Sharing power? Prospects for a U.S. concert-balance strategy

The Pax Americana and the grand strategy of hegemony (or “Primacy”) that underpins it may be becoming unsustainable. Particularly in the wake of exhausting wars, the Global Financial Crisis, and the shift of wealth from West to East, it may no longer be possible or prudent for the United States to act as the unipolar sheriff or guardian of a world order. But how viable are the alternatives, and what difficulties will these alternatives entail in their design and execution? This analysis offers a sympathetic but critical analysis of alternative U.S. National Security Strategies of “retrenchment” that critics of American diplomacy offer. In these strategies, the United States would anticipate the coming of a more multipolar world and organize its behavior around the dual principles of “concert” and “balance,” seeking a collaborative relationship with other great powers, while being prepared to counterbalance any hostile aggressor that threatens world order. The proponents of such strategies argue that by scaling back its global military presence and its commitments, the United States can trade prestige for security, shift burdens, and attain a more free hand. To support this theory, they often look to the 19th-century concert of Europe as a model of a successful security regime and to general theories about the natural balancing behavior of states. This monograph examines this precedent and measures its usefulness for contemporary statecraft to identify how great power concerts are sustained and how they break down. The project also applies competing theories to how states might behave if world politics are in transition: Will they balance, bandwagon, or hedge? This demonstrates the multiple possible futures that could shape and be shaped by a new strategy. viii A new strategy based on an acceptance of multipolarity and the limits of power is prudent. There is scope for such a shift. The convergence of several trends—including transnational problems needing collaborative efforts, the military advantages of defenders, the reluctance of states to engage in unbridled competition, and hegemony fatigue among the American people—means that an opportunity exists internationally and at home for a shift to a new strategy. But a Concert-Balance strategy will still need to deal with several potential dilemmas. These include the difficulty of reconciling competitive balancing with cooperative concerts, the limits of balancing without a forward-reaching onshore military capability, possible unanticipated consequences such as a rise in regional power competition or the emergence of blocs (such as a Chinese East Asia or an Iranian Gulf), and the challenge of sustaining domestic political support for a strategy that voluntarily abdicates world leadership. These difficulties can be mitigated, but they must be met with pragmatic and gradual implementation as well as elegant theorizing and the need to avoid swapping one ironclad, doctrinaire grand strategy for another.

Biała Góra: the forgotten colony in the Medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands

Biała Góra 3 is a small settlement founded in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century AD in the disputed Christian borderlands of Northern Europe. The incorporation of Pomerania into the Polish state in the tenth century was followed by a process of colonisation across the lower Vistula valley, which then stalled before resuming in the thirteenth century under the Teutonic Order. Biała Góra 3 is unusual in falling between the two expansionist phases and provides detailed insight into the ethnicity and economy of this borderland community. Pottery and metalwork show strong links with both Pomeranian and German colonists, and caches of bricks and roof tiles indicate durable buildings of the kind associated with the monastic and military orders. Evidence for the presence of merchants suggests Biała Góra 3 was one of many outposts in the commercial network that shadowed the Crusades.

The neolithisation of Liguria (NW Italy): an environmental archaeological and palaeoenvironmental perspective

The archaeological evidence compiled for Liguria has enabled the formulation of a comprehensive model of Neolithic social, technological and economic development (∼7800–5700 cal yrs BP). The model indicates that during the Early and Middle Neolithic (∼7800–6300 cal yrs BP; ‘Impressed Ware’ and ‘Square Mouthed’ pottery cultures) human activity mainly focussed on low (coastal) and mid-altitude areas. By the Late Neolithic (∼6300–5700 cal yrs BP; ‘Chassey’ culture) farming practices were taking place over a wider range of altitudes and involved transhumant pastoralism. Complementary environmental archaeological and palaeoecological records from caves, open-air sites, lakes and mires indicate that human activities had a more significant impact on the environment than previously thought. This included clearance, especially Abies, Ulmus, Fraxinus and Tilia, and woodland utilisation and management (e.g. leaf foddering), as well as cereal cultivation and animal husbandry. The influence of Middle Holocene climatic changes, especially from ∼7800 cal yrs BP, on the direction of vegetation changes and socio-economic developments during the Neolithic remain uncertain.

Re-fitting Etton: space, time and material culture within a causewayed enclosure in Cambridgeshire

This paper considers the dynamics of deposition around and across the causewayed enclosure at Etton, Cambridgeshire. As a result of detailed re-analysis (particularly refitting) of the pottery and flint assemblages from the site, it proved possible to shed new light both on the temporality of occupation and the character of deposition there. Certain aspects of our work challenge previous interpretations of the site, and of causewayed enclosures in general; but, just as importantly, others confirm materially what has previously been suggested. The quantities of material deposited at Etton reveal that the enclosure was occupied only very intermittently and certainly less regularly than other contemporary sites in the region. The spatial distribution of material suggests that the enclosure ditch lay open for the entirety of the monument's life, but that acts of deposition generally focused on a specific part of the monument at any one time. As well as enhancing our knowledge of one particular causewayed enclosure, it is hoped that this paper – in combination with our earlier analysis of the pit site at Kilverstone – makes clear the potential that detailed material analysis has to offer in relation to our understanding of the temporality of occupation on prehistoric sites in general.

Care in the community? Interpretations of a fractured goat bone from Neolithic Jarmo, Iraq

A case study of a goat metatarsal exhibiting a complex diaphyseal fracture from Pottery Neolithic Jarmo in the Central Zagros region of the eastern Fertile Crescent is here described and analysed. The Central Zagros is one of the areas with the earliest evidence for goat domestication. The significance of the pathology may be viewed within the context of domestic goat ecology in the landscape of Jarmo, potentially impacting browsing behaviour (goats raise themselves on their hind limbs to browse) and movement with the herd in the landscape (the terrain around Jarmo is very steep in places, which would be difficult for an animal to navigate on three legs). In the light of this, possible levels of care that the Neolithic human community may have afforded this animal are discussed – from a situation where therapeutic intervention may have occurred, to one of stall confinement of the animal to allow the pathology to heal, to a position of simple awareness of the condition – and how this impacts on our understanding of changes in attitudes towards animals through the process of domestication.

Shops, stalls, stores: pre-consumption deposits and centrally organised distribution in Antonine Britain

Michael Fulford writes: Recent research is shedding more light on how certain goods, particularly durable materials like pottery, were distributed in the Western provinces of the Roman Empire and on the steps which connected producer with consumer.15 This paper develops the theme further by exploring the contribution to the debate of three British sites with Antonine assemblages of unused pottery and other goods. While interest has previously focused on the samian because of the contribution that it can make to dating, this paper considers the implications of the assemblages as a whole.

Building WF16: construction of a PPNA pisé structure in Southern Jordan

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period in Southwest Asia is essential for our understanding of the transition to sedentary, agricultural communities. Developments in architecture are key to understanding this transition, but many aspects of PPNA architecture remain elusive, such as construction techniques, the selection of building materials, and the functional use of space. The primary aim of the research described within this contribution was to build a PPNA-like structure in order to answer questions about PPNA architecture in general, while specifically addressing issues raised by the excavation of structures at the site of WF16, Southern Jordan. The second aim was to display a ‘PPNA’ building to visitors in Wadi Faynan to enhance their understanding of the period. The experimental construction based on one of the WF16 structures showed that 1) required materials can be acquired locally; 2) a construction technique using mud layers as described in this paper was likely used; 3) flat, or very slightly dome-shaped, roofs are functional and can also be used as a solid working platform; 4) the WF16 small semi-subterranean buildings appear inappropriate for housing a nuclear family unit.

Glastonbury Abbey: archaeological investigations 1904-79

This volume reports on the results of the Glastonbury Abbey Archaeological Archive Project, a collaboration between the University of Reading and the Trustees of Glastonbury Abbey, funded principally by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The project has reassessed and reinterpreted all known archaeological records from the 1908–79 excavations and made the complete dataset available to the public through a digital archive hosted by the Archaeology Data Service (http://dx.doi.org/10.5284/1022585). The scope of the project has included the full analysis of the archaeological collections of Glastonbury Abbey by thirty-one leading specialists, including chemical and compositional analysis of glass and metal and petrological analysis of pottery and tile, and a comprehensive geophysical survey conducted by GSB Prospection Ltd. For the first time, it has been possible to achieve a framework of independent dating based on reassessment of the finds and radiocarbon dating of surviving organic material from the 1950s excavations. The principal aim of the Glastonbury Abbey Archaeological Project was to set aside previous assumptions based on the historical and legendary traditions and to provide a rigorous reassessment of the archive of antiquarian excavations. This research has revealed that some of the best known archaeological ‘facts’ about Glastonbury are themselves myths perpetuated by the abbey’s excavators.

Dating archeological ceramics from the Valley of Vitor, Arequipa by the TL method

The age of some ancient pottery from the Valley of Vitor in the region of Arequipa, Peru, is determined by the thermoluminescence (TL) method. For dating, a 325 degrees C TL peak was used and irradiation with -dose from 5 to 50Gy was carried out for the additive method, and from 0.4 to 5Gy for the regeneration method. For these dose values, the TL intensity is observed to grow linearly, obtaining an accumulated dose of 1.62 +/- 0.09Gy and 1.36 +/- 0.03Gy for the additive and regeneration methods, respectively. The age (A) of the sample was calculated by the two methods, being A=867 +/- 195 years after Christ (AC) for the additive method and A=1050 +/- 157 years AC for the regeneration method. Both results are within 800-1200 years AC, which is the period of the Wari culture.

Correlations between chemical composition and provenance of Justino site ceramics by INAA

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), have been used for the definition of compositional groups of potteries from Justino site, Brazil, according to the chemical similarities of ceramic paste. The outliers were identified by means of robust Mahalanobis distance. The temper effect in the ceramic paste was studied by means of modified Mahalanobis filter. The results were interpreted by means of cluster, principal components, and discriminant analyses. This work provides contributions for the reconstruction of the prehistory of baixo Sao Francisco region, and for the reconstitution of the Brazilian Northeast ceramist population of general frame.

Arranjos produtivo: análise da experiência do setor oleiro cerâmico de Iranduba (AM)

Diante da possibilidade de surgimento de um Arranjo Produtivo Local - APL em substituição a atual aglomeração industrial conhecida como Cluster na região do município de lranduba e de seus arredores, o estudo caracteriza o processo produtivo e administrativo das indústrias inseridas na área. O objetivo, portanto é identificar pontos necessários a transformação acompanhados pelas vantagens que a mudança pode trazer a toda a sociedade que depende do setor oleiro para sobreviver. Apesar de ocorrer cooperação entre as empresas oleiras de lranduba, os resultados do trabalho demonstram que não existe um foco de arranjo produtivo local, tão somente interação entre um aglomerado de empresas em função de necessidades focais. Nesse escopo, salientam-se como principais resultados a constatação de um sistema arcaico de produção baseado na estrutura familiar e a falta de direcionamento de políticas públicas que incentivem o surgimento do APL.

Sanções ao Irã: como elas vêm impactando a sociedade civil iraniana?

O presente trabalho visa analisar quais os efeitos das sanções impostas pelos Estados Unidos da América, União Europeia e Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas contra a sociedade civil da República Islâmica do Irã. Inicialmente será abordado o histórico da construção das sanções, observando como se deu a relação entre os EUA e o Irã após 1979 até a imposição das mais recentes sanções, com ênfase no período pós-2009, época que apresenta uma mudança no comportamento das entidades sancionadoras. Vê-se que a política norte-americana para o Irã sempre foi baseada na dualidade entre diálogo e pressões econômicas, sendo este ultimo utilizado como ferramenta para desenvolvimento do primeiro. Em seguida se analisará todo o arcabouço jurídico construído com vistas a restringir a capacidade econômica iraniana e consequentemente sua capacidade de desenvolver seu programa nuclear. Neste capitulo é observada a amplitude que alcançaram as sanções e como estas buscam apesar de tudo gerar mecanismos de alivio a sociedade civil, deixando transparecer um discurso humanitário. O ultimo capitulo terá como ênfase os impactos das sanções na sociedade civil, nele será demonstrado que apesar das exceções legislativas, a população iraniana tem sido amplamente afetada. Através da analise de depoimentos e de noticias de periódicos serão vistas quais foram esses impactos e sua extensão. Por fim faremos um breve balanço do que fora apresentado, refletindo se quais os resultados alcançados pelas sanções e se eles superam os custos sociais impostos a população iraniana.

Cerâmica de Santo Antônio do Potengi: entre tradição e modernidade

In the Rio Grande do Norte, the craftsmanship is generating of economy, it involves a significant number of people and is diversified in its raw materials and particular type. As reference of the craft local, the ceramics supplied the primary necessities in the utilitarian domestic servants, acquired piety in the religious figures, were toy in infantile amusements and, finally, gained status of pure ornament. By its historical representation, the district of Santo Antônio do Potengi is considered the most important center of manufacture of craftpottery in the State. The work of the potters continues in that locality anchored between the familiar inheritance and the participation each more influential time of the public politics destined to the sector situation verified for visible alterations in the shape of the pottery from the decade of 1990 with the implantation of a cooperative destined to the collective production. We observe in this passage, that such actions in the measure where they objectify to structuralize conditions ideal to support the artisan making, do not benefit in significant way the social development them craftsmen. It is important not to lose of sight that exists some involved dimensions in this process and that these surpass the common interest for the object and the consequent economic connotation of its commercialization. They are knowledge that imply in the access to raw materials, in the peculiar of the formal aspects and productive methods, in the contextual relations organized to defend the survival of the activity

Obtenção de uma porcelana dielétrica a partir de matérias-primas do Rio Grande do Norte

The dielectric porcelain is usually obtained by mixing various raw materials proportions and is used in the production of electronic equipment for various applications, from capacitors of high and low Power to insulators for low, medium, high and extra high voltage, which are used in distribution lines and transmission of electricity.This work was directed to the s tudy of technological properties of technic porcelain, made from raw materials extracted from pegmatites found in the regions of Seridó and the Alto Oeste of Rio Grande do Norte, which are made of kaolin, quartz and feldspar, abundant and high quality in these regions. The technic ceramics were obtained by mixing in appropriate levels, kaolin, feldspar, quartz and clay, the last item from a pottery in the city of Sao Gonçalo do Amarante, Rio Grande do Norte. During the development the following characterizations correlated to raw materials were made: laser particle sizing, x-ray diffraction, DTA and TG. The compositions studied were formed by uniaxial pressing at a pressure of 50 MPa and sintered at temperatures ranging from 1150 to 1350ºC and levels (times) of sintering between 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes. The characterization of the samples were taken from the analysis of weight loss, linear shrinkage, porosity, stoneware curve, bulk density, flexural strength of three points, SEM and X-ray diffraction, TMA, Dielectric and cross Resistivity. The studied materials can be employed in producing the objects used in electrical engineering such as: insulators for low, medium and high-voltage electrical systems, command devices, bushing insulation for transformers, power capacitors, spark plugs, receptacles for fluorescent and incandescent light bulbs and others