China's Recovery: Why the Writing Was Always on the Wall

China has been a major power for far longer than is typically acknowledged in the West. This paper seeks to redress established discourse of China as a 'rising' power which now enjoys common usage within Western policy-making, academic and popular circles, particularly within the United States; China can more accurately be conceived of as a 'recovering power'. A tendency by successive Washington administrations to view the world in realist terms has forced the label of 'rising' power onto China along with the negative connotations that inevitably follow. We should acknowledge the folly in utilising a theoretical approach largely devoid of any appreciation for the social and human dimensions of international relations as well as the importance of social discourse in the field. Finally, policy-makers in Washington must reconsider their realist stance and, with a fuller appreciation of world history, recognise that American hegemony was always destined to be short-lived.     

建构主义学习观与学生的主体性发展——兼论建构主义学习观对教育改革的启示

时代呼唤主体性教育,建构主义学习观主张学习是学生积极建构的过程,对学生的角色以及教师的作用都有崭新的定位,这对于教育改革,尤其是促进学生的主体性发展具有相当的理论与实践价值.     

走出多媒体教学误区的几点思考

多媒体教学误区的突出表现是多媒体变成了讲解演示工具。走出多媒体教学误区要深刻理解信息化时代多媒体教学的本质特征及其对传统教学模式变革的影响,更新教育观念,创新教学模式,增强加快教育信息化的自觉性和紧迫感。     

美国公共安全管理政策的内在逻辑及其变迁机制研究

进入21世纪以来,以美国对其公共安全管理政策进行了一系列重大调整,日益显示出极具攻击性的一面。关于这一现象可以从现实主义理论和建构主义理论的视角出发来阐释。现实主义理论认为：国际政治冲突的本质和无政府状态下国家所要达到的安全目标是制定美国公共安全政策的理论基石;而建构主义理论则认为：从文化观念认同这一视角出发可以解释美国所选择的攻击目标。     

Overcoming US-North Korean Enmity: Lessons from an Eclectic IR Approach

ABSTRACT

Periods of mutual enmity in US-North Korean relations are typically interrupted by more conciliatory gestures. How can the many twists and turns in this relationship be explained and hopefully overcome so that more long-lasting détente is accomplished? Drawing eclectically on realism and constructivism, we conclude that a nuclear deal should address not only North Korea’s interests in security and regime survival, but also its status concerns. Applying the same theories to the other part of the dyad – the US – we conclude that it may now have material interests in ameliorating the relationship, but that such a development requires US foreign policy discourse to cease depicting North Korea as “irrational” and “evil”.     

作为一种范式的社会建构主义

社会建构主义是从知识社会学领域发展而来的理论范式,代表着一种认识论和方法论视角的转换。作为一种重要的理论范式,社会建构主义对曾被视为“社会因素空场”的科学、技术等诸多领域进行了独到的分析和解释。其分析力和解释力又是基于社会建构主义作为一种范式的诸构成要件的,如理论前提、分析维度、研究进路、批判及应用等。     

"原初状态":从"道德建构主义"到 "政治建构主义"的转向

"原初状态"理论是罗尔斯建构正义论体系的理论基点,也是实现其"道德哲学"转向"政治哲学"的理论关节点.尽管这一理论导致来自各方面的理论挑战,但这一理论预设在"政治建构主义"的框架内有其一定的合理性,不失为一种可能的预备性解释方式.     

Security cooperation,counterterrorism, and EU–North Africa cross-border security relations,a legal perspective

The EU is clearly in the process of developing an external dimension to the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). This paper focuses on ex. Police and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (PJCCM) provisions. These developments pose specific legal basis issues for the EU, given its complex EU–member state legal relationship, and the inter-institutional balance, all reflected in the treaty framework post-Lisbon. New Court of Justice rulings are now emerging which will assist in this issue. Equally the approach to be taken in developing these relationships will be crucial. This paper proposes the adoption of an Onuf style constructivism in order to best capture the reality of the process that is developing, and has developed for the ex. PJCCM measures internally. This then needs to be allied with a constitutionalism model to ensure a balanced development of all three aspects of the AFSJ.     

The United States — Japan relationship: A post‐cold war future

Abstract

In the introduction, the editors discuss the emergence of a new body of literature on Southeast Asia's regional relations that is both theoretically informed and stimulating. One element of this literature features a constructivist challenge to realism, traditionally the dominant perspective on Southeast Asian International Relations. Constructivist writings have helped to broaden the understanding of Southeast Asia's regional order by capturing its ideational determinants (norms and identity), the agency role of local actors, and the possibility of transformation through socialization and institution building. But constructivism itself has been challenged by other perspectives, including neo-liberal, English School and critical approaches. The essays in this special issue of The Pacific Review capture this emerging debate. The editors argue that the articles in this special issue are a good indicator of the theoretical pluralism that marks the study of Southeast Asia's regional relations today. Southeast Asian studies need not be dominated by either realism or constructivism, but can accommodate a diversity that vastly enriches our understanding of regional conflict and order.     

Who's socializing whom? Complex engagement in Sino-ASEAN relations

Abstract

This article draws on constructivist approaches to explore processes of socialization in the context of evolving relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Constructivist discussions have challenged traditional accounts of socialization; however, left under-examined are the processes by which social learning and social change take place. This article contributes to the theoretical discussion with its examination of ASEAN's regional engagement processes. It treats ASEAN states' ‘complex engagement’ of China as an exercise in argumentative persuasion, which seeks common agreement via a deliberative, non-coercive process. In contrasting ASEAN's particular style of engagement with other models that emphasize more coercive and utilitarian strategies of persuasion, the article draws attention to how particular kinds of interaction may facilitate social learning, as well as the conditions that may make social learning more likely. Particular attention is paid to the roles played by power asymmetries, uncertainty, and different kinds of engagement (mutual and interactive versus closed and unidirectional) in social learning, as well as the importance of viewing socialization as a process that involves different stages.