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The author's participation in the Educational Summit of the Americas, a counter-summit held while the People's Summit of the Americas convened in Mar del Plata, Argentina, in November 2005, is shared to demonstrate the possibility of including US teachers' unions in the formation of a hemispheric teachers' collective organization. An overview of the various participants at the Educational Summit of the Americas, particularly the Initiative for Democratic Education in the Americas, is presented. After acknowledging differences in various contingents' objectives for regional education policy, multiple reasons for including US teachers' unions in the hemispheric educational movement are given & the circumstances that must be satisfied before US teacher activists become more involved with the hemispheric movement are noted, eg, their repudiation of the US government's regional imperialist goals. Summit participants' impassioned reaction to the author's proposal for establishing online language learning programs as a means of challenging neoliberal educational policies & more positive reception of the Cuban contingent's presence at the regional meeting are also addressed. Various issues that require attention from the hemispheric educational movement, eg, gender inequality in education, are also highlighted. J. W. Parker

This work analyses the Chilean decentralization process by performing a thorough revision of press sources regarding the political debate revolving on decentralizing bills passed between 1991 & 2005. The study describes both the actors & the context in which reforms were approved in Chilean congress. In discussing the literature on the politics of decentralization, this paper confirms the relevance of two existing hypotheses: the effects of democratization, & the prospects of electoral performance. At the same time, it reassesses a third theory concerning decentralization as a top-down process by stressing the mayors' increasing power in Chilean politics. In addition, this paper provides a novel systematization of municipal & regional electoral results, by party & by coalition, for the period under study. Tables, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.

In the fall of 2005, the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten printed a dozen cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. During the ensuing debate, a group of Danish Muslims wrote a critical pamphlet on the affair & visited several Middle-Eastern countries where they presented their side of the story. Their actions helped trigger the wave of anti-Danish demonstrations that washed across the Middle East in the spring of 2006. Western commentators criticized the actions of the Danish Muslims, condemning the way in which the group had contacted authorities of alien states to bring pressure to bear on their own behalf. This, however, has long been common practice among Western groups - especially among liberal groups that seek to further individual freedoms & rights. Several lessons may be drawn from this so-called cartoon affair. One of them is that the tactics of these Western liberals can easily be adopted by others. In a globalized world, these tactics may even be used against liberal Western ideals. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

Promoting sustainable economic growth with social inclusion represents a challenge for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the former metalworker and leader of the socialist Workers' Party, who won the Brazilian presidency in his fourth try. The election of Lula has raised expectations at home and abroad. Although the government scored impressive fiscal victories by following ultra-orthodox macroeconomic policies, its performance in achieving economic growth and social improvement has been less than brilliant. Written in February 2004 to assess his first year in office, this article examines the challenges that Lula initially had to overcome and outlines the main points of his political economy. By the end of the first year, few great changes had taken place, except perhaps in his political party's manner of governing. Early in Lula's presidency, his policies were quite similar to those of earlier governments.[Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2006 The American Academy of Political and Social Science.]

Smithsimon reviews FREAKONOMICS: A ROGUE ECONOMIST EXPLORES THE HIDDEN SIDE OF EVERYTHING by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

Following the discourse-historical approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (Wodak, de Cilia, Reisigl & Liebhart 1999; Wodak 2001), we analyze the inaugural speech of the actual president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe Velez, which he delivered on August 7th, 2002 in Bogota. We take this speech as an illustration for the construction of national identity by the Colombian elites. In our analysis, we are particularly interested in Uribe's strategy of referring to the European heritage & in his ways of appeasing the cultural & ethnic differences of the population. References. Adapted from the source document.

And, in two parts, the book covers the literary and historical influence of the Scriptures from Genesis through the end of the New Testament. Any treatment of the Bible in public schools in the context of today's American culture wars will prove controversial.

Examines the underground nuclear weapons market, focusing on the AQ Khan network originating in Pakistan, the possibility of North Korea making nuclear materials available to terrorists, organized crime, and efforts to curb nuclear proliferation.

Frederick the Great, Prussia, & the July 20th plot are three subjects that preferably would go unmentioned in German historical consciousness. The post-WWII eradication of Prussia was not just an inevitable catastrophe of the war; rather, it was actively desired to shove into history the process that eventually led to the misery of 1945 -- "the schooling for war." Prussian militarism & Prussia itself belonged in the past. They had no relevance for the post-war present or the future. The nature of the Frederickian war is exemplified in the king's statement, "We must defeat the enemy or bury outselves before his cannons. Think of Prussia." As a result 33 Prussian generals were lost; many aristocratic families lost almost all their male members of age for the army. It was not that Frederick demanded blind obedience to his orders. On the contrary, he thought independent thinking was a most important element of military training. It was this that led to his downfall, when some of his officers, not agreeing with either Frederick's or Germany's aims, conspired to make an attempt on Hitler's lifeto put an end to the war. The cold-bloodedness with which these men appeared before their Nazi judges seemed incomprehensible -- because it arose from their strength of character & their revival of the Prussian paradigm of war. J. Stanton