清末至民国时期赣闽粤边区农业变迁与转型

清末民国年间,赣闽粤边区①农业面对新的市场竞争环境,经历了兴衰嬗变、重组调适的过程,这一过程有衰落、有收缩、有扩张;并出现了诸多近代农业新因素,农业正朝着积极的方向作渐进性转型和变迁。近代农业完全衰败的观点在边区缺乏强有力的证据。赣闽粤边区农业渐进性转型的例子说明,对近代中国农业整体变迁评价应立足于多区域的实证研究,任何单一区域的农业评价都无法涵盖近代中国农业的整体变迁内容和特点。     

The life style of Chinese scholars in the years of political turbulence - Examinations of Li Sichun’s Jinling Diary,Wu Mi’s Diary and Hu Shi’s Diary

After the abolishment of China’s Imperial Examination System and the founding of the Republic of China, the exterior mode of the Chinese scholars’ life, such as their academic research and ways of making a living, changed dramatically, but their real life style, including their habits, hobbies and tastes, did not show fundamental change. From the unpublished diary of an important but non-famous scholar Li Sichun of Sichuan University, with a close reference of Wu Mi’s and Hu Shi’s diary at approximately the same time, one can see that Chinese scholars kept their traditional literate life style and tastes until the 1940s. Therefore, we can make a conclusion that the social transition did not affect many scholars’ real life as profound as many present studies have claimed.     

两次鸦片战争期间清朝对欧美小国的外交

两次鸦片战争期间,清朝政府将欧美小国与欧美列强“一视同仁”,宁愿让欧美小国享受欧美列强从清朝攫取的除割地赔款之外的种种特权,也不轻易满足欧美小国提出的符合近代国际惯例的一些要求.这样,清朝对欧美小国的外交也不断丧权辱国.究其原因,在于清朝以传统的“天朝上国”思想来指导近代对欧美小国的外交;清朝对欧美小国外交的最主要目的,是为了维护“天朝上国”的体制,而不是保护近代意义上的国家主权.     

利玛窦与庞迪我关系辨析

利玛窦与庞迪我之间的矛盾曾被认为是当时意大利与西班牙间民族矛盾的体现。民族矛盾固然是影响利、庞关系的重要因素,但更潜在的原因应是二人在思想观念上的本质差异：利玛窦不是一名狭隘的民族主义者,他之所以不见容于庞迪我,主要是因为他那种具有浓烈人文主义背景的工作方式与庞氏的传统中世纪传教模式格格不入;与人们的假设相反,利氏至死都未曾原谅过庞氏,而在利氏生前,庞氏对其不满也蓄积已久。     

Do we need more economics in Australian economic diplomacy?

ABSTRACT

Economic diplomacy—that is, informal and formal processes and links between states and non-state actors on international economic issues—is a current focus of Australian foreign policy. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s stated economy diplomacy aims are liberalising trade, boosting economic growth, encouraging investment and assisting business. If Australia is to embrace a genuine and effective notion of economic diplomacy there are two problems to be overcome. First, DFAT’s economic diplomacy framework is incomplete and misses the bigger economic picture, particularly the role of Australia’s key economic agencies, Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Second, DFAT does not consistently apply economic principles to foreign affairs issues including trade, foreign aid and the global investment agenda. Going forward, Australia should abandon the focus on the four narrow pillars and instead focus on developing a clear, coordinated international economic strategy that articulates Australia’s core international economic objectives and priorities.     

Australian aid after the ‘Golden Consensus’: from aid policy to development policy?

ABSTRACT

In the decade preceding the election of the Abbott Coalition Government in 2013, a so-called ‘golden consensus’ governed Australian aid policy. During this period Australia’s aid spending increased by over 80% in real terms. However, after winning government the 2013 Federal Election, the Abbott Government made a series of significant and unexpected aid policy decisions, cutting the aid budget three times in fifteen months and integrating AusAID, Australia’s aid agency, into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This article considers the future role of aid in Australia’s diplomacy primarily by engaging with a prior question: how was it possible for the golden consensus to be uprooted so easily? Conducting a post-mortem reveals that Australia’s development constituency bears some responsibility for the fragility of the consensus. This analysis also reveals the critical role the development constituency will play in determining the extent to which Australia is able to embrace the ‘beyond aid’ agenda. To meet this contemporary challenge, the development community must heed the lessons of the collapse of the golden consensus and, in particular, overcome its reticence to engage in broader foreign policy debates.     

The Alexei Obrescoff Case: The Levantine Backstage of British Mediation in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–74)

In 1954 M. S. Anderson, considering the impediments prohibiting a successful British mediation between Catherine II and Mustafa III, judged that Ambassador John Murray and Whitehall were carried away because they could not see the complex picture of Eastern diplomacy. In this paper, it will be argued that the Ambassador's miscalculated optimism and the hastiness of London were due to a neglected factor: the imprisonment of the Russian Resident at Constantinople, Alexei Obrescoff. The Resident, an in-law of the Abbotts, Factors of the Levant Company and Murray's personal friend, entrusted him with his infant children on the eve of his detainment. This trust was an asset that Murray hoped to exploit in the forthcoming international race to undertake the mediation, if only he could free his friend. London hoped this appeal to the Ottomans would please the Russians, but mediation slipped out of Murray's hands. The Abbotts assisted the Prussians and the Austrians to reunite the Obrescoff family and thus gained them the advantage. Embittered, Murray was dragged into a passionate but unsuccessful clash with the Abbotts which emphasised both the importance of Levantine networks in the exercise of ‘Oriental’ diplomacy and his unsuitability for the particular post.     

Trumping foreign policy: public diplomacy,framing, and public opinion among middle power publics

Even as the world’s sole superpower, the United States requires the cooperation of other states to achieve many of its foreign policy objectives. The President of the United States thus often serves as ‘Diplomat in Chief’ in public diplomacy efforts to appeal directly to publics abroad. Given Donald Trump’s antagonistic approach to foreign relations and widespread lack of popularity, what are the implications for support for US policy among publics abroad – particularly among middle power states allied to the US? While previous research on public opinion relying on observational data has found that confidence in the US President is linked to support for American foreign policy goals, the mechanisms at work remain unclear. Using original data from survey-based experiments conducted in Canada and Australia, this article seeks to clarify the effect of ‘presidential framing’ (presenting a policy goal as endorsed or not endorsed by Trump) on attitudes toward key policy issues in the Canada–US and Australia–US relationships. Results point to a negative ‘Trump framing’ effect in Canadians’ and Australians’ trade policy attitudes, but such an effect is not observed in other policy domains (energy policy in Canada, and refugee policy in Australia).     

Power in Australian foreign policy

The 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper emphasises the importance of ‘maximising’ Australia’s power and influence. However, the White Paper and much of the commentary on Australian foreign policy do not clearly conceptualise ‘power’ or indicate how it ought to be increased. The Lowy Institute’s recent Asia Power Index implies one possible strategy via its resource-based approach to measuring power. We outline a different approach and argue that power should be conceptualised and evaluated as a specific relationship causing behavioural change, rather than as a general attribute of its wielder. To complement the Lowy Institute’s carefully catalogued database, and facilitate a more focused conversation about maximising power and influence in Australian foreign policy, we offer a typology identifying five pathways through which states can translate their material and non-material resources into outcomes that serve the national interest.     

Leibniz on Diplomacy and Discernible Art

Abstract

This article discusses Leibniz’s unique blend of aesthetics and diplomacy. While his art extended diplomacy beyond the bounds of political realism, his diplomacy gave occasion to his art. His identity of indiscernibles (objects with the same properties are identical) inspired philosopher Arthur Danto to define contemporary art in terms of a qualitative perceptual division between the world and the Artworld (objects with the same properties may or may not be art). Although Leibniz would have disputed Danto’s bifurcated artistic perspective, Danto vindicates Leibniz’s major contribution to contemporary aesthetic philosophy by defending his belief in the moral foundation of art. Leibniz was not only one of the pre-eminent men of German letters of his time, he also excelled in diplomacy on behalf of the Hanoverian court. His international relations (IR) theory of peace through grand global alliances is only just beginning to be understood, though his aesthetics and correct diplomacy continue to validate individual creativity, liberal freedoms, and universal enlightenment up to this very day.