The new ‘Pacific Century’ and the rise of China: an international relations perspective

The re-emergence of the ‘Pacific Century’, or ‘Asia-Pacific Century’, discourse centred on the rise of Chinese power raises important questions in the discipline of international relations (IR). These questions relate to the conceptualisation of the Pacific Century discourse, its application to the contemporary empirical case, and its relationship and amenability to IR theories. In order to address these questions, the article subjects the concept of a ‘Pacific Century’ to critical analysis through the synergy of three pertinent ‘debates’. First, it creates a novel analytical framework to define and codify the parameters of the Pacific Century debate; a discourse that has until now remained diffuse and inchoate. Second, it engages with the present ‘great debate’ in IR between the traditional/rationalist and critical/reflectivist approaches, applying them in juxtaposition to the notion of a ‘new’ Pacific Century, led by China. Thirdly, then, the article speaks to the ‘rising China’ debate, which currently captivates commentators both in academic and policy-making circles. The article explores how the ‘Pacific Century’ concept is a compound of both ideational and material factors: it is at once both a political/ideological project and a reified intellectual frame of reference. Through this multidimensional analysis, the article aims to shape the re-emerging debate on the Pacific Century, affirm the enduring value of the term, and demonstrate the efficacy of IR theories in deconstructing conceptual problems.     

A Lithic Provisioning Model as a Proxy for Landscape Mobility in the Southern and Middle Kalahari

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory - Humans occupy a wide range of environments, including those that experience water stress. Our species has a long history of mitigating arid and...     

Weather sensitivity and climate change perceptions of tourists: a segmentation analysis

ABSTRACT

Many communities rely on tourism spending, so it is important to understand any potential changes to tourist flows resulting from changing climate and weather patterns. However, tourists are not a homogenous group, as they have different motivations, values, and goals. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation is to better understand potentially varying perceptions and behavior of different tourist types, specifically in regards to their weather sensitivity, climate change concern, and behavioral intention for climate change mitigation. Tourists were randomly surveyed at 20 locations throughout the state of Maine in the United States (n = 704). Segmentation analysis on the activities tourists participated in yielded three segments of Maine tourists: non-nature-based tourists (50.6%), nature-based generalists (16.2%), and nature-based specialists (33.2%). Differences across segments were explored for perceptions of weather impacts, climate change concern, and mitigation intent. Additionally, weather sensitivity was analyzed based on type of overnight accommodations to better understand if this also had a role in differences. Non-nature-based tourists thought that weather variables were less influential during their travels in Maine than the other segments, while nature-based generalists perceived weather to have the highest influence. Additionally, nature-based specialists had the highest level of climate change belief, while nature-based generalists had the highest willingness to engage in climate change mitigation behavior. Results are useful to understand how segments of tourism demand may be altered with a changing climate, such as increased temperatures, precipitation, and storms, and what groups may be the most beneficial to target for marketing or educational efforts to reduce the impact of climate change.     

The Civil Intifada:1 The Power and Politics of the Palestinian Census

The Palestinian census of December 1997 holds both symbolic power, grounding a national identity within an intended modern, sovereign structure, and instrumental value, serving as a basis for social and economic development. Some scholars privilege the role of domination in this enumeration process, imposing official categorizations on people for the purpose of state control. However, in this article I argue that the census also has the potential to promote resistance, contingent upon the nature of the agency implementing the process and the historical circumstances of the community engaged in this exercise. In this case, Palestinian and Israeli governments compete over the parameters of this research implementation, particularly within the confines of Jerusalem, recognized by each as its (intended and existing) capital. Based on personal interviews, official documents and secondary sources, I describe this process in relation to other attempts to articulate a Palestinian community, and characterize the census within the context of a Palestinian political struggle for sovereignty against a dominant Israeli state.     

Reviews

The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam: Religion, Political Order, and Societal Change in Shi'ite Iran from the Beginning to 1890 Said Amir Arjomand. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1984. $24.00.

Bibliography on Qajar Persia Shoko Okazaki & Kinji Eura, eds. Osaka University of Foreign Studies, Japan, 1985, xvi, 163 pp.

The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 2, The Median and Achaemenian Periods Ilya Gershevitch, ed. Cambridge University Press, 1985, xv, 946 pp., 48 plates.

Shah of Shahs Ryszard Kapuscinski. Translated from Polish by William R. Brand and Katarzyna Mroczkowska‐Brand. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, a Helen and Kurt Wolff book, 1982. $12.95.

The Iranian Revolution: Thanatos on a National Scale Gholam R. Afkhami. Washington, D.C.: The Middle East Institute, 1985. $24.95.

Shi'ism, Resistance, and Revolution Martin Kramer, ed. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987, x, 324 pp., index.

Labour Unions and Autocracy in Iran Habib Ladjevardi. Syracuse University Press, 1985, 328 pp., including appendices, notes, bibliography, index. $29.95

Iran: At War with History John W. Limbert. Boulder: Westview Press, 1987, xviii, 186 pp., index. $28.00.

Finding Hoseyn Colin MacKinnon. New York: Arbor House, 1986, 306 pp. $16.95 cloth.

An Introduction to Shi'i Islam, The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism Moojan Momen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985, xxii, 397 pp. 32 pages of halftones, three appendices, notes, and select bibliography. $25.00 (cloth).

Fundamentals of Islamic Thought: God, Man and the Universe Ayatullah Murtaza Mutahhari. Tr. R. Campbell. Ed. and intro. Hamid Algar. Berkeley: Mizan Press, 1985, 219 pp., index to p. 235. $19.95. Pb. $8.95.

Man and Islam Ali Shari'ati. Translated by Fatollah Marjani. Houston: Filing, 1981, xxi, 128 pp. $4.95.

A Manual of Classical Persian Prosody Finn Thiesen. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1982.

The Left in Contemporary Iran: Ideology, Organization and the Soviet Connection Sepehr Zabih. London: Croom Helm, 1986. 239 pp., including appendices, bibliography, index.     

Reconsidering the Tribal-State Compact Process

This essay evaluates the tribal-state compact process, as one of several alternative, nonadversarial processes, warranting attention. It argues that, because of its binding character and relatively low cost (in contrast to litigation), and because it is based in the idea of tribes and states exhibiting mutual respect, the compact process is an advanced version of negotiation and bargaining that tribes and states should consider where appropriate.