The Place of the Dog: AKC Breeds in American Culture

The American Kennel Club (AKC), the primary registry agency for purebred dogs in the United States, had recognized 138 breeds through September 1995. An investigation of the source areas of these breeds reveals the cultural authority of Great Britain in organized dog breeding in the United States. Although Great Britain accounts for more than one-third of the AKC breeds, however, its importance has declined. Dogs from Asia account for more than one-fifth of the breeds recognized since World War II. Breed names that contain toponymic elements (such as Sussex Spaniel) usually reinforce the importance of the area in which the breeds were developed. An analysis of the patterns of geographic names reveals a pronounced emphasis on Western Europe, particularly Great Britain. A decline in the prominence of names from Europe has occurred. Asian name sources have become more important, and Australia and Africa have begun receiving attention. North America as a source of breeds as well as a source of naming has occupied a relatively minor role throughout the AKC's history. American breeders and promoters of purebred dogs have tended to look outward, especially toward Europe, for sociocultural forms.     

Observations On State Trading in the Russian Economy

The paper presents an overview of state trading activities in Russia in light of that country's prospective accession to the World Trade Organization. The authors cover the origins of Russian state trading, developments after the collapse of the USSR, state involvement in barter trade, and its control of the organizational structure and remaining monopolies; they also attempt to estimate the government's share in Russia's foreign trade turnover in 1996 and mid-1997. A discussion of implications embraces issues relating to the inefficiencies of state trading and Russia's designation as a nonmarket economy by the United States and the countries of the European Union. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F13, F14, K33, N20, P33. 1 table, 20 references.     

International law and the 'war against terrorism'

This article analyses some of the international legal issues arising out of the events of 11 September 2001. Those who perpetrated the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were guilty of serious offences under United States law and possibly also under international law. The fact that their conduct was a crime does not, however, preclude it also being a threat to international peace and an armed attack. The author argues that the United States and its allies were entitled to respond to that attack and the threat of future attacks by using force against Al-Qa'ida and that, in the circumstances, it was also legitimate to take military action against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan which had sheltered Al-Qa'ida and permitted it to conduct operations from Afghan territory. The article also examines the application of the laws of armed conflict to the ensuing fighting and the status and treatment of those captured and held at Guantanamo Bay.     

A Colonial Shipwreck in Saipan,Northern Mariana Islands

Previous underwater cultural heritage investigations conducted in the western Pacific's Northern Mariana Islands largely focused on the submerged World War Two remains, despite the islands’ rich colonial history. The island chain was the setting of numerous historical occupations including indigenous Chamorro populations, Spain, Germany, Japan and the United States, all of which created a lasting maritime heritage legacy on land and under water. This paper presents the first colonial shipwreck investigation to be undertaken by archaeologists and fills a gap in our history and knowledge of the Mariana Islands’ pre‐World War Two era.     

Intangible cultural heritage and the better angels of folklore’s nature

Abstract

Folklore research in the United States typically is completed either through academic departments or in organisations designed to create public presentations of traditional expressive culture. These two approaches are termed ‘academic folklore’ and ‘public folklore’. The intellectual history of both approaches has recently been critiqued. One result of this deconstruction is an ambivalence over the historical legacy of key concepts in the study of folklore. Assessing elements of the critical study of folklore’s history – in both academe and the public sector – suggests opportunities for reconstituting the study of traditional culture to establish a more socially responsive approach that is relevant to ways that heritage professionals assess folklore as intangible culture heritage.     

The Iron Bridge at Sunderland: A Revision

Abstract

The rapid expansion and subsequent collapse of the local brick and tile industry in the American Midwest between 1870 and 1910 is one of the most striking episodes in the industrial history of the United States. This study draws largely on local material to detail this expansion and collapse in a four county area of Central Illinois. Between 1870 and 1910 eighty commercial brick and tile works were established. Most remained in production for less than twenty years. Today only one, Diller Brothers in Chatsworth, continues in business. This paper describes the rise and fall of this industry, examining its origin, locational pattern, methods of operation, structures, decline, and impact on the present landscape.     

The making of politics and trained intelligence in the Near East: Robert College of Istanbul

Abstract

This article examines the role of Robert College in Turkish-American relations in the early decades of the Turkish Republic. Relying on recently discovered archival sources and biographical accounts it explores political and educational networks between the United States and Turkey. Robert College, founded in 1863, was the first American College established abroad. It was, however, more than an educational institution; the College teaching staff acted as diplomatic and cultural correspondents for both countries. The trust the College staff earned among the Turkish elite during the First World War continued in the early years of Republic. This relationship turned into a more lucrative collaboration during the early periods of the Cold War. The story of Robert College in Turkey demonstrates the impact of trained intelligence on political relations between the two countries.     

The United States and the Question of the Greco-Turkish War, 1919–1922

Abstract

In the post World War II era, the strain in the trilateral relation between the United States, Greece and Turkey is one of the most disquieting and vexatious elements to emerge from American foreign policy. The so-called southeastern flank of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is currently beset with tensions that threaten to impede its contributory role in NATO's overall defense strategy for southeastern Europe (if they have not already done so). In this political drama, the principal antagonists, Greece and Turkey, have a number of outstanding differences which on occasion have brought them to the precipice of war. As a result, the United States has intervened as the protagonist and consequently has become the recipient of the enmity of these two NATO allies for not recognizing their ‘special’ claims or interests. As in the characteristic classical Greek drama, the chorus of NATO partners offer a common chant: they are united in proclaiming that the current state of affairs seems to portend failure to the concerted effort to defend Western Europe.     

Remembering September 11: Photography as Cultural Diplomacy

American cultural diplomacy has taken on fresh significance in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States and there has been increasing support within the US State Department for initiatives to promote the diplomatic role of culture in the 'war against terrorism'. This article considers one such initiative: the photographic exhibition, After September 11: images from Ground Zero which is touring the world over three years with substantial support from American diplomatic missions. This exhibition is clearly intended to shape and maintain a public memory of the attacks on the World Trade Center and their aftermath. As such, it is a fascinating initiative in cultural diplomacy that echoes structures of Cold War propagandizing yet asks fresh questions about the role of visual culture in American foreign policy in the digital age. The article examines the origins of this exhibition and considers tensions that exist between its aesthetic components and the ideological framework that surrounds its implementation.     

The “Tiger,” An Early Dutch 17th Century Ship,And An Abortive Salvage Attempt

Abstract

Hopes were raised during the foundation excavations of the World Trade Center complex in downtown Manhattan (New York) that the major part of the burned 17th century Dutch ship, “Tiger,” would be recovered. These hopes were pinned on the fact that the forward part of the ship's remains had been accidentally exhumed in the adjacent subway cut in 1916. No remains were found, and we are left with the question of what became of her hulk.     

September 11: A Christian Fundamentalist Interpretation

Abstract

This article analyses sermons preached by Free Presbyterian ministers in the United States following the World Trade Centre tragedy and the attack on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. It explores how these religious fundamentalists made sense of the event theologically. While terrorists carried out the attack, ultimately God was believed to have been responsible. It was considered God's way of punishing the American nation for its sin. Ministers' use of the Old Testament and God's covenantal relationship with ancient Israel is both the theological and historical backdrop to their explanation of September 11. Concentration on the Old Testament and fundamentalists' exegetical approach means that politics and religion are tightly intertwined. Emphasis on the militaristic portions of the Old Testament also helps justify the war in Iraq. Although Free Presbyterian doctrine is based on institutional separatism and believers' withdrawal from "the world" the sermons connect parishioners to their wider society through a shared sense of patriotic loyalty and national loss.     

Matthew Clark and the Beginnings of Chart Publishing in the United States

ABSTRACT

At the end of the eighteenth century Boston, Massachusetts, emerged as a centre of chart publishing in the United States. With little cartographic experience among them, Bartholomew Burges, John Norman and, later, Matthew Clark undertook a publishing venture that resulted in the first atlas of sea charts made in the United States. The research presented here redefines the roles of the principals and examines the atlas's relationship to other Boston publications.     

Incomplete Sovereigns: Unpacking Patterns of Indigenous Self-Governance in the United States and Canada

ABSTRACT

In the early 1970s, both the Canadian and United States federal governments introduced modern land claim agreements as a first step forward in the states’ recognition of Indigenous goals for self-determination. Since then, both the United States and Canadian federal governments have incrementally expanded their recognition of Indigenous rights to include Indigenous goals for political self-determination. Yet, despite the fact that both countries began implementing broadly similar policies at approximately the same time, the degree to which Indigenous political and economic self-determination has been realized varies considerably both within and between the two countries. The variation in Indigenous self-governing power and authority suggests that the policy shift towards Indigenous self-determination is incomplete and has faced important barriers to implementation. This paper investigates two key aspects of this variation in Indigenous self-determination in the United States and Canada: (1) institutional histories embedded in geography, and (2) the temporal nature of policy frameworks. I argue that the full realization of Indigenous self-determination has been shaped in different ways and, ultimately, is limited by the intersection of embedded institutional legacies and federal political dynamics.     

Forensic engineering: a reappraisal of the Tay Bridge disaster

Abstract

The Tay Bridge disaster of 1879 shocked the world and led to important changes in bridge design, construction, and inspection. The Court of Inquiry produced its final report in six months, and condemned the structure for its design and materials defects. However, the court did not specify exactly how the final collapse of the 'high girders' section occurred on the night of the accident. By reexamining the wealth of evidence surviving from the time, in particular the photographic archive and the court proceedings, we have looked again at the causes of the disaster. Our reappraisal confirms the conclusions of the original inquiry, but it also extends them by suggesting that lateral oscillations were induced in the high girders section of the bridge by trains passing over a slight misalignment in the track. The amplitude of these oscillations grew with time, because joints holding the bridge together were defective, and this in turn resulted in fatigue cracks being induced in the cast iron lugs, which reached criticality on the night of the disaster. Numerous east–west lugs fractured when a local train passed over the bridge in a westerly gale on the evening of 28 December 1879. The express train which followed was much heavier, and the towers in the high girders collapsed progressively as the train was part way over the section. Although wind loads contributed to the disaster, the bridge was already severely defective owing to failure of its most important stabilising elements.     

Free Trade Agreements and the Neo-Liberal Economic Paradigm: Economic,Ecological, and Moral Consequences

Abstract

Since signing and implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the early 1990s, the United States has pursued other free trade agreements with nations in Latin America and Asia. The premise undergirding FTAs is that trade liberalization within the neo-liberal global economy produces economic growth and development among all parties, and reduces poverty in poor nations. We examine arguments of proponents of free trade and the neo-liberal economy— particularly those of Martin Wolf, author of Why Globalization Works— to test these claims. We explore alternatives that center on norms of ecological sustainability and social justice, holding these two as inseparable. The central moral question of how to achieve needed socioeconomic development in the Global South in ways that are both ecologically sustainable and socially just frames our analysis. We conclude by proposing five principles for an alternative, more sustainable and equitable economic paradigm.     

Artifacts of the neurosciences: A resource guide to museums and collections

ABSTRACT

Medical museums and collections care for important artifacts relating to the history of the neurosciences across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. This essay highlights the collections and galleries of greatest interest and worth a visit. It also provides a list of online directories of medical museums and bibliography of related publications.     

Settling Accounts: Retribution,Emotion and Memory during the Fall of Mussolini

Abstract

The fall of Mussolini on 25 July 1943, and the concomitant collapse of the Fascist regime, have long been recognized as a pivotal moment in the Second World War and, indeed, contemporary Italian history. To date, however, these events have been viewed almost exclusively ‘from above’, in terms of elite politics, international diplomacy, and military strategy. Drawing on the analytical frameworks of Alltagsgeschichte (‘everyday history’), the present contribution examines the experiences, reactions and behaviors of ordinary Italians during the fall of Fascism. In particular, it explores incidents of retributive and symbolic violence, political denunciation, and popular demonstration, in order to understand how individuals and communities expressed emotions and memories, negotiated relationships, and sought to redress grievances and antipathies developed over more than twenty years of ‘totalitarian’ dictatorship.     

A cartographic fade to black: mapping the destruction of urban Japan during World War II

In this paper we examine the history, production, and use – practical and rhetorical – of maps created by the United States government during World War II as related to the development and execution of aerial bombing policies against Japan. Drawing from a range of maps and primary documents culled from libraries and archives in the United States, we argue that maps provide an important, and hitherto neglected, means through which to trace the exploration and eventual embrace of the incendiary bombing of Japan’s cities. In particular, our aim is to show how maps, along with the men who made and used them, played a central role in the planning and prosecution of air raids on urban Japan. We also address the mobilization of American geographers into the war effort, the re-configuration of America’s spatial intelligence community during World War II, and the ways in which maps were constructed in the context of total war.     

Confiscated commerce: American importers of German synthetic organic chemicals, 1914–1929

Prior to World War I, the United States possessed virtually no synthetic organic chemicals industry, relying instead on importations of dyes and pharmaceuticals from Germany. For decades, the German companies had representatives in the United States that employed personnel who were skilled in the technical and sales aspects of synthetic organic chemicals. The war brought a steep decline in the importing business and also an outburst of anti‐German hysteria that directly affected the importers, many of whom were of German descent. As a result, many of the skilled employees found employment in the nascent domestic industry, providing an unusual case study in technology transfer.     

‘Navigating sovereignty under a Cold War military industrial colonial complex: US military empire and Marshallese decolonization’

Abstract

As World War II unsettled the global balance of power ushering in a wave of decolonization, the postwar period also saw the expansion of US military imperialism into Micronesia. In this central Pacific region, a new colonial era began rooted in US strategic concerns and mandated under a 1947 United Nations Trusteeship Agreement. During the Cold War, the United States buttressed its nuclear arsenal by testing its deadliest weapons of mass destruction (nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile) in the Marshall Islands, residing on the eastern edge of Micronesia. This weapons testing program would inform Marshallese struggles towards self-determination, ultimately shaping the contours of Marshallese sovereignty as the region achieved formal decolonization through a Compact of Free Association in 1986.