Neutron imaging study of ‘pattern-welded’ swords from the Viking Age

We present novel imaging results from a non-invasive examination of three ‘pattern-welded’ swords from the Viking Age belonging to the National Museum of Denmark, using white beam and energy resolved tomographies with neutrons. Pattern-welded blades are made by forge welding together thin strips of iron and steel that were twisted and joined in various ways, producing a decorative pattern on the surface. The study shed light on the inner structure of the composite material and manufacturing techniques of these admired examples of past technology, revealing some otherwise invisible details of their assembly methods, phase distribution and extent of the corrosion.     

The benefits of foreign policy bipartisanship revisited: lessons from two Canadian cases

Although foreign policy bipartisanship in Westminster systems is often heralded as a normative good, there is an emerging scholarship which suggests that a bipartisan approach to foreign and defence policy comes with considerable costs. This article seeks to join that debate. It does so by examining two contemporary foreign/defence policy issues in Canadian politics: the mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014 and the efforts to replace the CF-18 Hornet flown by the Royal Canadian Air Force. These two cases do not offer clear conclusions about the normative argument about foreign policy bipartisanship. The embrace of a bipartisan approach to the Afghanistan mission confirms the criticism that bipartisanship can suppress public debate and did indeed distort a consideration of policy options. But the case of the CF-18 replacement suggests that there are significant costs if government and opposition replace a search for bipartisan consensus on key policy issues with an overt politicisation that seeks partisan advantage by ‘playing politics’ with foreign and defence policy issues, concluding that the quality of partisanship is a necessary condition to avoid the dysfunctions and costs of bipartisanship.     

Book reviews

Heinz W. Arndt, The Rise and Fall of Economic Growth: A Study in Contemporary Thought. Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1978, pp. 161. $6.95.

Coral Bell (Ed.), Agenda for The Eighties. ANU Press, Canberra, 1980, pp.256. $12.95 (paper).

Mohammed Ayoob (ed.), Conflict and Intevention in the Third World. Croom Helm, London, and ANU Press, Canberra, 1980, pp. 261. $37.50.

Anthony Reid, The Blood of the People Revolution and the End of Traditional Rule in Northern Sumatra. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur. 1979, pp. 288. $43.20.

Leslie H. Gelb with Richard K. Betts, The Irony of Vietnam: The System Worked. The Brookings Institution, Washington, 1979, pp. 387. £12.50 hardcover, £4.95 paper.

B. N. Pandey (ed.), Leadership in South Asia. New Delhi, Vikas Publishing House, 1977, pp.xxiv+731.

S.A.A. Rizvi, Iran: Royalty, Religion and Revolution. Ma'rifat Publishing House, Canberra, 1980, pp. 392. $30.00.

Amin Saikal, The Rise and Fall of the Shah, Princeton University Press and Angus and Robertson (Australia), 1980, pp. 279. US$14.50.

Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1978. pp.1283. $94.00.

Uri Davis, Israel: Utopia Incorporated. Zed Press Ltd., London, 1977, pp.182. £5.00 (Paperback: £2.95).

Rosemary Sayigh, Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries. Zed Press Ltd., London, 1979, pp.206. £8.95 (Paperback: £2.95).

Selwyn Lloyd, Suez 1956: A Personal Account. Jonathon Cape, London, 1978, pp. 282. £6.50.

John Kane‐Berman, South Africa: The Method in the Madness. Pluto Press. London. 1979, pp. 265. £2.95.

Rene Lemarchand (ed.), American Policy in Southern Africa: The Stakes and the Stance. University Press of America, Washington, D.C., 1978, pp. 450.

Richard E. Bissell, Southern Africa in the World: Autonomy or Interdependence? Foreign Policv Research Institute. Philadelphia, 1978, pp. 67. US $4.00.

Claude Ake, Revolutionary Pressures in Africa. Zed Press Ltd., London, 1978, pp. 109. £6.50.

Robin Palmer and Neil Parsons (eds.), The Roots of Rural Poverty in Central and Southern Africa. Heinemann, London, 1977, pp.xviii + 430. £2.90.

Karl Kaiser and Hans‐Peter Schwarz (eds.), America and Western Europe: Problems and Prospects. Lexington Books, D. C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Mass., 1978, pp. 448.

Walter F. Hahn and Robert L. Pfaltzgraff Jr. (eds.), Atlantic Community in Crisis: A Redefinition of the Transatlantic Relationship. Pergamon, New York. 1979. pp. 386.

Annette Baker Fox, The Politics of Attraction: Four Middle Powers and the United States. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 371. $US21.90.

Nikolai Sivachev and Nikolai Yakovlev, Russia and the United States. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1979, pp.301. $12.95.

L. F. Fitzhardinge, The Little Digger 1914–1952: William Morris Hughes, A Political Biography, Volume II. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1979, pp.xx + 703. $40.

Australia and the Indonesian Revolution: by Margaret George. (M.U.P. in association with the Australian Institute of International Affairs).