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AbstractThe history of arms control efforts in the Middle East consists of numerous initiatives, but very limited results. From the first efforts to negotiate WMD limits and non-proliferation arrangements in the 1960s, through various regional initiatives, frameworks, proposals, discussions, and negotiations, the obstacles to agreement on mutual limitations remained dominant. Frequent discussions in the UN of a Middle East Nuclear Free Zone (MENWFZ), the multi-lateral Arms Control and Regional Security (ACRS) talks initiated during the 1991 Middle East Peace Conference, and the regional dimensions of global frameworks such as the NPT, CWC, and CTBT have all failed to produce results.Detailed analysis of these efforts highlights the impact of realist security-based factors, the structure and process of the interactions, as well as the cultural and domestic political dimensions. The existential conflicts, reflected in protracted territorial disputes and denials of legitimacy and compounded by a fundamental asymmetry, created a zero-sum framework in the region. The region is characterized by a great deal of instability and competition; this situation, in turn, contributed to the efforts to acquire WMD. In terms of domestic politics, the regional cooperation required for arms limitation is often inconsistent with the dominant articulated political interests and regime perspectives. In addition, misunderstandings and misperceptions frequently occur due to the complexities of cross-cultural communications in the Middle East. Numerous dialogues have not narrowed the gaps or transformed the zero-sum frameworks into cooperative ones. Hopes for the creation of successful regional mechanisms for limiting arms depend on overcoming the obstacles encountered in past efforts.

AbstractThe absence of a major multilateral treaty banning missiles is explained by the limited scope of the two main instruments against missile proliferation – the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC). In the MTCR's case, limiting the scope to supply-side technology controls facilitated progress during its negotiations. In the Hague Code, limiting the scope to transparency, and keeping out additional items such as incentives to renounce ballistic missiles and the topic of cruise missiles, made negotiations easier. The trade-off from a limited scope in both instruments is that there is still no significant worldwide treaty banning missiles.

AbstractThe speed, ease and cost of conducting an internet-based study has attracted an increasingly large number of researchers to the medium for data collection. The lure of conducting research on the internet warrants heightened awareness of the practical problems one may encounter in the course of design and data collection. Researchers should also be attuned to the various threats of reliability and validity that may affect the quality of their data. This article surveys the past literature and identifies four main areas of concern in internet-based research: (1) sampling error and generalizability; (2) subject fraud; (3) measurement errors resulting from extraneous factors, and (4) the ethics of conducting research on the internet. Before carrying out their research on the internet, researchers should carefully weigh the sometimes hidden costs against the obvious benefits to consider whether the results obtained will be seriously compromised by the problems currently existing with this relatively new medium. However, a more productive approach recognizes that this research method is here to stay and thus greater attention needs to be given to refining and clearing the hurdles that internet-based researchers currently face.

This paper therefore re-examines the crosssectional link between annual hard frosts and economic growth. 3 One believes that by outlining existing methodological difficulties and by suggesting methods to solve some of these problems, the paper constitutes a further step towards developing a framework for the frost-growth nexus.