Permanent Representatives Research Articles

Combinatorics in glass

Glasses have a complicated structure (a random, regular graph of degree 4), but very simple elementary excitations (decoupled tunnelling modes between two valleys degenerate in energy, or nearly so). These facts can be explained by two straightforward applications of combinatorics. Tunnelling modes arise directly from the local invariance of the structure of the glass, expressible as a fibre bundle. The degenerate valleys are classes of odd permutations of the edges of the graph (legs of the tetrapods which are the local reference frames in silicate glasses), about odd circuits and tunnelling is imposed by gauge invariance. The structure of glass can be obtained by successive decurving (by decoration) of an ideal structure in curved space, polytope {5,3,3}. This decurving can be done at random, both in the sequential order and in space. The structure is then described algebraically as the Perron-Frobenius eigenvector of a sequence of decurving operations. Disorder is represented by the commutator of decurving operations at different points. Glasses constitute therefore a general, permanent representation of combinatorics and randomness ensures that the combinatorics is unencumbered by the constraints of adjustment found in crystals.

Use and Implementation of SPE and WPC Petroleum Reserves and Definitions

In February of 1987 the Society of Petroleum Engineers, SPE, approved its 'Definitions for Oil and Gas Reserves' and, during the same year, the 'Classification and Nomenclature Systems for Petroleum and Petroleum Reserves' of the World Petroleum Congress (WPC) was approved as the 12th WPC. Both, the SPE and WPC's Reserves Definitions were the result of extensive research throughout all sectors of the Oil Industry in most of the oil producing countries. Even though there was no coordination or discussion between the two groups responsible for these efforts, the concepts and definitions in the two documents are very similar. Since then discussions have continued to be held throughout the world, with the participation of different sectors of the Oil Industry, on some of the concepts included in the SPE Definitions. Venezuela has actively participated in both of these efforts and continues to contribute with permanent representatives in the working groups. Internally these concepts have been used extensively when estimating Venezuelan reserves and in the revisions that took place in 1987, it justified the addition of approximately 25 000 MMB to the country's proved oil reserves. The paper discusses the concepts included in these documents and attempts to evaluate the relative merits of the arguments for and against the Definitions. Also discussed, as an example of the utility of these definitions, is the use that Venezuela has made of these concepts.

Au cœur du processus de décision européen : le Comité des représentants permanents (COREPER)

At the Center of the European Decision making Process : the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) Formally, the role of COREPER is to prepare Council decisions. In practice, however, COREPER is responsible for attempting to resolve problems and not only to prepare discussions. COREPER members, thus, hold community and national responsibilities. The permanent representatives also play the role of mediators between government and members of parliament, in particular to explain to MEPs the positions of governments that they represent. The increasing divergence in political and administrative cultures, the language problem, difficult to resolve with the progressive enlargement of the EC could lead to the asphyxiation of community procedures unless the EC untertakes substantial structural reforms.

The European Women's Lobby

The European Women's Lobby was formally set up at a meeting in Brussels on 21-22 September 1990. The aim of the Lobby is to establish a permanent representation for women at the level of the European Community (EC). Women are represented in the Lobby via delegates from nongovernmental women's organizations, or co-ordinations of women's organizations, which are operating at either the European or the national level. The existence of the Lobby, the form it takes and its potential for action, raises crucial questions about the involvement of women in mainstream political activity and the ways in which women's diverse interests can be represented. The idea of a European Women's Lobby was first mooted in the early 1980s, with the already existing EC Youth Forum being cited as an example. Initial soundings foundered on the hostility and/or distance between 'traditional' and 'feminist' women in most countries, and on the lack of interest of the latter in either the EC or mainstream politics.1 During the 1980s, however, both the hostility and the distance lessened, with traditional women's organizations becoming somewhat more radical, and more feminists seeing the need to 'enter the mainstream'. Indicative of this latter trend was the growth of the European Network of Women which tried to make links between grassroots women's organizations and to campaign at the European level.

The Exile Churches and the Churches ‘Under the Cross’: Antwerp and Emden During the Dutch Revolt

In the middle years of the sixteenth century Antwerp reached the zenith of its economic power. With ninety thousand inhabitants it was far from being the largest city in Europe, but its pre-eminence as a centre for European trade was now universally acknowledged. As a money market, commodity market and, above all, as a centre of the cloth trade Antwerp had by 1550 eclipsed its rivals in Flanders and Brabant and made itself indispensable to merchants from all over the continent. Germans made up the largest contingent among Antwerp's foreign merchant community, but there were substantial numbers of both Portuguese, still dominant in the international spice trade, and Italians, who had first introduced the sophisticated financial and accounting techniques which were now developed to a new peak of refinement in Antwerp. The concentration of capital in the city was an inducement to every major banking house to maintain a permanent representation there, as did their most regular clients, the princely houses of Europe. The real foundation of Antwerp's greatness, however, was the trade in English broadcloths, established there since the turn of the century and carried on by an English merchant community that numbered three or four hundred by 1560. All this frenetic economic activity was presided over with studied negligence by the city elders, whose tradition of minimum controls was calculated to avoid alarming an extremely heterogeneous trading community.

Les employés de bureau et la représentation. Refus ou aspiration ?

Office workers are uneasy about thz reprzsentative process according to which an individual or a group accepts that a third party speak and act on his or ils behalf. This reluctance has identifiable roots in offices. Women, clearly a majority, have trouble identifying with male and often permanent representatives. The work group, imposed on individuals through unanimism, is not an adequate intermediate support for identification. Convinced that capacity for work and competence are not relevant means of safeguarding interests, each feels it is necessary to defend them personally by other means. During crises, the fusional enthusiasm which replaces the usual conformity is not any favorable to the creation of genuine relations of representation.

Putting Knowledge in its Place: A Scheme for Programming Parallel Processing Structures on the Fly

This paper introduces a mechanism called CID, the Connection Information Distributor. CID extends connectionism by providing a way to program networks of simple processing elements on line, in response to processing demands. Without CID, simultaneous processing of several patterns has only been possible by prewiring multiple copies of the network needed to process one pattern at a time. With CID, programmable processing structures can be loaded with connection information stored centrally, as needed. To illustrate some of the characteristics of the scheme, a CID version of the interactive activation model of word recognition is described. The model has a single permanent representation of the connection information required for word perception, but it allows several words to be processed simultaneously in separate programmable networks. Multiword processing is not perfect, however. The model produces the same kinds of intrusion errors that human subjects make in processing brief presentations of word‐pairs, such as SAND LANE (SAND is often misreported as LAND or SANE). The resource requirements of the mechanism, in terms of nodes and connections, are found to be quite moderate, primarily because networks that are programmed in response to task demands can be much smaller than networks that have knowledge of large numbers of patterns built in.

The Phenomenon of Solidarity: An Attempt of Assessment

What happened in Poland in the early 1980s is fascinating in many respects. The possibility of changing the Communist system in a peaceful manner was once again tried without much success, this time by the mass movement of industrial workers, with some additional help offered by intellectuals. The importance of these events should be fully recognized. As Persky states, “For the first time, a workers' state had been forced to concede to its workers, among other things, the ironic right to form their own working class organization to defend themselves from the workers' state.” According to Ascherson, the success of Polish workers in setting up permanent representation beyond the control of the Party was a major achievement. In this respect the events of 1980/81 differed substantially from all previous workers' uprisings in eastern Europe.

A Major Effort Lies Ahead

The permanent representatives of the Council of Ministers of the Georgian SSR to the USSR Council of Ministers have the specific responsibility of maintaining daily liaison between the republic's government and the government of the USSR. Within the limits of their competence, the permanent representatives participate in the drafting of decrees and regulations on state, economic, and sociocultural construction and examine proposals of the plan-and-budget and other standing committees of the USSR Supreme Soviet and USSR Council of Ministers pertaining to the Georgian SSR. They participate directly in the review of the draft plans of the USSR State Planning Committee, ministries, state committees, and other organs of the USSR for economic and social development, the state budget, material and technical supply, the most important national, interbranch, and regional programs, and other questions that relate to the Georgian SSR.

The UN High Commission for Refugees and the Refugee Crisis in Africa: High Commissioner’s statement to informal meeting of permanent representatives of African States accredited to the United Nations Office at Geneva, March 9, 1982

Africa remains the continent with the greatest number of refugees. All over the continent, refugees arrive in countries facing their own development problems and difficulties; they are, nevertheless, received with generosity and hospitality, in line with deep-rooted traditions that have remained alive thoughout the turmoil of events.I cannot but emphasize once more, at the outset of this gathering, my profound appreciation for this approach of African governments and peoples to the refugee problem. This attitude brings considerable relief to the plight of the refugees and is an example to the world; it is also an ever-present asset in our relationship with the governments and in our co-operation with the Organization of African Unity, the multiple aspects of which are being constantly developed and reinforced in the most positive humanitarian spirit.

The UN High Commission for Refugees and the Refugee Crisis in Africa: High Commissioner’s statement to informal meeting of permanent representatives of African States accredited to the United Nations Office at Geneva, March 9, 1982

The UN High Commission for Refugees and the Refugee Crisis in Africa: High Commissioner’s statement to informal meeting of permanent representatives of African States accredited to the United Nations Office at Geneva, March 9, 1982

Refugees: A New Approach

When Poul Harding, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, informed a January meeting of the Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in Geneva that the amount required by his office to meet the General Program and Special Program costs was 550 million dollars for 1980, the listeners were stunned. When Dr. Harding enumer? ated the areas of need and the numbers of refugees requiring help, the statistics were mind blowing. It became obvious that the business of dealing with the world's refugees had become big business with the costs increasing almost daily.1 There are those who contend that the main function of any interna? tional body concerned with refugees should be identification of the causes which produce refugee populations with an eye toward the elimination of these determinants. A study of the refugee world during the last two decades will show that this is easier said than done. A more realistic approach would entail an examination of the methods used to cope with the refugee situations which have arisen over the last 20-30 years. When a refugee situation occurs the responsibility of the international community is to provide care and maintenance for the people in flight. It is the contention of this article that a research group should be convened to examine the office of the UNHCR, and to determine the possible need for an additional organization to cope with the dilemma of international refugees. Little attention has been paid by the governments comprising the Executive Committee of the UNHCR to the impact that the swelling refugee population has had on that organization. The heavy financial requirements necessary to meet the refugee problems of today, and uncertainty as to the measures to be undertaken and the staff to be employed has led to some inefficiency and ineffective? ness of the agency. The serious nature of this problem warrants a new, enlightened approach. Discussions on the international level might be based on working papers developed on the following fixed agenda items. 1) Historical and analytical reviews of major refugee problems occur-

Socialization of permanent representatives in the United Nations: some evidence

Cross-sectional evidence from interviews at the United Nations found some delegate socialization. Third World delegates with longer tenure showed frustration with the organization, expansionist interests toward its economic activities, and satisfaction with their governments' missions to the United Nations, suggesting increased identification with governmental supranationalist goals. Western delegates with longer tenure showed cynicism about world politics, frustration with the United Nations, expansionist interest toward the Secretariat, and dissatisfaction with their UN missions, suggesting tension between governmental policies and socialized delegate supranationalism which delegates may reduce by leaving the United Nations. Such socialization implies little more than a reinforcement of national policies.The finding of even this disheartening socialization in the United Nations calls for more careful research in organizations where delegate socialization is theoretically more likely. Such research should use scales more complex than those commonly used and should consider bodies “intermediate” between national governments and international organizations, such as permanent missions.

Marxism and National Unity: The Case of Germany

In June, 1974, the two Germanys completed the official “normalization of relations” between them. In the annals of diplomatic history this final act was unique. The two states exchanged, not ambassadors, but “permanent representatives.” Of these, the West German envoy was accredited to East Berlin's foreign ministry as the representative of a foreign country. His East German counterpart, on the other hand, was to deal with the Federal Chancellery in Bonn, in accordance with West Germany's view of the special nature of the East-West German relationship. The West Germans insisted that while there was no longer one German state, there still existed one German nation; this precluded the treatment of the two Germanys as foreign countries. The German Democratic Republic (GDR), however, maintained that not only had the one German state come to an end, but that there existed now, along with the two states, two different nations, one socialist, the other bourgeoiscapitalist. Because of the wholly different systems on which they were based, East and West Germany had nothing in common anymore and constituted two entirely separate, hence foreign, countries. As such, they could establish contact with each other only by means of the customary diplomatic relations. The complex procedure by which relations were in the end established was a compromise between these differing views.

Xeroradiographic Evaluation of Murine Osteosarcoma

Xeroradiography, a method of X-ray imaging based upon selenium photoconductivity, was used for the study of experimental osteosarcoma induced by MSV-M virus in rats. Due to the peculiar features of xeroradiographic image (enhancement of details and lowering of the overall contrast) good pictures of osseous structures together with soft tissues were obtained even in very young animals. Serially perfomred xeroradiographies gave a permanent representation of tumor evolution with time. Advantages and drawbacks of this method are discussed, particularly with respect to radiation dosage. Xeroradiography is proposed for the study of the response to antiblastic chemotherapy of experimental bone tumors.

Early versus late stages of processing and their relation to functional hemispheric asymmetries in face recognition.

To determine whether perceptual asymmetries for faces occur at early or late stages of stimulus analysis, subjects compared the members of a pair of faces which appeared in the right or left visual field, either to each other or to a previously presented sample. The first two experiments established that manual reaction times were consistently shorter to left-field presentation only when test faces were compared for identity to a memorized sample (Experiment 2), but not when they were compared to each other (Experiment 1). By varying the interstimulus interval between the sample and test (Experiment 3), it was found that a consistent left-field superiority was absent for at least the first 50 msec following sample offset, suggesting that during that time both hemispheres have access to a short-lived, visual trace that represents the results of the early, precategorical processing stages. Beyond 100 msec, or earlier if the trace is degraded by a masking field (Experiment 4), a left-field advantage is observed. Experiment 5 showed that higher order comparisons between photographs and caricatures yield a left-field superiority even in a memory-free situation. Together, the results indicate only higher order processes, such as are needed to maintain a relatively permanent memory representation or to compare caricatures with photographs, require the specialized functions peculiar to the right hemisphere. Lower-order, precategorical processes seem to be common to both hemispheres.

Monetary and Economic Co-Operation in the EEC

T | HE institutional machinery of the Community is deceptively simple: the EEC Commission (the bureaucracy), the Council of Ministers (the decision taker), the European Court of Justice (the final interpreter of the Treaties) and the European Parliament (the genesis of democratic control). In fact it is a complex, kaleidoscopic system buffeted by political pressures. In economics and money, the subject of this paper, the EEC Council of Ministers and the EEC Commission interact with each other and are influenced by inter-governmental committees, including the Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper), the Monetary Committee and the Steering Committee. Another layer has been added by the decision of heads of government of the Nine in Paris in December 1974, to hold at least three summit meetings a year. At these meetings, which have been rebaptised European Councils, prime ministers and presidents, afraid of the bad political fallout of failure, sketch out superstructure agreements. It is left to the lower ordersministers, national government officials and the Commission-to do the bricklaying, carpentry and plumbing. The Commission has a small staff of about 7,000 (some 1,600 fewer than the Scottish Office) of which only 2,000 are in the highest grades. Until the mid-1960s it was in the centre of the EEC stage, pushing the implementation of the basic provisions of the Treaty in such matters as the customs union, the common agricultural policy, external trade and, with more mixed success, the harmonisation of laws, regulations and administrative practices. But it ran into trouble trying to nudge the Community towards greater economic integration, a contentious issue of national sovereignty. This provoked the unanimity rule of the famous Luxembourg compromise of 1965. Demanded by France, which insisted, with tacit support from others, on having a power of veto, the Luxembourg compromise saved a member-state from being outvoted and forced to submit to the majority will on issues touching on what it saw as vital national interests. A consequence of this, and of the fading of the vision of a federalist Europe, has been a weakening of the Commission's power of initiative. The entry of sovereignty-conscious Britain and Denmark has made its 499

Role and Perception in International Crisis: The Cases of Israeli and Egyptian Decision Makers in National Capitals and the United Nations

This research reports an exploration of the relationship between a decision maker's role and his perception during an international crisis. Research on the social and political processes of the United Nations suggests that a variety of factors, including communication patterns, nonnational roles, and learning experiences may produce a role orientation in delegates that would have an impact upon their perceptions even when their nation is involved in an international crisis. This proposition is explored using content analysis data from the 1956 Suez crisis. The decision makers whose perceptions furnish the data are the Egyptian and Israeli Permanent Representatives to the United Nations and the occupants of high foreign policy positions in the national capitals of Egypt and Israel. The initial analysis of the data indicates only very small differences in the perceptions. The analysis of the data does not support the original proposition. Finally, some caveats concerning the research are raised.

The Permanent Representatives Committee and the ‘Deepening’ of the Communities

THE NINETEEN YEARS DURING WHICH THE TREATY OF PARIS HAS been in force and the thirteen years of the Treaties of Rome have led to a development in the Communities which, in its extent, variety and depth, exceeds anything the signatories could have hoped for. The volume of derived Community legislation has increased considerably and it now governs important sectors of economic activity. The enlargement of the Communities provides the best confirmation of this success.Furthermore, the dynamic force of the Community system has been such that the deepening of the Communities has extended far further than the areas delimited by the Treaty. More and more action has been undertaken in sectors at or beyond the limit of the Communities’ responsibilities – not to speak of decisions taken on ‘foreign policy’, which, since 1970, have led to the introduction of procedures for political co-operation.

Containing China? I. The Antecedents of Containment

Between THE TWO World Wars the Western world came to hold China in much higher esteem than it had generally done during the preceding century. This new attitude was based primarily on appreciation of the multiplying signs that China was at last beginning to reorganize itself as a modern State, and partly also on respect for its resistance after 1937 to the Japanese attempt forcibly to prevent its achieving this goal. And after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had turned the so-called 'China incident> into a sector of the Second World War, growing American sympathy towards China culminated in President Roosevelt's insistence?apparently to Winston ChurchuTs surprise?that it should henceforth be treated as one of the great powers, and as such entitled to permanent representation on the Security Council of the new United Nations.