THE GRAND MENHIR BRISÉ: ITS FALL and FRACTURE

The stability of the Grand Menhir against high velocity winds, and its fall and subsequent breakage are analyzed dynamically. It is concluded that the present locations of the fragments indicate strongly that the menhir was indeed erected and that it broke on impacting with the ground. the Grand Menhir Brisé represents a unique example of breakage in which dynamical principles of solid mechanics have been found scientifically appropriate.     

THE BADBURY-SHAPWICK HOARD AND THE DATE OF THE MAIDEN CASTLE COINS FROM SIR MORTIMER WHEELER'S 1934–1937 EXCAVATIONS

Summary. Fifteen Celtic coins found during Sir Mortimer Wheeler's excavations have never been dated with precision. A hoard of similar coins, found in the vicinity of Badbury Rings hillfort gives us a yardstick for their chronology.     

Managing Neoliberal Urban Spaces: Commercial Property Development at Australian Airports

Airports are remaking Australian cities as they remake themselves as privatised enclaves of commercial entrepreneurialism. In line with overseas trends towards airport cities, all major federally leased Australian airports now derive a significant proportion of their revenue from non‐aeronautical property development. New land uses such as direct factory outlets, big‐box retailing, and even brickworks have proven most controversial. State governments, local councils, community groups, industry, and professional associations have expressed concerns about these commercial developments with statutory responsibility for development approvals vested solely in the federal government. The paper draws on the concept of ‘actually existing neoliberalism’ to interpret the making of the new market‐driven airport spaces, the controversies which have ensued, and the re‐regulatory interventions of the Commonwealth required to address community tensions. The debate about development of non‐aeronautical activities on federally leased airport land is explored through the lens of the National Aviation Policy Review. The recommendations of this Review aim to incrementally reconfigure the policy commitment to ‘light handed’ regulation but future planning conflicts seem inevitable.     

Lessons from Helmand,Afghanistan: what now for British counterinsurgency?

This article analyses the conduct of British operations in Helmand between 2006 and 2010 and discusses the implications for the legacy and future of British counterinsurgency. A number of lessons stand out: first, competence in the field of counterinsurgency is neither natural nor innate through regimental tradition or historical experience. The slow adaptation in Helmand—despite the opportunity to allow the Basra experience to be a leading example of the need for serious changes in training and mindset—is an indication that the expertise British forces developed in past operations is but a distant folktale within the British Armed Forces. Substantially changed training, painful relearning of counterinsurgency principles and changed mindsets are therefore necessary to avoid repeated early failures in the future. Moreover, despite eventually adapting tactically to the situation and task in Helmand, the British Armed Forces proved inadequate in dealing with the task assigned to them for two key reasons. First, the resources of the British military are simply too small for dealing with large‐scale complex engagements such as those in Helmand or southern Iraq. Second, the over‐arching comprehensive approach, and especially the civilian lines of operations that underpinned Britain's historical successes with counterinsurgency, are today missing.     

And Behind the Plate … Muddy Ruel of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar

On May 27, 1929, Herold D. Ruel “was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.” ¹ The next day, the visiting New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators 12–7. Ruel walked, singled, and drove in two runs for the home team.     

The Arab uprising and the persistence of monarchy

The Arab uprising that began in 2010 saw the fall of rulers in states that had republican governments, yet the monarchs in their states survived. This is ironic in light of the fact that many monarchs throughout history have been vulnerable to revolutions. What explains this discrepancy? Although the literature has emphasized the impact of petrodollars in preserving the rule of the monarchs, this article stresses ideological and institutional factors. Like the Soviet Union's embrace of Marxism–Leninism, the Arab republics had regimes based on the failed ideology of revolutionary nationalism. Although revolutionary nationalism, which fused the nation and state, declined by the late 1960s, it left an institutional legacy that made it difficult for the republican states to change. On the contrary, in defining themselves in opposition to revolutionary nationalism, the monarchs provided for security and stability in making themselves somewhat immune to transnational revolutionary movements like the Arab uprising. In differentiating the state from the nation, the monarchs, paradoxically, showed more respect for different societal interests within the nation than the republican rulers.