The cooperative and conflictual interactions between the United States,Russia, and China: A quantitative analysis of event data

The United States, Russia and China are militarily and economically among the most powerful countries in the post-Cold War period, and the interactions between the three powers heavily influence the international system. However, different conclusions about this question are generally made by researchers through qualitative analysis, and it is necessary to objectively and quantitatively investigate their interactions. Monthly-aggregated event data from the Global Data on Events, Location and Tone(GDELT) to measure cooperative and conflictual interactions between the three powers, and the complementary cumulative distribution function(CCDF) and the vector autoregression(VAR) method are utilized to investigate their interactions in two periods: January, 1991 to September, 2001, and October, 2001 to December, 2016. The results of frequencies and strengths analysis showed that: the frequencies and strengths of USA-China interactions slightly exceeded those of USA-Russia interactions and became the dominant interactions in the second period. Although that cooperation prevailed in the three dyads in two periods, the conflictual interactions between the USA and Russia tended to be more intense in the second period, mainly related to the strategic contradiction between the USA and Russia, especially in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria. The results of CCDF indicated that similar probabilities in the cooperative behaviors between the three dyads, but the differences in the probabilities of conflictual behaviors in the USA-Russia dyad showed complicated characteristic, and those between Russia and China indicated that Russia had been consistently giving China a hard time in both periods when dealing with conflict. The USA was always an essential factor in affecting the interactions between Russia and China in both periods, but China's behavior only played a limited role in influencing the interactions between the USA-Russia dyad. Our study provides quantitative insight into the direct cooperative and conflictual interactions between the three dyads since the end of the Cold War and helps to understand their interactions better.     

我国海洋战略性新兴产业国际化发展研究

海洋战略性新兴产业的国际化发展对于建设海洋强国和发展海洋经济具有重要的理论和实际意义。文章分析我国海洋战略性新兴产业国际化起步晚和发展快、产业结构不断完善和区域发展水平存在差异的发展状况,提出目前存在的缺乏区域协调配合和交流合作以及政府支持政策亟须细化等主要问题,探索区域差异化发展模式、产业技术创新联盟合作模式、多元化投融资模式和国际合作模式等海洋战略性新兴产业国际化发展模式,在此基础上提出优化产业结构和布局、完善发展体制机制、加强国际交流合作、加强资金投入和人才培养以及强化示范项目建设的对策建议。     

A collective approach to Pacific islands fisheries management: Moving beyond regional agreements

The sustainable management and profitable development of the Pacific island tuna fisheries is the key ocean governance challenge for the Pacific islands region in the short and medium term. Resolving these challenges is fundamental to the long term future of the region and its ability to implement oceans governance across all resource and conservation concerns.     

韩国“新北方政策”对接“一带一路”倡议：机遇与挑战

韩国“新北方政策”与“一带一路”倡议的对接合作为中韩两国带来了重要发展机遇。文章主要探讨韩国“新北方政策”的内涵及其与“一带一路”倡议对接的进展、机遇与挑战,得出双方对接的合作机遇主要在政策沟通、设施联通、贸易投资和资金融通4个方面,同时也存在着制度性风险、地缘风险和投资合作风险的三大挑战。在具体对接过程中,产业、金融、物流3个领域可能成为突破口。     

京津冀协同治理的回顾与前瞻

京津冀区域治理是伴随三地协作发展的进程,从政府层面的管制转向各利益主体协调治理,从自上而下的竞争合作转向上下结合的协同合作的一系列有效应对举措。经过30多年的努力,学界和政府部门已经形成了较为丰富的京津冀区域治理研究成果。通过梳理自1984年以来相关区域的研究,尝试从时空维度厘清京津冀区域治理的研究脉络及其变化,剖析目前京津冀区域治理所涉及的治理模式、协调体系、以及形成的发展策略,为改进和提高京津冀区域治理效果提供参考。京津冀协同治理过程是学术界与政府的互动融合过程,其中政府的作用居主导地位。未来将在治理主体、治理机制、治理效果评价和文化、医疗、养老等领域的协调发展方面得到深化和细化。     

Water Cooperation Priorities in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin Based on Cooperative Events Since the Mekong River Commission Establishment

The Lancang-Mekong River has attracted much attention from researchers, but the cooperation on water issues in this river basin has been limited, even after the establishment of the Mekong River Commission(MRC). Cooperation on water resources has been determined as one of the key priority areas in the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism, but there are no details of targets. In order to establish the priorities of water cooperation under the mechanism, we adopted nine categories to classify the objectives of 87 water cooperation events based on the ‘Lancang-Mekong Water Cooperative Events Database' from 1995 to 2015. Based on the occurrence of cooperative events, cooperative objectives, cooperative scales, and approaches to cooperation, we conducted statistical, correlation, and text analyses. Our analyses indicated the following results: under the impact of economic conditions inside and outside the river basin, full cooperation appeared more difficult than bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Each of the partners adopted different preferences for cooperation targets. Cooperation with more definite objectives was easier to establish than cooperation with broader and more complex objectives. The potential objectives for water cooperation were navigation, hydropower, joint management, data sharing, flood control and water use. Because hydropower development is controversial, and because water cooperation is avoided by most existing regional cooperation mechanisms due to its complexity, we suggest the following priority areas for water cooperation in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin. 1) Navigation and flood control/drought relief are attractive objectives for all the riparian countries across the whole watershed. 2) Data sharing should be a priority for cooperation in the watershed due to its laying the foundation for the equitable and reasonable utilization of transboundary waters. 3) Hydropower is an objective best implemented mainly through bilateral cooperation, and on tributaries.     

国际蓝碳合作发展与中国的选择

海洋储存了地球上93%的CO_2,是全球最大的碳库。发挥海洋固碳、储碳作用,对应对全球气候变化具有重要意义。《联合国气候变化框架公约》和《巴黎协定》是2020年后国际气候治理的基础,为国际蓝碳合作指明了方向,也提供了国际法依据。当前,国际蓝碳合作从科学研究向纳入国际气候治理方向不断推进,不少国际组织和国家已着手推动蓝碳国际规则制定。中国蓝碳资源分布广泛,特色鲜明,蓝碳发展起步阶段里中国的参与不仅是对全球应对气候变化的重要贡献,更有助于通过蓝碳合作增强我国在全球气候治理和海洋治理领域的影响力和话语权。我国蓝碳发展应从国内、国际两个方面着手。在国内夯实基础、补足短板,加强蓝碳基础研究和实践,建立蓝碳评估标准,加快蓝碳人才队伍建设。在国际上积极参与现有国际蓝碳计划,在"21世纪海上丝绸之路"等机制框架下开展双、多边蓝碳合作,推动全球蓝碳治理,从积极参与向适时引领发展。     

Calling for Nexus Approach: Introduction of the Flagship Programme on Climate,Ecosystems and Livelihoods

The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) launched at the end of 2016 a decade-long (2016-2025) flagship programme on Climate, Ecosystems and Livelihoods (CEL), with the aim to assist developing countries in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate targets while protecting their ecosystems and improving the livelihoods of their people. The CEL programme is a major initiative supported by China and other developing countries to promote long-term South-South cooperation, led by the United Nations Environment Programme International Ecosystem Management Partnership (UNEP-IEMP). This article presents the conceptual framework and implementation strategy of the CEL programme, which were proposed through consultations between UN Environment, Chinese and international experts. Within the conceptual framework, the CEL programme will 1) focus its work on the nexus of climate change, ecosystem services and sustainable livelihoods as the primary priority; 2) encourage cross-sectoral and multi-stakeholder cooperation, enhance interdisciplinary research, and strive for breakthroughs that cross disciplinary boundaries; 3) provide four types of services and products—monitoring and assessment, capacity building, technology demonstration, and science for policy through mainly South-South cooperation; and 4) have far-reaching impacts on delivering SDGs and climate targets in vulnerable developing countries. The CEL programme is going to be implemented in a strategic way through a set of related projects and initiatives. More particularly, it will 1) focus on fragile ecosystems like drylands, mountains, river basins and coastal zones in Asia, Africa and other key regions along the Belt and Road, in the early stage and expand to include some other regions at a later stage; 2) take a three-phase approach, including Phase I, Kick -off (2016-2018), Phase II, Development (2019-2021), and Phase III, Scaling-up (2022-2025); and 3) draw on the globally relevant knowledge, expertise and other resources of a substantial network of partners. So far, UNEP-IEMP has developed more than twenty projects and initiatives in the regions along the Belt and Road, especially in Africa and the Greater Mekong Subregion, which lay a solid foundation for the implementation of CEL programme in its first phase.     

A Study on the Spatial Distribution of China’s Potential Foreign Cooperation on Grain from Geographical View

Further utilization of global agricultural resources and the expansion of potential international cooperation space are necessary measures to promote a new level of China’s national food security and optimize the structure of domestic food consumption. This study measured the global potential cultivated land area and national grain self-sufficiency. Based on the two-above measures, the authors made a classification of China’s foreign agricultural cooperation countries and depicted the spatial pattern of cooperation based on the grain trades of those countries with China. The grain exporters include Australia, North America, South America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia; and the target countries for “going abroad” of Chinese grain enterprises are mainly located in Sub-Saharan Africa and northern Latin America. This study proposes that China’s policy of cooperation on grain should be shifted to non-traditional partners alongside the “Belt and Road Initiative” region. Specifically, China could expand grain imports from Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other East European and Central Asian countries, and the direction for China’s agricultural enterprises “going abroad” should shift to Sub-Sahara Africa.     

长江经济带区域合作的格局与演变

梳理区域合作的政治经济环境演变,试图对长江经济带区域合作的主体、主题、形式和发展水平等进行综合分析。流域管治事务复杂,部门管理与行政区管理交叉,造就了区域合作模式多样与发展水平差异。经济带在长江防洪、大通关和检疫等方面的合作发展迅速,而在水资源环境、港口岸线、基础设施和生态补偿等方面的信息共享和合作平台建设仍发展缓慢。长三角已经建立了覆盖全、层次多、主题丰富的区域合作机制;由于国家长期对成渝经济区的推崇,两地在区域性项目建设上合作密切;中游四省合作发展水平相对最低,缺乏强有力的中心城市引领,地区竞争大于合作激励。