A view from the policy community: a new strategic narrative for Europe?

ABSTRACT

Reflecting on the results presented in articles in this special issue, European leaders should take greater account of external perceptions in crafting the European Union's strategic narrative and guiding its actions. Failure to do so has impaired external policies like the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership. Leaders emerging from the Arab uprisings perceived the EU as complicit with their countries’ former anciens régimes and Russian leaders see EU support for democracy and the market economy in former Soviet states as duplicitous and instrusive. Awareness of such perceptions should be filtered into EU decision-making, without validating views that European officials and diplomats consider misleading.     

Beyond royal politics: state transformation and foreign policy in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Saudi politics is commonly portrayed as reflecting a system of centralised personal rule in which decision-making power trickles down from the tightly knit power circles within the House of Saud. In contrast, this paper draws attention to the empowerment of quasi-autonomous state organisations in Saudi Arabia as a result of state transformation and regional integration. At its most extreme, state transformation in Saudi Arabia has created institutional and regulatory enclaves with vested interests and areas of competence that cross Saudi borders. This paper illustrates the foreign policy ramifications of transformed statehood in Saudi attempts to further Gulf regional integration in the context of the Gulf Monetary Union project.     

Simple Rhetoric and Complex Punitiveness: Federal Criminal Justice Responses to White-Collar Criminality

Abstract

Though criminological literature shows that the manifestation of punitiveness in the criminal justice system is complex, it rarely differentiates between responses to different kinds of crimes. This constitutes a significant gap in knowledge, as it is widely believed that white-collar crimes are treated leniently. In light of the “heating up” of political rhetoric, the expansion of federal criminal law, and the increased maximum punishments on conviction, the article aims to explore whether prosecutorial and judicial responses to white-collar crimes have become more punitive, employing rarely used datasets from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) between 1996 and 2014. It is demonstrated that these responses are more complex and less consistently punitive than the rhetoric and policies advanced by politicians. It endeavors to capture the complexity of punitiveness in practice by measuring numerous variables and multiple points in the criminal justice process, studying punitiveness from multiple angles, using prosecution and sentencing data.     

From discourse to policy: US policy communities’ perceptions of and approaches to climate change and security

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, a diverse set of policy communities, including those with defence, development and environmental mandates, frame climate change as a security threat. Most often this discursive formation labels climate change as a ‘threat multiplier’. This framing, however, is vague, linear and leaves many questions unanswered regarding how institutions can develop and implement policy that addresses the joint challenges of climate change, conflict and security. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, and grounding data collection in US policy communities, this article examines how policy actors and institutions integrate climate-security discourses into policy processes. The objective of this research is to provide direct insight into how the discourses and technical understandings of climate-security transition into policy priorities and implementation realities. This research identified three common approaches to climate-security: (1) A challenge of adaptation and resilience; (2) A potent political argument; and (3) An issue of limited importance and feasibility. These approaches, however, are inconsistent across sectors and within organisations, suggesting a lack of cohesion and considerable challenges in identifying and responding to climate change as a ‘threat multiplier’.     

WTO背景下的政府政策体制分析

加入WTO将对我国政府的政策体制带来深刻的影响。目前政府政策体制存在着突出问题,我国政府应遵循政策体制改革与创新的原则,构建适应WTO要求的政策体制。     

论两岸经济关系发展的状况、特征和走向

两岸经济关系问题，是两岸关系的重要组成部分和基础。经过近20年的发展，大陆已成为台湾的第一大贸易伙伴和第一大顺差来源地，台商对大陆投资的数量强劲增长，区域相对集中，单体规模加大，增资扩股较多，且由出口加工型向市场占领型拓展，劳动密集型向技术资金密集型拓展，第二产业向一、三产业拓展。两岸产业正由“垂直分工”向“水平分工”转变。究其原因，互补互利是基础，依存依赖是原动力，经济全球化是外在力量，地缘亲缘是人力量。入世后，两岸经济关系将有新的发展，近期而言，两岸贸易和投资将进一步增长，两岸投资将向科技型、服务型、内销型、双向型转变。远期而言，将加快两岸经济一体化的进程，并逐步架构“大中国自由贸易区”。     

美国工会对中美经贸关系的影响

近年来,美国工会对国际经贸乃至世界经济的影响日益凸现,我国政府和企业应积极采取相应措施积极应对。本文分析了美国工会的特点及对中美经贸活动的影响,并提出了一些应对之策。     

试论竞争政策与贸易政策的关系

竞争政策与贸易政策都是基本的经济政策,并且在主要方面都体现为相应的经济法律制度.在现代社会,竞争政策与自由贸易政策在追求的目标和面临的现实条件方面具有一致性,在功能上具有相互促进和补充的作用,但是两者在作用的领域、价值观念和取向以及具体处理和作用的方式等方面存在内在的差异性和潜在的冲突.     

经济基础在构建和谐社会中的作用

社会和谐是生产力与生产关系、经济基础与上层建筑等一系列复杂的社会矛盾综合作用的集中表现和结果。政治、经济、文化、思想道德建设、法律法制等等,对社会和谐的形成和发展都有重大作用,但起基础作用的是经济基础,生产资料所有制关系是否适应生产力的性质、水平和发展的要求,对社会和谐具有决定性作用。构建社会主义和谐社会,必须以经济发展为前提。经济基础也是人与自然之间和谐的关键因素。     

加速折旧方法的理论分析

加速折旧方法计算模型建立的基本理论依据是:从模糊概念出发,根据平均年限法计算年折旧额的基本计算公式结构,同时结合加速折旧的要求,将定性与定量分析结合在一起,从而建立的一种计算模型。