scholarly journals Preface to the Russian Publication: Michael Jabara Carley. A Near-Run Thing: the Improbable Grand Alliance of World War II (1929–1942)

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-74
Author(s):  
N. A. Ostroglazova

The work of Michael Jabara Carley gives a unique perspective on the diplomatic relations of the key world powers in the pre-war period and appeals to a wide audience who are not indifferent to the history of the world. The events described took place almost a century ago and over the years have received a variety of interpretations in the domestic and foreign literature about those times. Painstaking work with archives combined with s fine psychological approach made it possible to recreate and visualize the peculiarities of international relations of those years. This thorough analysis resulting in a vivid cultural description of the fateful period falls neatly within the framework of historical cultural studies and adds to our understanding of the intricacies of world diplomacy. Looking into the past, the author sees in the faded lines of the archived documents more than mere facts: there are people with their principles and insecurities, societies striving for peace and countries earning for power and security at all costs. Sketching portraits of the main characters with a few sharp strokes, Michael Carley manages to immerse the reader in the thick of events and understand the human side of diplomatic relations between countries, which could be allies should things have happened somewhat differently. The translation of the paper does not give verbatim quotations from the Russian language archives, but rather follows the author’s conception. The intention behind the book is not limited to a chronological compilation of dispatches, diaries and reports. On the contrary, it becomes obvious that written documents record dry facts, and only taken in a broader context can they truly shed light on the complex, uneven negotiations. The unique features of the era, traced in the text along with the individual characteristics of the persons involved, deserve readers’ attention as the non-trivial optics with which the author approaches the subject will allow a fresh look at the foreign policy relations of the USSR in 1933-1934. One will see how the cultural canvas through major trends and minor happenings influences the fate of the world. The vision that can be projected to the many and many other events of the past and present.

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Loch K Johnson

The purpose of national security intelligence is to provide policy officials with an advantage in the making of effective policy, based on the collection and analysis of accurate information from around the world that can help to illuminate a decision. Foreknowledge is invaluable in the service of a nation’s security; and, in the gathering of useful information, technological innovations in the world of intelligence can result in a stronger shield to protect citizens against the many dangers that lurk across the continents in this uncertain and hostile world.  Despite all the marvels of modern espionage tradecraft, the governments that rely on them must still deal with the human side of intelligence activities. Unfortunately, arrogance, shortsightedness, laziness, frenetic schedules, and the corrosive influences of power (among other flaws) often lead policy officials to ignore or warp the advantages they could accrue from advanced intelligence spycraft, if they would only use these sources and methods properly. This article examines some of the problems that imperfect human behavior has created for intelligence in the United States at the highest levels of government over the past two decades.


Author(s):  
Francesco Dramis ◽  
Emanuele Tondi

Debate in neotectonics mainly hinges on how far back in time the prefix ‘neo’ should be taken. The term ‘neotectonics’ means, in a first approximation, geologically young, recent or living (active) crustal structures and processes. Some of the many definitions (Angelier 1976; Mercier 1976; Beloussov 1978; Hancock and Williams 1986; Vita-Finzi 1986; Winslow 1986) focus neotectonic studies only on active deformation (late Quaternary–Present) and accept neotectonics as more or less synonymous to active tectonics, while others trace the neotectonic period mainly from the Middle Miocene. It is very difficult to identify a standard time period for defining the beginning of neotectonics, but the present-day opinion is that it depends on the individual characteristics of each geological environment. According to Fourniguet (1987), no time limit is fixed and the field of investigation extends from the present as far back into the past as necessary to understand present or active deformation. The INQUA (International Union for Quaternary Research) Tectonic Commission has accepted the definition of Mörner (1978): ‘Neotectonics is defined as any earth movements or deformations of the geodetic reference level, their mechanisms, their geological origin, their implications for various practical purposes and their future extrapolations.’ Pavlides (1989) proposed a definition along the following lines: ‘Neotectonics is the study of young tectonic events (deformation of upper crust), which have occurred or are still occurring in a given region after its final orogeny (at least for recent orogenies) or more precisely after its last significant reorganization.’ When western Europe is considered, a major change in boundary conditions occurred in the Upper Miocene (7 Ma) when the motion of Africa became directed to the north-west (Dewey et al. 1989). Geological, seismological, and geodetic data in the Mediterranean region and in continental Europe show that the relative motion of Africa and Europe is still in this direction. For this reason we think that for the neotectonics of western Europe one cannot go far back in time beyond the Upper Miocene. The study of the state of stress of the lithosphere around the world has recently been attempted within the World Stress Map Project of the International Lithosphere Programme (Zoback 1992).


Author(s):  
Benedetta Zavatta

Based on an analysis of the marginal markings and annotations Nietzsche made to the works of Emerson in his personal library, the book offers a philosophical interpretation of the impact on Nietzsche’s thought of his reading of these works, a reading that began when he was a schoolboy and extended to the final years of his conscious life. The many ideas and sources of inspiration that Nietzsche drew from Emerson can be organized in terms of two main lines of thought. The first line leads in the direction of the development of the individual personality, that is, the achievement of critical thinking, moral autonomy, and original self-expression. The second line of thought is the overcoming of individuality: that is to say, the need to transcend one’s own individual—and thus by definition limited—view of the world by continually confronting and engaging with visions different from one’s own and by putting into question and debating one’s own values and certainties. The image of the strong personality that Nietzsche forms thanks to his reading of Emerson ultimately takes on the appearance of a nomadic subject who is continually passing out of themselves—that is to say, abandoning their own positions and convictions—so as to undergo a constant process of evolution. In other words, the formation of the individual personality takes on the form of a regulative ideal: a goal that can never be said to have been definitively and once and for all attained.


This volume documents the intellectual influence of the United Nations through its flagship publication, the World Economic and Social Survey (WESS) on its seventieth anniversary. Prepared at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and first published in 1948 as the World Economic Report (subsequently renamed the WESS), it is the oldest continuous post-World War II publication of this kind, recording and analysing the performance of the global economy and social development trends, and offering relevant policy recommendations. This volume highlights how well WESS has tracked global economic and social conditions, and how its analyses have influenced and have been influenced by the prevailing discourse over the past seven decades. The volume critically reflects on its policy recommendations and their influence on actual policymaking and the shaping of the world economy. Although world economic and social conditions have changed significantly over the past seven decades and so have the policy recommendations of the Survey, some of its earlier recommendations remain relevant today; recommendations in WESS provided seven decades ago seem remarkably pertinent as the world currently struggles to regain high levels of employment and economic activity. Thus, in many ways, WESS was ahead of the curve on many substantive issues. Publication of this volume will enhance the interest of the wider community of policymakers, academics, development practitioners, and members of civil society in the analytical work of the UN in general and UN-DESA in particular.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hashim Yaqub ◽  
Martin Kemp

Over the past year the world has changed dramatically. With greater restrictions on accessibility, the need to provide innovative and distributable remote experiences is now more prominent than ever. BMT has partnered with the SS Freshspring Trust to create multi-generational STEM experiences. “Preserving the past to inspire knowledge for the future”. The SS Freshspring Trust have a vision to become a STEM hub by utilising cutting-edge technology. BMT have extensive experience in developing VR applications in the Maritime Domain. With skills shortfalls in many engineering disciplines, there is a need to inspire future generations into careers in STEM. Equally, many adults have a passion for technology and have valuable skills to offer to STEM projects. This paper uses the historic vessel SS Freshspring, a 1940s RFA Fresh Water Carrier currently being restored in North Devon, as the basis for exploring a range of initiatives and activities aimed at making engineering and technology interesting and accessible to all. The specific focus is on the development of an interactive 3D virtual tour, aiming to provide access to a wide audience by targeting a range of modalities including smartphones, internet browsers, and most consumer VR headsets.


2007 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura H. Korobkin

This essay investigates Harriet Beecher Stowe's interpolation of State v. Mann, a harsh 1829 North Carolina proslavery decision, into her 1856 novel Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. The essay argues that Stowe's use of State v. Mann continues a conversation about slavery that had been carried on through its text for many years in abolitionist writings. Bringing State v. Mann's circulation history into view shows Stowe engaging the antislavery establishment as well as the legal system, borrowing and imitating its techniques for handling proslavery materials. If her novel is infiltrated and structured by the many legal writings that it assimilates, its fictive world in turn infiltrates, interprets, and alters the significance of the writings she employs, so that proslavery legal writings are made to testify strongly against the slave system that they originally worked to maintain and enforce. Stowe's hybrid text dominates the law while smoothly assimilating it into an interpretive fictive context. Simultaneously, Stowe's typographical cues remind readers of State v. Mann's ongoing, destructive extratextual legal existence. By linking fictive context to legal content, Stowe's novel suggests that slave law must be read and interpreted as a unit that includes the individual suffering it imposes. Misreading State v. Mann as revealing its author's belief in the immorality of slavery, Stowe constructs a fictional judge who upholds slave law despite his personal beliefs. By absorbing, imitating, and besting the strategies and the reach of both legal and abolitionist writings, Dred implicitly stakes a claim for the superior power of political fiction to act in the world.


2021 ◽  
pp. 191-212
Author(s):  
M. A. Dubova ◽  
N. A. Larina

The question of ways of creating a spatial continuum in the early stories of I. A. Bunin “On the wrong side”, “On the farm” and “On the Donets”, united by a single principle of nomination and included in the first book of the writer’s prose “To the end of the world” (1897) is considered in the article. The semantics of the title actualizes the spatial component of the author’s linguistic picture of the world, which determined the path of linguistic and stylistic analysis of the linguistic material of stories. The authors pay special attention to the means of lexical representation of space as one of the basic linguo-cognitive categories. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the language material has been identified, systematized and described, which makes it possible to determine the individual author's characteristics in the creation of the spatial continuum of I. A. Bunin’s early stories. The relevance of the study is due to the appeal to the problems of cognitive linguistics. On the basis of statistical, descriptive and linguo-cognitive methods of analysis, the authors identify and describe the means of lexical representation of the spatial model created in the stories of I. A. Bunin, which is characterized by a clear structuredness and individuality of the author’s approach. In the course of the study, the authors come to conclusions that make it possible to characterize the features of the construction of space in the early stories of the writer, taking into account the individual characteristics of the author's world modeling, and also to analyze the linguistic parameters of the idiostyle of I. A. Bunin.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (I) ◽  
pp. 4-15
Author(s):  
Надія ГОЛІВЕР

The article is devoted to the problem of formation of creative abilities and cognitive interests of students. The main directions of development of the creative person according to the social needs of the present are considered. It is noted that creative activity becomes a form of knowledge of the material-objective world; identifies personality possibilities, new ways of one’s personal development. Therefore, the problem of developing the creative abilities of students in the course of educational and cognitive activity is of an exceptional relevance. The author believes that influencing the organization of creative activity is possible only under certain conditions, in particular: to conduct classes in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and co-creation, perceiving each student as a person; to give preference to the dialogical form of conducting classes, when students have an opportunity: to think independently, to make suggestions, to defend their own point of view, presenting their own arguments; it is advisable to create situations of choice at classes and to enable students to carry it out. The author notes that the observance of certain organizational and methodological conditions can significantly contribute to the development of creative potential of students, namely: the creative vision of the world through the systematic organization of work with students; development of creative values through the proper level of teacher's teaching skills; deepening the perception of the world picture through the integration of various types of students’ creativity, works of art and their figurative reproduction in their own creative activity; individual peculiarities of perception and emotional attitude through the use of the educational potential of the family, organization of creative activity. When performing creative tasks the individual characteristics of students to select the material of the appropriate level of complexity must be taken into account. The article examines the examples of students' creativity during the European Cultures Festival, debates and clubs on the basis of the Kryvyi Rih National University.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Ahmad Idris Asmaradhani

In the eyes of literature, existentialist thinkers focus on the question of concrete human existence and the conditions of this existence rather than hypothesizing a human essence, stressing that the human essence is determined through life choices. The ideal, however, is that humans exist in a state of distance from the world that they nonetheless remain in the midst of. This distance is what enables humans to project meaning into the disinterested world of in-itselfs. This projected meaning remains fragile, constantly facing breakdown for any reason— from a tragedy to a particularly insightful moment. In such a breakdown, humans are put face to face with the naked meaninglessness of the world, and the results can be devastating. It is porposed that literature and the media combined have a powerful impact on those who wish to truly realize and understand their message. By studying, reading, learning, experiencing, and knowing the culture of the present and those cultures of the past then one can understand the ideas of life and how the two work together to help us better understand each other and ourselves. In what ways our present culture, our technological advances, and the media shape who we are as individuals is not a simple question. The answer seems to elusively hide in a world filled with cultural complexities. But, it is no secret to find that literature is a source of power. It does influence, guide, and shape the human become as they continue their journey through life. Hence, since human are never without the influence of literature, they will always have factors working to modify the human being. However, it is their choice as to how they internalize what they are exposed to, and in turn, it is up to them to determine the individual that ultimately prevails.


2005 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. CHRISTOPHER JESPERSEN

The frequent use of the Vietnam analogy to describe the situation in Iraq underscores the continuing relevance of Vietnam for American history. At the same time, the Vietnam analogy reinforces the tendency to see current events within the context of the past. Politicians and pundits latch onto analogies as handles for understanding the present, but in so doing, they obscure more complicated situations. The con�ict in Iraq is not Vietnam, Korea, or World War II, but this article considers all three in an effort to see how the past has shaped, and continues to affect, the world the United States now faces.


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