Why Is Liberal Peace-building So Difficult? Some Lessons from Central America

The termination of war is mostly seen as a basis not just for recovery but for a fundamental transformation or change in development paths towards peace, stability and development. The Central American peace processes of the last decades were one of the first laboratories for the liberal peace-building paradigm which assumes that the threefold transformation to peace, democracy and market economy is a self-strengthening process leading to sustainable development. Although none of the three countries slipped back into war, serious deficits remain. This paper introduces an analytical framework that aims at interrelating the threefold transformation with the impact generated by four processes. These include the repercussions generated by the international system on a country’s society, its historical, cultural and social foundations, the legacies of violence and the peacebuilding initiatives the country concerned has witnessed. The comparative analysis of changes in the public security sector, the political system, conflict resolution and the use of resources show why there is so much path dependency that can explain the deficits of transformation.Peace-building, path-dependency, public security, political system, conflict resolution, resource use, Central America

Evaluation of a simplified gross thrust calculation technique using two prototype F100 turbofan engines in an altitude facility

The technique which relies on afterburner duct pressure measurements and empirical corrections to an ideal one dimensional flow analysis to determine thrust is presented. A comparison of the calculated and facility measured thrust values is reported. The simplified model with the engine manufacturer's gas generator model are compared. The evaluation was conducted over a range of Mach numbers from 0.80 to 2.00 and at altitudes from 4020 meters to 15,240 meters. The effects of variations in inlet total temperature from standard day conditions were explored. Engine conditions were varied from those normally scheduled for flight. The technique was found to be accurate to a twice standard deviation of 2.89 percent, with accuracy a strong function of afterburner duct pressure difference

Flight evaluation of a simplified gross thrust calculation technique using an F100 turbofan engine in an F-15 airplane

A simplified gross thrust calculation technique was evaluated in flight tests on an F-15 aircraft using prototype F100-PW-100 engines. The technique relies on afterburner duct pressure measurements and empirical corrections to an ideal one-dimensional analysis to determine thrust. In-flight gross thrust calculated by the simplified method is compared to gross thrust calculated by the engine manufacturer's gas generator model. The evaluation was conducted at Mach numbers from 0.6 to 1.5 and at altitudes from 6000 meters to 13,700 meters. The flight evaluation shows that the simplified gross thrust method and the gas generator method agreed within plus or minus 3 percent. The discrepancies between the data generally fell within an uncertainty band derived from instrumentation errors and recording system resolution

The limits of peace in Latin America

Latin American governments frequently emphasise the democratic and peaceful order in the region. These claims are based on two developments: First, except for Cuba, the region has experienced processes of democratisation since the early 1980s. Second, since the 1990s, a series of long-lasting civil wars have ended with negotiated settlements and without a relapse into war. Based on such a superficial analysis, Latin America can be perceived as a successful example of the liberal peacebuilding model. However, although Latin America has democratised and ended wars, it is still the most violent region in the world. This article argues that democratisation and peacebuilding focussed rather on formal changes than on dealing with the structural problems reproducing different manifestations of violence. A focus on the interaction between both processes provides evidence for the possibilities as well as the limitations of change

How El Salvador became the murder capital of the world

The number of refugees in Central America has reached a scale not seen since armed conflicts tore the region apart in the 1980s, with more than 110,000 people fleeing their homes. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned that action is urgently needed to take care of those affected, including protecting them from violence. El Salvador stands at the centre of the current crisis. Violence by so-called maras - gangs that originated in the United States and spread to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador - is thought to be the major push factor. Without doubt, El Salvador's gangs are brutal and violent - but they are neither the only ones using force, nor the root cause of violence. And responding to the refugee crisis by just fighting gangs ignores its underlying causes. This approach could even make things worse

The Fallout of 30-S

The good-left-bad-left framework of dividing the left leaning governments in Latin America has always seen President Rafael Correa (Ecuador) placed on the bad left or radical side. The recent police revolt of September 30, 2010 has laid bare the conflicts berween Correa\u27s government and various opposition sectors, warranting an in-depth look at Correa\u27s government in particular, rather than a generalization of all bad-left governments. The conflicted narratives of this police revolt also demonstrate the dissention that exists while approaching this pivotal national moment. The Correa government confronts complex and unique challenges from opposition that continues to be alienated. Among this opposition are: traditional political opponents, U.S. interests, social movements, and the media. Correa\u27s relationship with these opponents from 30-S onward shows the increased polarization between the government and its opponents, as well as providing insight regarding the situation of the Correa administration in Ecuador without attempting to adhere to a binary categorization model

Current Issues Related to the Assessment of Sexual Deviance in Special Sex Offender Populations

The assessment of sexual deviance among sex offenders represents a mature and robust field of study, and yet there are particular offender populations that have received relatively little empirical attention and that were the focus of the current project. The present studies were archival in nature and utilized offender data from the Regional Treatment Centre (RTC) in Kingston, Ontario. Participants were adult male federal sex offenders who had been referred to the RTC for intensive sex offender treatment. As a requisite component of the program, participants completed a standardized assessment battery which included interviews, phallometric testing, and the administration of various psychometric instruments. Study 1 examined potential differences in phallometric responding based on participant ethnicity and phallometric stimulus type (i.e., visual or auditory). It was found that both White and visible minority offenders demonstrated greater deviant responding to auditory stimuli relative to visual stimuli, with no other significant differences in responding based on stimulus type between the two groups of offenders. These results suggested that both White and visible minority offenders were likely able to imagine their ideal victim when being exposed to auditory stimuli, which may have been influenced by a variety of victim characteristics including, but not limited to, victim ethnicity. Study 2 examined potential correlations between social desirability, IQ, and phallometric responding. The majority of the study hypotheses were not supported, although there was some evidence for the influence of social desirability on phallometric responding. Overall, the results of the study demonstrated the effectiveness of using differential and/or ratio transformations of penile plethysmography (PPG) data in order to accommodate the influence of extraneous variables on phallometric responding. Finally, Study 3 examined the influence of age on phallometric responding and the utility of an alternative measure of sexual deviance, the Multiphasic Sex Inventory (MSI). Age was generally found to be negatively correlated with phallometric responding, and as with Study 2, the results illustrated the importance of using PPG data transformations in order to control for the effects of variables such as age. The study also offered promising findings for the utility of the MSI as a measure of sexual deviance. Strengths, limitations, and implications are discussed

No One Size Fits All - A Global Approach to Peace

People tend to agree on the vital importance of peace, but there is no consensus on what peace is and even less so on how it can be accomplished and secured. International peace-building strategies privilege a concept of peace that stems from Western experiences of a centralised democratic state. A global approach to peace needs to include the experiences of the Global South and to focus on reducing various forms of violence rather than simply ending war. Peace is a complex process that is influenced by social, economic, and polit­ical structures; a variety of actors; and a multitude of policies. Current post-war societies reveal a high degree of variation regarding post-war violence and changes to the political system. A global approach to peace is required in order to include the diverse cultural and historical experiences of all regions across the globe. There is no shortcut to or way to replicate the state-centred Western development path. An interregional comparison of violence patterns suggests that conflicts are closely related to processes of social change at the intersection of increasing globalisation and local, salient cultural and historical trajectories. The analysis of these conflicts is thus the necessary starting point for peace-building strategies. Peace-building strategies must focus on violence reduction and non-violent conflict transformation. The termination of war is an essential first step but does not suffice. Although the specific arrangements to end collective violence are shaped by the incompatibilities and structures of conflicts, such agreements need to be open to future change. External support for peace processes by the German government, the European Union, or the United Nations needs to take seriously the claims and interests of various local constituencies and the fact that peace processes are a form of contentious politics. Promoting peace is not about following a single globalised template but rather about searching for common ground in order to end violence and non-violently transform conflicts

Postwar Violence in Guatemala: A Mirror of the Relationship between Youth and Adult Society

Postwar societies are high-risk contexts for youth participation in violence. However, there is great variation between and within postwar societies. The variation of youth participation in postwar violence can best be understood by focusing on the consequences of war and war termination on youth socialization and transitions into adulthood. Socialization and transitions into adulthood stand at the center of the interaction between youth and adult society and help to explain the variation in youth violence in contexts of high structural risk