AMERICAN STUDIES QUARTERLY Volume 25, Number 2, Summer 2011 Huang Ping Hu Guocheng Zhao Mei Wei Hongxia Lu Ning Mei Renyi Fu Guoying Li Hui Qin Qin Editor Associate Editor Managing Editor Editorial Assistant Editorial Assistant English Polisher English Polisher Editorial Technician Proofreader Senior Advisers Chen Baosen, Wang Jisi, Zi Zhongyun Editorial Board Chu Shulong, Ding Xinghao, Han Tie, He Shunguo, Ji Hong, Jin Canrong, Li Daokui, Li Jianming, Liang Maoxin, Lu Jiande, Mei Renyi, Ni Feng, Ni Shixiong, Qin Yaqing, Ren Donglai, Ruan Zongze, Tao Wenzhao, Wang Rongjun, Wang Xi, Wang Zihong, Wu Baiyi, Xu Hui, Xu Tongwu, Yang Jiemian, Yuan Ming, Yuan Zheng, Zhang Yuyan, Zhou Qi AMERICAN STUDIES QUARTERLY is published jointly by the Chinese Association for American Studies and the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The content of the articles in this journal should not be construed as reflecting the views of either the Association or the Institute. MANUSCRIPTS SHOULD BE SENT TO: American Studies Quarterly at the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Addr. Dong Yuan, No. 3 Zhang Zizhong Rd., Beijing 100007, China). SUBSCRIPTIONS: Call (8610) 6400-0071 Fax: (8610) 6400-0021 Email: mgyjjk@gmail.com http://www.mgyj.com ISSN1002-8986Copyright 1987-2011 American Studies Quarterly Printed in Beijing, China AMERICAN STUDIES QUARTERLY Summer 2011, Vol. 25, No. 2 RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT Interview of Professor Wang Jisi(Xu Tongwu and Wei Hongxia) Interview of Dr. Kenneth Lieberthal(Zhao Mei) Understanding America during the Course of China's Reform and Opening Up(Zhu Chuanyi) Intimate Tie with the Institute of American Studies(Ren Donglai) FOCAL TOPIC: A STUDY OF AMERICAN SOFT POWER US Government Restores Its Interest in the Peace Corps as a Soft Power Resource (Zhou Qi) The year 2011 is the 50th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Peace Corps. During the presidential election campaign in 2008, Obama said that he would abandon Bush’s unilateralist oreign policy, and attach more importance to multilateral international cooperation. Being the leader of the world, he emphasized, the United States would exercise the soft power as well as hard power. Accordingly, President Obama asked Congress to increase the budget for the Peace Corps by 10% over FY 2009, and promised to double the number of members of the Peace Corps to 6,000 by 2011. Obama’s supports signify that the U.S. government has restored its interest in the Peace Corps as one of the soft power resources in U.S. diplomacy. On Factors Affecting American Soft Power (Zhu Shida) A variety of factors affect the impact of American soft power in the world. The principal factor is the American policy, and the national interest lies as the driving force behind American soft power. If exercised at a wrong time in a wrong place, American cultural values would face the paradox of undermining the influence of American soft power. Cultural conflicts and anti- Americanism do sometimes stem from American culture itself. Unfortunately, within the American soft power, there is a split between political influence and cultural values. Such a split and mismatch is one of the factors that restrict the development of American soft power. ARTICLES Obama Administration’s Strategy towards G20 (Fang Guangshun and Tang Yanlin) The financial crisis which originated in the United States has great impact on the Obama Administration’s domestic and foreign policy agenda. Promoting economic recovery has become the Obama Administration’s top priority. To recognize G20’s important role in world economy and cooperate with G20 has been one of the Obama Administration’s strategies to solve the financial crisis and achieve economic growth. There are multiple driving forces behind the Obama Administration’s strategy towards G20, yet its ultimate purpose is to maintain US leading position in international finance and hegemony in the world. The Obama Administration’s Taiwan Strait Policy and Its Impacts (Xia Liping) The Obama administration has basically carried over Bush’s Taiwan Strait policy in his second term, and has added some new measures as well. At present, the United States needs stable Sino-U.S. relations for its global strategy, so the Obama administration has a positive view of the peaceful development of the relations between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait. However, it puts more emphasis on the importance of the stability of the relations. The Obama administration has supported Taiwan to expand its “international space” and continued the policy of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Although the Obama administration has been in favor of the signing of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), it has made great efforts to deepen and expand the economic and trade relations between the U.S. and Taiwan. The making of the Obama’s Taiwan Strait policy has been shaped by some complicated factors, including U.S. domestic debates on U.S. strategy, U.S. Congress, U.S. military and defense enterprises, and U.S. Government’s evaluation of the relations between the two sides across the Taiwan Strait and the development of domestic situation in Taiwan. The Evolution and Reform of U.S. Congressional Appropriations System (Diao Daming) The purse power is the most basic and crucial power of U.S. Congress. As the major part of purse power, the appropriation has direct bearing on the funding for domestic and foreign affairs items of U.S. federal government. Since 1789, the Congressional appropriations system has undergone three major reforms and adjustments. The appropriations power has experienced the transition from decentralization to centralization, and then to re-decentralization. Correspondingly, the political role of the Congressional Appropriations Committees also shifted from “saver” to “spender”. This paper argues that the evolution and reform of the system is in line with the development of the U.S. federal government, and is responsive to the characteristics of various historical periods. Moreover, the Congressional appropriations system reform also reflects the evolution of constitutional struggles between President and Congress, and the struggles of the competitive power structures of party caucuses and committees on Capitol Hill. The evolution of appropriations reflects the constitutional concept of separation of powers and checks and balances, but it also leads to the institutional defects such as fragmented management in funding process and pork barrel politics. Brief Introduction to the Interpretations of Natural Law in the Supreme Court’s Decisions (Jiang Zhenchun) The U.S. Supreme Court has never ceased to controversially invoke nature law and natural right as persuasive authority in the interpretation of American Constitution. Since natural law is regarded as a higher law and as a basis for American Constitution, it has been adopted as one of the interpretation methods in the Supreme Court’s decisions. In the early days after the founding of the republic, natural law was used to create federalism and safeguard the property right by the Supreme Court; with the rise of the substantive due process at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, it was used to preserve laissez-faire and the liberty of contract; with the emergence of Rights Revolution and preservation of personal autonomy since the second half of the 20th century, it has been also used by justices in some cases concerning personal life styles. REVIEWS A Review of The Politics of Happiness: What Government Can Learn from the New Research on Well-being (Geng Guojie) A Review of Peace Illusions: American Grand Strategy from 1940 to Present (Wei Guangqi) ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES Summary of the Symposium of “China and the United States: Mutual Identification and Bilateral Relations” (He Weibao) New Books Editor’s Note