Suchergebnisse

Futuribles a lancé, dans son numéro de juillet-août 2016 (n° 413), une « saga » sur les relations et apports de la science-fiction à la prospective, afin de discerner si, et dans quelle mesure, les auteurs de science-fiction ont eu une influence sur les imaginaires collectifs et sur les réflexions prospectives. Après avoir traité ces questions sous l'angle sociopolitique et environnemental, nous reprenons cette série en abordant la science et la technologie : quels sont les rapports entre la discipline scientifique et la science-fiction ? Roland Lehoucq montre ainsi comment, au fil du temps, la science-fiction accompagne la science, permettant d'exposer des idées parfois pionnières sous l'angle de l'imaginaire et d'en tirer le fil pour explorer leurs conséquences possibles pour les sociétés humaines. La science-fiction dispose aussi de la liberté de créer des innovations techniques ou scientifiques pour les besoins du récit, ces innovations pouvant se révéler totalement farfelues, devenir réalité ou ne jamais se concrétiser. Elle contribue enfin à explorer le réel et à poser des questions essentielles en lien avec les évolutions techniques et scientifiques en cours ou envisagées ; à ce titre, elle constitue un véritable laboratoire d'expérimentation et d'exploration du champ des possibles, et de leurs conséquences pour l'humanité. S.D.

Ethnic war is an asymmetrical military contest for power in which vital interests of the groups are clearly at stake. Wining the war is, therefore, the fundamental objective of the com-batants. Compromise is hard to arrive at in negotiations, so long as the asymmetry of power between the ethnic parties is not altered. Thus, power assumes an important factor in determining the outcome. In this context, finding the linkage between both the war and peace processes, with each influencing the other, this article underscores the relevance of the theory of 'ripeness' to explain the phenomenon of war and peace. Power equivalence may induce a negotiation process as a 'mutually hurting stalemate' creates ripe moments for the end of the war. However, conditions to start negotiations are different from situations under which a negotiated political settlement is reached. Peace accords in ethnic wars are about power-sharing and autonomy. Generally, the focus is on creating new ethnically balanced institutions, while dismantling some of the centralised political structures. Reforming the State, constituting a part of the solution, would mean, to change its ethnic exclusive character and make it more inclusive one. A durable political solution in an ethnic war may spell out a new social and political contract between the warring parties for peace and development.

A central concern for experimental studies is participant motivation, which is crucial for internal validity. When participants are not committed to the task, internal validity diminishes because responses might not be authentic. This study introduces and tests the seriousness technique as a method for increasing participant investment in political science experiments that use student samples. The seriousness technique aims at creating a sense of responsibility by telling students that their participation is important because science needs quality data. Results from a computer-assisted foreign policy decision-making experiment show that the seriousness technique increased the degree of information participants access during the foreign policy simulation and the time they spent on the study. These findings suggest that political scientists who use student samples in their experiments can nurture serious subjects by employing the seriousness technique. It is argued that the results should be of interest not only to experimentalists but also to all scholars who use human subjects, including survey researchers, in their research.

THE AUTHOR CALLS FOR LIBERALS TO REASSESS THEIR BELIEF THAT REAGAN'S POLICY TOWARDS THE USSR WILL LEAD TO WAR. THE LIBERAL OBSTRUCTION OF REAGAN AID TO THE CONTRAS WAS BASED ON THIS MISCONCEPTION. THE LIBERAL ANALOGY BETWEEN THE US INVASION OF GRENADA AND THE SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTAN IS DESCRIBED AS PREPOSTEROUS.