Balance of Power or the State-to-Nation Balance: Explaining Middle East War-Propensity

The Middle East is one of the most war-prone regions in the international system. What is the most powerful explanation of the war-propensity of this region? I argue that neither realism nor liberalism are able to account for variations in regional war-proneness. Instead, I advance an alternative explanation based on the concept of the state-to-nation balance in the region. This balance refers to the degree of congruence between the division of the region into territorial states and the national aspirations and political identifications of the region's peoples. The balance also refers to the prevalence of strong versus weak states in the region. Thus, I explain the Middle East's high war-proneness by focusing on its relatively low level of state-to-nation balance. This imbalance has led to a powerful combination of revisionist ideologies and state incoherence. While other regions suffer from state incoherence, powerful revisionist nationalist forces, notably pan-nationalist and irredentists (the “Greater State”), aggravate this problem in the Middle East. These revisionist forces are often transborder and are especially powerful in the Middle East because of the high degree of external/transborder incongruence in comparison with all other regions. The combination of nationalist revisionism and state incoherence has made the Middle East more prone to violence than most other regions.     

Incidental findings in human subjects research: what do investigators owe research participants?

The use of brain imaging technology as a common tool of research has spawned concern and debate over how investigators should respond to incidental findings discovered in the course of research. In this article, we argue that investigators have an obligation to respond to incidental findings in view of their entering into a professional relationship with research participants in which they are granted privileged access to private information with potential relevance to participants' health. We discuss the scope and limits of this professional obligation to respond to incidental findings, bearing in mind that the relationship between investigators and research participants differs fundamentally from the doctor-patient relationship.     

Analysis of biofluids for flunitrazepam and metabolites by electrospray liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/MS) procedure has been developed for the analysis of biofluids containing flunitrazepam and its metabolites. Specimens were spiked with deuterated analogs of the analytes. Urine specimens were enzymatically hydrolyzed and blood specimens were untreated. Extractions were carried out using CleanScreen DAU SPE cartridges. The drugs were separated on a C18 column using a methanol-water-ammonium hydroxide (60:40: 0.03 v/v) mobile phase. After determination of base peaks using full scan mass spectrometry, the mass spectrometry method was optimized to operate in selected-ion monitoring (SIM) mode for the base peak of each analyte. Positive findings were confirmed by LC/MS/MS using the same mobile phase and column. This analytical procedure allows for the detection of low levels of flunitrazepam and metabolites in biofluids. It is useful for ascertaining the role of flunitrazepam in cases of drug-facilitated sexual assault.