Introduction

Almost everyone agrees that the treatment of nonhuman animals matters morally to some extent. People are outraged by cases of animals abused by their owners—starving horses or battered dogs. On the other hand, many people regularly and openly sacrifice central animal interests for the sake of relatively trivial interests of their own. For example, people wear leather and eat meat, when alternative nonanimal products are readily available. There is vast disagreement about whether and when it is acceptable to sacrifice nonhuman interests for the sake of human interests. Thus, it is not surprising that there is considerable debate about the extent to which nonhuman animals should be protected through our political systems. Many countries have laws that protect some pets from abuse by owners or laws that set limits on the treatment of animals raised for food. There are environmental regulations that protect wild animals from territorial encroachment or extinction. Are legal protections for nonhuman animals requirements of justice? Does justice require even more legal protections for animals?...

“Firm in principles, flexible in strategy and tactics”

Since 1991, Vietnam has adopted a dual strategic position towards China: it sees China as an indispensable economic and security partner and simultaneously it seeks to hedge against China’s possible territorial encroachment by gradually beefing up its military and cautiously forging strategic ties with other powers. The making of Vietnam’s current China policy is predominantly shaped by the interplay of two constants (geography and history) and two variables (China’s policy and changing big power relations). Among these factors, geography and history serve as the basis for understanding Vietnam’s hedging policy vis-a-vis China and explain why thus far Hanoi remains very reluctant to enter an alliance to counter China’s rise. While being firm on its independent policy, Vietnam has become more “flexible in strategy and tactics” in rebalancing itself from China’s orbit towards the West’s as the result of China’s increased assertiveness in the South China Sea disputes.

ARROWS AND EARTH SHRINES: TOWARDS A HISTORY OF DAGARA EXPANSION IN SOUTHERN BURKINA FASO

The history of the Black Volta region in what is currently south-west Burkina Faso and north-west Ghana has been marked by the agricultural expansion of Dagara-speaking groups. This article explores how and why these groups were able to expand at the expense of neighbouring segmentary societies such as the Phuo and the Sisala. Violence certainly played a role in their territorial expansion, but so did specific strategies of ritual appropriation of new territories. The Dagara system, with its characteristic fission of existing earth shrines and networks of interlinked shrines, allowed mobility and helped the migrants bring new territories under their ritual control. In addition, patriclans and matriclans as well as joking relationships, clan alliances and institutionalized friendship enabled the Dagara pioneers to recruit many new settlers within a short time. This was a crucial asset for the security of the newly founded settlements and the territorial encroachment on Phuo and Sisala lands. In addition, mobility was, and continues to be, supported by an explicit ethos of independence and autonomy. Focusing on the late pre-colonial periods, the article looks at different stages of Dagara expansion and the changing interethnic relations.