States of Insecurity

Under Communism, Albania and North Korea rejected de-Stalinisation, clung to leader cults, and, after the acrimonious break between Moscow and Beijing, championed ‘self-reliance’. Often mentioned in passing, the Albanian–North Korean parallel has seldom been analysed. This article highlights three aspects that shaped the Communist regimes' insecurity: the social dynamics of war and early threats; the challenge presented by de-Stalinisation in 1956; and the momentous Sino–Soviet split in the early 1960s. Like the boisterous language of Marxism-Leninism and the drive to engineer a non-capitalist society, insecurity was also built into the Communist international system. Clinging to Stalinist methods, then, was also a reflection of the self-destructive potential of calls for reforming the Communist system, which threatened to tear the Eastern bloc apart. Tirana and Pyongyang pursued different paths to ‘self-reliance’, yet they could not help speaking a similar language and facing similar problems. North Korea ultimately joined the Non-Aligned Movement but achieved little success in the Third World. The irony is that tiny, isolated Albania, which shunned the Movement, ultimately ended up non-aligned: violently critical of Moscow, Beijing, and Washington, and distrustful of practically everyone else.     

Laser scanning for the documentation and management of heritage sites within the Emirate of Fujairah,United Arab Emirates

The Emirate of Fujairah in the UAE has many important cultural and archaeological sites. These include the Fujairah and Al‐Bithnah forts and the Al‐Bidyah Mosque. With increasing tourism patronage and development of major infrastructure projects in and around Fujairah, these sites are increasingly under threat. Their present condition requires careful mapping for proper management and future preservation efforts. This paper presents a research project that is developing a method for surveying and recording important archaeological sites. Using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), a number of surveys were undertaken in and around the emirate. These surveys enabled a documentation of their present condition and will form an ongoing baseline study to monitor the impact of increased tourist patronage and climate change at these sites. We also investigate and make basic comparisons between our approach and the Structure from Motion (SfM) technique.