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This is submitted manuscript version. Published version available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2015.05.012 ; The development of regional governance for the protection of the environment, sustainable use of natural resources and conservation of its biodiversity is unquestionably a cornerstone of international environmental law and policy. With regard to marine and coastal issues, it has mainly been taking place through Regional Seas programmes, Regional Fishery Bodies and Large Marine Ecosystems mechanisms. Based on a similar geographical approach, however, these regional mechanisms raise concerns relating to their coordination and efficiency, and possibly overlap in what they aim to achieve. This paper provides a review of existing regional oceans governance mechanisms, assessing their individual and collective capacities to move towards ecosystem-based management, and highlighting options to make the regional landscape more coherent and effective.

ALLIANCE FORMATION HAS BEEN AN AREA OF MAJOR INTEREST IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. UNFORTUNATELY, MOST WORK IN THIS AREA HAS BEEN EITHER SPECULATIVE, THEORETICAL, OR DONE AT THE SYSTEMIC LEVEL. I PRESENT A SIMPLE THEORY OF THE PROCESS BY WHICH DECISION-MAKERS CHOOSE TO FORM MILITARY ALLIANCES. USING THIS THEORY, I AM ABLE TO DERIVE A NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT CONDITION FOR THE FORMATION OF MILITARY ALLIANCES AMONG DYADS OF NATIONS. I TEST THIS CONDITION ON 705 DECISION TO ALLY OR NOT MADE BY EUROPEAN MAJOR POWER DYADS IN THE 19TH CENTURY. THE RESULTS OF THIS TEST ARE QUITE ENCOURAGING WITH THE RATE OF FORMATION AMONG THOSE DYADS WHICH MEET THE CONDITION BEING THREE TIMES THE RATE AMONG THOSE WHICH DO NOT. IN ADDITION, THIS CONDITION REDUCES THE NUMBER OF POSSIBLE DYADIC ALLIANCES BY 20 PERCENT.

'Der Aufsatz untersucht die historische Entwicklung der rechtlichen Regelungen im Bereich der außenpolitischen Kompetenzen in den Föderalstaaten Deutschland, Schweiz und Österreich seit dem Westfälischen Frieden von 1648. Die aktuellen Diskussionen zur Außenpolitik von subnationalen Einheiten werden dadurch in einen längeren historischen Kontext gestellt. Zumindest in Bezug auf den strukturellen Indikator 'Monopolisierung der gate-keeper-Position zwischen Innen- und Außenpolitik durch die nationalstaatlichen Exekutiven' zeigt sich, dass die aktuellen Thesen von einem Wandel des Westfälischen Systems souveräner, territorial exklusiver Nationalstaaten und einer Entwicklung zurück zum mittelalterlichen System überlappender Herrschaften wenig Bestätigung finden. Die vergleichende Untersuchung verdeutlicht aber auch, dass sowohl beim Übergang von der mittelalterlichen zur modernen Ordnung wie auch bei den aktuellen Veränderungstendenzen bereits bei so 'verwandten' Staaten wie Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz erhebliche Unterschiede in Bezug auf die Dauer und die Stabilität des nationalstaatlichen Monopols in der Außenpolitik festzustellen sind.' (Autorenreferat) ; 'The article provides a two-dimensional comparison of national rules concerning the distribution of competencies among national and sub-national administrations in the field of foreign affairs in the federal states of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. A first comparative dimension is the development over time. Starting with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 three stages are differentiated in all three countries - before the national monopoly in foreign affairs, during the uncontested time of a national monopoly and current challenges to the monopoly. An uncontested monopoly in foreign affairs indicates the strength of the gate-keeper-position of the national executives between the international and the domestic political realms. The existence of such a gate-keeper-position is a basic structural feature of the modern political system of sovereign nation states ('the Westphalian Order'). In terms of general changes over time, the study shows only weak support for the hypothesis that we are currently witnessing a massive change in the Westphalian Order and a 'return to medieval times' with multiple and overlapping authorities in international affairs. The comparison between the three countries reveals remarkable differences in respect to duration and uncontested stability of the national monopoly in the field of foreign affairs. The specific paths of transformation from the medieval order to the modern order in the various nation states influences clearly the strength of the current challenges to the monopoly of the national executives in foreign affairs.' (author's abstract)

EXISTING SCHOLARSHIP ON THE EVOLUTION OF PEKING'S FOREIGN POLICY FROM THE ANTI-HEGEMONIC UNITED FRONT POLICY OF THE LATE 1970'S TO THE INDEPENDENT POLICY OF 1982 LARGELY FALLS INTO TWO CATEGORIES: ARGUMENTS THAT THE REORIENTATION WAS PROMPTED BY A NEW GLOBAL REALITY AND ARGUMENTS THAT THE GLOBAL REALITY REMAINED LARGELY UNCHANGED BUT PEKING REDISCOVERED THE SOVIET THREAT IN THE 1980'S. HOWEVER, BASED ON EVIDENCE THAT PEKING CHANGED ITS VIEW OF THE WAR THREAT AS EARLY AS THE LATE 1970'S, THIS PAPER ARGUES THAT BOTH CATEGORIES OF EXPLANATION ARE CONCEPTUALLY MISLEADING AND OFFERS A THIRD VIEW OF THIS REORIENTATION AND CONSEQUENTLY THE PEKING-WASHINGTON NEGOTIATIONS OF 1981-84 AS WELL.

In mainland China, everybody is registered as a member of a "hu-k'ou", a household. Every family has a "household registration book", listing the members of the family. On the first page of the book it says either "agricultural household" or "urban household". This distinction is of great importance for everybody. If someone happens to be registerd as "urban resident", he is entitled to subsidized grain rations and other subsidized goods, he is entitled to work allocation by the Labour Bureau, and he will normally have subsidized housing, social insurance, free or cheap mediccare. These goods and services are not provided to the peasants. The "hu-k'ou"-system, in other words, is a main division line between peasants and urban dwellers. The paper discusses the hu-k'ou-system as a bureaucratically imposed classification that determines the opportunities of every single Chinese on the mainland. (DÜI-Sen)