From Sovereignty to Imperium: Borders,Frontiers and the Specter of Neo-Imperialism

Borders are changing in myriad and multifaceted ways. After 9/11, states redoubled efforts at shoring up their perimeters and building walls. But borders are not merely increasingly securitized, they are also becoming thicker and bi-national. This new ‘zonal’ border emerging worldwide radically shifts the debate about borders and sovereignty. If sovereignty is indivisible, unitary and final, how can it be shared between states at their mutual perimeters? Is this really evidence of sovereignty waning? In this article, I suggest we are stuck at this conceptual impasse because of two conflations. The first one involves two aspects of sovereignty: authority and control. Looking at borders as thin jurisdictional lines, we observe only their legal authority (de jure); instead, by examining changing modes of control, we can see how new securitized borders actually reinforce state strength. The second conflation revolves around the conceptual linking of borders, states and sovereignty. This article argues that as borders thicken, they start to resemble frontiers, and sovereignty starts to resemble imperium – a Roman designation for political authority that is territorially unbounded. This disrupts the border/state dyad and situates borders (lines) and frontiers (zones) on a continuum. In doing so, it reveals how sovereignty is not waning, but changing shape – a worrisome geopolitical conclusion given the possibilities of neo-Imperialism due to power asymmetries between neighbouring states.     

全球化时代的中国经济及其世界性影响

全球化进程决定了中国经济的高度开放,造就了双重资本积累模式,即内资主导的工业化城市化积累和外资主导的全球低端制造平台积累.这一模式加速了中国经济增长,同时削弱了经济自主.反过来,中国对世界经济造成了多方面影响,包括改变劳资利益格局,推动各国产业重组,改变金融市场结构,加强中美金融依赖等,这些影响随着中国的经济增长和结构升级将日趋显著.因此,中国必须立足内需实现可持续增长,并依靠技术创新来控制资源和环境成本.     

Technologies of Border Management: Performances and Calculation of Finnish/Schengen Border Security

This paper focuses on the Finnish Border Guard, a professional law enforcement authority responsible for the control and surveillance of the Finnish and Schengen borders, and its performances of border security. Performativity approach means that the analysis of the material, consisting of the bulletins and reports that have been published by the Border Guard service, is not merely focused on the representation of borders but the bulletins themselves are understood as performances of border security. The paper argues that new technological innovations, together with new legislation and institutional procedures, now steering the governance of the Finnish/Schengen border, are bound up with a new culture of border management in which border security is not (just) conceptualised in terms of territorial sovereignty but in terms of international cooperation, prevention and economic profitability.     

经济全球化时代发展中国家的经济主权

进入21世纪以来,世界经济全球化趋势日益明显。经济全球化在极大地推动各国经济发展的同时,国家的经济主权特别是发展中国家的经济主权在意识形态、经济独立权、经济立法权、经济稳定性等方面也受到了很大的冲击。如何利用经济全球化趋势发展本国经济,同时又能够维护国家经济主权,是发展中需要研究的课题。本文就发展中国家在经济全球化过程中,如何采取积极的应对措施以雏护国家和民族的经济利益做一探讨。     

Tabloid realism and the revival of American security culture

At a time when notions like globalisation and cultural fragmentation are being used to describe the changing nature of international politics, a persistently conservative discourse of national security (re)surfaces in foreign policy literatures. The purpose of this essay is to analyse this ‘new’ discourse and sketch out some of its ideological intents. Referred to as ‘tabloid realism’, this discourse can be found in texts authored by American scholars such as Robert Kaplan, Samuel Huntington and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Tabloid realism is a discourse of geopolitics which resists the idea that territorial sovereignty and national security are currently being transformed. Imitating the narrative style of tabloid publications, tabloid realists seek to grab the attention of the public by providing highly sensationalistic and overtly panic-stricken representations of international affairs. By proliferating fear-inducing images of current realities and preparing for a soon to be anarchical future, tabloid realists hope to conservatively re-anchor the state to stabilising visions of national security, geographical borders, and economic interests.     

Does the quality of political institutions affect intra-industry trade within trade blocs? The ASEAN perspective

There has been a renewed resolve for deeper integration and cooperation within ASEAN. Intra-industry trade (IIT) is often viewed as a way of achieving economic as well as political integration. This article tests for the effect that political regime and governance may have on the intensity of IIT. We particularly examine if quality of political institutions which includes corruption and democracy indices as well as economic factors comprising corporate tax rate, regional FDI flow, flexibility of exchange rate regime, size of the market, economic distance affect the intensity of horizontal and vertical IIT. The study finds that control of corruption and good governance both increase the vertical IIT but not the horizontal IIT. The study further finds that intra-economy FDI flow, stable exchange rate regime, market size and proximity positively affect IIT within the trade bloc. However the negative effect of corporate tax rate suggests that if countries were to coordinate their tax policies, they could avoid harmful tax competition and promote IIT across their borders. The findings regarding the effect those economic and political factors have on the intensity of IIT certainly warrants the attention of policy makers and researchers alike.     

政府职能与投资体制——基于国际数据及经验的分析

政府职能范围对投资体制的形成确定具有决定性作用.政府职能、发展阶段、发展战略、经济结构等因素与投资体制存在动态循环作用.未来投资体制将出现:(1)政府参与投资的领域将逐步集中于公共事务;(2)公共投资领域中也将逐步引入市场运作机制;(3)投资的宏观调控方面将以间接方式为主;(4)直接融资相对规模将提高,间接融资相对规模将下降,财政资金相对规模可能呈倒U形变化;(5)投资中介机构的地位和作用将加大.     

Trade – A Catalyst for Peace?

The trade regime agreed in the Paris Protocol was determined by political rather than economic considerations. It failed to create a level playing-field between Israeli and Palestinian producers, because of Israeli non-tariff barriers and the lack of provision for external arbitration of disputes between parties with unequal powers. The novel element in the agreement of the three lists of specified goods generated uncertainties and conflicts, as well as some side benefits for the Palestinian Authority. The arrangements for the clearance of import and other taxes to the PA were complex and conflict-generating. Recommendations are made for improvements in future agreements.     

Labor migration in Europe: experiences from Germany after unification

"This paper examines the effects of diverging economic conditions on labor migration within reunified Germany. We employ a life-cycle model with consumers' sovereignty regarding choice of location to derive estimates of labor migration in future periods. Heterogeneity of individuals is explicitly taken into account by adopting a random utility approach....Within limits, our predictions can serve as rough indicators of potential future migration between Eastern and Western Europe."     

‘Sovereignty Entrepreneurs’ and the Production of State Power in Two Central African Borderlands

This article advances a subaltern geopolitics of sovereignty production at the borders of the DR Congo – the supposedly most fragile – and South Sudan – the youngest state in Africa. Moving beyond critiques of representing postcolonial statehood and sovereignty in terms of ‘lack’ and ‘failure’, we localise and ground analysis by drawing on Butler’s figure of the ‘petty sovereign’‘ to analyse the agency of border officials at the DR Congo/Rwanda and the South Sudan/Uganda border who we refer to as ‘sovereignty entrepreneurs’: officials who, tasked with managing and controlling the border, in constant face-to-face negotiations and closely linked to resource competition prescribe, set and decide on the terms and conditions of border crossing. It is argued that in the context of the DR Congo and South Sudan, where the states’ claims to territorial sovereignty face similar internal and external challenges, the border work of sovereignty entrepreneurs, characterised by the ability to tax, threaten and discipline with impunity, represents a form of sovereign power that renders the state’s capacity to act excessively visible at its borders.     

Out of Africa? Using the Past to Project African Emigration Pressure in the Future

The paper uses analysis of the mass emigration from poor Europe in the late nineteenth century to project the future mass emigration potential from Africa, especially to the economically more mature Mediterranean economies. The economic and demographic fundamentals driving both experiences are likely to be the same, but their magnitudes are likely to be far bigger in the African case over the next few decades. Efforts to restrict the migration and to seal porous borders may be partially successful; but, if so, they are certain to create unpleasant side–effects. European restrictions will create a greater share of illegals and thus greater absorption problems in recipient nations: European restrictions will create more poverty in African sending regions. And European restrictions will create considerable diplomatic problems between the two regions.     

From Smart Borders to Perimeter Security: The Expansion of Digital Surveillance at the Canadian Borders

Since 2001, border security policy between Canada and the US has morphed from “smart borders” to the present “beyond the border” (perimeter security) agreement resulting in the expansion of new techniques of border surveillance including pre-emptive profiling of travellers and biometric data sharing. In this paper, we argue that these border agreements have increasingly resulted in a changing experience of sovereign power for those crossing the border. This is demonstrated through a discussion of: the major border policies between Canada and the US since 11 September 2001, developed under the influence of US hegemony; how these policies perpetrate a generalised state of exception; and how these policies affect refugees, migrants, and citizens. Reading Agamben’s insights from a sociological perspective, we argue that the presumption of security-through-surveillance erodes border crossers’ human rights, and that some people – those from disadvantaged race/class backgrounds – are more affected than others by the implementation of the evolving border regime. We also emphasise the contingencies and unintended consequences of the ongoing projects. The conclusion offers brief comments on the consequences of these developments on Canadian identity and points out the directions for future research in this domain.     

Border Bargains and the “New” Sovereignty: Canada-US Border Policies from 2001 to 2005 in Perspective

From 2001 to 2005 Canada and the US dramatically altered the way each country views its border. In response to the attacks on New York City and Washington DC, Canada and the US entered into three important partnerships: the Smart Borders Agreement (SBA), the Container Security Initiative (CSI), and the Security Prosperity Partnership (SPP). These arrangements will be conceptualised here as “tacit bargains” whereby Canada provided the US with security in hope of renewed trust and economic accessibility. These “tacit bargains” required a concession of traditional state sovereignty so that stable and predictable relations between both countries could continue. While this process is ostensibly a violation of state sovereignty, the argument presented here is that these three “tacit bargains” represent a transition of “old” sovereignty to “new” sovereignty.     

Issue linkage versus ringfencing in international agreements*

Issue linkage is often regarded as a means to enhance international cooperation in the presence of a sovereignty constraint. This constraint means a country can leave an agreement whenever it likes, if the perceived gains from leaving are larger than the gains from staying in the agreement. We set up a model of international agreements in which future gains from cooperation are uncertain, and it is bad realizations that can lead to exit. In this environment, we show that ringfencing dominates issue linkage, even in the absence of complementarities between separate issues, if the degree of uncertainty is sufficiently large.     

What drags and drives mobility? Explaining Canada's aggregate migration patterns

Understanding the factors that determine the migration of labour between regions is crucial for assessing the response of the economy to macroeconomic shocks and identifying policies that will encourage an efficient reallocation of labour. Using a gravity model, Poisson pseudo‐maximum likelihood specifications and Census data for 69 economic regions, this article examines the determinants of aggregate migration within Canada from 1991 to 2006. Our results suggest that migration tends to increase with differences in labour market performance. We also find that provincial borders have the strongest impact on migration involving low‐populated regions and that distance is most important across provincial borders.     

Uneven Borders,Coloured (Im)mobilities: ID Cards in Palestine/Israel

The Israeli state apparatus mandates differentiated IDs to Palestinian citizens of Israel, Palestinian non-citizens in East Jerusalem, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. The bureaucracy of Palestinian ID cards since 1948 has rendered Palestinians more legible for the security interests of Israel while simultaneously discriminating Palestinians from Jews as unequal citizens and non-citizens. The ID card regime, and less so the permit regime, limits Palestinian geographic movement and economic mobility while simultaneously permitting freer Jewish-Israeli flows and mobilities. ID cards demonstrate the power of the Israeli regime to produce distinct people and bind them to specific territories (such as the Palestinians), while allowing others (Jewish-Israelis) to ‘trespass’ over those same boundaries. Through ID cards borders are erected between Jewish and Arab people, not Israeli and Palestinian territory. The ID card regime puts into question the nature and territorial boundaries of ‘Israel’, and the geopolitical existence of the ‘Palestinian Territories.’     

Missing from the Map: Chinese Exceptionalism,Sovereignty Regimes and the Belt Road Initiative

ABSTRACT

Historical and conventional international relations (IR) frameworks describe the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) as representing a newly ambitious Chinese drive into global politics that positions China as moving away from its long-time reticence towards foreign entanglements. This raises a contradiction of China being at one and the same time both a defender of its own territorial sovereignty while also being engaged in various projects, particularly the BRI and the associated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), that point in completely different directions. This paper seeks to build upon and move beyond conventional framings to understand how the BRI represents a conflict over the workings of state sovereignty that such frameworks have trouble addressing. We argue that the absence of an official Chinese government BRI map promotes a ‘useful fuzziness’ with regards to China being open to crafting a new as of yet undefined geopolitical identity. In light of the absence of such a map, this work considers key ideas relating to China’s geopolitical expansion via the BRI in terms of so-called sovereignty regimes – the idea that various practices of authority and control emanating originally from states take different geographical shapes. Conflicts arise when a state, such as China, finds itself caught between the operational imperatives of multiple regimes. By identifying the current sovereignty dynamics raised by the BRI in light of the relevant, yet distinctive historical experience of the Marshall Plan, this work can be used as a model for understanding how China’s current leadership is managing the debate of simultaneously protecting ‘strong borders’ yet also promoting a policy of ‘going out’.     

发展战略与汇率制度选择

一般而言,一国汇率制度的选择会受该国经济和政治因素的影响,而发展中国家在选择汇率制度时还会受到其发展战略的影响.本文考察了发展战略与汇率制度选择之间的关系,发现实施赶超战略和进口替代战略的国家会选择固定汇率制度并高估本币币值,甚至采用多元汇率制度;实施出口导向战略的国家会选择固定汇率或者钉住汇率制度,一般钉住美元且波幅很小,并低估本币币值;而只有真正实施比较优势战略的国家才选择浮动汇率制度,政府很少干预汇率的变化.现阶段,我国要坚定地实施有管理的浮动汇率.并适当控制人民币的升值速度.     

经济全球化条件下国家主权探析

Formally, national so vereign ty can be ideotified as hard and soft; social-structurally, it consists of politicat sovereign ty, economic sovereignty and cultural sovereignty. With the globalization of world economy, national sovereignty is changing. Our country is now confronted by three major challenges: the independence of economic sovereignty, the integrity of politicat sovereignty and the equality of cultural sovereignty. This research probes how to maximize national benefits under globalization.