THE SPATIAL LEGACY OF INFORMAL EMPIRE: OIL,THE SOVIET UNION,AND THE CONTOURS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA'S FAR WEST

Abstract

Beginning in the 1930s, Soviet geologists, engineers, and economic planners began laying the infrastructure of informal empire in China's westernmost province of Xinjiang. Seeking to gain access to its rich petroleum wealth in particular, these Soviet state agents helped create a blueprint for state investment and development in Xinjiang that continues to resonate today. Confronting the substantial Soviet investment in the province and driven by a border policy intent on minimizing capital expenditures for distant peripheries, economic planners in the Republic of China and the People's Republic alike relied heavily on Soviet reports, technology, and infrastructure in their own economic development plans. In the end, the efforts of Chinese and Soviet planners, often working in collaboration, helped create an enduring pattern of state investment in Xinjiang. Focusing on oil extraction, processing, and transport operations in Xinjiang, this work reveals the long-term resonances of informal empire in Chinese border regions.     

The disciplining of illegal palm oil plantations in Sumatra

The Indonesian state has issued many regulations to control palm oil expansion, but they have been weakly enforced, resulting in widespread illegal plantations. During the last decade, Indonesian authorities have used force to reduce illegal plantations. This article analyses the drivers behind these actions and questions to what extent they reflect the rise of eco-authoritarianism. By investigating six cases of disciplinary action in Sumatra, we conclude that the Indonesian state is neither practising eco-authoritarianism nor constituting a green state. The disciplinary action, however, has had limited success in environmental terms due to policy incoherence, violent contestation and the sector’s historical context.     

和谐社会背景下油地关系和谐度评价分析

本文在熟悉与和谐有关的相关理论基础上,提出了和谐度及油地关系和谐度理论。通过查阅相关和谐度评价指标,结合石油企业本身,构建出评价油地关系和谐度的评价指标体系。利用层次分析法、模糊评价法构建出评价模型,借此对油地关系的和谐度进行评价。     

A Neoliberal Rentier System: New Challenges and Past Economic Trajectories in Iraq

The Islamic State’s conquest of swathes of Iraqi territory, combined with falling oil prices, revealed the fault lines of a model of economic development that made the country extremely vulnerable to the events of 2014. Over the last 13 years, the consolidation of the rentier economy in parallel to the promotion of a neoliberal model – a neoliberal rentier system – has not initiated a process of sustainable economic development. The main factors explaining this missed opportunity can be found in the tensions that exist between the two models and, in particular, between the relative roles of the state and the private sector as drivers of economic development.     

Sudan and the Unbearable Lightness of Islamism: From Revolution to Rentier Authoritarianism

The regime ruling Sudan since 1989 represents a pioneering experiment in the field of Islamist politics, being the first case in which a movement affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood managed to conquer power and hold on to it for a considerable time. During the late 1990s, internal and external pressures threatened the survival of the regime, leading the ruling class to abandon its ambition to represent a model of revolutionary Islamic governance. Oil exports provided a catalyst for this pragmatic shift, intensifying patronage-based relations at the expense of ideological affiliation. Seen from a political economy perspective, the Sudanese experience proves the flexibility of Islamism as an ideology, but also its failure as a political practice to constitute a real alternative to the authoritarian dynamics that are widespread in the MENA region.     

中国和印度在石油供给新来源上的竞争态势与合作动向

中国和印度经济的快速发展使两国对进口石油的依赖程度不断上升,两国在世界各地寻求新的石油供给来源的过程中形成相互竞争的态势。与此同时,中印双方也在探索进行合作的可能性,并出现了一些积极的动向。     

论油污应属巨灾保险承保对象

油污符合巨灾保险承保对象所具有的损失发生巨大性、风险发生概率低、风险预测难度大和风险难以分散的识别标准,应属于巨灾保险承保对象.油污巨灾保险具有公共产品属性、石油利益的获得者具有广泛性、侵权损害赔偿责任呈现社会化分担趋势,故政府应当作为油污巨灾保险的投保人.将油污纳入巨灾保险体系中,有助于丰富油污保险类型,构建油污巨灾保险与普通油污保险二元并列的局面,以社会力量督促石油行业提高安全生产力度,并达到弥补普通油污保险、油污基金、政府救济等其他油污灾后救济制度缺陷的目标.     

萨哈林岛大陆架油气开发对鄂霍次克海生态系的影响

萨哈林岛大陆架石油和天然气储量丰富。开发初具规模。萨哈林岛将成为庞大的石油天然气开发中心。但大规模地开发海底大陆架石油和天然气资源给海洋生态系造成危害极大。在石油和天然气开发的每个阶段和一切活动中都存在污染问题。萨哈林岛大陆架东北部水域的碳氢化合物含量远远高于可接受的含量。因此有必要采取一些有效的监控措施。     

俄罗斯西西伯利亚油气开采区社会经济问题分析

世界经济的发展对石油和天然气的需求不断加大,这也使提高产地产量和开发新产地成为油气开采区的主要发展方向。西西伯利亚是俄罗斯最主要的产油区,随着西西伯利亚油气产区各类经济活动的全面开展,当地居民的生活水平也发生了巨大变化。但是,油气资源的不可再生性,也要求当局在进行资源开采的同时,考虑在产量下降乃至枯竭时可能引发的经济和社会后果。     

关于石油企业文化传承与创新的思考

石油企业文化是石油企业的精神标识和价值根脉,也是石油企业参与市场竞争、实现持续发展的力量所在。新时期、新环境、新任务,需要继续加强对石油文化系统研究,把握其内在特点和建设规律,保持活力效力,持续提升石油企业核心竞争力。传承与创新石油企业文化主要从四个方面着手:一是加强梳理创新,增强文化引领性;二是突出文化个性,加强优势转化;三是增强文化包容,融合文化差异;四是履行社会责任,树立品牌形象。