Biting the hand that feeds them? Abkhazia–Russia client–patron relations

ABSTRACT

The article discusses the post-Soviet de facto state of Abkhazia, and its relationship to its main patron, Russia. All patron–client nexuses are marked by a high degree of asymmetrical power – especially with de facto states, which depend upon the patron for their very survival. Thus, it is surprising to see how de facto client states repeatedly show that they are both willing and able to defy the wishes of their patrons and pursue their own agendas instead. Moreover, the patron may be willing to tolerate such rebelliousness. What can explain such “disobedient” behavior? I examine three contentious aspects of Russian–Abkhazian relations: the process leading up to the signing of an extended bilateral agreement in 2014; the tussles over how to fight crime in Abkhazia; and acrimony over Abkhazia’s reluctance to allow Russians to buy property in their country, despite massive pressure from Russian authorities.     

试析岸信介内阁时期的日台关系

岸信介内阁执政时期是战后日台关系密切的阶段。这一时期 ,日台双方政治、经济、文化与“外交”等出现密切化的趋势。从本质上说 ,岸信介内阁的对台政策带有浓厚的冷战意识形态的特点 ,受当时东西方冷战对峙总体格局的制约。岸信介在对台政策上采取敌视中国的政策 ,与美国签订新《日美安全保障条约》 ,插入了所谓的“远东条款” ,使中日关系恶化到战后两国关系的最低点。     

评《合同法》与《联合国货物销售合同公约》合同形式的冲突与协调

本文提出新《合同法》的买卖合同形式规定已经与《联合国货物销售合同公约》（ 以下简称《公约》） 的规定相吻合,因而,应撤销基于旧合同而对《联合国货物销售合同公约》声明保留的内容。此外,文章还对国内法与国际条约的四种关系模式及我国立法的取向进行了论述。     

Perceived Sibling Relationships and Adolescent Development

Utilizing longitudinal, 3-wave data collected from multiple informants (fathers, mothers, and target children) in 374 families, the potential effects of sibling relationships on adolescent development across early and middle adolescence were investigated. Adolescents who perceived their sibling relationships more positively at Time 1 tended to have better friendships and higher self-esteem at Time 2, which, in turn, were associated with less loneliness, less depression, and fewer delinquent behaviors and less substance use at Time 3. Moreover, a bidirectional relationship was found between adolescent self-esteem and the quality of their sibling relationships, suggesting that a more positive sibling relationship helps to enhance adolescent self-esteem, and that higher adolescent self-esteem predicts a more positive sibling relationship. A bidirectional relationship was also found between adolescent sibling relationships and adolescent friendships. However, a much stronger association between adolescent sibling relationships at Time 1 and adolescent friendships at Time 2, than between adolescent friendships at Time 1 and adolescent sibling relationships at Time 2, may suggest that the quality of an earlier sibling relationship is more predictive of the quality of a later friendship for adolescents rather than the other way around.     

论党际关系与政党开放

国家的开放是以政党的开放为基础和条件的,没有政党之间的开放就不会有国家的开放。我党在党际关系与开放理念上是与时俱进的,从仅与各国共产党、工人党和左翼政党交往逐步扩大到一切愿意遵循我党制定的党际关系四项原则的各国政党的交往。形成了一个以各国执政党、参政党和重要合法在野党为主要对象的全方位、多渠道、宽领域的党际交往的良好格局。从而进一步促进了我国的改革开放以及社会的全面进步。     

正确处理社会主义政治文明建设中的几种关系

发展社会主义民主政治,建设社会主义政治文明,是全面建设小康社会的重要目标。在社会主义政治文明建设中,必须正确处理好以下几种关系:政治文明与物质文明、精神文明、社会主义政治文明与其它政治文明,政治制度与政治文化,政治权力与政治权利以及党的领导与人民当家作主的关系。     

Working the Spaces in between: A Case Study of a Boundary‐Spanning Model to Help Facilitate Cross‐Sectoral Policy Work

Since the 1990s, ‘joined‐up government,’ ‘whole‐of‐government,’ and ‘horizontal governance’ approaches have emerged in many industrialized countries, resulting in the devolution of government functions to diverse policy networks. From these shifts, complex systems of networked actors have emerged, involved in designing, implementation, and influencing policy. Arguably, networked approaches to policy may solve some problems. However, as with all paradigm shifts, new problems have emerged. Specifically, skill and knowledge gaps have opened up, reflecting the need for new collaborative and networked relationships that can increase the capabilities and agility to work in these ways. In response to these gaps, we developed the Power to Persuade initiative. Power to Persuade is an annual symposium and online forum, aimed at deepening knowledge and awareness of current problems faced by policy networks, and providing the skills and knowledge to overcome them. In this paper, we discuss how Power to Persuade works within the spaces in between as a vehicle for relationship building and better policy.     

Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence in Caribbean Communities

SUMMARY

A decade after the courts in many English-speaking Caribbean jurisdictions were granted the power to issue restraining orders to victims of domestic violence, battered women have not experienced the full benefits of such policy. Using the experiences of battered women in the English-speaking Caribbean state of Barbados, this study argues that there are significant challenges for victims, caused by cultural, social and economic factors that have not been appropriately addressed by domestic violence legislation. Marginalized by the court and legal system in the English-speaking Caribbean, many battered women seek out alternatives to the legal system for coping with domestic violence. Therefore when they migrate to countries like the United States where more accommodations are made for victims of domestic violence, they are unlikely to engage with the legal system and make their suffering known. Women might also be silenced by fears of violating immigration laws in the United States as well as risking personal loss due to the severe punishment of their partners when indicted by the legal system.     

Continuity and Change from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: Adolescence-limited vs. Life-course-persistent Profound Ego Development Arrests

Participants (n = 36) with consistent Pre-conformist ego development levels during multiple adolescent assessments were studied to determine whether and how their ego levels had changed at age 25. Those (n = 12) whose ego levels remained at the Pre-conformist level were assigned to a life-course-persistent profound ego development arrest trajectory group; those (n = 24) whose ego levels reached the Conformist or Post-conformist level at age 25 were assigned to an adolescence-limited profound ego development arrest trajectory group. Analysis of predictors and age 25 correlates of group membership revealed that selected age 14 family interaction behaviors differentiated the two groups. At age 25, members of the adolescence-limited group showed superior performance on several measures of interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning.

How Much Does School Matter? An Examination of Adolescent Dating Violence Perpetration

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to identify how school factors were related to perpetration of dating violence among adolescents; and (2) to assess how these factors may reduce or exacerbate the relationship between parental domestic violence and adolescents’ perpetration of dating violence, while accounting for individual and family characteristics from early adolescence. Three waves of data from the Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study were used (N = 765; Ages 16–20 at Wave 3). Lagged Ordinary Least Squares multiple regression techniques were utilized to examine the link between perpetration of dating violence and school factors. Results are presented separately by adolescents’ sex and ethnicity-by-sex. Early involvement with antisocial peers and an increase in involvement with antisocial peers over time were linked to perpetration of dating violence for males, females, African-American females, and Hispanic males. Lack of school safety and academic difficulties during early adolescence exacerbated the impact of parental domestic violence exposure for African-American males and Hispanic males, respectively. Early school involvement, surprisingly, exacerbated this impact for Hispanic females. Implications for the prevention of perpetration of dating violence are explored.