Toward a Model of International Environmental Action: A Case Study of Japan's Environmental Conversion and Participation in the Climate Change Environmental Regime

This article explains the empirical puzzle of Japan's green conversion from an environmental pariah to a leading player in the climate change environmental regime. My argument is that Japan pursued environmental action to reconstruct its international image and demonstrate itself to be a responsible global actor. Claiming that existing explanations fall short, I delineate an international environmental action model that incorporates a more comprehensive cost–benefit framework examining both real and ideational factors. To test the model, I examine four key episodes of Japan's participation in the climate change environmental regime. The empirical analysis reveals the relevancy of the environmental action model, as all four episodes are either fully or partially explained by the model's mechanisms. Finally, I provide some conclusions, suggest that this model fills in the gap in the literature on environmental foreign policy, and provide topics for future research.     

The International Regulation of Trade in Wildlife: Institutional and Normative Considerations

Global governance and sustainable development may be at odds with each other if the former implies highly centralized forms of natural resource management. Proponents of international regulation of trade in animal and plant parts argue that the dictates of environmental necessity outweigh the concerns of those to whom this regulation represents a fundamental imposition upon their way of life and economic opportunities. More specifically, such regulation (represented primarily by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) is necessary because the value of biodiversity must supersede that of cultural tradition and economic opportunity costs associated with either refraining from trade or enforcing trade bans/regulation. Critics charge this is a western-oriented approach that fails to take into account the need for international trade in order to sustain local enthusiasm for trade limitations in southern states and amongst indigenous communities in the south. This paper will analyze this debate, with reference to CITES, and suggest that the need for habitat protection may be the only way to close the divide between hardened ideological positions.     

The U.S. Global Strategy as Seen from the Debate in the Primary Election

There may be more than one year to go before the 2008 U.S. presidential election, but the primary election of the two parties has already begun ahead of time. Both the Democratic and Republican candidates for the     

文化多元主义全球化场景下的中国法学——《中国法学向何处去》引发的思考

邓正来在<中国法学向何处去>一文中指出,目前中国法学的理论模式受着现代化范式的影响和支配,而这根源于产生这种支配性影响的"结构性基础"的存在."全球化场景",作为这种结构性基础之一,同样在支配着我们的法学研究.基于邓正来主张的对"主体性中国"的诉求,选择了罗兰·罗伯森所阐述的文化多元主义作为一种"自我的"全球化分析框架.在这一框架下对全球化的建构性解释将利于保持中国法学研究的自主性.在对这一框架进行分析、阐述的基础上,将对这一框架下中国法学研究如何保持自主性做一尝试性描述.     

区域性人权保护制度与国际人权保护制度之比较

区域性人权公约与全球性国际人权公约都规定了国家指控制度、个人申诉制度以及国家报告制度。与全球性国际人权保护制度相比,区域性人权保护制度更具可行性。由于区域内各国历史传统、政治、经济、文化、宗教等都比较接近,区域内人权标准更统一,所保护的权利主体也更具体,区域性人权保护制度在人权保护中取得了显著成绩。尤其是个人申诉制度,丰富了国际法与国际人权法的主体体系,对人权的国际保护产生了重大影响。     

Global Television News and Foreign Policy: Debating the CNN Effect

This study investigates the origins and development of the cable news network (CNN) effect hypothesis. It reveals an ongoing debate among politicians, officials, and journalists who are involved in the political processes that this hypothesis attempts to explain, and also among scholars who have been studying it. Debates have been conducted both within and among these groups on the meaning and validity of the CNN effect, but none has contributed significantly to resolving the issue. On the contrary, these debates have presented contradicting statements that have only created confusion and misunderstanding. This study presents lessons from the decade-long effort to explore the CNN effect and projects a new agenda for more useful approaches towards different effects of global communication, apart from those covered by the present controversial hypothesis.     

国际公害物品的全球管理

本文提出了国际公害物品以及全球管理的概念,并试图构架全球管理的框架。全球管理主要通过各种国际制度发挥作用,其理念是增强各国政府自身的管理能力,并将国家、非国家行为体以及其他参与管理的行为体整合为一个整体,在全球管理的框架下研究制度设计是本课题的研究方向。     

谁在逼人民币升值

单纯的人民币升值不会解决全球贸易失衡问题。我国在进行金融制度改革时,应注意寻求最佳的政策组合,积极推进汇率市场化形成机制。     

全球治理法治化：一种对正当性的追问

一方面，全球治理被看作是治理在全球层面的拓展，这种主张把权威置于全球治理研究的核心，注意到国家对权威的垄断在以“去地域化”为特征的全球化时代受到了挑战。另一方面，全球治理表征了全球化的组织特征，体现了全球化的权力运作特别是权力在微观层面的运行，看到了人口作为治理的最终目的必然超越国家边界的特性。全球治理可以从事实进程、理念、权力网络和新型人类秩序四个方面进行理解，存在的问题在于秩序的正当性以及跨边界民主的缺失。寻找一种全球治理的规范性模式是对全球治理进行正当性论证的重要基础。法治是全球治理的一种规范性模式，能够为全球治理提供正当性论证。     

The Global Capitalism School Tested in Asia: Transnational Capitalist Class vs Taking the State Seriously

Globalisation continues to stir debate. One burgeoning theoretical perspective is the “global capitalism school” (GCS), anchored around the writings of William Robinson. The GCS argues that globalisation marks a new epoch as nationally-based elites are no longer the central locus of power in world order with the rise of a “transnational capitalist class” (TCC). Jeb Sprague’s edited volume, Globalization and Transnational Capitalism in Asia and Oceania, is the first book-length study testing key tenets of the GCS in the Asia-Pacific, and therefore fills a crucial gap. In this review article, it is argued that this book does not overcome what I believe are some key theoretical and empirical problems in the GCS, from not taking the state seriously to a dearth of corporate ownership data to demonstrate the existence of a TCC. To argue this, the article draws upon chapters in the book itself that are critical of the GCS, as well as from empirical research on corporate ownership and nationality. Nevertheless, it is concluded that this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the GCS, as well as the broader theoretical implications and empirical impacts of globalisation in the Asia-Pacific region.