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This report maps the African landscape of Open Science – with a focus on Open Data as a sub-set of Open Science. Data to inform the landscape study were collected through a variety of methods, including surveys, desk research, engagement with a community of practice, networking with stakeholders, participation in conferences, case study presentations, and workshops hosted. Although the majority of African countries (35 of 54) demonstrates commitment to science through its investment in research and development (R&D), academies of science, ministries of science and technology, policies, recognition of research, and participation in the Science Granting Councils Initiative (SGCI), the following countries demonstrate the highest commitment and political willingness to invest in science: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. In addition to existing policies in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), the following countries have made progress towards Open Data policies: Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, South Africa and Uganda. Only two African countries (Kenya and South Africa) at this stage contribute 0.8% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to R&D (Research and Development), which is the closest to the AU's (African Union's) suggested 1%. Countries such as Lesotho and Madagascar ranked as 0%, while the R&D expenditure for 24 African countries is unknown. In addition to this, science globally has become fully dependent on stable ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) infrastructure, which includes connectivity/bandwidth, high performance computing facilities and data services. This is especially applicable since countries globally are finding themselves in the midst of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is not only "about" data, but which "is" data. According to an article by Alan Marcus (2015) (Senior Director, Head of Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum), "At its core, data represents a post-industrial opportunity. Its uses have unprecedented complexity, velocity and global reach. As digital communications become ubiquitous, data will rule in a world where nearly everyone and everything is connected in real time. That will require a highly reliable, secure and available infrastructure at its core, and innovation at the edge." Every industry is affected as part of this revolution – also science. An important component of the digital transformation is "trust" – people must be able to trust that governments and all other industries (including the science sector), adequately handle and protect their data. This requires accountability on a global level, and digital industries must embrace the change and go for a higher standard of protection. "This will reassure consumers and citizens, benefitting the whole digital economy", says Marcus. A stable and secure information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure – currently provided by the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) – is key to advance collaboration in science. The AfricaConnect project (AfricaConnect (2012–2014) and AfricaConnect 2 (2016–2018)) through establishing connectivity between National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), is planning to roll out AfricaConnect 3 by the end of 2019. The concern however is that selected African governments (with the exception of a few countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia and others) have low awareness of the impact the Internet has today on all societal levels, how much ICT (and the 4th Industrial Revolution) have affected research, and the added value an NREN can bring to higher education and research in addressing the respective needs, which is far more complex than simply providing connectivity. Apart from more commitment and investment in R&D, African governments – to become and remain part of the 4th Industrial Revolution – have no option other than to acknowledge and commit to the role NRENs play in advancing science towards addressing the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals). For successful collaboration and direction, it is fundamental that policies within one country are aligned with one another. Alignment on continental level is crucial for the future Pan-African African Open Science Platform to be successful. Both the HIPSSA ((Harmonization of ICT Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa) project and WATRA (the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly), have made progress towards the regulation of the telecom sector, and in particular of bottlenecks which curb the development of competition among ISPs. A study under HIPSSA identified potential bottlenecks in access at an affordable price to the international capacity of submarine cables and suggested means and tools used by regulators to remedy them. Work on the recommended measures and making them operational continues in collaboration with WATRA. In addition to sufficient bandwidth and connectivity, high-performance computing facilities and services in support of data sharing are also required. The South African National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System (NICIS) has made great progress in planning and setting up a cyberinfrastructure ecosystem in support of collaborative science and data sharing. The regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) Cyber-infrastructure Framework provides a valuable roadmap towards high-speed Internet, developing human capacity and skills in ICT technologies, high-performance computing and more. The following countries have been identified as having high-performance computing facilities, some as a result of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) partnership: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia. More and more NRENs – especially the Level 6 NRENs (Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and recently Zambia) – are exploring offering additional services; also in support of data sharing and transfer. The following NRENs already allow for running data-intensive applications and sharing of high-end computing assets, bio-modelling and computation on high-performance/supercomputers: KENET (Kenya), TENET (South Africa), RENU (Uganda), ZAMREN (Zambia), EUN (Egypt) and ARN (Algeria). Fifteen higher education training institutions from eight African countries (Botswana, Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania) have been identified as offering formal courses on data science. In addition to formal degrees, a number of international short courses have been developed and free international online courses are also available as an option to build capacity and integrate as part of curricula. The small number of higher education or research intensive institutions offering data science is however insufficient, and there is a desperate need for more training in data science. The CODATA-RDA Schools of Research Data Science aim at addressing the continental need for foundational data skills across all disciplines, along with training conducted by The Carpentries programme (specifically Data Carpentry 10). Thus far, CODATA-RDA schools in collaboration with AOSP, integrating content from Data Carpentry, were presented in Rwanda (in 2018), and during 17-29 June 2019, in Ethiopia. Awareness regarding Open Science (including Open Data) is evident through the 12 Open Science-related Open Access/Open Data/Open Science declarations and agreements endorsed or signed by African governments; 200 Open Access journals from Africa registered on the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ); 174 Open Access institutional research repositories registered on openDOAR (Directory of Open Access Repositories); 33 Open Access/Open Science policies registered on ROARMAP (Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies); 24 data repositories registered with the Registry of Data Repositories (re3data.org) (although the pilot project identified 66 research data repositories); and one data repository assigned the CoreTrustSeal. Although this is a start, far more needs to be done to align African data curation and research practices with global standards. Funding to conduct research remains a challenge. African researchers mostly fund their own research, and there are little incentives for them to make their research and accompanying data sets openly accessible. Funding and peer recognition, along with an enabling research environment conducive for research, are regarded as major incentives. The landscape report concludes with a number of concerns towards sharing research data openly, as well as challenges in terms of Open Data policy, ICT infrastructure supportive of data sharing, capacity building, lack of skills, and the need for incentives. Although great progress has been made in terms of Open Science and Open Data practices, more awareness needs to be created and further advocacy efforts are required for buy-in from African governments. A federated African Open Science Platform (AOSP) will not only encourage more collaboration among researchers in addressing the SDGs, but it will also benefit the many stakeholders identified as part of the pilot phase. The time is now, for governments in Africa, to acknowledge the important role of science in general, but specifically Open Science and Open Data, through developing and aligning the relevant policies, investing in an ICT infrastructure conducive for data sharing through committing funding to making NRENs financially sustainable, incentivising open research practices by scientists, and creating opportunities for more scientists and stakeholders across all disciplines to be trained in data management. ; Department of Science & Innovation (DSI); National Research Foundation (NRF)

Presentismo

Perry Anderson

Universidad de California en Los Ángeles

La acusación —si no el término— de "presentismo", de tomar ideas del pasado haciendo abstracción de su contexto histórico para usarlas erróneamente en el presente, ganó su primera notoriedad con The Whig Interpretation of History de Herbert Butterfield, escrito a comienzos de la década del treinta. El término, que probablemente ya estuviera difundido en Cambridge en los años cincuenta, adquirió plena vigencia con los primeros textos metodológicos de Quentin Skinner, John Dunn y J. G. A. Pocock, que polemizaban con la historia de las ideas tal como era practicada por Arthur Lovejoy o George H. Sabine o, en un registro diferente, por C. B. Macpherson. La propuesta de una transformación radical del modo en que el campo debía ser estudiado encontró su realización ejemplar en The Ancient Constitution and the Feudal Law de Pocock, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought de Skinner y The Political Thought of John Locke de Dunn. Ningún protocolo de la Escuela de Cambridge fue más severo ni ganó una aceptación más amplia que la prohibición de presentismo. Las ideas políticas del pasado pertenecían a los lenguajes del pasado, que no tenían continuidad con los del presente y debían ser reconstruidos si se pretendía entender el verdadero significado de cualquier texto que se articulara en esos lenguajes. Las ideas políticas no estaban disponibles para un traslado de modo ignorante al discurso contemporáneo.
La "revolución en la historia del pensamiento político" de Cambridge, a pesar de su insistencia en la primacía del contexto histórico, en términos generales no aplicó sus preceptos a sí misma. Pero el escenario en el que se originó parece bastante claro: el consenso de posguerra en el ámbito angloparlante con el florecimiento de la filosofía del lenguaje y la promesa del fin de las ideologías. Se trataba, al menos en lo referido a la política interna, de una arena marcadamente despolitizada (en la política externa, por supuesto que la Guerra Fría estaba lejos de haber terminado). En la Europa continental no reinaban condiciones tan confortables. Con el telón de fondo del reciente fascismo y la resistencia contra él, y en un escenario persistente de comunismo y una batalla para contenerlo o reprimirlo, las pasiones ideológicas estaban mucho más exacerbadas. Así, no sorprende que las advertencias de la Escuela de Cambridge fueran poco tenidas en cuenta. En la Alemania de los cincuenta y los tempranos sesenta, los dos trabajos señeros sobre historia de las ideas, Kritik und Krise (1954) de Reinhart Koselleck y Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit (1962) de Jürgen Habermas, podían ser vistos, a su modo, como una revolución de los métodos y de los hallazgos no menos profunda que la que el trabajo de los historiadores de Cambridge representaba en Gran Bretaña. Pero ninguno de los dos tuvo reparo en establecer conexiones directas —y antitéticas— entre los conceptos de la esfera pública propios de la Ilustración y las candentes preocupaciones relativas a la contemporaneidad: los peligros del totalitarismo, la cultura de los medios de comunicación mercantilizados y la democracia delegativa.
Tales usos europeos del pasado persistieron. Baste pensar en Norberto Bobbio, quien comenzó escribiendo sobre Hobbes en la década del cuarenta. Tres décadas después, no dudó en transponer el diseño del Leviathan a los riesgos bélicos de la era nuclear ni en argumentar a favor de un superpoder singular con monopolio de la violencia extrema interestatal para asegurar una paz estable (Il problema della guerra e le vie delle pace, 1979). O, contrariamente, Habermas pudo retomar, sin sentir el menor inconveniente ni percibir la menor incongruencia, el esquema de Kant de la paz perpetua como una maqueta de las intervenciones humanitarias de las Naciones Unidas durante la década del noventa. O, más recientemente, Rosanvallon, quien trajo nuevamente a la discusión pública a Guizot en la década del ochenta para promocionar las ventajas de una recuperación del liberalismo francés —Le Moment Guizot (1985) como una operación subsidiaria del entonces vigente "momento Furet"—, retoma a Guizot con iguales objetivos en La contre-démocratie (2006), veinte años después. En definitiva, en esas declinaciones continentales el presentismo no produjo mayores ansiedades.
Podría objetarse que esos pensadores, a excepción de Koselleck, no pueden ser considerados historiadores en sentido estricto —e incluso se podría acusar a Koselleck de practicar algo más cercano a una forma filosófica que a una forma convencional de la historia. Pero cuando atendemos a las producciones posteriores de los historiadores de Cambridge, advertimos que ellos mismos se alejaron hace tiempo de las prescripciones asépticas de su juventud. Las razones de ese cambio no son difíciles de descubrir. Las plácidas verdades indiscutibles de los cincuenta ya no se sostienen. Liberty before Liberalism (1998) de Skinner, busca recuperar en Marchamont Nedham, James Harrington o Algernon Sydney ideas "neo-romanas" de libertad como no-dependencia a la voluntad de otros, y las propone como antídoto a la concepción hobbesiana de libertad negativa como mera ausencia de impedimento de acción, que se convirtió en parte del sentido común. A esta construcción, evidente reacción a la era del thatcherismo, podría achacársele precisamente el pecado cuya condena fundó el renombre de Skinner. Para Blair Worden y Pocock, era claramente presentista. Dunn, más radicalmente disconforme con el devenir de la democracia occidental, en Setting the People Free (2005) volvió a Roberspierre y Babeuf para buscar pistas sobre los límites que el "orden del egoísmo" le impone a la democracia. Tampoco Pocock, el más autorizado de todos, pudo resistir la tentación del presente. Ya The Machiavellian Moment finalizaba con el escándalo de Watergate. Pero su modo de vincular el pasado con el presente fue claramente diferente. Richard Nixon pudo figurar en las páginas de Pocock como una criatura de una imaginación típicamente Old Whig, pero su modo no es la presentación abierta de los pensadores del pasado como enseñanza del presente, sino otro, a la vez más oblicuo y más directo. The Discovery of Islands (2005) no pone a su servicio a Tucker o Gibbon. Pero su feroz ataque al desmantelamiento de la soberanía nacional y a los triunfos de la mercantilización en la Unión Europea —objeto de admiración de Skinner— es más intencionalmente político que lo que cualquier colega de Pocock se permitió. No es necesario trazar su línea de proveniencia: no hay dudas de que estamos ante el republicanismo, en el sentido peculiarmente incisivo que el joven Pocock reveló a los modernos.
¿Toda esta reincidencia no es más que un lapsus tardío de presentismo? El término está expuesto a una confusión. El significado de una idea política sólo puede ser entendido en su contexto histórico –social, intelectual y lingüístico–. Arrancarlo de ese contexto es un anacronismo. Pero, contrariamente a la gastada afirmación atribuida a Wittgenstein, significado y uso no son lo mismo. Las ideas del pasado pueden adquirir relevancia contemporánea —incluso, en ocasiones, una mayor a la que poseían originariamente— sin ser mal interpretadas. No hay garantía contra su distorsión ni se puede asegurar su momificación.

[Enviado por el autor. Traducción del original en inglés y notas: Natalia Bustelo]

In the past, several futile attempts were carried out at different forums to change the name of subject of Forensic Medicine to Forensic Pathology. In that scenario, it is pertinent to seriously review that matter to have crystal clear concept about the subject of Forensic Medicine and to critically evaluate the effects of changing its name to Forensic Pathology particularly keeping in view the in vogue Medicolegal System in our set up. I will try my level best to present here a factual ground reality base picture. Let's start with definition of Forensic Medicine, "as branch of medicine which deals with the application of principles of medical knowledge for the purpose of law, both civil and criminal, to furthering of the justice". It also deals with legal aspects of medical practice and doctor patient relationship and medical ethics. Traditionally, it includes pathological anatomy and Forensic Toxicology. Forensic Pathology is defined as the special branch of pathology dealing with the medicolegal investtigation of death. A simple comparison of the definitions of two entities have made it clear that Forensic Medicine is broader/wider/more comprehensive subject and more in parlance with the present medicolegal system in our country than Forensic Pathology. Our medicolegal system has a similarity with the continental medicolegal system, hence designated as modified continental medicolegal system where the role of investigating agency (police) and doctor (medical officer) is well defined in the following legal frame work. This crucial point will be more evident by just briefly observing the following rules and regulations governing the present medicolegal system of our country.1. Criminal procedure code, sec. 174, 174A, 176. (part relevant to medical man is reproduced below) 174. (1).(3) When there is any doubt regarding the cause of death, or when for any other reason the policeofficer considers it expedient so to do, he shall, subject to such rules as the Government may prescribe in this behalf, forward the body, with a view to its being examined, to the nearest Civil Surgeon, or other qualified medical man appointed in this behalf by the Government, if the state of the weather and the distance admit of its being so forwarded without risk of such putrefaction on the road as would render such examination useless.176. (1) When any person dies while in the custody of the police, the nearest Magistrate empowered to hold inquests shall, and, in any other case mentioned in section 174, clauses (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (1), any Magistrate so empowered may hold an inquiry into the cause of death either instead of, or in addition to, the investigation held by the policeofficer, and if he does so, he shall have all the powers in conducting it which he would have in holding an inquiry into an offence. The Magistrate holding such an inquiry shall record the evidence taken by him in connection therewith in any of the manners hereinafter prescribed according to the circumstances of the case.(2) Whenever such Magistrate considers it expedient to make an examination of the dead body of any person who has been already interred, in order to discover the cause of his death, the Magistrate may, cause the body to be disinterred and examined.2. Qisas and Diyat ordinance 1990/Criminal amendment act 1997.Authorised Medical Officer 299 C: It means a medical officer/ medical board howsoever designated, authorised by Provincial Government.3. Health Department, Government of the Punjab, instructions regarding postmortem and medicolegal examinations 2009.4. Police ordinance 2002.5. Police rules, i.e., 25.19 (medicolegal opinion), 25.21 (dying declarations), 25.22 (medical examination of women), 25.34 (Disinterment of bodies) clause 5, 25.36 (postmortem examination when and by whom held, 25.37 (post-mortem examinations), 25.38 (unidentified bodies), 25.43 (procedure in poisoning cases), 25.47 (report of medical officer). A simple review of above relevant portions of the laws makes it clear that in our set up medico-legal examinations (of living and dead) are conducted by medical officers who are trained and taught the subject of Forensic Medicine in the 3rd year MBBS as depicted in the curricula issued by the PM&DC, Islamabad. The dead body is shifted to the nearby authorized medical man for autopsy. It is pertinent to mention that the autopsy rate is very high (about 1000 medico-legal autopsies are being conducted annually in the Forensic Medicine department of KEMU, Lahore, Pakistan). The subject of Forensic Medicine is a state subject. The existing facilities are extremely deficient. There is no forward planning in spite of severe threat of terrorism leading to mass disaster. The paramedical staff required to work in the city morgues is not only deficient but is also untrained. Now compare this situation with the states where Forensic or medico-legal autopsies are conducted by Forensic Pathologist who are medical persons highly qualified in the subject of pathology and then trained in Forensic Pathology. The facilities are enormous and mortuary staff is very well trained. The autopsy rate is low. These Forensic pathologist do not conduct medico-legal examinations of living cases of assault (physical and sexual), poisoning or alcohol intoxication etc. This task is done by the clinical Forensic Medicine examiner or Forensic physicians or by police surgeons as in U.K. Hence, it is evident that Forensic Pathology is a limb or branch of Forensic Medicine, how can it replace Forensic Medicine. If there are intentions to introduce it as a subject in the curricula first it should be decided whether it will be a undergraduate or post-graduate entity, then its curriculum/syllabus should be prescribed then mode of training should be categorised. Mere changing the name of Forensic Medicine to Forensic Pathology is a mockery with the medical science and leads to provide the opportunity to the civilized world to laugh on us. So, if we start to produce subject specialist of Forensic Pathology today, it will take a decade to have first batch of Forensic Pathologist as shown below:-MBBS, five years,House job, one year,Post graduate qualification like PhD or MD or FCPS or M.Phil in Histopathology or morbid anatomy, four to five years then training in Forensic Pathology for one to two years). So it is advisable not to open Pandora box leading to complete collapse and disarray of our medicolegal system. What will be the service structure of that Forensic Pathologist? Will that come under teaching cadre or specialist cadre? So thorough discussions/deliberations required but my considered opinion is that this settled issue may not be unsettled because of reasons already mentioned. The existing rules and laws mentioned above shows that medical officer conduct medico-legal examinations how the Forensic Pathologist will act as authorized medical officer when he is a specialist not an ordinary medical officer. Therefore, prima faciae, to change the name of subject (Forensic pathology instead of Forensic Medicine) keeping all other modalities as such will lead only to deterioration and mockery. It will be an unjusttified step in all aspects, i.e., academically, legally and ethically. So, It is suggested that bring the change keeping in view the latest advancements in medical sciences, please do not bring the change by just changing the name.

In recent years there has been tremendous interest in the growth of low-cost airlines in Europe operating from regional and secondary airports. These have been entirely in the short-haul sector, however. Intercontinental services remain dominated by a few large airports such as London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Paris CDG and Amsterdam. This paper examines the recent development of long-haul services and shows that some of the medium sized European airports have seen their network reduced in the last decade, while it also appears more difficult to replicate Ryanair's use of obscure minor airports in the long-haul arena. Possible means of providing long-haul links to European regional airports are examined. Continental Airlines is launching new routes from New York to places such as Belfast and Bristol with the Boeing 757 offering around 150 seats. These obviously depend upon the hub feed at the US end to gather a much wider range of North American destinations together. Emirates has ambitious plans to serve more European airports from its rapidly growing hub at Dubai. Already it offers the only eastbound long-haul flight out of Scotland (Glasgow-Dubai). Routes between smaller airports catering for the visiting friends and relatives market have developed where there has been historical migration. These are typically at low frequencies. Canada has services from Europe such as Cardiff-Toronto and Lyon-Montreal. Hamburg has a link to Accra in Ghana, Las Palmas (Canary Islands) to Havana, Cuba and Birmingham to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan. In some cases it is possible to support a service through a second stop in Europe (e.g. Lisbon-Porto-Caracas). Low frequency services are also to be found catering for the holiday market such as to Florida or the Caribbean (e.g. Dusseldorf-Orlando). In the absence of any direct long-haul service, connections via a European hub are necessary to access intercontinental points from regional airports in Europe. International alliances between airlines are shown to have been a mixed blessing in this respect. They have generally widened connection opportunities via the major hubs and led to more competitive through fares becoming available. However, some secondary and regional hubs have been run-down in favour of major hubs in the same alliance (which may be in a different European country), reducing accessibility from smaller and more peripheral regional airports. Examples include London Gatwick which has the main London service from many smaller UK airports such as Jersey, Inverness and Plymouth but has been run down as a long-haul hub by British Airways and Copenhagen, which now has very limited long-haul service by SAS; instead a double-change is required from many small Scandinavian airports to reach Star Alliance services out of Frankfurt. The growth of low-cost short-haul airlines such as Ryanair and easyjet may have reduced fares for local passengers but has reduced global connectivity where they have driven a traditional hub airline off the route. A good example is Belfast in Northern Ireland which used to have a link to Amsterdam by KLM. They have been displaced by easyjet, which is fine for passengers only travelling to Amsterdam but beyond there is no longer co-ordinated scheduling and through fares to KLM's global network. If a passenger does attempt to connect via Amsterdam it will usually cost them more than previously and if anything goes wrong, the connection is 'at their own risk'. The scope for a long-haul low-cost airline is examined. It is demonstrated that it is difficult to obtain a sufficient cost advantage in long-haul for a 'no-frills' all-economy class product. This is because the major airlines are able to obtain very high yields from their first and business class traffic (one full fare first class passenger with a lie flat bed may be paying the equivalent of 40 deeply discounted economy excursion fares). This enables airlines to offer the seats at the back of the aircraft based on a very low marginal cost. It is difficult to increase aircraft and crew utilisation as this is already high on intercontinental sectors. Cargo is less easy to ignore as it provides significant extra revenue on long-haul flights although introduces complexity. It is also difficult to eliminate all 'frills' on flights of 8 or 12 hours duration: even if charged for it is necessary to maintain food service (galley space) and in-flight entertainment, while keeping standard provision of toilets, baggage handling etc. The cost saving from using secondary airports is marginal for long distance traffic where it forms a much smaller proportion of total costs. Many of these smaller airports have runway length or apron/terminal space insufficient to handle widebody aircraft. Hub feed is much more crucial for long-haul services: there are few dense routes (mainly Virgin Atlantic's long-haul network from London plus Paris-New York). Intercontinental services from Frankfurt or Amsterdam typically depend on connections for 70-80% of their traffic. Bilateral air services agreements between governments also restrict the opportunities for long-haul services from regional airports. When the UK-India bilateral was renegotiated to allow extra flights, the three British carriers applying all wanted to use this scarce capacity from London Heathrow rather than any regional airport. Other bilaterals may specifically name the capital city only in the route schedule. It is concluded that the best scope for long-haul services from the regions is to major hub airports in other parts of the world, such as those developed by Emirates and Continental. Opportunities for point-to-point leisure services fall into two main categories: ethnic links and holiday destinations (some of which may already exist as charters). A long-haul low-cost 'no-frills' air service is likely to be a risky venture but carriers such as easyJet may be tempted to try this from their bases in secondary airports such as London Stansted or Berlin Schonefeld if profits falter on their European network, using their short-haul services to provide feed. Otherwise, the regional airports are in the hands of the major airlines or alliance groups and their European feeder operations. Important links are currently under threat from lack of capacity for small aircraft at the major hubs, run-down of secondary hubs and competition from low-cost airlines for short-haul traffic.

Ковбасні вироби відносять до основного виду м'ясних продуктів. Велике значення і розповсюдження ковбасних виробів пояснюється їх високою харчовою цінністю, калорійністю, можливістю вживання в їжу без додаткової кулінарної обробки, значним терміном зберігання та можливістю до транспортування на значні відстані. Під час виготовлення ковбас із сировини видаляють частини, які мають низьку харчову цінність (кістки, з'єднувальна тканина), і додають речовини, цінні в харчовому відношенні (молочні вироби, кров'яні вироби та ін.) і які мають гарні ароматичні та смакові властивості (спеції та ін.). Практично кожен продукт харчування, який включає в технології виготовлення елемент складання рецептури, може бути віднесений до комбінованого, характерні ознаки і показники якого будуть визначатись переважним вмістом в рецептурі продукту визначеного сировинного компонента і технологією виготовлення. Тому в деяких країнах продукти, що виробляються м'ясопереробною галуззю, класифікуються на м'ясні, комбіновані м'ясопродукти, м'ясо-рослинні (на м'ясній основі) та аналоги м'ясних. Головною умовою можливості реалізації продукту харчування лишається досягнення його безпечності при споживанні людиною. Під поняттям «безпечність» розуміється гарантія того, що в повному циклі виробництва, постачання та в термінах зберігання продукт не завдасть шкоди здоров'ю споживача. Стаття 20 Закону України «Про безпечність та якість харчових продуктів» № 2809-IV від 6 вересня 2005 р. встановлює вимогу до осіб, які займаються виробництвом або введенням в обіг харчових продуктів, застосовувати санітарні заходи та належну практику виробництва, систему HACCP та/або інші системи забезпечення безпечності та якості харчових продуктів під час виробництва та обігу харчових продуктів. Практично у всіх країнах світу до виробників харчових продуктів висуваються аналогічні вимоги. Враховуючи можливі перспективи і розширення ринків збуту, вітчизняним підприємствам необхідно ширше впроваджувати системи сертифікації (безпеки) продукції згідно з рекомендаціями міжнародного законодавства в сфері сертифікації харчових продуктів ( ISO 22000:2005), системи Eurep GAP контролю в рослинництві, систему контрольних точок для тваринництва і виробництва харчових продуктів Hazard Analysis Critikal Control Points (HACCP), яка перекладається, як «аналіз небезпек і критичних контрольних точок». Основною метою статті є проведення аналізу безпечності харчових продуктів, зокрема варених ковбас, аналіз наявності небезпечних чинників на всій ланці виробничого ланцюга на прикладі ПП «СМІО» «Стрийські делікатеси».Колбасные изделия относят к основному виду мясных продуктов. Большое значение и распространение колбасных изделий объясняется их высокой пищевой ценностью, калорийностью, возможностью употребления в пищу без дополнительной кулинарной обработки, значительным сроком хранения и возможностью к транспортировке на значительные расстояния. При изготовлении колбас из сырья удаляют части, которые имеют низкую пищевую ценность (кости, соединительная ткань), и добавляют вещества, ценные в пищевом отношении (молочные изделия, кровяные изделия и др.) и те которые владеют хорошими ароматическими и вкусовыми свойствами (специи и др.). Практически каждый продукт питания, который включает в технологии изготовления элемент составления рецептуры, может быть отнесен к комбинированным, характерные признаки и показатели которого будут определяться содержанием в рецептуре продукта определенного сырьевого компонента и технологии изготовления. Поэтому в некоторых странах продукты, производимые мясоперерабатывающей отраслью, классифицируются на мясные, комбинированные мясопродукты, мясорастительные (на мясной основе) и аналоги мясных. Главным условием возможности реализации продуктов питания является достижение их безопасности при потреблении человеком. Понятие «безопасность» включает гарантию того, что в полном цикле производства, поставки и в терминах хранения продукт не нанесет вреда здоровью потребителя. Статья 20 Закона Украины «О безопасности и качестве пищевых продуктов» № 2809-IV от 6 сентября 2005 устанавливает требование к лицам, которые занимаются производством или введением в оборот пищевых продуктов, применять санитарные меры и надлежащую технологию производства, систему HACCP и / или другие системы обеспечения безопасности и качества пищевых продуктов при производстве и обороте пищевых продуктов. Практически во всех странах мира к производителям пищевых продуктов выдвигаются аналогичные требования. Учитывая возможные перспективы и расширения рынков сбыта, отечественным предприятиям необходимо шире внедрять системы сертификации (безопасности) продукции в соответствии с рекомендациями международного законодательства в области сертификации пищевых продуктов (ISO 22000: 2005), системы Eurep GAP контроля в растениеводстве, систему контрольных точек для животноводства и производства пищевых продуктов Hazard Analysis Critikal Control Points (HACCP), которая переводится, как «анализ опасностей и критических контрольных точек». Основной целью статьи является проведение анализа безопасности пищевых продуктов, в частности вареных колбас, анализ наличия опасных факторов во всем звене производственной цепочки на примере ООО «СМИО» «Стрыйские деликатесы».Meats include the main type of meat products. Great value and distribution of sausages due to their high nutritional valuation, calorie consumption opportunity without culinary processing a significant shelf life and the ability to transport over long distances. During the production of raw sausages remove parts that have low nutritional value (bones, connective tissue), and add substance to nutritionally valuable (dairy products, blood products, etc.) And have a good aroma and flavor properties (spices, etc.). Almost every food product that includes technology production element assembly recipes, can be attributed to the combination characteristic signs and indicators which will be determined in the primary content of the recipe specified product raw materials and manufacturing techniques. Therefore, in some countries, the products produced by the meat processing industry, classified on meat, meat combination, cereal (based on meat) and meat analogues. The main condition for the feasibility of achieving food remains its safety when consumed by man.The term "safety" means a guarantee that the full cycle of production, supply and storage of the product in terms not harm health. Article 20 of the Law of Ukraine «On the safety and quality of food» № 2809-IV of 6 September 2005 the requirement for persons engaged in the production or introduction into circulation of foodstuffs, apply sanitary measures and good practices of production, HACCP system and / or other systems to ensure safety and quality of food during the production and circulation of food. Almost all countries to food producers put forward similar demands. Due to possible prospects and expand markets, fatherland, his enterprises must increasingly implement certification system (security) product line with the recommendations of international legislation on the certification of food products (ISO 22000: 2005) systems Eurep GAP control in the crop, a system of control points for livestock and food production hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP), which translates as «hazard analysis and critical control points». The main purpose of the article is the analysis of food safety, including cooked sausages, analysis of the presence of hazards throughout the production chain link on the example P.C. «SMIO» «Stryjsky meats delicious»

Besides offering more evidence of
the unsuitability of Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards to
hold that position, or any other elective officer above that of dogcatcher, recent
comments by him against legislation to protect children, parents, and
teachers reflect changing political circumstances that have accelerated the
erosion of his rapidly-waning power, to the state's benefit.

His remarks referred in part to HB 648 by Republican
state Rep. Gabe
Firment, which would prohibit surgery or chemicals to alter the sex of a minor;
HB 466 by
GOP state Rep. Dodie
Horton that would ban classroom or extracurricular expressions extraneous
to educating students that focus on sexual activity and gives parents control
over the names and pronouns that refer to their children; and HB 81 by
Republican state Rep. Raymond Crews that
basically duplicates the regulation of naming conventions in Horton's bill. All
have passed the House.

That's in marked contrast to last year, when Firment
offered a similar bill that never received a committee hearing and Horton had
the same minus the naming regime that had to be forced out of committee in a parliamentary
move rarely seen, although it advanced no further. The naming
controversy in the past year has become increasingly visible over
revelations that some schools intentionally keep parents in the dark about their
efforts to encourage children to identify differently than their biological sex
(no Louisiana schools have been reported to do this).

This year, these bills have had much more success,
which in part stems from the pursuit of increasingly extremist policy on this
issue by the political left in Washington and elsewhere, yet also pressured towards
success from upcoming fall elections in Louisiana. Majorities across almost all
demographic groups (excepting white Democrats) nationally are against
surgery or drugs to alter a child's sex hormonally or physically, so unless
politicians are sure about their constituencies' views and whether they can
submerge this issue if need be, they must tread carefully if opposing bills
like these.

Not so the term-limited Edwards, who as his political
shelf life moves ever closer to expiration has felt freer than ever to express
his true inner social liberalism. Recently, he condemned bills like these as
harmful to the tiny, but apparently growing, proportion of youth questioning whether
they identify with their physical sex, without acknowledging that the preponderance
of physical and social science research revealing that practices such as medical
interventions on children have harmful health outcomes for most, and repeating
assertions from a small number of methodologically-questionable studies that appear
to affirm his opinions.

His statements imply he would veto such measures
if they cross his desk, even
though he didn't do that to a similar bill last year that prevents biological
males, even if taking drugs to change their sex, from competing in all-female
athletic events. He chickened out there because votes to pass the bills
demonstrated veto-proof majorities, meaning at least some House Democrats
crossed party lines to support those bills.

That he did to preserve political capital, but
that runs out within a month, so he might go for broke on these. And while on
HB 466 while Republican state Reps. Mary DuBuisson,
Barbara Freiberg,
Stephanie
Hilferty, Richard
Nelson, and Joe
Stagni voted
against it, more than enough Democrats did to make it veto-proof. That
represented a gain from the day before in terms of Democrats supporting with HB
81, with the latter a fallback for part of the former in any event. As for HB
648, only Stagni voted against it.

At least in the House, these numbers indicate particularly
white Democrats running for an office this year won't dare get on the wrong
side of this issue (of them, only new Democrat state Rep. Roy Daryl Adams
defected on HB 81 but the next day voted for HB 466). So, even if Edwards
finally feels free to reveal his true self to the world with vetoes, the House
will vote to override.

The Senate at this point seems harder to predict. It
has only two white Democrats, one of whom will retire from politics with his
term-limitation, and one vote to spare among Republicans for a supermajority.
However, on the law that secured fairness for female athletes, all GOP members voted for it
and for a previous
version the year before Edwards vetoed successfully when the House failed
to override.

Still, that Edwards has
failed to influence enough members of his own party in the House to vote against
these bills demonstrates his growing political impotence, already in an
advanced state following veto sessions triggered the past two years with a
successful override and his punting on the fairness bill. (And, the
House rejected main portions of his budget). Considering his views
increasingly inimical to a positive policy agenda for Louisiana, it's a welcome
development and likely harbinger of that agenda's advancement, on steroids,
next year.

L'institut des dénonciateurs a pour but de mettre publiquement en garde contre les actes illégaux commis par certaines personnes dans le secteur public. Le terme «dénonciateur» désigne une personne ou un individu assez courageux, par conviction morale et malgré les risques auxquels elle s'expose, pour son intégrité personnelle qui décide de parler ouvertement et publiquement d'un comportement illégal ou contraire à l'éthique de la part de leurs supérieurs. Historiquement, les pays anglo-saxons ont davantage tendance à protéger et à reconnaître les lanceurs d'alerte que les pays continentaux. Par exemple, aux États-Unis, en 1863, la False Claim Act a été adoptée dans le but de protéger contre la corruption de fournisseurs publics. Les droits des lanceurs d'alerte aux États-Unis d'Amérique sont spécifiques. Ils soulignent l'importance de récompenser, notamment en matière de fraude fiscale et financière. L'auteur décrit des exemples du Royaume-Uni, du Canada, d'Italie, d'Allemagne, de Bosnie-Herzégovine. En République française, le lanceur d'alerte a un statut, une cohérence et une efficacité particuliers, acquis grâce aux réformes législatives de 2016. Depuis des années, les organisations internationales mettent en avant l'importance des cadres institutionnels et normatifs régissant la réglementation des lanceurs d'alerte. L'affirmation de l'institut des lanceurs d'alerte a été particulièrement soulignée dans la recommandation du Conseil de l'Europe de 2014 sur la protection des lanceurs d'alerte. Cela suggère que les États membres mettent en place un cadre global pour la protection de ceux qui signalent des irrégularités dans le cadre de relations de travail. Des principes tels que des directives pour aider à la formulation sont également énoncés. Le 14 février 2017, dans le cadre de l'Union européenne, le Parlement européen a adopté la résolution sur le rôle des lanceurs d'alerte dans la protection des intérêts financiers de l'Union européenne, faisant référence au programme européen global pour la protection des lanceurs d'alerte. ; Institut zviždača javno upozorava na nezakonite radnje pojedinih osoba u javnom sektoru. Riječ «zviždač» označava osobu ili pojedinca dovoljno hrabra, koji se iz moralnih uvjerenja i unatoč rizicima za osobni integriteta javno progovara nezakonitom ili neetičnom ponašanju svojih nadređenih. Anglosaksonske zemlje povijesno imaju veću tendenciju da štite i priznaju zviždače nego kontinentalne zemlje. Američki Public Interest Disclosure Act (1863) donese je s ciljem zaštite od korupcije vladinih dobavljača. Prava zviždača u SADi su specifična. Naglašavaju važnost nagrađivanja koje se posebno odnosi na slučajeve oporezivanja i financijskih prijevara. Autor navodi primjer Ujedinjene Kraljevine, Kanade, Italije, Njemačke, Bosne i Hercegovine. U Republici Francuskoj zviždač ima poseban status, koherentnost i učinkovitost, koje je stekao zahvaljujući zakonodavnim reformama iz 2016. godine. Međunarodne organizacije već godinama promiču važnost institucionalnih i normativnih okvira za reguliranje zviždača. Potvrđivanje instituta zviždača posebno je naglašeno u Preporuci Vijeća Europe iz 2014. o zaštiti zviždača. To sugerirapotrebu da države članice uspostave sveobuhvatni okvir za zaštitu onih koji prijavljuju nepravilnosti u kontekstu radnih odnosa. Navedeni su i principi poput smjernica koje pomažu u formuliranju. U okviru Europske unije, Europski parlament je 14. veljače 2017. usvojio Rezoluciju o ulozi zviždača u zaštiti financijskih interesa Europske unije, pozivajući se na sveobuhvatni europski program zaštite zviždača. ; The institute of whistle-blower's aim is to publicly warn of the illegal actions of certain individuals in public sector activity. The word « whistle-blower » denotes a person or individual brave enough, out of moral beliefs and despite the risks they are putting themselves under, for personal integrity who decides to openly and publicly speak out about some illegal or unethical behavior by their superiors. Anglo-Saxon countries historically have a greater tendency to protect and acknowledge whistle-blowers than continental countries. For example, in the United States in 1863 the False Claim Act was brought in with the aim of protecting against the corruption of government suppliers. Whistle-blowers' rights in the United State of America are specific. They stress the importance of rewarding which particularly relates to taxation and financial fraud cases. Author describes examples of United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Germany, Bosnia and Hercegovina. In the Republic of France, the whistleblower has special status, coherence and efficiency, which s/he has acquired thanks to legislative reforms of 2016. For years, international organizations have been promoting the importance of institutional and normative frameworks for regulating whistleblowers. Affirming the institute of whistle-blowers was particularly stressed by the Council of Europe Recommendation of 2014 on the protection of whistle-blowers. This suggests member states establish an all-inclusive framework for the protection of those who report irregularities in the context of work relations. Also stated are principles such as directives to assist in formulation. Within the framework of the European Union, the European Parliament on 14 February 2017 adopted the Resolution on the role of whistle-blowers in the protection of the financial interests of the European Union, referring to the all-inclusive European Program for the protection of whistleblowers.

Das Dissertationsprojekt untersucht den figurativen Bauschmuck von Bahnhöfen in Westeuropa und Nordamerika über den gesamten Zeitpunkt des "Eisenbahnzeitalters". Die Frage war, welche Themen für die Dekoration des neuen Bautyps als angemessen empfunden wurden und wie sie ikonographisch umgesetzt wurden. Da das Phänomen "Eisenbahn" die gesamte westliche (industrialisierte) Welt umfasste, galt es durch Vergleich sowohl diachron die Entwicklung von Themen und Darstellungsformen zu untersuchen als auch synchron die Übertragbarkeit der Ergebnisse auf andere nationale und kulturelle Umfelder zu überprüfen. Sowohl die Architekten und Ingenieure des 19. Jahrhunderts, als auch deren private oder staatliche Auftraggeber waren sich der repräsentativen Anforderungen ihrer Bahnhofsbauten bewusst. Dies zeigt sich neben dem Stil der Architektur vor allem in der festen und ephemeren Ausstattung – Bauskulptur, farbige Fenster, Mosaiken oder Wandgemälde spiegelten das soziale, kulturelle und politische Selbstverständnis des industrialisierten Bürgertums, das den Bahnhof zu seinem Repräsentationsbau machte. Die Dissertation bemüht sich um ein differenziertes Bild der sozial-, kultur- und technikgeschichtlichen Einflüsse auf das Dekor des Bautyps "Bahnhofs" im Laufe seiner Entwicklung. Dabei war die Gegenüberstellung der unterschiedlichen Programme der meist staatlichen Bahnhofsgebäude Kontinentaleuropas und der Ausstattungen der privat betriebenen Eisenbahngesellschaften Nordamerikas besonders aufschlussreich. Neben den klassischen Analysemethoden aus Kunst- und Architekturgeschichte nutzt die Arbeit Ansätze, Methoden und Theorien aus so unterschiedlichen Fachbereichen wie Technikgeschichte, Mobilitätsgeschichte, Tourismusgeschichte, Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Sozialgeschichte, Kulturgeschichte, Kulturwissenschaft, Religionswissenschaft, Rhetorik oder Soziologie. Die fünf Kapitel der Arbeit sind den wichtigsten Themen der Bahnhofsausstattung gewidmet: Wirtschaft, Technik, Infrastruktur, Tourismus und Politik, hier vor allem die Entwicklung der Nationalstaaten. Jedes der Kapitel führt Beispiele aus verschiedenen Regionen und Epochen als Beleg für die jeweilige Ausgangsthese an. Zugleich zeigen vertiefte Analysen von ein oder mehreren Austattungsprogrammen auf, wie die jeweiligen lokalspezifischen Umstände bei ähnlichen thematischen Aussagen zu sehr unterschiedlichen Ausformungen führten. So zeigt sich die in Kapitel 1 konstatierte Verwurzelung der Ausstattungsprogramme in der Kultur und dem Wertesystem des Industriebürgertums auch in der Darstellung der Industriearbeiterschaft (Kapitel 2) oder der weiblichen Bildungsreisenden (Kapitel 4). Diese Werte spiegeln sich auch in der Bevorzugung traditionell-allegorischer und der weitgehenden Ablehnung avantgardistischer Kunstformen für die Bahnhofsausstattung. Kapitel 2 beschäftigt sich mit der Eisenbahntechnologie als Motor der Industrialisierung, die in den Bahnhöfen, in der Selbstdarstellung der Akteure und ausgehend von der Fortschrittsgläubigkeit des 19. Jahrhunderts, selbstverständlich als durchgehend positiv vermittelt wird. Zugleich wird von der wirtschaftlichen und wissenschaftlichen Zusammenarbeit – z. B. neuen technischen Standards – auf eine zukünftig zunehmend politische Zusammenarbeit geschlossen. Dieses Thema – die weltweit zusammenwachsende Infrastruktur – ist das Thema von Kapitel 3, das die Selbstpositionierung der Bahnhöfe in der Stadt und der Region, sowie innerhalb des nationalen und internationalen Eisenbahnnetzes untersucht. Es zeigt sich, dass hier sowohl wirtschaftliche und touristische, als auch nationalpolitische Aussagen vorkommen können. Kapitel 4 bringt Beispiele dafür, wie sich in der Darstellung von Reisenden die Entwicklung des Massentourismus widerspiegelt, wobei auch hier die Darstellungen von einem bürgerlichen Wertekanon beeinflusst sind. Kapitel 5 vergleicht anhand von drei Regionen in unterschiedlichen Phasen der Nationalstaatenbildung, wie sich auch eindeutig politische Propaganda in der Bahnhofsausstattung manifestiert. Ohne den Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit zeigt die Arbeit, wie viel wir über die technischen, wirtschaftlichen, sozialen und kulturellen Errungenschaften des Eisenbahnzeitalters lernen können, wenn wir uns die Zeit nehmen, die Zeitzeugen – die reich geschmückten Bahnhofsgebäude in den Zentren unserer Städte – genauer zu betrachten. ; The PhD project examines "railway age" station embellishment focusing on Western Europe and North America. The object was to determine which topics were considered appropriate for the decoration of the new building type, and which iconography emerged. Since the railway was a phenomenon common in the entire Western industrialized world, the thesis compares diachronically the development of topics and forms as well as synchronically examining if the findings were true for different national and cultural environments. Nineteenth-century architects and engineers, as well as their private and national employers were aware of the representational role of station architecture. In addition to the buildings' style, this objective was expressed by embellishment: sculpture, stained glass windows, mosaics or murals which mirrored the social, cultural and political consciousness of the industrial middle classes. The dissertation fans out the influence of social and cultural history as well as history of technology on the development of railway station embellishment. The comparison of mostly nationalized railway buildings in continental Europe with their mostly privately owned counterparts in North America was also revealing. Tools for analysis stemmed not only from history of art and architecture, but also from disciplines as diverse as history of technology, mobility, tourism, and economy, social history, cultural history, sociology, rhetorics or religious studies. The thesis consists of five chapters dealing with the most common topics in railway embellishment: economy, technology, infrastructure, tourism and politics (focusing on nation building). Each chapter cites examples from different regions and epochs to support a main hypothesis derived from more detailed analyses of one ore more decoration programs that were idiosyncratic to their respective locale. Thus, chapter 1 examines the deep roots of station embellishment in the value system of the industrial middle classes, an underlying topic repeated in depictions of industrial workers in chapter 2 or female tourists in chapter 4. Middle-class values show also in a preference for traditional allegories and the repudiation of avant-garde art in station décor. Chapter 2 examines railway technology as motor of industrialization. A strong belief in progress together with the option of economic and scientific cooperation –e.g. new technological standards - led to the hope for future political cooperation. Chapter 3 further investigates this notion of a worldwide coalescing infrastructure by examining the position of stations within their city as well as within their regional, national and international networks. Objectives proclaimed in station décor are not merely aiming at the improvement of economy or tourism but also concern nation building. Chapter 4 examines the emerging mass tourism and the influence of middle-class values in the depiction of travelers, tourists, and destinations. Chapter 5 examines the different phases of nation building and the manifestation of political campaigning in three different regions. Without making claims to be complete the dissertation shines a light on the technological, economic, social and cultural achievements of the railway age mirrored in and witnessed by the railway stations in the centers of our cities.

Today's food industry is faced with several important challenges, including food product deterioration and the constant increase of diseases related to the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in food products. Thus, adequate and effective food preservation strategies are even more important. Food irradiation is a technological process that can improve the microbiological quality of foodstuffs and extend the period in which it can be safely consumed. The radiation treatment, carried out under conditions of Good Manufacturing Practice, is considered as an effective, widely applicable food processing method judged to be safe on extensive available evidence. This technology can reduce the risk of food poisoning, control food spoilage and extend the shelf-life of foods without detriment to health and with minimal effect on nutritional or sensory quality. Due to its numerous positive effects, including those of a commercial nature, food irradiation has assumed a highly important role in the field of food preservation, and increasingly large numbers of foodstuffs are subjected to this treatment each year. For some time now, countries equipped with adequate food irradiation facilities have used this technology at well defined doses for the preservation of various foodstuffs. Because of the divergent opinions expressed by many consumers' organizations, the European Union has issued two directives (1999/2/EC and 1999/3/EC), which have been implemented in Italy by Legislative Decree No. 94 of 30 January 2001. Those directives aims at harmonizing the rules concerning the treatment and trade of irradiated foods in EU countries. With the open market, each country is obliged to accommodate the presence in its internal market of irradiated food commodities treated in other EU states or in extra-European countries. To further safeguard the consumer, the EU legislation provides for official annual checks at the product marketing stage, with the purpose of identifying improperly labeled or unauthorized products. Thus far, only limited food categories has been studied and subjected to interlaboratory validation by analytical detection methods for irradiated food identification. To meet the specific requirements of the laws and to increase acceptance of this type of food preservation technology, we have extended the field of application of both screening (PSL) and confirmatory (ESR, TL) physical methods to check compliance with labeling of irradiated foodstuffs. Therefore for consumer protection and information, following the invitation from the European Commission to improve and develop more reliable analytical standards, research work was focused on new applications of these physical methods. Relevant contributions have been made to the extension of the current field of application, with the development of promising analytical procedure able to estimate the actual dose administered to treated foods. The first goal was achieved investigating, even at low doses (0.1 kGy), the luminescence yield of oysters, considered a great delicacy in many parts of the world, and validating its identification with two physical techniques: PSL as screening method and TL as a confirmatory one. Besides oysters other seafood, including bivalve mollusks, i.e. brown Venus shells, clams, and mussels, all of which are widely consumed and likely to be treated with irradiation were studied with Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. It is well known that irradiation by ionising radiation leads to the formation of many radical species which, if stable, could be detected in calcified tissue such as mollusks' shell. Identification of four irradiated species of bivalve mollusks, i.e. brown Venus shells (Callista chione), clams (Tapes semidecussatus), mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and oysters (Ostrea edulis) was performed. ESR could definitely identify irradiated seashells due to the presence of long-lived free radicals, primarily CO2-, CO33-, SO2- and SO3- radical anions. The presence of other organic free radicals, believed to originate from conchiolin, a scleroprotein present in the shells, was also ascertained. The use of one of these radicals as a marker for irradiation of brown Venus shells and clams can be envisaged. In addition to detection procedures a reliable dosimetric protocol for the reconstruction of the administered dose in irradiated oysters was proposed. Finally the results of a study on official checks by an accredited laboratory aimed at both evaluating the performances of detection methods and the presence of irradiated food on the Italian market, are discussed. Non-compliances found are due to both incorrect labelling and irradiation in non approved facilities in extra European countries. In summary, two physical methods, electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and thermoluminescence (TL) were studied most extensively and applied on a wide range of foods with successful results, whereas limitations of current standards were also assessed. The development and application of analytical methods for correct identification of irradiated samples from non-irradiated samples, along with protocols for dose evaluation, have become important for several purposes: upholding regulatory controls, checking compliance against labeling requirements, facilitating international trade, and reinforcing consumer confidence. Therefore the research on new detection methods represents a key area and more studies in this field should be encouraged.

The population of the European eel Anguilla anguilla (L.) is in severe decline. In 2007, the European Union decided on a Regulation establishing measures for the recovery of the stock, which obliged Member States to implement a national Eel Management Plan by 2009. Sweden submitted its plan in 2008. According to the Regulation, Member States will report to the Commission every third year, on the implementation of their Eel Management Plans and the progress achieved in protection and restoration. The current report provides an assessment of the eel stock in Sweden as of spring 2015, intending to feed into the national reporting to the EU; this updates and extends the report by Dekker (2012). In this report, the impacts on the stock are assessed - of fishing, restocking and of the mortality related to hydropower generation. Other anthropogenic impacts (climate change, pollution, spread of parasites, disruption of migration by transport, and so forth) probably have an impact on the stock too, but these factors are hardly quantifiable and no management targets have been set. For that reason, and because these factors were not included in the EU Eel Regulation, these other factors are not included in this technical evaluation. Our focus is on the quantification of biomass of silver eel escaping (actual, potential and pristine) and mortality endured by those eels during their lifetime. The assessment is broken down on a regional basis, with different impacts dominating in different areas. In recent years, a break in the downward trend of the number of glass eel has been observed throughout Europe. Whether that relates to recent protective actions, or is due to other factors, is yet unclear. This report contributes to the required international assessment, but does not discuss that recent recruitment trend and the overall status of the stock. On the west coast, a fykenet fishery on yellow eel was overexploiting the stock, until this fishery was completely closed in spring 2012. Though research surveys using fykenets continued, insufficient information is currently available to assess the recovery of the stock. Obviously, current fishing mortality is zero, but no other stock indicators can be presented. It is recommended to develop a comprehensive plan for monitoring the recovery of the stock. In order to support the recovery of the stock, or to compensate for mortality elsewhere, young eel has been restocked on the west coast. No follow-up monitoring has been established. Noting the small expected effect – in comparison to the potential natural stock on the west coast, when recovered – it is recommended to reconsider this programme, or to set up adequate follow-up monitoring. For inland waters, this report presents a major update of the 2012 assessment. In the 2012 assessment, eel production estimates were based on information from past restocking, but natural recruitment and assisted migration were ignored; these have now been included. Additionally, the impact of hydropower is now assessed in a spatially explicit reconstruction. Based on 75 years of data on natural recruitment into 24 rivers, a statistical model is developed relating the number of immigrating young eel caught in traps to the location and size of each river, the distance from the trap to the river mouth, the mean age/size of the immigrating eel, and the year in which those eels recruited to continental waters as a glass eel (year class). Further into the Baltic, recruits are larger (exception: the 100 gr recruits in Mörrumsån, 56.4°N, where only 30 gr would be expected) and less numerous; distance upstream comes with less numerous recruits, but size is not related. Remarkably, the time trend differs for the various ages/sizes. Oldest recruits (age up to 7) declined already in the 1950s and 1960s, but remained stable since; youngest recruits (age 0) showed a steep decline in the 1980s and a little decrease before and after. In-between ages show in-between trends. Though this peculiar age-related pattern has been observed at other places in Europe too, the cause of this is still unclear. Using the results from the recruitment model, in combination with historical data on assisted migration (young eels transported upstream, across barriers) and restocking (imported young eels), the production of fully grown, silver eel is estimated for every lake and year separately. Subtracting the catch made by the fishery and down-sizing for the mortality incurred when passing hydropower stations, an estimate of the biomass of silver eel escaping from each river towards the sea is derived. Since 1960, the production of silver eel in inland waters has declined from 500 to 300t/a, and natural recruitment (assisted or not) has gradually been replaced by restocking for 90%. Fisheries have taken just over 30% of the silver eel, while the impact of hydropower has ranged from 20% to 60%. Escapement is estimated to have varied from 10% (35t) in the late 1990s, to 30% (100t) in the 2010s. The biomass of current escapement (including eels of restocked origin) is approx. 1015% of the pristine level, that is 28% of the current potential. This biomass is below the 40% limit of the Eel Regulation, and anthropogenic mortality exceeds both the short-term limit establishing recovery (15%) and the ultimate limit (60% mortality, the complement of 40% survival). The temporal variation (in production, impacts and escapement) is largely the consequence of a differential spatial distribution of the restocked eel over the years. Natural (not assisted) recruits were far less impacted by hydropower, since they could not climb the hydropower dams when immigrating. Later, restocking has been practised in unobstructed lakes (primarily Lake Mälaren, 1990s), and is now concentrated in obstructed lakes (primarily Lake Vänern, to a lesser extent Lake Ringsjön, and many smaller ones). Trap & Transport of silver eel - from above barriers towards the sea - has added 1-6% of silver eel to the escapement. Without restocking, the biomass affected by fishery and/or hydropower would be only 10% of the currently impacted biomass, but the stock abundance would reduce from 10% to less than 2only 3% of the pristine biomass. It is recommended to reconsider the current action plans on inland waters, to take into account the results of the current, more comprehensive assessment. It is further recommended to ground-truth the current assessment on independent stock surveys. For the Baltic coast, the 2012 assessment has been updated, using information from re-continued mark-recapture experiments. Results indicate that the impact of the fishery is rapidly declining over the decades – even declining more rapidly towards the 2010s than before. The current impact of the Swedish silver eel fishery is estimated at 2%. However, this fishery is just one of the anthropogenic impacts (in other areas/countries) affecting the Baltic eel stock. Integration with the assessments in other countries has not been achieved. Current estimates of the abundance of silver eel (biomass) are in the order of a few thousand tonnes, but these estimates are highly uncertain due to the low values for catch and mortality (near-zero estimation problems). An integrated assessment for the whole Baltic will be required to ground-truth these estimates. It is recommended to develop an integrated assessment for the Baltic eel stock, and to coordinate protective measures with other range states. Considering the international context, the stock indicators – in as far as they could be assessed – fit the international assessment framework, but inconsistencies and interpretation differences at the international level complicate their usage. International coordination and standardisation of the tri-annual reporting is therefore recommended. Additionally, it is recommended to initiate international standardisation/inter-calibration of monitoring and assessment methodologies among countries, achieving a consistent and more cost-effective assessment across Europe.

En ocasiones anteriores, ya hemos hablado aquí en Letras Internacionales sobre qué hace único y distintivo al campo de las relaciones internacionales con respecto a otras disciplinas, y sobre las implicancias generales de teorizar o pensar en términos teóricos acerca del mundo. En esta oportunidad, sin embargo, hablaremos más bien sobre qué iguala a nuestra disciplina con las demás ciencias sociales. Sobre todo en lo que concierne a la teorización. Asimismo, discutiremos con cierto grado de detalle un caso paradigmático y ejemplificador como es la perdurabilidad de la Unión Europea (UE) dentro del marco de explicaciones teóricas de la disciplina. El foco principal de este ensayo está puesto en analizar las implicancias de la existencia de la UE para la teoría de relaciones internacionales; en particular, en lo que respecta a la última gran crisis europea.IEn términos generales, se considera que una teoría debiera poder cumplir dos funciones básicas. Por un lado, simplificar realidades complejas con el fin de ayudar a alcanzar ciertas explicaciones sobre relaciones causales presentes en determinados tipos de situaciones. Es decir, clarificar y dar sentido a fenómenos complejos. Y por el otro, en base a esas relaciones de causas y efectos supuestas y/o constatadas, generar expectativas y predicciones sobre futuros rumbos o resultados concretos a partir de un objeto de estudio determinado. En relaciones internacionales, así como en todas las disciplinas dentro de las ciencias sociales, el acto de teorizar está sujeto a múltiples limitaciones y dificultades.A diferencia de las ciencias "duras" o naturales, por ejemplo, donde quien teoriza tiene la capacidad de experimentar controlando su objeto de estudio —ya sea en un laboratorio o en una computadora—, y donde dicha experimentación puede ser repetida una y otra vez bajo mismas condiciones, en las ciencias sociales cada situación es, como bien dice Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, un suceso esencialmente único e irrepetible. Este punto de contraste entre ambas áreas de estudio también plantea serios obstáculos a la capacidad predictiva de las teorías. En lo exclusivamente concerniente a la teoría de relaciones internacionales, al no poder escapar a estas mismas fuertes limitaciones más generales, ésta va necesariamente detrás de los hechos. En otras palabras, en nuestra disciplina, construir teorías para predecir el futuro es un acto más de fe que de ciencia exacta. A lo sumo, el carácter predictivo de las teorías de relaciones internacionales se asemeja más a una partida de póquer que a una de truco, ya que nuestras expectativas teóricas sobre el futuro no se apoyan en adivinanzas sobre las cartas del otro (o donde es posible y hasta beneficioso "engatusar" al otro con "trucos" y "envidos"), sino en lo que comúnmente se llama "educated guesses" (o "adivinanzas educadas"). Éstas, a diferencias de las otras, son decisiones del tipo de "adivinanza", pero que están respaldadas por estimaciones de probabilidad. Comprender dicha distinción es fundamental para evaluar cuándo estamos frente a una "predicción" simplona que bien podríamos reemplazar con el lanzamiento de una moneda, o bien cuándo estamos frente a una "prognosis", apoyada en cierto conocimiento probabilístico y/o contextual, aunque nunca despojado por entero del gran factor homogeneizador que es la incertidumbre. Con estos elementos introductorios en consideración, veamos ahora cómo algunas de las teorías más importantes de relaciones internacionales tratan el caso de la UE, tanto en su creación como en su perdurabilidad, y los prospectos a futuro.IIDesde el fin de la Guerra Fría, el continente europeo ha brindado la oportunidad de estudiar y contrastar, en los hechos mismos, el grado de validez de muchas teorías de relaciones internacionales. En particular, ha permitido evaluar con profundidad cada una de las "predicciones" destiladas de las diferentes corrientes teóricas. La UE, en tanto caso de estudio, representa una de esas oportunidades históricas inigualables (como se ha dicho más arriba), únicas e irrepetibles, que es de gran utilidad a la hora de evaluar tanto las virtudes como las limitaciones de la teorización en relaciones internacionales.Los argumentos teóricos más importantes acerca de la UE pueden ordenarse en tres grupos. En un primer lugar, existe un grupo numeroso de trabajos que problematiza los orígenes de la UE en clave "seguridad" vs. "economía". Según este grupo, el identificar cuáles son las motivaciones particulares iniciales detrás del proyecto de integración europea es central para la discusión del segundo grupo. Así, en segundo lugar, otro grupo de trabajos problematiza lasustentabilidad del proyecto europeo en el tiempo. Para ambos grupos, entender los orígenes de la UE en términos de amenazas a la seguridad, o de prosperidad económica, plantea grandes diferencias analíticas ya que, uno u otro rumbo, sirven por igual para sustentar distintas explicaciones con respecto a la capacidad de la UE de perdurar en el tiempo, o bien menguar lentamente, a la luz de la implosión de la Unión Soviética (URSS) en 1991. Un tercer grupo de trabajos problematiza el carácter único, distintivo e inédito del proyecto europeo. Según esta última perspectiva, la UE constituye un fenómeno nunca antes visto en las relaciones internacionales y que, por lo tanto, no puede supeditarse tan rígidamente a los mismos estándares teóricos que, por ejemplo, se aplican para entender las relaciones interestatales más vulgares.En la primera discusión, son más bien los autores realistas y neorrealistas quienes plantean de manera más sólida la tesis de la "seguridad" como el disparador de la integración europea. Principalmente, autores como Mearsheimer, Layne, Waltz, Posen, Grieco, Jones, y en especial Rosato, defienden la idea de los orígenes más bien paganos de la UE. En concreto, la UE se explica por el efecto combinado del contexto histórico de hostilidad bipolar de la Guerra Fría, la amenazante presencia cercana de la URSS, y el rol de primacía de los Estados Unidos. Para estos autores, el acercamiento entre los otrora archirrivales Francia y Alemania se explica de manera muy natural y simple por factores que la corriente realista tradicionalmente ha resaltado. Por el contrario, otro grupo sostiene que los orígenes se encuentran en la búsqueda de la prosperidad (principalmente autores liberales europeo-norteamericanos como Moravcsik, Olson, Cooper, Keohane, Hoffmann, Rosecrance; o constructivistas, como Risse-Kappen, Haas, Checkel, o Wendt). Es decir, que el motivo fundamental del acercamiento y la pacificación de las relaciones franco-alemanas, que permitió luego dar inicio a una serie de proyectos integradores a escala continental, no se debió a cuestiones mundanas de seguridad, típicamente destacadas por los realistas, sino que más bien surgió del reconocimiento por parte de los líderes del momento (una versión europea de los "padres fundadores") de que la lucha, el antagonismo y la confrontación crónica de las relaciones europeas sólo había llevado a los países del continente a una posición relegada y disminuida en las relaciones internacionales. En resumidas cuentas, la versión realista de los orígenes de la UE se apoya en consideraciones de seguridad, supervivencia, temor a un enemigo común, y a la presencia protectora del paraguas militar norteamericano. El momento clave para los realistas es, pues, el Tratado de Dunkirk (1947) y el Tratado de Bruselas (1948). Para la versión liberal-constructivista, los puntos de inicio son 1951, año de la creación de la Comunidad Europea del Carbón y del Acero (CECA), y más formalmente 1957, con el Tratado de Roma.En la segunda discusión, nuevamente se da un corte entre realistas, por un lado, y tanto liberales como constructivistas, por el otro. Los primeros sostienen que dada la naturaleza de seguridad de los orígenes de la UE, su evolución y sustentabilidad en el tiempo están estrechamente ligadas a los mismos factores. En concreto, sostienen que en la medida en que tanto la actual Federación Rusa no pueda reemplazar en igual grado de amenaza y antagonismo a la otrora URSS, como que el compromiso norteamericano mengue, las fuerzas estructurales en juego hacia el mantenimiento de una UE coherente y unificada se debilitarán. Como consecuencia principal, para los realistas, la UE en tanto una institución internacional se encuentra en jaque hoy más que nunca ya que los incentivos que le dieron origen y justificación actualmente han desaparecido o están en un franco proceso de retirada. Los segundos, compuestos tanto por liberales como por constructivistas, sostienen una visión mucho más optimista de la UE. Se apoyan en los clásicos argumentos liberales relacionados al rol estabilizador y homogeneizador de las instituciones internacionales por sobre el comportamiento exterior de los estados, así como por sobre las identidades y la configuración de sus preferencias de política exterior. En este sentido, la institución internacional que todos llamamos "Unión Europea" ha cobrado vida por sí misma y, ahora, su perdurabilidad depende de sí y ya no de elementos típicamente realistas. El impacto por sobre los estados-miembro de la UE no sólo se da en el plano institucional, sino también en el de las identidades y la identificación con la forma de gobierno democrático-republicana, y ciertos valores y principios generales que incluyen, pero van más allá, de la declaración de los Derechos Humanos y las normas del derecho internacional.Por último, en la tercera discusión, un grupo pequeño pero creciente de autores da por tierra con todos los argumentos anteriores, ubicándolos en el plano del anacronismo y la obsolescencia. Desde esta nueva perspectiva, las herramientas teóricas tradicionales de la disciplina (y particularmente las provenientes del realismo), ya son parte del pasado, de una forma ya anticuada de ver el mundo, y de una concepción de las relaciones internacionales anclada en una etapa anterior de la evolución del sistema internacional. Por ello, la UE exige la elaboración de nuevos enfoques y herramientas analíticas, de un carácter mucho más original y sui generis. Muchos de los autores dentro de esta última corriente se ubican en lo que comúnmente llamamos teorías del "post-modernismo" en relaciones internacionales, aunque también muchos autores liberales y constructivistas suelen aportar ideas interesantes en este otro campo. Uno de los trabajos más característicos de esta discusión es el libroInternational Relations and the European Union, editado por Hill y Smith en 2005. Esta obra ya clásica, demuestra en todo su esplendor el argumento en pos de una concepción distintiva e inédita sobre la UE, presentando una pléyade de autores que recorren el espectro liberal, de sociedad internacional, marxistas y neo-marxistas, así como otros de difícil categorización.IIIEn suma, entonces, como hemos visto existen diversos tipos de explicaciones teóricas con respecto a los orígenes, el desarrollo y el carácter de la UE, y cada uno de ellos se condice de manera coherente con los preceptos básicos de cada corriente teórica. Sin embargo, aún resta por aclarar algunos aspectos relacionados a la predicción o prognosis de estos mismos enfoques. Por un lado, y si pausamos por un momento los alegatos del tercer grupo, podemos decir que tanto las teorías realistas como las liberales y las constructivistas poseen elementos claramente distintivos unos con otros y que generan potenciales escenarios a futuro de manera clara y coherente. Para unos, más pesimistas, el futuro de la UE está ligado a las condiciones de seguridad iniciales, y dado el actual entorno internacional, su futuro es incierto y problemático. Para otros, más optimistas, las condiciones iniciales de búsqueda de prosperidad económica plantean escenarios prospectivos de otra índole, más estables y duraderos, aún a pesar de los grandes cambios en el entorno.Como conclusión, debemos regresar a nuestro punto de inicio. Dado que, como se ha dicho al comienzo, la teorización en ciencias sociales va más bien por detrás de los hechos, momentos como el actual constituyen una instancia inigualable de testeo de muchas de las premisas y predicciones teóricas de nuestra disciplina. Plantear cuáles perspectivas o autores arrastran más peso sería traicionar los principios planteados por nosotros mismos en este ensayo. Sin embargo, sí puede mencionarse la constante renovación y ascenso en importancia de distintas teorías en distintos momentos históricos de la UE; es decir, el constante estado de auge y declive de ciertos grupos de explicaciones por sobre otras. En los últimos diez años, las corrientes liberales y constructivistas, así como también las post-modernas, parecían reinar por sobre las más tradicionales, simplistas y añejas perspectivas; parecían verse constatadas de manera irrefutable por los hechos. Sin embargo, cual ave Fénix, estas mismas perspectivas se han quedado mudas frente a los renovados embates mundanos de las corrientes siempre-escépticas y más pesimistas de la UE y las relaciones internacionales más en general. De hecho, uno podría argumentar que no son estos embates en sí quienes han descolocado a las explicaciones optimistas de la UE, sino la evidencia de los hechos en sí. Si bien aún es muy temprano para declarar quiénes han sido refutados y quiénes revalidados, las tendencias son cada vez más claras en el sentido contrario a los defensores de la perdurabilidad de lo inédito y lo imaginado. Todo pareciera indicar que el cambio cualitativo en las relaciones internacionales (es decir, uno que modifique sustancialmente y haga trascender la condición "anárquica" o descentralizada del sistema de estados) es más difícil incluso de lo que muchos escépticos creen. Todo pareciera indicar que estamos comenzando a vivir el ayer, una vez más.*Profesor, Universidad Abierta Interamericana (UAI), Buenos Aires.Maestría en Estudios Internacionales,Universidad Torcuato di Tella (Tesista).Lecturas sugeridas: Visiones generales:Filippo Andreatta, "Theory and the European Union's International Relations", en: Christopher Hill y Michael Smith (eds.), International Relations and the European Union(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).Simon Collard-Wexler, "Integration Under Anarchy: Neorealism and the EU", European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 12, No. 3 (2006), pp. 397-432.Joseph M. Grieco, "The Maastricht Treaty, Economic and Monetary Union and the Neo-Realist Research Programme", Review of International Studies, Vol. 21 (1995), pp. 21-40.Visiones realistas y neorrealistas:John J. Mearsheimer, "Back to the Future. Instability in Europe After the Cold War",International Security, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Summer 1990), pp. 5-56.Eric Posner, "Europe's Missing Identity", Wall Street Journal (June 4, 2010). Disponible en: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704596504575272742111445082.htmlNiall Ferguson, "The End of the Euro", Newsweek (May 07, 2010). Disponible en:www.newsweek.com/2010/05/07/the-end-of-the-euro.html.Sebastian Rosato, "The Untied States of Europe", en: Stephen M. Walt Foreign Policy blog (Wednesday, June 23, 2010). Disponible en: http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/06/23/guest_post_the_untied_states_of_europe.Barry S. Posen, "ESDP, Response to Unipolarity", Security Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2 (April-June 2006), pp. 149-186.Sebastian Rosato, "Balancing Act: The Power Politics of European Integration", Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security (PIPES), Fall 2006 Speaker Series, University of Chicago (October 5, 2006), 57 pp.Sebastian Rosato, "The Strategic Logic of Integration", paper presentated at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC (September 2005), 22 pp.John J. Mearsheimer, "Warum herrscht Frieden in Europa?", Leviathan, 37 (2009), pp. 519-531.Stephen Van Evera, "Primed for Peace: Europe after the Cold War", International Security, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Winter 1990/91), pp. 7-57.Adrian Hyde-Price, "A 'Tragic Actor'. A realist perspective on 'ethical power Europe'",International Affairs, Vol. 84, No. 1 (2008), pp. 29-44.Christopher Layne, "America as European Hegemon", The National Interest (Summer 2003), pp. 17-29.Visiones liberales y constructivistas:Andrew Moravcsik, The Choice for Europe. Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998).Stanley Hoffmann, "Obstinate or Obsolete? The Fate of the Nation-state and the Case of Western Europe", Dædalus, Vol. 95, No. 3 (Summer 1966), pp. 862-915.Richard Rosecrance, "The European Union: A New Type of Actor", en: Jan Zielonka (ed.),Paradoxes of European Foreign policy (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1998), pp. 15-23.Stanley Hoffmann, Robert O. Keohane y John J. Mearsheimer, "Correspondence. Back to the Future, Part II: International Relations Theory and Post-Cold War Europe", International Security, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Fall 1990), pp. 191-199.Bruce M. Russett, Thomas Risse-Kappen y John J. Mearsheimer, "Correspondence. Back to the Future, Part III: Realism and the Realities of European Security", International Security, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Winter 1990/91), pp. 216-222.Andrew Moravcsik, "In Defense of Europe", Newsweek (May 30, 2010). Disponible en:www.newsweek.com/2010/05/30/in-defense-of-europe.html.Thomas Risse, "Social Constructivism and European Integration", en: Antje Wiener y Thomas Diez (eds.), European Integrations Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 159-176.Robert O. Keohane y Lisa L. Martin, "The Promise of Institutionalist Theory", International Security, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Summer 1995), pp. 39-51.Joseph Jupille, James A. Caporaso y Jeffrey T. Checkel, "Integrating Institutions. Rationalism, Constructivism, and the European Union", Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 36, No. 1/2 (February/March 2003), pp. 7-40.John G. Ruggie, "The False Premise of Realism", International Security, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Summer 1995), pp. 62-70.Visiones post-modernas: Christopher Hill y Michael Smith (eds.), International Relations and the European Union(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). En especial, ver cap. 1 y cap. 18.Karen Smith, "The European Union: A Distinctive Actor in International Relations", The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Winter/Spring 2003), pp. 103-113.Alex Warleigh, "Learning from Europe? EU Studies and the re-thinking of 'International Relations'", European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 12, No. 1 (March 2006), pp. 31-51.

Membres du Jury M. Louis Brigand, Professeur à l'université de Bretagne occidentale, examinateur M. Jean-Christophe Gay, Professeur à l'université Montpellier III, rapporteur M. Jean-Claude Giacottino, Professeur à l'université de Provence, examinateur M. Christian Huetz de Lemps, Professeur à l'université Paris-Sorbonne, président du jury M. Philippe Pelletier, Professeur à l'université Lyon II, rapporteur M. André-Louis Sanguin, Professeur à l'université Paris-Sorbonne, tuteur de l'HDR ; The research volume entitled "Research on the small insular spaces and their regional organisation" comprises two parts. The first is centred around a dual question : what is an island ? What are its scientific specificies ? These questions have haunted a number of research scientists and others will probably continue to pose them. Three main entries have enabled us to delimit these questions. A first chapter will be engaged in the study of basic concepts which are isolation, size, insularity, insularism and islandness before positing a definition of what an island is or at least what small island spaces are. The two other chapters deal with the wider themes of fragmentation, periphericity ,dependence and vulnerability. Short of being perfectly specific to islands, these themes enable nevertheless the definition of these terms using a systemic method. The second part is more methodological and inductive. It will contribute to the reflection of what regionalisation is in general (chapter one) and on regionalisation in island milieu in particular (chapter two). The posit at the start, which should lead to the completion of an analysis on regional organisation, is that of the lack of conceptual tools and empirical evidence. One is doubly preoccupied, on the one hand by the need to draw the quintessence of our analytical descriptions of the terrain of study of regional island cooperation in the world and, on the other hand, by the need to elaborate a detailed schema (chapter III) which has a general outlook, using specific influences. The approach is both diachronic and synchronic. This schema of the regional cooperation system which we have designed is applicable to other spaces than those of islands. It presents the advantage of being able to adapt itself to various forms of regionalisation which are organised between States around continents, oceans and seas held in common. It seems today evident that the process of regional cooperation is an integral part of development and the integration of nation states into the international system. The most vulnerable of states, whether they be islands or not, like the superpowers, are all engaged in similar enterprises of economic or political development and integration. Nevertheless, it seems difficult to dictate laws or to establish norms which would regulate these regonal relations and even less international. The conclusion to this paper, in order to be qualified for Competence to supervise research (doctorate level), is a constructive proposition opening onto concrete perspectives of application of our past and future research work. It is based on the principle that the dispersion and the fragmentation on a national level of data and human resources concern small states and territories. It will focus on the possibility of setting up a Research and Study Centre of Small States in the World in order to federate research scientists as well as their documentary and financial resources. ; Ce mémoire d'habilitation à diriger des recherches se compose de trois volumes. Le premier est la synthèse, avec ses lignes de forces et ses faiblesses, avec ses contradictions et ses accords, de nos activités scientifiques, pédagogiques et administratives sur la période 1989-2003. Le second est un travail original de recherche dont nous produisons ici un résumé. Le troisième est un recueil de nos publications (24 articles, un ouvrage et 12 comptes rendus de lecture). Le volume de recherche intitulé "Recherches sur les petits espaces insulaires et sur leurs organisations régionales" se compose de deux parties. La première s'articule autour d'une double interrogation : qu'est-ce une île ? qu'en est-il de ses spécificités scientifiques ? Ces questions de nombreux chercheurs se les sont posées et d'autres après eux les aborderont sans doute encore. Trois entrées principales nous ont permis de cerner ces questions. Un premier chapitre s'attelle à retravailler les concepts de base que sont l'isolement, la taille, l'insularité, l'insularisme et l'îléité pour déboucher sur une définition possible de l'île ou tout au moins des petits espaces insulaires. Les deux autres chapitres s'articulent autour des grands thèmes de la fragmentation, de la périphéricité, de la dépendance et de la vulnérabilité. À défaut d'êtres parfaitement spécifiques aux îles, ces thèmes permettent néanmoins de les qualifier en adoptant une démarche systémique. La deuxième partie est davantage méthodologique et inductive que la première. Elle contribue à une réflexion sur la régionalisation en général (chapitre I) et sur la régionalisation en milieu insulaire en particulier (chapitre II). Le constat de départ, pour mener à bien une analyse des organisations régionales, est celui d'une carence d'outils conceptuels et des lacunes empiriques. La préoccupation est double, d'une part tirer une quintessence de nos descriptions analytiques de terrain de l'étude de la coopération régionale insulaire dans le monde et, d'autre part, élaborer un schéma explicatif (chapitre III) ayant une portée générale à partir des influences particulières rencontrées. L'approche est aussi bien diachronique que synchronique. Le schéma du système de coopération régionale que nous avons conçu est applicable à d'autres espaces que ceux qui sont insulaires. Il présente l'avantage de s'adapter aux diverses formes de régionalisation qui s'organisent entre États d'un même ensemble continental ou autour des océans et des mers. Il est aujourd'hui évident que les processus de coopération régionale sont une composante majeure du développement et de l'intégration des États-nations au système international. Les États les plus vulnérables, qu'ils soient ou non insulaires, comme les superpuissances, sont tous engagés dans des entreprises similaires d'approfondissement et d'intégration économique ou politique. Néanmoins, il semble difficile de dicter des lois et d'établir des normes qui régiraient les relations régionales et a fortiori internationales. La conclusion de ce travail d'habilitation à diriger des recherches est une proposition constructive ouvrant sur des perspectives concrètes d'application de nos recherches passées et à venir. Elle se fonde sur le constat de la dispersion et la fragmentation au plan national des données et des ressources humaines concernant les petits États et territoires. Il s'agirait donc de créer un Centre d'études et de recherche sur les petits États dans le monde (CÉRPÉM) pour fédérer les chercheurs, les ressources documentaires et financières.

Membres du Jury M. Louis Brigand, Professeur à l'université de Bretagne occidentale, examinateur M. Jean-Christophe Gay, Professeur à l'université Montpellier III, rapporteur M. Jean-Claude Giacottino, Professeur à l'université de Provence, examinateur M. Christian Huetz de Lemps, Professeur à l'université Paris-Sorbonne, président du jury M. Philippe Pelletier, Professeur à l'université Lyon II, rapporteur M. André-Louis Sanguin, Professeur à l'université Paris-Sorbonne, tuteur de l'HDR ; The research volume entitled "Research on the small insular spaces and their regional organisation" comprises two parts. The first is centred around a dual question : what is an island ? What are its scientific specificies ? These questions have haunted a number of research scientists and others will probably continue to pose them. Three main entries have enabled us to delimit these questions. A first chapter will be engaged in the study of basic concepts which are isolation, size, insularity, insularism and islandness before positing a definition of what an island is or at least what small island spaces are. The two other chapters deal with the wider themes of fragmentation, periphericity ,dependence and vulnerability. Short of being perfectly specific to islands, these themes enable nevertheless the definition of these terms using a systemic method. The second part is more methodological and inductive. It will contribute to the reflection of what regionalisation is in general (chapter one) and on regionalisation in island milieu in particular (chapter two). The posit at the start, which should lead to the completion of an analysis on regional organisation, is that of the lack of conceptual tools and empirical evidence. One is doubly preoccupied, on the one hand by the need to draw the quintessence of our analytical descriptions of the terrain of study of regional island cooperation in the world and, on the other hand, by the need to elaborate a detailed schema (chapter III) which has a general outlook, using specific influences. The approach is both diachronic and synchronic. This schema of the regional cooperation system which we have designed is applicable to other spaces than those of islands. It presents the advantage of being able to adapt itself to various forms of regionalisation which are organised between States around continents, oceans and seas held in common. It seems today evident that the process of regional cooperation is an integral part of development and the integration of nation states into the international system. The most vulnerable of states, whether they be islands or not, like the superpowers, are all engaged in similar enterprises of economic or political development and integration. Nevertheless, it seems difficult to dictate laws or to establish norms which would regulate these regonal relations and even less international. The conclusion to this paper, in order to be qualified for Competence to supervise research (doctorate level), is a constructive proposition opening onto concrete perspectives of application of our past and future research work. It is based on the principle that the dispersion and the fragmentation on a national level of data and human resources concern small states and territories. It will focus on the possibility of setting up a Research and Study Centre of Small States in the World in order to federate research scientists as well as their documentary and financial resources. ; Ce mémoire d'habilitation à diriger des recherches se compose de trois volumes. Le premier est la synthèse, avec ses lignes de forces et ses faiblesses, avec ses contradictions et ses accords, de nos activités scientifiques, pédagogiques et administratives sur la période 1989-2003. Le second est un travail original de recherche dont nous produisons ici un résumé. Le troisième est un recueil de nos publications (24 articles, un ouvrage et 12 comptes rendus de lecture). Le volume de recherche intitulé "Recherches sur les petits espaces insulaires et sur leurs organisations régionales" se compose de deux parties. La première s'articule autour d'une double interrogation : qu'est-ce une île ? qu'en est-il de ses spécificités scientifiques ? Ces questions de nombreux chercheurs se les sont posées et d'autres après eux les aborderont sans doute encore. Trois entrées principales nous ont permis de cerner ces questions. Un premier chapitre s'attelle à retravailler les concepts de base que sont l'isolement, la taille, l'insularité, l'insularisme et l'îléité pour déboucher sur une définition possible de l'île ou tout au moins des petits espaces insulaires. Les deux autres chapitres s'articulent autour des grands thèmes de la fragmentation, de la périphéricité, de la dépendance et de la vulnérabilité. À défaut d'êtres parfaitement spécifiques aux îles, ces thèmes permettent néanmoins de les qualifier en adoptant une démarche systémique. La deuxième partie est davantage méthodologique et inductive que la première. Elle contribue à une réflexion sur la régionalisation en général (chapitre I) et sur la régionalisation en milieu insulaire en particulier (chapitre II). Le constat de départ, pour mener à bien une analyse des organisations régionales, est celui d'une carence d'outils conceptuels et des lacunes empiriques. La préoccupation est double, d'une part tirer une quintessence de nos descriptions analytiques de terrain de l'étude de la coopération régionale insulaire dans le monde et, d'autre part, élaborer un schéma explicatif (chapitre III) ayant une portée générale à partir des influences particulières rencontrées. L'approche est aussi bien diachronique que synchronique. Le schéma du système de coopération régionale que nous avons conçu est applicable à d'autres espaces que ceux qui sont insulaires. Il présente l'avantage de s'adapter aux diverses formes de régionalisation qui s'organisent entre États d'un même ensemble continental ou autour des océans et des mers. Il est aujourd'hui évident que les processus de coopération régionale sont une composante majeure du développement et de l'intégration des États-nations au système international. Les États les plus vulnérables, qu'ils soient ou non insulaires, comme les superpuissances, sont tous engagés dans des entreprises similaires d'approfondissement et d'intégration économique ou politique. Néanmoins, il semble difficile de dicter des lois et d'établir des normes qui régiraient les relations régionales et a fortiori internationales. La conclusion de ce travail d'habilitation à diriger des recherches est une proposition constructive ouvrant sur des perspectives concrètes d'application de nos recherches passées et à venir. Elle se fonde sur le constat de la dispersion et la fragmentation au plan national des données et des ressources humaines concernant les petits États et territoires. Il s'agirait donc de créer un Centre d'études et de recherche sur les petits États dans le monde (CÉRPÉM) pour fédérer les chercheurs, les ressources documentaires et financières.

Membres du Jury M. Louis Brigand, Professeur à l'université de Bretagne occidentale, examinateur M. Jean-Christophe Gay, Professeur à l'université Montpellier III, rapporteur M. Jean-Claude Giacottino, Professeur à l'université de Provence, examinateur M. Christian Huetz de Lemps, Professeur à l'université Paris-Sorbonne, président du jury M. Philippe Pelletier, Professeur à l'université Lyon II, rapporteur M. André-Louis Sanguin, Professeur à l'université Paris-Sorbonne, tuteur de l'HDR ; The research volume entitled "Research on the small insular spaces and their regional organisation" comprises two parts. The first is centred around a dual question : what is an island ? What are its scientific specificies ? These questions have haunted a number of research scientists and others will probably continue to pose them. Three main entries have enabled us to delimit these questions. A first chapter will be engaged in the study of basic concepts which are isolation, size, insularity, insularism and islandness before positing a definition of what an island is or at least what small island spaces are. The two other chapters deal with the wider themes of fragmentation, periphericity ,dependence and vulnerability. Short of being perfectly specific to islands, these themes enable nevertheless the definition of these terms using a systemic method. The second part is more methodological and inductive. It will contribute to the reflection of what regionalisation is in general (chapter one) and on regionalisation in island milieu in particular (chapter two). The posit at the start, which should lead to the completion of an analysis on regional organisation, is that of the lack of conceptual tools and empirical evidence. One is doubly preoccupied, on the one hand by the need to draw the quintessence of our analytical descriptions of the terrain of study of regional island cooperation in the world and, on the other hand, by the need to elaborate a detailed schema (chapter III) which has a general outlook, using specific influences. The approach is both diachronic and synchronic. This schema of the regional cooperation system which we have designed is applicable to other spaces than those of islands. It presents the advantage of being able to adapt itself to various forms of regionalisation which are organised between States around continents, oceans and seas held in common. It seems today evident that the process of regional cooperation is an integral part of development and the integration of nation states into the international system. The most vulnerable of states, whether they be islands or not, like the superpowers, are all engaged in similar enterprises of economic or political development and integration. Nevertheless, it seems difficult to dictate laws or to establish norms which would regulate these regonal relations and even less international. The conclusion to this paper, in order to be qualified for Competence to supervise research (doctorate level), is a constructive proposition opening onto concrete perspectives of application of our past and future research work. It is based on the principle that the dispersion and the fragmentation on a national level of data and human resources concern small states and territories. It will focus on the possibility of setting up a Research and Study Centre of Small States in the World in order to federate research scientists as well as their documentary and financial resources. ; Ce mémoire d'habilitation à diriger des recherches se compose de trois volumes. Le premier est la synthèse, avec ses lignes de forces et ses faiblesses, avec ses contradictions et ses accords, de nos activités scientifiques, pédagogiques et administratives sur la période 1989-2003. Le second est un travail original de recherche dont nous produisons ici un résumé. Le troisième est un recueil de nos publications (24 articles, un ouvrage et 12 comptes rendus de lecture). Le volume de recherche intitulé "Recherches sur les petits espaces insulaires et sur leurs organisations régionales" se compose de deux parties. La première s'articule autour d'une double interrogation : qu'est-ce une île ? qu'en est-il de ses spécificités scientifiques ? Ces questions de nombreux chercheurs se les sont posées et d'autres après eux les aborderont sans doute encore. Trois entrées principales nous ont permis de cerner ces questions. Un premier chapitre s'attelle à retravailler les concepts de base que sont l'isolement, la taille, l'insularité, l'insularisme et l'îléité pour déboucher sur une définition possible de l'île ou tout au moins des petits espaces insulaires. Les deux autres chapitres s'articulent autour des grands thèmes de la fragmentation, de la périphéricité, de la dépendance et de la vulnérabilité. À défaut d'êtres parfaitement spécifiques aux îles, ces thèmes permettent néanmoins de les qualifier en adoptant une démarche systémique. La deuxième partie est davantage méthodologique et inductive que la première. Elle contribue à une réflexion sur la régionalisation en général (chapitre I) et sur la régionalisation en milieu insulaire en particulier (chapitre II). Le constat de départ, pour mener à bien une analyse des organisations régionales, est celui d'une carence d'outils conceptuels et des lacunes empiriques. La préoccupation est double, d'une part tirer une quintessence de nos descriptions analytiques de terrain de l'étude de la coopération régionale insulaire dans le monde et, d'autre part, élaborer un schéma explicatif (chapitre III) ayant une portée générale à partir des influences particulières rencontrées. L'approche est aussi bien diachronique que synchronique. Le schéma du système de coopération régionale que nous avons conçu est applicable à d'autres espaces que ceux qui sont insulaires. Il présente l'avantage de s'adapter aux diverses formes de régionalisation qui s'organisent entre États d'un même ensemble continental ou autour des océans et des mers. Il est aujourd'hui évident que les processus de coopération régionale sont une composante majeure du développement et de l'intégration des États-nations au système international. Les États les plus vulnérables, qu'ils soient ou non insulaires, comme les superpuissances, sont tous engagés dans des entreprises similaires d'approfondissement et d'intégration économique ou politique. Néanmoins, il semble difficile de dicter des lois et d'établir des normes qui régiraient les relations régionales et a fortiori internationales. La conclusion de ce travail d'habilitation à diriger des recherches est une proposition constructive ouvrant sur des perspectives concrètes d'application de nos recherches passées et à venir. Elle se fonde sur le constat de la dispersion et la fragmentation au plan national des données et des ressources humaines concernant les petits États et territoires. Il s'agirait donc de créer un Centre d'études et de recherche sur les petits États dans le monde (CÉRPÉM) pour fédérer les chercheurs, les ressources documentaires et financières.

Membres du Jury M. Louis Brigand, Professeur à l'université de Bretagne occidentale, examinateur M. Jean-Christophe Gay, Professeur à l'université Montpellier III, rapporteur M. Jean-Claude Giacottino, Professeur à l'université de Provence, examinateur M. Christian Huetz de Lemps, Professeur à l'université Paris-Sorbonne, président du jury M. Philippe Pelletier, Professeur à l'université Lyon II, rapporteur M. André-Louis Sanguin, Professeur à l'université Paris-Sorbonne, tuteur de l'HDR ; The research volume entitled "Research on the small insular spaces and their regional organisation" comprises two parts. The first is centred around a dual question : what is an island ? What are its scientific specificies ? These questions have haunted a number of research scientists and others will probably continue to pose them. Three main entries have enabled us to delimit these questions. A first chapter will be engaged in the study of basic concepts which are isolation, size, insularity, insularism and islandness before positing a definition of what an island is or at least what small island spaces are. The two other chapters deal with the wider themes of fragmentation, periphericity ,dependence and vulnerability. Short of being perfectly specific to islands, these themes enable nevertheless the definition of these terms using a systemic method. The second part is more methodological and inductive. It will contribute to the reflection of what regionalisation is in general (chapter one) and on regionalisation in island milieu in particular (chapter two). The posit at the start, which should lead to the completion of an analysis on regional organisation, is that of the lack of conceptual tools and empirical evidence. One is doubly preoccupied, on the one hand by the need to draw the quintessence of our analytical descriptions of the terrain of study of regional island cooperation in the world and, on the other hand, by the need to elaborate a detailed schema (chapter III) which has a general outlook, using specific influences. The approach is both diachronic and synchronic. This schema of the regional cooperation system which we have designed is applicable to other spaces than those of islands. It presents the advantage of being able to adapt itself to various forms of regionalisation which are organised between States around continents, oceans and seas held in common. It seems today evident that the process of regional cooperation is an integral part of development and the integration of nation states into the international system. The most vulnerable of states, whether they be islands or not, like the superpowers, are all engaged in similar enterprises of economic or political development and integration. Nevertheless, it seems difficult to dictate laws or to establish norms which would regulate these regonal relations and even less international. The conclusion to this paper, in order to be qualified for Competence to supervise research (doctorate level), is a constructive proposition opening onto concrete perspectives of application of our past and future research work. It is based on the principle that the dispersion and the fragmentation on a national level of data and human resources concern small states and territories. It will focus on the possibility of setting up a Research and Study Centre of Small States in the World in order to federate research scientists as well as their documentary and financial resources. ; Ce mémoire d'habilitation à diriger des recherches se compose de trois volumes. Le premier est la synthèse, avec ses lignes de forces et ses faiblesses, avec ses contradictions et ses accords, de nos activités scientifiques, pédagogiques et administratives sur la période 1989-2003. Le second est un travail original de recherche dont nous produisons ici un résumé. Le troisième est un recueil de nos publications (24 articles, un ouvrage et 12 comptes rendus de lecture). Le volume de recherche intitulé "Recherches sur les petits espaces insulaires et sur leurs organisations régionales" se compose de deux parties. La première s'articule autour d'une double interrogation : qu'est-ce une île ? qu'en est-il de ses spécificités scientifiques ? Ces questions de nombreux chercheurs se les sont posées et d'autres après eux les aborderont sans doute encore. Trois entrées principales nous ont permis de cerner ces questions. Un premier chapitre s'attelle à retravailler les concepts de base que sont l'isolement, la taille, l'insularité, l'insularisme et l'îléité pour déboucher sur une définition possible de l'île ou tout au moins des petits espaces insulaires. Les deux autres chapitres s'articulent autour des grands thèmes de la fragmentation, de la périphéricité, de la dépendance et de la vulnérabilité. À défaut d'êtres parfaitement spécifiques aux îles, ces thèmes permettent néanmoins de les qualifier en adoptant une démarche systémique. La deuxième partie est davantage méthodologique et inductive que la première. Elle contribue à une réflexion sur la régionalisation en général (chapitre I) et sur la régionalisation en milieu insulaire en particulier (chapitre II). Le constat de départ, pour mener à bien une analyse des organisations régionales, est celui d'une carence d'outils conceptuels et des lacunes empiriques. La préoccupation est double, d'une part tirer une quintessence de nos descriptions analytiques de terrain de l'étude de la coopération régionale insulaire dans le monde et, d'autre part, élaborer un schéma explicatif (chapitre III) ayant une portée générale à partir des influences particulières rencontrées. L'approche est aussi bien diachronique que synchronique. Le schéma du système de coopération régionale que nous avons conçu est applicable à d'autres espaces que ceux qui sont insulaires. Il présente l'avantage de s'adapter aux diverses formes de régionalisation qui s'organisent entre États d'un même ensemble continental ou autour des océans et des mers. Il est aujourd'hui évident que les processus de coopération régionale sont une composante majeure du développement et de l'intégration des États-nations au système international. Les États les plus vulnérables, qu'ils soient ou non insulaires, comme les superpuissances, sont tous engagés dans des entreprises similaires d'approfondissement et d'intégration économique ou politique. Néanmoins, il semble difficile de dicter des lois et d'établir des normes qui régiraient les relations régionales et a fortiori internationales. La conclusion de ce travail d'habilitation à diriger des recherches est une proposition constructive ouvrant sur des perspectives concrètes d'application de nos recherches passées et à venir. Elle se fonde sur le constat de la dispersion et la fragmentation au plan national des données et des ressources humaines concernant les petits États et territoires. Il s'agirait donc de créer un Centre d'études et de recherche sur les petits États dans le monde (CÉRPÉM) pour fédérer les chercheurs, les ressources documentaires et financières.