A Perilous Path to Democracy. Political Transition and Authoritarian Consolidation in Rwanda

The most influential literature on political transitions, the “transition paradigm”, conceived a normative theoretical framework based on the fundamental assumption that any country, which shifts away from authoritarianism is a country in transition to democracy. The Rwandan transition does not fit the “transition paradigm” and Rwanda did not shift in an orderly manner from an authoritarian to a democratic regime. A second school of thought on political transition contends that political transition is not an orderly process and that democracy is not the sole outcome of transition. Scholars have coined new types of “hybrid” regimes that bear democratic and authoritarian regime features and indeed, the post-transition Rwandan regime bears both such features. This paper explores the Rwandan transition and post-transition from the perspective of regime change, that is, changing regime characteristics (ideological/procedural/behavioural attributes) between 1973 to the present day.

South Kivu: a Sanctuary for the Rebellion of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda

The rebellion of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is the most recent in a series of rebellions that aimed to fight the post-genocide Rwandan regime from bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The FDLR is a politico-military movement, which allegedly aims to initiate a national dialogue in order to change the Rwandan regime and to secure the return of FDLR combatants and Rwandan refugees under fair conditions, by military means. Between 3.000 and 4.000 FDLR troops are deployed throughout South Kivu, where they create pockets of insecurity. The Rwandan government considers the FDLR combatants as ex-FAR/Interahamwe genocidal forces, which threaten the Rwandan population, as they allegedly aim to complete the genocide. Indeed, an ominous "Hutu culture" is in the making in South Kivu, as the Hutu ethnicity plays a key function in the FDLR's discourse, depicting post-genocide Rwanda as skewed in favour of Tutsi, and as inequitable and insecure for Hutu. The genocide is downplayed and it is replaced by feelings of injustice and victimisation of Rwandan Hutu by their ethnic "rivals," validating the Rwandan government's fears of the continuation of hate ideologies. Nevertheless, the FDLR is a greater threat to the population of South Kivu than to Rwanda. The FDLR does not occupy land in Rwanda but controls territory in South Kivu. In many parts of the province, the rebellion is very violent and has deeply wounded its social and demographic character. The scale of FDLR crimes denies the rebels their alleged "right to self-defence" and goes beyond the stated objectives of the rebellion. Over the long years in exile, and in its aim to survive amid a volatile region, the FDLR has lost much of its ideological impetus and has ultimately become a fragmented movement lingering in eastern Congo.

Roosevelt’s Recession, 1937: Lasting History and Contested Policy

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

Excitability in the H2+O2 reaction on a Rh(110) surface induced by high coverages of coadsorbed potassium

By means of photoemission electron microscopy as spatially resolving method, the effect of high coverages of coadsorbed potassium (0.16 ≤ θK ≤ 0.21) on the dynamical behavior of the H2 + O2 reaction over a Rh(110) surface was investigated. We observe that the originally bistable system is transformed into an excitable system as evidenced by the formation of target patterns and spiral waves. At K coverages close to saturation (θK ≈ 0.21) mass transport of potassium with pulses is seen.Fil: Rafti, Matias. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico la Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Imbihl, Ronald. Leibniz Universität Hannover. Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie; Alemani

Clínica de las psicosis y el autismo infantil: antecedentes en la enseñanza de Jacques Lacan

El trabajo propuesto se desarrolla con el objetivo de investigar la clínica de las psicosis y el autismo infantil tomando como eje fundamental los antecedentes en la enseñanza de Jacques Lacan. Tales interrogantes se abordan en cuatro capítulos: en el primero, abordaremos los antecedentes en la clínica del autismo, tomando como referentes tanto a Leo Kanner y Hans Asperger, ambos considerados los grandes pioneros en este campo; como así también las perspectivas psicoanalíticas, donde se encontrarán los aportes más significativos de Jacques Lacan con respecto al campo de las psicosis. En el segundo capítulo nos dispondremos a abordar la cuestión de la constitución del sujeto en relación a las operaciones lógicas de alienación y separación para poder pensar la constitución del sujeto autista. En el tercer capítulo, trabajaremos las cuestiones relativas al armado de un cuerpo, diferenciando el cuerpo desde una concepción psicoanalítica del cuerpo considerado como un puro organismo. Por cuarto y último capítulo, nos adentraremos en cuáles son los posibles modos de tratamientos para el sujeto autista, tanto desde una orientación psicoanalítica como así también tratamientos propuestos por otras disciplinas.Universidad Nacional de La Plat

Is Albania Ready for a New Media Model?

Albania inherited a media system with only a handful of state-owned media outlets controlled austerely by the communist party-state. Actually the political system and the society as a whole, and particularly, the media landscape have changed dramatically. Despite the variety of choices the numerous media outlets might seem to offer to a wider public audience, a series of factors, - including the lack of proper journalistic education, political polarization, and still a weak economy and relatively small media market - have hampered the development of a professional media system in Albania, which fails to measure up to any of the key dimensions of well-established western media models. Our analysis is largely based on the most important dimensions that might characterize (and influence) Albanian media systems, more specifically, the Albanian media system, in light of Hallin and Mancini’s (2004) work on comparative political communication. In view of their four key dimensions on media models analysis, Albanian press system clearly lags behind the indicators of most of the countries reviewed, especially in terms of its very low press circulation and readership figures, the severe financial burdens it is faced with; Albania press system clearly lags behind the indicators of most of the countries reviewed, especially in terms of its very low press circulation and readership figures, as well as the severe financial burdens it is faced with; Albanian news media fail in meeting adequate journalistic education and proper training standards; Albania is apparently needing to adopt a new model that could curb the Government’s and state’s potential intervention and attempts to control information. We would argue that Albania is closer to the model named ‘the Mediterranean,’ or ‘the Polarized Pluralistic Model,’ which relates to media systems in Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and France and we believe that it would be very interesting to explore whether adopting such a model would be a better solution for Albania’s media system. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n2p48

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFS): structural multifunctionality and integration into diverse platforms

Los Entramados Metal-Orgánicos o MOFs (Metal-Organic Frameworks), son una clase relativamente nueva de materiales cristalinos porosos constituidos por la coordinación de nodos metálicos (o clústeres) y conectores orgánicos de variada naturaleza química. Debido a su gran versatilidad estructural y a la posibilidad de incorporar pre- o post-sintéticamente múltiples funcionalidades, los MOFs resultan prometedores en diversas aplicaciones tales como la adsorción y almacenamiento selectivo de gases y toxinas, la construcción de sensores, y el almacenamiento y conversión de energía, entre otras. Este artículo constituye una revisión breve de avances recientes en métodos novedosos de síntesis y modificación post-sintética de MOFs y otros materiales integrando MOFs en su estructura. Los materiales revisados presentan propiedades interesantes tales como súper-acidez, quimioselectividad en catálisis heterogénea, pre-concentración en interfaces electroquímicas, y adsorción selectiva de gases de interés industrial o ambiental.Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a relatively new class of porous materials constituted by strong bonds between inorganic clusters (or secondary building units - SBUs) and organic struts forming open crystalline networks. Due to the large variety of inorganic and organic building units possible to be connected, there are more than 10000 MOFs crystallographic structures reported so far in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). This structural versatility together with the possibility for their pre- and post-synthetic functionalization, provide with a great number of opportunities in terms of surface chemistry and functionalization for their application in diverse fields such as selective gas adsorption and storage, sensors and actuators, energy storage and conversion, among others. In this article, we briefly survey significant contributions related to synthesis and post-synthetic modification of MOFs and composite materials integrating MOFs. These materials feature interesting properties such as superacidity, high chemoselectivity in heterogeneous catalysis, pre-concentration at electrochemical interfaces, or selective adsorption of industrial and environmentally relevant gases.Fil: Tuninetti, Jimena Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Rafti, Matias. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Fracaroli, Alejandro Matías. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentin

Metal–organic frameworks meet polymer brushes: enhanced crystalline film growth induced by macromolecular primers

We used poly-(3-sulfopropylmethacrylate) brushes as macromolecular 3D primers to promote heterogeneous nucleation and growth of archetypal ZIF-8 MOF thin films. The enhancement can be understood in terms of a high preconcentration of Zn2+ ions in the polymer brush; this leads to a rapid increase of nucleation sites in the primer.Fil: Rafti, Matias. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Allegretto, Juan Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Segovia, Gustavo Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Tuninetti, Jimena Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Giussi, Juan Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Bindini, Elisa. Universite Pierre et Marie Curie; FranciaFil: Azzaroni, Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas; Argentin

Kinetics of low pressure ammonia oxidation over Rh(111)

The kinetics of the NH3 + O2 reaction over a Rh(111) single crystal catalytic surface was explored in the 10-6 mbar pressure range at tempera-tures between 300-900 K. Selectivity towards N2 and NO products, and reactive sticking coefficients were monitored in situ using differentially pumped quad-rupole mass spectroscopy (QMS). © 2018, Latin American Applied Research