Money and Cold War Security

Hubert Zimmermann , Money and Security: Troops, Monetary Policy, and West Germany's Relations with the United States and Britain, 1950–1971 . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press , 2002 . xvi + 265 pp.     

Italian Security Policy after the Cold War

This article analyses the main trends in Italian security policy in the post-Cold War period. After a brief look at changes in the Italian perceptions of threat, it examines Italian policies within the UN, NATO and the EU, paying particular attention to how Italian decision makers conceive the relationship among these three organizations, especially with respect to the management of regional crises. The article then turns to examine and assess the foreign policy of the second Berlusconi government, which has often been accused of having broken with the past, especially with respect to Italy's policy in Europe. It concludes with a reflection on the likelihood that Italian security policy will continue to benefit from the type of bipartisan political support it has enjoyed in the last decade.     

冷战时期中国周边安全环境的特征与启示

冷战时期,中国的周边安全环境不断变化,20世纪50年代,中国的周边环境呈现出北方安全、东南方严峻的基本态势;60年代,中国周边安全形势十分险恶;60年代末70年代初,中国周边安全形势有所改善;进入80年代,中国周边安全环境大大改善。冷战时期中国周边安全环境的阶段性特征表明,国际格局和周边主要国家对华政策是影响中国周边安全环境的两大外部因素,中国对外战略和综合国力则是两个重要内因。事实证明,内因比外因重要。     

Mapping anomalous democracies during the Cold War

During the Cold War, a number of societies established stable democracies despite having low levels of modernisation and relatively few democratic neighbours. Threshold levels of modernisation and neighbouring democratic societies are consistently related to the endurance of democracy. Meanwhile, the Cold War superpowers often supported autocracies, making it even more difficult to maintain democracy. Analysing these stable but ‘deviant’ democracies provides an opportunity to examine how domestic factors influence regime stability. In particular, such historical cases advance understanding of contemporary patterns of democratic stability. Previous research has not systematically identified deviant democracies before 1989. This research note does so using a large-N analysis of 125 societies during the first phase of the third wave of democratisation, from 1975 to 1988. It identifies 11 deviant democracies, including Bolivia, Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turkey.

冷战期间,若干社会建立了稳定的民主体制,尽管它们现代化的程度较低,左邻右舍民主化的不多。民主的持久与否一向与一个国家的现代化基础水平、也与左邻右舍是否为民主政体有关。而冷战期间超级大国往往支持独裁政权,这又使得民主更难维持。分析那些稳定却并非标准的民主国家,使我们得以了解国内因素如何影响政体的稳定性。这些历史的案例增强了我们对当代民主稳定模式的理解。以往的研究没有系统地确认1989年以前的非标准民主国家。本文对第三次民主浪潮第一期125个国家包括玻利维亚、博茨瓦纳、哥伦比亚、科斯特黎加、多米尼加、洪都拉斯、印度、牙买加、毛里求斯、特立尼达和多巴哥、土耳其等做了大量案例分析。     

冷战后的日澳政治安全关系

冷战后,在一系列因素的作用下,日本与澳大利亚在政治关系上实现了由伙伴关系到建设性伙伴关系再到全面战略关系的升级,同时使一向低调处理的安全关系获得强化。客观上讲,日澳政治安全关系发展对亚太地区有一定积极意义,但同时由于各种制约因素的影响,这种作用力目前来看还相对较小。     

略论冷战后美国的国际安全理论

冷战结束后,为维持"一超"霸权地位,美国的国际安全理论与实践发生了巨大的变化。在理论上,"终结主义范式"理论、"文明冲突范式"理论和"霸权稳定范式"理论在美国政府的决策上占据了主导地位。这些理论鼓吹大国之间和"民主"国家之间的冲突已经结束,现在的冲突,是异质文化与西方文化的"文明冲突"。为了国际安全,需要改造异质文化,消除"暴政",推行"民主"。为此,美国可以"先发制人",对"威胁"其国际安全的国家或其他行为体进行军事打击,以"结束世界上的暴政"。这些理论导致了美国的对外干涉、战争和冲突。这充分证明,在冷战结束后,不仅非传统安全因素威胁着国际安全,美国霸权主义更威胁着国际安全,需要充分揭露和批判。     

Containing containment: rethinking Italy's experience during the Cold War

This article examines the impact of the Cold War on the Italian political system. It compares the relations of the two main Italian parties - the DC and the PCI - with their external interlocutors and allies - the USA and the USSR - during the first decade of the Cold War. By doing so, the article rejects traditional interpretations of how post-Second World War international constraints limited Italy's sovereignty. It argues instead that the main Italian pro-western party, the Christian Democrats, deliberately opted for a policy of containment of American pressures. Such a policy was functional to the twin objectives of consolidating DC hegemony, and safeguarding Italy's new republican constitution.