European political cooperation and Southern Africa

Since around the turn of the century, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has suffered fundamental challenges from several quarters, which has led to a number of proposals to reinforce the non-proliferation regime. Among the most effective are a ban on sensitive nuclear transfers and the universalisation of the Additional Protocol. The former proposal, although not agreed upon in the NSG, has been virtually realised as a moratorium within the G-8 framework. It would be advisable for the G-8 to do the same with regard to the latter proposal.     

Stress and suicide are we well-equipped to study this issue?

Stress almost always precedes suicidality. Stress also is a harbinger of a variety of psychiatric disorders, most notably depression. Depression is a major precursor of suicidal behavior. Consequently, the question of whether stress is an epiphenomenon or a decisive factor in the causation of suicidality and (certain forms of) mood disorders is crucial. Certainty about this question can only be obtained when it can be demonstrated that stress phenomena may induce changes in brain functioning similar to the ones supposedly associated with suicidality and with (certain forms of) depression. Since the phenomenology of stress syndromes, as well as their emotional intensity, are highly variable, careful definition of the stress syndrome to be studied is a first requirement. In studies into the significance of stress in the occurrence of suicidality and depression, this degree of finesse has not been achieved. The major shortcomings have been discussed. These should be systematically addressed to provide research into the relation between stress and psychopathology with the necessary acuity.     

Why has the antidepressant era not shown a significant drop in suicide rates?

Over the past decades the rate of completed suicide has remained quite stable, whereas that of suicide attempts seems to have increased (to the extent it has been studied in defined regions). These are puzzling observations, since depression is the major suicide precursor and and since antidepressants have been increasingly used over the years in the treatment of depression. These observations have not attracted sufficient attention, possibly because they do not accord with consensus opinions about depression treatment in psychiatry today. This paper discusses a number of possible explanations that not only deserve, but are definitely in need of systematic investigation.     

Social stratification: Individual importance and social welfare

A method to estimate a household's social status in a stratified society is described. We do not leave it up to the respondents what is to be understood by status, as most methods do, but define it as the weight of the household with respect to social welfare. In order to operationalize this individual relative importance concept we measure and utilize the individual welfare evaluations. Our empirical results for a data set collected in the Boston area in 1983 show the dependency of social status and social stratification on individual characteristics. A comparison made with some other methods shows the feasibility of our approach.