Anti‐Communism,Communism, and Anti‐Interventionism in Narratives Surrounding the Student Massacre on Tlatelolco Square (Mexico, 1968)

Shortly before the Mexico Olympics, on 2 October 1968, student demonstrators were shot by the military on Tlatelolco Square in Mexico City, thus ending the local student movement and its mass protests. This paper explores the government's use of anti‐communism to ideologically justify this massacre in the context of the Cold War. The student movement was presented as a foreign, communist intervention that threatened Mexico's sovereignty. The paper analyses the weaknesses and contradictions of this official narrative by contrasting public and confidential reports. Finally, the marginal role of communism in the movement and its internal divisions are also outlined.     

Institutional Models for Track Two Interventions

Conflict resolution as an academic field was built by pioneers like John Burton on the idea that conflict resolution academics must accomplish three basic interlocking tasks: conduct cutting‐edge research, educate students, and make a positive contribution to the real‐world work of practitioners engaged in resolving actual conflicts. Over time and as the field has grown, so have the demands to produce research deemed rigorous enough according to increasingly competitive and rigid traditional standards and so too have the demands of teaching growing numbers of students. Research and teaching commitments thus diminish the time and support available to engage in practice. In this article, I consider those pressures within universities and also consider the options available to conflict resolution scholar–practitioners outside the traditional university     

Housing needs and effective policies in high‐tech metropolitan economies

Abstract

What are the most effective ways to provide low‐income housing to those left behind in new economy housing markets? Do winners and losers in high‐tech competition require federal housing strategies geared to metropolitan differences? This article examines 45 large metropolitan areas grouped along a high‐tech spectrum to see who is dis‐advantaged and to deduce effective local low‐income housing strategies from market characteristics.

Finding affordable housing was, on average, more difficult for low‐income renters and owners in high‐tech economies in the 1990s. Nonetheless, high‐tech metropolitan economies, like other local/regional markets, vary greatly. Sharp differences among and within metropolitan markets make it essential that federal strategies allow local policies to respond to local conditions. To most effectively provide low‐income housing to those left behind in all markets, federal policy should target sufficient resources to severe housing needs through many more vouchers and programs that permit and encourage effective local choices.     

Global IR through dialogue

This article aims to address how to ensure a two-way ‘dialogue’ across ‘the West/non-West distinction’ in international studies. To this end, I first discuss three different approaches to dialogue, the Socratic, the Habermasian, and the Weberian, and clarify what kind of thing dialogue should be if it is to overcome the ‘West-non-West divide’ and transform the current ‘Western-centric’ IR into a global discipline. I argue that dialogue should be understood as reciprocal feedback from different perspectives for mutual learning. In order to achieve this goal (i.e. mutual learning), I call for an ‘instrumentalist’ approach to dialogue. To elucidate this point, I offer an empirical illustration. The focus here is on dialogue as mutual learning between Western-centric IR theory, more specifically constructivism, and the indigenous experience and knowledge of East Asia.     

To P or not to P? The Usefulness of P‐values in Quantitative Political Science Research

This contribution gives a short overview over the mechanics of significance testing in inferential statistics, in particular linear models, and tries to put the discussion about the usefulness of p‐values into a broader perspective of scientific practise. This discussion needs to be embedded into the larger debate about the credibility crises faced by empirical social science research. In particular, it seems of utmost importance to discuss what the profession as a whole, journals, publishers, as well as editors can do to encourage better research practise that generates reliable and useful empirical findings.     

Detection of trace drugs of abuse in baby formula using solid‐phase microextraction direct analysis in real‐time mass spectrometry (SPME‐DART‐MS)

The intentional or unintentional adulteration of baby formula with drugs of abuse is one of the many increasingly complex samples forensic chemists may have to analyze. This sample type presents a challenge because of a complex matrix that can mask the detection of trace drug residues. To enable screening of baby formula for trace levels of drugs, the use of solid‐phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with direct analysis in real‐time mass spectrometry (DART‐MS) was investigated. A suite of five drugs was used as adulterants and spiked into baby formula. Samples were then extracted using SPME fibers which were analyzed by DART‐MS. Development of a proof‐of‐concept method was completed by investigating the effects of the DART gas stream temperature and the linear speed of the sample holder. Optimal values of 350°C and 0.2 mm/s were found. Once the method was established, representative responses and sensitivities for the five drugs were measured and found to be in the range of single ng/mL to hundreds ng/mL. Additional studies found that the presence of the baby formula matrix increased analyte signal (relative to methanolic solutions) by greater than 200%. Comparison of the SPME‐DART‐MS method to a traditional DART‐MS method for trace drug detection found at least a factor of 13 improvement in signal for the drugs investigated. This work demonstrates that SPME‐DART‐MS is a viable technique for the screening of complex matrices, such as baby formula, for trace drug residues and that development of a comprehensive method is warranted.     

Who governs? Religion and order in postcolonial Africa

Abstract

This article explores how mutually productive intersections between religion and governance constitute international political order in sub-Saharan settings. Asking ‘who governs’, I propose religion–governance entanglement as a means of analysing these intersections and rethinking governance, order and religion in Africa. Existing literatures typically characterise the public reliance on religious actors and institutions as being part of a uniquely ‘post-secular’ moment in contemporary world politics or a wider ‘post-Westphalian’ shift in modern governance. Enduring dynamics between postcolonial states and the Global North problematise these framings. In sub-Saharan Africa, religion has a protracted history in postcolonial hybrid governance, overlapping the regional presence of international non-govermental organisations following decolonisation. Using the example of South Sudan, I build on recent analyses of religious-political activities that leave their collective implications under-theorised.     

Detection of Cutting Agents in Drug‐Positive Seized Exhibits within the United States

The following report summarizes a study performed on seized drug exhibits collected in two U.S. states to evaluate the presence and identification of cutting agents. Aliquots of seized drug materials from Kentucky (n = 200) and Vermont (n = 315) were prepared using a dilute‐and‐shoot procedure. Initial analysis was performed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) followed by analysis using liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF). Active compounds detected overall included caffeine (31.0%), quinine/quinidine (24.7%), levamisole (11.6%), acetaminophen, (8.2%) and procaine (8.2%). These compounds were found with several drugs of abuse, such as heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. This novel information about cutting agents used to dilute or alter drugs of abuse is important to criminal investigations and in the management of acute intoxications at health centers. However, common methodologies for analysis and standard reporting practices frequently do not include cutting agents, resulting in lacking or inadequate information regarding prevalence of these substances.