The ‘Impossibility’ of Maritime Neutrality During World War 1

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Book Review

Radical myths and superpower relations in the 1980s

A review of Mark Kaldor, Gerard Holden, and Richard Falk (eds), The New Detente: Rethinking East‐West Relations, Verso, London, 1989.

Paul Taylor and A.J.R. Groom, Global Issues in the United Nations Framework, Basingstoke, Hampshire, The MacMillan Press Ltd., 1989.

Roger A. Coate, Unilateralism, Ideology, and US Foreign Policy: The United States in and out of UNESCO, Lynne Reinner Publishers, London, 1988.

Bary Buzan, Morten Kelstnip, Pierre Lemaitre, Elzbieta Tromer, and Ole Weaver, The European Security Order Recast: Scenarios for the Post‐Cold War Era, Pinter Publishers, London & New York, 1990, pp.x. 282, £8.95 pbk, £30 hbk.     

Terrorism and the law: Historical contexts, contemporary dilemmas, and the end(s) of democracy

Recent proposals by the G7 (and Russia) to clamp down on terrorists and terrorism do not define that which is prohibited. Instead, a threat is communicated which in turn allows, among other things, greater attention to be paid officially to camouflage charities and terrorist use of the Internet. Nevertheless, it is somewhat of a truism to note that terrorist violence is ultimately defined or characterized, for purposes of legal prohibition, within a highly politicized atmosphere. Starting with a short summary of anti-terrorist codification efforts made this century, this article examines some of the security interests cited by governments today in their respective struggles against terrorism. More specifically, it is argued that individual perceptions of personal and societal threat are heightened unnecessarily not only by a constant stream of governmental anti-terrorist rhetoric, but further, by an awareness of official and unofficial methods of anti-terrorist surveillance, and the use to which the information so obtained can be put.     

North Korea: The Case for Strategic Entanglement

North Korea is a state shrouded in secrecy, yet it receives an enormous amount of media attention. Its reclusive nature makes analysis difficult and speculative. What is certain is that a dangerous stalemate regarding nuclear weapons has persisted for far too long and is an obstacle to any real change in the political system. History, culture, and ideology all rule the state's actions; it is therefore a mistake to assume North Korean negotiators can act with autonomy. A new and dynamic means to deal with this dilemma should be developed, for the past has demonstrated that threats and demands will not coerce Pyongyang into submitting, in fact, that approach will only exacerbate the problem. An effective means to move beyond the stalemate is needed.     

Digital Network Repertoires and Organizational Hybridity

This article summarizes a study of 37 televised debates on political issues in Denmark, conducted live before representative audiences, with polls on the issues before and after each debate. These debates are of interest to research because they were authentic, and they supply data indicating persuasive effects. Various rhetorical features were observed and related to debaters success in attracting votes. In a qualitative interpretation of the observations, we suggest that debates such as these are likely to be won by debaters whose argumentation is fair and thoughtful. Audiences may respond differently depending on whether they are voters or merely viewers. The debate format may enhance such a response, for the benefit of the democratic process.     

Doing homebirth like a man? Constructions of masculinity in South African men’s narratives of homebirth

The intersections between homebirth and masculine identities have not been widely explored. In this paper, we focus on the construction/contestation of masculinity in South African men’s narratives of planning and experiencing homebirth. Drawing on 20 interviews conducted with a sample of 5 men and couples in 2013–2014, a narrative analysis found men constructed ideal masculinities and ways of being a man in relation to homebirth. The paper focuses on the multiple representations of masculinity constructed in men’s talk about homebirth and traces their efforts to articulate a masculine perspective of birth. Men grappled with the meanings of ‘being there’ as a man during labour/birth and articulated alternative modes of being a man that valued and accommodated relationality, passivity and containment. Men thus articulated ways of being present and passive during homebirth that challenged normative constructions of masculinity. The notion of selfless masculinity emerged as a key masculine ideal in which giving and service during birth was constructed as integral to being a good father and man. However, competing forms of normative masculinity constructed in men’s narratives meant gender tensions remained in the continued salience of traditional masculine meta-narratives, such as being the ‘breadwinner’.     

Use of styryl 11 and STaR 11 for the luminescence enhancement of cyanoacrylate-developed fingermarks in the visible and near-infrared regions

In current casework, most post-cyanoacrylate stains rely on luminescence emission in the visible region (400-700 nm). While traditional stains such as rhodamine 6G work well under most circumstances, some surfaces may generate background luminescence under the same conditions. Detection in the near-infrared region (NIR > 700 nm) has shown to be effective in minimizing the interferences from such surfaces. The laser dye styryl 11 generated strongly luminescent fingermarks when applied after cyanoacrylate fuming on all surfaces tested. When compared to rhodamine 6G, the dye was superior only when viewed in the NIR. Styryl 11 was subsequently combined with rhodamine 6G, and the mixed stain formulation (named StaR 11 by the authors) induced stronger luminescence compared with styryl 11 alone with an ability to visualize in both the visible and NIR regions. Reliable and consistent results were obtained when using either styryl 11 alone or the STaR 11 mixture. The enhancement achieved did not otherwise vary depending on the source of the fingermark secretions. With visualization possible in both the visible and NIR regions, the styryl 11/rhodamine 6G mixture showed significant potential as a post-cyanoacrylate stain.