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This article tests whether smaller domestic markets can explain why France industrialized more slowly than Britain. To do so, it uses the Tableaux du Maximum. It begins by presenting this source and then checks if the data from the source are plausible using a logit theoretical gravity equation. The results of this gravity equation are then employed to compute the expected market size of specific supply centers. Even if differences in real, nominal, and disposable income are taken into account, some French supply centers had access to domestic markets that were larger than the whole of Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nestlé Nutritional Profiling System (NNPS) has been developed to guide food and beverage reformulation. The WHO published guidelines to develop and validate nutrient profiling systems. The objective was to conduct validation tests of the NNPS following principles of the WHO guidelines. French (Individual and National Survey on food Consumption 2006–2007) and the USA (National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2011–2012) nationally representative dietary surveys were used. NNPS outcomes (PASS, FAIL, out-of-scope) of foods were compared with the validated UK Ofcom nutrient profiling system outcomes. Contributions of NNPS outcomes to energy intakes were compared between diets nutritional quality classes defined by two methods: based on a food-based quality indicator (Programme National Nutrition Santé Guideline Score in France, Healthy Eating Index 2010 in the USA) or on a combination of three nutrient-based indicators (mean adequacy ratio, mean excess ratio and energy density). In both countries, food items with a NNPS FAIL outcome had a lower nutritional quality according to the UK Ofcom, with an overall agreement between the two systems of 75·7 % in France and 68·8 % in the USA. In both countries, a high (respectively, low) contribution of NNPS PASS (respectively, NNPS FAIL) was positively associated with diet healthiness. Absolute associations were stronger between the contribution of NNPS FAIL products and measures of diet healthiness. Foods and beverages reaching NNPS standards appeared to have a higher nutritional quality and would be more likely to contribute to healthier diets, mainly linked to a reduction of nutrients to limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problematic eating behaviours during early childhood could be mediators of poor dietary habits. This study aims to prospectively relate early eating behaviours with fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake and a healthy diet variety score of children aged between 4 and 5 years. Eating behaviours were assessed in three European birth cohorts (Generation XXI from Portugal, ALSPAC from the UK and EDEN from France) at 4–6, 12–15, 24 and 48–54 months of age, based on the child’s feeding difficulties, mother’s perception of child’s poor eating (eating small quantities at each meal, not eating enough or needing to be stimulated to eat), food refusal and difficulties in the establishment of daily food routines. Daily servings of F&V (>1 v. ≤1 serving/d, except in Generation XXI: >3 v. ≤3) and the Healthy Plate Variety Score (categorised by the median score of each sample) were calculated using FFQ. Associations were tested by logistic regressions adjusted for maternal age, education, smoking during pregnancy, any breast-feeding and the child’s z-score BMI at 4–5 years of age. Children with more feeding difficulties, poor eating, food refusal/neophobia and difficulties in establishing a daily routine at 12–15, 24 and 48–54 months of age had in general lower F&V intake at 4–5 years of age. The association with vegetables was slightly stronger than with fruits. These early feeding problems were also inversely associated with the variety score at 4–5 years of age, particularly when eating behaviours were reported after 12–15 months of age. A better understanding of these early feeding difficulties may help define strategies to increase the dietary quality in children. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nutrient profiling systems are powerful tools for public health initiatives, as they aim at categorising foods according to their nutritional quality. The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) nutrient profiling system (FSA score) has been validated in a British food database, but the application of the model in other contexts has not yet been evaluated. The objective of the present study was to assess the application of the British FSA score in a French food composition database. Foods from the French NutriNet-Santé study food composition table were categorised according to their FSA score using the Office of Communication (OfCom) cut-off value (‘healthier’ ≤ 4 for foods and ≤ 1 for beverages; ‘less healthy’ >4 for foods and >1 for beverages) and distribution cut-offs (quintiles for foods, quartiles for beverages). Foods were also categorised according to the food groups used for the French Programme National Nutrition Santé (PNNS) recommendations. Foods were weighted according to their relative consumption in a sample drawn from the NutriNet-Santé study (n 4225), representative of the French population. Classification of foods according to the OfCom cut-offs was consistent with food groups described in the PNNS: 97·8 % of fruit and vegetables, 90·4 % of cereals and potatoes and only 3·8 % of sugary snacks were considered as ‘healthier’. Moreover, variability in the FSA score allowed for a discrimination between subcategories in the same food group, confirming the possibility of using the FSA score as a multiple category system, for example as a basis for front-of-pack nutrition labelling. Application of the FSA score in the French context would adequately complement current public health recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Different lifestyle patterns across Europe may influence plasma concentrations of B-vitamins and one-carbon metabolites and their relation to chronic disease. Comparison of published data on one-carbon metabolites in Western European regions is difficult due to differences in sampling procedures and analytical methods between studies. The present study aimed, to compare plasma concentrations of one-carbon metabolites in Western European regions with one laboratory performing all biochemical analyses. We performed the present study in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort among 5446 presumptively healthy individuals. Quantile regression was used to compare sex-specific median concentrations between Northern (Denmark and Sweden), Central (France, Germany, The Netherlands and United Kingdom) and Southern (Greece, Spain and Italy) European regions. The lowest folate concentrations were observed in Northern Europe (men, 10·4 nmol/l; women, 10·7 nmol/l) and highest concentrations in Central Europe. Cobalamin concentrations were slightly higher in Northern Europe (men, 330 pmol/l; women, 352 pmol/l) compared with Central and Southern Europe, but did not show a clear north–south gradient. Vitamin B2 concentrations were highest in Northern Europe (men, 22·2 nmol/l; women, 26·0 nmol/l) and decreased towards Southern Europe (Ptrend< 0·001). Vitamin B6 concentrations were highest in Central Europe in men (77·3 nmol/l) and highest in the North among women (70·4 nmol/l), with decreasing concentrations towards Southern Europe in women (Ptrend< 0·001). In men, concentrations of serine, glycine and sarcosine increased from the north to south. In women, sarcosine increased from Northern to Southern Europe. These findings may provide relevant information for the study of regional differences of chronic disease incidence in association with lifestyle. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Against the background of conflict in the Great Lakes Region, the UK and France promised, at their 1998 Saint-Malo summit, to set aside rivalries and cooperate on Africa. In subsequent Anglo-French gatherings, they singled out the DRC and pledged to work together there to promote peace and tackle poverty. This article asks whether this coordination took place and whether it involved a ‘deconflictualisation’ of approaches, ‘coincidental’ cooperation, or ‘sustained and reciprocal’ collaboration. It looks for evidence of institutionalisation of UK-French ties and policy cooperation in the fields of peacebuilding and poverty reduction. It then identifies the pressures for, and barriers to, collaboration, focusing particularly on the role of interests, foreign policy norms, institutional factors and resource constraints. It concludes by setting out the wider implications of UK-French cooperation and the limited prospects of closer future collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article makes theoretical and empirical contributions to the recent literature on the socialisation and punishment of state and non-state actors. First, it argues that the English School can add significantly to our understanding of the socialisation and punishment processes because of the theory's emphasis on great powers as ‘custodians’ of the society of states. Second, it analyses the policies of the United Kingdom, France, and, to a lesser degree, a number of other powers toward the Bolsheviks and the Whites during the Civil War and beyond (1917–1924). The basic argument is that London, Paris, and other capitals acted like ‘guardians’ of the society of states in their attempt to punish and socialise the participants in the Civil War. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Italy's invasion of Abyssinia in October 1935 prompted a major European crisis. This article applies the main theories of foreign policy analysis to the British Government's handling of this crisis. It argues that bureaucratic politics existed, but had little impact on outcomes. Domestic politics had more influence, but did not provide detailed instructions on how to act. The perceptions of key actors, informed by reasoned judgement, determined this. Fears of the threat posed by rival states coalesced with concerns about Britain's own military weakness, leading decision-makers to emphasise the need to act in tandem with France. British policy was therefore motivated by the tension between the public's desire to see action against Italy and the Government's wish to minimise any breach with her allies. These findings highlight the weaknesses of the bureaucratic politics model and show how domestic politics can affect foreign policy outcomes. They also demonstrate the interaction between rational analysis defined in terms of reasoned judgement, and actors' perceptions. It is thus argued that benefits are to be gleaned from combining these theories. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The significance of ideas to foreign policy analysis remains contested, despite a plethora of empirical studies applying ideational frameworks. Drawing on social constructivism, this article proposes a causal understanding where ideas derived from tradition define the political space for contemporary debates and effect foreign policy behaviour. This ideational approach is substantiated by a historical study of guiding principles in British and French foreign policy, which establish a set of baseline expectations for the analysis of Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac's speeches on Iraq. The empirical study shows that whereas Chirac largely stayed within a French ideational framework, Blair applied a more complex combination of ideas from both traditions. Conceptualising Blair as an aspiring (but ultimately unsuccessful) norm entrepreneur is a fruitful interpretation of this role. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The UK's domestic intelligence agency, MI5, has become increasingly involved in the realm of law enforcement over the last decade. This article puts the British experience in perspective by comparing it with France's main domestic intelligence agency, which has pushed deep into the law enforcement arena in recent years. A similar perception of Islamist terrorism underpins these parallel developments in the two countries. However, differences relating to accountability, legal systems and conceptions of the state mean that the French intelligence agency has expanded its role considerably more than its British counterpart. The analysis indicates that MI5's move into law enforcement is likely to remain a relatively conservative one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the official motivation behind the authorization in 1960 of research into the activities of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War by M. R. D. Foot, leading to the publication of SOE in France in 1966. The work has traditionally been viewed as the official response to critical investigative works on SOE published during the 1950s, combined with the vocal campaign of Dame Irene Ward, who made several calls in the House of Commons for an official account of SOE to be published. Material now available at the Public Record Office reveals that these were not the sole considerations in official minds, nor the most significant, concerning the possibility of publishing such a work. The foreign office was particularly concerned that Britain's contribution to wartime resistance in Europe, exemplified by SOE, was being overshadowed by both soviet propoganda, emphasizing the communist contribution to resistance, and the publicity being given to SOE's American counterpart, the Office of Strategic Sewices (OSS). The 'campaign' of Dame Irene Ward, supported by the negative slant given to SOE in the books of Jean Overton Fuller and Elizabeth Nicholas, unknowingly gave support to a frame of mind that was already in existence in favour of an unofficial account of SOE activity, albeit for different reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The celebrated 'Cambridge five' have hitherto been believed to be the first long term communist penetration agents in HM government, beginning with Donald Maclean in 1935. However, new research indicates that by 1919 another Cambridge man — like four of the 'five', a Trinity graduate — had already begun working for Moscow. This article is the first to examine how William Norman Ewer, known as 'Trilby' to his co-conspirators, organized networks in Great Britain and France to target the governments of those two powers. Under close Soviet supervision, Ewer's subordinates infiltrated half-a-dozen Whitehall departments, foremost among them Scotland Yard. Operating under the aegis of the home office, the Yard was a vital cog in the machinery of government set up to combat the 'red menace' in this country immediately after the First World War. By compromising the lead agency tasked with fighting them, the Bolsheviks thus created the requisite conditions for the metastasis in Great Britain of Soviet espionage in the 1920s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the thesis that the ambition for primacy, rather than the attainment and maintenance of parity with rival states, governed the diplomatic calculations of the major powers throughout the eighteenth century. It examines the shortcomings of balance theory as well as the myth of a status quo during the period. It presents a background of the struggle for commercial hegemony between Great Britain and France. The article explains the reasons for the absence of balance of power theory during the century.

Examines the official commercial statistics suggesting that the conventional wisdom regarding early free-trade efforts of Britain and France is incorrect. French average tariff levels were consistently below those of Britain throughout most of the nineteenth century; Moves further away from stories of development and trade confined to a few `leading' sectors.

The author offers his observation on the situation of countries in Western Europe which he visited in 1948 such as Great Britain, France and Italy. The British government has released a framework for the British democratic socialism, which was advocated by the Labor Party. In France, he witnessed the economic problem, which resulted in the political crisis in the country. Italy has successfully concluded its elections in April.