国际一流大学领导者的未来发展

大学校长的培训内容涉及行政和学术管理及基本技能训练；而大学领导者的基本素质是对学术自由和真理的追求，对学生培养的不断改进，以及从善如流、凝聚人才、达成共识、展望愿景、规划未来的能力；正确的价值观则是国际一流大学领导者未来发展的核心追求。     

Book reviews

Susan Eisenhower (ed.), NATO at Fifty: Perspectives on the Future of the Atlantic Alliance. Washington, DC: Center for Political and Strategic Studies, 1999. Pp.242, endnotes, no index. $22. ISBN 0–9670233–0‐0.

W. R. Smyser, From Yalta to Berlin: The Cold War Struggle over Germany. New York: St Martin's Press, 1999. Pp.496, 6pp. illus., index. $29.95. ISBN 0–3120–6605–8.

Jean Yves Carlen, Steve Duchêne and Joël Ehrhart, Ibrahim Rugova: Le frêle colosse du Kosovo [Ibrahim Rugova: The Frail Colossus of Kosovo]. Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1999. Pp.149, no index. FF78. ISBN 2–220–04392–4.

Gabriel Gorodetsky, Grand Delusion: Stalin and the German Invasion of Russia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999. Pp.424, notes, bibliog., index. $29.95. ISBN 0–300–07792–0.     

Playing Devil's advocate†: The case against fMRI lie detection

The advent of functional neuroimaging raises the intriguing possibility that investigators might be able to determine (one day) whether an individual is lying or telling the truth, according to the activity of their brain. Ultimately, such techniques might be applied in the forensic sphere. However, the empirical data supporting this conjecture derive from a body of work that is still early on in its development. Hence, when invited to play ‘Devil's advocate’, the author is prompted to critique a pivotal weakness within the current literature. The latter comprises 16 peer‐reviewed functional magnetic resonance imaging studies purporting to describe the neural correlates of lying. Most have demonstrated greater activation of prefrontal regions while participants lie relative to when they tell the truth. Most have failed to detect areas where truthfulness elicits specific activation (consistent with the view that truthfulness constitutes a ‘baseline’ in human cognition and communication; while lying requires something more). However, there is a great deal of variation between the findings described and, crucially, there is an absence of replication by investigators of their own findings. Hence, basic issues of reliability need to be addressed before functional neuroimaging is applied to cases that matter in the ‘real world’.     

Business "Not" as Usual: The National Incident Management System, Federalism, and Leadership

Federal, state, and local governments did not work well together to provide an effective response to Hurricane Katrina. Some of this failure can be attributed to the power struggle between the federal and state governments. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) was designed to foster collaboration among governments and their departments and agencies. However, this system largely failed. To overcome this failure, many have proposed centralizing disaster response in the federal government. Centralized control would damage the basic federal structure of our government as the national government appeals to the ever-present dangers of terrorism and natural disaster to gain permanent primacy in the relationship. The current federal system actually can work better than centralization if leadership and organizational transformation are stressed. The National Incident Management System has many elements in place that can make the federal system of disaster response work if the proper stress on organizational transformation and leadership is applied.

If we ignore the systemic issues and simply replace people or re-assign responsibilities, we may simply fail again in the not too distant future with a different cast of characters.
John R. Harrald, director of the Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management,
       George Washington University
U.S. House Committee on Government Reform hearing, September 15, 2005

     

Building relationships across the Timor Sea: an evaluation of the Australian/Timorese friendship agreements

This article explores the concept and dynamics of the newly formed, and increasingly popular, Friendship Agreements, between local councils in Australia, and their counterpart district administrations in Timor Leste. The history and purpose of international municipal links are explored and contrasted with current Friendship Agreement policy and practice. The key elements of making international municipal links a success are examined and the main impediments to forging and maintaining sustainable partnerships are discussed and contrasted with the Australian/Timorese experience. The article offers suggestions for creating sustainable, vibrant links. It argues that those Agreements built on notions of paternalism are less likely to succeed than those that are committed to relationship and trust building between and within communities in Australia and Timor Leste. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.