抗日战争时期的国民政府警察

抗战八年是国民党政权的鼎盛时期。这一时期,国民政府警察机关基本上围绕抗日战争的需要进行机构调整和警务活动,主要是调整中央警察机构及其职能,改编地方警察并增强其活力,加强专业警察工作,强化宪兵、保卫团、特务组织的警察职能。     

Retrospective analysis of factors affecting rate of skeletonization within a tropical climate

Estimating the post mortem interval (PMI) in skeletonized cases is an extremely challenging exercise. Sri Lanka lacks adequate taphonomic research which is a serious limitation when assessing PMI in forensic death investigations. Methods that have been proposed to estimate PMI using the total body score (TBS) and accumulated degree days (ADD) are mainly based on data from continental and temperate climates and have shown less reliability in tropical climates. With the intention of developing a region-specific, evidence-based guide which would be applicable to tropical climates like Sri Lanka, we selected thirteen skeletonized remains with known PMIs from forensic case records and analysed their taphonomy in relation to selected weather data. We also compared the ADD values within our dataset with reference ranges calculated using published formula.All except one were found from outdoor locations. The TBS ranged from 24 to 32 and had a weak positive correlation with the PMI. The earliest appearance of skeletonization was 15 days in a body found indoors. The highest rate of skeletonization was seen in a body with a TBS of 32 and a PMI of 23 days. The average daily temperature and relative humidity were similar across all the cases however, the amount of rainfall varied. Bodies exposed to monsoon rains (n = 6) had a lower mean rate of skeletonization compared to those that were not exposed (n = 4) suggesting lower rates of decomposition during periods of heavy rainfall.No correlation was found between ADD and TBS. In 9 (69.2%) cases, the actual ADD was much lower than reference ADD ranges for TBS values, indicating poor applicability of TBS and ADD based formulae in estimating PMI within the Sri Lankan climate. Our study shows a strong need for taphonomic and entomological research in tropical climates to further explore the impact of monsoons on biotic and abiotic factors affecting skeletonization.     

Dissolution and Reintegration in Finland, 1914–1932: How did a Disarmed Country Become Absorbed into Brutalization?

Finland avoided participation in the Great War, but in 1918 fell into a short civil war that culminated in a cycle of vicious terror. The focus of this article is to explain the high incidence of terror during that civil war in comparison with other civil wars that took place in the Baltic region. The violent polarization of Finnish society was triggered as reform expectations skyrocketed at the moment when the country’s institutions were in chaos and its economy in a free fall. Mutual distrust, armed mobilizations, and a sense that time was running out in the arms race were key factors that drove both warring parties to the violent conflict. The author concludes with a discussion of the reintegration of the dissolved state. He frames the conflict within various psychological theories and group behavior in the context of economic possibilities and expectations. The article is based on his own empirical research and on the studies of other scholars on the history of the Finnish Civil War.     

Old Dogs,New Tricks? The Role of Regional Organizations in the Mediterranean after the Arab Revolts

Taking its point of departure in how specific regional organizations function and interact in the Mediterranean, this article attempts to show to what degree this institutional setup has influenced the developments in the Arab Mediterranean states after the Arab revolts. The analysis of the organizational and institutional setup in the Mediterranean is theoretically founded in the new institutionalism tradition. Furthermore, a regionalism perspective is applied, touching on discussions related to European normative ambitions. It is demonstrated that the regional organizations only to a limited degree have contributed to democratization processes or to democratic consolidation in a post–Arab Spring context, and it is argued that it seems unlikely that these organizations in the future will develop into tools for democratization in the Mediterranean region.     

20世纪三四十年代宝鸡城市发展与社会变迁

20世纪三四十年代,陇海铁路修通至宝鸡,便利了与外界的交通往来,也为抗战全面爆发后沦陷区企业和难民内迁宝鸡奠定基础。在外来因素的刺激下,长期处于停滞状态的宝鸡社会经济开始发生显著的变化,在工商业繁荣的同时,传统的封闭社会也逐渐开放。电力作为照明应用于市民日常生活,河南人大量涌入宝鸡改变了当地人口结构并导致河南话成为官方交流语言,妇女也不再局限于家务劳动而进入工厂成为工人,西医医院大量出现扩大了就医范围。     

The scent of a green carnation: A review of the queer year

The “Blitz spirit” is a popular story about the British public during the Second World War, uniting together with defiance and resilience to overcome the threat of invasion from Nazi Germany. Previous work has revised this wartime story as a propagandistic construction of national identity and popular memory. Therefore, this paper reviews the Blitz spirit as a myth. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) then examines how this myth was retold in British newspapers after the July 7th bombings in London. I examine how this myth was constructed and the ideological role it played after the attacks. Similar to previous revisions of the Blitz myth from 1940, I argue that social and political complexities after July 7th were often suppressed by messages that sought to evoke a sense of “Britishness” defined by a previous generation. Whilst the July 7th bombings were not a case of traditional warfare or attacks carried out by a foreign force, I argue that wartime analogies often supported military responses in the war on terror and evoked a foreign threat.     

Australia's Handling of Tensions between Islam and the West under the Howard Government

This article examines the impact of international conflicts involving the Muslim world upon Australia's multicultural society by studying the Howard government's responses to tensions between Islam and the West since September 11. Specifically, it surveys the Howard government's participation in the ‘War on Terror’, other aspects of Australia's foreign and security policies, including the relationship with the United States, the emergence of immigration and refugee flows as national security issues, and the subsequent impact of all this on multiculturalism and in particular on Australia's Muslim community. At a broader level, the article challenges the argument that foreign policy is inconsequential for social policy, intercommunal, inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations. The internalization of the ‘War on Terror’ has reinforced a negative portrayal of Islam and Muslims in Australia by blurring the dividing line between ‘Islam’ on the one hand and ‘extremism’ and ‘terrorism’ on the other. The evidence suggests that government statements and policies, more generally had provoked apprehension amongst a wide cross-section of the Australian Muslim community. A major finding of this article is that unless care is taken, it is not inconceivable that the hitherto harmonious relationship between Muslims and other sections of Australia's community could be unnecessarily endangered.     

“How to Fight Savage Tribes”: The Global War on Terror in Historical Perspective

The Bush administration's “Global War on Terror” has, by both defenders and critics, been characterized as unique. However, as this article shows, there is a long tradition, both in the United States and in Europe, of fighting wars against “savage tribes”—against enemies who fail to make a distinction between soldiers and civilians, and who use terror as a weapon. The problem of how to fight such groups was much discussed in the legal literature of the nineteenth century. This is a discussion from which it is possible to learn contemporary lessons.     

A Review of: “Alison Pargeter. The New Frontiers of Jihad: Radical Islam in Europe.”

Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in the amount of counterterrorism legislation worldwide. The commonly held assumption behind the adoption of counterterrorism legislation links it to the terrorist threat in a state. However, little research has focused on empirically testing reasons driving states to legislate. This article addresses this void by analyzing the puzzle of why states choose to adopt new terrorism-specific legislation. The article presents empirical analysis of the probability of states to legislate before and after September 11, 2001, and is based on a new database of counterterrorism legislation. The findings reveal that before September 11, state decisions to adopt new legislation correlated with the number of terrorist organizations operating in their territory. Since September 11, however, the most significant predictors for the adoption of new legislation have become the existence of previous counterterrorism legislation and the participation of a state in the War on Terror.     

Introduction

Central Eastern Europe (further CEE) has been thoroughly reconstructed during nearly a quarter of century since the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the cold war. The CEE countries turned to the West for economic and technological advancement, for political and administrative models as well as for protection. The authors coming from eight different countries look at the place and role of the former member states of the Warsaw Pact in the new European and international constellation. This concept of CEE includes most pro-western states of the former ‘Eastern block’: the four countries of Central Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) and the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia). There were many tumultuous political developments in and around the region within the last decade, and especially during the last five years when the financial crisis started to take its toll. While the Atlantic link of Central and Eastern Europe is still strong, many commentators have pointed out its wearing strategic meaning. The balance between the focus on the USA and the EU has shifted in favour of Europe. However, this shift has rather been an incomplete one due to the region's own political and economic problems. The aim of this special issue is to analyse the new constellation by looking at the CEE countries themselves, at their ability to react and adapt, produce sound political strategies and act on as national actors: through bilateral ties, regional co-operation, NATO and the EU. Also, the main external actors - the USA, Russia and Germany - are looked at as they directly influence the way how the CEE countries shape their policies.