Democratisation and Ethnic Conflict: The Kin Connection

Abstract. This article posits that individuation is a determining factor in making democratisation efforts workable or, where it is absent, ethnic conflict likely. Somalia serves as a case study. Since the Somali state has not been able to secure individuals' social welfare or their futures, citizens use genealogies, which chart trustworthiness, to construct social welfare safety-nets. There is also a moral dimension to genealogy. This is quite different from what occurs in the democratic West, where the state has guaranteed individuals a significant measure of social welfare security over time, and where identity can be considered situational. I argue that under conditions of uncertainty, such as have existed in Somalia, identity is not at all situational, but is fixed and fixes individuals in ethnic groups. The push to democratise can then lead to armed ethnic conflict.     

中亚国家的民族关系与地区安全

随着地缘政治的变化,中亚五国的民族问题凸显跨国性。民族与宗教因素相结合、相促发,利用宗教服务于极端民族主义是影响民族关系、制约国家经济建设和危及地区安全的突出征象。“9.11”事件以后,由于美国的军事介入,致使中亚的民族问题更加复杂,不仅关涉五国间的国家关系,而且牵动包括我国西北边疆及其他周边国家在内的地区安全。面临来自周边动荡带的巨大压力,中亚的稳定仍然十分脆弱,强化国家安全的任务极其艰巨。中亚各国政府针对本国出现的一些具体问题,积极推行一系列促进族际关系健康发展的措施,民族问题始终处于政府的控制之下,整个地区总体上保持基本稳定态势,但局部片区的安全形势不容乐观,种种变数难以预测。     

论国际冲突研究的文化视野

20世纪90年代以来,国外学界对于国际冲突的研究逐步突破了以往只关注政治和经济因素的局限,越来越重视对文化因素的考察。本文力图从微观、中观和宏观三个层次对进行国际冲突研究所应具有的文化视野进行阐释,指出注重剖析国际冲突中文化因素的角色和作用、揭示文化视角下国际冲突在多元文化互动中的作用和影响、了解文化在国际冲突研究的理论建构中的运用和意义等构成了研究者必须体察的三项要素。本文还指出在分析国际冲突的过程中,文化分析只是对政治、经济、军事等分析角度的一种补充,绝不能因此忽视或否定其他因素的作用;冷战后西方文化价值观的强力输出对不少非西方国家的内部稳定构成了威胁,帝国主义的文化扩张已经成为当代国际冲突的主要根源之一。     

Explaining Third‐Party Intervention in Ethnic Conflict: Theory and Evidence

Abstract. One of the most challenging developments for students of international relations is the resurgence of ethnic strife, including secessionism and irredentism. Basic questions are only beginning to be addressed in the post‐Cold War era. Why are some states more likely than others to intervene in ethnic conflicts? How can international norms about third‐party intervention in ethnic conflicts be evaded or ignored by some states but respected by others? Why are some states inclined to use force rather than mediation to resolve ethnic strife? In short, what accounts for the emergence of adventurous and belligerent foreign policies with respect to internal ethnic conflicts? These questions are of increasing importance to students of international politics, yet the dynamics and internationalisation of ethnic conflict are far from fully understood. This study focuses on the dynamics of third‐party intervention in ethnic strife and implications for peaceful resolution. The first section presents a model that identifies the general conditions under which ethnic strife is most likely to lead to intervention by third‐party states. The second uses four cases to illustrate, within the context of the model, different processes with respect to internationalisation of ethnic conflict. The third and final stage identifies implications for policy and theory, along with directions for future research.     

Human Rights and International Security: The International Community and the Greek Dictators

The Greek junta was notorious for its use of state torture as a means of control. Yet, for most Western governments and organisations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the United Nations (UN), Greece's geostrategic location was considered to be a higher priority than the undemocratic behaviour of the ‘Colonels’. This article seeks to synthesise existing historiography with new research in order to examine the complex and interconnected processes that led Western states and key international institutions to tolerate human-rights abuses in Greece in the face of huge protest from international public opinion. It will look at why Western states failed to explain away the ‘Greek case’, as they had done with Portugal and Spain, as an anomaly on the road to defeating a mortal enemy, the USSR, which was committing far more numerous violations. It will also consider why international opinion focused on Greece so intently. It will show how many in the West were lulled by the regime into believing that human-rights abusers can act as agents of stability and security. The article's footnotes aim to draw attention to the many primary and secondary sources that provide additional information on the issue of human-rights abuses by the Greek junta.     

论南京国际安全区的成立

1937年南京沦陷前期,留在南京的一些外国人士,不顾个人安危,毅然决定留在南京,并参照法国神甫饶家驹在上海设立南市难民区的成功经验,发起设立了南京国际安全区,以保护无辜的平民免遭战火的蹂躏。安全区设立的过程较为复杂,不仅需要中国方面的同意,而且还要征得日军当局的认可。这些外国人士克服重重困难．终于在南京沦陷前成立了安全区,开始发挥保护平民的作用。     

Ethnicity,Secessionist Conflict and the International Society: Towards Normative Paradigm Shift

Abstract. This article addresses the challenge of ethnicity and particularly of secessionist conflict by trying to outline an international normative framework more conducive to conflict settlement. The working hypothesis is that accommodation through dialogue, in spite of its risks, offers the only way forward in situations of politicised ethnicity. The existing international nonnative regime (with its ban on secession and no opening for autonomy) is insufficient for managing and resolving such conflicts, while its revolutionary antipode, ‘national’ self-determination, is a frightening prospect. Three alternatives are explored: partial recasting with emphasis on devolution; a secessionist option for some federations; and secessionist self- determination for tormented minorities within well-defined criteria. The advantages as well as the drawbacks of unilateral (secessionist) self-detennination are explored in detail.