Globalaffairs

Issue 2/ April-May 2007
By Roger Casas

As a new constitution is being drafted in Thailand, the question of whether Buddhism should be officially designated state religion has raised again and provoked a public debate in the country. Although the official position of the Constitution Drafting Committee so far has been one of caution and respect for previous governments´ decisions concerning this problem (and therefore of not explicitly placing Buddhism as the official religion of the kingdom), some Buddhist groups appear to have gained the support of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), whose committee on religious, moral, artistic and cultural affairs confirmed at the end of March that it will propose the Drafting Committee to include a clause recognizing Buddhism as the national religion of Thailand in the new constitution. As the committee has put it, it is only a matter of admitting the importance of Buddhism for Thai identity and of ensuring official support for it. Nevertheless, the “national religion” question is a particularly complex and sensitive one in present day Thailand, and a wrong decision regarding this matter could have profound consequences for the ongoing ethnic conflict in the South of the country.

In truth, and although the 1997 Constitution (abrogated inmediately after the September 2006 coup) did not refer to Buddhism as state religion, the significance of Theravada Buddhism for “Thai identity” is generally acknowledged by Thais themselves as well as by outside observers. According to the 1997 charter, the Thai king must be a Buddhist, and Buddhism is one of the institutions which, together with the nation and the monarchy, form the “Three Pillars” (sathaaban lak) upon which the modern political and cultural identity of the kingdom has been constructed. Between 85 and 94 percent (depending on the sources) of a population of around 64 million people is considered to be Buddhist and, in spite of the ongoing process of secularization, Buddhist values still determine social and political action in the country to an important extent. The intrincate infiltration of Buddhism through all aspects of secular life in Thailand makes apparently impossible to detach this religious tradition from any contemporary definition of “Thainess”.

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Issue 2/ April-May 2007
By Xavier Ortells

It is often that when a taxi driver in Beijing knows that he is carrying a Spaniard and the Chinese driver wants to talk the first subject to talk about are bulls: he will say with great enthusiasm ‘xibanya douniu’. If he continues talking he will praise Raul, Beckham or Ronaldinho and in the most surrealist occasions he will talk about the ‘tomato festival’, in other words, the ‘Tomatina’ from the Valencian village called Bunol. After the first shock this situation becomes exhausting and the Chinese references to Spanish folk become boring and sometimes a bit depressing.

It is not my intention to despise the traditional features of our culture, - independently of Spanish people’s identification with it- the relation between Spain and the most colourful and festive aspects, provokes natural discomfort in many sectors. Without doubt it is expected that recent initiatives as the new Cervantes Institute in Beijing or the Year of Spain in China will broaden the conceptions of Spain beyond the information spread by Chinese media. Likewise, it is important to stress that this phenomenon is bidirectional and Spain has to change, clarify and broaden ideas and above all, it has to show an interest in Chinese culture and reality.

Let’s figure out what a Spanish taxi driver would say about Chinese. Even more, let’s check the Spanish views about China. The overall impression of China is blurred, unclear, a mix of mistrust, disdain and envy. The growing Chinese migration to our country has to face, besides a cultural and linguistic distance, a great mutual ignorance that transforms the difference into threat and stains exoticism. Perhaps the most significant issue for international relations is the view of China of some businessmen and politicians, a view full of clichés, biased and arrogant.

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Issue 2/ April-May 2007
By Belen Dorado

The so called ‘A Hundred Schools of Thought’ (Baijia) includes all philosophical branches from China in different dynasties, they had ideas of the original thought that were applied to different intellect spheres. The Confucianism leaded by Kong Fu Zi was directed towards society and Taoism leaded by Zhuang Zi and Lao Zi was an individual thought as a result of the individual and for the individual.

Spheres of thought, social and individual, are the philosophical basis of Chinese and spring indisputably from the past of this great civilization, those ancestral periods when Shamans could communicate with Heaven and the Earth. During ancestral times the main characteristics of Chinese thought were developed. The surrounding elements were models to create the first characters of Chinese language, those interpreted by Shamans on tortoise shells and animal bones.

In the beginning of the society, the Chinese understood that likewise the universe has its own pace for the best development and evolution of elements, the individual as an environment element has a duty to the same pace. The natural hierarchy of all living things must be kept in the nature. Concepts such as Yin-Yang or Wu-Xing (five elements or forces) reinforce the importance of not being contra-nature.

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Issue 1/February-March 2007
By Evgeny Lykov

The concept of security is absolutely central to both theory and practice of International Relations (IR). At the same time the fact that the discipline of IR is fragmented into highly contending perspectives makes it extremely difficult to reach consensus concerning definition of the concept. Traditionally the concept of security has been mainly related to the use of military force. However, in the modern world other factors such as economic considerations and welfare values are of increasing importance and relevance to the concept of security. The main purpose of this essay is to explore the extent of such relevance and to identify whether the concept of security should be expanded beyond consideration of military force.

Central questions

The central problem in the study of security in the post-Cold War era is the lack of consensus concerning the question of: What constitutes security? Thus understanding and explanation of security depends on the sorts of specifications that are made i.e. what should and should not be included into the concept.

These specifications could be made through answering two following questions: who or what should be the focus of interest in security (e.g. states; groups or individuals); and who or what threatens security? (Terriff, 1999:3) Thus, below discussion of different approaches to security will focus on examination of possible answers to these two questions.

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Issue 1/February-March 2007
By Victor J. Gomez Macanas

In this article we aim to identify current changes in Japanese society regarding the university-labour market relation. This tight union was one of the elements of its successful economic and technology development in the time that Japan was called the “Second World Great Power”. In the present paper we analyse if this pattern is a progressive growth or on the contrary it is reaching an historical peak that will determine its backing progress as developed society and its regression as a model of World Power. Along the analysis we go for the second possibility. We bring some data to validate the called “Social Japanese failure” hypothesis.

Japanese higher education does not meet social needs. The Japanese social system requires a specific university education which is resulting in a waste of economic resources and that is becoming non useful.

At the beginning of the 50’s the idea of individual effort (not individualistic) was the basis for the construction of a new country. The personal and long-time work of the Japanese “Baby boom” generation (Dankai Sedai) resulted in the construction of the Second World Power in economic and technological development as well as a great world industrial expansion.

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Issue 1/February-March 2007
By Adela Zafrilla

The New Chinese Year or the Spring Festival is the most important celebration in China. The festival proper begins on the first day of the first lunar month (this year is 18th of February) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th, in which this day is called Lantern Festival .

As for history, this celebration goes back to Qin dynasty when the first Emperor of China Qin Shi Huangdi presented the first zodiac cycle; however, its origin is associated with many traditions and myths. One of them was about a monster called nian who was living in the mountains; he used to terrify people and eat them in the same date each year, the New Year’s Eve. One year some men thought up a plan to scare the monster: red fireworks, drums and gongs to make noise and banners with peace and happiness slogans everywhere. The plan worked and for several days they were celebrating the victory. People got dressed, made presents, danced and ate a lot of food. This myth brought the first celebrations of New Year. Guo nian not only means to celebrate New Year but also to defeat the beat nian. The use of puns means that this tradition is appreciated very much by Chinese people. The Chinese zodiac, unlike the Western one (where each month cycle is associated with a zodiac sign), goes by year cycles therefore each year is dominated by an animal of the Chinese zodiac. Several legends explain the meaning of this method such as the Buddha’s legend. Before Buddha left the earth he gathered all animals but only twelve came to see him off. In order to reward them he put the name of each animal to one year according to arrival order. This New Chinese Year that begins the 18th of February will be chaired by the pig, the last of the twelve animals.

The whole celebration of New Year is full of rituals. The celebration starts one month before the New Year day with the preparations. People buy food, presents, decorations and clothes, the four most important elements in this festival. In houses spring cleaning begins to remove dust which brings bad luck. It is very important to pay all debts before the beginning of the New Year because Chinese people think that the New Year is an opportunity to start a new life and to forget the past. Some families paint the windows and doors red because it is a colour that brings good luck and frighten devils away. Finally, there are banners in doors written in classic Chinese about happiness, good predictions, fortune and longevity; diamond-shaped banners with the fu letter are about happiness. All these banners are hold vertically because the word vertical in Chinese (dao) means to arrive therefore they symbolize the arrival of a new year full of happiness and fortune. It is usual to use red Chinese lanterns as well as elements of the zodiac animal of the New Year to decorate.

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