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| 1 |
ID:
194045
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article investigates the cumulative effect of ‘One China’ policies of foreign states on the international status of Taiwan. It argues that these policies have come to constitute a global diplomatic framework marginalizing Taiwan legally, institution- ally, and politically, turning it into a de facto state with only limited international rights. Still, adhering to the notion of ‘One China’ is Taiwan’s most viable option for maintaining its de facto independence. Any unilateral attempt to alter Taiwan’s interna- tional status can be expected to result in Taiwan facing main- land China alone. This is not simply because of the latter’s power and geopolitical weight: International society has been oppos- ing unilateral changes of statehood for more than 60 years. Since at the root of cross-strait antagonisms is the lack of an agreed-upon ‘One China’ framework, the most favorable path forward for Taiwan is a comprehensive long-term bargain with mainland China that would expressly define and stabilize it. The framework should be grounded in the shared feature of the constitutional status quo on both sides of the strait – that there is, legally, one Chinese state.
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| 2 |
ID:
088128
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| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The adoption of the Inter-American Democratic Charter by the Organization of American States in 2001 proclaiming the right to democracy in the western hemisphere was hailed by many as a landmark development. Since then, however, constitutionally dubious transitions of democratically elected governments were attempted or took place in Venezuela, Haiti, and Ecuador. This paper examines whether the Charter can and should serve as the institutional guarantor of democratic legitimacy in the Americas. Its conclusions are skeptical. As an external instrument, the Charter is bound to have limited impact when government control or authority is subjected to significant domestic disruptions. The Charter's limitations do not lie with the document itself; rather they are inherent in the structure of the international states system. But the Charter's normative basis would be problematic even if these structural limitations did not exist. Taking its cue from the classical liberal approach to international relations, the paper argues that democracy must ultimately be the choice and responsibility of those who live within its bounds, and not of outside governments or institutions.
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