bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Darkness of God
Authors: Wren-Lewis John
Published: March 2007

This article describes a radical and lasting change of consciousness that has overtaken the author as a result of nearly dying by poisoning in 1983. The initial experience lacked almost all the dramatic features that have attracted popular attention in the many accounts of "near-death experiences" appearing over the past decade such as "out-of-body" travel, passage through a tunnel, review of earlier life, or encounter with apparently supernatural entities. It was more in the nature of a dissolution into a Nirvanic or void-state of undifferentiated aliveness, but it produced a major and apparently permanent awareness-shift far beyond the emotional reorientations that are commonly reported to follow close encounters with death. The change seems to correspond closely with traditional religious descriptions of mystical "awakening" to experiential unity with the essence of all being, from which viewpoint the mystical perception of reality is seen as simple normal consciousness rather than an "altered state," while socalled ordinary consciousness is recognized to be a clouded condition wherein awareness has become bogged down in an illusion of separate selfhood confronting an alien environment. This change of viewpoint represents a complete antithesis to the author's prior religious background, which involved total skepticism of all mystical claims and of near-death experience reports.

The overall experience provides independent confirmation to the change of direction that was becoming apparent, unbeknownst to the author, in the main body of research on near-death experiences (NDEs) in the early 1980s. Interest was being focused on the changes of consciousness that undeniably sometimes occur in crisis-situations, as phenomena of great scientific and human interest in their own right, rather than on inevitably contentious arguments about whether or not NDEs provide glimpses of another world beyond the grave. By viewing NDE phenomena in this new perspective, the author is able to suggest a possible psychodynamic mechanism underlying the clouding of everyday consciousness and, on this basis, to propose guidelines for future research towards less drastic means of inducing "awakening."

I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you, which shall be the darkness of god.

T.S. Eliot
Holonomy an Ethic of Wholeness
Authors: Ravn Ib
Published: March 2007

This article attempts to clarify the meaning of "good" by linking it to a concept of wholeness derived from the process philosophy of David Bohm (1980a). Bohm draws a distinction between implicate order, which is a domain of reality characterized by flux and potentiality, and explicate order, which is the Newtonian-Cartesian order of stable phenomena and actuality. This article proposes a model of human development whereby the emergence of explicate phenomena from the implicate order may proceed in two general directions: toward fragmentary order or toward holonomic order, whether in the individual or in the world. Fragmentary order compartmentalizes and oppresses human activity; holonomic order liberates and empowers people. Borrowing from the analogy of the hologram, this article suggests that holonomic order further enables people to see or experience a larger meaning or wholeness in each of the parts or segments of their lives; fragmentary order implies disconnectedness and conflict within and among people. In a fragmentary order, the categories of good and bad are dichotomized, and bad is suppressed. In a holonomic order, good and bad are seen as equally necessary, and pain, the experience of bad, is recognized as a symptom of an underlying malady, inviting us to learn and develop.
The Humanized No-Self
Authors: Koltko Mark Edward
Published: March 2007

This article responds to Schneider's (1987) critique of transpersonal psychology. It is contended that Schneider seriously misunderstood transpersonal consciousness and psychology. Transpersonal consciousness is achievable, as evidenced by abundant credible literature, but it is not immediately available to everyone. Research suggests that transpersonal consciousness is positively related to mental health. Transpersonal consciousness can have beneficial and significant social, therapeutic, and life-style consequences. Transpersonal psychology is as scientifically feasible as are most areas of human psychology, but personal experience is necessary to investigate this area, and there are no guarantees that a given method of attaining transpersonal consciousness will be successful in a given instance.
Transcending the Dichotomy of Either "Subpersonalities" or "An Integrated Unitary Self"
Authors: Bogart Victor
Published: March 2007

The author counters Frick's critique of subpersonality theory and offers observations in support of an approach that regards subpersonalities as essential elements in an integrated self.
Employer Policies for the Management of a Multi-Ethnic Workforce: A Critical Examination
Authors: Callus Ron
Published: March 2007

Programmes designed to stem labour turnover among semi-skilled and un skilled non-British migrant operatives in two NSW manufacturing plants are analysed. The assumptions underlying these programmes are discussed and their development and demise is charted. The author suggests an alternative explanation for some aspects of migrant behaviour in the workplace which casts doubt on the efficacy of "human relations" schemes designed to socialise migrants into Australian industry.
The Operation of Internal Labour Markets: Three Case Studies
Authors: Nowak Margaret J. , Crockett Geoffrey V.
Published: March 2007

The employment policies and practices of firms could be expected to exert an influence on the career patterns of their labour forces. The literature suggests that many of these policies and practices would have developed in response to the technological, managerial, and information needs of individual firms and would be specific to the particular firm. To investigate these relationships, detailed case studies were undertaken in three Western Australian firms. The results show that, in two of the firms for certain job ladders, and in the third for its total labour force, employ ment policies and practices were sensitive to the internal technological and other re quirements of the firm in ways that cut across expected market oriented responses to the labour market at large. Personnel on these job ladders did experience patterns of tenure, career path, training, and earnings that indicate response to these policies and practices. However, while some evidence was found that earnings of those on such job ladders were responsive to variables related to career within the firm, general investments in education and training appeared to be dominant.
The Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria: A Decade of Change
Authors: Brown M. , Ferris R.
Published: March 2007

The Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria and its Conciliation and Arbitration Boards were established by the Industrial Relations Act 1979. The Act introduced some fundamental structural and procedural changes into the Victorian system, though the traditional emphasis on an informal and participatory approach to industrial regulation, which had made the system so distinctive, was preserved. Since 1979 many amendments to the Act and procedural changes to this system of industrial relations have been made. A number of the changes to the system may be characterized as cosmetic, as they do not affect the informal approach of the system. Others, however, are more intrinsic to the system, altering the structures, powers and operations of the tribunal. This paper examines the circumstances under which change has occurred, and it is argued that, in overcoming operational and jurisdictional problems, the changes of the last ten years have introduced a degree of formality into the Victorian Commission.
Resource Scarcity and Conflict in Developing Countries
Authors: Maxwell John W. , Reuveny Rafael
Published: March 2007

As time passes, renewable resource scarcities are becoming more common. There is increasing evidence that these scarcities are a causal factor in political conflict, especially in developing countries. We present a simple dynamic model of renewable resource and population interaction featuring the possibility of conflict triggered by per capita resource scarcity. In the model, conflict diverts resources away from resource harvesting, increases the death rate, and damages the resource. The two former effects may speed the return to a peaceful steady state. If conflict results in resource destruction, however, it may destabilize the system, leading it towards collapse. Conflict due to renewable resource scarcity could be cyclical, implying recurring phases of conflict. However, such conflict cannot last for ever. We use the model to examine various policy scenarios concerning population control and technical innovations in harvesting and natural resource growth. A key insight of the model is the importance of the bidirectional interplay between conflict and resource scarcity, as opposed to the unidirectional notion that resource scarcity leads to conflict. As such, the model points to the need for the use of simultaneous equation econometric models in empirical investigations of resource scarcity and conflict.
The Prisoner's Dilemma and Regime-Switching in the Greek-Turkish Arms Race
Authors: Smith Ron , Sola Martin , Spagnolo Fabio
Published: March 2007

Despite intensive investigation, little evidence has been found for a traditional Richardson-style arms race between Greece and Turkey using regression methods. This article uses an alternative model of the arms race, which treats it as a simple repeated two-by-two game such as the Prisoner's Dilemma, in which each country can choose a high or low share of military expenditure. This gives four possible states: both high; Greece high Turkey low; Turkey high Greece low; both low. The strategies of each country, the choice probabilities given the current state, are then estimated using a discrete state regime-switching model, which estimates the transition probabilities between the four states. Various hypotheses about these strategies are tested as restrictions on these transition probabilities. One set of hypotheses is that the countries play `tit-for-tat', doing what their opponent did in the previous period. This is rejected for both countries. Another hypothesis is that each country plays independently. Each country has its own probabilities of switching between high and low, which do not depend on whether the other country is high or low. This hypothesis is accepted by the data. The estimates of the transition probabilities suggest that the states, high or low shares of military expenditure, are very persistent, with very high probabilities of staying in them. The estimates are not consistent with a traditional `external' action-reaction explanation of shares of military expenditure, but are more consistent with `internal' explanations which emphasize bureaucratic and political inertia.
Nuclear Weapons and Indian Strategic Culture
Authors: BASRUR RAJESH M.
Published: March 2007

The persistence of restraint, stability and minimalism in India's nuclear policy is best explained with reference to its strategic culture. This constitutes an intermediate structure between the power-acquisition imperative of the structure of the international system and domestic choices on how power is actually constituted. Disaggregation of strategic culture into three analytically distinct components - the level of assumptions and beliefs, the operational level and the structural frame - facilitates identification of the precise areas of continuity and change in a dynamic structure. The disjunctures observed, whether at one level or between levels, can then be subjected to social action in the pursuit of peace and stability. An examination of Indian strategic culture with respect to nuclear weapons on the basis of official and non-official preference structures reveals (a) high levels of continuity in the form of restrained responses to external and domestic pressures for change, and in a positive disposition toward arms control; and (b) a significant shift from high to low tolerance of ambiguity resulting from the steady growth of an operational, as opposed to a political, conception of nuclear weapons. The last creates space for nuclear instability. The anomaly can be corrected by exposing the deficiencies in the operational conception of deterrence, thereby reinforcing strategic stability.
Consociational and Civic Society Approaches to Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland
Authors: Byrne Sean
Published: March 2007

A number of consociational power-sharing initiatives are compared to explore some of the reasons why the elite conflict regulation model has not settled the Northern Ireland conflict. In the period 1972-85, four attempts by the British government to formulate and implement a power-sharing government within Northern Ireland failed as a result of the recalcitrance of one or other of the mainstream political parties. The 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA) ended the Unionist veto and included the Irish government in the political process to find a solution. Since 1985, four efforts by both governments to establish a devolved power-sharing government have included previously marginalized political groups in the political process. In this article, I argue that since the 1985 AIA the bilateral external ethnoguarantors - the British and Irish governments - have contained the conflict by using a coercive consociational approach to elite conflict management. Since 1985, four efforts to promote contact between Unionists and Nationalists at all levels and all points show promise in reframing the conflict from resources and interests to identity needs. Such a transformational approach is necessary to open up thinking about conflict and in constructing a multimodal, multilevel contingency approach to peace-building and conflict settlement in Northern Ireland.
The Redistributive State and Conflicts in Africa
Authors: Azam Jean-Paul
Published: March 2007

This article argues that ethnic problems are only one aspect of political violence in Africa, while violent conflicts must be considered a failure of the state to perform some of its fundamental tasks. State formation in Africa is a transition process starting from an institutional endowment of ethnic division. Ethnic capital in Africa ensures the provision of many of the services that a modern state has taken over in rich countries, e.g. security, education, norms of behaviour. Few African states can deliver all these services adequately, and must go through an initial phase of federation of ethnic groups before they can provide a credible substitute for ethnic capital. The system of redistribution within and among groups is the key to creating the solidarity links between them, and its breakdown is liable to trigger political violence. A formal game-theoretic model is presented which brings out the impact of redistribution on rebellious activity, as well as the crucial role of the ability of the government to commit credibly to its expenditure policy. Without this, there is no redistribution taking place in equilibrium, and large amounts of resources are invested in warring. Civil wars, or other forms of political violence, are thus an integral part of the political economy of Africa.
Gandhian Philosophy, Conflict Resolution Theory and Practical Approaches to Negotiation
Authors: Weber Thomas
Published: March 2007

It is puzzling that links between Gandhian social philosophy and recent conflict resolution/negotiation literature, especially given the latter's Gandhian `flavour', have received so little scholarly attention. While there seems to be no direct causal link between the two bodies of knowledge, conflict resolution literature in the guise of modern problem-solving and win-win (as opposed to power-based and zerosum) approaches leading to integrative conflict resolution (as opposed to mere compromise and distributive outcomes) strongly echoes Gandhi's own writings and the analyses of some Gandhi scholars. This is especially true in the case of non-mainstream writings that see conflict resolution techniques as potentially being about more than the solution of immediate problems, that see a broader personal and societal transformation as the ultimate goal. This article explores these connections and argues that Gandhian satyagraha should be squarely located within conflict resolution discourse.
Give or Take: Foreign Aid and Foreign Policy Substitutability
Authors: PALMER GLENN , WOHLANDER SCOTT B. , MORGAN T. CLIFTON
Published: March 2007

The article attempts to explain state donations of foreign aid with the application of a general theory of foreign policy. This places foreign aid within the context of a state's creation of a foreign-policy portfolio. The general theory is based upon the assumption that states pursue two goods: `change', defined as the ability to alter the status quo in desirable ways, and `maintenance', the ability to prevent changes in favored aspects of the status quo. By applying the `two-good' model of foreign policy toward an explanation of foreign aid, we are able to derive hypotheses regarding the relationship between state power and foreign aid donations, as well as further implications regarding foreign policy substitutability. The two-good model posits a more complex but better specified conception of foreign policy substitutability, and it implies that state donations of foreign aid are substitutable for other foreign policy choices, such as the initiation of interstate conflict and participation in certain types of alliances, that are directed toward the same goal, namely change. We test these hypotheses using data on official development assistance obtained from the OECD, and additional data from the Correlates of War (COW) Project for 21 states over the 1966-92 period. Our findings indicate that aid allocation is affected by other aspects of a state's foreign policy portfolio. The application of a general framework of foreign policy to the study of foreign aid is fruitful.
Beyond the Separate Democratic Peace
Authors: MacMILLAN JOHN
Published: March 2007

This article argues that the balance of evidence and argument supports a shift from the conventional `separate democratic peace' position that liberal states are peace prone only in relations with other liberal states to the view that they are also more peace prone in relations with non-liberal states than usually thought. The article reviews a range of recent empirical studies that either support or are consistent with this turn and also critiques a number of existing democratic peace theories. Those theories that maintain the view that democracies are peace prone in general are criticized for failing to differentiate the circumstances in which liberal states do and do not go to war. Those theories supporting the predominant `separate' democratic peace position are criticized for failing to explain why liberal states should be peace prone only in relations with other liberal states. The force of this argument challenges scholars to re-specify the extent (and limitations) of liberal state peace proneness and to develop a theoretical explanation of this broader but more complex relationship between liberal states and peace.
Conflicts between Socialist States
Authors: Bebler Anton
Published: March 2007

Many Soviet and marxist authors have attempted to demonstrate the impossibility of 'antagonistic conflicts' (including wars) between socialist states. Nevertheless, the first application of military force in relations between states governed by communist parties took place about sixty years ago when a Red Army regiment invaded Tannu-Tuva. So far there have been two outright wars between socialist states. This article studies in detail eleven conflictual dyads among the socialist countries after 1945 The USSR is the most frequent participant and most conflicts were related to the smaller countries' dependent relations with the socialist superpower. A majority of them also have roots in pre-revolutionary politics. The lack of a machinery for conflict resolution among the socialist states has contributed to a resort to arms. The socialist countries have also been unwilling to turn to independent international arbitration. However, the socialist versus non-socialist dichotomy is gradually losing its saliency. In the long run a transition to communism in a Marxian sense may provide a reconciliation between Marx and the Kantian belief that international political democracy is a precondition for international peace
The Red Cross and Peace: Realities and Limits
Authors: Sandoz Yves
Published: March 2007

The Red Cross, from the outset, was conceived to relieve victims but not to prevent war. This aim fulfils a clear humanitarian requirement — aid to the injured on the battlefield — and the desire for realism, but it does not mean indifference to the problem of war in general. The role of the Red Cross in conflict situations, like international humanitarian law which was established by the Red Cross, has always been understood as a contribution to peace. To humanize war is not to encourage it, but to spread a spirit of peace in the midst of war which can contribute towards its conclusion. It is not only during conflicts but at all times that the Movement of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent is endeavouring worldwide to spread amongst all peoples the spirit of peace and to facilitate understanding and tolerance which are the great enemies of war. Universal peace and disarmament are obviously desirable objectives which, however, seem very distant. For these objectives as well as those more precisely connected to certain conflicts, the Red Cross may neither impose its role, nor neglect it. For the latter objectives, encour agement and initiatives with regard to international humanitarian law by the Red Cross were great steps towards peace: with regard to the first objectives, they cannot be reached without mutual understanding, which the Red Cross contributes to. However, there is no peace and disarmament without politics and the Red Cross must be wise enough not to be involved. In wishing to do too much, the Red Cross would enter politics and would lose the strength of its message, namely, its universality and its unity. For these reasons, and in particular because of its exemplary character as well as its humanitarian and impartial action, the Red Cross contributes to peace.
Global Interdependence and the Responsibilities of States: Learning from the Japanese Experience
Authors: Soroos Marvin S.
Published: March 2007

In view of the multiple and complex ways that states are dependent upon one another, it is imperative that governments work together responsibly to address problems that transcend national boundaries. Japan is examined as a case study not only because it is a prototype of a modern interdependent state, but also because the Japanese are actively reassessing their role in world politics in view of their country's emergence as an economic superpower and are taking steps to 'internationalize' their society to facilitate more effective foreign interactions. Japan is a unique case given the combination of its historical isolation, the aggressive role it played in World War II, and its spectacular economic growth of the last few decades. Recent Japanese governments have attempted to play a more active role in maintaining a stable and peaceful world order through diplomatic initiatives, participation in international insti tutions, and substantial increases in foreign aid. Efforts to internationalize the Japanese people include programs to enhance the quality of foreign language instruction, to educate the Japanese people on foreign cultures, and to attract more foreign students, but progress is slow because of language barriers and the group-oriented social structure of the Japanese. Definitions of global responsibilities and the process of internationalization are proposed based on the Japanese experience. Finally, several implications that this study has for peace research are suggested, especially in conceptualizing peace in positive and associative terms and in setting forth agendas on foreign policy and peace action.
Internal and External Factors in Effecting Third World Military Expenditures
Authors: Looney Robert E.
Published: March 2007

Recent research on the determinants of Third World military expenditures has indicated that economic variables show great promise in providing a framework as to the underlying causes of Third World defense allocation decisions. Building on this research, we test the hypotheses that the level of military expenditures in developing countries is determined in large part by economic constraints relative to external (threat) factors. In general this hypothesis is borne out with the important qualification that countries without an arms industry appear relatively more affected by external factors than countries with an arms industry. The main implication of the analysis is that a reduction in Third World arms production would most likely result in lower overall levels of military expenditures in these countries.
Force Ratios, Arms Imports and Foreign Aid Receipts in the Developing Nations
Authors: Hess Peter N.
Published: March 2007

A simultaneous model for the force ratio, arms imports, and foreign aid receipts is estimated for a sample of seventy-six developing nations and the period 1978-84. Regression diagnostics are applied to identify outlier nations and to assess the sensitivity of the estimated coefficients to multicollinearity and influential observations. The influence diagnostics reveal that the inferences drawn from the empirical analysis are conditional on the composition of nations in the sample. In particular, the statistically significant, direct relationship between real per capita arms imports and foreign aid receipts found for the full sample of seventy-six countries largely reflects the influence of the half-dozen Middle Eastern nations in the sample. The key determinants of the force ratio (armed forces per thousand population) are per capita income and security concerns. Moreover, there are significant differences in the response of the force ratio to income across several of the major regions of the developing world. The force ratio, in turn, is the primary determinant of the level of arms imports. There is evidence of a strong import substitution effect for those developing nations exporting arms. And, whether the US or the USSR is the principal supplier of arms appears to make a difference for the volume of arms transfers. Foreign aid receipts do correspond to need, as measured by an international human suffering index. Nevertheless, outside of the Middle East, where aid flows are correlated with arms imports, a considerable portion of the aid is unexplained by the regression model.
The Security-Welfare Relationship: Longitudinal Evidence from Taiwan
Authors: Davis David R. , Chan Steve
Published: March 2007

We investigate the security-welfare relationship in the case of Taiwan. Specifically, we analyze any possible longitudinal relationship between the government's allocations of dollars and personnel to the military on the one hand, and social welfare as measured by the physical quality of life index on the other. Our results show that the defense burden, whether operationalized in terms of the relative size of the island's military budget or in terms of the relative size of its military establishment, has played neither a major positive nor negative role in determining the changes in its social welfare. We have been unable to find statistically significant evidence of the defense burden influencing social welfare either directly or indirectly (through its effects on the growth of GNP per capita and on the government's welfare and education spending). These results suggest that Taiwan deviates from general cross-national patterns, and indicate the need for further investigation into why it has been relatively successful in dampening the widely suspected trade-offs between defense burden on the one hand, and economic growth and social welfare on the other.
Peace Research as `International' - in What Sense?
Authors: Rytövuori Helena
Published: March 2007

The article presents the notion of peace research, as exemplified by Johan Galtung, as a cognitive movement from the ideational to the anthropo-centric conception. In its anthropo-centric conception, the notion displays a variation in which the progress of man is outlined as a telic process of the mind (as opposed to the genetic process of nature); a process whereby man is able to make choices and direct his own development. In the post-World War II decades, the anthropo-centric concern for progress through mind is actualized as a problem of formation of mental attitude. It is further anticipated that in peace research this movement, in the sense of the cognitive process of research (not in focus here), outlines an idea of the mind-in-progress which is an idea of the moral man. Finally, the author points out an alternative direction to the anthropo-centric critique of the ideational conception in terms of which, according to the thesis of the article, the cognitive movement of peace research largely makes itself understood.
Cultural Violence
Authors: Galtung Johan
Published: March 2007

This article introduces a concept of `cultural violence', and can be seen as a follow-up of the author's introduction of the concept of `structural violence' over 20 years ago (Galtung, 1969). `Cultural violence' is defined here as any aspect of a culture that can be used to legitimize violence in its direct or structural form. Symbolic violence built into a culture does not kill or maim like direct violence or the violence built into the structure. However, it is used to legitimize either or both, as for instance in the theory of a Herrenvolk, or a superior race. The relations between direct, structural and cultural violence are explored, using a violence triangle and a violence strata image, with various types of casual flows. Examples of cultural violence are indicated, using a division of culture into religion and ideology, art and language, and empirical and formal science. The theory of cultural violence is then related to two basic points in Gandhism, the doctrines of unity of life and of unity of means and ends. Finally, the inclusion of culture as a major focus of peace research is seen not only as deepening the quest for peace, but also as a possible contribution to the as yet non-existent general discipline of `culturology'.
Human Rights and the Allocation of US Military Assistance
Authors: POE STEVEN C.
Published: March 2007

A relationship between US military aid and the human rights practices of potential recipient countries is mandated by law. Yet the preponderance of the results obtained in past quantitative studies seems to indicate that no such relationship exists in reality. This study focuses on the question of whether governments that abuse human rights are disqualified completely from US military aid programs. When some weaknesses of previous studies are rectified, human rights abuse is then found to have affected the allocation of military aid in two distinct samples of countries: Western hemisphere countries; and a random sample of the world's nations, micro-states excluded. Human rights abuse affected US military aid allocation during both the Carter and Reagan presidencies. The appearance of a relationship during the Reagan presidency indicates the effect endured even under an administration thought generally to have de-emphasized human rights in its foreign-policy decisions.
Cultural Style and Solutions to Conflict
Authors: BILLINGS DOROTHY K.
Published: March 2007

This paper relates data from two contrasting cultures in Papua New Guinea to the divergent views of Boulding and Galtung with regard to egalitarian and hierarchical structures in society, associative and dissociative solutions to conflict, justice and exploitation, vitality and stagnation, and direct or structural violence. Analyses suggest that the evolutionary and structural theories proposed, respectively, by Boulding and Galtung may be differentially applicable to societies organized by different cultural styles. Examples are provided from anthropological research in two societies of contrasting cultural styles in Papua New Guinea: the group-oriented Tikana of New Ireland, and the individualistic Lavongai of New Hanover. The style of Tikana culture is group-oriented, institutionalized, and egalitarian; while that of Lavongai culture is individualistic, non-institutionalized, and peck-ordered. In the resolution of conflicts, e.g. regarding property or marriages, Tikana typically emphasize public claims and favor peace over justice for individuals. Institutionalized rules provide leadership and prevent the escalation of disputes to violence. Lavongai, by contrast, typically seek justice at any cost, and regard disputes as private matters. Conflicts are resolved by individuals unaided by institutionalized rules or leadership roles, and often involve violence. The same structures which yield dissociative solutions to conflict among the Lavongai also allow peck-ordered hierarchies to form and persist, while those structures which produce associative solutions among the Tikana also bring about and maintain egalitarian relationships.
The United States and the Postwar Order: Empire or Hegemony?
Authors: Keohane Robert O.
Published: March 2007

The American `Empire' is a fine interpretive essay on the sources and limits of United States influence in world politics since 1945. Geir Lundestad links issues of politics, economics and security, emphasizing the importance of local politics in determining the extent of US influence. In his view, US power has declined in relative terms since 1950, but the United States remains the world's strongest state. Lundestad's balanced and nuanced analysis is not aided, however, by use of the phrase `empire' to describe United States hegemony, since `empire' obscures rather than illuminates the differences in form of rule between the United States and other Great Powers, such as Great Britain in the nineteenth century or the Soviet Union in the twentieth.
National Identity and Mentalities of War in Three EC Countries
Authors: Hedetoft Ulf
Published: March 2007

It is a basic assumption of this article that the history, symbolism and mentality of war - e.g. in the form of heroism - constitute central elements in the make-up of national identities, also in the European Community, despite the fact that the EC is more commonly thought of as a peace movement. The contribution and significance of `war mentality' may differ from one country to the next, however. The article examines the link between national identity and the mentality of war in Great Britain, (West) Germany and Denmark, as three EC countries representing different national histories, structures and ambitions. The approach is comparative and intercultural. The author argues (1) that the mentality of war is radically different in the three countries: one of proud and unifying civic heroism in Britain, of traumatic negative presence in Germany and of symbolic moral strength based on historical defeats in Denmark; (2) that these differences are mainly rooted in (the outcome of) World War II and conform with general patterns of political culture in the three countries concerning the link between nationalism and internationalism; and (3) that this makes for very different attitudes to closer political cooperation in a `European Union', particularly as regards integration in the areas of common security and defence policies. Attitudes to the Gulf War are used as a concrete case to demonstrate some of the salient points. The article concludes by pointing out the difficulties in unifying European nationalisms so dissimilar in this decisive area of national identity, and in permanently keeping the military option out of intra-European national competition.
Euphoria and Realism in Post-Cold War European Security
Authors: Dunay Pál
Published: March 2007

Soon after the end of the East-West conflict, European security became the subject of heated debate and speculation. This review of five recent books on the topic aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion. It has now become fashionable to speak about a `new security architecture' and to concentrate on the role various institutions may play under today's fundamentally changed conditions. Such an approach is somewhat misleading, because it does not focus on the problems but rather on the relations of organizations. A main problem is the re-emergence of nationalism and ethnic strife in Eastern Europe. Here one must pay close attention to the domestic developments of the new democracies. If these countries fail at home, first of all economically, they will certainly fail internationally as well. More attention should have been paid to these factors. Most of the books reviewed agree that formerly Western organizations like the EC and NATO will become the core of the new institutional setting in Europe, only one of them gives precedence to the CSCE. The latter approach seems more realistic. Scenario analysis reflecting unpredictability has become very popular recently. This can be valuable if authors make clear which factors determine the likelihood of the realization of one scenario or the other. If not, outlining various scenarios serves no other purpose than to mask unpredictability.
A Game-Theoretic Interpretation of Sun Tzu's
Authors: Niou Emerson M. S. , Ordeshook Peter C.
Published: March 2007

Over 25 hundred years ago the Chinese scholar Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, attempted to codify the general strategic character of conflict and, in the process, offer practical advice about how to win military conflicts. His advice is credited with having greatly influenced both Japanese military and business practices, as well as Mao Tse-Tung's approach to conflict and revolution. The question, however, is whether or to what extent Sun Tzu anticipated the implications of the contemporary theory of conflict - game theory. The thesis of this essay is that he can be credited with having anticipated the concepts of dominant, minmax, and mixed strategies, but that he failed to intuit the full implications of the notion of equilibrium strategies. Thus, while he offers a partial resolution of `he-thinks-that-I-think' regresses, his advice remains vulnerable to a more complete strategic analysis. In judging Sun Tzu's contribution to our understanding of strategy, however, we should keep in mind that resolving circular reasoning in some circumstances requires the use of advanced principles of probability theory and mathematics, and so we should not be surprised to learn that Sun Tzu's treatment of information is incomplete. Indeed, we should marvel at the fact that he understood intuitively as much as he did.
The Gender Gap in Foreign Policy Attitudes
Authors: Togeby Lise
Published: March 2007

Conventional wisdom holds that women are more peace-loving or more pacific than men. Most of our knowledge about the gender gap in foreign policy attitudes originates from the United States, but it cannot be taken for granted that these results can be generalized to other countries. This article examines gender differences in foreign policy attitudes in Denmark; it discusses the systemic factors behind such gender differences as well as the systemic factors that cause foreign policy attitudes to influence elections. By the 1980s a clear gender gap in foreign policy attitudes had developed in Denmark. Several explanations for this gender gap are examined in the article: the theory about women's greater distance to foreign policy, the theory about specific women's values, and the theory about the political and feminist radicalization of women. The article concludes that Denmark's gender gap in foreign policy attitudes in Denmark in the late 1980s was due primarily to a general left-wing mobilization of women. Paradoxically, however, this development also seems linked to a revitalization of traditional women's values. The discussion of the systemic causes of the gender gap and of its election impact centers around three factors: the salience of foreign policy, the political mobilization of women, and the available political alternatives in a given election.
Submarine Proliferation and Regional Conflict
Authors: Wallace Michael D. , Meconis Charles A.
Published: March 2007

Recent debates over the dissemination of weapons of mass destruction and high-tech military hardware and technology have largely ignored naval armaments, and particularly submarines. The growth in global submarine fleets, particularly in areas of post-Cold War regional conflict, may pose a serious threat to the peace. Their stealth, effectiveness, and poor communications may lead to aggressive preemption, inadvertent escalation, and the horizontal spread of conflict. Thus far the solutions put forward in both the strategic and arms control literature have stressed either unilateral coercive action utilizing the overwhelming naval and air superiority of the major powers, or `supply side' export bans initiated and enforced by the advanced industrial states acting in concert to maintain their technological advantage. Such solutions to the threat of submarine proliferation will almost certainly prove ineffective in the long run, however attractive they seem as short-term palliatives. Multilateral agreements beginning with naval confidence-and-security building measures, followed up by regional and global naval arms control regimes, offer far more promising methods of dealing with the growing submarine threat.
`Don't Kill Me, I'm a Kyrgyz!': An Anthropological Analysis of Violence in the Osh Ethnic Conflict
Authors: Tishkov Valery
Published: March 2007

The summer 1990 Kyrgyz-Uzbek ethnic violence in former Soviet Central Asia is studied using microlevel socio-anthropological analysis of the texts of the criminal court's sentences as the major source material. Ethnic violence is examined in terms of space, time, the actors, the motives and the forms of manifestation. Some general conclusions are drawn and some Soviet and Central Asian specifics are established. Rumours and myths based on socially constructed perceptions and on informational simplicity, as well as a situation of group social paranoia, were found to be key elements in precipitating ethnic violence. These findings suggest the reconsideration of existing ontological and positivistic interpretations.
Taming the Tiger: Militarization and Democracy in Latin America
Authors: BOWMAN KIRK S.
Published: March 2007

The relationship between militarization and democracy in Latin America 1972-86 is evaluated. Two dimensions of democracy loosely based on Dahl's Polyarchy - average democracy over time and the lowest level of democracy during a multi-year period of time - are regressed against two indicators of militarization, military spending and military participation ratios. In pooled time-series analyses, it is shown that: (a) military spending has a significant negative effect on democracy scores over time; and (b) that military participation ratios have a more robust negative impact. In an alternative cross-sectional design and holding the lagged level of democracy constant, both militarization indicators are strongly related to low levels of democracy during a multi-year time period. When the two indicators are simultaneously utilized as regressors, military participation ratio remains robust and military spending becomes trivial. It is suggested that military participation ratios have a much stronger negative effect on democracy because (a) the data are more reliable for participation than expenditures, and (b) military participation ratio includes a pro-authoritarian socializing dimension. No evidence exists to support reversed causality: High militarization causes low levels of democracy, low levels of democracy do not cause militarization. Finally, it is shown that the negative impact of militarization on democracy began to diminish in the late 1970s, such that the negative effect is much stronger in 1973-74 than in 1985-86.
A New Look at Russia in Transition
Authors: BAEV PAVEL K.
Published: March 2007

While at times Post-Soviet Puzzles may be inconclusive or lack coverage of some important issues, it nevertheless presents valuable new perspectives. The low explanatory power of mainstream political studies on Russia and other post-Soviet entities is directly linked to their state-centered approach, so the need for different perspectives is growing. One perspective explores regional processes: these do not necessarily bring about disintegration, but neither are they always conducive to democratization. Another perspective examines the formation of and interaction between interest groups, assessing stability and changes in the existing political order. Taken together, these perspectives lead to the conclusion that current Russian transformations will give rise to a multi-speed and variable-geometry federation rather than a reinvigorated and assertive Great Power.
Arms Races and Dispute Escalation: Resolving the Debate
Authors: Sample Susan G.
Published: March 2007

The article seeks to resolve the debate in the empirical literature over the effect of arms races on dispute escalation. Until now, tests of this link have remained inconclusive due to the conduct of largely parallel, rather than integrative, research. Michael Wallace's 1979 study finding a strong link between arming and escalation suffered substantial criticism on grounds that both his index and his dispute sample were flawed. Utilizing the arms races measures offered by Diehl and Horn, this article delves into the conceptual, measurement, and sampling controversies that have made resolution before this impossible. The results of resetting the proposition indicate that regardless of the arms race measure or dispute set used, the relationship between arming and the escalation of disputes to war is positive and significant. Removal of controversial dyads from the World Wars does not alter the findings substantially (or in the assumed direction). By introducing a time lag, it is also shown that many of the disputes that both Wallace and Diehl designated as non-escalating arms races were between countries that were at war with each other within five years. Consequently, the conclusion is that arms races are strongly associated with the escalation of disputes to war.
Ethnic Conflicts in The Former USSR: The Use and Misuse of Typologies and Data
Authors: Tishkov Valery
Published: March 2007

This article summarizes research on ethnic conflict in the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Various appealing but unsatisfactory typologies have been proposed, focusing on the subjects of the conflict (actors, goals, motivations); on the environment of the conflict (territory, language, socio-economy, environment and resources; or on characteristics of the conflict (scale, length, form of fighting, losses, aftermath). Most conflict typologies reflect better the thinking and political agenda of the typologists than the actual social panorama. Conflict theories and data presentations contain strong prescriptive elements and may even generate new conflict. For the conflicts in the Former Soviet Union, existing typologies fail to grasp several major factors, such as the strategies and behavior of individuals, social and political disorder, power and status aspirations, elite manipulations, and outside interventions. This article discusses data on human and material losses in nine violent conflicts: Karabakh, Fergana, Osh, South Ossetia, Transdniestria, Tajik, Abkhazia, Ingush-Ossetian, and Chechen. In conclusion, a plea is made for writing `between' theory and data, without sacrificing sensitive and self-reflective narration in order to produce new insights and new knowledge.