Suchergebnisse

Urbanity was a distinguishing feature of the medieval Low Countries, but even in its most urbanised core a majority of the population continued to live outside the city walls. In his new and encompassing synthesis of the history of the Low Countries in the later Middle Ages, Wim Blockmans emphasises the fundamental intertwining of urban and rural societies in this region, but also the existing historiographical gap between urban and rural historians. This contribution pleads for a reconsideration of the impact of urbanisation and urbanity on rural society as a whole, exemplified for instance, by the role of urban demand as a driving force in the rural economy or by the spread of an 'urban-modelled' civic life beyond the city walls. Although every village community was in one way or another connected to the urban world, villages were not entirely shaped by the latter and striking regional differences in both economic development, social cohesion and political organisation persisted well beyond the medieval period. In order to explain these differences the endogenous dynamics of rural societies have to be taken into account. This review is part of the discussion forum 'Four Golden Ages' (Wim Blockmans).

Islamic Revivalism is not a brand- new phenomenon, but, with increasing the files of exponents, it promotes a variety of discussions on how and when it started, its mainstream ideology, the foremost goals of its activists, etc. Summing up all the analysis and propositions, it could be stated that the phenomenon of Islamic Revivalism (which started, the latest, with the Iranian revolution) designates all-out efforts aimed at the wholesale re-islamization of polities through direct political and / or military actions. As the definition suggests, the goal of revivalists (a proper Islamic state with three key elements: Islam, Sharia, Islamic ruling system) is the same, but the approach to reaching it might not be indiscrete. Therefore, Sunni Islamic revivalists, who are the main object of the research, are divided into three groups: islamists (the most moderate Muslim revivalists with political goals), fundamentalists (who might radically impose religion on politics, though do not necessarily will claim to have a political project), and radical Muslims (who are committed to violence and seek for their goals, on any terms).

Islamic Revivalism is not a brand- new phenomenon, but, with increasing the files of exponents, it promotes a variety of discussions on how and when it started, its mainstream ideology, the foremost goals of its activists, etc. Summing up all the analysis and propositions, it could be stated that the phenomenon of Islamic Revivalism (which started, the latest, with the Iranian revolution) designates all-out efforts aimed at the wholesale re-islamization of polities through direct political and / or military actions. As the definition suggests, the goal of revivalists (a proper Islamic state with three key elements: Islam, Sharia, Islamic ruling system) is the same, but the approach to reaching it might not be indiscrete. Therefore, Sunni Islamic revivalists, who are the main object of the research, are divided into three groups: islamists (the most moderate Muslim revivalists with political goals), fundamentalists (who might radically impose religion on politics, though do not necessarily will claim to have a political project), and radical Muslims (who are committed to violence and seek for their goals, on any terms).

Between 1945 and 1965, what may be broadly defined as the politics of sugar in Indonesia passed through several critical stages. The industrial manufacture of sugar had begun in the Netherlands Indies in the mid-nineteenth century, but after a slump during the 1930s Depression, the industry virtually went into abeyance during the Japanese Occupation (1942-45). After the war, the years of struggle for Merdeka! (freedom) also saw a partial revival of the industry, which continued through national revolution and independence (1949) through to an incremental nationalisation in the late 1950s. Developments in the sugar industry culminated in massacre, rather than merdeka, however. The campaign against the PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) which began in 1965 resulted in the murder of labour unionists and peasant activists associated with the sugar industry. This paper traces the course of events from Merdeka to massacre, focusing on the sugar industry of East Java's Brantas valley. Its themes, however, relate to the industry in Java as a whole, and the question of why the commodity production of sugar came to be so deeply embroiled in the politics of the new republic. (J Southeast Asian Stud/GIGA)

Within ASEAN, Malaysia is a major oil-exporting country ; however, it is expected to become a net oil-importing country in the near future. This issue brings concerns over Malaysia's energy security, particularly on the aspect of oil import dependency. This is because its transportation and industrial sectors are still heavily dependent on oil products. By simulating dynamic interplays between developments in Malaysia's oil sector and its economy sectors, this study explores the possible years of the transformation and the extent to which it will be dependent on oil import. Four scenarios related to enhanced oil recovery, exploration and production investment, subsidy elimination and technology advances are considered for the simulation. In isolation, the subsidy elimination scenario provides the best result. However, if all scenarios are considered simultaneously, an undesired effect emerges. The earliest that Malaysia is expected to become a net oil-importing country is 2012 and the latest is 2021. Malaysia's dependence on oil imports is expected to continue increasing. In all scenarios, the shares of oil import in the total supply rise to above 90% in 2030, with the highest share at 97%.

In this overview of city planning in Graeco-Roman times, starting with Greek gridiron street planning and functional city zoning in the 9th century BC, emphasis is placed on those aspects related to urban health and recreational activities. Etruscan-Roman expertise in hydraulic engineering facilitated the availability of ample water supplies, e.g. for public baths and latrines, and for efficient drainage systems, which had been problematic in the earlier Greek era. The Pax Romana obviated the need for defensive city walls and also potentiated the establishment and maintenance of long distance water supplies. Before the xenodocheia of the Christian era the only hospitals were Roman military institutions (valetudinaria) and some latifundia for sick slaves on large farms. Doctors practiced from very basic consulting facilities (iatreia, later tabernae). Graeco-Roman concepts of "death pollution" restricted structural burial facilities to a minimum, and situated outside the city walls. Greek recreation revolved around athletic sports practiced in stadia, gymnasia and occasionally in urban agoras; dramas were performed in open air theatres. The Romans preferred horse races and blood-thirsty sports in huge amphitheatres in which gladiators fought each other to the death.

FONDEN (Natural Disasters Fund), Mexico's fund for natural disasters, was established in the late 1990s as a mechanism to support the rapid rehabilitation of federal and state infrastructure affected by adverse natural events. FONDEN was first created as a budget line in the Federal expenditure budget of 1996, and became operational in 1999. Funds from FONDEN could be used for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of: 1) public infrastructure at the three levels of government (federal, state, and municipal); 2) low-income housing; and 3) certain components of the natural environment. FONDEN consists of two complementary budget accounts, the FONDEN program for reconstruction and FOPREDEN program for prevention, and their respective financial accounts. The FONDEN program for reconstruction is FONDEN's primary budget account. It channels resources from the federal expenditure budget to specific reconstruction programs. The FOPREDEN program for prevention supports disaster prevention by funding activities related to risk assessment, risk reduction, and capacity building on disaster prevention. The FONDEN system is continuously evolving to integrate lessons learned over the course of years of experience.

Islamic Revivalism is not a brand-new phenomenon, but, with increasing files of exponents, it promotes a variety of discussions on how and when it started, what is the mainstream ideology, what are the foremost goals of its activists, etc. Summing up all the analysis and propositions, it could be stated that the phenomenon of Islamic Revivalism (which started, the latest, with the Iranian revolution) designates all-out efforts aimed at the wholesale re-islamization of polities through direct political and/or military actions. As the definition suggests, the goal of revivalists (a proper Islamic state with three key elements: Islam, Sharia, Islamic ruling system) is the same but the approach to reaching it might not be indiscrete. Therefore, Sunni Islamic revivalists, who are the main object of the research, are divided into three groups: islamists (the most moderate Muslim revivalists with political goals), fundamentalists (who might radically impose religion on politics, though do not necessarily will claim to have a political project), and radical Muslims (who are committed to violence and seek for their goals on any terms).

This study examines the theory, doctrine, and practice of operational art in the U.S. military starting in the early 1970s after the end of the Vietnam War to the mid 1990s after Operation Desert Storm. Using a model of operational art based on strategy, campaigning, force flow, and logistics, it traces the development of Active Defense and AirLand Battle in the U.S. Army, the emergence of a culture and doctrine of maneuver warfare in the U.S. Marine Corps, the Air Force's efforts to institute centralized control and decentralized execution of airpower in the tactical air forces, and their confluence in the Persian Gulf War. Operation Desert Storm marked the practice of three discrete schools of operational warfare, and provided an impetus to establishing joint doctrine, which built on reforms of professional military education that happened in the late 1980s. The gains made in the doctrine, education and training for the practice of operational warfare gave way to a more pervasive focus on tactics that characterized Joint Vision 2010, the Department of Defense's future vision of warfare, which influenced service concepts away from the effective practice of operational art.

Local public land use departments encounter more and more difficulties in implementing their land use schemes due to powerful capitalistic interests of investors, land owners and even other public agents aiming at maximizing their capital investment revenues based on mortgages. The contribution calls for a comeback of a critical political debate on private land property. This debate has been practically given up in the late sixties of the last century. On the bases of large empirical research results on huge urban development projects which frequently were governed by models of a public-private-partnerships the contribution shows the role of local government as simple paver of the way for actors interested in mobilizing real estate values, it analyses new interlocked ownership structures and securitization strategies responsible for increasing lacks of transparency and responsibility and hampering political control of urban development. The article demonstrates resulting lacks of sustainability which stem from corporate private land owners' decisions on concrete land uses which are primarily driven by rapid profit interests. Adapted from the source document.

Статья посвящена диалогу власти и интеллектуалов в позднем СССР о содержании и границах частной жизни советского человека. Принимая тезис о том, что в послевоенном СССР сфера частной жизни непрерывно расширялось, автор преимущественно на архивном материале иллюстрирует, как понималось наполнение этой сферы интеллектуалами и в каком направлении протекала эволюция их представлений. Ключевой тезис статьи заключается в том, что нараставший процесс «приватизации» осуществлялся не столько вопреки позиции официальных советских властей и официальной идеологии, сколько в тесном взаимодействии с ними. ; The article is devoted to the dialogue between the government and intellectuals in the late USSR about the content and boundaries of private life of the soviet man. Taking into account a thesis that in the postwar USSR the sphere of private life is constantly expanding the author, using mainly archive material, shows the understanding of the content of this sphere by the intellectuals and in what direction the evolution of their ideas takes place. The key point of the article is the fact that the increasing process of privatization is not so much in defiance of the official soviet government and the official ideology but in close cooperation with them.

В России инновационный потенциал в течение почти двух десятилетий был фактически исключен из числа стратегических государственных приоритетов, а проблемы формирования инновационной системы, обеспечивающей обновление производства на основе новейших достижений науки и техники, выпуск конкурентоспособной продукции и укрепление национальной безопасности страны в должной мере не решались. Это предопределяет чрезвычайно острую необходимость глубокого теоретического осмысления сущности инноваций, условий и предпосылок формирования и позитивной динамики их сферы, слагаемых механизма перевода экономики на инновационный путь развития и стимулирования многочисленных субъектов данного процесса. ; In Russia, the innovative potential for nearly two decades has been virtually excluded from the government's strategic priorities and problems of formation of an innovative system that provides for renewal of production based on the latest achievements of science and technology, competitive products and strengthening the national security of the country is not sufficiently resolved. This presupposes an extremely urgent need for a thorough theoretical understanding of the essence of innovation, the conditions and prerequisites for the formation and positive changes in their scope, terms of transfer mechanism of the economy to innovative development and stimulation of multiple actors in the process.

В последние два десятилетия мировая космическая деятельность расширилась и претерпела значительные изменения. Современный процесс международного освоения и использования ближнего космоса характеризуется целым рядом особенностей, таких как милитаризация и коммерциализация космической деятельности, несоответствие нормативно-правовой базы сотрудничества в космической области современным реалиям, наличием глобальной проблемы техногенного засорения космического пространства. Перед мировым сообществом стоит задача нахождения кооперационной модели освоения космического пространства и использования его ресурсов на благо всего человечества. ; Within the two latest decades the world space activity has greatly expanded and undergone some considerable changes as well. The modern process of international mastering and employment of near-earth space has got a number of special features, such as follows, militarization and commercialization of space activity, the discrepancy between law-based norms of space cooperation and the real state of things, the existence of the global problem of space technogenic littering, etc. At present the world community is facing the problem of searching for and finding a new cooperation model of space exploration and using its resources for the benefit of the whole mankind.

В предлагаемой статье рассматривается один из важнейших инструментов формирования военно-политической элиты Российской империи конца XIX начала ХХ веков: Пажеский Его Императорского Величества корпус. На основе анализа значительного массива источников, затрагивающих различные аспекты жизни корпуса, делается вывод о том, что он представлял собой уникальное образование, формировавшее особый тип «светского офицера»-царедворца, с характерным только для этого типа специфическим мировидением. Именно выпускники корпуса к началу ХХ века составляли костяк офицерства гвардейских частей и генералитета, а также высшей государственной бюрократии. ; In this article one of the most important instruments of the formation of political and military elite of the Russian Empire in the late XIX early XX centuries: Page His Emperor's Majesty Corps is considered. Based on the analysis of a large array of sources, concerning various aspects of the Corps life, it is concluded that it was a unique formation, which formed a special type of "secular officer", courtier, with a specific outlook characteristic only for this type. Corps alumni constituted the backbone of the officers and generals Guard units by the beginning of the twentieth century, as well as the highest state bureaucracy.