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The international political landscape of the 21st century is strewn with terrorist groups that choose to act violently in order for their political messages to be heard. Around the world groups have been formed to defend their ideologies and fulfill their political agendas through acts of terrorism. The Baader-Meinhof Gang [also known as the Red Army Faction], the Weather Underground, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Hezbollah, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, HAMAS, and the Irish Republican Army have existed for many decades. They represent only a small handful of terrorist groups that have kidnapped, targeted public institutions with bombs, and employed suicide terrorism. More often than not innocent civilians become involved in the carnage of an act of terrorism when they are caught off guard as unassuming bystanders. On September 11th, 2001 both the American public and US government officials bore the weight of that horrific day. Since 9-11, Americans were robbed of their sense of safety, and the American dream of tranquility was shattered. A general unease spread from the wreckage of the World Trade Centers, and with the passing of time a keen sense of awareness about terrorism took its place. The events of 9/11 have made US citizens fully cognizant that there are many actors actively plotting the destruction of the US. Now, eight years later, Americans live with the daily realization that such a heinous act could happen again, in some other unimaginable form. For the US government, the past eight years have been marked with as many successes as failures. The consequences of the inability of the US intelligence community to foresee the international plot unfolding, within and outside of the homeland, resulted in a major reorganization within the US government. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established on November 25, 2002, and was created solely to address US vulnerabilities highlighted by the actions of nineteen al-Qaeda suicide terrorists. The DHS' main responsibility is to improve communication and information sharing among various intelligence-gathering agencies, so another attempt to plan an attack like 9/11 on US soil would be foiled before it materialized. The US government would no longer be noncommittal in the face of terrorism, as it had before 9/11. Clear messages to terrorists were sent on October 7th, 2001, through the US invasion of Afghanistan, and subsequently on March 20th, 2003 through the US invasion of Iraq. Thus, the US' stance on the War on Terrorism was effectively and clearly communicated to al-Qaeda and throughout the rest of the world. The US might once have been labeled a paper tiger, but hitting the US at the core of their financial and military symbols struck a nerve. The terrorist attacks of 2001 taught the US government a vital lesson, but the military campaigns of Afghanistan and Iraq would demonstrate that the US had even more to learn about the newest military tactics and techniques employed by the enemy, and how these tactics impacted on US military operations, strategies, and policies. ; 2009-12-01 ; M.A. ; Sciences, Department of Political Science ; Masters ; This record was generated from author submitted information.

COVID-19 has not left any part of the world untouched and India is one of the worst affected countries in the world. The cases in India are rising steadily with each passing day. As of August 10th 2020, India has over 2.3 million (the second million coming in exactly three weeks since the country hit a million infections on July 16, with 42 percent of the new cases coming from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar) confirmed COVID-19 cases and 46,188 reported deaths. The worst affected states of India include Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Another growing concern is that interior parts of the country are emerging as new hotspots. Four states in eastern India, namely, Odisha, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal are increasingly reporting positive cases. The two main reasons being reported for this surge in cases in rural areas are the returning migrants from major cities who did not undergo screening or were asymptomatic and the poor healthcare infrastructure in the rural settings. Out of a total of 739 districts in India, 13 districts (across 8 states and a union territory) account for 1 in seven Covid-19 deaths. The 13 districts are: Kamrup Metro in Assam, Patna in Bihar, Ranchi in Jharkhand; Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, Ganjam in Odisha, Lucknow in UP; North 24 Paraganas, Hooghly, Howrah, Kolkata and Maldah in West Bengal, and Delhi. These districts account for nearly 9 percent of India's active cases and about 14 percent of COVID-19 deaths. Over the spring and summer, the COVID-19 situation in India has really deteriorated and could get much worse on the current trajectory with around 60,000 cases being reported per day and around 900 daily deaths. Lockdown and travel bans due to COVID-19 have impacted almost every sector including tourism, hospitality, and education. To deal with the coronavirus crisis, the central government has undertaken various initiatives like monetary relief package under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, Uttar Pradesh Rojgar Abhiyaan, Atma Nirbhar Abhiyaan etc. The state governments have also undertaken various initiatives like Operation SHIELD, 5T Plan, Mission Fateh, Snehar Paras etc. We describe these briefly. Some regions in India have successfully contained COVID-19 like the state of Kerala, the district of Bhilwara in Rajasthan and the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai. In order for a strategy of containment and recovery to succeed, it is vital to keep using public health measures to suppress the epidemic, that is to drive R < 1. Besides the infection rate, it is vital to closely monitor the positivity rate and the case fatality ratio (death rate) and rely not so much on the recovery rate which is what seems to be happening currently. Eventually, in all likelihood, as the pandemic subsides, close to 97 plus percent cases are likely to recover implying a 2 or 3 percent death rate. India needs a epidemic control strategy to be developed and put in place to control and contain the spread of the infection in the country, something that is not being done currently. Due to COVID-19, while most countries are facing the twin crises of public health and the consequent economic downturn, India has an additional challenge to deal with, namely a massive migrant workers crisis. While it is hard to say what long-term impact this home migration might have, but some trends were quite clear so we made a few recommendations to the government in May that we list along with some lessons for India to learn from elsewhere. On the economic front, a deep and prolonged economic slowdown is inevitable.

Understanding the political transformation of rebel movements / Jeroen de Zeeuw -- El Salvador : the success of the FMLN / Christine Wade -- Mozambique : Renamo's electoral success / Carrie Manning -- Sierra Leone : marginalization of the RUF / Paul Richards and James Vincent -- Burundi : the deficient transformation of the CNDD-FDD / Willy Nindorera -- Palestine : Hamas's unfinished transformation / Pamela Scholey -- Sudan : the incomplete transition from SPLA to SPLM / John Young -- Afghanistan : political parties or militia fronts? / Antonio Giustozzi -- Sri Lanka : the continued armed struggle of the LTTE / Chris Smith -- International involvement in rebel-to-party transformations / Luc van de Goor and Jeroen de Zeeuw

1. Integration of Conservation and Utilization in Temperate Hardwood Species -- 2. The Conservation of Genetic and Chemical Diversity in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants -- 3. Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Wild Relatives of Crop Species -- 4. Perspectives on Human Genome Diversity within Pakistan using Y Chromosomal and Autosomal Microsatellite Markers -- 5. Lessons from Nature Show the Way to Safe and Environmentally Pacific Pest Control -- 6. Biodiversity of Soil Fauna in Different Ecosystems in Egypt with Particular References to Insect Predators -- 7. Optimization of Natural Procedures Leads: Discovery of MylotargTM, CCI-779 and GAR-936 -- 8. Bioactive Compounds from Some Endangered Plants of Africa -- 9. New Bioactive Substances Reported from the African Flora -- 10. Bioactive Components of a Peruvian Herbal Medicine, Chucuhuasi (Maytenus amazonica) -- 11. Discovery of Natural Products from Indonesian Tropical Rainforest Plants: Chemodiversity of Artocarpus (Moraceae) -- 12. Seminal Findings on a Novel Enzyme: Mechanism of Biochemical Action of 4-Methylcoumarins, Constituents of Medicinal and Edible Plants -- 13. Medicinal Plants—A Source of Potential Chemicals of Diverse Structures and Biological Activity -- 14. Biodiversity in Turkish Folk Medicine -- 15. Biodiversity of Phenylethanoids Glycosides -- 16. The Chemo- and Biodiversity of Endophytes -- 17. Molecular Diversity and Specificity of Arthropod Toxins -- 18. Chemical Diversity of Coral Reef Organisms -- 19. Chemical Signals from Sponges and their Allelopathic Effects on Other Marine Animals -- 20. Anti-Cancer Metabolites from Marine Sponges -- 21. Altitudinal and Latitudinal Diversity on the Flora on Eastern and Western Sides of the Red Sea -- 22. Biodiversity and Free Market Mechanism -- 23. Domestication and Determination of Yield and Quality Aspects of Wild Mentha Species Growing in Southern Turkey -- 24. Some Ornamental Geophytes from the East Anatolia -- 25. Bioactive Molecules from Cynodon dactylon of Indian Biodiversity -- 26. Phenylethanoid Glycosides with Free Radical Scavenging Properties from Verbascum wiedemannianum -- 27. Antioxidant Activity of Capsicum annuum L. Fruit Extracts on Acetaminophen Toxicity -- 28. In Vitro Antileishmanial Activity of Proanthocyanidins and Related Compounds -- 29. Evaluation of the Antileishmanial Activity of Two New Diterpenoids and Extracts from Salvia cilicica -- 30. Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Sedum sartorianum subsp. sartorianum -- 31. Blood Pressure Lowering Activity of Active Principle from Ocimum basilicum -- 32. Chemical Variability in Azadirachta indica Growing in Tamil Nadu State of India -- 33. Pesticidal Activity of Eucalyptus Leaf Extracts againstHelicoverpa armigeraLarvae -- 34. Two New Lignans from Taxus baccata L. -- 35. Lignans from Taxus baccata L. -- 36. Heraclenol and Isopimpinellin: Two Rare Furocoumarins from Ruta montana -- 37. A Chemotaxonomic Study on the Genus Ferulago Sect. Humiles (Umbelliferae) -- 38. Aromatic Biodiversity among Three Endemic Thymus Species of Iran -- 39. Volatile Constituents of the Leaves of Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Willd. from Iran -- 40. Fatty Acid Composition of the Aerial Parts of Urtica dioica (Stinging Nettle) L. (Urticaceae) -- 41. Fatty Acid Composition of Aconitum orientale Miller and A. nasutum Fisch. ex Reichb Seeds, A Chemotaxonomic Approach -- 42. New Peptide from a Bacterium Associated with Marine Sponge Ircinia muscarum -- 43. Sheep Brain Glutathione Reductase: Purification and Some Properties -- 44. Some Morphological and Phenological Characters of Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) Grown in Hatay Province of Turkey -- 45. Genetic Diversity of Two Native Forest Tree Species in Turkey: Pinus brutia Ten. and Cupressus sempervirens L. -- 46. The Vegetation Studies in the Pure Stands of Kürtün (Gümü?hane) Forests in Turkey -- 47. 7th Year IPM Implementation: The Biodiversity of Pests and their Beneficial Species in the Protected Vegetable in the Aegean Region of Turkey -- 48. Phytopreparations from the Species of Limonium Mill -- 49. The Biological Activities of New Heterocyclic Compounds Containing Nitrogen and Sulphur -- 50. Synthetic Modification of Iridoids to Non-natural Indole Alkaloids -- 51. The Complexation of New 1,3-Dithiocalix[4]arene Containing Oxime Derivative -- 52. Convenient Route to Quinoline-Tetrahydroquinolines from Quinoline-Carboxaldehydes -- 53. Quantum Chemical Research of Quercetin, Myricetin, their Bromo- and Sulpho Derivatives -- 54. Destruction and Conservation of Turkish Orchids -- Annex -- Author Index.

Since the late colonial period, Sri Lanka has been subject to modern democratic state building experiments. The number of challenges this project has encountered is rising. Many of these challenges have been identified alongside the multi-ethnic character of Sri Lanka's population, illuminating the antagonistic inter-ethnic relations between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. The various policy measures designed endogeneously and exogenously focused on building a democratic state where the rights of the ethnic minorities could be guaranteed. However, the outcomes of these policy measures have not reflected this goal. These policy measures have not sufficiently contributed to a guarantee of rights for ethnic minorities and paid ill attention to numerous other tensions that are of a non-inter-ethnic nature in Sri Lanka's state building project. By focusing on the broader state-in-society relations and privileging hegemonic formations in Sinhalese politics through historical and contemporary times, this thesis re-problematises the issue of Sri Lanka's state building. This thesis also aims to answer the following key questions: what are the key hegemony building processes identified in Sri Lanka's state building project?; how do the dynamics in Sinhalese politics and the broader political and economic context influence these processes?; what were the main tensions between hegemony building and state building in Sri Lanka?; and how did they affect democratic state building? These questions are examined by applying a qualitative method of inquiry. The data for this study has been collected through a series of field interviews conducted in Sri Lanka in 2009 and 2011, as well as a preliminary literature survey conducted between 2005–07. The in-depth field interviews were carried out with the aim of gathering primary data on the perceptions, first hand experiences and narratives of the trajectories of elite and subaltern politics and state building. The primary data gathered through an extensive literature survey that was further complemented with the field interviews and a process of observation. Based on critical analysis of the data gathered from the above mentioned multiple sources, the research argues primarily that state building in Sri Lanka has been a struggle for hegemony of the right, in which the Sinhalese political elites and the broader Sinhalese community have played a decisive and an equally important role. The empirical inquiry identified four hegemony building processes – Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism, a political party driven and a patronage system institutionalised at the state level, and events and discourses of war, peace and conflict that were used by the dominant Sinhalese political elites in their attempt to build political alliances in order to obtain consent and legitimacy for their rule, which essentially influenced the trajectories of Sri Lanka's state building. The findings of this research suggest that, due to the underlying principle of inequality and right-wing political ideologies present in the above hegemony building processes, the state building project has consequently been drifting away from the path of democratic state building and fermenting the conditions for realising hegemony of the right. The results of this study show several implications for state building at the scholarly and policy level. At the scholarly level, it shows the relevance of examining politics as usual and politics taken for granted. Further theoretically and methodologically this research shows the relevance of enaging with class and the dynamics of class relations for the study of Sri Lanka's state building. At both the policy and scholarly levels, this study shows that in understanding the paths and dilemmas of state building, particularly in the contexts of civil war and post-civil war scenarios, it is not only the much debated and antagonistic inter-ethnic relations that should receive attention, but also the subtle hegemonic relationship formations and the hegemony building strategies taking place at the intra-ethnic community level. Last but not least, this study highlights the need for re-examining policies aimed at state building by considering state–in-society relations in the broadest possible manner, which is done by tracing the seemingly disconnected strategies that are being pursued by the political elites under changing social, political and economic contexts in both the local and global spheres.