A Naval Revolution and Institutional Change: The Case of the United Provinces

This study starting from the debate of the influence of the so-called military revolution on the emergence of modern states, analyses the neglected aspect of the influence of seapower on socioeconomic change, using a formal model. It is maintained that the choice of seapower by a state leads to a different regime than the choice of land military power, because sustainable seapower necessitates a wide alliance of interests, which brings with it more democratic regimes, develops new more efficient and complex forms of organizations, requires the acquisition and diffusion of new knowledge and expertise that brings with it institutional change and economic growth. The present study concludes with a short presentation of the United Provinces (the Dutch Republic) turn to the sea.JEL Classification: N0, N4, C7, O0     

The oil boom in Equatorial Guinea

In less than a decade, Equatorial Guinea has transformed itselffrom an African backwater into one of the world’s fastestgrowing economies and a sought-after political partner in theGulf of Guinea. The sole reason for this transformation hasbeen the discovery of oil and gas. This article outlines therise of Equatorial Guinea as one of Africa’s leading oilproducingcountries and investigates the political, economic and socialeffects of becoming a petro-state. The article is based on theauthor’s field research in Equatorial Guinea in the autumnof 2003 and interviews with senior oil company staff, governmentofficials and staff of international organizations as well assecondary sources. This research demonstrates how reliance onoil and gas exports can lead to profound changes in a country’spolitical economy.     

推行社区警务，确保街区安全

与反应式警务(“incident-oriented”policing)相比较,有时“修复破窗户”(“fixingbrokenwindows”)确实更能降低犯罪率。社区警务的工作核心就是“修复破窗户”,推行社区警务是对反应式警务所存在的不足的一个有益的修正。     

Exploratory study on classification and individualisation of earprints

The FearID research project is aimed at the individualisation of earprints for the purpose of forensic research. The study presented here was carried out within the framework of this project. It intends to combine a review of what is known from literature on the classification and individualisation of earprints with results from a preliminary study of earprints. Possibilities for, and limitations to, the use of earprints in forensic investigation are addressed. Differences between eliminating a suspect, placing a suspect at a crime scene, and linking crimes by prints left at different scenes are considered.     

Has the cocaine epidemic arrived in the UK?

National surveys of the UK drug situation in 2000 found that cocaine was the most frequently seized Class A drug, with 25-40 tonnes of cocaine being smuggled into the UK each year. In the light of these findings, an audit of the analytical monitoring for cocaine abuse has been performed covering the period from 1996 to 2002. It was found that there has been a consistent upward trend in the percentage of requests found to be positive for cocaine over this 7-year study period, rising from 9.7% in 1996 to 22% in 2002. This data would suggest that the use of cocaine has increased dramatically over the past few years, indicating that the arrival of the "cocaine epidemic" has now started to become a reality in the UK.     

To clone alone: the United Nations' Human Cloning Declaration.

The United Nations labored for almost four years to create a treaty governing human cloning. In 2005 that effort was abandoned, and instead the United Nations' General Assembly adopted a "Declaration on Human Cloning".