Correspondence

Sir Tony Brenton, formerly British Ambassador to Moscow (2004-2008), considers in this article the Asian dimension of Russia. He considers the historical connections and importance of Asia (as opposed to Europe) in the development of Russia and the historical balance between Asian and European influence. This section pays particular attention to the development of Siberia and early encounters between Russia and China. He then examines shifting Russian attitudes towards Asia at significant moments in Russian history including the 19^th century (the Slavophile Movement), the Communist period, the post-Soviet 1990s and the current era under President Putin. The implications of the Ukraine crisis and the current relationship with China is studied. He concludes with a discussion of whether Russia is likely to see its future orientation as more towards China and Asia, and what implications Russia's deliberation about its future direction has for the western powers.     

Extreme versus quotidian: addressing temporal dichotomies in Philippine disaster management

Brief narratives of two recent events in Luzon island—a flashflood in Angeles City and an eruption of Mayon volcano—underscore the disparity between natural hazards as amplifiers of everyday hardship for many Filipinos and the Philippine disaster management system's orientation towards extreme‐event response. Three major factors contribute to this dichotomy. First, population dynamics combined with the lack of access to resources compels poor Filipinos to live and work in hazardous areas, discounting risk from extreme natural events to focus on daily needs. Second, the institutional setting of the country's disaster management within the military establishment makes it difficult, though not impossible, to focus and address the underlying causes of vulnerability. Third, existing modes of funding disaster expenditures are all biased towards immediate response rather than long‐term risk‐reduction. The implications of these findings to disaster management and research in the Philippines are identified. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dead Man Walking: Law and Ethics After Giorgio Agamben's Auschwitz

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

Politiques publiques et santé:les dilemmes de I‘évaluation prospective

Sommaire: Depuis le milieu des années 1990, plusieurs gouvernements ont affirmé leur volonté de tenir compte des impacts de leurs actions sur la santé des populations. En juin 2002, le gouvernement du Québec met en vigueur l'article 54 de la Loi sur la santé publique (L.R.Q. chapitre S‐22, 2001). Cet article atteste de l'obligation pour les ministères de tenir dorénavant compte des impacts sociaux, environnementaux et économiques de leurs actions sur la santé. La mise en Oeuvre de cet article suppose l'intégration d'un processus d'évaluation prospective des politiques publiques dans l'appareil gouvernemental, remet en question le fonctionnement vertical des administrations publiques et souligne l'importance d'une gestion stratégique des connaissances dans un monde sans frontières. Dans ce contexte, quatre dilemmes sont soulevés. Les deux premiers dilemmes sont d'ordre interministériel. Ils concernent les relations qu'entretiennent les ministéres entre eux et avec les organismes centraux. Les deux autres dilemmes s'intéressent à la dimension intra organisationnelle, c'est‐à‐dire la maniére dont chaque ministère réagit face aux demandes d'évaluations prospectives de ses politiques ou programmes et répond aux exigences dc l'article 54. Des méthodes qui devraient permettre aux administrations publiques de remédier à ces différents dilemmes sont également présentées. Abstract: Since the mid‐1990s, several governments have declared their commitment to ensuring that the impact of their actions on the health of the population is taken into account. In June 2002 the Quebec provincial government implemented article 54 of the Public Health Act (R.S.Q., chapter 2.2, 2001). This article stipulates the obligation on the part of the government departments to take into account the social, environmental, and economic impacts of their actions on public health in the future. The implementation of this article means integrating a process for the prospective assessment of the government's public policies, and re‐examining the vertical model of operation of public administrations; it also underlines the importance of strategic knowledge management in a world without borders. Four dilemmas are raised within this context. The first two dilemmas are interdepartmental in nature, and involve the relationships the government departments have with each other and with the central agencies. The other two dilemmas fall within the intra‐organizational sphere ‐ that is, the way in which each government department reacts to the demands for the prospective assessment of its public policies or programs, and how each department responds to the requirements of article 54. Processes that should allow the public administrations to solve these various dilemmas are also presented.