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The Reagan administration not only pursued democratization in hostile states but also pressured allied authoritarian regimes to reform and occasionally supported “soft” regime changes to defuse internal tensions in countries that were important for U.S. strategic interests. The convergence between mid-level officials, autonomous democracy promoters, and key policymakers was most fruitful when these groups believed that U.S. interests would be vulnerable without political intervention. Evaluations of the stability and legitimacy of the existing governments influenced judgments about whether to pursue regime reform, either by keeping the existing elites in power within new democratic structures or by seeking to empower opposition groups and facilitating the rise of new elites. A critique of this approach is an essential addition to our understanding of the Reagan administration’s policies vis-à-vis allied states.

Studies in Legal Hadith. By Hiroyuki Yanagihashi. Studies in Islamic Law and Society, vol. 47. Leiden: Brill, 2019. Pp. xvi + 612. $179, €149.

Did US drone strikes cause the unravelling of the Pakistani conflict settlement process between the government and the TTP in 2013-14? In answering this question, we present strong, fieldwork-based...

This article considers the influence of William Oram’s generous and welcoming qualities as a scholar both on his critical writings and on his key role in creating the intellectually stimulating and...

More than three decades after the concept of international regimes was introduced, the study of why and how states may choose to cooperate, particularly around security, remains contested. While the field has evolved considerably over that time, there remain significant puzzles in the literature concerning the emergence of different types of security regimes. We aim to address these issues by developing the concept of a tacit security regime (TSR) literature. We define a TSR as an interest-based, limited, and informal mechanism of cooperation between states for the purpose of deconflicting their respective interests over a specific security issue. We illustrate the usefulness of our concept in the two contemporary cases of Russian-Israeli and Russian-Turkish security cooperation over the Syrian crisis (2015–2018).

Item does not contain fulltext BACKGROUND: The Synergy between PCI with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) trial was a non-inferiority trial that compared percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using first-generation paclitaxel-eluting stents with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with de-novo three-vessel and left main coronary artery disease, and reported results up to 5 years. We now report 10-year all-cause death results. METHODS: The SYNTAX Extended Survival (SYNTAXES) study is an investigator-driven extension of follow-up of a multicentre, randomised controlled trial done in 85 hospitals across 18 North American and European countries. Patients with de-novo three-vessel and left main coronary artery disease were randomly assigned (1:1) to the PCI group or CABG group. Patients with a history of PCI or CABG, acute myocardial infarction, or an indication for concomitant cardiac surgery were excluded. The primary endpoint of the SYNTAXES study was 10-year all-cause death, which was assessed according to the intention-to-treat principle. Prespecified subgroup analyses were performed according to the presence or absence of left main coronary artery disease and diabetes, and according to coronary complexity defined by core laboratory SYNTAX score tertiles. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03417050. FINDINGS: From March, 2005, to April, 2007, 1800 patients were randomly assigned to the PCI (n=903) or CABG (n=897) group. Vital status information at 10 years was complete for 841 (93%) patients in the PCI group and 848 (95%) patients in the CABG group. At 10 years, 244 (27%) patients had died after PCI and 211 (24%) after CABG (hazard ratio 1.17 [95% CI 0.97-1.41], p=0.092). Among patients with three-vessel disease, 151 (28%) of 546 had died after PCI versus 113 (21%) of 549 after CABG (hazard ratio 1.41 [95% CI 1.10-1.80]), and among patients with left main coronary artery disease, 93 (26%) of 357 had died after PCI versus 98 (28%) of 348 after CABG (0.90 [0.68-1.20], pinteraction=0.019). There was no treatment-by-subgroup interaction with diabetes (pinteraction=0.66) and no linear trend across SYNTAX score tertiles (ptrend=0.30). INTERPRETATION: At 10 years, no significant difference existed in all-cause death between PCI using first-generation paclitaxel-eluting stents and CABG. However, CABG provided a significant survival benefit in patients with three-vessel disease, but not in patients with left main coronary artery disease. FUNDING: German Foundation of Heart Research (SYNTAXES study, 5-10-year follow-up) and Boston Scientific Corporation (SYNTAX study, 0-5-year follow-up).

Hybridization between populations along the path to complete reproductive isolation can provide snapshots of speciation in action. Here, we present a comprehensive list of salamander hybrids and estimate genetic distances between the parental hybridizing species using one mitochondrial and one nuclear gene (MT-CYB and RAG1). Salamanders are outliers among tetrapod vertebrates in having low metabolic rates and highly variable sex chromosomes. Both of these features might be expected to impact speciation; mismatches between the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes that encode the proteins for oxidative metabolism, as well as mismatches in heteromorphic sex chromosomes, can lead to reproductive isolation. We compared the genetic distances between hybridizing parental species across four main tetrapod groups that differ in metabolic rates and sex chromosome diversity: salamanders, lizards, mammals, and birds. Our results reveal no significant differences, suggesting that variation in these traits across vertebrates does not translate into predictable patterns of genetic divergence and incompatible loci in hybrids.

Responding to Brendan O’Leary’s ‘Power-Sharing and Partition’, this essay challenges both O’Leary’s approach and the general invocation of direct Israel-Palestine negotiations for a two-state solution. The essay makes this challenge both through a critique of the Israeli and Palestinian positions and of the interests and possible interventions of other States and groups in the region. Pursuing their foreign policy goals and using the conflict to mobilize domestic support, those States are unable to support a resolution or have no impetus to do so. With no foreseeable change in the Israeli approach opening up possibilities in direct talks, this essay proposes a reframing of the ‘regional’ and ‘international’ as an alternative to the status quo. In spaces such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, Palestinian constituencies can pursue a legitimacy and autonomy to build political, legal, and economic capital. Provided this is accompanied by reconciliation among Palestinian group...

This article examines the last years of the life of the prolific evangelical printer Edward Whitchurch (d. 1562). Although biographers have tended to paint his time under the rule of Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I as chiefly a period of quiescence and inactivity, Whitchurch in fact continued to devote himself, first cautiously under Mary and then more openly and vigorously under Elizabeth, to the evangelical cause he had so long supported. Under Mary, Whitchurch worked to thwart the production of Catholic propaganda and to aid suffering evangelicals, most notably his future wife, Archbishop Cranmer's widow. Upon Elizabeth's accession, Whitchurch zealously dedicated himself to advancing the evangelical cause, both through helping “forward” Protestants into key positions in the newly reestablished Church of England and also by assisting in several printing projects designed to bring important Reformation works before the public. The article highlights particular points of connection between Whitchurch and th...

Drawing on ecclesiastical and exchequer records, this essay offers new information about the Tudor author William Baldwin’s early life and later career, establishing such matters as his year and place of birth, date of ordination into the priesthood, and martial status. It also provides information about his ecclesiastical career (1560–63) and the network of supporters who helped him advance as a minister. Finally, it explores evidence suggesting the character of Baldwin’s religious beliefs at the opening of Elizabeth’s reign, the period in which he released A Mirror for Magistrates and other important works.

Modern scholars have often presented Henry VIII and his chief ministers as the prime movers behind the reform of religion in 1530s England. Edward Hall, a Protestant-minded MP in the Reformation parliament, sharply contested this view in his chronicle, The Union of the Two Noble and Illustrious Families of Lancaster and York (1548). Hall presented not the king, but parliamentarians in general and the burgesses of the House of Commons in particular as the true driving forces behind statutory ecclesiastical reform. Insisting upon a pre-existing widespread zeal for reform among his fellow MPs and suppressing almost all sense of the strong support for the clergy expressed by the Commons’ more conservative members, Hall made the Henrician Reformation above all parliament’s Reformation. Hall’s Chronicle therefore broadens our appreciation of the significance of history in the thinking of England’s first generation of reformers.

The immediate obstacle for an assessment of Trita Parsi's study of US–Iranian relations, especially on the issue of Tehran's nuclear program, is its combination of advocacy and the narration of rec...

President Eisenhower easily swept to victory in 1956, defeating Adlai Stevenson, whom he had also beaten in 1952, despite crises and wars that had suddenly flared in Hungary and Egypt. When the events of 1956 are examined through public and private records, the president’s response to these crises appears to confirm his claim that he would not allow policy making to be hostage to the wishes of the public. Instead, he made clear time and again that he would proceed with what he thought was the “right” course for US interests, irrespective of the American public’s reaction to the policy or to his reelection campaign. At the same time, he was ready to invoke public opinion in the United States and throughout the world to try and bend other statesmen to his will.

Submitted by Luana Sampaio (luana.barroso@ucb.br) on 2018-04-30T12:22:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ErnaneAbreuTCCGraduacao2017.pdf: 365713 bytes, checksum: dd0e0aa8727131c00aaae3329d6b91d9 (MD5) Approved for entry into archive by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-05-03T14:37:01Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 ErnaneAbreuTCCGraduacao2017.pdf: 365713 bytes, checksum: dd0e0aa8727131c00aaae3329d6b91d9 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-03T14:37:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ErnaneAbreuTCCGraduacao2017.pdf: 365713 bytes, checksum: dd0e0aa8727131c00aaae3329d6b91d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017 O uso de técnicas como o alongamento é um dos recursos mais utilizados para obter melhoras dos níveis de flexibilidade, porém, a liberação da fáscia não tem sido muito estudada. O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar o efeito agudo da autoliberação miofascial no tensionamento dos isquiotibiais e na flexibilidade da articulação do quadril. A amostra de conveniência foi composta por 34 voluntários homens, média de idade de 30,65 ± 5,83 anos, praticantes de atividade física regular semanalmente. Para a coleta dos dados foi realizada uma anamnese e a avaliação da flexibilidade pelo Teste “Sentar-e-Alcançar” proposto por Wells e Dillon (1952). A autoliberação miofascial foi realizada com uma bola de borracha maciça da marca LCM de aproximadamente 88mm. Após preencher a anamnese e realizar o teste de sentar e alcançar, os voluntários foram instruídos para executarem a liberação miofascial na região dos isquiotibiais (IQT’s), deslizando a perna sobre a bola em movimentos no sentido vertical e nos pontos de maior incômodo realizando movimentos circulares até aliviar as dores, durante 5 minutos em cada perna. Logo após, realizaram o teste de sentar e alcançar novamente. Para análise dos dados foi utilizado o programa estatístico Statistical Package for Social Science - SPSS 18.0. Foram realizadas as medidas descritivas para caracterização da amostra e o teste t pareado para avaliar o efeito agudo da liberação miofascial no tensionamento dos IQT’s. Para tanto, foi adotado um p≤0,05. Os resultados demonstraram aumento significativo da flexibilidade (Δ=5,33cm) após a autoliberação miofascial dos IQT´s [t(33)=-8,60;p=0,001]. Conclui-se que a autoliberação miofascial diminuiu o tensionamento dos isquiotibiais, que limitavam uma maior amplitude do movimento de flexão do quadril.

Can the idea of space, mythologized and then re-configured on a far wider basis, be the foundation of today’s “Middle East”? Surely it is the “local,” in its complexity and variety, that deserves attention as more than a subject on which to hang a “Middle East.” Recognizing that external powers and actors have tried to create a region in their service does not preclude recognition of the peoples, communities, and institutitions within the region that have tried to create their own identities, promote their own aspirations, and establish their own ideologies.

Background Surgical complications represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality with the rate of major complications after inpatient surgery estimated at 3–17% in industrialised countries. The purpose of this review was to summarise experience with surgical checklist use and efficacy for improving patient safety. Methods A search of four databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and the Cochrane Database of Controlled Trials) was conducted from 1 January 2000 to 26 October 2012. Articles describing actual use of the WHO checklist, the Surgical Patient Safety System (SURPASS) checklist, a wrong-site surgery checklist or an anaesthesia equipment checklist were eligible for inclusion (this manuscript summarises all but the anaesthesia equipment checklists, which are described in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality publication). Results We included a total of 33 studies. We report a variety of outcomes including avoidance of adverse events, facilitators and barriers to implementation. Checklists have been adopted in a wide variety of settings and represent a promising strategy for improving the culture of patient safety and perioperative care in a wide variety of settings. Surgical checklists were associated with increased detection of potential safety hazards, decreased surgical complications and improved communication among operating staff. Strategies for successful checklist implementation included enlisting institutional leaders as local champions, incorporating staff feedback for checklist adaptation and avoiding redundancies with existing systems for collecting information. Conclusions Surgical checklists represent a relatively simple and promising strategy for addressing surgical patient safety worldwide. Further studies are needed to evaluate to what degree checklists improve clinical outcomes and whether improvements may be more pronounced in particular settings.

When brands join forces during a merger or acquisition, adopting an integrated, collaborative approach to rebranding can help to build brand value and manage corporate differences.

The concept of ‘politicization’ of the US intelligence services, and in particular the CIA, has been debated by scholars for many years. However, it has also been easily dismissed by those investigating recent US foreign policy, as in the Robb-Silberman Commission's assurance over the 2003 Iraq War that ‘the Intelligence Community needs to be pushed’. This essay seeks an extension of the critique of politicization by considering the historical context since the formation of the CIA. It seeks an application of that critique by putting forth, when evaluating the policy and operations of the George W. Bush administration, the notion of an ‘alternative network’ within the government. The argument is that politicization must be linked to a conception of ‘Executive power’, both within the American bureaucracy and in the projection and rationalization of US aims overseas.