Muslim village intellectuals: The life of the mind in northern Pakistan

The findings reported in this article would not have been possible without the help and support of many people in Chitral. Fieldwork in Chitral was conducted with the generous support of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, an ESRC research studentship, and a grant from the British Academy Society for South Asian Studies. It has also benefited from sustained and insightful criticism from Dr Susan Bayly, and from four anonymous AT reviewers. Pseudonyms are used for places and people throughout the text.

• 1. 

  I first lived Chitral as a school-leaver in 1995 and made three subsequent visits before conducting a 20-month period of 'formal' anthropological fieldwork in the region between April 2000 and October 2001. This period of fieldwork was followed up by three further shorter stays.

       

Assessing Recovery from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: An Application of Night‐time Light Data and Vegetation Index

It has been 10 years since the Indian Ocean Tsunami caused serious damage to the coastal areas in South and Southeast Asia. The effects on vegetation and human settlements in the affected areas were enormous. This study presents the results of an analysis estimating the long‐term recovery using two longitudinal remotely sensed dataset: 1. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer enhanced vegetation index (MODIS EVI), a dataset accounting for change in the landscape and vegetation; and 2. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program‐Optical Line Scanner (DMSP‐OLS) night‐time light data in order to estimate the effects on human and economic activities. It is evident from the results of this study that the night‐time light and vegetation index datasets can both be beneficial in identifying changes caused by natural disasters and can be used to track recovery. The results using night‐time light indicates a large loss of lighted area but also a rapid recovery of night‐time light after the tsunami. Already in year 2005–2006, the levels of lighted area and sum of the lighting (SOL) intensity reached the same levels as pre‐tsunami. For MODIS vegetation index, a drop can be observed in 2005/2006 on locations close to the coastline using 1 year temporal resolution; however, when utilizing the 16 day temporal resolution, the impact of the tsunami is illustrated as a dramatic drop, mostly in pixels located within 3km from the coast. Following the drop in vegetation index due to the tsunami, it was observed that most pixels exhibited at least some level of recovery in 2 years after the event.     

THE TSIMSHIAN, THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY, AND THE GEOPOLITICS OF THE NORTHWEST COAST FUR TRADE, 1787–1840

The paper examines the first half-century of the fur trade on the Northwest Coast from the perspective of its First Nations participants. It focuses on the array of initiatives taken by Ligeex, a prominent Tsimshian chief, to insert non-native traders within the geopolitics of the indigenous world. The reconstruction is undertaken by linking Tsimshian oral narratives with Euro-American documentary sources.
ľarticle traite des cinquante premiéres années du commerce des fourrures sur la côte nord-ouest du point de vue des participants membres des Premiéres Nations. II se concentre sur la série ďinitiatives entreprises par Ligeex, un chef tsimshian de premier rang, afin ďincorporer les commerçants allochtones à la géopolitique du monde indigéne. La reconstruction est effectuée en reliant des narrations de la tradition orale tsimshiane à des sources documentaires euro-américaines.     

Bush,Obama and a faith‐based US foreign policy

In a calculated move to appeal to his core constituency during his first term, President George W. Bush launched domestic and international faith‐based initiatives designed to leverage public finance for religious groupings to carry out social and welfare functions formerly performed by government or secular organizations. In December 2002 the Center for Faith‐Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI) was extended to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Center's intention was to ‘create a level playing field’ for faith‐based and community groups to compete for foreign assistance funding. These presidential initiatives are problematic, however, calling into question the first amendment—the separation of church and state. Upon taking office Barack Obama set up the Office of Faith‐based and Neighborhood Partnerships, promising a greater emphasis on community/neighbourhood programs. The CFBCI remains a fixture in USAID and Obama shows as much enthusiasm for the initiative as his predecessor. Faith‐based international relations and political science scholars have sought to build on these initiatives and call for a greater role for faith in US foreign policy. On the eve of the 2012 presidential election, this article considers the claims for a faith‐based foreign policy by examining the construction of a faith‐based discourse by academics and successive presidents. Using faith‐based initiatives and USAID as a case–study, the article discusses criticisms of the policy and focuses on the role of a conservative evangelical organization, Samaritan's Purse, to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of faith‐based approaches. The article argues that advocates of faith‐based foreign policy, in seeking special privileges for ecumenical religious actors, overlook their declining international significance and the opportunities afforded to less tolerant but more populist religious actors which have the potential seriously to harm US foreign policy objectives.