Sir George Clerk and the struggle for British influence in central Europe, 1919-26

During the Great War, Sir George Clerk was a senior Foreign Office official, strongly sympathetic to the cause of the 'oppressed nationalities' of Austria-Hungary and the liberal ideals associated with the journal, The New Europe. In 1919 he was granted a unique opportunity to shape the face of the New Europe when he embarked on his mission to Hungary. As British minister to Czechoslovakia in the early 1920s, Clerk harnessed his idealism for the Czechs to his ambition to make Prague a centre of British influence and power in central Europe. Though this policy ultimately failed, Clerk showed a greater rapport and sympathy for the Czechs than any of his successors.     

Agricultural Diversity and Child Stunting in Nepal

Abstract

This article investigates empirical connections between agriculture and child nutrition in Nepal. We augment the standard approach to explaining child nutrition outcomes by including information about household level agricultural production characteristics, including indicators of agricultural diversity. Data from the 2010/2011 Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS) are used in a series of regression models to explain stunting outcomes and variation in height-for-age Z-scores among 1,769 children 0–59 months of age. Results highlight the relative importance of overall agricultural yields, specific crop groups, and the consumption of own-production as factors correlated with long-term nutrition among children of different age groups. We find a small positive association between the degree of commercial market-orientation of households and child HAZ, but only among children under 24 months of age.     

‘In the mirror of the past’: The use of history in the justification of terrorism

This article takes the form of a content analysis of the propaganda of Lehi ‐ the smallest and most extreme of the underground movements that fought against the British in Palestine. It suggests that the propaganda was based on a number of projective narratives, namely, stories that are not only designed to recall the past, but also to show how to behave in the present. Particular emphasis was placed on the lessons to be learnt from Jewish history in general and past examples of Jewish valor in particular. Attention was also paid, however, to other struggles for national liberation. In both cases, the struggle for legitimacy took place on two fronts ‐ the reconstruction of the past and its reenactment in the present. Only Lehi, it was argued, understood history and acted in accordance with it. And therein lay the terrorists’ claim to legitimacy. They, and they alone, are the true heirs of the past.     

Scientizing Food Safety: Resistance,Acquiescence, and Localization in India

Since the mid‐1990s, formal scientific risk management has been codified at all levels of food safety governance in affluent states: firm‐level standards, national regulation, and international law. Developing countries' access to affluent importers and power in international standard‐setting fora now hinges on their scientific capacity. This article explores the consequences of these developments in India, which moved quickly from resistance to acquiescence, and then later to mobilization around narratives of scientific risk management's local benefits. The case suggests a two‐stage model of scientization among developing countries: (1) coercive and competitive mechanisms drive adoption of science‐based governance models, and (2) as local actors mobilize to meet foreign demands, they attach their own interests and agendas to science‐based reforms. The outcome is a set of rational myths about the benefits of scientization. The article draws on content analysis of organizational, policy, and news documents and a small set of interviews with highly placed pubic officials and industry representatives.     

Affordability and mortgage design: Permanent buydowns and buyups

Abstract

A simulation model that mirrors the actual practices of lenders in setting qualification requirements for mortgage loans is used to assess the impact of permanent buydowns and buyups on the maximum sale price that buyers can afford. Buydowns are reductions in the coupon rate traded off against higher discount points; buyups are the reverse. Although buydowns have little effect on afford ability, buyups can have significant effects. Their potential is largely unrealized, however, because of the call risk to lenders of loans carrying premiums. The authors propose a “discount recovery” provision, which would be similar to a prepayment penalty except that the payment upon prepayment would be tied to the amount of the discount foregone by the lender. This would protect lenders against call risk, giving them every reason to offer buyups as a way of expanding demand.     

Campaign resources and electoral success: Evidence from the 2002 French parliamentary elections

We examine the factors that improve the candidates’ likelihood of winning an election by drawing on information from campaign resources used by candidates running in the 2002 French parliamentary election. The main effects that we wish to analyze are the candidates’ gender, political affiliation and possible incumbency. We find that the contributions the candidates received and their political affiliations determine their acceding to the second round of the elections. But surprisingly once they make it to the second round, the contributions cease to be relevant; only the candidates’ gender, incumbency and the actual spending rather than the contribution levels matter.