Examining the immanent dilemma of small states in the Asia-Pacific: the strategic triangle between New Zealand,the US and China

ABSTRACT

Small states throughout the Asia-Pacific are confronted by a growing dilemma over how to balance their traditional security ties with the US and rapidly growing trade with China. This gives Washington and Beijing potential leverage over small states to use within their competition with one another. This article explores the implications of this for New Zealand – a small South Pacific state that prides itself on maintaining an independent foreign policy. Situated within the small state literature, it utilises a material-based strategic triangle to illustrate the fundamental facets of New Zealand's position. Relatedly, the article examines how Wellington has managed its burgeoning relations with China and the US over the past decade and critically considers New Zealand's independent foreign policy. It finds that New Zealand has adopted a mixed set of strategies to manage its position between the US and China, closely aligning itself with Washington while remaining nonaligned on some key security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. New Zealand has certainly not opted for neutrality. The article concludes that New Zealand and other small states must remain vigilant, may want to consider alternative strategies of alignment, and outlines a number of areas where additional research could prove fruitful.     

联盟体系与伙伴关系——论美国亚太再平衡战略的安全支点

美国亚太再平衡战略,强调在经济、安全领域维持美国的主导地位。要实现这一目标,联盟体系及伙伴关系是美国意欲借助的重要支撑,在安全领域这种表现尤为明显。在此种战略意图支配下,美国强化了与传统盟友的关系,并极力拓展新的伙伴关系,借助联盟体系、伙伴关系这两个安全支点的作用,美国力图构建其领导下的亚太安全结构。     

US bureaucratic politics and the decision to invade Iraq

Why did the second Bush administration decide to invade Iraq in 2003? This article suggests that the question can usefully be addressed by looking at the ways in which regime change in Iraq became part of bureaucratic politics within the US government – under successive administrations – following the unsatisfactory termination of the first Gulf War in 1991. It is contended here that the limitations on bureaucratic politics within the second Bush administration were important in that the path toward a presidential decision for invasion was cleared by the failure of the higher echelons of the national security bureaucracy under Bush to work effectively in exercising core functions of challenge and debate.     

The dynamics of federalism,subnational markets and trade policy-making in Canada and the US

Preferential trade agreements are now the dominant trend in the international trading regime. Unlike earlier ‘first generation’ agreements, the new agreements became more comprehensive in their coverage, impinging on areas that are subject to subnational jurisdiction of federal systems. Given constitutionally-prescribed competences allocated to subnational governments, the diversity of interests and sensitivities of subnational entities bring deeply entrenched regulatory practices under scrutiny. Few studies have focused on whether the combination of economic liberalization and political fragmentation will push federal and sub-federal entities to address domestic market fragmentation. We examine whether international market liberalization fosters domestic regulatory and structural reforms to cross-border barriers to trade in Canada and the United States. We show that while the political incentives and functional pressures generated by free trade agreements have fostered attempts at addressing internal market restrictions in Canada, the US has not followed the same path due to weaker mechanisms of intergovernmental coordination.     

关于索马里危机的地缘经济与政治思考——兼论罗佐夫分析索马里危机的独特视角

亚丁湾海盗问题似乎已经渐渐淡出人们的视野,然而索马里问题依然十分值得人们关注。里克·罗佐夫从地缘经济和地缘政治的角度探讨了索马里危机的性质,认为美国和北约为其军事目的和确保其全球能源主导地位而采取控制整个印度洋的计划与行动,才是索马里的真正危机。尽管罗佐夫对索马里危机的一些分析还不够到位,但他对国际社会的提醒却并不是多余的。解决索马里问题必须从根子上着手。中国必须正视国际霸权存在的现实,在努力提高自身软实力的同时也要十分重视硬实力的继续提升。     

美国反补贴法的“前世”与“今生”——以4105法案为界

美国是世界上最早采取反补贴措施的国家。关贸总协议成立之前,美国的反补贴法是具有代表性的反补贴法律规范。伴随着多边贸易体制的发展,美国反补贴法也在进一步完善,不仅增加了“国内产业损害”的实质性要求,还修订了征收反补贴税和启动司法审查的具体程序,规定了行政当局初裁和终裁的期限,赋予国内生产商申请法律救济的途径。反补贴法还授权总统就补贴协议与外国进行谈判。然而长期以来,美国反补贴法在是否适用于非市场经济这一问题上却一直语焉不详,这与同出一辙的反倾销法形成鲜明对比。2012年3月,美国国会通过了《对非市场经济国家使用反补贴税法案》（4105法案）,明确了反补贴法既适用于市场经济国家,也适用于非市场经济国家,这在美国反补贴立法史上具有分水岭意义。     

渤海溢油事故海洋生态损害赔偿研究——以墨西哥湾溢油自然资源损害赔偿为鉴

2011年我国渤海溢油事故引起社会强烈关注,尤其对我国海洋环境保护相关法律形成挑战。本文着眼于2010年墨西哥湾溢油事故中的相关赔偿问题,比较美国溢油自然资源损害赔偿制度,分析了渤海溢油事故中涉及的"海洋生态损害"的概念界定、责任主体与索赔主体、赔偿范围、索赔额度及评估标准等法律问题,总结并分析渤海溢油事故对完善我国海洋生态损害赔偿制度的启示。     

Cold War redux in US–Russia relations? The effects of US media framing and public opinion of the 2008 Russia–Georgia war

This paper examines the Cold War rhetoric in US–Russia relations by looking at the 2008 Russia–Georgia war as a major breaking point. We investigate the links between media, public opinion and foreign policy. In our content analysis of the coverage in two major US newspapers, we find that the framing of the conflict was anti-Russia, especially in the initial stages of the conflict. In addition, our survey results demonstrate that an increase in the media exposure of US respondents increased the likelihood of blaming Russia exclusively in the conflict. This case study helps us understand how media can be powerful in constructing a certain narrative of an international conflict, which can then affect public perceptions of other countries. We believe that the negative framing of Russia in the US media has had important implications for the already-tenuous relations between the US and Russia by reviving and perpetuating the Cold War mentality for the public as well as for foreign policymakers.