Electoral alliance with sworn opponent political party: factors impacting voting intention

Alliance with sworn political opponents is becoming a growing phenomenon within the realm of political alliances. Here, two or more competitive political parties join hands to defeat a particular common opponent. During election, alliance partners face election together and distribute electoral seats mutually to avoid vote share. However, ensuring vote in favour of opponent alliance candidate is only possible when voters prefer to cast vote for the alliance candidate. Thus, this is crucial to know influencing factors that shape voters’ voting intention in favour of opponent alliance candidate. This study is an attempt to empirically investigate factors that have significant influence to shape voters’ voting intention for opponent alliance. The result shows that opponent alliance perceived fit impacts opponent alliance voting intention positively. Opponent alliance brand trust has a positive impact on opponent alliance voting intention. In addition, opponent alliance preference impacts opponent alliance voting intention positively.     

Interdependence,asymmetric crises,and European defence cooperation

Although international crises are often believed to represent windows of opportunity to strengthen European defence cooperation, recent crises have not seemed to produce a clear convergence of European Union (EU) member states’ security interests. This article seeks to address this puzzle by arguing that European defence cooperation is a response to crises that place European states in a situation of military interdependence. Conversely, asymmetric crises, i.e. crises that affect European states unevenly, encourage those states to maintain their autonomy of action. This theoretical argument is supported by two case studies: the failure of the European Defence Community in the early 1950s and the current difficulties experienced by the EU’s military operations. These two cases illustrate a striking continuity in that, because of (neo)colonial ties in particular, European states are often unevenly affected by international crises, which tends to make defence cooperation less effective.     

也谈中苏同盟破裂的原因

中苏同盟的破裂,既源于中苏意识形态内在的深刻的分岐,也与俄罗斯大国沙文主义的传统以及中俄两国文化差异性有莫大的关系,同时也与冷战有着直接的关联。     

Youth Work in Gay Straight Alliances: Curriculum,Pedagogy, and Activist Development

Critical pedagogy empowers Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) advisers facilitate reflective, activist-oriented learning. Its use in school clubs has broad implications for both teachers and youth workers. Informed by critical multiculturalism, this study draws on ethnographic fieldwork from one school year and in-depth interviews with GSA participants. Data reveal that the GSA advisor's understanding of critical pedagogy is characterized by expanding students’ knowledge, facilitating students’ activism, and encouraging students’ reflection on significant interactions with peers and family. The author concludes these pedagogical practices help create long-term GSAs, where engaged student learning and activism promote a “third space” in youth development work.     

绿色议题联盟与复合安全化实践：美国关键矿产联盟的构建逻辑

随着碳中和共识成为全球气候治理的主流认知,关键矿产作为支撑清洁能源转型的核心要素,对一国在世界低碳秩序转型中能否获得绿色竞争优势具有重要影响。面对中国等新兴大国的绿色崛起,美国对本国在关键矿产供应上的结构性劣势产生了浓重的霸权焦虑和不安全感。为此,美国选择对传统联盟体系进行调整,试图通过构建绿色议题联盟重塑对竞争对手的战略优势。为了解决联盟调整过程中的合法性约束和政策性约束,美国开启了复合安全化实践。其中,美国的安全化话语实践框定了联盟调整的合法性问题,针对国内民众和外部盟友塑造了关键矿产领域的不安全感,明确了议题联盟需要对抗的目标和具体做法。美国的安全化政策实践则在话语实践的基础上推动了与外部盟友之间在关键矿产问题上的政策协调,在双边和多边层面建立了一系列相互嵌套、兼顾多方位需求的合作机制。安全化话语实践和安全化政策实践相互交织,推动了以美国为主导的关键矿产联盟不断成形。然而,美国关键矿产联盟在理念、分歧管理和资源支撑等方面都存在较为明显的缺陷,其效力难以达到美国政府的预期。     

Alliance Forging or Partnership Building? China’s Policy in the Asia-Pacific under the Xi Administration

ABSTRACT

Should China forge a military alliance? Some scholars believe it should, others believe it should adhere to a policy of non-alignment. For China many risks are associated with military alliances. On the one hand, China would likely be involved in unwanted conflicts and confrontations created by potential allies. On the other hand, China would be bound to compete with the existing hegemon, the United States, which has already established a huge alliance system, to win more allies. China just cannot afford this. The intensified strategic competition between China and the United States may also lead to a new antagonism in the Asia-Pacific region. Nevertheless, China’s ‘non-alliance’ policy does not mean China has to abandon the development of strategic cooperation with other countries or renounce the right to build a cooperative partnership network. Since Xi Jinping came to power, the Chinese government has continuously expanded its strategic partnership network in the region. This policy could avoid US-China competition over military allies and enhance strategic trust between China and its neighbouring countries, creating conditions for China’s peaceful development and global strategic stability.     

日本的绿色采购及其对中国的启示

绿色采购不仅是发展循环经济的主要体现形式,更是构建循环型社会的重要环节之一.日本的绿色采购经过十余年的发展,逐渐形成了政府主导、民间机构支持和企业积极配合的运营模式,取得了良好的成效.日本在政府的立法体系、绿色采购网络联盟的构建以及企业环境经营等方面,对中国绿色采购制度的发展与完善都具有十分积极的意义.     

Physical restraint and the therapeutic relationship

The role of the forensic mental health nurse has led to many debates due to the conflicts between security and therapeutic aspects of their role. Physical restraint is a security element of the role which may have an impact on their ability to work therapeutically with patients. This study examined the impact of physical restraint on the nursing staff–patient therapeutic relationship. This was investigated in a secure unit in the North of England. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients across the service, and thematic analysis was undertaken. Five themes were identified from the data which highlighted the impact of the physical restraint as a power imbalance, the experience as traumatic, the importance of justification, the negative attributes and motives of some staff and the impact of coping with powerlessness. Clinical implications and research recommendations are discussed further in this article.     

日本政坛的“新国家主义”——一股迈向政治大国的暗流

冷战结束后,日本政坛泛起一股“新国家主义”思潮,其目的是谋求日本在国际政治中的大国地位。在这股暗流的涌动下日本鹰派政治家们采取了一系列步骤,其主要表现为:加强以军事同盟为主的日美关系、修改和平宪法进一步强调集体自卫权、美化甚至否定日本侵略亚洲国家的历史、向青少年灌输极端民族主义色彩浓厚的皇国史观、大规模扩充军事力量并鼓吹拥有核武器等,令人堪忧。这股暗流必将对亚太地区的政治局势的走向以及我国的国家安全产生不确定因素,颇值关注。     

The US–UK Special Relationship: Taking the 21st-Century Temperature

Although highly contested, the concept of the US–UK 'special relationship' does have real existence, primarily in the fields of defence and intelligence co-operation. The end of the premiership of Tony Blair saw the emergence of a significant public debate in the United Kingdom about the future appropriate trajectory for the relationship. This article assesses the state of the special relationship under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, placing it in the context of the wider Atlantic alliance and of perennial concerns about shared values and structural imbalances between London and Washington.