The counterterrorism agreements of Europol with third countries: Data protection and power asymmetry

This article investigates empirically the impact of power asymmetry and interest formation in the European Union’s (EU) external relations with third countries in the context of the Europol data exchange and counterterrorism agreements. It focuses on three countries, namely the United States, Turkey, and Morocco, which each have a different level of counterterrorism cooperation with the EU. This article argues that the EU acts as a pragmatic actor with regard to Europol’s data exchange agreements with third countries, and that the power asymmetry between the EU and the third country under question determines the extent of the EU’s flexibility. If the power asymmetry favours the EU, then it insists on its data protection demands. Otherwise, the EU is more flexible towards its counterparts on data protection issues.     

An Analysis of the Great Power Strategy of India' s Modi Government

Over the past two years,India's Modi government has demonstrated the following features:focusing on the goals of becoming a great power and shaping India's South Asian dominance,expanding the scope of diplomatic strategy,emphasizing the role of soft power and focusing on self-development as well as external environment.Modi's great power strategy is deeply influenced by the Indian realistic international political outlook and,to a certain extent,reflects the governing philosophy of the Bharatiya Janata Party.The great power strategy is Modi's governing foundation and governing style,embedding Modi distinctive personal style.Under the influence of the great power strategy,China and India have increased their economic cooperation scope,widening the forms of public diplomacy,with an obvious geopolitical collision;India is taking more measures to check China.     

The Major Power Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics in the Transition of International Order

The early 21st century finds great change in international order.China's foreign relations have entered a new phase where its driving force is rapidly rising for the emerging countries and new global economic governance mechanism is gradually established.To follow the trend of the times,China has actively participated in global economic governance and supply of public goods.China' s foreign relations present a new vision,idea and strategy under the leadership of President Xi Jinping.It is a new starting point for China to further integrate itself into the world and open itself wider to the world.China takes an active part to participate in global governance and plays an important role in the issues of economic integration,environmental governance,climate change,nuclear nonproliferation,energy crisis,internet security and anti-terrorism,especially anti-terrorism.This article explains the performance of international relations in current transition order and tries to tackle prior (and in some ways more intractable) issues and to analyze the internal logics and external environment of impact of multi-polarization on China's major power diplomacy with its characteristics in the transition of International order.     

Witchcraft and space: a theoretical analysis of unseen political spaces in Ghana and Cameroon

This article addresses the application of the concept of space to witchcraft in Africa. Throughout colonial history, and still today, efforts to mediate and control witchcraft and witchcraft-related violence have focused on the manipulation of physical spaces, such as villages, shrines and witch camps. While critical theories of space and power are increasingly relevant in a number of fields, the exploration of these concepts may be somewhat limited in their application to witchcraft-related violence and witchcraft as a lived reality in Africa. In this article, the theoretical ability of Western concepts of space to analyze the phenomenon of witchcraft will be considered, looking at the relations of space and power in colonial and postcolonial Africa. This analysis brings into question the modernist foundations of these concepts and explores the role of witchcraft in the governance of Ghanaian and Cameroonian spaces and imaginations.     

国际秩序转型与族群冲突研究

大国竞争和大国实力的变化是国际秩序转型的主要变量,它们影响着族群冲突。大国实力下降造成国内统治力减弱,届时国内各族群为争取权力而进行族群动员,引发族群冲突;同时大国实力下降会收缩其在国际控制范围,进而出现权力真空,由此引发族群对于权力的竞争和冲突。大国间竞争也会引发族群冲突。大国在某一地区或国家的经济竞争会引起族群间的收入不平等,进而引发或加剧族群间的竞争和冲突;大国在政治上的竞争,尤其在地缘政治上的争夺会引发族群冲突;大国在意识形态上的竞争为族群竞争提供思想支持。数据显示,1946-2015年间的族群冲突与苏联和美国的实力变化存在一定的趋势匹配。当美苏之间实力变化不大、竞争缓和时,族群冲突也相对减少;当两国之间实力起伏较大、竞争加剧时,族群冲突便有增长趋势,特别是苏联解体后,权力由苏联转向美国的几年,族群冲突异常激烈。1961-1991伊拉克库尔德人族群运动与苏美间的竞争息息相关,苏联通过支持伊拉克,以获得其在中东地区的影响力。美国为了减少苏联在海湾地区的影响力,确保丰富廉价的石油供应,唆使库尔德人反对伊拉克,并利用伊朗和伊拉克边界争端,通过支持伊朗来制衡伊拉克,进而削弱伊拉克,以确保其在该地区的影响力。正是美苏对该地区石油、地缘战略和意识形态阵地的争夺,让该地区复杂的族群、宗教矛盾成为它们全球争霸的工具,加之库尔德人自身的诉求,最终酿成长达三十多年的族群冲突。     

Drones and the uninsurable security subjects

This paper engages with the security dynamics underlying the use of drones and their impact on security subjects – individuals and groups that are the ultimate recipients of specific security policies, regardless of whether these have beneficial effects on them. Using Mark Duffield’s distinction between the insured Global North and the non-insured Global South, this paper discusses how drones generate a radical dissociation between the intervener and the intervened that ultimately produces new security environments at the margins of the international system. These new security environments are defined by the articulation between space, technologies and bodies: bodies of invisible subjects; bodies that are uninsurable.     

员工对工会的职能感知加深对工会凝聚力的影响 —— 中国情景中的权力距离调节作用

近年来中国工会通过强化维权职能、改革组织结构、组织工会活动等一系列措施以解决工会“四 化”问题,目标在于提升工会对员工的凝聚力和员工对工会的归属感,这一路径在理论上已达成共识,但在实 践中还需要更多的验证。本研究通过对 142 家企业和 2457 名员工的问卷调研,基于社会交换理论,探究中国情 境中员工对工会的职能感知加深从而提升工会凝聚力的路径机理。研究结果表明：在工会的深入改革中,员工 认识到工会对自己的权益保护功能（工会职能感知）的确能提升对工会的归属感和认同感（工会承诺）,且通 过组织工会活动提高员工对工会的参与度（工会参与）,进而加强了工会凝聚力。同时,如果企业的管理层级多、 上下级沟通不畅（即企业与员工的权力距离大）,反而会促进员工更积极参与到工会建设中,希望工会为自己代言, 从而提升工会吸引力、凝聚力、战斗力。     

Corporate power in the agro-food system and the consumer food environment in South Africa

This contribution maps the South African agro-food system with a focus on corporate ownership and power, inspired by value chain work applied to the food system as a a whole. Corporations tend to dominate some nodes, for example input supply, grain storage and handling, and feedlots. Other nodes have a corporate core but with a wide number of smaller economic actors, for example agricultural production, food manufacturing, wholesale and retail, and consumer food service. This wide number of actors points to possible areas of intervention to boost livelihoods by supporting their economic activities. The paper considers the influence of corporations in structuring consumer perceptions on food quality and health, from input into apparently neutral dietary-based guidelines to advertising. Financialisation in the food system, including the institutionalisation of share ownership and the rise of agri-investment companies, and the multi-nationalisation of South African agro-food capital especially into Africa, have implications for the ability of the nation state to regulate activities in the agro-food system. The paper concludes with some recommendations for further work.     

The Realization of Gender Quotas in Post-collapse Iceland

Gender quotas have become a way to increase women’s participation in leading positions in economic life. Iceland enacted corporate gender quotas in 2013, requiring a minimum of 40% of each gender. These quotas were legalized after the financial collapse in 2008, which many blamed on male dominance of the economy. The focus of this paper is the timeframe of the turn to quotas, and the media discourse and parliamentary debate regarding men and women in corporate management. Van Dijk’s theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis was employed to examine data from the period 2009–2015. Firstly, we studied 150 articles in three online newspapers: Morgunblaðið, Vísir, and Viðskiptablaðið, written between 2009 and 2015. Secondly, we examined 132 parliamentary documents in which gender quotas were proposed and debated in 2009 and 2010. Three themes were highlighted: gender difference and opportunities during critical times; women and capability; and changed discourse. In order to shed light on the struggle for women’s influence, we examine how the debate manifested the Wollstonecraft dilemma. The results show a tension between gender-neutral arguments versus arguments about women’s alleged special traits and qualifications. Arguments emphasizing the importance of women’s special capabilities for the well-being of society and companies’ profitability were at the heart of the quota legislation, and as such proved successful. However, the findings also demonstrate the risk that female candidates are viewed as a signal of change in times of crisis. Hence, we claim that arguments matter; although women-centred arguments have contributed to gender balance within the Icelandic economy, they may also create barriers for women because they support patriarchal relations. Furthermore, the results indicate that societal difficulties call for drastic changes, and it seems as though a tailwind is needed for women to receive opportunities within the economic sector to push gender equality forward.     

The threat of autocracy diffusion in consolidated democracies? The case of China,Singapore and Australia

The majority of today’s authoritarian regimes have little hope of promoting autocracy beyond their own borders, let alone to consolidated democratic countries. However, China and Singapore are two prominent examples of non-democratic countries whose soft power arsenals have given them some global appeal beyond that enjoyed by most authoritarian regimes. But to what extent has China’s and Singapore’s power of example influenced consolidated democracies in terms that the latter wanting to replicate some political practices or even norms in these non-democratic regimes? In this article, we engage recent works to examine this question in relation to how Australians perceive the political example offered by China and Singapore. Focusing our analysis on several prominent polls conducted recently by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, we suggest that at present there is little evidence of a causal impact of the rise of authoritarian powerhouses such as China and Singapore on how Australians view democracy at home. Through these case studies, this article sheds some light on the theoretical as well as practical questions about the inherent impediments of authoritarian diffusion in consolidated democracies.