Book review

Anthony Arnold, Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion in Perspective. Stanford, California: Hoover Institution Press, 1981. 126 pp. $9.95.

Michael Radu (ed.), Eastern Europe and the Third World. Eastbourne: Holt‐Saunders Ltd., 1981. 358 pp. £21.75.

E. J. Feuchtwanger and Peter Nailor (eds.), The Soviet Union and The Third World. London: Macmillan Press, 1981. 229 pp. £20.00

Wladyslaw Bienkowski, Theory and reality: the development of social systems. London & New York: Allison & Busby, 1981. 303 pp. £5.95.

Allen S. Whiting, Siberian Development and East Asia: Threat or Promise? Stanford: University Press, 1981. xv + 276 pp. $22.50.

Christopher D. Jones, Soviet Influence in Eastern Europe: Political Autonomy and the Warsaw Pact. Praeger, 1981. 322 pp. $29.95 cloth, $10.95 paperback.

Stephen Kaplan, Diplomacy of Power. Washington: Brookings Institution, 1981. 733 pp. $9.50 paper, $19.95 cloth.

Derek Leebaert (ed.), Soviet Military Thinking. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1981. xii + 300 pp. £14.50 hardback, £6.95 paperback.

J. Brine, M. Perry and Andrew Sutton (eds.), Home, School and Leisure in the Soviet Union. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1980. xiv + 279 pp. £15.00.

Manfred Melzer, Anlagevermögen, Produktion und Beschäftigung der Industrie im Gebiet der DDR von 1936 bis 1978, sowie Schätzung des künftigen Ange‐botspotentials. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1980. 250 pp.

Ilmari Susiluoto, The origins and development of systems thinking in the Soviet Union. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1982. 210 pp.

Michael Waller, Democratic Centralism, an Historical Commentary. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1981. 155 pp. £14.50.     

Soviet Price Policies

Recent Soviet policies regarding industrial producer prices, agricultural purchase prices, and retail prices are analyzed. Effects on the level and structure of each price category, and on the relationships among the three categories, are evaluated. Some constructive steps in the reform of the price system have been taken, and others adopted although not yet implemented, but important deficiencies remain. Hence, further changes are proposed to make prices of all three types reflect cost and scarcity more accurately, in order to exert greater influence on resource allocation and income distribution. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 052, 124, 227.     

Spuriousness or mediation? Broken windows according to Sampson and Raudenbush (1999)

In 1999, Sampson and Raudenbush published an influential article in the American Sociological Review on the link between disorder and crime in urban neighborhoods. The present article offers a reinterpretation of their 1999 article based on the contentions that: (1) their interpretation of the broken windows thesis is imprecise, and (2) there is an alternative interpretation of their findings that was not considered. Based on these contentions, and contrary to Sampson and Raudenbush's (1999) assertions, the authors conclude that the results of Sampson and Raudenbush's study are not inconsistent with the broken windows thesis and therefore should not be used as empirical evidence against it.     

The moderating effects of religiosity on the relationship between stressful life events and delinquent behavior

Previous research has shown that many forms of strain are positively related to delinquency. Evidence also suggests that religiosity buffers the effects of strain on offending, but this issue requires further research. Using data from a national sample of adolescents, this study examined whether or not religiosity conditioned the relationship between strain and delinquency. This study also looked at the ability of social support, self-esteem, and depression to moderate the influence of strain on delinquent behavior. The findings here lend support to general strain theory in that strain had a direct positive effect on delinquency, yet there was little evidence that the relationship was moderated by religiosity or other conditioning variables. The roles of moderating variables on strain across genders were also considered.     

Thermal degradation analysis of amino acids in fingerprint residue by pyrolysis GC-MS to develop new latent fingerprint developing reagents

Conventional development of latent fingerprints is compromised when the prints are decomposed by extreme temperatures, such as those encountered when a weapon cartridge is fired, an improvised explosive device is detonated, and/or in arson cases. Understanding how these extreme temperatures alter the chemical and physical properties of latent fingerprint residue could aid in the discovery of a reagent that could effectively develop these decomposed fingerprints. To mimic scenarios where fingerprints may be exposed to high heat conditions, standards of the five most abundant amino acids in fingerprint residue as well as extracted fingerprint residue were pyrolized under controlled conditions. Compounds identified as pyrolytic decomposition products were 3,6-dimethylpiperazine-2,5-dione (from alanine), maleimide, and 2,5-furandione (from aspartic acid). The pyrograms and selected ion traces show these products to hold promise as indicators of decomposed fingerprint residues and, therefore, may serve as good candidate substrates for a developing reagent.     

Winners and Losers in the Postcommunist Transition: New Evidence from Estonia

An American specialist on Russian politics and federalism examines the democratizing effects, intended and unintended, of President Vladimir Putin's federative reforms. Focus is on the "harmonization" of regional constitutions and legislation with federal laws and the RF Constitution in the name of the "reintegration of Russia's legal space." On the basis of detailed analysis of changes in regional constitutions and laws ensuing from the harmonization policy, the author assesses the impact of this aspect of the reforms on democratization in Russia's regions. Regional issues examined include the separation and balance of power between the executive and legislative branches, political and civil rights, the level of demand for democratic laws and independent judicial review, and the emergence of stakeholders of these reforms within civil society.     

Inversion,Paradox, and Liberal Disintegration: Towards a Conceptual Framework of Trumpism

This article puts forward a provisional framework, at best, of Trumpism, in order to explore some of the potential political, social, cultural, and global implications of it. In particular, this article explores Trumpism’s discursive ambiguity: how Trumpism appears to be one thing (for example, populist), and then appears to be another (for example, elitist). The framework draws from a wide-range of reputable journalism and scholarly literature, but notably borrows from Sheldon Wolin’s theory of “inverted totalitarianism,” specifically Wolin’s use of “inverted” to compensate for Trumpism’s ambiguity. In so doing, this article moves Wolin’s thesis forward as it relates to Trumpism. In the final analysis, the question is not whether Trumpism is fascist (yes, it is) or how similar it is to Wolin’s inverted totalitarianism. Instead, Trumpism compels us to confront whether the United States has, to some degree, always been fascist, and what does that inverted American-style fascism look like?