Atlas of the United States

In an attempt to distinguish between regional physical geography and the Soviet school of landscape science, the author defines the study objects of the two disciplines and provides a useful review of the present state of landscape science in the Soviet Union. Physical geography is said to be concerned with study of the entire geographical shell of the earth, ranging from the troposphere to the bottom of the layer of sedimentary rocks in the earth's crust. Landscape science focuses on the so-called landscape sphere, which is defined as the portion of the geographical shell that lies at or near the surface of the earth and is imbued with present-day life. Although some Soviet geographers treat the term “landscape” as a broad conceptual term (similar to climate), most investigators tend to give the term a classificatory or typological connotation, regarding landscape as the basic unit in a classification of natural geocomplexes. One landscape school focuses on the morphological structure of landscape, the other on model-building of the landscape mechanism.     

Ethnic groups in the United States

Shirley Achor. Mexican Americans in a Dallas Barrio. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 1978. xii + 202 pp. $12.50 cloth, $6.95 paper.

Thomas Sowell. Ethnic America: A History. New York: Basic Books, 1981. 353 pp. $16.95.

Arnulfo D. Trejo, ed. The Chicanos: As We See Ourselves. Tucson, Arizona: The University of Arizona Press, 1979. $12.50 cloth, $7.50 paper.     

Cartography in the Universities of the United States

The Soviet Union's foremost university cartographer reviews the content of United States cartography training on the basis of Arthur H. Robinson's Elements of Cartography. He notes that relatively little attention is given to field methods of map compilation and to the problem of generalization. The division between geographical cartography and topography-geodesy is found to be a shortcoming that is reflected, in part, in what is regarded as poor geographic content of United States topographic maps.     

Africa and the United States

Peter J. Schraeder. United States Foreign Policy toward Africa: Incrementalism, Crisis, and Change . New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.     

Drinking-Place Names in the Central United States

Regional patterns in the names of commercial drinking establishments are explored with reference to the delimitation of culture areas in 15 states between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. A data base of over 6.000 names, taken from 105 yellow-page telephone directories, represents some one-third of all establishments, with a focus upon cities of small and medium sizes

Four categories of names are examined: generic, environment-related, ethnic-social and "western." Quantitative expressions of nomenclature are augmented with a frequency measure of all establishments in constructing a set of nine drinking-place regions, the most definitive of which are titled Bar Bell, Beer Parlor Belt, Dixie Drought Belt and Drinking Club Belt.

Drinking-place regions are at greatest variance from recognized culture areas in respect to the West, the northern Middle West, the northern Rio Grande Valley and a tri-state zone from southern Kansas to northern Texas. More intensive studies of drinking-place names, as a possible prelude to full cultural reexaminations, are recommended for these four geographic sectors in particular.     

The Geography of Industry in the United States

This review article surveys American work on the geography of industry from the point of view of five lines of research: (1) the development of a general theory of industrial location; (2) the geography of manufacturing as a whole and the delimitation of manufacturing districts; (3) the geography of individual industries; (4) study of individual industrial districts and centers; and (5) the effect of technological change on the geography of industry.     

The Politics of HDTV in the United States

Policies adopted by the United States government between 1987 and 1993 regarding high definition television (HDTV) were made primarily by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). A brief effort by members of Congress and their bureaucratic and industrial allies to link HDTV to broader industrial policies was thwarted by the George Bush Administration between 1988 and 1990. The FCC's policies with respect to simulcasting and digital signals reflected the concern of that agency to protect the interests of consumers, broadcasters, and electronics manufacturers. The first two interests traditionally were protected by the FCC, whereas the protection of electronics was somewhat unusual and was influenced by perceptions of declining United States competitiveness. In addition, United States policymaking in this area depended strongly on the framing effect of policies adopted in Japan and Western Europe.     

美国与1966年联合国中国代表权问题

1964年以后,国际社会支持中国恢复在联合国席位的力量日益增强。在1966年联合国关于中国代表权问题的讨论中,为阻止中国进入联合国,美国投入了极大的精力。在这一过程中,美国及其盟国和蒋介石集团发生了尖锐的矛盾,经过讨价还价,美国在盟国的压力下作了相应的让步,美蒋最终达成妥协,中国仍然被排除在联合国之外。     

关于1940年美英“驱逐舰换基地”协定的历史考察

1940年 9月美国和英国签订的“驱逐舰换基地”的秘密协定 ,是第二次世界大战爆发后美国尚处在战争之外的情况下 ,两国间达成的第一个重要双边军事协定。经过近 4个月的谈判 ,英国获得了迫切需要的驱逐舰 5 0艘 ,美国以此换取了租借英国在西大西洋和加勒比海上的 8个海空军基地 99年的权利 ,以及英国政府的重要保证 :英国一旦战败 ,皇家海军决不投降也不会被凿沉 ,而是开到海外继续保卫帝国