Documents found
-
4051.More information
In the Southeast Asian area modalities of political dependence have developed which involve the distinctive typology of clients, silent partners, and proxies. These modalities govern the relationship between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Laos, and the People's Republic of Kampuchea. They also are operative in the international interaction between the members of the Association of Southeast Asian nations (Asean) and the Western major powers. A set of strategic cooperative arrangements, as well as direct military assistance between Asean, the Commonwealth and the U.S., has its counterpart in similar relations between the U.S.S.R. and the Hanoi dominated lndo-China alliance. As a result, the U.S.-Soviet confrontation in Southeast Asia is expressed politically and strategically primarily through the proxy relationships with the lndo-China states and key Asean members respectively. In turn, there are strong undercurrents in Asean seeking an accommodation with Hanoi, in order to minimize the conflict potential in the region generated by opposing U.S. and Soviet strategic interests. Particularly the relatively warming relationship between the U.S. and People's China has strengthened the Asean fears of China s long-term intentions in the region. An independent Vietnam, free from its proxy-client status toward the Soviet Union, could act as a buffer between China and the Southeast Asian region. Since Hanoi, if only for long-standing nationalistic reasons, wishes to be free from its currently necessary dependence on Moscow, Asean's accommodationist interests may well meet with appreciation in Hanoi in the future. This would tend to lessen the effect of the American-Soviet confrontation in the area.
-
4052.More information
The notion of representing regions in the construction of the European Union has Us origins in « corporatist » ideas of early Christian Democracy as well as in the regionalist movements of the 1950s. What is puzzling is the late application of this notion to the institutions of the Community. It was the economic crisis in capitalist countries in the 1970s, which led both to radical state reforms and to the relaunch of the Community. There were also significant reforms of European Regional Policy in this period. These transformations spawned regional mobilisations and the « Europe of the Regions » project by the German Länder. They provided the background to the setting up of the Committee of the Regions by the Treaty of Maastricht. From a constitutional-legal perspective, the Committee is very weak. From a political perspective, however, as a mobiliser of regions on the international level and as a nexus of communication among subnational levels of government, it has the potential to evolve in a manner similar to the European Parliament. Up to the present, it has not adopted a high profile on the international stage but has rather been a laboratory within which regions and local authorities may learn to do so.
-
4053.More information
AbstractIn The Nomos of the Earth, Carl Schmitt presents an account of the end of the epoch of European public law, and the state that it supported, which has received little attention. Yet Schmitt's account serves to illustrate broader issues involved in the periodization of international relations. This article begins by pointing out the comparative neglect of periodization in international relations before turning to a critical assessment of Schmitt's account in The Nomos of the Earth. It concludes by suggesting how Schmitt's flawed account can help us to understand the wider significance of periodization in international relations.
Keywords: Carl Schmitt, époques historiques, périodisation, nomos, Carl Schmitt, periodization, epochal change, nomos
-
4055.
-
4056.
-
4058.More information
AbstractIs a person's past revealing? Are moral values indifferent to personal identity? Can a person change radically if circumstances change? These are some of the general questions surrounding this specific issue in post-communist countries, whether it is possible or not to ignore the fact that a politician who today declares his “democratic convictions” has collaborated with the political police. This question, asked within the context of the problem of personal identity, is concerned with a reality difficult to imagine for a citizen of a democratic society who has never known either torture, or the intimidations of the political police under communism, in a time when there was one informer for every twenty people. This article examines the possible consequences which could follow the opening of political police archives for the identity of those who were “subject to surveillance” and for the former informers. Taking into account that personal identity is defined in terms of continuity and of a certain unity, this article analyses two “typical” cases even though they are limited. The first is concerned with the recovery of personal identity through confession and the second, with the heroic preservation of identity coherence in exceptional cases.
-
4059.More information
AbstractMuch of the current research on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (nato) points to an alliance that is deeply troubled, largely irrelevant, or is bound to collapse. Nearly all of this research focuses on the transatlantic differences over Iraq, the wide differences in military capabilities between the United States and its allies, or the perceived negative impact of alliance expansion. Within recent literature, no research examines Congress's role in shaping the alliance's evolution. This paper examines Congress's views toward nato across four issue areas; alliance expansion, nato's role in Afghanistan, nato's assistance to the African Union in Sudan, and nato's role in Iraq after Operation Iraqi Freedom. This paper finds that Congress devoted little attention to shaping nato's transformation, and was surprisingly disengaged on nato's mission in Afghanistan. While examples of congressional entrepreneurship were evident, Congress was mostly deferential to the president.
-
4060.More information
John Paul II spoke and wrote more in a constructive vein than any other Pope in history. He saw Judaism as integral to Christian identity. For Him the church and the Jewish People are deeply bonded. Unfortunately he never developed this theme in a comprehensive way. Thus his views never penetrated overall contemporary Christian theology. He also showed great appreciation for the Jewish People's link to Israel and finally established formal relations between the Jewish state and the Vatican. He likewise demonstrated a deep sensitivity for Jewish suffering during the Shoah as his introductory remarks for the 1998 Vatican document on the Shoah We Remember clearly reveal.