Diego Garcia and the United States' Emerging Indian Ocean Strategy

Abstract

As the world's economic and strategic “center of gravity” shifts from the Euro-Atlantic area to the Asia-Pacific, the Indian Ocean is emerging as an increasingly critical trade and energy conduit. This region has long been a strategic backwater for the United States. Moreover, unlike in other critical subregions of Asia, the United States lacks significant host-nation bases and is unlikely to acquire them. The British territory of Diego Garcia, whose location and political reliability give it significant strategic utility, is thus central to US power projection in the Indian Ocean littoral region. The US military's approach to Diego Garcia reflects an implicit Indian Ocean strategy that seeks to establish a flexible and enduring presence within a critical and contested space. However, Washington needs to move toward an explicit Indian Ocean policy that views the region holistically rather than narrowly viewing separate US Pacific Command, US Central Command, and US Africa Command theaters.     

Highly Sensitive Detection of Blood by Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering,,

Raman spectroscopy for forensic body fluid analysis has received some attention due to the nondestructive nature and potential application for identification at the crime scene; however, its usage has been limited by low detection sensitivity. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) was evaluated for blood identification for forensic applications. Specifically, a SERS‐active substrate was fabricated, composed of nickel nanotips coated with Ag nanoparticles. Compared with a conventional substrate, the SERS substrate enhanced Raman scattering by more than two orders of magnitude and allowed blood to be identified to a dilution of 1:100,000. Blood was also successfully detected by swabbing the SERS substrate directly on mock evidence. Most importantly, Raman spectra obtained by swabbing the SERS substrate on blood stains were free of luminescence even when blood was deposited on luminescent fabrics. The nondestructive character, simplicity of sample preparation, and high sensitivity make SERS a prime candidate for field and laboratory‐based blood identification.     

Who should I look at? Eye contact during collective interviewing as a cue to deceit

Pairs of liars and pairs of truth tellers were interviewed and the amount of eye contact they made with the interviewer and each other was coded. Given that liars take their credibility less for granted than truth tellers, we expected liars to monitor the interviewer to see whether they were being believed, and to try harder to convince the interviewer that they were telling the truth. It was hypothesised that this monitoring would manifest itself through more eye contact with the interviewer and less eye contact with each other than in the case of truth tellers. A total of 43 pairs of participants took part in the experiment. Truth tellers had lunch in a nearby restaurant. Liars took some money from a purse, and were asked to pretend that instead of taking the money, they had been to a nearby restaurant together for lunch. Pairs of liars looked less at each other and displayed more eye contact with the interviewer than pairs of truth tellers. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Nativity status and racial/ethnic differences in access to quality housing: Does homeownership bring greater parity?

Abstract

In this article, we use data from the 2001 American Housing Survey to evaluate whether nativity‐status differences in housing conditions vary by tenure and whether nativity status or race/ethnicity plays a more important role in determining housing conditions. Overall, when compared with native‐born households, recently arrived immigrant households are significantly more likely to be crowded, but either as likely or significantly less likely to live in poorer‐quality housing.

Further analysis revealed, however, that race/ethnicity is a stronger indicator than immigrant status in predicting housing outcomes. Among homeowners, black and Hispanic households, regardless of nativity status, exhibited lower‐quality housing outcomes than native‐born and, frequently, foreign‐born whites. Thus, we find that minorities are doubly disadvantaged: They are less likely to attain homeownership than whites, and once they do, they are almost always significantly more likely to live in poorer‐quality housing.     

Nativity differences in neighborhood quality among New York city households

Abstract

This article adds to the literature on locational attainment of immigrants by evaluating how immigrant households in New York City compare with native‐born households with respect to neighborhood characteristics. It also examines whether the relationship between immigrant status and neighborhood quality varies by race/ethnicity and place of birth.

Overall, foreign‐born households are more likely than native‐born households to live in neighborhoods with less access to medical care, higher rates of tuberculosis, and higher concentrations of poverty. Multivariate analyses reveal that all but one of these disadvantages disappear for foreign‐born households as a group. However, island‐born Puerto Ricans and immigrants—especially Dominicans, Caribbeans and Africans, and Latin Americans—are more likely to reside in lower‐quality neighborhoods than native‐born white households. Equally important, native‐born blacks and Hispanics are also disproportionately disadvantaged relative to native‐born whites, suggesting that a racial hierarchy exists in the locational attainment of households in New York City.     

Briefing: Recent changes in the South African government's HIV/Aids policy and its implementation

SINCE 2002 THERE HAS BEEN A SHIFT IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN government'spolicy response to HIV/AIDS, culminating in a commitment bythe Cabinet in August 2003 to develop a plan to provide antiretroviral(ARV) drugs. While this shift in policy was greeted warmly,if cautiously, by most analysts and activists,we need to understandwhy it has occurred, in order to assess its sustainability andwhether it will translate into meaningful change on the ground.As a civil society submission to the government noted: ‘Thesuccess and sustainability of an ARV roll-out programme dependson a number of interlocking social, medical and political factors.’¹This briefing provides an outline of the government's AIDS policies,recent policy shifts, the social and political factors at playand some explanations for these shifts.