The Taliban: a new proxy for Iran in Afghanistan?

Abstract

Iran has pursued a highly contradictory policy towards Afghanistan. On the one hand, it became a significant beneficiary of the overthrow of the Taliban regime by the US-led military intervention in 2001 in Afghanistan. The new Afghan government established cordial ties with Iran, allowing it to expand its political, economic and cultural influence in the country. Yet Iran has also provided significant support to the Taliban in its campaign to violently upend the political, social and economic processes in the country. This article examines the underlying domestic and regional security dynamics that contribute to this contradictory behaviour. It offers an assessment of how tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic, as well as Tehran’s growing threat perception following the rise of the Islamic State – Khorasan in 2014, impact on Iran’s policy towards the Taliban. The paper argues that Tehran views the Taliban as an instrument to disrupt the influence of other actors in Afghanistan. The instrumentalisation of the Taliban, however, is likely to be counterproductive for Iranian security in the long run as it contributes to Afghanistan’s instability and insecurity and undermines Iran’s own long-term interests.     

Migrant Workers or Working Women? Comparing Labour Supply Policies in Post-War Europe

ABSTRACT

Why did some European countries choose migrant labour to expand their labour force in the decades that followed World War II, while others opted for measures to expand female employment via welfare expansion? The paper argues that gender norms and the political strength of the left were important structuring factors in these choices. Female employment required a substantial expansion of state intervention (e.g. childcare; paid maternity leave). Meanwhile, migrant recruitment required minimal public investments, at least in the short term, and preserved traditional gender roles. Using the contrasting cases of Sweden and Switzerland, the article argues that the combination of a weak left (labour unions and social democratic parties) and conservative gender norms fostered the massive expansion of foreign labour and a late development of female labour force participation in Switzerland. In contrast, more progressive gender norms and a strong labour movement put an early end to guest worker programmes in Sweden, and paved the way for policies to promote female labour force participation.     

Social Policy by Other Means: Theorizing Unconventional Forms of Welfare Production

Abstract

The goal of this special issue is to highlight the importance of unconventional social policies, theorize their development in comparison with traditional welfare state accounts and outline a new research agenda. In this introduction to the special issue, the editors present the concept of social policy by other means as encompassing two kinds of unconventional social policy (from the point of view of mainstream comparative research): First, functional equivalents to formal systems of social protection and, second, non-state provision of benefits. The concept builds upon a sizeable, but fragmented literature in comparative welfare state research. While numerous examples demonstrate that social policy by other means is more pervasive in both OECD and non-OECD countries than often acknowledged, a brief survey of the top 20 articles in the field reveals that this fact is not sufficiently reflected in the academic literature. With reference to both existing studies and the contributions to this special issue, the editors go on to explore (1) the different forms of social policy by other means, (2) explanatory theories and (3) their effectiveness in terms of social outcomes. They close by outlining a research agenda.     

Administrative Innovations and Accountability Failures: The Termination of the Spanish Telecommunications Agency

We discuss how far accountability practices may be relevant to the success of independent regulators in countries without a tradition of administrative autonomy. We develop a conceptualisation of agency accountability failures and develop an analytical framework to examine the life and termination of the Spanish regulatory agency for telecommunications, CMT (Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones - Telecommunications Market Commission). We argue that the CMT’s termination was related, among other reasons, to accountability failures in its institutional design. The paper relies on a variety of sources, including legislation, literature, media coverage, and semistructured interviews with agency officials and several stakeholders.     

监狱行刑社会化的再思考

监狱行刑的社会化是西方国家存继上百年的一种刑事司法实践,而在中国它却处于刚刚起步阶段并面临着诸多的观念与体制障碍.借鉴西方国家在这一方面所取得的具体成果对于我国在监狱行刑社会化的刑事司法实践具有重要意义.     

被保险人故意犯罪致保险事故发生的法律后果--从公共政策的角度分析

保险领域中,公共政策要求“一个人不能从自己的犯罪中获利”,但须区分“一个人不能从他人的犯罪中获利”之情形。被保险人故意犯罪致保险事故发生,应视保险目的与功能而异其法律后果:若被保险人因预谋犯罪而直接谋求保险金,保险人当然免责;若被保险人在投保二年后故意犯罪致保险事故发生,则保险人虽不负给付保险金之责,但应退还保险单的现金价值;若故意犯罪并非保险事故发生的直接原因,保险人不能当然免责。     

俄罗斯空天政策调整:实践与创新

近年来,世界主要国家以资金和技术为支持,以空天一体、军民融合为主要逻辑,从科技实力、人才素质培养、军队组织结构以及国际合作等多维度加强国家空天实力.在此背景下,太空军事化和太空资源争夺进程加剧,各国军用与民用空天技术竞争烈度均不断提高,美俄主导的空天领域二元权力格局被打破.鉴于上述形势,乌克兰危机以来俄罗斯政府参考世界主要国家空天战略的发展趋势,结合自身实际情况,对国家空天政策进行了一系列调整.此番调整在延续政策传统的同时,优化俄罗斯国家航天集团内部的权责关系和管理结构,注重国家实战能力和创新能力培育,展示了俄罗斯以硬实力为基础维护国家安全,以软实力为补充促进国家空天实力可持续发展和跃升的战略目标与实施逻辑.     

女大学生就业问题的公共政策选择

我国女大学生就业问题正在呈现出显性化发展态势,政府对女大学生就业提供公共政策支持尤为必要。从目前看,我国已经结束了对女大学生就业提供完全保障性公共政策的时期,而开始了市场经济条件下积极形式公共政策的实践探索。将社会性别视角纳入公共政策的制定过程对于解决女大学生就业问题有着重要的作用。     

轻微犯罪刑事政策的具体运用

应对轻微犯罪与重刑犯罪分别适用不同的刑事政策,以暂缓起诉等人文关怀方式挽救和感化轻微犯罪人,促使其尽快复归社会,实现社会治安的良性循环.立足于非犯罪化和非刑罚化的实现途径,一要实现轻微犯罪的非刑罚化和刑罚个别化;二要强化犯罪嫌疑人的权利保障意识,改变以逮捕为主导的候审羁押制度.     

打破政策“黑箱”的制度设计——基于广州政策兑现实践的研究

如何打破政策“黑箱”是学界和社会关注的重要议题。以广州市政策兑现改革实践为例,探讨如何从制度设计层面来打开公共政策过程中的政策“黑箱”。研究发现,虽然公共政策过程是一个动态且复杂的过程,但是通过统筹政策制定和政策落地两端、主观要素客观化、模糊标准明确化、重塑政府流程等,能够形成确定的决策环境,控制非理性因素,约束自由裁量权,并压缩权力寻租空间,从而可以从源头消除政策“黑箱”的形成土壤。广州市政府政策兑现改革过程中,通过“输入—转化—输出”的制度框架设计,形成了从政策制定到政策执行再到政策结果与评估的政策闭环,并对政策兑现的相关责任单位、流程和时限都进行了严格把控,进而实现对政策“黑箱”内部决策要素的控制。从政策“黑箱”本身入手,破解政策“黑箱”难题,实现政策的阳光承诺和给付,最终形成极具特色和借鉴意义的广州模式。