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35251. Explaining the Turkish Military's Opposition to Combating ISIS

Author:
Ed Stafford
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
In all the discussions about Turkey not being particularly supportive to the coalition fighting the "Islamic State"/ISIS, little has been said about the military's role in shaping the government's policy. In part this reflects the ruling Justice and Development Party's diminution of the military's role in policy formulation since 2002, and the ascendancy of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) for the implementation of Syria policy. But there are other reasons for the military's reluctance to combat ISIS, some of which have existed for decades and are more deeply rooted than the recent resentment over political emasculation of the military leadership. These views are also common among the politically active class beyond the AKP ruling elites.
Political Geography:
Syria

35253. Insta-Politics? What's New about the Binomial Politics/Internet

Author:
Alba Ferreri
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The International Spectator
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Review of: Politics and the Internet in Comparative Context, edited by Paul Nixon, Rajash Rawal and Dan Mercea, Routledge, 2013.
Topic:
Politics

35254. Operation Inherent Resolve: An Interim Assessment

Author:
Scott A. Vickery
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Coalition airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have had clear benefits, but a broader campaign involving more intelligence and targeting assistance on the ground is required to reap the full strategic benefits of turning back ISIS.
Political Geography:
Iraq and Syria

35255. The Impacts of Changing Ruling Parties in the Twenty-First Century

Author:
Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Changes of ruling parties are widely viewed as a critical marker of a country's level of democratisation. Huntington (1991: 266–267) even suggested a democracy can only be considered consolidated after passing a “two-turnover test”: two changes of ruling parties through elections. Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, Taiwan has continu- ed to experience comprehensive social transformation and political reforms, including the first direct presidential election in 1996; the defeat of the Chinese Nationalist Party , Zhongguo Guomindang, Kuomintang, KMT) in the 2000 presidential election by the Democratic Progressive Party, Minzhu Jinbudang, DPP) after five decades of one-party rule; and the subsequent setback for the DPP in 2008 when the electorate voted the KMT back into power. This indicates that Taiwan should now be considered a con- solidated democracy even though, comparatively speaking, it may still be young and evolving (Rawnsley and Gong 2011).

35256. Lessons of Defeat and Success: Taiwan's 2012 Elections in Comparative Perspective

Author:
Dafydd Fell and Charles Chen
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
In early 2011, the Kuomintang (KMT, Guomindang) government appeared to be in danger of losing power in the upcoming presidential elections. The DPP had recovered sufficiently from its disastrous electoral performance in 2008 to pose a real challenge to Ma Ying-jeou (Ma Yingjiu) and had matched the KMT's vote share in mid-term local elections. Ma also faced the challenge of an independent presidential candidate, James Soong (Song Chuyu), who had come a close second in 2000 and now threatened to divide the pro KMT vote. Nevertheless, the KMT was able to win reduced majorities in both the presidential and legislative elections in January 2012. This article seeks to explain how the KMT was able to hold on to power by comparing the campaign with earlier national-level elections. We are interested in identifying the degree to which the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, Minjindang) learnt from its electoral setbacks in 2008 and whether the KMT employed a similar campaign strategy to the one that had been so effective in returning it to power in 2008. Our analysis relies of an examination of campaign propaganda and campaign strategies as well as participant observation and survey data from 2012 and earlier contests.
Topic:
Political Violence

35257. Learning a Lesson from Taiwan? A Comparison of Changes and Continuity of Labour Policies in Taiwan and China

Author:
Lee Chun-yi
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper argues that the comparison of labour policies in Taiwan and China has an important bearing on the interaction between state and society. The fact that labour policies have changed over time illustrates a process of bargaining between the state and society. The core question of this paper is whether the development of labour policies in Taiwan can provide China a good example to learn from. In order to answer this question more systematically, the first part of this paper provides theoretical reviews of the state–society relationship, while the second part aims to verify whether those labour-favouring policies in Taiwan have changed under a different party's governance. The third part of the paper further investigates labour policy in China; this section mainly focuses on the historical background to the new labour contract law. Based on the preceding two sections' literature review of the changing path of labour policies, the fourth section scrutinises fundamental issues reflected in the development of Taiwan's labour policies, then compares how those issues are reflected in the case of China. The conclusion of this paper is that although Taiwan, like China, formerly had a one-party system, the changes in Taiwan's labour policies are not completely comparable to China, though both societies had some similarities.
Political Geography:
China

35258. The Change of Ruling Parties and Taiwan\'s Claim to Multiculturalism before and after 2008

Author:
Dafydd Fell and Isabelle Cheng
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
In recent years, female marriage migration from China and Southeast Asia has significantly increased the number of foreign-born citizens in Taiwan. This article is a preliminary investigation into how political parties responded to the growing multicultural makeup of the national community between 2000 and 2012. We examine the content of the Understanding Taiwan textbook, the election publicity of the two major political parties, citizenship legislation, and the results of interviewing immigrant women. The findings show that the change in the ruling party did make differences in terms of both parties\' projection of immigrant women in election propaganda and citizenship legislation. However, inward-looking multiculturalism is practised by the two main political parties in Taiwan to forge national identity and enhance national cohesion rather than to promote the recognition of immigrants\' different cultural heritage.
Topic:
Political Violence
Political Geography:
Asia

35259. Anti–Media-Monopoly Policies and Further Democratisation in Taiwan

Author:
Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley and Chien-san Feng
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The student-led anti–media-monopoly movement in Taiwan has generated strong momentum since mid-2012. In early 2013, the National Communications Commission responded by drafting the “Prevention of Broadcasting and Television Monopoly and the Maintenance of Diversity Act”, which was approved by the Executive Yuan in April 2013 and is now waiting to be debated in the Legislative Yuan. In contemporary Taiwan, the social is often connected with the political. The existing democratic system, which is a legacy of the democratisation process in the twentieth century, no longer seems adequate to serve the citizens of the twenty-first century. This paper considers the anti-media-monopoly movement and the burgeoning civic movements in recent years as part of a “second wave” of democratisation for further political reform and democratic consolidation. When martial law was lifted in Taiwan in 1987, the “first wave” of media liberalisation ended with the commercialisation of industry. The “second wave” of media democratisation has picked up where the first wave left off and may finally establish, through increasingly more thoughtful media policies, a better and fairer media environment that is more suitable for democratic Taiwan.

35260. Taiwan's Soft Power and Public Diplomacy

Author:
Gary D. Rawnsley
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper analyses how Taiwan exercises “soft power” and uses public diplomacy to engage with the international community, and to compensate for the absence of formal diplomatic relations with major powers. The research suggests that Taiwan's strategies of international engagement are constrained by its external and internal political environments. The international system (structure) has locked Taiwan into a set of challenging arrangements over which it has little control or influence, while Taiwan's public diplomacy architecture and the activities organised and undertaken by its government agencies in Taibei and its representatives abroad (agency) reveal, at best, a misunderstanding of how Taiwan's soft power might be exercised more effectively. The strategic thematic choices of legitimacy (invoking Taiwan's international status) versus credibility (which in soft power terms offers the most benefit), and the decision to privilege cultural over political themes in international communications, all have profound effects on the success of Taiwan's soft power.
Political Geography:
Taiwan

35261. Fragmentation, Centralisation and Policy Learning: An Example from China's Wind Industry

Author:
Marius Korsnes
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper seeks to understand what government mechanisms have allowed China's wind industry to grow as fast as it has over the past ten years. Instead of formal rules and regulations, this paper focuses on specific sets of institutional conditions that have been crucial in the process of high-speed implementation of wind energy in China. Specifically, fragmentation and centralisation, together with policy experimentation and policy learning, have been fundamental for policy flexibility and institutional adaptability. The paper illustrates that there are benefits and disadvantages to these characteristics, and that inherent qualities of China's governing system that lead to rapid growth overlap with those that lead to challenges in terms of quality and long-term performance.
Political Geography:
China

35262. The Palestinians Go to the ICC: Policy Implications

Author:
David Makovsky
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Although the prospect of the ICC actually prosecuting Israeli officials is uncertain at best, the PA has torpedoed any chances for near-term diplomacy merely by opening that door, and perhaps invited U.S. financial countermeasures as well.
Political Geography:
United States and Palestine

35263. Kataib al-Imam Ali: Portrait of an Iraqi Shiite Militant Group Fighting ISIS

Author:
Matthew Levitt and Phillip Smyth
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
Although Iran's proxies are fighting ISIS in parallel with the U.S.-led effort, their actions and radical Shiite agendas are diametrically opposed to the goal of building inclusive governments and societies in Iraq and Syria.
Political Geography:
Iraq and Syria

35264. The Shaping of Chinese Corporate Social Responsibility

Author:
May Tan-Mullins and Peter S. Hofman
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
There is increasing evidence that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is emerging as a management issue within Chinese business (Moon and Shen 2010; Yin and Zhang 2012). The main drivers of this movement, which are commonly discussed, include domestic political will and international pressure. However, what is less understood is the nature of the shaping of CSR. As a concept, CSR has been widely interpreted as the way companies take into account interests of a broader range of stakeholders beyond owners and shareholders of the firm. Hence, it is about the way firms develop policies and practices to minimize the negative impacts and even increase the positive impacts of their business practices on various stakeholder groups. In a Western context, the rationale for CSR has been explained as a result of interaction between business, government and society where institutional pressures that develop from these interactions lead to certain expectations regarding the nature of business practices. This is where firms increasingly see CSR as a strategic approach to maintaining and enhancing legitimacy and reputation so as to ensure the buy-in and loyalty of key stakeholder groups such as employees and customer
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
China

35265. Successes and Failures of Corporate Social Responsibility Mechanisms in Chinese Extractive Industries

Author:
May Tan-Mullins
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
China's insatiable appetite for natural resources and energy to fuel its national growth is having an increasing impact on the domestic and global environment. Globally, China has turned to resource-rich regions in Africa and South America, at times engaging so-called “rogue states” to secure the resources it requires. Now is a critical juncture at which to encourage socially responsible behaviours in the Chinese extractive sectors, such as adopting the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). This analysis discusses the current corporate social responsibility (CSR) mechanisms in extractive industries and assesses the feasibility of socialising China towards adopting CSR global norms in the extractive industries. This article has three sections. The first discusses China's environmental governance trajectory and ecological footprint in the domestic and global extractive industry. The second section discusses the factors contributing to the success and failure of various CSR mechanisms, with a specific focus on the EITI, and the final section expounds on the emerging challenges and issues and concludes with policy recommendations.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
China

35266. Chinese NGO–Firm Partnerships and CSR from an Institutional Perspective

Author:
Douglas Whitehead
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
NGO–firm partnerships have been well studied in the literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) (Marano and Tashman 2012; Dahan et al. 2010; Oetzel and Doh 2009). However, these studies have generally limited their focus to Western multinationals and Western NGOs and, moreover, not by-and-large examine in depth the institutional settings under which either the firm or the NGO operates Building on recent institutional approaches to CSR (Brammer, Jackson, and Matten 2012; Kang and Moon 2012; Matten and Moon 2008), this paper examines how the institutional dynamics of several partnerships between Chinese firms and NGOs affect the manifestation of CSR (e.g. “implicit” vs. “explicit”). The paper also looks into how CSR and NGO–firm collaboration plays out within a changing state-corporatist framework in Chinese context (Unger and Chan 1995, 2008; Hsu and Hasmath forthcoming). The paper then argues 1) that the involvement of an NGO in the partnership reflects a changing institutional setting in China, and 2) that type and level of involvement of Chinese government institutions affects whether a given firm takes an “implicit” or an “explicit” approach to CSR.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
China

35267. Greening the Field? How NGOs Are Shaping Corporate Social Responsibility in China

Author:
Susannah M. Davis and Dirk C. Moosmayer
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
China\'s state-led model of corporate social responsibility (CSR) does not seem to present a promising environment for the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Nevertheless, we observe recent examples of NGO involvement in CSR initiatives. Chinese NGOs are using the CSR platform to challenge the environmental practices of firms operating in China. We take a field-theoretical approach that focuses on the agency of actors. We show how an international NGO proposes a new standard and how Chinese NGOs use local environmental information disclosure laws to engage with firms in the textile supply chain. We find that NGOs leverage the power of brands to influence the practices of Chinese suppliers. However, we find differences in the framing and tactics employed by international NGOs versus their Chinese counterparts. Field analysis helps better understand the actors in the field of CSR, along with their motivations and their resources, and it offers a useful perspective on civil society development in China.
Topic:
Environment and Government
Political Geography:
China

35268. Collaborative Socially Responsible Practices for Improving the Position of Chinese Workers in Global Supply Chains

Author:
Peter S. Hofman, Bin Wu, and Kaiming Liu
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
In this paper we evaluate three projects with the participation of 40 supplier firms in several Chinese coastal provinces representing multi-stakeholder efforts to provide alternative channels through which workers can voice their concerns. The supplier firms took on these projects to reduce worker dissatisfaction and employee turnover. The projects fill an institutional void in employer–employee relations within Chinese supplier firms as they provide alternative channels for workers to voice their concerns. The role of civil society organisations focusing on labour interests was a crucial feature of the projects, through capacity-building for workers and by providing independence. The supplier firms and their workers have benefitted as firms take measures to enhance worker satisfaction, while the reduced employee turnover positively impacted firm performance. We propose that these collaborative socially responsible practices are a potential way to strengthen the positions of workers and supplier firms in global supply chains.
Political Geography:
China

35269. Bittersweet China: New Discourses of Hardship and Social Organisation

Author:
Michael B. Griffiths and Jesper Zeuthen
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This paper argues that new interpretations of “eating bitterness” (吃苦, chiku) have firmly entered the landscape of China's social organisation. Whereas the bitterness eaten by heroic types in China's revolutionary past was directed towards serving others, now the aim of eating bitterness is self-awareness. Furthermore, bitterness-eating, which once pertained to rural-urban migrant workers as opposed to discourses of urban “quality” (素质, suzhi), has now also been taken up by the urban middle classes. A new cultural distinction, therefore, adds dignity to migrant workers while potentially marginalising a wide range of unproductive people, both urban and rural. This distinction ultimately mitigates risk to the Chinese regime because the regime makes sure to reward those who eat bitterness. This paper is based on ethnographic data gathered in Anshan, from the rural areas surrounding Chengdu, and our analysis of a TV show about a peasant boy who becomes a Special Forces soldier.
Political Geography:
China

35270. Driving the City: Taxi Drivers and the Tactics of Everyday Life in Beijing

Author:
Gladys Pak Lei Chong
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article examines the ways in which taxi driving and China's quest for global ascendency are interlinked and enmeshed. Inspired by de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life and his conceptual formulation of “strategy” and “tactic”, this article explores how taxi drivers, through their everyday practice of driving, found ways and moments to tactically challenge and appropriate so-called “civility campaigns” and a rising China. By demonstrating the numerous instances of tactics taxi drivers used, I argue that their socio-economic marginality did not, in fact, reduce them to a “powerless” position. I bring in Foucault's analytics of power and governmentality to add to de Certeau's work by helping to explain the intertwined relationship between government and governed to shed light on the complexity implicated in the dynamics of power relations and resistance. I examine the period around the 2008 Beijing Olympics as it involved large-scale attempts to showcase China through (urban) transformation.
Political Geography:
China and Beijing

35271. Making Citizens: Brazilian Social Policy from Getúlio to Lula

Author:
Wendy Hunter
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article compares and contrasts two important phases of social incorporation in Brazil: (i) an early punctuated period that integrated formal sector workers and civil servants under President Getúlio Vargas (1930–1945) and (ii) a later more extended sequence that strived to include the informal sector poor, beginning with the military regime (1964–1985), gaining momentum with the 1988 Brazilian Constitution and the presidency of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995–2002), and continuing under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003–2010). It captures the shift from a welfare state based on corporatist principles to one that comes closer to basic universalism. Whereas Vargas's incorporation project addressed workers as producers, later governments incurporated the informal poor as beneficiaries of public policy programs – including income support policies – in a more individualist and liberal fashion.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Brazil

35272. The Participation of Civil Society in Lula's Government

Author:
Evelina Dagnino and Ana Claudia Chaves Teixeira
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article discusses the participation of civil society during the governments of President Lula, particularly in institutional public spaces. The participation of civil society in decision-making processes, incorporated in the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, has been a central principle in the political project of the Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) since its foundation in 1980. This paper examines the extent to which this principle has remained effective and has been actively implemented at the federal level since the PT came to power in 2002. It also analyzes the concrete results of implementing greater participation and the difficulties faced in doing so. In addition, it explores both the continuities and new developments that have emerged during the government of Lula's successor, Dilma Rousseff.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Brazil

35273. Surviving Corruption in Brazil: Lula's and Dilma's Success Despite Corruption Allegations, and Its Consequences

Author:
Manuel Balán
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
This article analyzes the continued popular support for Lula and Dilma in the face of multiple corruption allegations throughout their respective presidencies. What explains their ability to survive corruption? And what are the implications of this – at first sight – lack of electoral punishment for Brazilian democracy? In searching for answers to these questions, this article looks at four mechanisms that help explain the continued popularity of politicians amid allegations of corruption: the use of clientelism as payoffs, informational failures, the relevance of other issues, and rouba mas faz. By analyzing Lula's and Dilma's terms in office and their inopportune links to corruption, this article argues that the shifting strategies used to deal with corruption allegations effectively shifted the reputational costs of corruption away from individual political leaders and toward the Workers' Party and the political system as a whole. This finding emphasizes the mid- to long-term consequences of corruption scandals on political parties and democratic institutions, while also shedding light on the paradoxical relationship between corruption as a voting valence issue and continuing electoral support for politicians allegedly involved in corruption.
Topic:
Corruption
Political Geography:
Brazil

35274. The Worker's Party, from Contention to Public Action: A Case of Institutionalization

Author:
Camille Goirand
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
The Worker's Party (PT) was created in 1980 during the liberalization of authoritarian rule in Brazil, in the context of contentious mobilizations, which were especially strong in the union sector in São Paulo. The PT then attracted increasing support at the polls and won a number of local executives before winning the federal presidency in 2002; this process has often been labeled as “institutionalization”. This paper defines the notion of institutionalization and proposes an approach for observing institutionalization processes at the grass roots of party organization. The paper then analyzes the PT's transformation at the national level, whereby it became a majority, consolidated its organization, and moderated its ideological discourses. We also analyze the social components of the institutionalization of the PT. Based on the case of rank-and-file PT members in Recife, we show that this process included upward social mobility for local party leadership, included party leaders as professionals in the political arena, and created a growing distance between the party organization and the contentious space.
Political Geography:
Brazil

35275. Lulismo, Petismo, and the Future of Brazilian Politics

Author:
David Samuels and Cesar Zucco Jr.
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
What is the source of the Partido dos Trabalhadores' (PT) success? And is the PT likely to thrive into the future as a key player in Brazil's party system? In this paper we weigh in on an emerging debate about Lula's role in the PT's rise to power. Without Lula's ability to win more votes than his party, we might not be discussing lulismo at all, much less its difference from petismo. Yet despite Lula's fame, fortune, and extraordinary political capabilities, lulismo is a comparatively weak psychological phenomenon relative to and independently of petismo. Lulismo mainly reflects positive retrospective evaluations of Lula's performance in office. To the extent that it indicates anything more, it constitutes an embryonic form of petismo. The ideas that constitute lulismo are similar to the ideas that constitute petismo in voters' minds, and they have been so since the party's founding – a nonrevolutionary quest to make Brazilian democracy more equitable and more participatory. Both lulismo and petismo are key sources of the PT's strength, but petismo is likely to endure long after Lula has departed the political scene.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Brazil

35276. Table of Contents

Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
No abstract is available.

35277. Who defines the rules of the game in East Asia? The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the strategic use of international institutions

Author:
Xinyuan Dai
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
A growing sense among academics and policymakers alike is that the dominant issues of the twenty-first century will be decided in Asia-Pacific. But, the open question is how will these issues be decided: Who defines the rules of the game in the region and how? To address these questions, this paper studies the regulatory competition that is unfolding in the region. In particular, it examines the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), with its potential to redraw the political-economic geography in Asia. Why is such a significantly path-breaking institution possible? This paper builds on the scholarship of international political economy and especially the literature on international institutions. It argues that this potential of the TPP crucially depends on the institutional environment in East Asia. A state of institutional anarchy enables the TPP to take hold in Asia. Important policy implications follow regarding the strategic use of international institutions.
Topic:
Economics and Politics
Political Geography:
East Asia

35278. Doubts down under: American extended deterrence, Australia, and the 1999 East Timor crisis

Author:
Michael Cohen and Andrew O′Neil
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
American extended deterrence commitments span the globe. Despite extensive research on the causes of deterrence successes and failures, evidence of which US allies find what extended deterrence commitments credible is elusive. This article utilizes interviews with former Australian policy-makers to analyze the credibility of the United States to defend Australian forces during the 1999 INTERFET intervention in East Timor. While there was no direct threat to Australian sovereignty, the episode stoked concerns in Canberra regarding the willingness of Washington to come to Australia's assistance. The Howard government coveted a US tripwire force presence, and the Clinton administration's unwillingness to provide this raised serious concerns among Australian political elites about the alliance. While this says little about the separate question of whether Washington would use nuclear or conventional weapons in defense of Australian sovereignty, the Timor case indicates the existence of an extended deterrence credibility deficit regarding the more probable low-intensity conflicts that Australia finds itself in.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
America and Australia

35279. Rethinking the IR theory of empire in late imperial China

Author:
Joseph MacKay
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
International relations scholars have recently taken increased interest in empire. However, research has often focused on European colonial empires. This article aims to evaluate imperialism in a non-Western historical setting: Late Imperial China. The article first compares extant international relations (IR) accounts of empire (one broad and one narrow) to theories of the East Asian hierarchical international system. Second, to further specify analysis, I evaluate IR theories of empire against the historical record of the Ming and Qing dynasties, addressing Chinese relations with surrounding 'tributary' states, conquered imperial possessions, and other neighboring polities. I argue that while IR theories of empire capture much of the region's historical politics, they nonetheless underspecify it. Theories of East Asian hierarchy suggest additional mechanisms at work. The historical cases suggest extensive variation in how empires expand and consolidate. I conclude that there is room for further theory building about empire in IR and suggest possible areas of emphasis.
Topic:
International Relations and Politics
Political Geography:
China and East Asia

35280. Crouching tiger, lurking dragon: understanding Taiwan's sovereignty and trade linkages in the twenty-first century

Author:
Alexander C. Tan and Michael I. Magcamit
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
This paper seeks to explore and explain the process through which Taiwan utilizes free trade – both at multilateral and bilateral levels – in enhancing its shrinking de facto sovereignty against the backdrop of ubiquitous 'China factor' in the twenty-first century. It argues that China's sinicization project creates a scenario wherein increasing cross-strait stability ironically leads to decreasing de facto sovereignty for Taiwan. Due to this existing cross-strait security dilemma, Taiwanese leaders are being forced to preserve the island's quasi-independent statehood due to fears of losing its remaining de facto autonomy over domestic and foreign affairs. In essence, Taiwan chooses to be de facto free by remaining de jure unfree. Taiwan's sovereign space, therefore, becomes a pivotal referent object of its national security policy and strategy. Balancing between the two paradoxical interests of enhancing sovereignty while maintaining the Chinese-dominated cross-strait status-quo underlines the relentless games, changes, and fears that Taiwan confronts today.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
China and Taiwan

35281. 'The Loud Dissenter and its Cautious Partner' – Russia, China, global governance and humanitarian intervention

Author:
Marc Lanteigne and Aglaya Snetkov
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
The global issue of humanitarian intervention has become more pronounced and complicated in recent years due to increasingly diverging views on addressing security crises between the West on one side and Russia and China on the other. Despite their support for the principles of 'Responsibility to Protect' (R2P), both Russia and China are wary of Western intervention in internal conflicts after the Cold War and have become increasingly critical of Western-led armed intervention in humanitarian conflicts. Unease in Beijing and Moscow over the multilateral intervention in the 2011 Libyan conflict and their ongoing opposition to Western policies in the Syrian Civil War since 2011 would seem to point to ever more coincidence in their negative views of American and Western intervention policies. A conventional wisdom has thus emerged that there is something akin to a Sino–Russian 'bloc', with near-identical policies of discouraging armed intervention within state borders under the aegis of humanitarian intervention or the R2P doctrine, signed in 2005 (2005 World Summit). However, closer examination of Russian and Chinese positions on the Libyan and Syrian conflicts, drawing on normative and identity perspectives, reveals significant differences in how both states address intervention in civil conflicts involving human rights emergencies. Indeed, the Libyan and Syrian cases suggest that the distance between the two states on 'acceptable' policies toward international intervention in civil conflicts may actually be increasing. While Russia has assumed the role of the 'loud dissenter' in global dialogs on humanitarian intervention, China has opted for the position of a 'cautious partner'.
Topic:
Cold War and Governance
Political Geography:
Russia, China, and Syria

35282. The rationale for supporting nuclear power: analysis of Taiwanese public opinion survey

Author:
Xiaochen Su, Chung-li Wu, Yen-chieh Liao, Tai-De Lee, and Chen Tsao
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
The future of nuclear energy use has become increasingly contentious across the world. This is especially the case in Taiwan, which simultaneously suffers from the instabilities associated with fossil fuel imports and widespread public doubts about the government's ability to handle a Fukushima-scale disaster, while also being increasingly dependent on nuclear energy. This study employs the 2013 Taiwan Election and Democratization Study (TEDS) survey on the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant to gauge public opinion on the nuclear issue. The results demonstrate that while the public tends to be pro-nuclear when they are informed about the financial consequences of abandoning nuclear power and reassured about safety concerns, opponents of nuclear power, though numerically fewer, tend to be more vocal. Further research is needed to determine the exact logic of the public's decision making, based on a more precise set of preconditions.
Topic:
Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Taiwan

35283. Diplomacy in Japan–EU Relations: From the Cold War to the Post-Bipolar Era EU–Japan Relations, 1970–2012

Author:
Julie Gilson
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
<p>The European Union and Japan are, respectively, the world's leading and third largest economies by gross domestic product (GDP) and, when combined, make up one-third of global GDP. They are major trading partners and key actors in contemporary international politics, represented in all major international fora and participants in key security agenda, from peacekeeping to various multilateral security structures. And yet there remains very little scholarship on this important bilateral relationship. It is refreshing, therefore, to see the simultaneous publication of two volumes on JapanEU relations. Oliviero Frattolillo's single-authored book offers a concise retelling of the history of relations between Japan and the EU, aiming to recapture as it goes the principal milestones in their history with a focus on the three elements of the context of a changing international system, pragmatic nationalism and identity discourse. Indeed, these concepts provide the core of his conclusion but would have made an excellent structuring device for the entire book. He chooses instead to divide the book into two parts: looking first at the international environment on their bilateral relations and then at the idea of mediating actorness and culture in their dialogue. In contrast, Keck et al.'s much longer, edited, volume brings together practitioners of diplomacy alongside academics to cover much of the same ground. It is divided into three parts: taking an historical overview, examining case studies, and looking to the future. The case studies of Part 2 include several historical events and the third part tells us very little about the changes to which Japan and the EU have had to respond in more recent times. Whilst both books, then, offer a concise retelling of history, it is a shame that neither fully engages with the period of EUJapan relations since the start of the new millennium./p

35284. Economic Diplomacy: Japan and the Balance of National Interests

Author:
Sara Konoe
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific
Institution:
Japan Association of International Relations
Abstract:
<p>Okano-Heijmans's Economic Diplomacy powerfully presents how regional and global strategic factors have formulated Japan's economic diplomacy, while also considering how domestic business interests have impacted it. In particular, the book analyzes continuity and changes in Japan's economic diplomacy since the 1990s. The major cases green environmental and energy policies and Japan's diplomacy toward North Korea are drawn from the two extremes on the spectrum of economic diplomacy between the business end and the power-play end. The former involves cooperative efforts by business and government to maximize business opportunities, and the latter involves the strategic goals of a government. The analysis is based on the theories of economic diplomacy and related fields, as well as an extensive survey of empirical materials related to the selected case studies of Japan, including both English-written and Japanese-written ones, thus contributing to the understanding of economic diplomacy in general and that of Japan in particular./p

35285. International Legal Scholarship as a Cooling Medium in International Law and Politics

Author:
Jochen von Bernstorff
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>The article aims to contribute from a history of science angle to the recent debate on the relation between legal scholarship, utopian ideals, and practice, which was spurred by the EJIL Symposium on Antonio Casseses Realizing Utopia and subsequent publications in this journal. It defends a conception of legal scholarship that keeps a reflexive distance vis--vis practice and current political trends in international relations. It focuses on traditional background assumptions of international legal scholarship, which constantly threaten this reflexive distance. Arguably these background assumptions are a 19th century legacy and today in a context of fragmentation and globalization stand in the way of developing the full potential of international legal scholarship as a medium of societal reflection. The classic role of the scholar as a law reformer in the current context turns out to be more problematic than it may have been in the past. Inspired by Kelsenian concerns and Nietzschean metaphorics, the article instead suggests that international legal scholarship functions as a cooling medium for the overheated discursive operations of the political, economic and legal subsystems of World Society./p

35286. Reputation and the Responsibility of International Organizations

Author:
Kristina Daugirdas
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>The International Law Commissions Draft Articles on the Responsibility of International Organizations have met a sceptical response from many states, international organizations (IOs), and academics. This article explains why those Articles can nevertheless have significant practical effect. In the course of doing so, this article fills a crucial gap in the IO literature, and provides a theoretical account of why IOs comply with international law. The IO Responsibility Articles may spur IOs and their member states to prevent violations and to address violations promptly if they do occur. The key mechanism for realizing these effects is transnational discourse among both state and non-state actors in a range of national and international forums. IOs have reason to be especially sensitive to the effects of this discourse on their reputations. A reputation for complying with international law is an important facet of an IOs legitimacy. The perception that an IO is legitimate is, in turn, crucial to the organ izations ability to secure cooperation and support from its member states. This article argues that IOs and their member states will take action to prevent and address violations of international law in order to deflect threats to IOs reputations and to preserve their effectiveness./p

35287. The Democratic Legitimacy of International Human Rights Conventions: Political Constitutionalism and the European Convention on Human Rights

Author:
Richard Bellamy
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>International Human Rights Courts (IHRCts), such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), have come under increasing criticism as being incompatible with domestic judicial and legislative mechanisms for upholding rights. These domestic instruments are said to possess greater democratic legitimacy than international instruments do or could do. Within the UK this critique has led some prominent judges and politicians to propose withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Legal cosmopolitans respond by denying the validity of this democratic critique. By contrast this article argues that such criticisms are defensible from a political constitutionalist perspective but that International Human Rights Conventions (IHRCs) can nevertheless be understood in ways that meet them. To do so, IHRC must be conceived as legislated for and controlled by an international association of democratic states, which authorizes IHRCts and holds them accountable, limiting them to weak review. The resulting model of IHRC is that of a two level political constitution. The ECHR is shown to largely accord with this model, which is argued to be both more plausible and desirable than a legal cosmopolitan model that sidelines democracy and advocates strong review./p

35288. Equality in Global Commerce: Towards a Political Theory of International Economic Law

Author:
Oisin Suttle
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>Notwithstanding International Economic Laws (IELs) inevitable distributional effects, IEL scholarship has had limited engagement with theoretical work on global distributive justice and fairness. In part this reflects the failure of global justice theorists to derive principles that can be readily applied to the concrete problems of IEL. This article bridges this gap, drawing on existing coercion-based accounts of global justice in political theory to propose a novel account of global distributive justice that both resolves problems within the existing theoretical literature and can be directly applied to both explain and critique concrete issues in IEL, including in particular WTO law. By complementing existing coercion-based accounts with a more nuanced typology of international coercion, it distinguishes two morally salient classes of economically relevant measures: External Trade Measures (ETMs), which pursue their goals specifically through the regulation of international economic activity; and Domestic Economic Measures (DEMs), which do not. The distinctive intentional relationship between ETMs and the outsiders they affect means such measures require more stringent justification, in terms of global equality or other goals those outsiders themselves share; whereas DEMs can be justified under the principle of self-determination. Non-Product Related Production Processes and Methods (NPRPPMs) provide a case study to show how this framework can illuminate recurring problems in IEL./p

35289. The EU's Human Rights Obligations in Relation to Policies with Extraterritorial Effects

Author:
Lorand Bartels
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>In principle, there are two ways in which states and international organizations can violate the human rights of persons outside their territorial jurisdiction. The first is by extraterri t orial conduct; the second is by domestic conduct, in the form of policies with extraterritor ial effect. This article considers the second of these scenarios, taking as its case study the EUs obligations under EU law. To this end, it analyses Articles 3(5) and 21(3)(1) of the EU Treaty, EU fundamental rights, and the EUs international obligations, which are also binding under EU law. It concludes by looking at the enforcement of any such obligations by individuals, the EU institutions, and EU Member States./p

35290. The EU's Human Rights Obligations in Relation to Policies with Extraterritorial Effects: A Reply to Lorand Bartels

Author:
Enzo Cannizzaro
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>The scope of human rights is undergoing a paradigm shift, from a territory-based conception to a functional conception, which tends to protect human rights against the extraterritorial exercise of public authority. In the EU domestic system, this is upheld by Articles 3(5) and 21 TUE, which establish the promotion and protection of human rights as a foreign policy directive. However, the normative effect of these provisions is limited. Due to restraints deriving from the EU Treaties, these two provisions do not seem capable of providing a sufficient legal basis for EU action aimed at promoting and protecting human rights. To endow the Union with the means of action necessary to discharge the engaging function of global protector of human rights, a further development of the European constitutional framework seems to be indispensable.</p>

35291. Roaming Charges: Places of Permanence and Transition: On the Mekong River

Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>We deal in EJIL with the world we live in often with its worst and most violent pathologies, often with its most promising signs of hope for a better world. But, inevitably, since our vehicle is scholarship, we reify this world. Roaming Charges is designed not just to offer a moment of aesthetic relief, but to remind us of the ultimate subject of our scholarly reflections: we alternate between photos of places the world we live in and photos of people who we are, the human condition. We eschew the direct programmatic photograph: people shot up; the ravages of pollution and all other manner of photojournalism/p

35292. From Diplomat to Academic Activist: André Mandelstam and the History of Human Rights

Author:
Helmut Philipp Aust
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>Today mostly forgotten, Andr Mandelstam (18691949) was a pioneer of the human rights movement in the interwar period. Originally a diplomat in the service of the Russian Empire, he went into exile after the Bolshevik revolution and became an important member of the internationalist scene in Paris. An active contributor to the various professional associations and institutions of the time, Mandelstam came to draft the first ever international human rights declaration which was adopted by the Institut de droit international at its New York session in 1929. His work on human rights protection was influenced by his experiences as a diplomat in Constantinople where, in the years preceding World War I, he had witnessed the growing tensions over the treatment of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. This article traces Mandelstams impact on the development of international human rights law and uncovers the driving forces for his work: the end of the Russian and Ottoman empires as well as his career change from diplomat to academic activist. The contribution invites us to reconsider traditional narratives of the origins of international human rights protection as well as to rethink the imperial(ist) influences upon this development./p

35293. A Forgotten Kelsenian? The Story of Helen Silving-Ryu (1906–1993)

Author:
Reut Yael Paz
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>This article seeks to create a historical contextualization of the first female law professor in America, Helen Silving-Ryu (19061993). Relying on Pierre Bourdieus work on the social and historical determinants of cultural production, this article situates Silving in her days at the University of Vienna as one of the first six female students to be admitted and as the only female scholar to be mentored by Hans Kelsen (18811973). Much of this article deals with Kelsens importance to Silvings intellectual development, particularly because they worked together again in Harvard after both escaped National Socialism. Despite Silvings later academic contributions and successes, her history has received little attention from the legal discipline by and large. Apart from recovering Silvings voice, through what she calls Acts of Providence, this article also shows why, and more importantly how, Silving and thus also a part of Kelsens history has been forgotten./p

35294. Investment Arbitration: Promoting the Rule of Law or Over-empowering Investors? A Quantitative Empirical Study

Author:
Thomas Schultz and Cédric Dupont
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>Investorstate arbitration, also called investment arbitration, is often accused of harming developing states facing economic hardship for the benefit of a wealthy few from the Global North. Its proponents respond that it is the only available means to resolve disputes impartially, and that its increased use clarifies international law. In this article, the authors investigate the empirical manifestations of the uses and functions of investment arbitration, with an original dataset that compiles over 500 arbitration claims from 1972 to 2010. The study reveals that until the mid-to-late 1990s, investment arbitration was mainly used in two ways. On the one hand, it was a neo-colonial instrument to strengthen the economic interests of developed states. On the other, it was a means to impose the rule of law in non-democratic states with a weak law and order tradition. But since the mid-to-late 1990s, the main function of investment arbitration has been to provide guideposts and determine rights for investors and host states, and thus to increase the predictability of the international investment regime. In doing so, however, it seems to favour the haves over the have-nots, making the international investment regime harder on poorer than on richer countries./p

35295. Sophisticated Constructivism in Human Rights Compliance Theory

Author:
Elizabeth Stubbins Bates
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>In recent decades, there has been an increase in the volume and sophistication of works on compliance theory in international law in general,1 and in human rights in particular.2 This body of work is interdisciplinary, influenced by political science and international relations in substance and method.3 The typology of compliance theories, once formed of several separate strands,4 coalesced into two duelling perspectives. These were broadly characterized by rational choice approaches, focused on hegemony, sanctions, incentives, and material self-interest, with Andrew T. Guzmans addition of reputational concerns;5 and constructivist approaches, which argue that repeated interactions, argumentation, and exposure to norms characterize and construct state practice.6 Each of the three works reviewed in this essay critically engages with constructivist research and incorporates some analysis of material incentives, suggesting that constructivism is eclectic and rigorous, willing to debate its own assumptions. Taken together, their contributions are evidence of modern constructivisms sophistication and methodological breadth./p

35296. A Dictionary of Maqiao – In Medias Res

Author:
Hanne Sophie Greve
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>Lazy (as Used by Men) ... Ive often realized, not without a sense of disquiet, that talking isnt easy, that my words often propagate all kinds of misunderstandings once theyve flown out of my mouth. Ive also discovered that even a powerful propaganda machine lacks absolute controlling power over understanding and, similarly, sinks repeatedly into the mire of ambiguity ... hed been an employee of the Country Film Company but had been relieved of his duties due to his exceeding the birth quota. It wasnt that hed failed to comprehend the consequences of exceeding the birth quota: ... After Id spoken with him, after Id turned it over endlessly and uncomprehendingly in my mind, there was only one conclusion I could draw: he operated on another vocabulary system, one in which a great many words transgressed ordinary peoples imaginings. For example, violating law and order wasnt necessarily a bad or an ugly thing to do quite the contrary, violating law and order was a proof of strength, a privilege of the strong, a crucial source of happiness and glory./p

35297. Friedrich Kratochwil. The Status of Law in World Society: Meditations on the Role and Rule of Law

Author:
Jan Klabbers
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>When Fritz Kratochwil published his classic Rules, Norms and Decisions in 1989, it was reviewed by an obviously bewildered David Bederman in the American Journal of International Law. Clearly, it seemed, here was something international lawyers should take note of, but equally clearly, Bederman, no intellectual slouch by any standard, had a hard time figuring out what made the book relevant, or even just interesting, for international lawyers. It seems Bederman was expecting something along the lines of a description of the role of law in global politics, but no such story unfolded. Instead, Rules, Norms and Decisions posited not a description, but a way of looking at the role of norms in international politics, and did so unlike much of what had gone on before: this was neither a variation on realism, nor riding the wave of institutional liberalism, nor anything like the New Haven approach or sociological jurisprudence or Henkin- style behaviouralism. As it turned out, Rules, Norms and Decisions became the closest thing to a manifesto of constructivism in the study of world politics, and therewith became pigeonholed as one of the three grand theories of international relations.</p>

35298. Isabel V. Hull. A Scrap of Paper. Breaking and Making of International Law during the Great War

Author:
Oliver Diggelmann
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>Isabel V. Hulls book aims to demonstrate that post-1919 writings have contributed to obscuring rather than clarifying international laws role in how World War I was fought. She develops an original and highly differentiated view on the topic. On the basis of thorough historiographical research, she analyses the belligerents legal views put forward during the war and examines their effect on the conduct of war. The title takes up a quotation that later became a clich about international laws role in World War I. Immediately after the German attack on Belgium, the German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg called the treaty guaranteeing Belgiums neutrality a scrap of paper. This might suggest that World War I was a time of non-existence for international law, a black hole. Hulls book demonstrates how complex the legal situation predominantly was and that the course of the war was closely interlinked with legal questions and arguments./p

35299. Mark Levene. The Crisis of Genocide. Volume I: Devastation. The European Rimlands 1912–1938. Volume II: Annihilation. The European Rimlands 1939–1953

Author:
Peter Hilpold
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>There is surely no dearth of studies on genocide, but Mark Levene, a reader in history at the University of Southampton and an expert in genocide research, has demonstrated that it is still possible to add a thorough study to the enormous library already existing on this subject. True, some of Levenes basic assumptions may be contested in academia but this does not detract from the value of his enormous research projects outcome. Already on the first page of his monumental study he clearly states its basic assumption: according to Levene, genocide is not an aberrant phenomenon in modern history but integral to a mainstream historical trajectory of development towards a single, global, political economy composed of nation states (vol. I, at 1). He sees the cases of genocide as a consequence of a more general Great Power conflict and the breakdown of the great multinational states, the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg Empire, and the Russian Empire of the Romanovs./p

35300. Marc Jacob. Precedents and Case-based Reasoning in the European Court of Justice: Unfinished Business Valériane König. Präzedenzwirkung internationaler Schiedssprüche: Dogmatisch-empirische Analysen zur Handels- und Investitionsschiedsgerichtsbarkeit [The precedential effect of international arbitral awards: Doctrinal and empirical analyses of the Commercial and Investment Arbitration]

Author:
Niels Petersen
Publication Date:
02-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
<p>The concept of precedent has not received much attention in international law scholarship to date. International courts and tribunals are usually not formally bound by previous decisions. Nevertheless, there is no denying that precedents play a significant role in the practice of international courts. Courts cite and rely on previous decisions in order to lend their arguments more force. Two recently published studies aim to shed more light on this tension in the use of precedents: while Marc Jacob analyses precedents in the case law of the European Court of Justice, Valriane Knig examines the precedential effect of decisions in international arbitration. Both books not only analyse the same concept in different contexts, they also have a common methodological point of departure. They rely to a certain extent on an empirical analysis. They construct a database of decisions and draw several quantitative and qualitative inferences from this database. They thus contribute to a laudable trend in international law scholarship towards a greater focus on empirical analyses, even though the extent and the informational value of the quantitative analysis are limited in both cases./p