State Failure and the Clash of Civilisations: An Examination of the Magnitude and Extent of Domestic Civilisational Conflict from 1950 to 1996

This study quantitatively examines Samuel Huntington's 'clash of civilisations' theory using data from the State Failure dataset which focuses on intense and violent internal conflicts between 1950 and 1996. The proportion of state failures which are civilisational has remained mostly constant since 1965. The absolute amount of civilisational conflict has dropped considerably since the end of the Cold War. There is no clear evidence that the overall intensity of civilisational state failures is increasing in proportion to non-civilisational state failures. Also, the predictions of Islam's 'bloody borders' and the Confucian/Sinic-Islamic alliance against the West have not yet occurred. In fact, Islamic groups 'clash' mostly with other Islamic groups. However, the majority of the West's civilisational conflicts, during the Cold War and to a lesser extent after it, are with the Islamic civilisation. Thus it is arguable that Huntington's prediction that the Islamic civilisation is a potential threat to the West is probably more due to the end of the relevance of the Cold War paradigm than any post-Cold War changes in the nature of conflict. This highlights the potential influence of paradigms on policy and should serve as a caution to academics and policy makers to be more aware of the assumptions they make based on any paradigm.     

Interpreting Socioeconomic Changes in 17th-Century England and Port Royal, Jamaica, Through Analysis of the Port Royal Kaolin Clay Pipes

The Port Royal pipes reflect a growing consumerism in 17th-century English economy. The desire for tobacco fueled a tobacco-growing economy in the Chesapeake colonies, which then contributed to England's economic growth. This growth was aided by small preindustrial manufactures like clay pipes, which helped supplement family household incomes, so that small luxuries could be purchased. Along with tobacco smoking, novel types of food and drink were consumed, resulting in the adoption of new customs and habits, particularly in frequenting public institutions like coffeehouses and taverns in both England and Port Royal.     

Democratic Rural Development: Leadership Accountability in Regional Peasant Organizations

Many development analysts assert the importance of democratic social organizations, but few either document or analyse the actual processes of internal democracy. This study examines part of the broader problem of the ‘Iron Law of Oligarchy’ — the ebbs and flows of leadership accountability over time. Drawing on the history of a Mexican regional peasant organization since 1974, the analysis suggests that different kinds of organizational structures encourage or discourage membership action, but moments of mass direct action in turn shape the ways in which organizational structures actually distribute power. The case analysis shows how the interaction of internal and external factors shaped the balance of power between leaders and members at each critical turning point. Participatory subgroups turn out to be the crucial counterweight to concentrated leadership power, mediating relations with the membership and providing alternative sources of leadership. Whether formal or informal, multiple vertical channels and alternative horizontal linkages between membership groups are crucial complements, and sometimes substitutes, to conventional organizational structures.     

Goats Mingling With Sheep? Professionalisation,Personalities, and Partnerships Between British Civil and Military Engineers,c.1837–1939

This article explores the entangled history of civil and military engineering from 1837 to 1939. Typically characterised in the historiography as a relationship marked by neglect and intransigence, it reveals a longstanding kinship between the two professions, built on the firm foundations of mutual interest and respect. Charting the formal and informal links between civil and military engineering in terms of knowledge, recruitment, and education, this article argues that the relationship, while often characterised by tensions and disagreements, represented a process of re-negotiation and renewal to meet new challenges and altered contexts.