The Kirkuk Problem and Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution

This article will discuss the issue of Kirkuk and its development, going back to its historical roots and development. The Kurdish and non‐Kurdish arguments will be presented. Also, the issue will be analyzed in the light of the current situation in Iraq. Some solutions to the problem will be proposed, to help keep Iraq intact as a federal state.     

Western society and alchemy from 1200-1500

In the middle ages someone professing to be an alchemist might not actually be one in the strict sense of the word. Many frauds and charlatans posed as alchemists to make the credulous public pay for the application of their supposed knowledge of the divine art.This article will trace the development of the medieval view of alchemy as it emerges from the most important contemporary sources and will attempt to answer the question why its abuses attracted more attention than its serious exercise.     

China's regional policies: how much hegemony?1

China is commonly assumed to be seeking hegemony in its region. Yet China's region involves it in relationships with major states with their own hegemonic or leadership interests—the US, Russia, Japan and India. This article examines each of China's regional relationships in terms of the prime interests of China's foreign policy framework. It concludes that it is important to distinguish between hegemonic capabilities and intentions: that while China will want to extend its influence as a regional power, its capability to do that will continue to grow in each of its subregions, its ability to exercise that power and influence will be limited. In the past its efforts have been largely to seek secure borders and economic opportunities and that for some years those objectives, together with energy security, are likely to remain the priority.     

From Milgram to Zimbardo: the double birth of postwar psychology/psychologization

Milgram's series of obedience experiments and Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment are probably the two best-known psychological studies. As such, they can be understood as central to the broad process of psychologization in the postwar era. This article will consider the extent to which this process of psychologization can be understood as a simple overflow from the discipline of psychology to wider society or whether, in fact, this process is actually inextricably connected to the science of psychology as such. In so doing, the article will argue that Milgram's and Zimbardo's studies are best usefully understood as twin experiments. Milgram's paradigm of a psychology which explicitly draws its subject into the frame of its own discourse can be said to be the precondition of Zimbardo's claim that his experiment offers a window onto the crucible of human behaviour. This will be analysed by drawing on the Lacanian concepts of acting out and passage à l'acte. The question then posed is: if both Milgram and Zimbardo claim that their work has emancipatory dimensions - a claim maintained within mainstream psychology - does a close reading of the studies not then reveal that psychology is, rather, the royal road to occurrences such as Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib? The drama of a psychology which is fundamentally based on a process of psychologization is that it turns its subjects into homo sacer of psychological discourse.     

Canada-US Relations: No Longer Special or Privileged

ABSTRACT

Canada has benefited more than most countries from the advantage of its geography, but proximity to the United States has created a cocoon of complacency on trade and security that is no longer assured. This makes the key question about the future of Canada-US relations whether the erratic “America First” impulses of Donald Trump will persist after he leaves the White House. If nationalist populism takes root, self-interest will prevail and the special partnership for Canada with the United States will fade. This essay considers the notion of privilege that served Canada well for decades as one that can no longer be taken for granted. Canada must take realistic actions to defend and advance its own interests. This will reflect the confidence and maturity of a nation fully aware of its capabilities and the limitations of its global potential.     

The Organized Anthroposphere

The evolution of life on earth, the appearance of man, and social and historical progress are viewed as stages in a single process of development of the surface of the earth. Using the forum of a popular-science journal, a Soviet geographer noted for his theoretical work on regionalization envisages a time when the natural geographic envelope of the earth (atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere) will be so saturated with man-made engineering structures as to become a new entity called anthroposphere. This entity will have the characteristics ot a world-wide city with its municipal institutions. It will be highly organized in combined functional-nodal regions, benefitting from a multilevel system of services and a hierarchy of transport centers. It will be a “superorganism” with remarkable analogies to a living organism.     

Central Asian and Russian perspectives on China's strategic emergence

This article employs fieldwork research and literature analysis to examine contemporary perceptions of China's emergence in popular and elite opinion in Russia and the Central Asian states, particularly Kazakhstan. It initially establishes a framework for understanding China's emergence, emphasizing a trilateral dynamic between the hegemonic position of the US in Asia, the evolution of the strategic choices of China's neighbours and the development of strategic regionalism as a mechanism for managing regional spaces. Choosing to take the Commonwealth of Independent States as a particular case of this framework, it argues that the interaction between Russia, China and the US remains highly fluid, particularly under the conditions ‘of re‐setting’ the US‐Russian relationship. This means that regional contexts are highly significant; and it establishes Central Asia as an important new strategic region for working out relations between Russia, China, and the US through their interactions with regional states. The second part of the article examines Russian and Central Asian responses to China's emergence. It looks at three categories of motivation in China's regionalism: its system for accumulative growth; its problems with weak constitutionality and transnational security in its western regions; and its concern with US/NATO encroachment on its western frontier and the US attempt to turn Central Asian elites away from their traditional alignments. The third part looks at China's promotion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as its mechanism for strategic regionalism in Central Asia. The article questions the SCO's significance in terms of its capacity for governance and functionalism, and points to the problem of institutional competition, notably with Moscow's preferred structure of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The article concludes that China will be an unconventional superpower that presents different facets of itself in different regional contexts. There will not be a single model of China's emergence and it will continue to develop its international role through a mix of adaptation and experimentation. However, China's strategy will pose a problem for Russia and Central Asia since it seeks to create a strategic space that does not challenge the West, but exists substantially outside the West. Russia, in particular, has to decide whether it will be able to maintain its current stance of independence between Europe and Asia as China's rise shifts the frontiers between East and West.     

论中国东北地缘关系及因应对策

本文以历史、现状、未来的视角对中国东北及东北亚地区地缘关系的发展变化进行了总结和趋势判断。在此基础上,提出了因应对策,即:在地缘政治方面与俄罗斯合作,防御日美联合及其构建地区性防御体系;在地缘经济方面与日韩合作,促进东北亚经济的共同发展;在具体策略方面,推进对国内和对国外两个开放,以开放促开发,促进区际联系和国际合作,用地缘经济促进地缘政治的良性发展,为东北区快速发展营造良好的外部条件。     

Lowering British higher education (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

Hugh Gusterson argues, based on his experience in the U.S. university system, that the marketization of higher education can be expected to have perverse consequences. Universities will focus on branding and capturing research funding rather than teaching; students will increasingly see a degree as something they buy and will put pressure on faculty to lower grading standards; many students will also be forced by tuition expenses to work while they are in college, and will therefore have less time to study; and some will turn their backs on their true vocations in favor of courses of study that will enable them to repay their tuition debt. As the British university system increasingly resembles its American counterpart in cost and style, British faculty and students will feel increasingly tempted to study or teach in the U.S. system.     

Scottish Rights and ‘Centralisation’ in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

Abstract. This article will address the assumption that the essential definition of nationalism is parliamentary political. By highlighting the solitary Scottish nationalist movement in the mid-nineteenth century, the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights, this article asks whether a ‘centralised’ state for the Scottish nation should be the model against which nationalism is interpreted. By developing the concept of ‘civil society’ as both ‘container’ and ‘director’ of nationalism, this article will show the influence of a ‘decentralised’ state to conceptions of ‘best-governing’. By stressing the contradictions in the legitimacy of the British state mid-century, it will be argued that Scottish nationalism can not be regarded as merely romantic, nor, as its outcome, can Scottish culture be presented as somehow weak. This article will argue that intellectual thought regarding the state meant that the only form of nationalism at this time was ‘Unionist-nationalism’, more union with England, not less.     

Benevolent hegemon,neighborhood bully,or regional security provider? Russia’s efforts to promote regional integration after the 2013–2014 Ukraine crisis

Russia has tried to use economic incentives and shared historical and cultural legacies to entice post-Soviet states to join its regional integration efforts. The Ukraine crisis exposed the weaknesses of this strategy, forcing Russia to fall back on coercive means to keep Kiev from moving closer to the West. Having realized the limits of its economic and soft power, will Russia now try to coerce post-Soviet states back into its sphere of influence? Fears of such an outcome overestimate Russia’s ability to use coercion and underestimate post-Soviet states capacity to resist. Rather than emerging as a regional bully, Russia is trying to push Eurasian integration forward by becoming a regional security provider. The article relates these efforts to the larger literature on regional integration and security hierarchies – bridging the two bodies of theory by arguing that regional leaders can use the provision of security to promote economic integration. Despite initial signs of success, we believe that the new strategy will ultimately fail. Eurasian integration will continue to stagnate as long as Russia’s economic and soft power remain weak because Russia will be unable to address the economic and social problems that are at the root of the region’s security problems.     

On the State of Man

Abstract

Until recently increasing agricultural productivity was able to supply the world's increasing population. Now the appearance of adverse trends suggests that social and political problems will outdistance technical solutions. Explosive cost increases of energy, of fertilizers and of non-fuel minerals, as well as the possibility of adverse climatic changes and the continuing threat of political instability constitute real dangers. Paramount is the uncontrolled growth of world population, especially in South Asia, which poses the ultimate question: can the populations of these countries be saved under any circumstances, or must Nature be allowed to take its course? The quality of life for our descendants will be determined by how many of them there will be.     

Climate change and security: examining China's challenges in a warming world

The environment is increasingly affected by global climate change. While the causes of climate change are generated across the globe, the impacts of climate change will be highly variable at the local level. An increased scientific understanding of the potential impacts that climate change may have within China has raised new concern among China's leaders. Given that China's domestic realities inform its international policy choices, understanding how climate change may affect its population and natural resources is critical to global climate stabilization efforts. This article examines how the impacts of climate change on China, and China's response, will drive security challenges domestically, as well as in the greater Asian region and around the world. It shows that the impact of climate change on China will be significant and may have sizable adverse economic implications, particularly on vulnerable east coast economic centers. Water scarcity is a problem that already challenges China's leadership and one that will be exacerbated under projected climate impacts. In addition, the country faces the risk of international retaliation should it fail to undertake serious greenhouse gas mitigation actions. Yet China is not without options, and is already well poised to become a leader in the low-carbon technology revolution.     

State of mind: what kind of power will India become?

As its economic power, military strength and cultural influence expands, India draws ever closer to becoming a leading player in world politics. Yet relatively little is known about what Indians take to be the nature of international politics and, correspondingly, how their power and influence should be used. A survey of Indian political thought reveals sharp disagreements. Moralists wish for India to serve as an exemplar of principled action. Hindu nationalists want Indians to act as muscular defenders of Hindu civilization; strategists advocate cultivating state power by developing strategic capabilities; and liberals seek prosperity and peace by increasing trade and interdependence. This article argues that current trends indicate that India will increasingly prioritize its quest for prosperity and peace. But if this quest is thwarted by external threats, then calls to enhance India's military power will most probably grow louder, and be heeded more closely.     

The playful mode of writing in Psycharis's To Tαξíδι μoυ (1888)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the literary qualities of Psycharis's To Tαξíδι μoυ, in particular, to analyse specific examples that demonstrate its playful mode of writing. Firstly, it will attempt to place the text in the literary context of its period by discussing its conception and significance for Modern Greek literature. Secondly, it will focus on the element of humour in the text, which can best be described as a playful mode of writing. The playfulness can be explained as raising false expectations in readers in a way that does not become obtrusive or unpleasant, but aims to entertain through the effects of surprise. This mode of writing is created mainly through intertextual allusions, incongruous juxtapositions, and comical, satirical or parodic undertones.     

Management and Community: Some Problems with New Labour

Abstract

This essay examines some tendencies in New Labour's political rhetoric, in particular its reduction of what counts as political and what counts as community. What will be argued is firstly, that the quest for managerial efficiency has functioned to reshape political discourse. This has come about primarily through the attempted removal of political control from economic and public life through the rhetoric of audit and the proliferation of executive agencies and other quangos. Secondly, I will also claim that the language of something called ‘the value of community’, despite being the primary moral principle underpinning the whole New Labour agenda, is politically virtually redundant, principally because its sphere has been reduced to the ‘voluntary’ sector. This redrawing of the boundaries of politics does not augur well for the long-term survival of the British political system: serious questions about the role of the state and the future of democracy emerge from the policies of the past five years and will be discussed briefly in the final section.     

东北工业旅游研究--振兴老工业基地的新视角

振兴东北老工业基地需从多方面入手,工业旅游是其中的重要手段之一。东北地区工业旅游资源丰富,是新中国工业的发源地,创造了共和国工业历史上的多个第一,并为全国各地的工业建设输送了大量的原材料、工业装备和工程技术人员,做出了无私的奉献,对全国游客有着强大的吸引力,具有发展工业旅游的良好条件。发展工业旅游有利于扩大就业、树立良好的企业和城市形象;有利于推动企业调整产业结构,提高生产技术水平;对老工业基地的振兴将产生积极的作用和影响。本文还提出了发展工业旅游的若干战略措施。     

Russia's Europe, 1991–2016: inferiority to superiority

Russia defines itself as a Great Power in relation to Europe and the West. The first part of the article traces how, since 1991, a story about greatness centred on being part of contemporary European civilization has given way to a story of how Russia is great by being superior to a Europe that is now seen as rotten and decadent. The former story spelled cooperation with Europe and the West, where the latter spells confrontation. The second part argues that Russia's superiority complex is unsustainable. It is hard to see how, in the face of the formative structural pressure of the state system, Russia will be able to sustain its superiority complex. A state that does not order itself in such a way that it may either gain recognition as a Great Power by forcing its way and/or by being emulated by others, is unlikely to maintain that status. The costs of maintaining Great‐Power status without radical political and economic change seem to be increasing rapidly. If Russia wants to maintain its status, an about‐turn is needed. Such a turn may in itself be no solution, though, for if Russia does not do anything about the root causes of its perceived inferiority to Europe, then the Russian cyclical shifting from a Westernizing to a xenophobic stance will not be broken.     

Transatlantic triage? European and UK ‘grand strategy’ after the US rebalance to Asia

Transition in the Middle East, the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis and the United States' rebalance to Asia are key trends that will have an impact on transatlantic relations and European defence. As US priorities shift, a common European ‘grand strategy’ could encourage the development of a shared vision to help Europe order its priorities and begin to respond to the new, post‐austerity context of world politics and shrinking defence budgets. Will these changes be enough to quicken Europe's currently shrivelled strategic thinking? In any scenario, given its relative weight and role as an interlocutor with the US, the United Kingdom will remain vital to any developing European security and strategy agenda, although its broader relations with the European Union will complicate this relationship. How it proceeds will also help to define the boundaries of this nascent European security order. This article charts these key global trends, relates them to current debates in European security and strategy and maps opportunities and constraints faced by Europe and the UK in developing a grand strategy in an increasingly ‘American‐lite’ European neighbourhood.     

Paradoxes of Iranian Messianic Politics

Shi‘ite Messianism has been accommodated constitutionally and has been portrayed as an indispensable aspect of political culture under the Islamic Republic. If the state is using the concept as a form of legitimacy, the concept is standardized in accordance with the prevailing perspectives of the political system. Thus, if there are other emerging grassroots messianic narratives incompatible with the political ideology, they could undermine the legitimacy of the state. This article examines the emerging paradoxes in a climate in which the state uses messianism as a legitimacy tool but, at the same time, is unable to monopolize the concept primarily for its own use. This article will assess a situation in which the state and the grassroots are struggling in order to maintain dominance over ideas that advocate millenarianism. There will be a critical discussion on how the politics of the Shi‘ite Messianism have proved to be contradictory, and the dilemmas over the politicization of Mahdism will be identified.