Why Japan and Russia have failed to solve the territorial dispute: the 1956 Joint Declaration and the mechanism of political coherence

Despite the several chances of agreement, Japan and Russia have failed to solve the dispute over the Northern Territories/South Kuril Islands. The 1956 model seems to be the most plausible method, but the lack of political coherence of the central politics and the will of negotiation became the factors that hinder the two countries from reaching an agreement. By reviewing the conflicting footprints and strategies of the two countries, the authors argue that the more democratized and diffused a political system is, the more difficult it is to come to an agreement in negotiations. This intensifies the existing theory of foreign policy decision-making process emphasizing the influence of domestic constituents.     

Evaluation of Mastoid Process as Sex Indicator in Modern White Americans using Geometric Morphometrics

Conventional methods for evaluating the mastoid as a sex indicator cannot determine whether mastoid shape is an independent and reliable sex indicator. Here, shape differences between the mastoids of 100 male and 100 female modern white Americans were statistically analyzed and visualized using the geometric morphometric method. Discriminant analysis was performed on mastoid size and shape. The relation between size and shape was analyzed to examine the effect of size on shape. In the results, mastoid size and shape were statistically significant sex indicators, while size factor explained 87.3% of the total variance of the shape variables. Nevertheless, females had relatively broader and shorter mastoid shape than males regardless of size, reflecting 12.7% of the total variance of the shape variables. In conclusion, mastoid size and shape were statistically significant sex indicators, while size may matter more in the mastoid than in other cranial parts in terms of sexual dimorphism.     

Heribert Adam, Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, Kogila Moodley: Comrades in Business. Post-Liberation Politics in South Africa st]Utrecht: International Books 1998, 240 S., US $ 25,-

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