Killing a wolf--an unusual case of forensic veterinary pathology

During a hunt in Western Pomerania in January 1999 a wolf, injured at the left hind leg, was killed by a shot in the chest region. It was a 2-year-old male that probably came to Germany from Poland by crossing the Oder River. The hunter was reported to the police afterwards, because there were doubts as to the legality of the lethal shot. The hunter pleaded relief by reason of section 22 a German Hunting Law (prevention of avoidable pain or suffering of wild animals). After the shooting there was a number of wrong expert statements by a veterinarian and two zoologists concerning the age of the injury on the left hind leg and the direction of the shot to the chest region, which were corrected by subsequent medico-legal examinations performed on the order of the prosecution.     

Desecuritization,Domestic Struggles,and Egypt’s Conflict with Ethiopia over the Nile River

Egypt maintained a policy of antagonism at arm’s length toward Ethiopia throughout Husni Mubarak’s presidency. This pattern changed immediately following Mubarak’s ouster. The burst of rapprochement and diplomatic activism that took shape in the spring of 2011 signaled a fundamental shift in the content and form of Egyptian policy vis-à-vis Ethiopia, which was reflected in President Muhammad Mursi’s reluctance to respond belligerently to Ethiopian initiatives 2 years later that threatened to diminish the northward flow of the Nile. Cairo’s evident restraint during the Mursi era cannot be explained by a change in the strategic circumstances that confronted Egyptian policy-makers. A more promising explanation can be found in a reformulation of desecuritization theory, which highlights the internal dynamics whereby potentially dangerous aspects of a country’s external environment get transformed into matters of routine political contestation.     

Thinking Outside the Plot: Insights on Small-Scale Mechanisation from Case Studies in East Africa

The changing agricultural sector and the challenges faced by smallholders call for the need for farm mechanisation suited to smallholder farming. Conventional four-wheeled tractors (4WTs) are not feasible for many smallholders owing to their high capital costs, unsuitability for fragmented holdings as well as topography and slope. More appropriate technologies are needed such as two-wheeled tractors (2WTs) and their requisite accessories. Our findings show that opportunities exist for the introduction of 2WTs in maize based systems through service provider models combining a number of operations that can be offered throughout the year and targeted to niche areas where 4WT access is unlikely. The paper also suggests that attention needs to be given concurrently to development of the 2WT supply chain to ensure that its profitability is sustainable.     

Networks and Public Policies in the Global South: The Chilean Case and the Future of the Developmental Network State

Recently, there has been considerable excitement about the economic potential of the “developmental network state”—decentralized government policies that successfully accelerated growth in several high- and medium-income countries. The question remains whether such a strategy could be successful in less-developed nations whose scientific and technological resources were relatively limited. This paper analyzes the trajectory of Chile, a Southern country which, despite adverse conditions, managed to produce something akin to an economic miracle during the last few decades. Our argument is that Chile’s success was based on the developmental network state strategy. Moreover, we highlight the centrality to understanding the Chilean experience of the concept of “network failures”—a common phenomenon that occurs when domestic production would be best served by network forms of organization but for a variety of reasons, these networks either fail to materialize or fail to take hold (Schrank and Whitford 2011). Over and over again, we see that the logic behind the actions of the Chilean state was to provide resources that reduced the likelihood of network failures. We examine three case studies of successful export sectors: salmon; wine; and fruit and vegetables. The paper outlines some of the challenges faced by the Chilean model and assesses its long-term viability.