JFK and the U.S.-Israeli Relationship

Book reviewed:
Warren Bass. Support Any Friend: Kennedy's Middle East and the Making of the U.S.-Israel Alliance . New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 336 pp. Notes, bibliography, index. $30.00 (hardcover).     

Congress,the Presidency,and U.S. Foreign Policy

Gibson, Martha L. Conflict Amid Consensus in American Trade Policy. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000. Pp. 213. $55.00 hardbound; $17.95 softbound.

Henehan, Marie T. Foreign Policy and Congress: An International Relations Perspective. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000. Pp. 248. $49.50 hardbound.

Brands, H.W. The Foreign Policies of Lyndon Johnson: Beyond Vietnam. College Station, TX: Texas A&M Press, 1999. Pp. 194. $29 95 hardbound.

McNamara, Robert S., James G. Blight, and Robert K. Brigham, with Thomas J. Biersteker and Herbert Y. Schandler. Argument Without End: In Search of Answers to the Vietnam Tragedy. New York, NY: Public Affairs, 1999. Pp. 512. $27.50 hardbound; $17.00 softbound.     

美国对以色列的政策及美以关系的发展（1948-1958）

以色列是在美国的支持下建立的。战后,美国通过插手巴勒斯坦事务,逐步从英国手中夺取处理该地区事务的主动权。在以色列建国伊始,美国给予这一新生国家巨大的帮助。但在战略上,美国并未将以色列视作特别重点考虑对象。在第二次中东战争结束以后,以色列开始受到特别关注,其在美中东战略中的地位和作用日渐突出。本文利用美国解密的档案材料及国内外学者的有关著述,对以建国初期(1948至1958年)美国对以色列的策略及美以关系的发展进行梳理与分析,希望有助于深刻理解美以特殊战略关系的形成及美以关系发展的现状。     

Government, Business, and U.S. Economic Expansion in the Americas in the Late Nineteenth Century: A Reappraisal

Books reviewed in this article:
Pletcher, David M. The Diplomacy of Trade and Investment: American Economics expansion in the Hemisphere, 1865-1900     

Campaign Promises,Democratic Governance,and Environmental Policy in the U.S. Congress

One important criterion for assessing the quality of democratic governance is the extent to which the policy process effectively translates citizen preferences into collective choices. Several scholars have observed a discrepancy between citizen preferences for strong environmental protection and weak policies adopted in the United States, indicating that the United States may fall short on this criterion. We examine one possible mechanism contributing to this discrepancy—legislator defection from campaign promises. Our data indicate that legislators in the U.S. Congress routinely defect from their campaign promises in environmental protection, undermining the link between citizen preferences and policy choice. We also find that legislators are much more likely to defect from pro‐environmental campaign promises, which moves government policy toward less stringent environmental programs. Finally, the propensity of legislators to defect from their campaign promises is systematic, with defection affected by partisanship, constituency influence, the influence of the majority party, and the likely consequences of defection for policy choice. These findings contribute empirical evidence relevant to the “mandate theory” perspective on how citizen preferences are translated into collective choices through the policy process. These findings may also complement research in comparative politics concluding that legislatures selected through single member districts adopt less stringent environmental policies than do legislatures chosen via proportional representation in that the mechanism for this effect may go through legislator defection from campaign promises.     

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。     

美国对韩国的援助政策：缘起、演进与结果

在冷战背景下 ,对外援助是美国巩固与盟国关系、与苏联争夺新独立的第三世界的重要手段。美国对韩国的援助亦然。从最初的占领区救济性援助开始 ,美国对韩援助的内容伴随援助政策的调整不断发生变化。从结果来看 ,援助帮助韩国建立并维护了资本主义的发展模式 ,军事援助孕育了美国化的军队 ,为军事政变和韩国政治发展模式埋下了伏笔。     

美国对奥地利政策的演变（1945—1955年）

第二次世界大战结束以后 ,美国对奥地利政策偏离了《莫斯科宣言》的方向 ,将奥地利作为被盟国解放的国家 ,反对追究奥地利的战争责任 ,极力推动奥地利的经济复兴和国内秩序稳定。美国国家安全委员会第 38 4号文件和第 1 6 4 1号文件乃是美国对奥地利政策的重要纲领。美国以奥地利只能向苏联支付实物赔偿和武装中立为条件 ,同意签署《奥地利国家条约》。促进奥地利的亲西方倾向 ,成为美国对奥地利政策的长期目标与重要特点。