Authoritarianism,revolution and democracy: Egypt and beyond

The pro-democracy Arab popular uprisings have been spontaneous, but perhaps not all that unpredictable. They have come against the backdrop of a growing gulf between the rulers and the ruled, political repression, social and economic inequalities, demographic changes, unemployment and foreign policy debacles. Although the uprisings began in Tunisia, it is the case of Egypt that illustrates the situation more compellingly and the impact that it has had on the rest of the Arab world. It is not clear at this stage what will be the ultimate outcome. But what can be said with certainty is that the Arab peoples have set out on a long journey in pursuit of genuine self-determination. The journey will be arduous and unsettling for the Arabs and outsiders, but this has to be treated as part of a transition from a dictatorial past to a politically pluralist future.     

‘Is imperialist nationalism an oxymoron?’*

According to Ernest Gellner's celebrated definition, nationalism is a political principle that holds that the political and the national unit should be congruent. Based on this definition, Alexander Motyl has declared that ‘nationalism and imperialism are polar types’. Even so, dozens of books and articles have used the concept of ‘imperialist nationalism’ without any qualms. Is this just a matter of terminological confusion, or does it reflect a deeper disagreement on what the phenomenon of nationalism actually is? In the lecture, I discuss the concept of ‘imperialist nationalism’ as used in the standard literature and find that numerous historical actors take pride in being both nationalists and imperialists. I distinguish between overseas colonial empires and contiguous land‐based empires and demonstrate that in both cases, ‘imperialist nationalism’ can be found. In the latter case, nationalism can take the shape of either ‘nation‐building imperialism’, in which nationalists strive for cultural homogenisation throughout the state, or ‘ethnocratic imperialism’, in which the distinction between ‘the imperial nation’ and other national groups is retained. In overseas colonial empires, I find only ethnocratic imperialism. As a case study, I analyse how Russian nationalists have related to the fact that Russia has historically been an Empire.     

阿马尔那泥板书信中所见的古代近东大国外交方式

阿马尔那时代是近东历史上的和平外交时代,五大国支配着外交的走向和国际关系的格局。在大国外交中,存在3种外交方式,礼物交换、王室联姻和信息沟通,这3种外交方式构成了当时外交的主要形式,促进了和平外交的持续发展。     

论阿玛尔纳时代埃及与米坦尼的关系

阿玛尔纳时代早期,埃及和米坦尼都积极发展两国关系,将两国友好关系推到顶峰.阿玛尔纳时代后期,埃及面对中东错综复杂的局势,做出了疏远米坦尼的外交决策,而米坦尼面对赫梯的威胁,力图保持与埃及的友好关系,为此进行了不懈的努力.埃及与米坦尼关系的恶化对中东政治格局产生了深远影响.     

1898--1917年的俄国在华企业——以哈尔滨地区为中心

19世纪80年代后,俄国开始推行积极的远东政策。到90年代,俄国远东政策的直接表现是在华大规模兴办企业。近代俄国在华兴办的企业主要以哈尔滨地区为中心,以金融、交通企业的兴办为标志,类型涉及社会生活的方方面面,对中国东北社会发展产生了较大的影响。     

九十年代中东地缘政治的因素与机制探讨

中东是个独特的政治地理区域,90年代以来正在走向多极化。影响中东地缘政治的因素丰富多样,本文对其中的地理位置、国土、自然资源、民族、宗教、地区霸权等最重要的因素进行了简要的论述。并在提出国家影响力、地缘政治影响力概念的基础上,设计了简明的公式,对中东地缘政治稳定度作了定量探讨,文间还结合当前中东政局中的重大问题和主要特征进行了分析。     

China's Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia and the Middle East

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims at connecting the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa through a combination of infrastructure projects and soft‐power programs. All of the six land bridges and maritime routes under the BRI extend westward, mostly passing through Central Asia and the Middle East on land or by sea. Cooperation with countries in these regions will, according to China's design, meet its domestic energy needs, and grow the country's economy. China recognizes, however, that in Central Asia and the Middle East, the risks posed by what it calls the “Three Evils” — terrorism, extremism, and separatism can impact the success of the BRI. They can also impact stability in its own adjacent areas, including Xinjiang. Therefore, in concert with the BRI, China is also identifying and deploying bilateral and multilateral diplomatic mechanisms aimed at security coordination with BRI countries in these two volatile regions. This article provides an overview of BRI developments in the two regions and examines some of the diplomatic mechanisms China is using to coordinate security and reduce risks.     

Post‐totalitarian national identity: public memory in Germany and Russia

Through a comparative analysis of Germany and Russia, this paper explores how participation in the memorialization process affects and reflects national identity formation in post‐totalitarian societies. These post‐totalitarian societies face the common problem of re‐presenting their national character as civic and democratic, in great part because their national identities were closely bound to oppressive regimes. Through a comparison of three memorial sites—Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial in Germany, and Lubianka Square and the Park of Arts in Russia—we argue that even where dramatic reductions in state power and the opening of civil society have occurred, a simple elite–public dichotomy cannot adequately capture the nature of participation in the process of memory re‐formation. Rather, mutual interactions among multiple publics and elites, differing in kind and intensity across contexts, combine to form a complex pastiche of public memory that both interprets a nation's past and suggests desirable models for its future. The domination of a ‘Western’ style of memorialization in former East Germany illustrates how even relatively open debates can lead to the exclusion of certain representations of the nation. Nonetheless, Germany has had comparatively vigorous public debates about memorializing its totalitarian periods. In contrast, Russian elite groups have typically circumvented or manipulated participation in the memorialization process, reflecting both a reluctance to deal with Russia's totalitarian past and a emerging national identity less civic and democratic than in Germany.     

Preliminary assessment of a wreck in the Red River, Choctaw County, Oklahoma, USA

This paper reports the initial recording of an early riverboat wreck located in the Red River between Oklahoma and Texas. The wreck is probably the Caddo lost in 1842. The visible wreckage is described and the history of the Caddo is discussed. This is the earliest western rivers steamboat investigated by archaeologists to date.     

Review Article: Professional,Political, and Mercenary Soldiers

Since the late 1970s, most scholarship on the origins of the Zionist–Palestinian conflict has emphasised the actions and agency of the Palestinian Arabs and Zionists, with a focus on the period before 1914. It is argued in this article, however, that the expectation of and commitment to political independence on both sides, a defining feature of the conflict, did not emerge until 1918, and that the actions of the British government in Palestine during the final year of the First World War drove this fundamental shift. Following Britain's occupation of southern Palestine in December 1917, the British administration undertook an extensive propaganda operation in the country to advertise their backing for Arab nationalism and Zionism. This campaign was part of the British government's wider endeavour to mobilise support for the Allied war effort and British imperial expansion in the Middle East in the new age of nationality. It led, the article contends, to a war for national sovereignty over Palestine between two statist nationalist movements. Rather than emphasise British colonial agency at the expense of that of the Palestinian Arabs and Zionists, the article argues that this development derived from a complex interaction between the three parties within the context of radical changes in international politics.     

A Blueprint for Successful Peacekeeping? The Italians in Beirut (Lebanon), 1982–1984

On 6 June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon to fight the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Between August 1982 and February 1984, the US, France, Britain and Italy deployed a Multinational Force (MNF) to Beirut. Its task was to act as an interposition force to bolster the government and to bring peace to the people. The mission is often forgotten or merely remembered in context with the bombing of US Marines’ barracks. However, an analysis of the Italian contingent shows that the MNF was not doomed to fail and could accomplish its task when operational and diplomatic efforts were coordinated. The Italian commander in Beirut, General Franco Angioni, followed a successful approach that sustained neutrality, respectful behaviour and minimal force, which resulted in a qualified success of the Italian efforts.     

试析冷战在中东的分期和特点

中东在美苏冷战中具有重要意义。中东的冷战可划为四个阶段:美国开始取代英法在中东的势力,苏联实现突破的努力失败;阿拉伯民族主义进入高潮,英法基本退出中东,美苏展开激烈角逐;英国彻底退出中东,苏联影响进一步增长,中东呈现不战不和局面;美国促成中东和平进程,苏联在阿拉伯世界的影响衰落。冷战在中东的主要特点如下:中东是除东欧外非两大阵营国家唯一与超级大国苏联有陆地接壤的地区,是美国遏制战略的前沿阵地;中东是冷战的发源地之一;中东成为美苏激烈争夺的地区,双方各有自己的战略;中东的局部战争和地区冲突延绵不断,并与冷战相互交织,而后者对阿拉伯世界的影响有限;冷战与中东起伏不定的民族主义相互影响;中东在冷战中诞生了高度敌视西方的极端伊斯兰主义。     

Birds in the medieval culture and economy of the East Slavs in the 10–13th centuries AD

The paper is devoted to a re-examination of the bird remains from the numerous East Slavic settlements (10–13th centuries AD). Species diversity suggests that medieval people in the Eastern Europe used birds for food, falconry, in ritual and, possibly, for aviary specimens and pets. Furthermore, bird feathers were used for preparing arrows. The most popular bird of prey was goshawk. Primary game birds were ducks, geese, swans, common crane and corvids along with black grouse and capercaillie in forest zones. The archaeological data present evidence for the use of wild birds (e.g., hooded crow) in funeral ceremonies for the first time. The majority of the identified birds have not changed their distribution, but in recent times some of these taxa have become rarer. Red-breasted goose is now extant in the area but its remains were found in the medieval layers, although this species could have been an occasional visitor in the Ukraine. Archaeological data and historical sources prove that white stork has lived in the territory of Ukraine since the Middle Ages or even earlier. The most common domestic poultry for the East Slavs was chicken. Domestic ducks and geese were much rarer. Historical documents were also consulted in this study and these also contribute to our understanding of the role of birds in the life of the East Slavs.     

The Rise and Fall of Hicky's Bengal Gazette (1780–2): A Study in Transoceanic Political Culture

The rise and fall of Hicky's Bengal Gazette (1780–82), India's first printed newspaper, is a narrative of prime importance to the history of Indian newspapers, and such is the context within which it has invariably been written. Previous works have approached Hicky's Gazette in a somewhat teleological and insular manner. These accounts have ignored the significance of foreign news among its content and fail to acknowledge Hicky's appropriation of political rhetoric from other parts of the British Empire. Through the contents of Hicky's Gazette we find Calcutta residents engaged in a transoceanic political discourse, criticising ‘nabobs’ with all the ferocity of the metropolitan British press; claiming the freedoms of Englishmen in common cause with the discontented, not only in Britain, but also in Ireland and America; and participating in discussions to regulate the governance of the East India Company through petitions of grievances. In the circulation of Hicky's paper throughout the presidencies and in the contributions of pseudonymous writers we find a platform for the politically discontented among the European community of Bengal whose voice is otherwise muted amidst the Francis-Hastings disputes and the steady stream of ‘official’ information between Calcutta and London.