The tyranny of conventional wisdom? A response

The critique from the discussants seems to be based on a priori assumptions that larger governments or wider interests and environmental values are inherently superior. I raise the issue of whether this is fair or scientific.     

Burma and North Korea: conventional allies or nuclear partners?

During the third quarter of 2009, there was a spate of reports in the news media and on the Internet accusing Burma and North Korea of engaging in a range of activities that potentially threatened regional security. It was claimed that the Naypyidaw regime had developed a close relationship with Pyongyang that included North Korea's sale to Burma of conventional weapons, assistance in the development of Burma's defence infrastructure and arms industries, and even collaboration on a nuclear weapons program. Given the lack of hard evidence, however, these reports raised more questions than they answered. Burma's nuclear status remains unknown. Another puzzle is why no government or international organisation has yet made an official statement on this particular issue, despite all the publicity it has attracted. Should it be determined that Burma does indeed have a secret nuclear weapons program, then a key question would be whether the generals are likely to be any more receptive to international concerns than they have been in the past, on other issues.     

Stability and change at commonwealth elections, 1910–69: A test of the conventional wisdom

This article investigates and revises the conventional wisdom about aggregate‐level electoral change at Commonwealth elections. Unlike previous Australian analyses, it distinguishes temporary from permanent change and uniform from heterogeneous change. It also formulates rival hypotheses about the extent, timing and source of such change, and it tests them with a new source of data. It shows, in sharp contrast to the conventional wisdom, that significant aggregate‐level change occurred at virtually every election between 1910 and 1969. In so doing it directs attention to the infrequent but pivotal influence of voters upon the scope and direction of public policy in Australia.     

Introduction to Star Artists

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Folklore Related to Pillboxes

SopuinTibetanmeansMongoliantribe.LegendhasitthatSopuTownshipinDainbaCountyeastoftheDaduRiverusedtobeinhabitedbyTibetans.ThislasteduntilagroupofMongoliansmovedtosettledowntheremany,manyyearsago.DuringmyrecentvisittoSopu,Ifoundaworldsteepedinancientfolklore…     

Happy to Return Home

Itwasasunnydayinearlyspring.whenanloldmaninhisearly80smetthisreporterinltheLabrangMonastery.Examiningmethroughhisblackrimmedspectacles,hewasbothtalkativeandhumorous.GaoWu,whoreturnedfromTaiwantosettledown,recalled:"Iwasbornintoaherder'sfamilyinXiaheCounty,Gannan.Beforeliberation,IlaboredfortheLivingBuddhaLancangoftheLabrangMonastery."Afterliberation,Iwasallottedlandandanimals.But,in1959,whenIwentonapilgrimagetoLhasa,IwastakenawaybytherebelstoIndia."IsettleddowninDarjeeling.Myson,Gyai…     

British Aid to Tibe

YagrigangisavillageinMaizhokunggar,Lhasa.Inthepast.abouthalfofthe264villagerssufferedfromdeformedbonesresultingfromdrinkingwaterlackingcalciumIn1991,theBritishSocietyforSufferingChildreninvested110.000yuantoinstallatapwatersystem.And,intheensuingyears,withaidfromthelocalauthorityconcerned,ittrainedmedicalorderliesforthevillage.Arecentphysicalexaminationshowsonlytwochildrenareslightlysufferingfromdeformedbonediseasetoday.TheBritishsocietybegantoworkonTibetinearly1990withassistancefromtheChi…     

Making Contribution to Hometown

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Drive to Northern Tibet

Fist Leg：Xainza The periods between March and May or between October and December are the best times for going to northern Tibet,when there is no rainy season,cars will not get stuck and it is not too cold.     

Will Historical Archaeology Escape Its Western Prejudices to Become Relevant to Africa?

A major problem facing North American approaches to historical archaeology is the exclusionary manner in which the discipline is defined. By confining historical archaeology to the era of capitalism and colonialism, we declare that the indigenous histories of many areas of the globe are of no interest to such an intellectual agenda. If we practice an historical archaeology that only valorizes the colonial experience, then what happens to history making that engaged cultures in the pre-capitalist and pre-modern era? Such approaches separate the histories of people in Africa from those of the West, and, is in effect, academic apartheid. To remedy this disjuncture, we interrogate how historical archaeology may escape the bounds of implicit racism in its denial of historicity before literacy. We suggest that breaking the chains of exclusion is the only way to realize an inclusive archaeology sensitive to all history making projects.     

Connecting lectures to current affairs: the “letters to newspapers” assignment

This paper presents the experiences of teaching political geography, in a level 2 BA course, with the use of an innovative assignment – the letters to newspapers assignment. We provide here the aims, rationale and a detailed outline of the assignment. We also discuss student feedback from 67 questionnaires and 2 focus groups. Our findings suggest that the assignment was instrumental in (a) enabling the students to see concepts in action, that is to link abstract ideas with real-world issues and (b) initiating a move away from passive learning towards supporting students to actively and critically reflect upon their relationship with the world.     

Father Advises Us to....

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Project to Protect Natural Forests

Gungjor County in Qamdois situated on the middlesection of the Jinsha-jiang River,on the upperreaches of the Yangtze Riverand in the northern part ofHenduan Mountains.Foreststhere total 220,198 hectares,and the forested area totals60,791 hectares.They com-bine to function as a naturalscreen on the Yangtze's upperreaches.     

Adjusting to partition: from irredentism to “consent” in twentieth-century Ireland

When the Irish constitution was amended after the 1998 Good Friday agreement to replace an apparent claim to jurisdiction over Northern Ireland by an aspirational statement, it seemed that many of the issues of conflict in the North–South relationship had been resolved. This article traces the process by which ideological change and policy shift in southern Ireland during the course of the twentieth century facilitated this agreement and the associated constitutional reformulation, looking at three areas within which change is obvious. First, demands for Irish unity, vigorously expressed but confined substantially to the domain of rhetoric, were softened in the early 1970s when the fuller implications of Irish unity became clearer, and in the context of a possible British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Second, distaste for North–South institutions such as a Council of Ireland, on the ground that they implied recognition of partition, was replaced by acceptance of a modest level of institutionalised cross-border cooperation. Third, reluctance to recognise the legitimacy of Northern Ireland was reversed, with Irish governments moving progressively towards recognition of the principle of “consent” in the late twentieth century. Together, these changes amounted to a reversal of traditional irredentist policies and a formal acceptance of partition.     

A Trip to Cover Tibet

On July 10,2004a 12-member journalist delegation left Beijing for Tibet by air.The plane landed at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport at 13：00,and took off again at 15：10.At about 17：00 we arrived at Lhasa Gonggar Airport.Following a journey of some 90 km after leaving the airport,we reached Lhasa, and stayed at Lhasa Tibet Hotel.     

Visits to Yadong Reveals Prosperity

Yadong,onthesouthernslopeoftheHimalayasabuttingBhutanandSikkim,wasturnedintoaconunercialDortbytheBritishinvadersin1904.Suchhumiliatinghistorylasteduntill95lwhenTibetwaspeacefullyliberated.YadongtakesanewoutlooktodayinChina'ssouthwesternbordeLVISITSTOYADON…