Documents found
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4152.More information
This article explores changes in the international political significance of "strategic minerals" over the past half-century. The method of analysis is comparative historical, or "diachronic", and the major issues examined are: 1) minerals as a cause of international conflict; 2) minerals as a factor contributing to the military potential of states; and 3) the question of mineral scarcity. In addition to the above issues, the author analyzes two central concepts, "geopolitics" and "strategic minerals" . He concludes that while it does make sense to speak of a "new geopolitics of Minerals" in the post-1973 era, there are nevertheless important ways in which recent strategic-minerals issues resemble those of the earlier period under examination, the interwar years (and, in particular, the 1930s). What does not seem to have changed in respect of strategic minerals since the 1930 s is that access to them continues ultimately to be a function of political processes, and therefore the access question remains what it was, a matter of geopolitical concern. Where there have been differences in the relevance of strategic minerals, these have mainly consisted in: 1) the declining importance of minerals as a major contributory factor in the breakdown of world order; 2) the lessening of what had formerly been a deterministic equation between mineral possession and military potential; and 3) the increased salience in the post-1973 era of the perception that access will be affected by the growing scarcity of minerals, whether due to the actual depletion of reserves or politically induced supply disruptions.
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4154.
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4155.More information
This article seeks to provide a first attempt at finding a way through the intricate jungle created by at least nine political Systems electing members for one Parliament. The analysis is divided into four steps. The first step considers the actors and the rules of the game and results in a clear conclusion : neither the rules (the electoral Systems) nor the actors (European political parties) allow for the expression of any kind of political will. The second step of the analysis deals with some generalizations about the so-called European trends of the election. The "nonvoters' party" appears as the clear winner. Moreover, this is the only commonpattern observed in the nine countries.The third step is comprised of a country by country overview. Rather than referring to the European election, one should talk about at least elevent different elections each with a different set of issues. In terms of the issues, Denmark is the sole country where essentially European matters were in the forefront. In the other cases, the election of the MEP resembles an opinion poll designed especially to meet the needs of national leaders and parties. The article concludes by considering future developments. The real European elections will take place in 1984. What will happen from June 1979 until 1984 will be akin to rehersals for a play. The script seems well written and the dialogue is interesting. However, the actors (the parties) are untrained. The destiny of the performance will entirely depend on the actors.
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4156.More information
Analyses et middle or « lesser » powers, unlike those of great and small powers, have not secured a distinctive place in the international politics literature and have generally not contributed to or borrowed from contemporary theoretical developments. The present study examines the foreign policy behavior of a lesser power (Canada) with an interrelated set of hypotheses drawn from theories explaining behavior as a function of the attributes of targets and actors. The four « relational » attributes employed here are status, salience, similarity, and proximity. Quantitative measures for these relational factors and for five categories of Canadian behavior across 51 (Canada to x) dyads are developed with particular attention being paid to questions of empirical-theoretical fit. Correlational analysis reveals many of the relational attributes and indicators explain a significant amount of variation in the behavior measures. Greater status, salience and proximity generally lead to more frequent Canadian activity. Status differences are particularly strongly related to all five types of dyadic behavior. Similarity appears a less influential factor. A further partial correlation analysis suggests that for Canada the relational attributes are interrelated with each other and with behavior in a patterned way. Greater proximity leads to increased salience, as do greater status and similarity. In turn, greater salience, status and similarity all lead to more frequent behavior of most types. These results tend to support some and refute other general hypotheses about target-actor attributes and behavior, and perhaps suggest some particular features of lesser power activity.
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4157.More information
This article discusses the patterned differences among immigrant groups in their forms of entry and labour market incorporation. The view advanced here revolves around the concepts of different modes of structural incorporation and of the immigrant enclave as one of them. These concepts are set in explicit opposition to two previous viewpoints on the adaptation process generally identified as assimilation theory and the segmented labour markets approach.This discussion then, represents a significant advance from earlier undifferentiated descriptions of the adaptation process. The typology presented here however, constitutes a provisional effort. Just as detailed research on the conditions of particular minorities has replaced earlier broad generalizations, the propositions advanced here will require revision. New groups arriving in the United States at present and a revived interest on immigration should provide the required incentive for empirical studies and theoretical advances in the future.
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4159.More information
The family approach has been reported to be the most efficient in drugs and alcohol comsume, mental disorders and misbehaviour among children and adolescents. It has important consequences on the families and their children and allows a type of intervention leading to the promotion of protection factors and the reduction of risk factors and misbehaviour patterns. This work sheds light on the process of adaptation of the Strengthening Families Program in Spain (Orte et al., 2006) and the outcomes of the application of the Program of Family Competences until 2011. The work also shows the results of the longitudinal analysis done in 2012, reporting the maintenance and middle term effects of the participation to the program.
Keywords: prévention, dépendances, compétences familiales, prevention, addiction, family competences, prevención, abusivo, competencia familiar
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4160.More information
In southern Québec there are many morphologie and stratigraphie indices of erosional activity subsequent to the last déglaciation, 10,000-14,000 years B.P. Because classical climatic geomorphology has for a long time considered the temperate forest ecosystem in its natural state as one of the least active of geomorphic systems, there has been a tendency to relate many of the resultant landforms and structures to climatic fluctuations and particularly to periglacial phases in the period of transition from the late Wisconsin to the early Holocene period. Whilst not denying the validity of certain of these relationships, the authors fieldwork on the steep slopes of northern Gaspésie show that morphogenetic stability did not coincide with the regional transition at about 9 300 years BP from a periglacial climate to a temperate forest climate. Alluvial cones, fans, stratified screes (grèzes litées) have been built up metachronously by various processes. The following local conditions contribute to the sustained vigour of this erosion; 1) the steepness of the slopes and the fissile nature of the bedrock producing intense and frequent operation of geomorphic processes which in turn retards the establishment of a protective vegetation cover, 2) the slow forest colonisation in the postglacial period, 3) the melt-waters from valley glaciers followed by wave action on the shores of the Goldthwait Sea causing the base of the slopes to be sapped until well into the postglacial period, thus also delaying the process of forest colonisation and resultant stabilisation of the slopes.