Medium-sized cities in urban regions

A research project of the German Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning focussed on the role and the perspectives of medium-sized cities in urban regions. Quantitative and qualitative research approaches were combined. The main results concretize the development, the functions and the perspectives of medium-sized cities. Simultaneously, the role of medium-sized cities was investigated in the regional context, considering that in urban regions the hierarchy of large, medium-sized and small cities is overlapped by network structures.     

State functioning and state failure in the South Pacific

The South Pacific region features enormous variation in state performance. While Polynesian nations such as Samoa have proved to be relatively successful post-colonial states, Melanesian countries like the Solomon Islands are increasingly categorised as 'weak', 'failing' or 'failed' states. Drawing on a range of comparative studies by economists and political scientists in recent years, this article argues that cross-country variation in ethnic diversity between much of Polynesia and Melanesia is a key factor in explaining differences in state performance across the South Pacific. It shows how different kinds of ethnic structure are associated with specific political and economic outcomes, including variation in political stability, economic development, and internal conflict from country to country. In so doing, it helps explain why some parts of the South Pacific appear to be failing while others are relative success stories - and why this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.     

The Guests' Guests: Palestinian Refugees,Lebanese Civilians,and the War of 2006

Abstract: In the war between Israel and Hizbullah in 2006, 10,000 displaced Lebanese citizens were granted shelter and hospitality by Palestinian refugees in the camps of southern Lebanon. For the duration of the war, the Palestinian guests became hosts to their own hosts, and this temporary reversal of the usual relations of refuge set the scene for the rebuilding and renegotiation of relations between Palestinian refugees and their host country and its citizens. This paper addresses these events through a focus on the nature, politics and ethics of Palestinian hospitality and argues that hospitality was not simply a selfless act of giving, but also an instrumental act that had the potential to transform Palestinian–Lebanese relations in lasting ways.     

荀子与霍布斯对“人性恶”的认识及其矫治策略比较

荀子与霍布斯都从现实性上也即“人情论”的立场上来观察和把握了“人性恶”的事实,都意识到人性恶的肆意膨胀和发展会导致社会乃至整个世界体系的无序和混乱。然而,在如何限制人性之恶进而去构筑良好社会秩序的对策上,荀子强调“礼教”,霍布斯注重“理法”。荀子要达到的是“王道社会”,霍布斯欲建立的是“理性和正义的国家”,虽理想有别,但目的都是为了实现人与人以及人与社会的和谐相处。     

Hostages in the Carolingian world (714–840)

The medieval hostage ( obses ) was a form of personal surety, a person deprived of liberty by a second person in order to guarantee an undertaking by a third person. Although they were used in private transactions, they normally appear in the early medieval sources in the context of relations between political entities. Close to seventy distinct hostage episodes are recorded in greater Francia and the Italian Peninsula in the period 714–840. Drawing on this evidence, as well as on the few surviving normative sources that refer to hostages, the present article develops a definition of hostages in the Carolingian period, examines the situations in which they were used, and argues that they must be seen as more than a simple means for securing agreements. In particular, grants of hostages might involve individuals beyond the trio of creditor–debtor–hostage, and they could transcend their immediate guaranteeing function to serve symbolic and political ends. The proper context for the study of hostages emerges as not legal but social and political relations.     

Global finance and the German model: German corporations, market incentives, and the management of employer-sponsored pension institutions

Where there was a settled political geography of state power and responsibilities, the remarkable growth of global finance has put enormous pressure on national economic, political and social institutions. Furthermore, the looming crisis facing many continental European social security systems has raised many doubts about the long-term viability of the German model compared to its Anglo-American rivals. In this context, large German corporations have sought ways of sustaining their global competitiveness by, in part, restructuring their national and regional commitments. To illustrate, in this paper we concentrate on the nature and organization of German employer-sponsored pension institutions in relation to Anglo-American management practice. Two issues drive the analysis. One has to do with an emerging coalition between corporate management and shareholders with respect to the market value of the firm. The second issue has to do with the allocation of risk and uncertainty between the social partners when negotiating the financing and final value of promised retirement income. The institutional framework of collective decision-making common to many of Germany's largest firms is under pressure; three models of investment decision making relevant to pension assets and liabilities are used to illustrate this point. In doing so, we suggest that the German model is more fragile than commonly realized. We also suggest that Anglo-American management practices have penetrated and affected German corporate (national and regional) institutions and regulations. The social market lauded by advocates of stakeholder capitalism is changing rapidly, at least in the sphere of large firms and global finance.