The contribution by economists to middle eastern studies (1973–1998)

More economists have been involved in Middle Eastern studies during the last twenty‐five years than ever before, and economists from the region itself now rightly play a dominant role. Inevitably amongst economists there have been disagreements and different schools of thought, especially over the role of the state and the desirability of privatization and structural adjustment policies. There have also been different definitions of rentier states, and contrasting analysis of the dynamics of oil pricing and the effects of oil revenue. Much attention has been paid to regional economic integration issues, even though little has been achieved in that field. There is increasing interest in external trade and investment issues, but in a region where poverty persists, economists should perhaps focus more on the basic needs of the poor which are not being met. Applied microeconomic studies should be given greater priority, as macroeconomic issues have been exhaustively covered and debated.     

Who is to Blame? Agency,Causality, Responsibility and the Role of Experts in Russian Framings of Global Climate Change

This article analyses the politics of Russian climate change by pinpointing how global warming has been framed over a seven year period in a government-owned, leading daily newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, and how climate experts have intervened in such framings. Russia's climate politics is first summarised and then three framings of climate change are identified and examined. Secondly, the role that expert voices play in the framing of climate change is discussed. The article concludes with a presentation of key findings about scientists' involvement in public debate and hypotheses about the overall trajectory of Russian climate politics.     

Determining the correlates of police victimization: An analysis of organizational level factors on injurious assaults

The current study attempted to expand the understanding victimization of police by examining the impact of a variety of factors related to community and aggressive policing styles on injurious assaults rates across 267 large municipal police departments. Regression analyses indicated that policing styles related to community meetings are associated with low levels of assault rates. Second, policing styles related to aggressive enforcement of drug laws has an aggravating effect on police victimization. Finally, departments that had high police-to-citizen population ratios also had lesser rates of injurious assaults.     

New developments in Belize Laws and Regulations affecting Trusts and Service Providers

The months of April and May 2007 have seen the enactment oftwo new pieces of legislation and one set of regulations. InJune 2007 the Regulations governing the Trust (Amendment) Act2007 and the International Financial Services Commission (Amendment)Act 2007 were passed. ‘The Trust and Company Services Providers (Best Practices)Regulations 2007’ were published in the Belize Gazetteon 7 April and came into force on 16 April. ‘The Trusts (Amendment) Act 2007’ and ‘TheInternational Financial Services Commission (Amendment) Act2007’ were signed on 30 May and were both published inthe Belize Gazette on 2 June. The regulations for these two, ‘The International TrustsRegulations 2007’ and ‘International Financial ServicesCommission (Licensing) Regulations 2007’ were enactedon     

War and the East

This article proposes three lesson plans for teaching Asian military history to High School students. Each case study—Sun Tzu's Art of War, the Mongols, and the Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan—is structured around a primary source in translation and is designed to highlight the depth and diversity of the Asian experience with war. They allow us to see the East as more than a venue for the West's wars and also to appreciate the array of indigenous military and strategic cultures that have arisen and competed in Asia over the last three millennia.     

Public Support for Punishment and Progressive Criminal Justice Policy Preferences: The Role of Symbolic Racism and Negative Racial Stereotype

Prior studies have found that symbolic racism and negative African-American stereotypes are linked to public preferences for punitive criminal justice policy. But prior studies have mostly focused attention on White respondents and have not adequately examined whether the effects of symbolic racism and negative African American stereotypes are the same across race and ethnicity. This study used the 2000 American National Election Study data to fill this gap in the empirical literature. The study found that the effects of symbolic racism were broad and generally impact Whites, African-Americans, and members of other races/ethnicities the same. The effects of negative African-American stereotype were more limited. This variable predicted punishment policy preference for members of other races/ethnicities and there were significant differences in how stereotypes impacted policy preferences across race and ethnicity. Implications for theory are discussed.