Health Canada unveils plan to distribute marijuana for medical use

Under pressure from the courts, Health Canada reluctantly comes up with a distribution plan to provide dried cannabis and seeds to patients using medical marijuana. The plan has been greeted with considerable criticism     

Learning our way out of environmental policy problems: a review of the scholarship

In acknowledgement of the complexity of environmental challenges, research on learning in environmental policy has grown substantially over the past two decades across a range of disciplines. Despite this growth, there are few comprehensive assessments of the literature on learning in environmental policy. This article fills this gap by providing insights on the overall coherence and impact of this body of scholarship. To do so, we analyze a sample of 163 articles from 2004 to 2014 using a standardized coding framework. The results provide an in-depth assessment of the status of the literature on learning in the context of environmental policy, as well as the quality of the literature. We demonstrate that despite the diversity in research questions and goals, the literature is lacking with respect to diversity in cases and context, theoretical development, clear conceptualization and operationalization of learning, and advancements in empirical approaches to study learning. From these insights, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for scholars in studying learning and provide recommendations for building the theoretical and methodological rigor of the field.     

Analysing pig traders in Uganda: sampling issues,marketing activities,and constraint analysis

An integral part of the pig and pork value chain in Uganda is trader activity. This article reports on a study that quantifies the nature of these traders in Mukono district, a major pig and pork marketing site adjacent to Kampala, Uganda. Little guidance is available from the literature about the sampling of traders for this kind of research, and the second task addressed by this study is to test sampling mechanisms and report on their influence on the statistical results generated. Different sources of sampling frame provided different samples, with some limited overlap. The two samples exhibited distinctly different profiles of traders.     

Rational benevolence in small committees

We consider a game in which three committee members must divide up a benefit among themselves. In response to the large literature on sequential procedures in this type of game, we propose an institution that is inspired by auction theory. The (sealed) bids of the players are proposals for a distribution of the benefit and are given simultaneously. If any of the bids is preferred to all others in a pairwise comparison (i.e., a Condorcet winner exists) then this proposal is implemented. If such a bid does not exist then an equal split of the benefit is assumed. An equilibrium of this game is for each player to suggest that one of the opponents should receive the lion’s share of the benefit, even though each player cares only about his own share. We call this phenomenon “rational benevolence”. Although the end that is desired by the players is purely egoistic, the means of achieving it may be perceived as benevolent. Several applications of the game are suggested.     

A. Reviews: general

THE HISTORY OF AL‐TABARI (TA'RIKH AL‐RUSUL WA ‘L‐MULUK) [An annotated translation] (Bibliotheca Persica) (SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies):

VOLUME VI: MUHAMMAD AT MECCA. Translated and annotated by W. MONTGOMERY WATT and M.V. McDONALD. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1988. xlvi, 178pp.

VOLUME VII: THE FOUNDATION OF THE COMMUNITY [MUHAMMAD AT ALMADINA A.D. 622–626/HIJRAH‐4 A.H.]. Translated and annotated by W. MONTGOMERY WATT and M.V. McDONALD. Albany, State University of New York Press, 1987. xxxviii, 182pp.

AL‐TABARI: THE EARLY ‘ABBASI EMPIRE. Translated [and annotated] by JOHN ALDEN WILLIAMS:

VOLUME 1: THE REIGN OF ABU JA'FAR AL‐MAN?UR A.D. 754–775. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988. xx, 263pp. £30.00 (US $49.50).

VOLUME 2: THE SON AND GRANDSONS OF AL‐MAN?UR. THE REIGNS OF AL‐MAHDI, AL‐HADI AND HARUN AL‐RASHID A.D. 775–808. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1989. xviii, 342pp. £35.00 (US $54.50).

AL‐FUSTAT: ITS FOUNDATION AND EARLY URBAN DEVELOPMENT. By WLADYSLAW D. KUBIAK. Cairo, The American University in Cairo Press, 1987. 186pp.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE EAST 1945–1951: ARAB NATIONALISM, THE UNITED STATES AND POSTWAR IMPERIALISM. By W. ROGER LOUIS. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1984. xix, 803pp. £45.00.

ISLAM IN A WORLD OF NATION‐STATES. By J. PISCATORI. Cambridge, Cambridge U.P., in association with RIIA, 1986. 193pp. H/B: £25.00. P/B: £10.95.

GADDAFI'S WORLD DESIGN: LIBYAN FOREIGN POLICY, 1969–1987. By R.B. ST JOHN. London, Saqi Books, 1987. 184pp. £14.95.

ÄGYPTEN UNTER MUBARAK; IDENTITÄT UND NATIONALES INTERESSE. By GUDRUN KRÄMER. Baden‐Baden, Nomos Verlaggesellschaft, 1986. 230pp. £29.95.

MERCHANTS OF ESSAOUIRA: URBAN SOCIETY AND IMPERIALISM IN SOUTHWESTERN MOROCCO, 1844–1886. By D.J. SCHROETER. (Cambridge Middle East Library.) Cambridge University Press, 1988. 343pp., 9 photographs, 17 figures, 7 maps, 20 tables. £30.00.

THE MIDDLE EASTERN VILLAGE: CHANGING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RELATIONS. Edited by RICHARD LAWLESS. London‐New York‐Sydney, Croom Helm, 1987. 304pp. 29 tables, 30 figures, 20 plates. £27.50.

CHANGE ON THE EUPHRATES: VILLAGERS, TOWNSMEN AND EMPLOYEES IN NORTHEAST SYRIA. By ANNIKA RABO. Stockholm, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Stockholm, 1986. viii, 222pp.

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN EGYPT AND TURKEY: A STUDY IN HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY. By BILL WILLIAMSON. London, Macmillan Press, 1987. vii, 242pp. £35.00.

AL SABAH: HISTORY AND GENEALOGY OF KUWAIT'S RULING FAMILY 1752–1987. By ALAN RUSH. London, Ithaca Press, 1987. [x], 304pp. Illustrations, genealogical tables. £29.50.

OPEC: TWENTY‐FIVE YEARS OF PRICES AND POLITICS (Cambridge Energy Studies). By IAN SKEET. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988. 263pp. Maps, tables. £25.00.

THE NEGLECTED GARDEN: THE POLITICS AND ECOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE IN IRAN. By KEITH McLACHLAN. London, I.B. Tauris, 1988. xxi, 266pp. 28 maps and figures. £24.50.

CHALLENGE OF ISLAMIC ECONOMICS. By MUHAMMAD AKRAM KHAN. Lahore, All‐Pakistan Islamic Education Congress, 1985. 93pp. $3.00.

THEORETICAL STUDIES IN ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE. Edited by MOHSIN S. KHAN and ABBAS MIRAKHOR. Houston, Institute for Research and Islamic Studies, 1987. xvi, 245pp. $14.95.

RELIGION UND POLITIK BEI DEN SCHI'ITISCHEN HAZ#afARA IN AFGHANISTAN, IRAN UND PAKISTAN. ETHNIZITÄT UND GESELLSCHAFT: PROBLEME ETHNISCHER GRENZZIEHUNG IN GESELLSCHAFTEN DES VORDEREN UND MITTLEREN ORIENTS. By ROLF BINDEMANN. (Freie Universität Berlin Forschungsgebiets‐schwerpunkt, Occasional Papers No.7.) Berlin, Verlag Das Arabische Buch, 1987. 104pp.

ISLAM AND RESISTANCE IN AFGHANISTAN. By OLIVIER ROY. (Cambridge Middle East Library.) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986. 253pp. £30.00 (hardback), £10.95 (paperback).

THE CONTEMPORARY TURKISH ECONOMY. By Z.Y. HERSHLAG. London, Routledge, 1988. xi, 178pp. £30.00.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS: TURKEY UNDER DEVELOPMENTALISM. By RUSEN KELES and HIROMASA KANO. Tokyo, Institute of Developing Economies Middle East Series No.17, 1986. iv, 201pp.