Has the Global War on Terror Changed the Terrorist Threat? A Time-Series Intervention Analysis

Whether the Global War on Terror (GWOT) has changed the terrorist threat is a matter of controversy. This study, using transnational terrorism events data from 1993 through 2004, employs a time-series approach to investigate the extent to which the onset of the GWOT (beginning with the invasion of Afghanistan) and related events (the invasion of Iraq, the capture of Saddam Hussein, and the release of photos from Abu Ghraib) are associated with changes in transnational terrorist activity, its frequency, dispersion, lethality, type of attack, and type of victim of transnational terrorist incidents.     

中国的警民合作:监控摄像头、社区效能与警务

鉴于目前有关中国警民合作的研究较少,且有关监控摄像头对该合作之影响的认识发掘不足,本研究调查了监控摄像与社区集体效能、警察公正性及警察效力在民众与警察合作的意愿的形成中所存在的相互作用.本研究基于收集自中国某一南方城市751名居民的面对面调查采访数据,利用普通最小二乘法(OLS)回归分析,调查中国警民合作意愿的重要相关因素.结果 显示,视频监控、集体效能、警察公正性及警察效力对合作意愿产生了积极的影响.值得注意的是,对于居住在集体效能水平高的社区的人以及认为警察公正性水平低的人而言,监控摄像头对其合作的促进作用最为显著.调查结果证实了正式与非正式社会控制在决定民众合作意愿方面所存在的关联,并重申了检验其理论交互效应的必要性.调查结果还有助于我们了解民众在中国背景下依靠视频监控决定其是否协助警察的深层原因.     

THE REGIONALISM ALTERNATIVE IN RURAL AREAS1

This study suggests that rural reigonal councils have greater support among public officials for continuing current program activities and services than their urban counterparts. It also suggests, however, that rural regionalism may have a better chance of survival in states where regional councils have a long history of service to local governments, especially in light of present federal cutbacks. Study results contrast Georgia and Michigan regional councils.     

The Shadow Our Future Throws

Because of his groundbreaking critique of mass industrial society in such books as Energy and Equity, Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health, Toward a History of Needs and Deschooling Society Ivan Illich was considered a founding thinker of the alternative and ecological movements, the prophet of an "era of limits."
This conversation took place at Illich's rustic retreat in Ocotopec, Mexico, in the spring of 1989. (The title of the second chapter of Al Gore's 1992 book, The Earth in Balance is taken from this interview—"The Shadow Our Future Throws.")
Illich was no armchair witness but lived what he preached. In the early 1990s he developed a large tumor that protruded from his right temple. Claiming the right not to be a patient but to "die without diagnosis" as part of "hygienic autonomy," he was never treated, smoking opium to ease the pain over his last years. He died—without diagnosis—in 2002 in Bremen, Germany.     

Greenhouse Gas Politics and Climate Change Public Nuisance Litigation

In late 2009 three long-awaited decisions were handed down in the main climate change public nuisance cases. In one case, the Northern District of California became the latest trial court to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims, while in the others the Second and Fifth Circuits reversed, allowing the plaintiffs' claims to proceed. The decisions all have been appealed. The ultimate outcome of the appeals could be affected by several legislative and administrative initiatives that are expected to see further development in 2010. This article reviews some of those initiatives and discusses their relevance to the nuisance litigation.     

Transatlantic trade and monetary relations: The nature and limits of conflict

The furore that greeted news that negotiations were to start on a transatlantic free trade agreement revealed not only the potential importance of any putative deal, but also the tendency of Europeans to view international politics almost uniquely in economic terms. This neglect of security and broader geostrategic issues is short-sighted and dangerous. It is precisely the liberal world order in place since the Second World War that has allowed Europeans to develop their economic potential. Leaving it to the United States to preserve that order is an increasingly problematic strategy, with the US ever more reluctant to police the world in the way it once did. The US has, for many years, asked its partners to contribute more to the preservation of common security interests. Given the failure of these attempts to date, it might be time for Washington to resort to tougher tactics in an attempt to entice Europeans out of their geostrategic retirement.