Reconocimiento del matrimonio religioso contraído en el extranjero (perspectiva mexicana)

The author presents the legal and doctrinal decisions about religious marriage recognition abroad. He finds that the “form” (the qualification) has not been the instrument to recognize the marriage. It is questionable whether that marriage in Mexico is a problem of form.     

外汇按金交易中介行为入罪化研究——以非法经营罪为视角

外汇按金交易违反的规定不属于非法经营罪中"违反国家规定"的范围,且其中的中介行为不属于非法经营行为,而只是一种帮助行为。这种帮助行为依据刑法规定和共犯从属性认定其是犯罪存在阻碍,其本身属性及刑法谦抑性决定了刑法对外汇按金交易中介行为介入没有必要。     

英国欧陆均势政策的原因探析

均势既是国家的一种对外政策和对外行为,又是国际体系的一种运行状态和存在形式。几个世纪以来,英国将均势政策视为一种"金科玉律"或国际政治铁律,有着深刻和复杂的根源。在近现代欧洲国际政治中,面对欧洲大陆一系列统治者屡次掀起的追求霸权的狂潮,作为欧洲大陆外缘海岛国家的英国,基于自身的利益考量,采取均势外交政策,制衡和打击霸权追求者成为英国在此期间经久不息和坚持不懈的政策与行动。     

The 1967 Arab–Israeli war: Soviet policy by other means?

This paper considers two aspects of historiography about the 1967 Arab–Israeli war – American and Soviet foreign policy in the region – to better appreciate the Soviet role in the outbreak of hostilities, as well as how the war concretized the USA–Israel ‘special relationship’ and weakened American–Arab relations. Relying especially on research from the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library and Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), this paper argues that Soviet officials had little interest in pursuing measures to prevent war during the prewar crisis because the situation promised to undermine American interests in the region.     

The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment in Authoritarian Regimes

While political scientists find that democracy reduces political risk, little scholarship analyzes how authoritarian regimes attract foreign direct investment (FDI). This article argues that while authoritarian countries are generally risky, this risk can be minimized when authoritarian regimes are constrained from both “above” and “below.” Signing international investment treaties are critical for authoritarian countries to signal a commitment to FDI-friendly policies. However, only authoritarian signatories that allow some degree of public deliberation in their policymaking are then constrained from deviating from the policies of the international investment treaties. Panel statistical regressions and a case analysis support the hypothesis.     

The Sutherland tradition in criminology: a bibliometric story

In this article, we provide an overview of the body of knowledge associated with the Sutherland tradition in criminology. We track Sutherland’s impact through a bibliometric analysis of papers citing any of Sutherland’s works and by focusing on publications that are co-cited with Sutherland. This approach enables us to visualize Sutherland’s role in relation to the forerunners and founding fathers of criminology during his own active period, to his followers, and to contemporary scholars. The dataset consisted of 2596 genuine articles that cite at least one of Sutherland’s publications, in which he appears as first author in Web of Science ^TM published between 1955 and 2010. The results show a clear impact of the Sutherland tradition more or less throughout the twentieth century, peaking during the 1930s and 1940s and decreasing in the 1990s, when the Sutherland tradition was more powerfully challenged, primarily by the life-course tradition.     

水权概念研究

水权概念的厘清是水权制度建设与水权理论研究的前提,我国法学界对水权概念、水权客体以及水权性质等问题争议很大。水权兼具私权、公权双重属性,其客体为水体。取水权为用益物权,不同于水资源所有权与水所有权。目前,《物权法》所确定的取水权是水权最主要的形态。水权具有抽象化定义之前,枚举式的定义比较可取。     

The determinants of foreign direct investment inflows in the Central and Eastern European Countries: The importance of institutions

This study investigates the determinants of FDI inflows in six Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) by incorporating the traditional factors and institutional variables over the 1996–2009 period. The study identifies whether and how these determinant factors differ across four investor countries (EU-15, the US, China, and Japan). The results verify the positive and economically significant role of GDP size, trade openness, EU membership, and institutions (measured by economic freedoms, state fragility, political rights, and civil liberties indices) on FDI inflows. The results also reveal the existence of notable differences in the determinant factors across four investor countries.     

Introduction

Central Eastern Europe (further CEE) has been thoroughly reconstructed during nearly a quarter of century since the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the cold war. The CEE countries turned to the West for economic and technological advancement, for political and administrative models as well as for protection. The authors coming from eight different countries look at the place and role of the former member states of the Warsaw Pact in the new European and international constellation. This concept of CEE includes most pro-western states of the former ‘Eastern block’: the four countries of Central Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) and the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia). There were many tumultuous political developments in and around the region within the last decade, and especially during the last five years when the financial crisis started to take its toll. While the Atlantic link of Central and Eastern Europe is still strong, many commentators have pointed out its wearing strategic meaning. The balance between the focus on the USA and the EU has shifted in favour of Europe. However, this shift has rather been an incomplete one due to the region's own political and economic problems. The aim of this special issue is to analyse the new constellation by looking at the CEE countries themselves, at their ability to react and adapt, produce sound political strategies and act on as national actors: through bilateral ties, regional co-operation, NATO and the EU. Also, the main external actors - the USA, Russia and Germany - are looked at as they directly influence the way how the CEE countries shape their policies.     

Whither Mr Abe's Japan?

This article reviews Japan's strategic options and policy initiatives under Prime Minister Abe, taking into consideration strategic changes in the region; chiefly a rising China and a United States approaching geopolitical retreat, and the policy implications of these developments. Mr Abe's announced goal is to restore Japan to its once great power status, and thus far success is proving elusive.

MAIN ARGUMENT

Hurdles in Mr Abe's path include the differing perceptions between Japan and its neighbours regarding Japan's history, and the deeply entrenched nature of these differences pose a significant barrier. A related aspect is the territorial disputes. A second task is to be a “normal” nation, that is exercising greater independence in security matters and matters of economic policy, and here differences arise with Japan's main ally, the United States. Furthermore Mr Abe also needs to convince the Japanese public as well as Japan's prospective allies about his views regarding Japan's security role in the region. A third task is to increase Japan's economic weight by turning around the Japanese economy from its existing stasis to sustained, robust growth.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Mr Abe is making urgent policy efforts in all directions and the rather uneven outcome experienced thus far has not deterred him, thus creating uncertainty for Japan, and enhancing the feeling of insecurity in the region. The ostensible policy choice facing Mr Abe now is to either persist with his existing policies, hence entrenching the increasing tensions in the region, or to accept a rapidly rising China and formulate policies more accommodative of that development.