The Prodi government of 2006 and 2007: A retrospective look

Now that the fifteenth legislature has come to an end, it is appropriate to assess the performance of the government whose fall was responsible for this event, as well as the coalition's significance for the trajectory of Italian politics generally. The four articles that follow this one together initiate the task, exploring performance from an institutional and policy-making point of view. This article suggests four criteria for evaluating the performance of any government and offers a brief initial ‘summary report’ in terms of them –?paying special attention to implementation of the programme and to communications. Bearing in mind the structural conditions in which it had to work, the government had some notable achievements to its credit, but these same conditions undermined it by opening up an unbridgeable gap between performance and popular perceptions of performance.     

非市场竞争条件下喀斯特洞穴旅游竞争研究

在市场竞争条件下,即游客为经济人的情况下,同一地域内洞穴类旅游地的空间竞争表现为替代性强的空间竞争,其结果为区位好、资源价值高、知名度大的洞穴替代区位差、资源价值低、知名度小的洞穴.而在非市场竞争条件下,同一地域内的洞穴旅游地空间竞争结果受到旅游地内外部复杂环境因素的影响,表现为不确定性.企业经营因素、政策因素等有可能超越资源、区位、知名度等因素,对洞穴类旅游地间的空间竞争格局的形成发挥作用,导致市场的重新分配.     

The oldowan reassessed: A close look at early stone artifacts

Early Stone Age assemblages called “Oldowan” and early “Developed Oldowan” are discussed, based on the results of a long-term study of Plio-Pleistocene sites at Koobi Fora, Kenya and an extensive experimental research program of replicating and using early stone artifact forms. Five major conclusions are drawn from this investigation: (1) many Oldowan core forms (“core-tools”) are probably simple by-products of flake manufacture rather than representations of stylistic norms; (2) flakes and retouched flakes - were essential tools in Oldowan technology, particularly for activities involving cutting; (3) this simple technology does not necessarily reflect the cognitive abilities of the early hominids that manufactured the stone artifacts; (4) there is evidence to show that Oldowan technology can be viewed as a simple curated one, in which raw material was intentionally carried from place to place for future use; (5) early hominid populations that made and used stone implements were not necessarily dependent upon them for their survival.     

The efficacy of violence mitigation: A second look using time-series analysis

Among peace researchers and practitioners, it is generally accepted that efforts to prevent violence can be instrumental in its mitigation. So, it was distressing to read the research findings of Meier, Bond, and Bond (2007) that mitigation was positively related to organized raids in the Horn of Africa where there is pastoralist–pastoralist and pastoralist–agriculturalist violence. This article seeks to build on their research. It uses a ‘de-trending’ approach for time-series analysis that is commonly used in economics and financial studies. It reports an opposite statistically significant finding. When the data used by Meier et al. are de-trended, violence associated with organized raids is negatively correlated with mitigation. This negative correlation is similar when data on mitigation and organized raids are de-trended with time as a predictor, on the one hand, and with seasonality over time as a predictor, on the other. Implications regarding the temporal dimension of peace research and practice are presented.     

Women anthropologists look at women

Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, eds. Woman, Culture, and Society. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974. xi + 352 pp. Figures, tables, references, and index. $12.50 (cloth), $3.95 (paper).     

有空时抬头看看天

组这一期稿件时,正值500年一遇的日全食在长江流域的上空演绎。跟大部分人一样,我也去买了一幅日食观测镜。随镜附送的宣传卡片上的几行字吸引了我的注意——一个民族有一些关注天空的人,他们才有希望;一个民族只是关心脚下的事情,那是没有未来的。上网一查,才知道这几句话其实是温家宝总理在某大学所作的一个即席演讲中提到的,后来随同他的《仰望星空》一诗一同发表在《人民日报》上。     

Australian-African relations 2002: Another look

Various recent developments and events in Africa, including the involvement in 2002 of the Prime Minister of Australia in Commonwealth initiatives in relation to Zimbabwe, have made it timely to review the nature and extent of Australia's relations with African countries. This commentary describes current Australian policies on Africa, including trade relations and aid programs, against the background of the political and economic situation in Africa in the new millennium. In conclusion, the comment is made that Australia's dealings with African countries might have more significance to its own interests than is generally acknowledged. This is so particularly in respect of common standpoints on multilateral trade issues, and the future of the British Commonwealth.