Laos: “no place to hide”

Abstract

If the U.S. intervenes in the third world in the next decade it is likely to model its actions on experience in Laos rather than to duplicate the frustrations of Vietnam. While the two wars are similar in terms of destruction and dislocation of civilian populations (with Laos having sustained even greater devastation than Vietnam), the strategies directing them differ significantly. For in Laos, without introducing its own combat troops, the U.S. has secretly waged a more extensive war on foreign soil than any other nation in history. Incorporating the lessons of Vietnam, synthesizing previous Western experience in counter-insurgency, and operating almost exclusively through executive decrees, the American military in Laos has devised a pattern of warfare likely to become the quintessential model for future attempts to fight localized guerilla conflicts.     

Federal contracts to perform analysis and management services: Can not-for-profits successfully compete?

This study uses a random sample of HUD contracts to determine if not-for-profit organisations have advantages or disadvantages in the competition for fedral procurement awards. Interest focuses on 228 competitors for awards selected in the sample. Differences between for-profit and not-for-profit groups are examined with respect to awareness of opportunity, willingness to compete, abiity to compete technically, and ability to be cost-competitive.

Generally, not-for-profit organizations compete well with for-profit ones in efforts to obtain awards to provide analysis and management services. Managers of not-for-profit organizations need not believe that their organizations are incapable of competting successfully against for-profit organizations.     

Household Welfare Effects of Agricultural Productivity: A Multidimensional Perspective from Ghana

Although poverty reduction policies in developing countries hinge on the link between smallholder productivity and welfare, micro level empirical evidence on this is limited in sub-Saharan Africa and neglects the multidimensionality of welfare. This article contributes through investigating the productivity-poverty relationship using a number of welfare measures with a three-period panel dataset for Ghana. The findings are that welfare is increasing with labour productivity irrespective of the measure used, but that dramatic increases in productivity would be required to achieve meaningful poverty reduction.     

The Practice of Nonviolence in the Contemporary World: An Interview with Daniel Berrigan

Critical race theory provides a much‐needed framework for improving the study of race and racism's influence on psychological health and illness. Implicating the mundane and extraordinary, critical race theory explains how racism determines lifestyles and life chances. It also clarifies the individual and institutional nature of racism. Such clarification should be meaningful to sociologists of mental health, especially those interested in how race‐related inequality alters the distribution of psychological health and illness. Towards improving research linking race and racism with mental health, the present essay exposes five weaknesses in the sociology of mental health literature: (1) misspecification of perceived discrimination; (2) neglect of the psychological wages of Whiteness; (3) conflation of race and ethnicity; (4) assumption of mental health measurement invariance; and (5) disregard for narratives about how racism hurts mental health. These weaknesses and the strategies for overcoming them are uncovered by systematically applying select critical race theory tenets.     

Spike lee's do the right thing : Filmmaking in the American grain

Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing is one of the most important American films of the 20th century. On one level it raises questions about racial conflict in New York City during the 1980s but, on another, about the struggle to be human in America, specifically the requirements of a justice that takes into account the needs of all. In other words, the film is about the struggle each of us faces to recognize each other as a being of value and worth regardless of our state- and market-defined merits or deserts. The authors argue that Do the Right Thing is a film consistent with the true American character which reflects a desire to be not a power-wielding sovereign but a person connected to a community of human concern, one in which the needs of all are taken into account.     

Enterprise Growth and Survival in Vietnam: Does Government Support Matter?

This paper analyses whether direct government assistance during start-up and other forms of interaction with the state sector have influenced the long-run performance of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. Using three partly overlapping surveys during the period 1990–2000, we find strong effects on firm dynamics from interaction with state institutions. Enterprises which have the state sector as their main customer perform better. This is so for both survival and growth. Moreover, temporary tax exemptions during firm start-up had a separate and positive influence on long-run growth for non-household enterprises and initial credit support seems to benefit rural firms.     

A democratic dictator's success: how Chad's President Deby defeated the military opposition in three years (2008–2011)

This article focuses on how President Deby re-gained power after a nearly successful coup d'état against him in February 2008. The analysis points towards one major external reason for success and a divided internal strategy. The international community's little interest in Chad and the desire for political stability among the few interested states are the main external reasons for Deby's success. Internally, Deby's use of violence and co-optation explain his success. Deby defeated the Chadian military opposition by combining co-optation of adversaries in Chad's patrimonial marketplace.     

Normative power and organized hypocrisy: European Union member states' arms export to Libya

The 2011 Libyan civil war prompted a reassessment of the normative foundation of the EU's conventional arms export control regime as armaments manufactured in Europe were used by Gaddafi's forces during the war. The EU's foreign policy identity is based, partly, upon a common approach to arms export involving respect for common criteria for export licences. Yet, prior to the civil war, considerable amounts of military equipment had been exported by member states to Libya, notwithstanding grounds for restraint on the basis of several of the criteria. This article traces member states' arms export to Libya during 2005–2010 to explore whether member states favoured restraint or export promotion. It concludes that although aware of the risks of exporting, in a competitive market for military goods, member states sought commercial advantage over restraint, and comprehensively violated export control principles. This casts doubts on assertions of the EU acting as a “normative power”.