Legal Harmonisation in Africa: Taking Stock and Moving Forward

Despite the lofty objectives set out in the treaties of African intergovernmental organisations, such as the African Union, ECOWAS, SADC and the East African Community, legal harmonisation in Africa is still underdeveloped. Apart from a push towards harmonisation in the protection of human rights and the environment, mainly driven by a global agenda, some progress has been made with regard to legal harmonisation linked to economic integration at the sub-regional level. However, the process is slow and measures to ensure implementation of agreed norms at the national level and ensure consistent interpretation are still underdeveloped. This is illustrative of the lack of political will and the big gap between political rhetoric and reality on the African continent.     

Does intermunicipal cooperation increase efficiency? A conditional metafrontier approach for the Hessian wastewater sector

ABSTRACT

This paper analyses the relationship between intermunicipal cooperation and efficiency of public service provision. Organisational arrangements of public service production, including self-provision, joint provision or contracting, affect incentives and internal transaction costs. Hence, cooperation gains from scale effects need to be balanced against technical inefficiencies. We analyse relative efficiency of wastewater disposal for German municipalities. We employ a conditional analysis in conjunction with a metafrontier approach to calculate relative efficiency measures and technology gap ratios controlling for organisational arrangements and further environmental variables. Jointly providing municipalities and contractor municipalities exhibit lower technical efficiency than self-providing and contracting municipalities. As confirmed by previous research, scale effects from cooperation and contracting apply to small municipalities primarily.     

争取维稳与维权的和谐共赢——基于正确对待群体性事件的思考

当前,在民众以群体性事件等方式维权的案例越来越多的情形下,既要维稳,又要维权,就给我们提出了争取维稳与维权和谐共赢的课题。只有正确认识维稳与维权的关系,认真分析造成维稳与维权矛盾的原因,倡导政府法治维稳、民众法治维权,才能争取形成和谐共赢的局面。     

警官职业院校警学合作的动力和机制研究

警官职业教育需要在多方面与警务部门开展警学合作，但存在诸多难题。笔者以理论研究与调查研究结合的方式，实证性地揭示了警官职业院校警学合作动力不足的症结以及合作机制上的缺陷，并就深化警学合作提出了对策性建议。     

西伯利亚大铁路修建中的外国因素

俄国在修筑西伯利亚大铁路时,无论在建设方法、铁路选址方面,还是在铁路沿线开发方面,都广泛吸取了北美铁路的经验。在铁路建设过程中也不可避免地有外国公司参与,尤其是炸药、水泥、钢轨和其他建筑材料的供应商中都可见到外国公司的身影。     

经济外交与中国—东盟区域合作:内涵、实践与效用

经济外交是中国—东盟自由贸易区建成后中国与东盟共同获取"正和"经济利益、化解地区内矛盾的一种新途径。本文从中国对东盟经济外交的实践着手,分析其对提升区域合作层次、构建中国和谐周边的作用,并探索性地指出中国在对东盟实施经济外交过程中几个值得关注的问题。     

资源民族主义语境下日本能源外交的新策略

在石油价格高企时代，资源民族主义日益膨胀。比邻而居的日本在能源外交之路上推出了诸多新举措：一是快速提升与中亚国家的合作关系，以期进一步拓宽能源进口源；二是在保持与中东传统友好关系基础上，通过合作方式和合作项目等方面的策略创新，寄希深度强化双方关系；三是积极与中、印等能源消费大国合作，以求提升国家形象。日本能源外交战略上的新策略，既非一朝一夕的构想，亦非既定方针，而是其外交经验的“积渐所至”。     

Taking ‘development cooperation’ and South–South discourse seriously: Indian claims and Ghanaian responses

Indian interaction with the global South is at a crossroads. For a long time wedded to Nehruvian values of South–South cooperation, there are now considerable claims that economics underpins relations. This article looks at the current Indian ‘development cooperation’ in Ghana and, crucially, also asks what form Ghanaian responses take. The article concludes that while the rhetoric and ideas behind South–South cooperation are toned down, it is not simply about national interests; rather Indian ‘development cooperation’ is still partly ideologically and normatively informed. In addition, the overall approach of the Indian government is worthy of consideration as it certainly adds to global re-conceptualisations of development assistance.     

两岸四地警务合作模式新探——以非传统安全为视角

随着两岸四地间经济、文化的不断交往和融合,跨区域犯罪不断滋生增长,毒品犯罪和恐怖组织流动性增强,这些犯罪形式已经不再是侵犯国家主权的传统安全问题,而是全世界、全社会都共同关注的非传统安全问题。在如此严峻形势下,两岸四地冷冻政治分歧,寻求精诚的警务合作势在必行。但由于两岸四地存在一些现实复杂情况,多年来严重制肘警务合作,阻碍其发展进程。为此,两岸四地必须转变思维,以非传统安全为视角,站在人民利益的高度,创新合作模式,诚意解决问题、寻求合作。