Is Japan Really Back? The “Abe Doctrine” and Global Governance

Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo has emerged as the “comeback kid” of Japanese politics and in his second term of office is now widely regarded as a rare example of strong leadership as he seeks to arrest and reverse his country’s perceived decline. The strategy to achieve these objectives has come to be known as the “Abe Doctrine,” which represents a radical but risky shift in foreign policy. This article outlines the tenets of the evolving Abe Doctrine and then applies them to the Abe administration’s behaviour in the mechanisms of global governance, a highly pertinent but overlooked example. It argues that although a more strategic and coherent approach to global governance has emerged under Abe than had been previously evident, this has been at the expense of the norm of internationalism that has traditionally shaped Japan’s role.     

The scramble for resources: African case studies

China's renewed interest in Africa's resources is a mixed blessing. China is offering infrastructure packages that are especially attractive for post‐conflict countries but it is also helping countries with poor governance to avoid western pressure for economic and democratic reform.     

New Vision of International Standardization Activities： Global Standardization Ecosystem

The global standardization ecosystem consisting of standards, stakeholders of standardization, and environment interacting with it reflects the increasingly frequent international standardization activities and increasingly close relationship between standardization organizations. Global standardization ecosystem is an open symbiotic system with multi-level structure, dynamic competition, and co-evolution. Governance, coupling, and risk management are the key activities of the global standardization system. The concept of global standardization ecosystem reflects the application of strategic thinking and systematic thinking in the field of international standardization.     

基于全域ML指数的区域碳排放绩效研究——以浙江省为例

引入全域生产可能性集合,本文构建全域Malmquist-Luenberger生产率指数,测度了2005—2012年浙江省各地级市在碳排放约束下的生产率增长及其分解。研究发现：整体来说,浙江省各地级市的碳排放绩效平均增长率为2.16%,主要来源于技术进步的推动,管理体制改革对技术效率的促进作用有限,固定资产投资的快速扩张和外贸进出口的下滑对浙江省各地级市的技术进步具有负向影响。深化科技体制和管理体制改革,加快产业结构调整机制创新,大力推广减碳技术,是浙江省各地级市的当务之急。     

A Cartography of a Global Civil Society Advocacy Alliance: The Case of the Global Call to Action against Poverty

The last few decades have witnessed the emergence of global civil society advocacy networks as major players in global governance. The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) is one of the recent phenomena in this arena and epitomizes high-level involvement of a multiplicity of actors in GCAP, with various multilateral governance institutions, as well as states. This article analyses the origins of GCAP, motivations for its formation, evolution, and operations, with specific references to its structures and architecture. It argues that alliances are very different from ‘normal’ forms of organizations because they are made up of diverse forms of organizations, coming together voluntarily to achieve a specific purpose and therefore are by their very nature complex, unstable, and difficult to co-ordinate. The result of such, within GCAP, is an organization that is somewhat amorphous and exhibits both aspects of anti-systemic protest (in Polanyian terms) as well as a pacifying force (part of the hegemonic historic block in Gramcsian terms). I argue that the loose nature of global civil society alliances is a positive contributor to mass mobilization but causes frustrations in decision-making and actions. This, in effect, calls for a more bureaucratized and institutionalized architecture, albeit with a potential to alienate some constituencies. A key lesson from GCAP's evolution, structures, and strategies, I posit, is that it is not possible to push through individual positions without compromising so as to accommodate others.     

国际社会对贸易自由化与国际劳工标准的辩论

20世纪 90年代以来 ,随着全球化和贸易自由化的迅猛发展 ,引发了国际社会关于贸易自由化与国际劳工标准挂钩的辩论 ,各种相关的国际组织和工会对此问题展开了激烈的争论 ,虽然最终并没有争出胜负 ,但也在某些方面达成了共识。     

Work,Wages and Gender in Export-Oriented Cities: Global Assembly versus International Tourism in Mexico

Drawing on a rich source of urban labour market data, the Mexican National Urban Employment Survey of 1998, this article addresses the question of how dissimilar export-oriented industries shape urban labour markets, particularly with respect to women workers. It compares Ciudad Juárez, which has an economy based on global assembly production, and Cancún, whose economy is based on international tourism. Employing economic base theory and location quotients, the analysis isolates the impact of the export sectors on the local labour markets. Results show that global assembly and international tourism encourage a mix of occupational and income prospects for both men and women in each of these Mexican cities. Female employment tends to be concentrated in the export-oriented sector in both cases, but the types of occupational and income opportunities therein vary. Overall, the analysis challenges common exploitation arguments that tend to stress the universally shared deleterious working conditions and low wages that result from global integration and export-led industrialisation in contemporary Latin America. It suggests that we pay closer attention to the diverse nature of outward oriented industries, which will tend to differentiate the labour market implications of increasing economic globalisation.     

Rethinking global governance: a China model in the making?

This paper examines Chinese perspectives on global governance, an area in which China has increased substantially the depth and breadth of its participation. The paper attempts to draw a mainstream perspective to inform our understanding of some key aspects of China's foreign policy. It demonstrates that while China's statist preference appeals to some Third World countries, such a preference leads the country to clash with the West over how to tackle global issues collectively, particularly over humanitarian intervention. While the Chinese perspective is in the process of evolving and far from reaching maturity, it is questionable whether the global community led by the West would find the Westphalian practice that China embraces admirable.     

当前全球治理与中国全球治理话语权提升

当前世界秩序正在发生深刻复杂变化,全球治理体系也深受影响,大国围绕全球治理话语权的竞争日益激烈,全球治理面临治理困境甚至治理失败。全球治理话语权既体现为参与治理的权利,也体现为贯穿治理过程的权力,具体化为治理主题、治理议程、治理平台、治理制度和治理人才等多个方面,反映治理理念之争、话语之争与制度之争。2008年世界金融危机后,尤其是中共十八大以来,中国高度重视、积极参与和引领全球治理,努力创建新机制和新规则,推动现有国际制度改革,提出中国倡议和方案,分享中国治理理念,参与全球治理人才竞争。未来中国需继续加强外交能力,提升全球治理话语权,挖掘和凝练全球治理理念,完善全球治理话语体系,加强全球治理制度能力建设,提高制度性话语权,培育和动员社会力量,做好治理人才培养和储备,以真正成为全球治理强国。     

我国制造业迈向全球价值链中高端的陷阱规避与路径演进

制造业迈向全球价值链中高端不仅是制造业高质量发展的必经环节,也是增强经济抗风险能力、提升经济韧性的必然选择,更是践行人类命运共同体、实现中华民族伟大复兴的经济基础。我国制造业迈向全球价值链需要从总体构想、基本原则和策略空间等方面做好顶层设计,需要规避关键环节防断链、现有位置防掉链、低端环节防锁链的三大陷阱,同时,我国制造业迈向全球价值链中高端包含缺失环节促补链、高端环节促延链、重点产业促强链、优势领域促引链、新兴领域促创链的演进路径。