HELLENISTIC GLAZED WARES FROM ATHENS AND SOUTHERN ITALY: ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES AND IMPLICATIONS

The original intention of the project, conceived in the context of the British School at Rome's excavation and survey programme in the Bradano basin (based on Gravina) was to establish the composition patterns of Hellenistic glazed wares from sites in southern Apulia, and then to use these to trace the trading patterns of the area, against a control group of sherds from the Athenian Agora. It proved possible to distinguish Attic from Apulian sherds by their nickel and chromium content, and average-link-cluster-analysis by computer showed that Gnathian ware from Taranto could be distinguished from seven other south Italian groups, suggesting that speciality wares were made of clays from special beds. Because of the geological homogeneity of the area no further distinctions could be made, but some sherds were also analysed petrologically and by heavy mineral analysis, for a methodological comparison. The very homogeneous geology, coupled with the fineness of the wares showed these methods to be at the limits of their usefulness. Only very generalized conclusions could be drawn concerning the origin of the pottery from the petrological evidence; the micro-mineralogical data showed that interesting differences existed between pottery from the main Apulian sites, but these could equally have reflected natural variations occurring within fairly homogeneous clay deposits.     

Libya and Syria: R2P and the spectre of the swinging pendulum

This article examines recent UN Security Council deliberations over events in Libya and Syria and in particular assesses the extent to which Council members sought to justify their positions and voting behaviour by reference to the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P). It shows how limited invocations of R2P were with regard to Libya, before proceeding to demonstrate how, somewhat paradoxically, R2P‐sceptics such as Russia and China subsequently drew upon concerns over the manner in which NATO implemented its UN‐mandate in Libya to cast doubts over R2P during debates over Syria. Contemplating the implications of the Libyan and Syrian cases for the future of R2P, the article concludes by arguing that the concept's international standing can best be preserved through the excision of its most coercive elements; R2P should be reconstituted as a standard of acceptable sovereign behaviour and a mechanism geared towards the provision of international guidance and support, while decisions over coercive military intervention, inevitably infused with considerations of strategic interest, should be made outside the R2P framework.     

'A Matter of Regret': Britain, the 1983 Grendada Crisis, and the Special Relationship

When the USA launched a military intervention in Grenada inOctober 1983 it was against the wishes of its closest ally,Britain, who felt deliberately misled as to Washington's intentions.As a former British colony and member of the Commonwealth, withthe Queen as Head of State, Grenada remained of interest toBritain. This article will provide a detailed analysis of Anglo-Grenadianrelations and the events and contacts between the USA and Britainduring and after the 1983 crisis and assess the role of the‘special relationship’ in shaping Britain's reactionto the intervention. I conclude that the conventional wisdomthat Britain was ‘in the dark’ about what was happeningis not entirely accurate. ^*The views expressed in this article represent those of theauthor alone.     

International peacekeeping: the challenges of state-building and regionalization

This review article examines four recent books that explore how international peacekeepers have coped with the challenges of state-building and regionalization. Two volumes analyse the pitfalls and prospects of international attempts to turn war-shattered states into stable market democracies, while two volumes explore the problems and opportunities thrown up by attempts to forge effective working relationships between the United Nations and regional arrangements in Europe, Africa and beyond. The review concludes that although state-building is most legitimate when conducted under the auspices of the UN, the organization's almost permanent condition of overstretch and the US-led 'war on terrorism' have undermined its practical ability to lead such operations. It also suggests that the current approach to regionalization is unlikely to provide panacea for state-building or more general peacekeeping problems.