considerable academic attention during the last two decades, especially with regard to issues related to partnership governance. Less attention has been given to the management aspects of partnership implementation, but in order for partnerships to comply with general governance‐level recommendations, a better understanding is needed of how specific context‐dependent factors influence the development and execution of projects. In this article, we aim to contribute to the understanding of factors influencing the design phase of RCB partnerships and examine how they influence the balance between performing collaborative research and developing general organizational capacity. Data collection was based on a survey (n = 25), and individual interviews and focus group discussions with 17 Danish project managers from the Danish Bilateral Programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity in Developing Countries. Our results lead to rejection of the proposition that RCB projects are either focused on building capacity for research or conducting merit‐based research. Because of the ‘politics’ of the front‐end process, reality is more complex. We identify 11 specific factors influencing front‐end project management related to structure, process and relationship, and we theorize about how these factors influence the choice between research and more general capacity development activities. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“中国梦”引领下我国外交政策走向分析

从一个国际视角来看,“中国梦”与世界的和平发展有着密切联系.“中国梦”的提出不仅对中华民族的复兴和中国的外交事业发展有着重大的指导意义,而且对推动世界和平发展产生重大影响,其实现也离不开一个有利的国际环境.当前,“中国梦”的实现正处于重要战略机遇期,国际环境中既有诸多挑战,也存在很多机遇.为此,中国未来的外交事业应当顺应世界潮流,结合自身现实,积极调整规划战略,为“中国梦”的实现打造一个有利的国际环境.     

城市治理体系及其分析维度

城市治理中的利益相关者众多而繁杂,如何按照城市治理的要求进行系统的梳理就是本文的任务。城市治理主体作为一个包容性的体系,众多的利益相关者按照参与的目的和动机,从组织形式上可以归结为三类利益主体:政府部门、私营部门和非营利组织。本文进而提出了城市治理主体的利益定位、利益关系、利益互动三个分析维度,以此作为分析城市治理中伙伴关系运行机制的指南。     

Broadcasting party information: Can the introduction of community radio reduce the effective number of parties?

The introduction of a more majoritarian electoral system is expected to result in the consolidation of a party system as predicted by institutionalists. However, voters must have information on party viability and be able to coordinate with other voters within a constituency for an electoral system reform to have the expected outcome. I argue that the introduction of independent local radio frequencies can promote party consolidation by enabling coordination on viable candidates because of better information that becomes common knowledge. The effective number of parties (ENEP) is expected to be lower in constituencies where a larger proportion of voters listen to local radio. To test this hypothesis, access to television signals is used as an instrument for radio listening behavior to address potential reverse causality. Using 2SLS, I find that an increase in one standard deviation in regular radio listening is associated with a decrease of 0.42 ENEP in Thailand.     

The government behind insurance governance: Lessons for ransomware

The insurance as governance literature focuses on the ability of private enterprises to collectively regulate, pool, and distribute risks. This paper analyzes how governments support insurance markets to maintain insurability and limit risks to society. We propose a new conceptual framework grouping government interventions into three dimensions: regulation of risky activity, public investment in risk reduction, and co-insurance. We apply this framework to six case studies, describing insurance markets' reliance on public support in more analytically precise terms. We analyze how mature insurance markets overcame insurability challenges akin to those currently presented by extortive cybercrime. Private governance struggled when markets grew too big for informal coordination or when (tail) risks escalated. Government interventions vary widely. Some governments prioritize supporting economic activity while others concentrate on containing risks. Governments also choose between risk reduction and ex post socialization of losses. We apply these insights to the market for ransomware insurance, discussing the merits and potential hazards of current proposals for government intervention.