Soft Power: A Comparison of Discourse and Practice in Russia and China

This article compares soft power as a normative and operational construct in the Russian and Chinese political context. I examine Russian and Chinese discourse on soft power as well as the efforts of the Kremlin and Beijing to devise programmes for its implementation. I then compare and evaluate the similarities and differences in Russian and Chinese soft power strategy. The similarities between the two states indicate their joint status as authoritarian regimes with a Marxist–Leninist heritage. The differences can be attributed to their vastly disparate economic circumstances, but also to historical, social, and political factors that influence soft power policies.     

Nail-gun injuries. Accident, homicide, or suicide?

It may be difficult to distinguish industrial accidents from suicide attempts or even assaults or homicide. Nail guns are relatively new industrial tools that can produce severe or fatal injuries. The configuration of the nail on patients' radiographs after such injuries can be helpful in determining the cause of injury. Steel nails that are bent are due to a ricochet and thus indicate accidental injury. Straight-nail injuries to the co-workers of nail-gun users are most likely due to over-penetration of the substance being nailed or accidental mid-air firing; however, intentional injury cannot be ruled out. Extremity injuries caused by straight steel nails in nail gun users are the result of carelessness or poor technique, but suicide should be considered when straight nails cause wounds to the chest, head, or abdomen.     

Culture and Negotiation Strategy

In this article the authors investigate the relationship between culture and joint gains by examining the role of information sharing and power strategies in intracultural negotiations. Previously, the authors found that the relationship between cultural values or norms and joint gains was uncertain in six cultures: France, Russia, Japan, Hong Kong, Brazil, and the United States. Of the five values and norms measured, only norms for information sharing in negotiation were directly related to joint gains. This article explores and extends prior findings by investigating the strategies used by negotiators in the same six cultures. Cultures that maximized joint gains used direct information-sharing strategies or a combination of indirect and direct strategies. Power strategies may help or hurt joint gains, depending on a culture's values and norms for power and whether or not power-based influence is used in conjunction with sufficient information exchange. The findings suggest that understanding the other party's cultural characteristics and strategies can help negotiators plan how to focus on information exchange and deal with unusual power strategies that they may encounter.     

Results of anger control training for battering couples

This paper describes progress made by violence-prone spouses and parents in keeping their anger under control and stopping themselves from battering other family members. A total of 134 subjects took part in a 10-week structured group therapy program. All had experienced violence in their family, either as a perpetrator or as a victim. After anger control training 85 % of the families were free of further violence and remained so, according to an independent survey completed 6–8 months later.     

More reform in New Brunswick: rural municipalities?

Abstract. Local government in New Brunswick has experienced many changes during the last ten years. The major reforms implemented in 1967 (following the recommendations of the Byrne Commission) included the abolition of rural county government. As a result, approximately 250,000 of New Brunswick's residents were left without any local government structure. The lack of rural local government did not appear to be a major issue until recently. As of late, however, there has been increasing criticism on two fronts. First, residents of the non-incorporated areas have been voicing their discontent over the fact that they do not have elected local government. Secondly, the residents of the incorporated municipalities have complained that the non-incorporated areas were not being taxed enough and that they were benefiting from the facilities of the incorporated municipal units without paying their fair share of the costs (in essence, a free-rider problem). The result of such criticisms was the creation (in 1975) of the Task Force on Non-Incorporated Areas in New Brunswick, which recommended a new system of rural municipalities to be applied to all present non-incorporated areas of the province. While as yet legislation has not been introduced, the report of the Task Force has stirred up considerable debate. Sommaire. Le gouvernement local, au Nouveau-Brunswick, a subi de nombreux changements au cours des dix dernières années. Les principales réformes, effectuées en 1967 (à la suite des recommandations de la Commission Byrne), comportaient, entre autres, l'abolition des gouvernement des comtés ruraux, ce qui laissa quelque 250,000 résidents du Nouveau-Brunswick sans aucune structure gouvernementale locale. Ce manque de gouvernement rural local ne semble présenter de problème majeur que depuis peu. Maintenant, toutefois, les critiques se multiplient sur deux fronts. Tout d'abord, les résidents des regions non incorporées ont manifesté leur mécontentement de ne pas avoir de gouvernement local élu. Deuxièmement, les residents des municipalités incorporées se sont plaints de ce que les régions non incorporées ne soient pas suffisamment imposées et qu'elles profitent des installations des municipalités incorporées sans payer leur juste part des coǔts (essentiellement le problème des profiteurs). Ces critiques ont entraǐné la creation (en 1975) d'un groupe d'experts chargés d'érudier les régions non incorporées du Nouveau-Brunswick. Ce groupe recommenda un nouveau système de municipalités rurales, à appliquer à toutes les municipalités non incorporées à l'heure actuelle au Nouveau-Brunswick. Aucune législation n'a encore été adoptee, mais le rapport du groupe d'experts a suscité toutes sortes de débats.