Ghost Martyrs in Iraq: An Assessment of the Applicability of Rationalist Models to Explain Suicide Attacks in Iraq

Scholars have developed several rationalist explanations for the use of suicide attacks by terrorist organizations. Using evidence from Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, and Turkey, these authors have created plausible and rational models for attacks, which many consider to be “irrational.” Although the conflict in Iraq has, by most accounts, experienced more suicide bombings than any other struggle, its contemporary nature has made research and analysis on the subject difficult. This article analyzes four of these models and their implications with respect to the events in Iraq. Although the evidence is not conclusive, the data suggests that organizations are not using suicide attacks to (1) gain nationalist objectives, (2) signal strength to a foreign government, or (3)“outbid” rival organizations, as many scholars suggest. Instead, the evidence suggests that these attacks are used for (1) tactical advantages and (2) to aid the global recruiting effort of Al Qaeda–linked organizations.     

Leaders Without Borders: Familiarity as a Moderator of Transnational Source Cue Effects

The role of source cue effects in transnational persuasion (in which a foreign actor attempts to persuade an audience in another jurisdiction) is largely unexplored in both the political communication and international relations literatures. This article investigates transnational source cue effects using two source cue experiments that test the persuasiveness of German chancellor Angela Merkel and UK prime minister David Cameron in a Canadian context. The experiments were embedded in an online survey administered to student participants at a Canadian university in January 2011. As might be expected, the foreign leaders exerted positive source cue effects among participants who held positive impressions of the leaders and backlash effects among those who held strongly negative impressions. These effects, however, were moderated by participants’ level of political awareness, with the largest effects observed among participants who had an intermediate level of awareness. It is argued that this nonlinear moderating effect can be attributed to the countervailing effects of attitude stability and source familiarity (both of which are associated with political awareness) on individuals’ susceptibility to source cue effects. Finally, cueing David Cameron had approximately equivalent source cue effects on participants’ attitudes towards government spending on foreign aid and welfare, suggesting that foreign leaders may be able to move opinion on domestic as well as on foreign policy issues. Overall, these results validate existing models of source cue effects in a transnational context and point to the scope and limitations of national leaders’ ability to engage in direct public diplomacy.

[Supplementary material is available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Political Communication for the following free supplemental resources: Appendix: Question Wordings for Survey Experiments; Table A1: Balance Tests for Afghanistan and Cameron Cue Experiments; and Table A2: Underlying Salience of Domestic and Foreign Policy Spending.]     

Coping with the Cuts? The Management of the Worst Financial Settlement in Living Memory

The scale of the cuts to local government finance, coupled with increasing demand for services, has led to unprecedented ‘budget gaps’ in council budgets. Arguably, two competing narratives of the trajectory of local government have emerged in which contrasting futures are imagined for the sector – a positive story of adaptation and survival and more negative one of residualisation and marginalisation. Drawing on case study evidence from three English local authorities, the paper distinguishes and provides examples of three strategic approaches to managing austerity – efficiency, retrenchment and investment. It demonstrates how and why the balance of these strategies has shifted between the early and later phases of austerity and considers the extent to which the evidence of the case studies provide support for either the survival or marginalisation narrative. The paper concludes by arguing that a third narrative – responsibilisation – captures more fully the trajectory of local government in England.     

Symposium Introduction: Local Responses to ‘Austerity’

This introduction to the symposium sets out the context for local government in the United Kingdom at the current time. It outlines the scale of the reductions in funding since 2010, showing how uneven these cuts have been across the country and the reasons for this. It also describes the increased exposure to risk of both local government and of the citizens and communities it serves. The central question for the papers which follow is how local government is responding to these twin challenges. The papers provide insights from a number of detailed studies of individual authorities, exploring the strategies adopted to manage in response. The analyses focus on the distributive consequences for individuals and communities, but they also reflect on the wider consequences for local government itself. A particular concern is whether local responses are changing as austerity moves from its initial to its later phase.     

Book reviews and notes etc.

HOW TO STUDY LAW. By A. Bradney, V. Fisher, J. Masson, A. Neal and D. Newall. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 237 pp. (inc. index) £5.95 (paperback); £9.50 (cloth).]

READING THE LAW: A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION TO LEGAL METHOD AND TECHNIQUES. By Peter Goodrich. [Basil Blackwell. 1986. xi and 229 pp. £27.50 (hardback); £9.50 (paperback).]

DIRECTION, OR PREPARATIVE TO THE STUDY OF THE LAW. By William Fulbeck. [Wildwood House. 1987. xviii, 12 and 255 pp. £6.95.]

CONCORD: FREE TEXT INFORMATION RETRIEVAL. Version 3.0. By Bytesmiths Ltd. [Bytesmiths Ltd., Stoney Close, Cambridge Road, Ugley, Bishop's Stortford, Herts. 1986. £395 or £495 with full site licence]

HERACLES’ BOW: ESSAYS ON THE RHETORIC AND POETICS OF THE LAW. By James Boyd White. [University of Wisconsin Press. 1985. xviii and 251 pp. (inc. index). £22.50.]

PUBLIC LAW AND POLITICS: Edited by C. Harlow. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 255 pp. £28.00 (hardback).]

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS—PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FOR THE CROWN PROSECUTOR. By G. Mansfield and J. Peay. [Tavistock. 1987. viii and 246 pp. £25.00 (cloth).]

POLICING INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES. By Roger Geary. [Methuen. 1986. 171 pp. £5.95 (paperback).]

SEX SHOPS AND THE LAW. By Colin Manchester. [Gower. 1986. xx and 264 pp. (inc. appendices and index). £18.50.]

CIVIL LIABILITY STATUTES. By F. D. Rose. [Financial Training Ltd. 1987. x and 150 pp. £8.50 (paperback).]

TORT. Fourth edition. By C. D. Baker. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. xxxii & 398 pp. £8.95 (paperback).]

AN OUTLINE OF THE LAW OF AGENCY. Second edition. By B. S. Markesinis and R. J. C. Munday. [Butterworths. 1986. xxi and 255 pp. £13.50 (hardback); £8.50 (paperback).]

CASES IN THE LAW OF BANKING 1983–1985. Second edition. By P. E. Smart. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. 95 pp. £6.95 (paperback).]

MAUDSLEY AND BURN'S LAND LAW CASES AND MATERIALS. Fifth edition‐. By E. H. Burn. [Butterworths. 1986. xcii and 865 pp. plus index. £21.95 (soft cover); £32.00 (hard cover).]

CASES AND STATUTES ON LAND LAW. Second edition. By E. L. G. Tyler. [Sweet & Maxwell. 1986. xxvii and 335 pp. £10.95 (paperback).]

DISCUSSIONS IN BIOETHICS. VHS Videos. [Educational Media International, 25 Boileau Road, London W5 3AL. £75.00 (sale); £20.00 (rental).]     

Investigating BCCI: A journalist's experience

This is a working journalist's account of his involvement in the BCCI affair. Investigative journalists, as nosey cynics who follow up leads, were able to accumulate information highlighting the fraud in the bank, whereas the several regulatory agencies involved operated independently and were reticent in using their powers of disclosure and compliance.