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An emergent China and the weight of history -- History lessons -- Confucian conceptions of order -- Power and order in other Chinese traditions -- Western assumptions about international order -- Sinic universalism in theory and practice -- The prehistory of foreign engagement -- Engagement and status conflict -- Through formal equality to inferiority -- China's loss of its dependencies -- Imperial denouement -- Intellectual ferment in the Nationalist era -- Mao and the Middle Kingdom -- China and the foreign other -- Conceptual currents -- China imagines its world-- and its future

Neoliberal institutionalism, developed by Robert Keohane, & liberal theory of international relations elaborated by Andrew Moravcsik, nowadays represent two grand International Relations (IR) theories drawing on liberalism as one of the main theoretical approaches in this discipline. However, Keohane conceived of neoliberal institutionalism as a synthesis of realism & liberalism & Moravcsik proceeds from a specific understanding of liberalism & defines liberalism by the criteria of empirical social science. This essay examines, therefore, whether neoliberal institutionalism & liberal theory indeed involve & assemble together the main ideas of liberalism. The perspective applied in the essay is based on the intellectual history of liberalism and, in this way, regards the assumptions about the most fundamental actor in international relations & about the evolution of international relations as the intellectual core of liberalism. According to liberalism, individuals & collective social actors constituted by individuals (social & bureaucratic groups) are the most fundamental actors in international relations & international relations undergo transformation, in the course of which cooperation gradually prevails over conflict. Neoliberal institutionalism considers the state to be the most fundamental actor in international relations & assumes that the nature of international relations transforms & they acquire a more cooperative character. Liberal theory claims that individuals & social groups are the most fundamental actors & that international relations undergo transformation that is marked by the growth of cooperation. Consequently, whereas neoliberal institutionalism involves the intellectual core of liberalism only to some extent, liberal theory implies that there is a grand theory that subsumes the main ideas of liberalism. Adapted from the source document.

The purpose of this study was to explore how various actors have responded to hydropower dam impacts in the Se San river basin as away to unpack how river basin management works in practice. The Se San river basin is shared by upstream Vietnam and downstream Cambodia. In 1993, Electricity of Vietnam began constructing 720 MW Yali-Falls dam in upstream Vietnam and the dam began to cause downstream impacts in Cambodia in early 2000. Since then conflict between the affected downstream communities and upstream dam builder has been emerging. To study the responses, the concept of social interface of actor-oriented approach was used to analyze the arena of conflicts at three levels including local, national and international arenas. At local arena, two interesting responses were found. First, the responses emerged from local communities in term of coping strategies to the dam impacts which were identified as very limited. Some of their coping strategies caused destruction of natural resources such as deforestation for new settlement and farming. Second, the responses were organized by NGO network in Cambodia and abroad to establish a grass-root NGO for advocacy against the dam building called Se San Protection Network. This network was built with a strong cooperation with other NGOs across national and international levels but a weak collaboration with government has been found. Although Vietnam and Cambodia governments recognized that the dam has an impact on local livelihoods, compensation for past, present and future losses was ignored and mitigation of impacts remains questions. As there is no tangible result from the NGO Network, some affected communities have lost their confidence in supporting advocacy network. If this continues to occur the strength of advocacy network tends to be weak in the future. At national arena, responses were initially done through the Mekong River Commission for which Cambodia and Vietnam are the members. Through the intervention of the Mekong River Commission, a Joint Committee for Se San Management between Cambodia and Vietnam was established to discuss and negotiate a number of actions such as mitigation measures, monitoring water quality and impacts assessment study. No compensation issue has been discussed because Cambodia government did not make a demand. The analysis of this study revealed that mitigation measure was not fully implemented by the Joint Committee as water level fluctuation and water quality still remains an issue. In addition, notification system on dam water release was not either smoothly delivered to local communities because of poor communication facility. An important finding in this arena was that the Cambodia government did not give much attention to solve the Se San issue. One of the examples is that the Cambodia joint committee whose task is to negotiate with Vietnam had no budget to organize the meeting since 2004. At international and global arenas the study found that the Electricity of Vietnam has used various strategies to avoid cost such as shifting the debate of the Yali-Falls dam impact from international and global levels to a bilateral one which was more favorable and easy to deal with. In this case, problem was scaled down from a larger to a smaller context. At international arena, the author also discovered that the role of the Mekong River Commission Secretariat in conflict resolution is weak as the Secretariat has no mandate to preside over conflict resolution but rather as a facilitation role to the parties. In this case negotiation between Cambodia and Vietnam was done bilaterally which is favorable for Vietnam to control the game. The last finding of this study was that Cambodia government has an interest in dam building and has registered Electricity of Vietnam to build dams particularly for the section bordered to Vietnam to boast political and economic ties between the two countries. Overall, the author concluded that the planning process in the Se San River basin highly served the interest of dam builders as well as national interest and failed to take into account the interest of local communities whose livelihoods depend on river system for a living. To meet their interests and goals, powerful actors zigzagged their strategies to avoid claims made by affected communities and NGOs. Future study should deal with how Mekong River Commission's role shall be promoted to voice the power of local communities in dam development process.

AbstractHow do non-state armed groups form in intra-state armed conflicts? Researchers have started to disaggregate armed groups, but we still know little about how armed groups emerge in different ways. Drawing on the literature on social movements, civil wars, and civil–military relations, we generate a typology of 'movement', 'insurgent', and 'state splinter' origins of armed groups. We argue that fundamentally different dynamics of conflict shape armed group origins in the context of broad-based mobilisation, peripheral challenges to the state, and intra-regime fragmentation. Armed groups that emerge in these contexts in general differ in their initial membership and leadership, the basic organisational dimensions that we focus on. We demonstrate the utility of our typology by mapping different origins of armed groups onto existing cross-national data and charting type narratives in illustrative cases. This discussion advances recent efforts to understand the importance of armed group emergence for outcomes of interest to conflict scholars by moving beyond either separate types of origins or highly disaggregated organisational analyses to broader conflict dynamics through which armed groups form, with implications for how these groups act. Future research should consider different origins which we identify in comparison through an in-depth analysis of armed groups' complex histories.

Explores the trend toward genetic reductionism & its role in "biocolonialism." The historical & cultural separation of traditional & mainstream knowledge systems is traced, noting that both encompass combinations of scientific & religious concepts. Although mainstream science has served humanity well, both systems have strengths & weaknesses, & each can gain from understanding the other. However, the notion of genes as central to all life has become linked with the market system's push to privatize these "blueprints of life," supposedly for the benefit of both mankind & those who own the information. Cultural & scientific problems resulting from this mindset are examined, including genetic explanations for disease that might result from social problems, animal cloning, genetically engineered crops & animals, & proposed modifications of human somatic cells & the human germ line. It is argued that the loss of traditional modes of thinking that stress the interconnectedness of living things, combined with the recent linkage between commercialism & genetic reductionism, is apt to result in far more harm than good. J. Lindroth

THE UNITED STATES-LED, NATO-BACKED WAR AGAINST YUGOSLAVIA CONTINUED FOR MORE THAN 10 WEEKS DESPITE THE MANY WAYS IT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED ALTOGETHER OR ENDED SOONER, AND DESPITE THE UNEASINESS IT GENERATED EVEN AMONG ITS INITIAL SUPPORTERS. THIS ESSAY OUTLINES SOME OF THE REASONS WHY THE WAR WAS WRONG FROM A MORAL, LEGAL, AND UTILITARIAN PERSPECTIVE. IT ALSO QUESTIONS WHAT MIGHT HAVE ACTUALLY MOTIVATED THE UNITED STATES TO LEAD SUCH A MILITARY ACTION. THE ESSAY CONTENDS THAT ALTHOUGH THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME GENUINE HUMANITARIAN CONCERN, IT IS ALSO CLEAR THAT OTHER FORCES WERE AT WORK. WHATEVER THE ACTUAL MOTIVATIONS, THE ESSAY CONCLUDES THAT PERHAPS THE MOST DANGEROUS LEGACY OF THIS WAR IS THE MISTAKEN BELIEF THAT THE USE OF MILITARY FORCE WAS NECESSARY AND JUSTIFIABLE--A BELIEF THAT COULD LEAD TO MORE SUCH INTERVENTIONS IN THE FUTURE.

Focuses on how the Kenyan government exploited ethnic tensions over land scarcity to retain power.

Implications for a US Middle East strategy; 9 articles. Partial contents: Palestine and Jewish history, by Jonathan Boyarin; The war and the new world order, by Joseph Gerson; African Americans and world peace, by James N. Karioki.