Planning in Turbulent Times: Exploring Planners' Agency in Jerusalem

This article explores the role of planning in the deeply divided and politically polarized context of Jerusalem. The overall argument developed throughout the article is that the relation between planning and politics is a non‐hierarchical set of interactions, negotiated within specific historical, geographical, legal and cultural contexts—in other words, orders don't come down from the politicians to be slavishly followed by planners. In this respect our findings, based on in‐depth interviews with Israeli planners, suggest that the case of Jerusalem represents a particularly dramatic illustration of the fact that the function of planning expertise can only be understood in relation to the surrounding socio‐political environment. Furthermore, contrary to conventional wisdom, planners in Jerusalem are not destined to either complicity or irrelevance in the face of political imperatives; planners' agency, however, does not simply reflect their mastery of specific professional knowledge and tools, but also their ability to act strategically in relation to the context in which they operate.     

批判与继承:二战后法国的地缘政治思想

20世纪60年代末至70年代初,法国国际影响力的大幅衰落、西欧一体化进程的发展以及战后经济社会危机的出现,为法国地缘政治研究的复兴创造了历史与社会背景。在其后几十年时间里,法国地缘政治学者在激烈批判传统地缘政治本体论、认识论及其历史影响的基础上,通过继承法国传统政治地理学的一些基本方法主张,针对20世纪下半叶世界政治发展呈现的诸多问题,在相当广泛的议程上展开了考察。二战后的法国地缘政治思想以其注重文化解读、关注个案分析、拒斥理论归纳的情调风格以及在国际合作、一体化条件下民族国家的地位作用、对广大第三世界国家的案例分析等项议题上的研究,体现出鲜明的法国特色与法国立场,具有广泛的学术与社会影响,为当代地缘政治研究的发展做出了一定的贡献。     

俄罗斯能源战略的亚太取向——俄罗斯石油天然气战略的地缘取向

根据俄罗斯推出的国际能源发展战略,俄仍将以能源为杠杆加强其在世界的地位,利用能源因素发展国际合作关系,对能源、经济等问题施加影响。今后俄燃料和能源部门的主要出口战略将倾向于进入亚太地区市场,即开发东西伯利亚和远东地区新油气,拓宽出口渠道,保证石油天然气产品的出口安全。     

美国页岩油气资源发展的影响与启示

页岩油气的商业化成功从产量和价格对美国能源市场产生了深远的影响,使美国趋于油气资源独立;同时,向全球展示了页岩油气开发技术和产业运营上的经验。文章在梳理美国页岩油气资源发展现状后,描述了其对全球其他国家的辐射示范作用;同时,从油气贸易流向、油气地缘政治和油气资源交易价格三个方面系统地分析了美国页岩油气资源发展对全球油气市场的影响。     

Mars or Mercury redux: The geopolitics of bilateral trade agreements

We analyse the role of economic and security considerations in bilateral trade agreements. We use the pre‐World War I period to test whether trade agreements are governed by standard gravity variables, or by instead—or in addition—geopolitical factors. While we like others find support for standard gravity variables, we also find that defence pacts boost the probability of trade agreements by as much as 20 percentage points. Our estimates imply that were the U.S. to alienate its geopolitical allies, the likelihood and benefits of successful bilateral agreements would fall significantly. Trade creation from an agreement between the U.S. and E.U. countries would decline by about 0.6 per cent of total U.S. exports.     

Learning from the world? Horizontal knowledge flows and geopolitics in international consulting firms

This paper examines the nature of the contemporary multinational corporation (MNC) through a study of the use of knowledge management systems (KMS) in four major international consulting firms. In particular, we explore whether and how such systems facilitate horizontal (inter-subsidiary) flows of knowledge, as described in the network view of the MNC. Our analysis reveals the presence of horizontal flows within the four firms, but flows that are contextually constrained and partly shaped by geopolitical power relations. Thus, our study gives some support to the image of the MNC as a network whilst highlighting the contextual limits of horizontal knowledge transfer and, importantly, the geopolitical conditions under which such knowledge transfer takes place. At the same time, it challenges the claim that consulting firms are model organizations in the area of knowledge management as well as the more negative view that questions the ability of KMS to facilitate knowledge transfer.     

论印巴关系的现状及其中的中国角色

当今世界格局更多的呈现区域化发展趋势,同一地区的国家在资源整合和优势合作上有着更多的便利,南亚区域合作联盟同样是基于地区发展的目的成立,该地区的两个主要国家印度与巴基斯坦关系的改善成为本地区进一步发展的重要促进力量,而与该地区有着深刻的地缘因素联系的中国,在印巴关系与该区域发展中都扮演着十分重要的角色。     

科索沃和阿富汗:美国争夺石油利益的战略通道

在新旧世纪之交的短短3年内，美国以避免“人道主义危机”和“反恐”为由先后发动了科索沃战争和阿富汗战争。今天看来，尽管这两场战争有着不同的理由和不尽一致的战略意图，但都隐藏着一个共同的战略目标：依靠军事力量在世界“石油供应心脏地带”及其油气连接通道地带进行油气地缘政治(oil-gas geopolitics)扩张，维护和控制美国主导的中亚通往西欧的石油运输通道和通向印度洋的石油供应通道，阻隔通向中国和俄罗斯实施的石油连接战略要道，以实现美国新的“大中东”石油霸权战略。     

Bridging Civilizations From Asia to Europe： The Silk Road

Throughout history, Silk Road played an important role with connecting more than 50 countries between its endpoints. Reviving this ancient trade route is a contemporary discussion among politicians. There are many projects realized and proposed for the resurgence of the modem Silk Road, including the railroad project connecting Baku, Tiflis and Kars of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey; the undersea rail tunnel under the Bosphorus strait, Marmaray; the Silk Road Economic Belt proposed by China; and the Maritime Silk Road, again proposed by China. Just like the original Silk Road, it was not only a route for caravans or trade, but it was a meeting point for cultural, religious, and philosophical exchanges that served humanity for centuries; today＇s modem Silk Road initiatives should be considered as bridges between Eastern and Western civilizations that will serve the same purpose of its ancient predecessor. The revived Silk Road will facilitate strengthening of relationships in between countries that experienced harmony in history. The railways, transportation facilities, transnational gates, energy corridors, and natural gas pipelines that constitute the Silk Road will transform the region with improving its economy and bringing peace and economic prosperity. With recent developments, it witnesses the importance of geopolitical and historical ties in establishing contemporary alliances. Although there are great expectations with the revival of the modern Silk Road, authors would like to emphasize that it should be an agreement to foster shared interests rather than the interest of bigger partners.