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This paper identifies six main theories of the determinants of social trust, and tests them against survey data from seven nations, 1999-2001. Three of the six theories of trust fare rather poorly and three do better. First and foremost, social trust tends to be high among citizens who believe that there are few severe social conflicts and where the sense of public safety is high. Second, informal social networks are associated with trust. And third, those who are successful in life trust more, or are more inclined by their personal experience to do so. Individual theories seem to work best in societies with higher levels of trust, and societal ones in societies with lower levels of trust. This may have something to do with the fact that our two low trust societies happen to have experienced revolutionary change in the very recent past, so that societal events have overwhelmed individual circumstances. ; Woher kommt Vertrauen in die Mitmenschen? In diesem Arbeitspapier werden Umfragedaten aus sieben Ländern verwendet, um die Stichhaltigkeit verschiedener Theorien über die Bedingungen für soziales Vertrauen auf der Individualebene zu überprüfen. Nur drei der sechs Theorien erweisen sich als erklärungskräftig. Erstens zeigen jene Bürger großes Vertrauen, die die Gesellschaft als wenig konfliktbelastet und als sicher wahrnehmen. Zweitens gehen gute informelle Sozialkontakte mit Vertrauen Hand in Hand. Und drittens sind die im Leben Erfolgreichen vertrauensvoller als die Verlierer. Die Ergebnisse zeigen darüber hinaus, daß individuenbezogene Theorien offenbar in "high-trust"- Gesellschaften besser funktionieren, während gesellschaftsbezogene Theorien in "lowtrust"- Gesellschaften erklärungskräftiger sind. Ein Grund dafür könnte sein, daß die beiden im Sample vertretenen Gesellschaften mit niedrigen Vertrauenswerten postsozialistische Länder sind, so daß die mit dem Zusammenbruch des Staatssozialismus und der Transformation zu Demokratie und Marktwirtschaft verbundenen sozialen Umbrüche individuelle Einflüsse in den Schatten stellen.

Introduction -- Part 1. Nationalism, Republicanism and the first parties -- Immigration, expansion and the mass parties -- Slavery, labor and the new immigration -- Part 2. Parties, progress and closing the open door -- The rise and fall of the New Deal -- Ideological parties and the return of mass immigration -- Multiculturalism and Nationalism: Obama and Trump.

With its diachronic focus on socio-historical processes and life and family histories, sociological biographical research can analyse the emergence of new spatial figurations. It does so from the perspective of the experiences of individuals in their changing belonging to different groupings at different times. In this article, I investigate changing (meanings of) spaces in the Bilad ash-Sham region (roughly today's Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and parts of Jordan and Syria). I discuss how the process of the formation of nation-state borders and citizenship in the twentieth century transformed translocal relations into transnational networks, combined spatial diffusion with (forced) emplacement in nation-states, and initiated accelerating national closure processes. At the family level, the growing relevance of citizenship and borders in the region came about with knowledge of, and family dialogue about, border crossing, and the increasing spatial diffusion of the family, as well as intrafamilial discussions on the "value" of different nation-states. These processes affected all families in the Bilad ash-Sham region to a varying extent. They constitute a type of figuration of space that influenced the gradual formation of societies within the framework of nation-states defined by colonial rulers. As an example, I will discuss the regional family history of a Syrian refugee in Amman, Jordan.

'Nach anfänglichen Stabilisierungserfolgen hat sich die Sicherheitslage in Afghanistan seit Mai 2006 besorgniserregend verschlechtert. Folgende externen und internen Gründe haben dazu beigetragen: 1. Der konzeptionelle Ansatz der UN-Peacebuilding Mission, die das internationale Engagement in Afghanistan koordiniert, hat zu wenig die extrem defizitären Strukturen des zerrütteten Staatswesens (failed state) berücksichtigt. Zudem wird das VN-Bemühen durch den von den USA geführten Anti-Terror-Krieg (Operation Enduring Freedom/ OEF) in Afghanistan belastet. 2. Präsident Karzai hat sich in der Bevölkerung zu wenig Glaubwürdigkeit verschafft und die neuen staatlichen Institutionen nicht funktionsfähig gemacht. Da er offenkundig von der internationalen Gemeinschaft abhängig ist, wird auch sie in die Akzeptanzkrise hineingezogen. 3. Die Regierung Karzai hat die von Paschtunen besiedelten Landesteile im Süden und Osten nicht unter ihre Hoheitsgewalt gebracht. Zudem haben die dort unter US-Führung kämpfenden OEF-Truppen die heterogene Allianz der Oppositionellen Militanten Kräfte (OMK) nicht schwächen können. Vielmehr hat das 'robuste' militärische Vorgehen dazu geführt, dass die OEF-Einheiten zunehmend als Besatzungstruppen wahrgenommen werden. Zu befürchten ist, dass die dort seit Ende Juli 2006 operierenden ISAF-Truppen ebenfalls von der Bevölkerung abgelehnt werden. Deutschland trägt seit der Übernahme des ISAF-Regionalkommandos Nord im Juni 2006 eine besondere Verantwortung in den neun nördlichen Provinzen. Die afghanische Bevölkerung hegt vorläufig weiterhin Vertrauen in das deutsche Engagement und erwartet, dass dieses noch weiter erhöht und auch auf andere Landesteile, beispielsweise den Südosten, ausgedehnt wird.' (Autorenreferat)

The PRC's larger size, rapid economic development, and greater international assertiveness would seem to give China a clear edge over Japan. Yet, Beijing's frequently heavy-handed diplomacy and steadily rising defense budgets concern many of its neighbors. While most states are publicly deferential to the PRC's wishes, they have quietly taken steps to accommodate Japan as well.

Africa has been the source of some of the international community's most devastating failures and important successes in conflict management. The purpose of this book is to examine the issues and experiences associated with the increased level of activity between the United Nations and regional organizations in their efforts to address conflict in Africa. Using nine case studies and an overview of recent changes at the institutional level this book assesses what these experiences tell us about the United Nations, about African regional organizations, and about conflict management processes.

An exploration of the new Jewish family in pre-state Zionist period Vienna illuminates how Zionism envisioned a change in the Jewish family & gender relations in the interest of Jewish state foundation. While a lucid image of the new Jew emerged, it will be demonstrated that the image of the new Jewish woman was intimately tied to the advent of the new Jewish family & her role therein. Following an overview of Zionism, the roles of women & gender discourse in the Zionist movement are examined, noting that Zionism & masculinity are nearly synonymous. It was in that obscurant light that male Zionists variously & often contradictorily imagined women's role in the future state as evidenced by the father of Zionism Theodor Herzl's inconsistent idea of their role. Driven by a concern for national cultural development & maintenance of Judaism via the teaching of Jewish values & Hebrew language, cultural Zionism looked to women & their role in Jewish families to complement the work of education. In this regard, the thought of Martin Buber is considered. Women were expected to further Zionism & serve the nation by playing a nurturing role in the new Jewish family. However, the role of women was never clearly delineated; the new Jewish women emerged as a disparate & conflicting collection of images understood primarily in terms of family life & as wife & mother. J. Zendejas

Considered as a social phenomenon, refugees can be thought of as the migratory segment of a larger group of victims, singled out for the willful exercise of extraordinary malevolence on the part of their state of residence, acting directly or by indirection. As acknowledged by the current UN definition, refugees fall into two main categories. Some are persecuted on grounds of political opinion or activity; since such persecution is the normal counterpart of illiberal regimes, the process does not require elaborate explanation. Hence, focus here is on the conditions under which persecution is directed against categoric groups -- racial, religious, national, or social -- to which individuals belong not by choice but by virtue of accidents of birth. It is suggested that the process under consideration arises predominantly as a by-product of the secular transformation of empires into nation-states. A brief historical review demonstrates how it originated in Western Europe half a millennium ago & recurred further East in the wake of the dissolution of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian, & Ottoman empires in the twentieth century. Outlined within this general framework is how specific conditions account for a particularly high incidence of massive refugee flows in the contemporary Third World. HA.