The Liberal Peace Revisited: The Role of Democracy,Dependence, and Development in Militarized Interstate Dispute Initiation, 1950–1999

We test a model of the liberal peace by examining the initiation of militarized interstate disputes at the monadic level of analysis from 1950–1999. Liberal peace theory contends that both economic dependence and democratic political systems reduce conflict propensities. Extant empirical analyses of the monadic liberal peace, however, are under-specified. First, the concept of economic dependence not only includes trade, but also foreign investment. Second, existing models do not control for the influence of economic development. Previous research on the monadic liberal peace has also failed to distinguish between the initiation of conflict and participation in conflict. We find evidence for a liberal peace: trade dependence, foreign investment, and democracy reduce a state’s propensity to initiate militarized disputes.     

论打造"平安工程"中的城郊结合部治安

城郊结合部的治安管理,对社会治安的稳定乃至经济的发展都产生十分重大的影响.作为治安管理主要主体的公安机关,要打造"平安工程",就要从城郊结合部这个城市治安的关键区域下手,在提高认识的基础上,建立合理有效的治安防控机制,加大力度对作为治安管理客体的城郊结合部的人、财、物(尤其是人)进行有效的管理.     

冲突层级与国际非政府组织参与冲突调停的效力分析

冷战结束后,国内冲突逐步成为世界武装冲突的主要形式之一,而冲突调解是构建冲突国国内和平的关键一环。伴随着和平建构主题的多元性,国际非政府组织逐步成为当今时代各类冲突中活跃的调解主体。然而,国际非政府组织的调停实效始终备受争议。一方面,国际非政府组织宣称可凭借其在中立性、道义性上的优势对国内冲突进行有效调停;另一方面,强制能力的缺乏也使其难以在实施环节有所作为。因此,研究国际非政府组织在调停过程中的成功与失败,界定冲突层级,对于理解国际非政府组织的调解效力至关重要。不同层级的冲突顺应不同的冲突逻辑,不同的冲突逻辑则生发不同的冲突情境与格局。在底层冲突中,碎片化和多元主体并存的冲突格局更适合国际非政府组织的运作;而在顶层冲突中,其强制能力不足的缺点遭到放大。基于这一逻辑,在调解活动中与主权国家展开合作则有望强化其调解效力。通过对非洲和平进程展开的实证研究说明,评价国际非政府组织的调解效果特别是在非洲地区的调解效果需要考虑冲突层级等限定条件,并将其与多元主体的互动纳入考量范围。国际非政府组织在冲突调停中应与主权国家的调停体系进行密切配合,在维护国家主权与国际体系稳定的前提下,整合主权国家、国际非政府组织等多方治理行为体的作用,可有效地提升冲突调停的可能性。     

区域经济一体化如何突破安全困境 ——以南亚区域合作联盟为例

20世纪90年代以来,伴随着发展中国家区域经济一体化的再度兴起,地区冲突和动荡的安全局势也为区域经济一体化带来了消极影响。作为摆脱安全困境的一种有效手段,区域经济一体化在抑制成员国间冲突升级、发挥和平效应时会受到不同条件的制约。作者从现实主义的逻辑出发,以南亚区域合作联盟为例,分析了区域经济一体化与区域内成员间冲突形势之间的互动,认为区域经济一体化进程未能产生和平效应的根本原因在于,它未能通过机会成本机制提高成员国的收益预期,高层互动机制和争端解决机制在信息沟通和冲突管理方面的作用也受到很大的制约。冷战的结束、经济全球化的发展为区域经济一体化和平效应的发挥提供了有利的环境和条件,只有进一步强化区域经济一体化的制度水平,扩大和深化区域经济一体化的程度和范围,增加多议题之间的联系,强化高层互动机制和制度的独立性,才能更好地发挥区域经济一体化制度的和平效应,尽快走出安全困境。     

20世纪初韩国的和平思想——日本的“东洋和平论”批判和韩中日间合作的探索

20世纪初期,在日本帝国主义进行侵略和扩张的过程中,伊藤博文政府为了建立"东洋和平"和西方势力抗衡,主张在韩中日之间开展合作。但事实上这种主张不过是把当时以日本为中心的东北亚地区秩序合法化的说辞。针对这一点,安重根、安昌浩、申采浩等韩国独立运动家指出国家正处于丧失国权的危机之中,在对日本主张的"东洋和平"进行批判的同时,强调只有在韩国等周边国家的独立得到保障的情况下才有可能实现真正意义上的"东洋和平"。1910年日本帝国主义强行合并韩国以后,申采浩、朴殷植等韩国独立运动家在指出日本合并韩国的非法性的同时,还强调韩中日等东北亚地区国家间建立在信任基础上的交流和合作的重要性,主张韩国的独立有利于"东洋和平与世界和平"。尤其值得一提的是,柳麟锡在强调韩中关系在东北亚的重要性及中国作用的同时,还提出了韩中日三国在相互信任的基础上朝着共生关系发展的构想。     

Corruption in the aftermath of war: an introduction

‘Corruption in the aftermath of war’ brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars to enquire into the dynamics of corruption in post-conflict societies. This introduction discusses five themes, problematising and summarising key findings from the 10 articles included. First, we discuss the problems with the corruption concept, related to its moralising connotations and definitional vagueness, and propose viewing corruption as a collective action dilemma as a way of avoiding these moralising aspects. Second, we discuss post-conflict societies, and highlight the great varieties of ‘peace’ that that label can refer to. We suggest that the causes, dynamics and effects of corruption in post-conflict societies bear many similarities with those in other societies, but that the post-conflict situation often generates an intensification and entrenchment of corruption-related problems. Third, we analyse the dynamics between international interveners and domestic actors, and show the contradictions and tensions in international–domestic relations. Fourth, we argue that the inter-linkages between inequality, mistrust and corruption deserve consideration in the study of post-conflict societies, and that inequality in particular merits more attention. Finally, we discuss some methodological challenges encountered by the contributors in their studies of corruption in post-conflict societies.     

Shining light into dark shadows of violence and learned helplessness: peace education in South Korean schools

The paper illustrates how a culture of violence is perpetuated and reproduced in South Korea through schooling and argues that peace education could help transform a culture of violence to a culture of peace. Critical ethnographic methods and a framework of peace education were applied to a sample of secondary schools in South Korea to argue that a disturbing culture of violence and learned helplessness were present; this comprises themes of direct and indirect violence through iljin (a group of students who are considered key perpetrators of school violence); a colonized false ideology and resistance to social justice. More positively, findings are also used to generate possibilities for pedagogical change based on peace education – an approach that proves useful both as an analytical frame for examining peace-violence relations in education and society and as an essential pedagogy for progressing towards peace in South Korean schools.     

Protecting Human Rights: The Legitimacy of Judicial System Reforms in EL Salvador

Abstract — Research on democratic transitions in Latin America often ignore the importance of judicial systems — and related institutions — in achieving 'liberal democracy' and effectively safeguarding human rights, as contrasted with the restoration of 'electoral democracy.' This proves especially problematic in the instances of the former military-dominated authoritarian regimes of Central America. This article examines the efforts at judicial system and related reforms in EL Salvador since the 1992 Peace Accords, and relates those reforms to popular perceptions, both of previous institutions and of the institutional reforms and new institutions that have been created as part of the peace-making process. The reported survey research results suggest that the reforms on which liberal democracy in El Salvador depends, while generally viewed positively in the abstract, still rest on shaky foundations.     

The Liberal Peace at Home and Abroad: Northern Ireland and Liberal Internationalism

Northern Ireland, we are told, holds positive lessons for other societies emerging from violent conflict. As Britain is one of the leading proponents of liberal internationalism, this article considers whether the liberal internationalism pushed with so much enthusiasm abroad through British foreign policy has been applied with diligence at home—in the Northern Ireland peace process. The findings suggest that Northern Ireland is by no means a poster child for liberal internationalism. Instead, British government handling of the Northern Ireland peace process shows serious deviations from the liberal internationalist canon. This article argues that liberal peace-lite has been tolerated and facilitated at home, while a stricter variant is often expected in overseas contexts.     

Learning to Mediate? The Mediation Support Unit and the Production of Expertise by the UN

The UN Mediation Support Unit (MSU) was created to support peace processes and enable organizational learning. This article analyses the unit through a sociological lens with the aim to understand its present configuration, and what this reveals about the production of knowledge about mediation at the UN. It argues that, because of the constraints imposed by intrastate wars and the existing institutional setting within the Secretariat, the MSU emphasizes generic and depoliticized expertise, by contrast with mediation's traditional reliance on non-transferable skills. This approach, in spite of its pitfalls, enables the unit to justify its own existence and to claim a position of authority within the organization and beyond.