The Twin Peaks of Pyongyang

The United States has been negotiating with North Korea in an effort to have it renounce its nuclear program for over a decade, since Washington negotiated an Agreed Framework in 1994. In this time, North Korea has only amassed more plutonium. The negotiations are hindered by mutual distrust and hostility, but it is doubtful whether any change in Washington's attitude toward the dprk would help solve the nuclear issue. It is the Kim regime that is the core problem. Until the regime is removed, there can be no durable peace in the region. This article suggests that with the prospect for a negotiated resolution of the nuclear issue remote, and since any attempt to remove the Kim regime militarily would entail huge costs, Washington might consider a third option: directly engaging the North Korean people.     

The Role of the Broker When Environmental Claims Occur

While environmental incidents tend to occur infrequently, they are often serious enough to disrupt the operations of the entities that experience releases of hazardous materials. The consequences of such events may include third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage, orders to clean up contamination, and regulatory actions against responsible parties. Fortunately, environmental insurance is available to provide protection against the financial consequences of a wide variety of pollution events. This article looks at the role of the broker in assisting clients to identify, analyze, and insure against environmental liability. With properly drafted policies and active participation in the claims management process, the broker can play a significant role in assuring that an environmental insurance policy responds as anticipated when an unexpected incident threatens a client's operations.     

Money laundering: some facts

This paper tackles the quite difficult topic of money laundering. After defining money laundering, and after explaining the three stages (steps), placement, layering and integration, the paper tries a quantification and estimation of the volume and development of money laundering activities. Besides it shows national and international measurements to fight money laundering and various effects on macroeconomics. The overall turnover in organized crime for example had a value of 800 billion USD in 2001 and increased to 1.700 billion USD in 2007. These figures are very preliminary with a quite large error, but give a clear indication how important money laundering and the turnover of organized crime is nowadays.

Deficits in Behavioral Inhibition Predict Treatment Engagement in Prison Inmates

Many inmates do not respond favorably to standard treatments routinely offered in prison. Executive cognitive functioning and emotional regulation may play a key role in treatment responsivity. During intake into treatment, inmates (N = 224) were evaluated for executive functioning, emotional perception, stress reactivity (salivary cortisol), IQ, psychological and behavioral traits, prior drug use, child and family background, and criminal histories and institutional behavior. Outcome measures included program completion, treatment readiness, responsivity and gain, and the Novaco Reaction to Provocation Questionnaire. Relative deficits in behavioral inhibition significantly predicted treatment outcomes, more so than background, psychological, or behavioral variables, and other neurocognitive and emotional regulatory measures. Future replications of these results have potential to improve assessment and treatment of offenders who are otherwise intractable.