Official Visit Research Articles

United States Africa Command – Balance of Activities during the Presidencies of George H. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump

The article aims at analyzing the development of the U.S. Africa Command during the three presidential administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. According to the author, the attitude of individual American presidents and their administration to the U.S. AFRICOM is an accurate reflection of the approach to both the problems of African states and the place of Africa in the foreign and security policy of the United States. Since the foundation of the U.S. AFRICOM by the administration of G.W. Bush to D. Trump’s desire to liquidate the command. Trump’s attitude to Africa is also illustrated by the fact that he was the first American president since Ronald Reagan who did not visit any of the 54 African states. His two predecessors paid nine such official visits to African countries in total. It seems that despite many myths and fears that accompanied the birth of AFRICOM and during its first years of existence, the worst scenarios have not come to fruition. AFRICOM has not militarized Africa, it has not caused the drastic exacerbation of the rivalry with China in the region, and it has not become the military arm of US expansionism on the continent. What is more, even many skeptics among African state leaders have noted that it has thus far played and continues to play a positive role in counteracting terrorism, therefore, it has supported the stability of African countries.

Влияние советско-американских переговоров 1985-1989 гг. на изменение советской вероисповедной политики. Исторические и политические контексты визита Горбачева в Ватикан

This article deals with a radical change in the religious politics of the Soviet government between 1987 and 1988. Then, the celebration of the 1000th Anniversary of the Christianization of Rus’ became not only a Church issue but also an event of great political significance. Additionally, the official visit of Mikhail Gorbachev to the Vatican was designed in this period. The author argues that the communication problems which Gorbachev faced during his negotiations with Ronald Reagan in Geneva, Reykjav?k, and Moscow were the reason for this change. Since the anti-religious policy of the Soviet Union was one of the main obstacles to rapprochement between Reagan’s administration and the Soviet government, Gorbachev and his advisers decided to revise their approach to the Church issues. The author also assumes that Pope John Paul II unofficially played an important role in the negotiations between the US diplomats and the Soviet government. According to the article, the “Holy Alliance” between Reagan and Pope John Paul II had a significant impact on this negotiation process. Gorbachev’s visit to the Vatican was, in the author’s view, a link in the chain of events which led to the changes of Soviet religious politics. The legalization of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church was, according to the author, a price to pay for the normalization of the relationships both with the Vatican and with the USA. Based on recently published and unpublished sources, the author describes this process in a broad historical context and analyze the attitude of both the Russian Orthodox Church and the Holy See towards the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, religious freedom, and the role of religion in the public sphere.

Official inspection, educational threshold and employment goal

Recent study focus on the government intervention to firm operation in emerging markets. Based on the hand collected unique data of official inspection to the Chinese listed firms during 2006–2016, this paper show that under the constraints of official employment aim, enterprises will adopt an employment strategy that reduces the educational threshold and increases employees. This paper firstly builds an employment aim function according to the labor model proposed by Helpman (2010). It proves that the function has restrained properties, which make up for the lack of proof of properties methods that were put forward by previous literatures. Furthermore, the empirical findings show that the Chinese officials visit the corporation frequently. Official visits can increase the number of employees, especially for employees with low educational level, decreasing average degree. This relation is much stronger in high employment aim province. The employment effect of government officials’ inspections is more pronounced when the average academic degree is below a certain threshold.

Initiatives to address leprosy as a human rights issue through the mandate of UN Special Rapporteur: Achievements and challenges.

Leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, is one of the oldest infectious diseases in the world. It has long been associated with stigma and discrimination, but only in recent years has this aspect been formally recognized by the international community as a human rights issue. The UN Human Rights Council first adopted a resolution on leprosy in 2008, and this was later followed by a UN General Assembly resolution in 2010. Nonbinding principle and guidelines on elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members accompanied the 2010 resolution, but these have yet to be fully implemented. In 2017, the Human Rights Council appointed a Special Rapporteur on leprosy to investigate the extent to which the principles and guidelines have been implemented, and her term was extended for a further 3 years in 2020. Considering the proper implementation of the principles and guidelines to be key to eliminating the discrimination that persons affected by leprosy and their families face in various parts of the world, this paper looks at the contribution the Special Rapporteur can make. Based on an assessment of her activities to date, it concludes that the Special Rapporteur has actively worked to build networks with persons affected by leprosy and related organizations and gain their trust, but has faced challenges in organizing official country visits. It goes on to analyze what sort of legacy the Special Rapporteur should aim to leave behind after completing her second term and how she can go about doing so in the time remaining. To this end, it makes 5 suggestions: (1) gather information systematically on the actual situation of discrimination; (2) compile a collection of success stories; (3) ensure that there is consistency between legally binding international covenants and treaties and the principles and guidelines; (4) present proposals for concrete actions that can be taken after the Special Rapporteur’s second term ends; and (5) initiate a feasibility study on creating an “index” and “indicators” to measure the current status of stigma and discrimination and the extent to which the principles and guidelines have been implemented.

Military Diplomacy as A Soft Power Strategy: Nepal-India Relations since 2015

The military diplomacy has increasingly occupied a wider space in Nepal-India bilateral ties. It has been an effective soft power instrument to convey the message of alive relationship, to bond the ties stronger and to revive the strained relationships. Today, it has got a central place of political as well as public concern. Such glorious history of military diplomacy begins after the challenging official visit of Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) of Nepal to India in 2016 and successful role to revive the severely ruined Nepal-India relationships by ending the unofficial blockade of India imposed to Nepal. Later, it has been recertified considering the Indian Army (IA) Chief’s visit to Nepal in 2020 as an icebreaker visit to reset soured bilateral relationship between two immediate neighbors developed after a bitter boarder row dispute in Kalapani-Lipulekh-Limpiyadhura area. These instances produce a new sequence, value and significance of military diplomacy in contemporary Nepal-India ties and raise a question. Why and how the military diplomacy as a soft power strategy is a constructive and useful in diplomatic relation of two democratic states Nepal and India in the twenty-first century. This study answers this question through the secondary data interpretation observed in practices of military diplomacy employed between two states and analyses of them by linking to the concept of soft power thematically in qualitative style. For this, Indian unofficial blockade imposed upon Nepal and Kalapani-Lipulekh-Limpiyadhura territorial border dispute started since 2019 are two major issues of study. The study finds, the issue of economic blockade and boarder row produced during 2015-2021 are the main factors which shifted the Nepal-India ties into a new paradigm, expanded the role of military diplomacy in new heights and developed a new public trust upon the military performance as a soft power in diplomatic realm. To present this idea, the writing contains contextual and conceptual operations of military diplomacy, soft-power and realism in first part, detail account of practice of military diplomacy in middle part, and conclusion in last part.

Continental Collaboration: Consulting, Institution Building, and Mentoring Across Africa

Continental Collaboration: Consulting, Institution Building, and Mentoring Across Africa

Peripheral Nerve: Health and Medicine in Cold War Latin America

Peripheral Nerve: Health and Medicine in Cold War Latin America

АРКТИЧЕСКАЯ ПОЛИТИКА КОНСЕРВАТИВНОГО И ЛИБЕРАЛЬНОГО ПРАВИТЕЛЬСТВ КАНАДЫ В 1993–2011 ГГ.

This article discusses the Arctic agenda of the liberal and conservative cabinets of J. Chretien and S. Harper. Attention is also paid to the short period of P. Martin’s premiership. The author consistently considers the position of liberals based on the desire for international cooperation and the solution of common problems of the region. The head of the liberal Party, J. Chretien, sought cooperation with all the Arctic states; in particular, he repeatedly visited Russia on official visits. Prime Minister of the Conservative party S. Harper did not visit the Russian Federation, but made traditional visits to the Arctic, where he made policy statements. In contrast to the position of the liberals, the conservatives relied on the buildup of military power, thus seeking to strengthen their positions in the Arctic and on the world stage. In the future, events both inside and outside the country have led to the fact that the conservative position regarding the Arctic region has undergone some changes. On the eve of the 2011 parliamentary elections, the Conservatives retreated from the one-sided position of expanding military forces and began to pay attention to other problems in the region, among other things. The purpose of this article is to compare the political actions of the Conservative and Liberal parties of Canada in the Arctic. Despite the fact that there are separate studies of the political actions of both representatives of liberals and conservatives, the novelty of this article lies in comparing these different approaches over a certain period of time.

… nicht so, wie ich es mir erwartete: Der Rom-Aufenthalt Kaiser Franz’ I. von Österreich im Jahre 1819

In February 1819 the Austrian Emperor Francis I left his residence, Vienna, accompanied by his fourth wife Empress Carolina Augusta and a large entourage, for a six-month tour through Italy with stops in Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples. This special journey is well documented in Francis I’s personal diaries, written during the trip. It was Rome that dominated the whole journey. Soon after starting the first preparations for travel, it became quite clear that the visit to the Eternal City would be a delicate matter because of long-lasting disputes between the Papal states and the Habsburg monarchy. Originally Emperor Francis I wanted to celebrate the Easter holidays (Settimana Santa) privately, but ultimately it turned into an official state visit with all the concomitant pomp and circumstance. The monarch completed an intense but diverse program, beginning with the Easter liturgy. Typically for his solid character, the religious solemnity did not impress him at all. More precisely, he found these festivities quite odd and disappointing. Following the traditional Grand Tour pattern, the Emperor enjoyed himself by visiting well-known Roman sights. He entertained himself by studying lesser-known places in Rome’s surroundings and liked to discover the local flora and fauna there. In particular, the Roman ancient buildings impressed him deeply. Meeting the Roman elite and aristocracy, Francis I became the centre of attention on many occasions. Furthermore, he also came into contact with exiled monarchs and met other aristocrats who were visiting Rome, e. g. the Duchess of Württemberg, with whom Francis finalized the marriage contract for his younger brother Archduke Joseph. Finally, numerous personal meetings between Pope Pius VII and Emperor Francis I solved religious and political disagreements, which finally lead to a friendlier relationship between Rome and Vienna.

Komparativna analiza metodologija za procenu štete nakon elementarne nepogode zemalja u regionu i međunarodne zajednice

In the Republic of Serbia, the assessment of losses and damages after a natural disaster is based on a document adopted in 1987 during the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Although of exceptional quality in its structure and purpose, the Instruction on a Uniform Methodology for Assessing Damage from Natural Disasters has outlived its time and it is necessary to align the document with today's needs. The Government of the Republic of Serbia has formed a working group with the task of drafting a unique methodology for assessing damage from natural and other disasters, which is also in line with international standards and practice. In parallel with this activity, engineering associations and groups of experts are working on technical instructions for each of the natural hazards, which will be compatible with the unique methodology to be adopted by the Government of Serbia. The earthquake that hit the Republic of Croatia in 2020 pointed out a number of shortcomings in national documents, and then the international methodology "Post Disaster Need Assessment" was used to assess the damage. The paper presents the experiences of a team of experts from Serbia who paid an official visit to the Republic of Croatia after the earthquakes in Petrinja and Zagreb and gained significant experience from the field in damage assessment, as well as through cooperation with crisis headquarters formed after the earthquake.

Društvo sv. Rafaela – prvi pokušaj organiziranja pastoralnog rada za hrvatsko iseljeništvo

The Croatian Society of St Raphael, founded in 1913, is quite poorly researched in our historiography. Many authors sporadically mention him in scholarly articles dealing with the history of the Croatian diaspora in the United States. The main reason why the Society and its activities have not been thoroughly researched is the fact that archival sources about the Society were unknown and inaccessible. As already mentioned, the Society of St Rafael was founded in May 1913 as a result of the efforts of Archbishop Antun Bauer of Zagreb, who, at the instigation of Pope Pius X, organized and established pastoral care for a growing number of Croatian emigrants across the Atlantic, especially in the United States. Bauer applied the model of the national societies of St Raphael since this type of society had previously been used in many Catholic nations as successful in achieving pastoral care for their emigrants. The organization of the Society was entrusted to the Society of the Franciscans of Zagreb, among which the most prominent were the Franciscan Provincial, Fr. Rafael Rodić, and the Secretary of the Society, Fr. Ivan Franković. The influence of Rodić on the work of the Society was paramount, since he wrote the Rules of the Society, and was the first official visit to the United States on behalf of the Archbishop of Zagreb. On the other hand, Franković was the main organizer and coordinator of all activities of the Society of St Raphael. Unfortunately, the Society operated only for a short time because the First World War had already begun in August 1914, and the War firstly reduced and finally stopped any quality work of the Society. Nevertheless, in this short period, the Society achieved impressive results and laid an excellent foundation for further work after the War. Thus, the establishment and operation of the Society of St Raphael is the first attempt to organize systematic pastoral care for Croatian emigrants.

Croatia's protest and exhibition "Jasenovac: The right to remembrance" in the United Nations, on the occasion of the holocaust remembrance day in 2018

"Jasenovac - the Right to Remembrance" was the first exhibition of the Republic of Serbia about Jasenovac in the UN, but also the first one with the topic of Jasenovac after the Second World War and, with 7 tons of equipment and exhibits, the most monumental exhibition in the history of the United Nations. It was held in the UN in New York's East River, from 26 January to 2 February 2018. The director of this exhibition was Professor Gideon Greif, PhD, a world-renowned historian of the Holocaust and an expert for death camps in the Second World War and the Head of the International Expert Group of Historians "GH7 - Stop to Revisionism", while the coordinator of the Serbian-Jewish academic cooperation and all the segments of the exhibition preparation was Ambassador Ljiljana Nikšić, PhD. The exhibition was opened by First Vice-President of the Government of Serbia and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ivica Dačić, in the presence of the children-survivors of Jasenovac and other children camps in the ISC, who spoke for the first time after the Second World War in the United Nations. The Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in its full capacity, through all international organizations and in all possible ways tried to stop the exhibition, also by sending a diplomatic protest to the UN Commission, the State Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel and the EU. The Republic of Croatia based its protests (unsuccessfully) on the "territorial principle", since Jasenovac is situated in its territory. The United Nations took the side of the Republic of Serbia, accepting its argument that the purpose of the exhibition was the remembrance of the victims of Nazism and fascism, and that it was a matter of preserving the culture of remembrance related to the victims of the death camps in the Second World War, to whom the International Holocaust Remembrance Day is dedicated, taking place in the United Nations every year. The Croatian diplomacy conducted a persistent campaign with the UN Commission, with the condition that "negotiations should be initiated between Belgrade and Zagreb" about the exhibition, and that the Serbian ambassador to Zagreb should "receive the approval" from the relevant bodies in the Republic of Croatia, and only afterwards discuss it in the UN. This was followed by the protest of the Serbian side. The exhibition was the product of the Serbian-Jewish academic project. World agencies such as Reuters, Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, Washington Post and others, reported about the protest of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also wrote in detail about the exhibition and about the camp in Jasenovac, as well as about 57 methods of brutal killing that had been applied in the camp, which placed the exhibition in the focus of the worldwide attention. Immediately after the exhibition opening, on the margins of the OSCE Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism in Rome, the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs had a meeting with Pope Francis, but also with the President of the World Jewish Congress, using the occasion to familiarize them with Serbia's attitudes against the initiative of the Republic of Croatia for the canonization of Ustasha vicar and arch-bishop Aloysius Stepinac, and expressing his concern over Neo-Ustashism in Croatia. The exhibition "Jasenovac - the Right to Remembrance" in the UN brought about significant changes in the approach to Jasenovac, and resulted in the first official visit of a president of Israel. In July 2018, Reuven Rivlin was the first President of Israel who visited Belgrade and Zagreb and, on that occasion, also visited the Memorial Complex of Jasenovac and paid respects to the great martyrs of Jasenovac. During his visit to Belgrade, together with President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić, he unveiled the plaque with the name of the street dedicated to the founder of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, whose father and grandfather were born in Zemun. Moreover, the result of the exhibition was also the Appeal of the World Jewish Congress to Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković to adopt the Law on the Prohibition of the Use of Ustasha Greeting "Ready for the Homeland" and to remove the memorial plaque of the Croatian Defence Forces with the engraved inscription "Ready for the Homeland" from Jasenovac.

La necesaria integración de Ceuta y Melilla en la Unión Aduanera Europea y la normalización de sus relaciones comerciales con Marruecos

THE NECESSARY INTEGRATION OF CEUTA AND MELILLA INTO THE EUROPEAN CUSTOMS UNION AND THE NORMALISATION OF THEIR TRADE RELATIONS WITH MOROCCO The analysis of the issue related to the integration of Ceuta and Melilla into the Customs Union must go beyond the strictly economics aspects to place it in a much broader, political and strategic framework, which can significantly condition the future of both Autonomous Cities and constitute a significant step in the process of normalization of their trade relations with Morocco. It is therefore necessary to study the main elements of the debate on the appropriateness and desirability of taking into account the scenario particularly conducive to such effects that has been opened up under the new road map in Spain-Morocco relations. This road map has been designed following the recent official visit to the Kingdon of Morocco, on 7th April, 2022, by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.

THE MAIN TRENDS OF VIETNAM - JAPAN COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF BILATERAL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

The article examines the process of formation and development of the comprehensive political and trade and economic cooperation between Japan and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam since 1973, when diplomatic relations were established between the two countries, and then received a new impetus after Vietnam started the market reforms in 1986 and commenced the renewal policy (in Vietnamese – “Đổi Mới”). In 2009, Japan and Vietnam decided to raise the bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership for the common interests of both countries. In 2010, as part of the official visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to Vietnam, a Joint Declaration on strategic cooperation for peace and prosperity in Asia was adopted.The article focuses on cooperation between the two countries in the framework of international and regional organizations, in particular in the framework of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, as well as in the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, in which Japan and ASEAN member states participate. In recent decades Japan has been one of Vietnam’s main foreign economic partners and the second largest investor into Vietnamese economy. At the same time, Japan is the largest sponsor of Vietnam through the Official development assistance program (ODA), actively assisting Vietnam in implementing its national strategy of industrialization and modernization under the framework agreement on cooperation between Vietnam and Japan until 2020 with the prospect of 2030. Besides, the article discusses and analyzes the largest joint projects implemented in Vietnam with the technical and financial assistance from Japan.

THEORETICAL APPROACH TO DIPLOMATIC RHETORIC

Speech culture is a branch of linguistics, and later, as a result of further researches, another new term, rhetoric, entered the field of linguistics. The culture of rhetoric is a science that goes hand in hand with the field of public speaking, which is primarily focused on the formation of a person's abilities and talents. While rhetoric is the science that studies the talents of the speaker, the culture of speech is the science that studies the literary language and its norms. Rhetoric is a complex art that requires persistence, patience, skill and experience. Real speech requires great skills and careful preparation. Therefore, representatives of any sphere should not only know the rules of public speaking, but also be able to express their opinions in accordance with them. Within the years of independence, the role of diplomacy, like all other spheres, has become invaluable in our country. Special attention will be paid to diplomacy for the peaceful solution of the interests of the state. We see that the beautiful speeches of diplomats serve the future of the whole nation and the whole society. As in the diplomacy of all countries, the style and form of diplomacy in Uzbekistan is different. Uzbek diplomacy uses all the fruitful means of the world practice. It is held on the basis of bilateral and multilateral meetings of heads of state, as well as meetings of heads of government, foreign ministers, plus conferences, seminars and others. Based on their job responsibilities, we examined the types of diplomatic speeches including presidential speeches, speeches of diplomats, and representatives of diplomatic missions, speeches during official visits, diplomatic correspondence and diplomatic documents. This article gives a quick overview of who a diplomat is, what a diplomatic speech is, and more.

Venezuelan Aspect of “Emerging Partnership” between Turkey and Latin America: Factors, Dynamics and Risks

The article provides an analysis of Turkish-Venezuelan relations amid Turkey-Latin American ties enhancing. In 2015-2019, this way of intercontinental cooperation has reached a peak. This was reflected in the intensification of trade and economic relations, as well as in the strengthening of diplomatic ties. The author analyzes the causes and international factors of the ongoing rapprochement. The analysis is carried out by tracking the trajectory of the changes in Turkey's foreign policy from the perspective of its gradual departure from the pro-Western course. The main emphasis is placed on the evolution and current stage of the Turkish-Venezuelan relations. After periods of recession and boom by 2016 relations between Venezuela and Turkey had come into a turning point. In recent years, their bilateral partnership has been markedly distinguished on the background of Ankaras relations with other states of the region. Venezuela has a record frequency of interstate official visits and a high degree of mutual understanding with the Turkish leadership on fundamental issues. The author carried out a comparative analysis of the two states political and historical special characteristics. The author comes to the conclusion that the format of Turkish-Venezuelan partnership is built on the basis of responding to common to the two states current external challenges. Both states are under sanctions pressure, although with a varying degrees of severity; both economies are experiencing crisis moments. These factors contribute to the development of economic interaction between the states on a mutually beneficial basis. For Venezuela, its economic cooperation with Turkey is a significant factor mitigating the negative effects of the permanent economic crisis. The supply of Turkish foodstuffs helps to reduce a food shortage, while Ankara's purchases of Venezuelan gold contribute to the replenishment of the Venezuelan budget with currency assets. We can talk about the existing geostrategic partnership, which has, if not long-term, then medium-term potential.

Inaugurating ‘Good Feeling between the United States and South Africa’: The 1931 All-White Tour of South Africa

ABSTRACT In 1931, a track and field team sponsored by the American Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) toured South Africa, the first official visit of a US team to the African nation. The AAU fielded an all-white squad in this inaugural tour, even though African Americans held several world records in a variety of events during this era. Though it was not clear that US and South African officials explicitly coordinated to draw a colour line on the tour, it was clear that both sides were comfortable excluding non-whites. Nearly two decades later, when in 1950 the AAU selected another all-white team to visit South Africa, the African American press recalled the 1931 tour and condemned US officials for blatant racism. In 1931, however, both the black and white media were silent on the racial issues involved, in spite of an increasing focus on race and colour lines in athletics that developed in the era. Given the deeply embedded racial segregation systems in both South Africa and the US during this period, the first AAU visit to South Africa set a precedent that colour lines would be drawn and fought over in future track and field exchanges between the two nations.

Penyelenggaraan Operasional Anggota Patroli Jalan Raya dalam Melaksanakan Tugas Pengawalan VVIP Maupun VIP di Wilayah Hukum Polda Bali Menurut Undang-undang Nomor 22 Tahun 2009

In the jurisdiction of the Bali Police, there are also VIP and VVIP escorts which are special escorts from the Police for working visits of government officials visiting the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. In carrying out these mentoring activities, it must be in accordance with the established Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). This study aimed to examine the legal arrangements regarding the security of escorts carried out by Polri members on the way to their destination and reveal the sanctions received by Polri members in carrying out escorts that are not in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures. This study used a normative legal approach to problems and legislation. Sources of data used were primary data and secondary data obtained through reading and taking notes. Furthermore, the data were analyzed descriptively qualitatively. The results of the study indicated that the right to escort is also regulated in Law No. 22 of 2009 Article 134 concerning Road Traffic and Transportation. Sanctions received by Polri members who do not enforce discipline in escort are contained in Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 2 of 2003 concerning Discipline of Polri Members or sanctions for violating the implementation of Polri's professional code of ethics as regulated in National Police Chief Regulation Number 14 of 2011 concerning Polri's Professional Code of Ethics.

Official Visits and Democracy

This paper examines whether the number of official visits to and from the U.S. allows the country to adopt a more democratic system of governance. To achieve its objective, the paper develops a model that derives the conditions under which a host invites a guest to persuade or pressure for democratic improvement, and the conditions under which the guest accepts an invitation to visit and decides to improve the quality of democratic governance after the visit. To test our hypothesis, we introduce novel variables that indicate the number of leader’s trips to the U.S., and the number of visits of U.S. Presidents and Secretaries of State to the country, from 1960 to 2015. The estimation results show that the official visits have a statistically significant positive effect on democracy. These results are robust. The paper also uses 3SLS to deal with potential endogeneity. The estimation confirms our previous findings that the official visits have a statistically significant positive effect on democracy. Finally, we explore the channels of transmission and find that American administrations use bilateral trade flows and U.S. aid as an incentive for countries to democratize. This supports our model predictions.

America’s Architectural Challenge in Southeast Asia

US Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III have made significant official visits to Southeast Asia. Both sought to address concerns that the US had paid insufficient attention to the region during President Joe Biden's early months in office. But they left unanswered substantial questions about future US strategy as to both the Asia-Pacific as a whole and Southeast Asia in particular. This underlined doubts about Washington's ability to create and develop the kind of regional initiatives, institutions and partnerships that might help to blunt China's rise and draw nations in Southeast Asia back towards the US. To do so, the US will have to marshal deep focus and subtle statecraft to create new diplomatic architecture and set new standards for the region in areas such as trade and new technologies. Otherwise, American influence in the region is likely to decline.