Arms control and inadvertent general war

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/1518/thumbnail.jp

A proposal for a ban on the use of nuclear weapons

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/1553/thumbnail.jp

Ten Years Ago in FP

Offers excerpts from three articles from the Summer 1993 issue of 'Foreign Policy.' Topics including the protection of Kurds in Iraq and Turkey, financial commitment of Americans to a United States foreign policy that promotes democracy worldwide, and British entry into the European Union; Title of articles which are written by Morton I. Abramowitz, Jagdish Bhagwati, and Morton H. Halperin

"Green" or "Red"? Reframing the environmental discourse in Nigeria

This paper investigates the role of environmental social movements and NGOs in the struggle for democracy in Nigeria. In particular, it examines how environmental issues, specifically in the oil-rich Niger Delta, have come to symbolise the Niger Delta communities’ craving for greater inclusion in the political process. The paper argues that because of linkages to the nature of economic production, environmental crises have been particularly useful in driving the democracy discourse in Nigeria. By linking environmental crisis to democratisation and the interactions of power within the Nigerian federation, NGOs and social movements have been able to gain support for environmental causes. This may, however, have dire implications for the environmental movement in Nigeria. Because ownership, not necessarily sustainability, is the central theme of such discourse on resource extraction, social movements may not be framing the environmental discourse in a way that highlights its unique relevance. The paper concludes by making a case for alternative methods of framing the environmental discourse in a developing-world context like that of Nigeria.Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Bedeutung umweltpolitischer Bewegungen und Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NRO) für den Kampf um Demokratie in Nigeria. Insbesondere widmet er sich der Frage, inwiefern Umweltthemen, speziell im ölreichen Nigerdelta, inzwischen das große Bedürfnis der Bevölkerung reflektieren, stärker in den politischen Prozess einbezogen zu werden. Umweltkrisen haben den demokratischen Diskurs in Nigeria ganz besonders vorangebracht, weil sie zu den Grundlagen der ökonomischen Produktion in Beziehung stehen. Indem soziale Bewegungen und NRO die Umweltkrisen mit dem Demokratiedefizit und den Machtstrukturen innerhalb Nigerias in Beziehung setzten, fanden sie auch Unterstützung in Umweltfragen. Dies könnte allerdings negative Folgen für die nigerianische Umweltbewegung haben. Denn das zentrale Thema eines sozialen Diskurses zum Abbau von Ressourcen ist die Eigentumsfrage und nicht notwendigerweise die Nachhaltigkeit; wird der Diskurs von sozialen Bewegungen bestimmt, wird die einzigartige umweltpolitische Relevanz möglicherweise nicht ausreichend herausgestellt. Der Autor plädiert für eine alternative Themensetzung im umweltpolitischen Diskurs in Entwicklungsländern wie Nigeria

Taxonomy and pathology of Togninia (Diaporthales) and its Phaeoacremonium anamorphs.

The genus Togninia (Diaporthales, Togniniaceae) is here monographed along with its Phaeoacremonium (Pm.) anamorphs. Ten species of Togninia and 22 species of Phaeoacremonium are treated. Several new species of Togninia (T.) are described, namely T. argentinensis (anamorph Pm. argentinense), T. austroafricana (anamorph Pm. austroafricanum), T. krajdenii, T. parasitica, T. rubrigena and T. viticola. New species of Phaeoacremonium include Pm. novae-zealandiae (teleomorph T. novae-zealandiae), Pm. iranianum, Pm. sphinctrophorum and Pm. theobromatis. Species can be identified based on their cultural and morphological characters, supported by DNA data derived from partial sequences of the actin and ß-tubulin genes. Phylogenies of the SSU and LSU rRNA genes were used to determine whether Togninia has more affinity with the Calosphaeriales or the Diaporthales. The results confirmed that Togninia had a higher affinity to the Diaporthales than the Calosphaeriales. Examination of type specimens revealed that T. cornicola, T. vasculosa, T. rhododendri, T. minima var. timidula and T. villosa, were not members of Togninia. The new combinations Calosphaeria cornicola, Calosphaeria rhododendri, Calosphaeria transversa, Calosphaeria tumidula, Calosphaeria vasculosa and Jattaea villosa are proposed. Species of Phaeoacremonium are known vascular plant pathogens causing wilting and dieback of woody plants. The most prominent diseases in which they are involved are Petri disease and esca, which occur on grapevines and are caused by a complex of fungi, often including multiple species of Phaeoacremonium. Various Phaeoacremonium species are opportunistic fungi on humans and cause phaeohyphomycosis. The correct and rapid identification of Phaeoacremonium species is important to facilitate the understanding of their involvement in plant as well as human disease. A rapid identification method was developed for the 22 species of Phaeacremonium. It involved the use of 23 species-specific primers, including 20 primers targeting the ß-tubulin gene and three targeting the actin gene. These primers can be used in 14 multiplex reactions. Additionally, a multiple-entry electronic key based on morphological, cultural and ß-tubulin sequence data was developed to facilitate phenotypic and sequence-based species identification of the different Phaeoacremonium species. Separate dichotomous keys are provided for the identification of the Togninia and Phaeoacremonium species. Keys for the identification of Phaeoacremonium-like fungi and the genera related to Togninia are also provided. The mating strategy of several Togninia species was investigated with ascospores obtained from fertile perithecia produced in vitro. Togninia argentinensis and T. novae-zealandiae have homothallic mating systems, whereas T. austroafricana, T. krajdenii, T. minima, T. parasitica, T. rubrigena and T. viticola were heterothallic.

Content analysis of elite articulations

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67140/2/10.1177_002200276400800406.pd

‘Axis of evil or access to diesel?: spaces of new imperialism and the Iraq war’

The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was waged by the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’. This paper will examine how the war was a space in the ongoing geographical extension of global capitalism linked to U.S. foreign policy. Was it simply the decision by a unitary, hegemonic actor in the inter-state system overriding concerns by other states? Was it an imperialist move to secure the ‘global oil spigot’? Alternatively, did the use of military force reflect the interests and emergence of a transnational state apparatus? In this paper, we argue that the U.S. needs to be conceptualised as a specific form of state, within which and through which national and transnational capital operate to establish the interests of a national fraction of an Atlantic ruling class. It is these processes of class struggle and their relation to wider struggles over spaces of imperialism, which need to be at the centre of analysis