Three visions of the bomb: Australian thinking about nuclear weapons and strategy

This article argues that, over the decades, Australians have held three different, coherent, long-lived ‘visions’ of nuclear weapons and strategy. Those visions—which we have labelled Menzian, Gortonian and disarmer—compete on four grounds: the role that nuclear weapons play in international order; the doctrine of deterrence; the importance of arms control; and the relevance of nuclear weapons to Australia's specific needs. We believe this ‘textured’ framework provides a richer, more satisfying, and more accurate understanding of Australian nuclear identity, both past and present, than previous scholarship has yielded. Moreover, the competition between the three visions might not be at an end. Changes in international norms, in proliferation rates, in regional strategic dynamics, or even in the deterrence doctrines of the major powers could easily reawaken some old, enduring debates. Australian nuclear identity faces an uncertain future.     

Measuring the Effects of Consensus-building Processes with Methods of Intervention Research

In recent years, both environmental policy and research have emphasized the importance of involving the public in decision-making. This push for more participation is driven by considerable optimism about its ability to improve the quality of decisions and developments. There is, however, a lack of empirical research to support this assumption. The few studies that have attempted to measure the effect of public participation are of limited validity, as they were based on ex-post data mainly gained from expert assessments or document analysis. This paper reports on a recent study to measure and compare the effect of two consensus-building processes in a systematic and reliable way. This involved developing a new evaluation method based on the methodology of intervention research in environmental psychology. It was tested and applied in this study with two similarly designed consensus-building processes conducted in two neighbouring valleys of the Eastern Swiss Alps. These evaluation experiments showed that (a) the new evaluation method can measure and compare the effects of consensus-building processes in a differentiated and reliable way; and (b) consensus-building processes have systematic and partly statistically significant effects (at least in the short term) on several aspects of regional consensus. The initial results suggest that this new evaluation method is a promising way of obtaining reliable evidence about the societal effects of participatory processes.     

Dating the Domestic Ceramics and Pipe Smoking Related Artifacts from Casselden Place, Melbourne, Australia

This paper compares the dates of manufacture obtained for the domestic ceramic and pipe smoking related artifact assemblages from Casselden Place, Melbourne. It has previously been argued that ceramic items, because of their potentially long use-lives, may be deposited many years after their date of manufacture and purchase. This is in contrast to pipe smoking related items, which tend to have very short use-lives. However, the results presented here demonstrate that there is no significant evidence for a time lag between the date of manufacture of the ceramic items and their incorporation into the archaeological record at Casselden Place.     

Demographische Entwicklung in der Metropolregion Berlin-Brandenburg

Denn eins ist sicher: Die Rente. Der vielzitierte Satz des früheren Arbeits- und Sozialministers Norbert Blüm klingt heute vielen wie Hohn. Der Altersaufbau der deutschen Bevölkerung erinnert grafisch immer mehr an einen Baum auf dünnem Stämmchen als an eine Pyramide. Angesichts dessen rücken demographische Entwicklungen mehr und mehr in den Fokus der Öffentlichkeit. Besonders die neuen Bundesländer sind massiv von Abwanderung und einem nie dagewesenen Geburtenrückgang betroffen. DIPL.-GEOGR. UTE C. BAUER sprach mit FRIEDRICH BLUTH und WOLF BEYER über die Besonderheiten der demographischen Prozesse in Berlin und Brandenburg. Beyer leitete bis Anfang 2004 das brandenburgische Referat für Raumbeobachtung. Seine Aufgabe bestand darin, Planungsgrundlagen für die Gemeinsame Landesplanung Berlin-Brandenburg(GL) zu schaffen. Dazu zählen auch Bevölkerungsprognosen für die Kreise und Städte Brandenburgs. Bluth ist in der Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung Berlin beschäftigt und leitet dort die Gruppe Stadtwissen, Stadtentwicklungsmonitoring, Bevölkerungsprognose.