Suchergebnisse

How did Finland and Norway balance economic imperatives and the political opening provided by the end of bipolarity with the traditional desire to protect distinct national identities from the European Union? This article examines the interaction of interest and identity that led the Norwegian government to withdraw its application for European Union (EU) membership, and led the Finns to join the EU. The literature on Nordic patterns of accession to the EU often refers either to the importance of national identity or to interest-based accounts of who wins and who loses within each state. In this article, we analyze both dimensions of accession in the two Nordic states. To convince members of Finnish and Norwegian society to join the EU required political leaders to confront well-organized interest groups, with strong preferences for and against membership. However, it also involved a political process of introducing new ideas into the domestic discourse, and a redefinition of national identity. Finns were more willing to view EU membership as a way of protecting national identity, whereas Norwegians stubbornly held on to the idea of separateness from the community of European states, and were more likely to view the European Union as a threat to national identity.

Why the end of the cold war caused Norway to withdraw its application for EU membership, but led Finland to join; how changes in national identity modified public debate about joining in both countries.

The emergency response efforts in the immediate days and weeks following Hurricane Dorian provide valuable guidance for effective preparation for and response to future extreme events. We assess the experiences and lessons learnt from an emergent volunteer group that provided emergency response in the first fifteen days following the landfall of Hurricane Dorian. Drawing from accounts of first responders that convened at the Odyssey Aviation airport in New Providence, the paper highlights the activities, outcomes, and enabling factors of the ad hoc group that supported a wide range of emergency response efforts. The group developed and managed an evacuation centre that processed over 6,000 evacuees from Abaco and Grand Bahama; collaborated to deliver food, shelter and medical attention for evacuees; and found housing for displaced persons. They organized the marine response to the storm; coordinated international organizations; and facilitated landing first responders and initial medical teams into Abaco. They also provided coordination support for the Government of The Bahamas. We highlight the need to include public-private partnerships in national disaster management systems to significantly strengthen national capacities to address the rising risks of disasters.

On December 15, 2003, the Centers for Public Health Preparedness at the University of Minnesota and the University of Iowa convened the "Public Health and Terrorism Preparedness: Cross-Border Issues Roundtable." The purpose of the roundtable was to gather public health professionals and government agency representatives at the state, provincial, and local levels to identify unmet cross-border emergency preparedness and response needs and develop strategies for addressing these needs. Representatives from six state and local public health departments and three provincial governments were invited to identify cross-border needs and issues using a nominal group process. The result of the roundtable was identification of the needs considered most important and most doable across all the focus groups. The need to collaborate on and exchange plans and protocols among agencies was identified as most important and most doable across all groups. Development of contact protocols and creation and maintenance of a contact database was also considered important and doable for a majority of groups. Other needs ranked important across the majority of groups included specific isolation and quarantine protocols for multi-state responses; a system for rapid and secure exchange of information; specific protocols for sharing human resources across borders, including emergency credentials for physicians and health care workers; and a specific protocol to coordinate Strategic National Stockpile mechanisms across border communities.

Toward a Cultural Archive of la Movida revisits the cultural and social milieu in which la Movida, an explosion of artistic production in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Spain, was articulated discursively, aesthetically, socially, and politically. Of interest to both researchers and academics interested in Spanish culture and the processes of political and cultural transition from dictatorship and democracy through the cultural phenomenon known as la Movida, this book offers an expanded critical approach to the study of contemporary Spanish cultural studies