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Abstract not available. 22 References.

The author reviews the threats to the rainforests of Brazil and Central America by cattle raising for mostly US-based fast food chains and by efforts to solve the urban over-population by allowing large-scale resettling of marginal city populations in deforested areas. The author calls for international collaboration to prevent the destruction of the earth lungs in Amazonia

The author analyzes EU actor capacity in security policy with special emphasis on crisis management. She places this within the larger context of security policy & the transatlantic debate over the role of NATO, the case of Iraq, & different national interests of key member states. The author concludes that the EU has steadily developed its capacity to undertake the various types of crisis management, but that the role of the EU as a security actor will be determined by the larger systemic decision making in this area. The crisis over Iraq may very well lead to a consolidation of the EU's role. 33 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author examines US policies in Central America in the eight years of Ronald Reagan's presidency. The laxness of leadership during those years explains the Byzantine power structure, official measures contradicting one another

The author describes the Nicaraguan celebration of La Purisima, by far the most popular festivity in the country, and discusses this religious and social phenomenon as an expression of the position of women in Nicaraguan society

The author seeks to show that when Germany surprised the world by signaling its disagreement with President Bush regarding the attack on Iraq, it could not be explained by Chancellor Schroder's election campaign, nor by the lack of rapport between the two leaders. At issue are differences regarding principles as well as interests in the wake of the revision of American security policy after September 11, 2001. After reunification, Germany felt freer to express its own interests regarding these & other issues such as closer European security cooperation that Washington now seems to see as a challenge to its own interests. The author concludes by suggesting that this development indicates that the disagreement between Berlin & Washington is not of a temporary nature as some would like to think. 17 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author examines the constitution written under general Pinochet's military regime and shows why the political change taking place in Chile can at best produce a transitional regime that in turn may lead to democracy. The constitutional amendments required by the Chilean opposition are outlined

Miskito Nicaraguans have been returning from refugee camps in neighboring Honduras in significant numbers since long before the Contra war came to an end. The author describes this process and explains it by reviewing the unique agreement between Miskito organizations and the Sandinista government, providing for a measure of internal autonomy for the Miskito and other Indian groups

The author describes some of the main trends in the political development of Haiti after president-for-life, Jean-Claude Duvalier, fled the country in February 1986. The claim is made that the political and administrative vacuum left by Duvalier has been filled by competing sectors of Haiti's military establishment that has thus prevented a development toward democracy in the foreseeable future

The author concentrates on the development of Norway's relations with Central America. From virtually non-existing connections, the 1980s have seen the establishment of a Norwegian embassy in Costa Rica, and a substantial growth in aid to Sandinist Nicaragua. The political debate in Norway over Nicaragua is outlined, as is the anger provoked in the US government by the Central American policy of its NATO ally

Norwegian foreign policy discourse is mainly based on the premise that Norway is a "small state." This insistence has linked it to another discourse within the IR community, namely small state literature. The author examines this tradition critically, emphasizing its main tenet: the significance of military power. Paradoxically, one might say, because this way of thinking presupposes a "great power" perspective. Small states have usually been regarded as too weak to influence world politics to any significant extent, but this view is only valid within a "Westphalian" political order. The article explores the various attempts of defining the small state, & the general perception of a specific small state behavior. These efforts, however, presuppose a kind of similarity between small states, which is not historically evident. Instead the author highlights the significance of studying small states more historically, taking into consideration the great variations between them. In recent years, the claim that there exists a universal small state behavior has been challenged by developments within the EU. This "post Westphalian" kind of political order demonstrates the way in which small states within the community now develop a new sense of "activism" & a new small state identity -- changes which add up to a radically new small state profile. 120 References. Adapted from the source document.

The author discusses cultural change and development through an analysis of a project for increasing production of guinea pigs in the highlands of Ecuador. He opposes two models of knowledge - the traditional and the modern - in order to find discontinuities and eventually contradictions. The empirical findings show that change is difficult to implement when production has a highly symbolic value that, in addition, relates with women's status and symbolic power. However, women's status changes as women gain independence and autonomy