Vattel's law of nations and just war theory

It has often been said that Vattel's treatise on the law of nations breaks with the tradition of modern natural law and just war theory. Based on a closer examination of Vattel's justification of preventive war and of his assessment of the balance of power in Europe, the paper argues that this criticism is greatly exaggerated, if not entirely misleading.     

Pakistan,militancy and identity: parallel struggles

This article focuses on the dominant and parallel struggles that have been carried out in Pakistan in terms of its Islamic identity since 9/11. It argues that the Pakistan government has legitimised and explained its partnership with the US government in countering terrorism through a discourse that makes use of Islamic symbols. The Islamists have engaged in a similar process, arguing for jihad against the enemies of Islam. Simultaneously, a tension has persisted between liberal/progressive and orthodox notions of being a Pakistani Muslim, which has been reflected in, for example, the debate on the blasphemy law in Pakistan. It is important that strategies to strengthen Pakistan also creatively empower groups subscribing to liberal/progressive ideas so as to succeed in the struggle against militancy in the long term. The argument is developed in three parts, starting with a discussion of opposing views on Pakistan's identity and the place of Islam as the context for the Pakistan government's participation in the War on Terror. The second part explores features of the opposing discourses adopted by Islamabad and jihadi groups. The third part discusses the parallel tensions between alternative understandings of Pakistan's Islamic identity at the societal level with reference to the blasphemy law. The concluding section suggests a carefully crafted approach to assisting Pakistan at this stage in its history that could also respond to the subordinate tensions.     

Between orthodoxy and heterodoxy: the troubled relationships between heritage studies and heritage law

This article discusses the relationships between heritage law (HL) and heritage studies (HS) from the perspective of international law. More specifically, it focuses on the ways in which HL scholars have integrated (or failed to integrate) HS considerations into their work, and vice versa. The paper shows that the relationship between HL and HS is better resolved with respect to orthodox approaches to both law and heritage. More specifically, orthodox HS and HL take each other into account only lightly, a strategy that, while unsatisfactory on many grounds, is balanced on both sides. However, when it comes to heterodox (critical) analyses in these fields, the relationship is far more fragile and unbalanced, from the point of view of heterodox HS, the law tends to be neglected or even sometimes rejected; whereas from the point of view of HL, there is a more conscious effort to fully engage with HS, which is made difficult by heterodox HS’s push against the law. This dissonance can lead to severe difficulties in understanding heritage work and even the field itself.     

‘A common law of nations’: Giuseppe Mazzini's democratic nationality

The aim of this article is to analyse the theoretical origins and character of Giuseppe Mazzini's idea of the nation and the wider tensions within nationalist thinking. In particular I will ground Mazzini's idea of national self‐determination on his distinction between rights and duties and finally his republican (and in this sense political, not ethnic) view of the nation‐people. It will emerge that, even if Mazzini shared a voluntaristic idea of the nation, he none the less had a clear perception that the argument of popular consensus needed to be limited (and legitimated) by normative principles, which for him were true democratic principles. Mazzini's originality and modernity lay in his capacity to avoid being a universalist in the old cosmopolitan sense without becoming a relativist. He faced the tension between universality and national identity by making the former concrete and inclusive: universality meant humanity which revealed itself through and within each nation, and was synonymous with democracy. Democracy at home is the premise for democracy abroad: this is Mazzini's legacy.     

Muted violence: Italian war crimes in occupied Greece

This article considers the myth of Italians as ‘good people’ that has dominated post-war historiography as well as the public and institutional discourse, and analyses the connection between the judiciary paradigm and the historical narrative of the Second World War. It presents an account of Italian war crimes in occupied Greece and suggests a possible interpretation regarding the military violence towards the civilian population. War crimes are considered within the context of the general orientation of the fascist policy of occupation and the structures of conflict that emerged in the occupied territories. In particular, it discusses the turning point in Italian repressive action, from the logic of reprisal to a policy of massacre.     

从国际法论中日钓鱼岛争端及其解决前景

章认为从国际法方面看钓鱼岛的主权属于中国,日本所主张的“无主地先占”原则根本不能成立。根据联合国新海洋法和国际司法判例,钓鱼岛不应享有大陆架和专属经济区,亦不具有划界效力。中日东海大陆架的划分应遵循公平和自然延伸的原则。在和平解决争端的前景下,钓鱼岛问题面临三种可能的选择。     

长春市城市地域的演变过程与发展趋势

长春市作为近代迅速发展起来的省会城市,城市地域的形成具有较为特殊的历史背景。本文从长春不同历史阶段城市地域的发展特征出发,在分析其所处的地理位置、人文环境、现代产业形成的基础条件及其在中国现代史上所处的特定历史地位的角度上,求证长春市城市地域发展演变的规律性问题,以期为今后长春市地域发展趋势作出准确的战略性判断,并最终为以长春为核心的吉林省城镇体系的构建打下良好的基础。     

旅游活动对景区视觉环境的影响——以嵩山风景区为例

传统的综合评价指数模型在对定量化的客观事物进行评价时比较准确,但在评价景区视觉环境时由于存在着主观影响因素,这时传统模型就显出了较大的局限性。利用韦伯-费希纳定律改进后的新综合评价模型则显示出了优越性。利用层次分析法确定各指标的权重,向专家、旅游专业学生、游客发放调查问卷获得评分,采用新综合评价模型,以嵩山风景区为例,针对该区开展旅游活动后景区视觉环境受到的消极影响进行了研究评价。     

试论在美国的中国公民权益受侵犯及其保护

针对目前在美国的中国公民权益受侵犯案件时常发生的现状,结合对从美国回来的华侨进行的社会调查,从国际法的视角,分析了在美国的中国公民权益受侵犯的主要现象和原因;指出了侵犯在当地的中国公民权益,是对国际法上关于国际人权保护和反种族歧视原则的践踏;并就如何保护在美国的中国公民权益问题提出了自己的看法。     

我国社会结构的变迁与社会法的完善

因社会结构不合理而产生的城乡差别、贫富分化、"三农"问题等一系列"社会病"开始显现,社会立法的缺失成为构建和谐社会的制度瓶颈。完善社会法,保障公民的社会权利,对建设和谐社会具有重大的理论和现实意义。