Attitudes toward War in the United States and Iran

Understanding the determinants of attitudes toward war is important for the prevention of military conflicts and the promotion of peaceful conflict resolution. To examine American and Iranian attitudes toward war, questionnaires were administered to American and Iranian college students in the United States and Iran respectively. The results of the study revealed that American students generally have more positive attitudes toward war than Iranian students. Since most Iranians in the sample experienced eight years of war with Iraq whereas Americans never had direct experience of war, it was predicted that direct experiences of military action could explain this cross-national difference. Among Iranians those who experienced the Iran–Iraq war had more negative attitudes toward war compared to Iranians who did not have such experiences. The results further demonstrated that being authoritarian, religious and male were independently related to having positive attitudes toward war in both samples.     

略论抗日战争时期的澳门

澳门的命运始终与祖国休戚相关,抗日战争时期澳门虽未被日军占领,但也同样历经了日本掠夺的苦难,同时在抗战中起到了积极的作用。澳门战略地位之重要与香港一样,世人皆知。它是中国通往世界的南大门,也是东西方各国和东南亚各国的交通要道。由于澳门一直未被日军占领,它在中国的抗日战争期间曾发挥过积极和有力的作用。第一,澳门民众积极声援和直接参加抗击日本侵略者的斗争。早在“九一八”事变后,澳门同胞就以“救灾”的名义投入神圣的抗日救国运动。后来在抗日战场上血洒长空的林耀等即是在此时返回内地,进入航空学校的。澳门同…     

耆英与第二次鸦片战争中的中俄交涉

由于清廷没能利用两次鸦片战争之间的难得间隙,变革传统的"天朝体制",以致第二次鸦片战争爆发后,清廷总体上仍被迫将自己的外交操作原则定位为"妥协",并重新起用妥协有法的耆英,与桂良、花沙纳等共同主持天津的外交交涉.然而,随着社会的缓慢发展,此时清廷外交在操作层面上也出现了一些细微的变化,部分官员开始反对纯粹妥协,主张"寓抗争于妥协".基于此,结合当时列强之间的矛盾状况,清廷将天津外交具体操作的方略确定为"妥协"之外,辅之"以夷制夷",即"以俄、美夷制英、法夷"的手段,利用俄国(美国)出面"调停",希图借外力进行有限的外交抗争.耆英遵奉清廷既定的外交策略,通过俄罗斯馆的大司祭巴拉第,与俄国使团顺利建立了联系,并于天津举行会谈.为了取得俄国"调停"的承诺,耆英轻率答应提前签订不平等的中俄<天津条约>.不过,由于广州的"档案事件",英、法在天津不肯与耆英合作,耆英只好回避,以致获罪、自尽.耆英从复出,到参与中俄交涉,再到获罪的历程,既昭示着晚清弱势外交的不可为,又预示着晚清弱势外交的可为.     

The Cambridge history of the Second World War

Following on from earlier three‐volume histories of the Cold War and the First World War, Cambridge University Press completes a trilogy with this detailed treatment of the Second World War. Multi‐authored in the Cambridge tradition, the individual chapters cover a wide range of events and topics and the 81 contributors, mainly but not exclusively from the United Kingdom and the United States, include both scholars who have already established a reputation in the subject as well as those who are in the process of doing so. Perhaps the greatest strength of the volumes is the treatment given to what may be loosely referred to as the Pacific War. No one who uses them properly is going to have any doubts about the nature and importance of the struggle between Japan and its opponents between 1937 and 1945, and it is particularly encouraging to note the use of Chinese and Japanese sources by the authors, when so many English‐language books on the subject cite none. The principal weakness of the enterprise is its division into an unnecessarily complicated series of topics, which is not always adhered to by the authors and which often compels the unfortunate reader to skip backwards and forwards, not only within but between volumes. Despite this flaw, however, this remains an important contribution to the history of the Second World War and will need to be consulted by any serious student of the subject for many years to come.