Exploring Civic Engagement at an Urban Commuter Campus: Pathways and Barriers

Universities have traditionally had a vested interest in the civic preparation of students. In order to understand the unique situation of this population of students in a university serving non-traditional community students, qualitative data was used to identify pathways and barriers associated with their civic engagement. Results suggest themes associated with time, knowledge, and access.     

Towards an Analytical Framework for Party Mergers: Operationalising the Cases of the German Left Party and the Dutch Green Left

The theoretical literature on party mergers is thin. This article draws upon organisational behaviour research to create an analytical framework that is suitable for explaining the processes inherent in party mergers. The authors operationalise this framework by examining two cases of party merger: in Germany, between the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and the Electoral Alternative for Labour and Social Justice (WASG) in 2006/07, and in the Netherlands, between four small parties to form Groenlinks (Green Left) in 1989–91. They conclude that the two cases demonstrate definable steps and processes that are inherent to mergers, and they welcome further applications of this framework in other settings.     

From the politics of lying to the farce at Suez: What the US knew

This article seeks to establish, in a definitive manner, what the US knew about the Suez invasion plan of 1956.

With the benefit of the CIA's U‐2 reconnaissance plane, the US was able to pinpoint, as of mid‐October, the existence of nearly three times the number of Mystère fighters in Israel than had previously been notified to Washington by the French government. That plus an information blackout on the part of the British and the French, and the breakdown of negotiations with the Egyptians at the UN, roused Washington's apprehensions that a military option was being considered. However, though there was suspicion on the part of the US that an Israeli‐French operation might be in the offing, Washington never seriously focused on the possibility of a tripartite operation involving the British, the French, and the Israelis. President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles relied on the Anglo‐American special relationship and on British good sense not to get involved. In particular, Washington completely missed the fact of the British‐French‐Israeli meeting at Sèvres, at which time (24 October), the decision was taken to launch the operation five days later. The transparent nature of the British‐French announced decision, after the Israeli attack, to ‘separate’ the Egyptian and Israeli forces doomed the operation from the start before the court of world opinion. In this manner, Operation ‘Separation of Forces’ was transformed into a force.     

Regional prosperities compared: Massachusetts and Baden-Württemberg in the 1980s

This article compares the relationship between economic development and public policy in two of the most prosperous regions of the 1980s: Massachusetts in the United States and Baden-Württemberg in West Germany. Beginning with a critique of the theory of the product life-cycle, the article examines the rise and fall of traditional industries in Massachusetts and their survival in Baden-Württemberg. It then goes on to consider the rise–but also the vulnerability–of the high-tech and financial firms in Massachusetts, as well as the more robust, though almost invisible growth of these sectors in Baden-Württemberg. The burden of the argument is that there are, strictly speaking, no ‘mature’ industries and public policies aimed at stimulating innovation are most successful when the latter is integrated into the local industrial structure as a whole rather than isolated into a distinct high-tech sector.     

Ethnic cleansing

Philip J. Cohen, Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History. College Station, Texas: Texan A&;M University Press, 1996, xxvi, 235 pp. + maps, tables.

Stefano Bianchini and Paul Shoup, eds., The Yugoslav War, Europe and the Balkans: How to Achieve Security? Ravenna: Longo Editore Ravenna, 1995, 192 pp.

Andrew Bell‐Fialkoff, Ethnic Cleansing. New York: St. Martin's, 1996, 346 pp. + figures, maps, tables.

Ruth Lapidoth, Autonomy: Flexible Solutions to Ethnic Conflicts. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1997, xiv, 298 pp.     

The evolution of the European economy: Implications for Trans‐Atlantic relations

The Russian attitude towards the European Neighbourhood Policy constitutes a serious obstacle to the realisation of the Union's agenda in its neighbourhood. The Russian challenge takes three main forms: 1) with Russia not a part of the EU's overall approach involving the principle of conditionality, the Union's legitimacy and international actorness in general is in danger of being undermined; 2) Russia is increasingly starting to put forward its own model of operation, thus hampering the realisation of the Union's goals in the neighbourhood; 3) Russia is engaging in business activities that are in effect undoing the ENP's energy component. There are no easy fixes to these problems. What the Union must do is believe in its own values and visions: it is only by example that it can promote its ideals outside its institutional boundaries.     

Improving organisational performance—some thoughts on the role of management development

This article addresses the issue of local citizenship in the context of shifting urban structures. Drawing on the literature on modes of responses to local public policy based on Hirschman's (1970) model of Exit, Voice and Loyalty, the study offers the concept of urban civic worlds as an explanatory concept for local citizenship behavioural manifestations. The hypotheses regarding urban civic worlds are tested in a survey in the city of Tel Aviv. Eight types of urban civic worlds are examined. The implications of the multiplicity of urban civic world on the governance in localities is discussed.     

Learning about terrorism: Analysis,simulations, and future directions

This paper surveys the various activities of the Study Group on International Terrorism at the University of Oklahoma. The Study Group has employed the following phases in analyzing a form of conflict that has increasingly seized the world's headlines and challenged the capacity of governments to meet a particularly insidious type of political violence. In PHASE I, Ascertaining the Scope of the Investigation, problems related to defining “terrorism” and evolving a focus for analysis are recounted. In PHASE II, The Collection of Data and Initial Analysis, the techniques employed by the Study Group in collecting and evaluating data dealing with incidents of terrorism are discussed. In addition, a number of the preliminary findings of the studies are presented. In PHASE III, Application and Evaluation, the methods by which the initial findings were employed to develop a wide variety of programs related to developing alternatives to meet the threat of terrorism are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on problems related to reconciling the need for an effective tactical response when an incident occurs with the equally pressing requirement for effective hostage negotiation. Under the section entitled Simulations, the techniques employed in developing a series of highly realistic simulations involving: (1) the University of Oklahoma Security Department, (2) the Norman Police Department, (3) members of a U.S. Army Special Forces Unit, and (4) flight attendants aboard the mock‐up of a cabin at the training facility of a leading international airline are presented. In addition, certain patterns that emerge from the simulations are noted. In PHASE IV, Policy Implications, the patterns mat emerged from the simulations are related to broader policy questions that not only include the need for more effective training techniques for law enforcement personnel, but also stresses the need to provide exercises that would promote administrative cooperation among senior level officials from the different jurisdictions that would be involved if an incident were to occur. In PHASE V, Future Directions, new areas of analysis and training are presented as they particularly relate to the need to sensitize personnel from both the public and private sector who may be high‐risk targets for terrorists attacks.