'American hegemony after September 11: Allies, rivals and contradictions'

11 September heralded and provided a pretext for a more aggressive but increasingly contradictory American hegemony. Some of the consequences are contrary to the United States' own interests. Its new doctrine of 'preemptive strike' against other sovereign states encourages similarly belligerent behaviour by other governments, and yet more terrorism by nonstate actors, the very threats which were to be eradicated by a re-asserted US hegemony. This essay focuses on three partly overlapping themes: different strategies towards allies - multilateral and unilateral; different forms of power - civil and military; and different ideologies of globalisation - neoliberal and neo-conservative. It argues that while US policy may oscillate between such poles, it often combines the different elements. The overall strategy of the Bush administration is best characterised as unilateral multilateralism. The main issue for US hegemonists is the ways in which their hegemony might best be exercised, maintained and strengthened vis à vis allies and rivals. But for a safer, more democratic world, the choice does not lie between one faction of US hegemonists and another: we need other alternatives such as cosmopolitan democracy and a genuine internationalist movement which would give it some much-needed substance.

Quantum-state transfer in imperfect artificial spin networks

High-fidelity quantum computation and quantum state transfer are possible in short spin chains. We exploit a system based on a dispersive qubit-boson interaction to mimic XY coupling. In this model, the usually assumed nearest-neighbor coupling is no longer valid: all the qubits are mutually coupled. We analyze the performances of our model for quantum state transfer showing how preengineered coupling rates allow for nearly optimal state transfer. We address a setup of superconducting qubits coupled to a microstrip cavity in which our analysis may be applied.

Welfare Effort and Poverty from the Monetary and Capabilities Approach: A Cross-Country Analysis in Latin American and the Caribbean (1990-2010)

There is abundant empirical evidence on the negative relationship between welfare effort and poverty. However, poverty indicators traditionally used have been representative of the monetary approach, excluding its multidimensional reality from the analysis. Using three regression techniques for the period 1990-2010 and controlling for demographic and cyclical factors, this paper examines the relationship between social spending per capita —as the indicator of welfare effort— and poverty in up to 21 countries of the region. The proportion of the population with an income below its national basic basket of goods and services (PM1) and the proportion of population with an income below 50% of the median income per capita (PM2) were the two poverty indicators considered from the monetarist approach to measure poverty. From the capability approach the proportion of the population with food inadequacy (PC1) and the proportion of the population without access to improved water sources or sanitation facilities (PC2) were used. The fi ndings confi rm that social spending is actually useful to explain changes in poverty (PM1, PC1 and PC2), as there is a high negative and signifi cant correlation between the variables before and after controlling for demographic and cyclical factors. In two regression techniques, social spending per capita did not show a negative relationship with the PM2. Countries with greater welfare effort for the period 1990-2010 were not necessarily those with the lowest level of poverty. Ultimately social spending per capita was more useful to explain changes in poverty from the capability approach.

Modelling the correlation between processing parameters and properties of maraging steels using artificial neural network

An artificial neural network (ANN) model is developed for the analysis and simulation of the correlation between the properties of maraging steels and composition, processing and working conditions. The input parameters of the model consist of alloy composition, processing parameters (including cold deformation degree, ageing temperature, and ageing time), and working temperature. The outputs of the ANN model include property parameters namely: ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, reduction in area, hardness, notched tensile strength, Charpy impact energy, fracture toughness, and martensitic transformation start temperature. Good performance of the ANN model is achieved. The model can be used to calculate properties of maraging steels as functions of alloy composition, processing parameters, and working condition. The combined influence of Co and Mo on the properties of maraging steels is simulated using the model. The results are in agreement with experimental data. Explanation of the calculated results from the metallurgical point of view is attempted. The model can be used as a guide for further alloy development.