The Disintegration of the Middle East Retreating to the ＂Weak Sovereignty Era＂

The Arab Spring in the spring of 2011 soon brought the Middle East into an abyss of chaos,instability,terrorism and civil war.Over the past six years,the Syria conflict in some areas tended to cool down.President Trump reached an agreement with Russian President Putin on building a new"conflict relegation zone"on July 7,2017.After three years of

The Strategic Re-view of China’s Territorial Sovereignty

This paper re-examines the status quo of China's territorial sovereignty security from a strategic perspective.Territory is the most basic physical where-about for a country to express national sovereignty.It is the territory that the national sovereignty derives its physical basis from.In the context of globalization,however, the traditional national territorial sovereignty space is continually squeezed and constrained,but the national territorial sovereignty is still the cornerstone of the international relations.And the inviolability of national territorial sovereignty is still the most important principle of modern international law.In this regard,the primary goal of Chinese national security today remains as a goal to safeguard the unification,integrity and security of China's territorial sovereignty.At present,the integrity,unification and security of Chinese national territorial sovereignty have yet to be achieved on the strategic level.As one of China's basic national conditions,it should be taken seriously and paid adequate strategic attentions.

Human Rights, Sovereignty and Right to Peace: Equilibrium and Adaptation

Universalization of human rights is the result of reviewing World War II and the proof of the advancement of human civilization. Nevertheless, practice and protection of human rights have always challenged state authority under the context of sovereignty. The expansion of the international human rights law has reflected a growing need to reexamine state authority in terms of sovereignty legitimacy, and to place further consideration on the legitimacy of multilateral efforts.This paper argues that(1) a unique attribute of the right to peace is that the subject to fulfilling the right is an individual as well as a state. It also drives a dilemma: while sustaining the right is the duty of a state, the state’s assisting its citizens to the practice of the right to peace might be conflicting to the fulfillment of state authority;(2) it results from the view that the state is regarded as the only subject to practice the right. As such, the state might be more likely to include individuals to practice the right from a higher vision, and deal with possible disputes between the personal right to peace and the common interest in society through the rule of law. The findings further suggest that(3) a main determinant of effect in practice of the right to peace concerns how multilateral and state actors addressing the legitimate problem determines the practice of human rights norms and the compatibility between international norms and state authority.(4) The evolution from military conflicts to peaceful development across the Taiwan Strait is a concrete practice of the right to peace.

On the Relationship Between Human Rights and Sovereignty

The relationship between human lights and sovereignty is a key theoretical and practical issue that has aroused heated debate in the international human lights field. What are the viewpoints and positions of Western countries and developing countries on this issue？ What is the deeply rooted reason for this debate？ How can the relationship between the two be properly handled？ This article will analyze these questions.

Reinhardt,Anne,Navigating Semi-Colonialism:Shipping,Sovereignty,and Nation-Building in China,1860—1937

The introduction of steamships to East Asia in the 19th century had a considerable impact on water transportation in that region,which remains the most fuel-efficient transportation method even now.The steamship was a symbol of exceptional western technology when it spread throughout the world.The book under review is a revision of author's PhD thesis,focusing on the effects of steamships,a modem technology from the mid-19th century to 1937,upon the development of commerce in Chinese inland waters.

Why we gather:traditional gathering in native Northwest California and the future of bio-cultural sovereignty

Introduction:The concept of bio-cultural sovereignty is drawn from Native American Studies scholar Stefano Varese who explores the daily forms of biological and cultural resistance and adaptation in South America.This article extends Varese’s notions by exploring biological and cultural resistance in Native California with a particular focus on the continuing cultural practice of gathering.Methods:This article provides a case study analysis of the Lyng v.Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association(1988)Supreme Court case and uses traditional ecological knowledge to evaluate how bio-cultural sovereignty is affected by federal land management policies and Western constructions of ecology and the law.The methods are based in an interdisciplinary approach that embraces theoretical notions from linguistics,cultural anthropology,law,environmental justice,history,ecology,and Native American Studies.Results:As a practitioner of traditional ecological knowledge,I offer an analysis of ecological gathering practices to argue that policies,procedures,methodologies,or experiments should be designed in a way that acknowledges the indigenous bio-cultural sovereignty of the land space.Conclusions:Tribes have enacted and continue to enact bio-cultural sovereignty,which solidifies their relationship with the land.Written policies can be used to protect Native interests and to develop a relationship between Native peoples and other agencies.Federal agencies can benefit from these partnerships as tribes can offer assistance to care for these land spaces,state agencies can alleviate potential funding issues for maintaining these areas,and researchers and academics can construct knowledge that incorporates traditional ecological practices to build solid,informed best practices.

Before the Law:Literary and Art Works and People's Sovereignty around Land Reform

This paper focuses on imaginative representations of peasants at the"gate"of the law in fiction and graphic arts in different periods,exploring the visualization of regimes and the ways to express the relationship among party,nation and peasants.By imagining and portraying the peasants who"saw"the law in liberated areas,Zhao Shuli's novels and Gu Yuan's woodcuts demonstrate changes in the peasants-law relationship-a process the Chinese peasants underwent from merely"seeing"the law in the Republican era to"seeing and participating"in judicial activities in the Yan'an era.As narrative elements and epistemological devices in novels and graphic artworks,objects such as the"gate"play an important role in representing such changes of productive relations.

A Sovereignty Dilemma

The wrangling of major powers fuels contention over Kosovo’s future status Serbia and Kosovo have been locked in intensive negotiations since UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari released a draft report on the settle- ment of the status of Kosovo, cur-

Comparative Constitutionalism: Challenges of Constitutional Sovereignty in Iran and Iraq

Constitutionalism has more than a century of history in the Muslim world.More recently,Iran and Iraq,two countries with populations comprised of Shi’a majorities with a strong presence in the layout of political power,appear to have embarked on divergent routes with regard to the formal blueprints of public authority.Yet as this research demonstrates,due to an absence of robust institutional arrangements and lack of efficient mechanisms of revision and entrenchment,comparable outcomes can be observed in the form of political systems that have consistently failed to uphold various elements of popular sovereignty,which the constitutions themselves claim to be endorsing.This study aims at providing a closer examination of important elements of popular constitutional sovereignty by examining key normative,institutional and procedural settings in both contexts to evaluate critically the constitutional arrangements in two prominent republican settings in the Muslim world.The author will argue that in both cases certain highlighted fundamental shortfalls could lead one to regard both texts as“sham constitutions”.This study draws upon theoretical principles of comparative constitutional analysis.

Toward the Fragility of Sovereignty： A Reading of Ye Shengtao＇s ＂The Emperor＇s New Clothes＂

For a long period Ye Shengtao＇s ＂The Emperor＇s New Clothes＂ has been read as a simple fairytale along with his other fairytale writings. Its politico-philosophical implications thus is blurred by students＇ focus on the ＂historical context＂ of the 1930s of China, when Ye Shengtao＇s fairytales were composed. This essay argues that Ye Shengtao＇s ＂The Emperor＇s New Clothes＂ could be dealt with as a politico-philosophical text, despite or because of the historical context of China at that time which does not provide a political reality corresponding to what is called ＂sovereignty＂ in its classical sense in the field of political science. By interpreting Ye Shengtao＇s ＂The Emperor＇s New Clothes＂ from a perspective of conceptual analysis by reading it together with other two stories about the same topic written by Hans Andersen and Juan Manuel, this essay also attempts to read the story against the grain of the history of modem Chinese literature, taking it as an allegory of sovereignty and its fragility, staging it theoretically with philosophical thoughts on sovereignty in the works of, for example, Hobbes, Spinoza, Jacques Derrida, and Giorgio Agamben. While Manuel＇s story first puts forth the problematic of sovereignty, Andersen＇s version pushes to the extreme the logic of self-legitimation carried out by the narrative of sovereignty. Ye Shengtao＇s rewriting, in this textual context, deconstructs this logic and points out a possibility of the politics of democracy.

Legitimate Sovereignty

Historical and legal evidence proves China’s indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea At the foreign ministers’ meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Viet Nam on July 23, U.S.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the UnitedState Hillary Clinton said the United States has a national interest in the South China Sea, hinting that Washington may interfere in the territorial disputes in the area. Her remarks caused a strong reaction from China.

数字主权与国家安全若干问题研究

With the rapid advancement of information technology, the digital space has become humanity's “third living space.” However,this new space has also created security risks, exhibiting novel national security and development-related characteristics. In such a context,digital sovereignty encompasses dominance over digital technologies,rule-making authority in the digital realm, a voice in the digital space,and the right to develop the digital economy. Many countries and regions worldwide, such as the United States, the European Union, and China,have placed extreme importance on digital sovereignty, as evidenced by their adoption of relevant strategies. China faces four barriers that hinder its efforts to enhance digital sovereignty: path dependence,technology maturity, generalized functional security, and energy consumption. China urgently needs to promote information technology innovation at the paradigm level, facilitate much-needed breakthroughs in ground-breaking technologies, and build an independent knowledge system with Chinese characteristics regarding the digital space. Only in this manner can China forge a new path of digitalization to consolidate its digital sovereignty and advance its modernization.

Socio-Economic and Political Analysis of a Fragile State:A Reflection on Ethiopia

A review of the literature indicates that,currently,Ethiopia is now beyond the bounds of fragility.The purpose of the study was to investigate whether Ethiopia was experiencing fragility.After a review of the literature on fragility,a theoretical framework lens on fragility was developed to empirically test Ethiopia’s current condition.A longitudinal analysis indicates that before 2018,Ethiopia was regarded as the central economic engine of sub-Saharan Africa.However,as the current regime reversed Ethiopia’s developmental state model and moved to follow a neo-liberal model,Ethiopia’s economy has gradually diminished.More specifically,during the current regime,Ethiopia has experienced a decline in its Gross Domestic Product,faced rampant unemployment,and encountered an increase in inflation.Its foreign exchange currency reserves have declined below the three-month threshold of hard currency required for a country to import goods and services,and its external debt has extended beyond the country’s GDP.By encouraging armed conflict and widespread insurgencies,the current regime has caused social tension and deep humanitarian crises in Ethiopia-resulting in devastation of health and school facilities and causing more than five million Ethiopians to be displaced.Finally,failing to provide leadership to his people,the current regime in Ethiopia has willingly allowed the incursion of Ethiopia’s sovereignty by foreign forces.The conclusion of the study is that,when observed through the lens of fragility using a longitudinal framework,currently,Ethiopia has traversed beyond fragility and seems to be heading toward balkanization.

近代“主权”概念在中国的传播与影响

"主权"(sovereignty)是国际法学的核心术语之一。19世纪中期,美国传教士丁韪良在翻译西方国际法著作时,将sovereignty译定为"主权",并译介了其内涵和外延。随着社会危机的日益加深,"主权"概念在近代中国广为传播,影响深远。

Evidence of China's sea boundary in the South China Sea

According to a series of important historical maps,i.e.,the Location Map of the South China Sea Islands,the Nansha Islands,Zhongsha Islands,Xisha Islands,Yongxing Island and Shidao Island,and Taiping Island（archived by the Territorial Administration Division of the Ministry of Interior of Republic of China in 1946）,and the Administration District Map of the Republic of China published in 1948,the dashed line surrounding the South China Sea Islands represents China＇s sea boundary in the South China Sea at that time.It was both connected with,and an extension of,the land boundary of China.At that time the dashed line was used to represent the waters boundaries while the solid line was used to represent the land boundary—a universal method used in maps that was then recognized internationally.The above observation provides historical and scientific evidence of China＇s sea boundary in the South China Sea that is useful for the international maritime delimitation over the South China Sea area.

The Nature of No-Fly Zones in International Relations

A No-Fly Zone (NFZ) is a unique mode of humanitarian intervention that is understudied in international relations. This article focuses on the politics of NFZs in international relations, and investigates their nature by empirically reviewing all three cases of NFZs to date. NFZs represent a middle ground for international intervention which, both legally and legitimately, may be aimed at either protecting populations or promoting regime change in weak states, depending on the circumstances. There may be efforts by intervening states to highlight humanitarian crises among certain targets in order to secure UN authorization for the NFZs;but the implementation of NFZs is also largely driven by the security interests of the enforcing states. As a result, there is the potential for those states implementing NFZs to transcend legal authorization and to at times use excessive force, with the potential for calamitous results for local people, or, in extreme cases, to accomplish regime change by supporting opposition parties in target states.

China-US Competition in Digital Technologies and EU Strategy

Unable to catch up with China and the United States in the short term,the European Union is in an unfavorable position in the booming digital technology sector needed for economic growth.Within the context of intensifying technological competition and diplomatic strain between China and the US,the EU and European countries have adapted their digital strategies.As a former balance strategy shifts toward constraining Chinese tech companies,Europe’s technological sovereignty is at stake.To enhance European tech capability and control,key measures include increased investment in digital tech,formation of a single European dataspace,and rules based on European values.The interplay between technology and geopolitics and the rising importance of values in digital regulations make possible a technology alliance,despite the introduction of protectionism into the mix.China will need to understand the situation and give positive response.