L'église d'al-Qousour Failaka, État de Koweit

In 1989 a French team conducted excavations at the site of al-Qousour on the island of Failaka, State of Kuwait. The excavations resulted in the discovery of a Christian church complete with two crosses made out of stucco. The building and its contents are described, and a preliminary attempt is made at determining the period of Failaka's evangelisation and of the flourishing of Christianity there.     

Economic nationalism in Flanders before the Second World War

ABSTRACT. In this article the author makes the claim that economic nationalist ideas had their origins in the Flemish Movement before the First World War and were further developed in the interwar period. This is an important modification of the classical view that Flemish nationalism before the Second World War was mainly focused on the linguistic and cultural situation in Belgium. Central to this contribution is the view of economic nationalism as an ideology using social and economic means for nationalistic purposes, although there are variations in the degree to which economy and nationalism are tools or purpose. In any case there was not much consistency, because there were different views on what constituted the interests of the ‘Flemish nation’, and which social and economic principles should be adopted. In addition, a movement that did not show much unity could not construct a homogeneous social‐economic agenda.     

A Healed Wound Caused by a Flint Arrowhead in a Neolithic Human Innominate from the Trou Rosette (Furfooz,Belgium)

A new case is described here of a wound caused by a flint arrowhead in the neolithic period. The specimen comes from a collective burial excavated last century in the cave Trou Rosette (Belgium). It consists of a fragment of left adult ilium. The fragment of arrowhead is located in a rounded cavity which is open in the medial surface of the bone. The CT scan and the artefact study allow us to reconstruct the scenario of the accident. The arrow pierced the musculus gluteus of the individual prior fixing in the iliac blade. The arrow tip broke at the moment of impact; its tang broke either at the moment of impact or during attempts to extract the arrow.     

The predicament of 'civil society' in Central Asia and the 'Greater Middle East'

This article discuses the concept of 'civil society' and how it has been used by the international community to promote democratization. It addresses some of the dimensions and side-effects of the policy, such as the relationship with traditional societies and power networks. It also addresses the importance of attending to the conditions of implementation, political issues such as nationalism and Islam, and political actors who may only have recent democratic credentials. Political democratization—free elections—is clearly popular in the Greater Middle East and Central Asia. During the last two years people have voted every time they have had the opportunity, despite the dangers. The debate concerning the compatibility of Islam and democracy overlooks the fact that the main obstacle to democratization in the area is usually not a religious but a secular authoritarian regime. The difficulty of building a democracy with people we do not consider to be democrats is discussed. There can be no democratization process without taking into account the mainstream Islamist parties and without acknowledging the importance of nationalism. There is a clash between the 'war on terror' approach and the call for elections: one cannot put Hamas and Hezbollah on the terrorist list and call for free elections in which both would emerge as legitimate and representative political movements.     

INTERNET ET LA RECOMPOSITION TERRITORIALE DES RELATIONS DANS L'AGRICULTURE SUISSE

L'agriculture et l'industrie agro-alimentaire suisses se transformed très rapidement. À un monde industrial fonctionnant à l'échelle nationale et basé sur des normes techniques succède un monde domestique basé sur l'identité régionale et les relations interpersonnelles. L'utilisation d'Internet devrait participer à la recomposition des relations entre producteurs et consommateurs et refléter les transformations territoriales qu'elles impliquent. Or les sites Internet de promotion des produits agricoles ne reflètent pas ces changements. Un processus d'apprentissage qui porte sur la maîtrise des techniques et leurs possibilitès d'utilisation est en cours.
The agriculture and food industry of Switzerland is undergoing rapid changes. An industrial world functioning on the national scale is being succeeded by a domestic world based on regional identity and person-to-person relationships. The use of the Internet should contribute to the restructuring of relations between producers and consumers and should reflect the territorial transformations which they imply. However, Internet sites advertising agricultural products do not reflect these changes. A learning process — related to the control of techniques and their opportunities — is currently underway.