Suchergebnisse

Für die Fragedimensionen 'Verteidigungsbereitschaft der Bevölkerung', 'empfundene militärische Bedrohung', 'Legitimation der NATO' wird die Annahme überprüft, nach der im Kontext von Sicherheit und Militär wichtige politische Ereignisse zu bedeutsamen Veränderungen im Meinungsbilde der Bevölkerung führen. Aus der Stichprobe, die im Oktober 1979 vor den Geschehnissen im Iran und Afghanistan befragt wurde, wurde ein Teil im Februar 1980, also nach einer intensiven Behandlung der Ereignisse in den Massenmedien, mit denselben Fragen nochmals untersucht. Der wichtigste Befund der Panel-Studie ist, daß trotz erheblicher Veränderungen bei den einzelnen Befragten die Durchschnittswerte für die Gesamtzahl der Stichprobe in vielen Aspekten kaum oder gar nicht von den 79er Daten abwichen. (RW2)

OVER TWO YEARS AGO, THE IRANIAN REVOLUTION AND THE SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN SPURRED PRESIDENT CARTER TO ESTABLISH THE RAPID DEPLOYMENT FORCE FOR PLANNING MILITARY RESPONSES TO ANY SOVIET MOVE AGAINST THE PERSIAN GULF. SINCE THEN, THE RDF HAS BEEN ATTACKED AS A PAPER ARMY OR AS AN UNNECESSARY BUREAUCRATIC INVENTION. LT. GEN. ROBERT C. KINGSTON WILL MOLD THE RDF INTO A CREDIBLE FIGHTING FORCE.

THE AUTHOR PROBES THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DIMENSIONS OF THE COLD WAR, DETENTE AND LINKAGE AND THE NEW CONTAINMENT. HE REGARDS THESE AS PART OF THE 35 YEARS OF SOVIET AND AMERICAN COMPETITION. SINCE AFGHANISTAN, HOWEVER, THE U.S. CAN NO LONGER RELY ON CAUTIOUS NONADVENTURISM FROM THE KREMLIN. HE CONCLUDES THAT WITH INCENTIVES PROVIDED BY AN UPDATED CONTAINMENT AN AMICABLE RELATIONSHIP IS POSSIBLE.

The institution of the president exists in the majority of the countries of the western world. Depending on the prerogatives granted by the constitution, the president may perform either a representative function or have the real power. No matter what the role of the president is, the position is deeply embedded in the political system, and the constitutional law as well as political practice specify its scope of competencies and capabilities. When we go beyond the Euro-Atlantic area, we can also find the states where an office of president is run. While its formation, Asian, African and South American societies, consciously or not, usually emulated the Euro-Atlantic experiences. In general, historical background of the non-European states, however, makes the history of the presidential office shorter, and the introduction of this position was often a result of violent sociopolitical changes. What often distinguishes the presidencies of the African and Asian countries from the Euro-Atlantic ones is their instability - in running this office a lot depends on the personality traits of the person holding it as well as on the tradition (or lack thereof) of strong central governance. On that premise, the presidency history of a non-European state, i.e. Afghanistan can be presented. This is an interesting case since the above mentioned factors are clearly visible in here, and the state's internal political situation is unstable. In addition, as the international forces are supposed to be withdrawn from the country until the end of 2014, the president may then become the main body formulating public policy and, thus, shaping the future of Afghanistan.