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Volume 15, Number 3, October 2003
Contributors
Reforming China's Embedded Socialist Compromise: China and the WTO by Shaun Breslin
After 15 years of negotiation, China finally entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 accepting terms that not only had it rejected for much of the negotiating period, but also were far more stringent than those previously negotiated by new developing country members. This is partly because the legal structure of the WTO provides developed country members with considerable leeway to impose conditions on prospective entrants. But the main explanation is found in a changing conception of how best to achieve China's long-term economic interests, and the need for key leaders to form transnational alliances in order to pursue their policy preferences.
Reasoning about Justice in Global Society|spagf|ro|epagf| by Janna Thompson
A moral theory of justice ought to be practical. This essay sets out the criteria that a theory needs to satisfy in order to count as practical and it argues that at the present time there is no practical theory of global justice that is also morally adequate. This conclusion is reached through a critical examination of the main strategies adopted by philosophers and political theorists for reasoning about justice in global affairs. The failure is not the fault of the theorists. Theories of justice presuppose a state of affairs that does not presently exist in global society. This essay charts the limits of a particular kind of moral reasoning--but does not close off all possibilities for moral reasoning about global issues.
Women, Political Decision-Making, and Peace-Building by Elisabeth Porter
Women generally are excluded from political decision-making processes. This article describes UN attempts to establish more inclusive practices through the Beijing Platform for Action (1995). As shown by the Beijing +5 Review, progress for women is limited. Cultural stereotypes justify women's exclusion from negotiating tables. Thus the ground- breaking UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on 'Women, Peace and Security' is highly significant. Despite the fact that limitations to its implementation remain, women outside the UN play dynamic roles in peace-building in civil society. Consequently, they expand the parameters of peace-building unconventionally to include all processes that foster peace.
The India-Pakistan Dispute over Jammu and Kashmir and the United States by Prithvi Ram Mudiam
The audacious and devastating attacks by Islamic militants on the World Trade Center (WTC) and the Pentagon in the United States on September 11, 2001 constitute a watershed event in modern world history whose repercussions are still being felt everywhere. The subsequent attempts by the United States to build a global coalition against terrorism and the military action that it initiated in Afghanistan which saw the collapse of the Taliban regime in Kabul had far-reaching implications for the geopolitics of the region and far beyond. This paper, however, seeks to focus on the American decision to convert Pakistan yet again into a 'frontline state', this time in its fight against international terrorism, and the implications of this partnership for India-Pakistan relations, particularly their dispute over Jammu and Kashmir (hereafter 'Kashmir').
Book Reviews