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President Chiang Kai-shek's death on 16 April and President Gerald Ford's announcement that he would visit Peking in the autumn of 1975 once again direct attention to the political future of the Republic of China and the 16 million inhabitants of Taiwan. Progress towards diplomatic normalization between the United States and the People's Republic of China has been slower than many would have expected following President Nixon's visit to the mainland in February 1972. For the island's inhabitants any dramatic change in their political status may spell a permanent alteration in their life style, which has become substantially different from that of the mainland. Precisely because of this, one needs to look closely at their political aspirations and the socio-political changes that have occurred. Any political solution for Taiwan's future should be analysed with respect to its impact on these vital human interests.

The social movement literature has made a fundamental contribution to one of the most significant trends in contemporary political sociology: the effort to learn more about the culture of popular classes, and the implications of grassroots movement politics for broader political, social and economic realities. This essay presents a critical review of the Latin American social movement literature, from 1970 to the present. It chronicles and interprets the implications of the theoretical shift from Marxist and Marxist-inspired studies of the 1970s to the democratic and identity politics of the 1980s and 1990s. While celebrating the advances made, as class-based analysis was replaced by a more nuanced appreciation of politics and culture, it is also suggested that caution must be exercised lest the new perspective become overly concerned with cultural novelties at the expense of sober political analysis concerning the power of movements under neoliberalism. The essay ends on an optimistic note, with reference to recently published works that make important contributions to our understanding of movement/party/state relations and recent shifts in cultural identities and consciousness.

The article provides estimates of the "material standard of living" of the world's population by periods (life expectancy, the volume of production of consumer goods, services, and products per capita). Many scientists and experts, politicians and, statesmen who have left their mark on world history have thought about the concept of progress. Most of them supported the idea of "progress" only from the bottom up. One described the pinnacle of progress as Chinese communism and, another called it "Western democracy." This one-sided explanation reflects in the theory of five entities. (primitive, slavery, feudalism, capitalism and, communism or Western democracy). It emphasizes that all nations must go through these formations. The end of the twentieth century was characterized not only by the breakdown of the socialist system so "longawaited" in the West, the disappearance of the bipolar world and the emergence of world centers of power, unpredictable insane globalization with all the ensuing consequences, but, as it is obvious now, by the emergence of new, previously unseen threats and challenges not only to the sovereignty of individual countries but, above all, by threats to the existence of both each individual and by challenges to the existence of people itself. The first quarter of the 21st century, more than ever before, stuck out, exposed and, brought to the culmination point all painful problems - environmental, economic, geopolitical, socio-cultural, etc. The problem of adequate analysis and forecasting of these threats and challenges did not test, methodologically verified. The study made it possible to conclude that the issue of global and national security on earth is one of the main tasks of any state. And the understanding of the current requirements plays a principal role in preventing the emergence of a threat factor. Thus, understanding the period is one of the dominant needs in preventing the emergence of a threat factor

With the widespread adoption of social media in many Asian societies, these platforms are increasingly used in a variety of ways to promote civic and political aims but such uses are shaped by various stakeholders and contexts of use. In this special issue, four papers on Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and China-Australia present highly contextualized assessments of the role of social media in civic and political life in Asia.

With the widespread adoption of social media in many Asian societies, these platforms are increasingly used in a variety of ways to promote civic and political aims but such uses are shaped by various stakeholders and contexts of use. In this special issue, four papers on Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and China-Australia present highly contextualized assessments of the role of social media in civic and political life in Asia.