The UfM and the Middle East 'Peace Process': An Unhappy Symbiosis

This contribution explores differing theories on how the failure of the ‘peace process’ featured in the design and goals of the UfM, drawing on lessons from the period when the EMP was pursued in parallel with the peace process. In each case, institutional overlaps are identified, as well as commonalities in the approaches of the actors to both pursuits. Crucially, however, the persistence and intensification of the Arab–Israeli conflict, in combination with the shift from multilateralism to bilateralism embodied in the UfM, has politicized the latter at the expense of the functionalist aspirations of its architects

Efficacy of Chlorhexidine Varnish for the Prevention of Adult Caries: A Randomized Trial

The Prevention of Adult Caries Study, an NIDCR-funded multicenter, double-blind, randomized clinical trial, enrolled 983 adults (aged 18-80 yrs) at high risk for developing caries (20 or more intact teeth and 2 or more lesions at screening) to test the efficacy of a chlorhexidine diacetate 10% weight per volume (w/v) dental coating (CHX). We excluded participants for whom the study treatment was contraindicated or whose health might affect outcomes or ability to complete the study. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the CHX coating (n = 490) or a placebo control (n = 493). Coatings were applied weekly for 4 weeks and a fifth time 6 months later. The primary outcome (total net D1-2FS increment) was the sum of weighted counts of changes in tooth surface status over 13 months. We observed no significant difference between the two treatment arms in either the intention-to-treat or per-protocol analyses. Analysis of 3 protocol-specified secondary outcomes produced similar findings. This trial failed to find that 10% (w/v) chlorhexidine diacetate coating was superior to placebo coating for the prevention of new caries (Clinicaltrials.gov registration number NCT00357877)

Between Baghdad, Tehran, Riyadh and Jerusalem: Is there a way for the Greater Middle East? ESF Working Papers No. 26, 25 July 2007

The US administration coined the term ‘Greater Middle East’ as it sought to follow up the invasion of Iraq with a strategic plan for peace and democratic reform – in a vast area stretching from Morocco to Afghanistan. This ESF paper examines the interconnected and overlapping conflicts in the region, seen partly in the frame of the unintended consequences of US policy and partly in relation to al-Qaeda’s expansion. Rosemary Hollis offers a strategic overview and argues that rather than treating these conflicts as a dichotomy in a fight of ‘good against evil’, it is better to acknowledge the complexities and devise an approach that recognises the interests of all the players. Vitaly Naumkin considers the Western blockade against Hamas, and US policy towards the Palestinian–Israeli conflict more generally. Bruce Riedel asserts that ‘al-Qaeda is back’ with the creation of affiliates or franchises virtually worldwide. Tracing the recovery of al-Qaeda alongside the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, he holds that understanding al-Qaeda’s strategy is the first key to defeating it. Michael Emerson sums up

Britain and the Middle East in the 9/11 Era

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Hizbullah’s Borderlands Strategy: From Identity Shaping to the Nation-State Re-ordering

International audienc

White, William D.

Also available as a printed booklet and from the Dean of Faculty website https://theuniversityfaculty.cornell.edu/Memorial Statement for William D. White, who died in 2019. The memorial statements contained herein were prepared by the Office of the Dean of the University Faculty of Cornell University to honor its faculty for their service to the university