Postwar Rehabilitation Research Articles

Losses in fishery ecosystem services of the Dnipro river Delta and the Kakhovske reservoir area caused by military actions in Ukraine

We studied the development of commercial and recreational fishing on the Kakhovske Reservoir (aka Kakhovka) and the Dnipro (aka Dnieper) River lowlands in 2020–2023. The fish assemblage of the Kakhovske Reservoir is under consideration for the period 1956–2021. The dynamics of the fish population transformation, species extinction, and the emergence of new invasive species are given. The losses in Kakhovske Reservoir’s ecosystem services as a result of the Kakhovska Hydroelectric Power Plant’s (HPP) Dam explosion in June 2023 are analyzed. The states and prospects for local recreational and commercial fishing development are assessed. By field research and monitoring observations of the Kakhovske Reservoir and the Dnipro River lowland using the Earth remote sensing data, it was established that 2 months after the accident, the area of the remained reservoir water surface was ∼430 km2 (about 19% of the initial, including the restored Dnipro River bed). The newly formed shallow waterbodies, which do not have a water connection between each other, occupy an area of about 300 km2. These areas continue to dry out, shrink, and become overgrown with vegetation. The draining of the Kakhovske Reservoir caused an ecological disaster for about 40 species and subspecies of fish. The total monetary losses of commercial fishing are about $5.5 million annually. Losses in fishery from the vanishing of spawning grounds are estimated at 20,000 tons of fish resources (∼$40 million). The negative consequences of the loss of the Kakhovske Reservoir aquatic ecosystems will affect the socio-economic development of the entire South of Ukraine for a long time. Among the major ecosystem services lost is the cessation of water supply. Ukraine’s priority issues are the post-war rehabilitation of the country, its degraded lands, territories, and water areas, and ensuring water and food security. One of the urgent problems will be the feasibility of reconstruction of the Kakhovska HPP’s Dam and restoration of the Reservoir, renovation of water supply, fishery, navigation, energy, and recreation. Biodiversity is a basis for the efficient and sustainable ecosystem functions that provide many ecosystem services, and it should be considered for the post-war recovery and development of Ukraine.

THE ECONOMIC COMPONENT OF FOREST INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT UNDER CONDITIONS OF MILITARY CONFLICT

An analysis of the financial and economic activities of forestry for 2021–2022 was carried out and the impact of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation on their key indicators was determined. The current state of the forestry industry of Ukraine was assessed. The main factors that exert a system-forming influence on the economic development of forestry in Ukraine are considered. Attention is paid to the issue of the export potential of Ukrainian forestry in the current conditions. The key problems of forestry, which are related to the export of wood to the countries of the European Union, have been identified, in particular, those which related to wood certification. Also, the negative modern factors in the forestry of Ukraine are defined and characterized, in particular the factor of illegal felling, the key enterprises where similar facts are recorded are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to the environmental damage caused to the forest industry as a result of the ongoing active phase of hostilities. The ways and proposals for overcoming the modern economic problems of the forest sector are outlined, in particular, for the formation of a complex ecological and economic mechanism for the post-war rehabilitation of forestry lands, which were damaged as a result of hostilities. Attention is paid to the role of the public in ensuring proper control over the activities of forest administrations and ensuring the transparency of forestry activities as a whole

Prospects of Participation of Scientific Institutions and Higher Education Institutions in Targeted Regional Programmes of Odesa Oblast in the Context of Economic Recovery

The article presents a generalising analysis of targeted regional programs of the Odesa region in the context of identifying direct participants in their implementation, analyses the data on the possible integration of the results of research work carried out by scientific institutions and higher education institutions (HEIs) within the regional target and comprehensive programmes of the region. The study was based on such information resources as regulatory legal acts of Ukraine, analytical materials of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, Strategic and Programme Documents of the Odesa Regional Council, analytical data on the scientific activities of scientific institutions and higher education institutions of Odesa Oblast. According to the author, the post-war rehabilitation of the country is impossible without scientific, technical and innovative development, which is manifested in the practical application of scientific developments. Therefore, it is important to study the prospects of participation of scientific institutions and higher education institutions in the regional development programmes of the Odesa oblast in the context of economic recovery. It was found that the amount and share of funding for the activities of the programmes implemented with the participation of scientific institutions and higher education institutions of Odesa oblast are insignificant in the total funding of individual programmes. The article shows that the engagement of scientific institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NAS of Ukraine) and higher education institutions of Odesa oblast in the realisation of the regional targeted and complex programs will allow optimising the costs of research works and avoiding double funding since most of the operations are carried out at the expense of state funding. Participation of scientific institutions in the process of development, elaboration and implementation of regional target programs will contribute to their credibility, will allow for detailed planning. This, in turn, will ensure effective implementation with the achievement of the set tasks and goals, thus influencing the development of the market, (including innovation infrastructure), integration of science, education, small and medium business and public authorities

Psychosocial and Educational Rehabilitation of Post-War Countries

War conflict, its preparation, course and termination is a socially threatening continuum that requires the commitment and coordination of the entire society. Experiencing a war conflict leaves a significant impact on a person's physical, psychological and social health, even long after the end of war operations. However, it is not only about individual problems and the subsequent individual efforts to solve them, but also about the whole of society. If the military conflict takes place in a culturally diversified environment, then post-war rehabilitation also requires respect for cultural diversity. Therefore, post-war reconstruction plans must include not only the solution to the psychosocial consequences of the war, but also the rehabilitation of the entire society, in which education has a key position.

Securitizing Health: Biosecurity and Postwar Reconstruction in Korea

In the winter of 1951, while the war was still raging in the Korean peninsula, the Government of Republic of Korea made a formal request to the United Nations Korea Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA) to dispatch experts to help the war-ridden nation develop long-term plans for recovery and reconstruction. The UNKRA accepted this request and further took up the matter with the United Nations Assembly, which passed the motion to send expert missions in the areas requested by the South Korean government - agriculture, public health and education. To assist the war-damaged South Korea, experts were culled from three United Nations specialized agencies - the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This paper will examine these three plans drafted by the FAO, WHO and UNESCO in 1952 to explore how securitization of health or biosecurity was articulated in the planning for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of post-war Korea. The long-term plans of postwar rehabilitation and reconstruction by UNKRA have been cited as experiments in development and modernization. However, by applying the concept of securitization of health or biosecurity, this paper will show how the interpretation of health as a security matter was conceptualized by the international actors involved in the postwar reconstruction of Korea.

The effectiveness of applying BIM in increasing the accuracy of estimating quantities for public facilities rehabilitation projects in Syria after the war

Public facilities rehabilitation projects are the most discussed projects among humanitarian organizations working in Syria in the field of post-war rehabilitation. Since education is a basic right for every child, there is an urgent need for school rehabilitation projects, especially after the massive destruction caused by the war in Syria in the past decade. BIM technology has been used in the past years because it is an integrated and effective process for planning, studying, and implementing projects. However, BIM has not been properly used in the study of post-war rehabilitation projects, especially in developing countries. This research discusses the effectiveness of applying BIM in the rehabilitation projects of public facilities in Syria after the war by increasing the accuracy of quantities estimation for these projects. The main results indicate that the application of BIM in the Al-Ejref school rehabilitation project in the Al Qunaitra governorate represents great potential in increasing the accuracy of quantity estimation, as the traditional methods are limited and have a large margin of error.

СТАН ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ В НАУЦІ ПРОБЛЕМИ КРИМІНАЛЬНО- ПРАВОВОЇ ОХОРОНИ СФЕРИ ЗЕМЕЛЬНИХ ВІДНОСИН В УКРАЇНІ

The article provides an overview of trends in the criminal law protection of land relations in Ukraine in the conditions of the legal regime of martial law. Emphasis is placed on the fact that certain restrictions are effective in minimizing adverse consequences that may be caused by both the criminalization of the field of land relations and related problems, such as: the need to establish or change the purpose of land plots; the necessity of demining agricultural lands; minimization of corruption risks caused by the adoption of new legislation. Emphasis is placed on three main factors that determine the need for the creation of an institute of criminal law protection of land relations in Ukraine: obtaining the status of a candidate in the EU, restoring the stable functioning of the agricultural land market for the normalization of the economy, restoring the quality of agricultural land during the post-war rehabilitation of Ukraine. Granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for the EU made it necessary to overcome a number of internal problems, such as strengthening the fight against corruption, in particular in the field of land relations. It has been established that the commission of criminal offenses against peace, human security and international legal order affects land legal relations in Ukraine due to damage to the soil and vegetation cover of natural territories and agricultural lands, which makes the corresponding land unsuitable for sowing. It was emphasized that manifestations of corruption in the field of land relations remain at a high level in the current year, despite certain positive dynamics compared to last year's indicators. Emphasis is placed on the fact that arbitrary occupation of land plots and corruption offenses in the field of land relations during the period of martial law became somewhat widespread. Therefore, in addition to criminal legal means to counter such criminal offenses, public control is important.

MULTIFUNCTIONAL HIPPODROME COMPLEX WITH FUNCTION OF HYPOTHERAPY

The article clarifies the formation of the architecture of the racetrack as a multifunctional complex. The types of institutions with the use of therapeutic riding are analyzed. The analysis of research allows to confirm that a significant number of existing institutions in which hippotherapy classes are held are not adapted to the long stay of patients. The review of racetrack reconstruction projects in Western Europe and their comparison indicates the need to change the spatial planning solution of the complex of racetrack buildings and supplement them with related functions.The development of hippotherapy in different countries and the impact of this method of treatment on the rehabilitation of patients are analyzed. Hippotherapy is considered as a method of treatment; its development, spread in Europe and Ukraine; introduction of this method in rehabilitation complexes. It was found that in Ukraine this method appeared at the beginning. 90s of the twentieth century. It is revealed that this technique is partially applied in the complexes of hippodromes of Ukraine. The authors focused on the racetracks of major cities of Ukraine as promising facilities for the implementation of the accompanying function of hippotherapy.As a result of the analysis of institutions where hippotherapy treatment is carried out, the most common types are identified: private hypocenters, equestrian clubs, rehabilitation centers. Factors influencing the use of medical riding are considered: one's own illness or the illness of relatives and the desire to help people, for example, post-war rehabilitation of anti-terrorist operation fighters.We believe that it is rational to introduce the concomitant function of hippotherapy in the racetrack complex. As a result of research, it is possible to draw a conclusion about need of reconstruction of existing or construction of new complexes of constructions of hippodromes which would meet modern requirements of the persons in need of treatment. Providing a complex of racetracks with a concomitant function of hippotherapy, in fact, turns it into a multifunctional complex with a complex architectural and spatial organization.

Saving Homeless Children of War, Making Citizens for ‘Peace’: The politics of post-war rehabilitation in US-occupied Japan and beyond

AbstractThis article analysesBell Hill(Kane no naru oka), the NHK radio drama designed by US-occupation personnel, and the fervent audience response, while treating this redemption story of war-affected homeless children as a trope for Japanese reorientation under American tutelage. Specifically, it examines the two major tenets of the rehabilitative vision delineated in the serial, liberal guidance based on the principles of self-government and sentimental brotherhood. Questioning the underlying assumption of post-war discourses that they were new, humanitarian fundamentals for Japan's democratic transformation, this study considers liberal principles and sentimentalism as technologies of power and the self that affected both drama's characters and receptive audiences to refigure themselves as responsible and empathetic members of the newly imagined national community. Through this approach, the article suggests a way to resist a simplistic account of Japan's post-war reorientation as either unilateral indoctrination or liberation. The historical experience is instead rearticulated as a process of self-rehabilitation within the biopolitical order of American Cold-War governmentality. This rearticulation opens a further possibility to locate the specific rendering of Japan's post-war rehabilitation within a wider trans-war continuum of human reformation projects implemented through similar technologies of power and the self in Japan and beyond.

Post-War Reintegration, Reconstruction and Reconciliation Among the Anioma People of Nigeria

Author(s): Nwaokocha, Odigwe A. | Abstract: Much has been written on the Nigerian Civil War. However, its impact on some minority groups has been largely neglected. This oversight has affected scholarly treatment of how forces emanating from the war impacted the Anioma people. Though predominantly Igbo-speaking, the Anioma were geographically on the Nigerian side during the war. The dynamics of the war as an ethnic conflict ensured that Aniomaland was a major battlefront. At the end of the war, the Anioma were a distressed group. Houses, homes, careers, dreams, aspirations and individuals lay in ruins. This left the people and their territory in need of major rehabilitation. This article focuses on the rehabilitation and reintegration of the Anioma into the society. It attempts this against the background of the Nigerian government’s policy of rehabilitation and the trumpeted principle of “no victor, no vanquished,” which dominates discourses on the war. Employing primary and secondary sources, the work probes how the Anioma people fared under the post-war rehabilitation program at different levels. It argues that it was difficult for the Nigerian government and society to completely forget the bitterness of the war even while implementing the rehabilitation program. This left the program struggling to manage two diametrically opposed principles, resulting in its merely scratching the surface after promising much.

Peace Education: європейський досвід і національна спроможність підтримки депресивних груп

The article is devoted to the re-awareness of the European and national experience of overcoming the problems of depressed groups caused by armed conflicts. The European Union has accumulated considerable experience of facilitating conflict resolution, post-war rehabilitation, formation of a culture of tolerance. One tool for translating this experience is the Peace Education project, aimed at conflict prevention, cultivating the values of peace, stability and prosperity, reducing the level of aggression and violence. The theoretical and methodological foundations of this project are analyzed, including polemology, conflictology, multicultural, communication paradigm, geophilosophy etc. The functions of Peace Education, which include post-conflict reconciliation, are described. This function is of particular importance for post-Soviet states that have gone through armed conflicts (Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine). They were faced with situations which some European countries have already gone through and are forced to look for solutions to the same problems that have been relatively successfully overcome in EU Member States. Therefore, it is necessary to study this experience, to realize achievements in national educational spaces. Particular attention is paid to the war-generated new inclusive – combatants, civilians who are physically, psychologically, financially affected by the armed conflict, relatives of the dead, displaced persons, etc. These categories are potential translators of negative experiences of violent problem-solving. Successful encapsulation practices for depressed groups, such as open borders and educational space, academic mobility and vocational retraining programs can be implemented in Ukraine with adaptation to national realities.

Crimen social, justicia transicional y territorio. Apuntes críticos sobre la intervención del “Bronx” en Bogotá

“Justicia”, “transición”, “territorio” y “crimen”. Estas cuatro palabras han empezado a exigir nuevos marcos de comprensión en Colombia. Este artículo procura discutir las posibilidades y límites de sus vinculaciones desde la óptica de las Ciencias Sociales para pensar el caso de la intervención del Bronx en Bogotá, de manera que en este escenario sea posible identificar cuáles son los retos que se abren al pensar en escenarios de transición y rehabilitación tras los procesos de intervención que tuvieron lugar en el año 2016. Usando el aparataje teórico de Foucault y de algunos informes sobre la intervención del Bronx, el artículo problematiza la forma en que se piensa la justicia, su relación con el territorio y el modo en el que circula el concepto de crimen, todo esto para producir una reflexión crítica sobre los modelos de justicia en los que se da tratamiento tanto a los conflictos derivados de la guerra, como a otros que se proliferan por la intensificación y perdurabilidad de los primeros.

UNRRA a uprchlická krize po druhé světové válce. Operace „Displaced persons“

This paper is dedicated to the UNRRA, the United Nations organization envisioned to deal with the expected consequences of ongoing war including devastation, famine, diseases and mass displacement. As it turned out, tackling the mass displacement was most important and challenging task of UNRRA. Expectations were set high. However, lack of comprehension of challenges raised doubts about UNRRA and its role in whole postwar rehabilitation process. Questions were raised about size and cost of administrative staff, and about their reliability and effectiveness. Did UNRRA had sufficient “know-how” to carry out relief work at global scale? The study of archive material, memoirs and specialized bibliography, and various published articles helps to uncover the reasons behind huge criticism faced by UNRRA.

Prosthesis Repurposed

The article posits Flannery O’Connor’s writing as an articulation of prosthesis’s subversive potential. A crutch user, O’Connor wrote in the wake of World War II, as rehabilitation professionals sought not only to supply disabled people with sophisticated prostheses, but also to train them in their use. While the prescriptive instruction of the rehabilitation industry worked to reinstate normative productivity along gender lines, O’Connor’s work illuminates technology’s potential as a site for reimagining and reframing disabled embodiment. O’Connor’s texts and characters attempt this repurposing through individual and subversive prosthesis use. Drawing primarily on her stories “Good Country People” and “The Lame Shall Enter First,” the article considers how the use of prostheses to communicate unique predilections and desires challenges the standardizing impulse that undergirded postwar rehabilitation.

A study on physical education of primary·secondary school in North Korea during post-war rehabilitation period

A study on physical education of primary·secondary school in North Korea during post-war rehabilitation period

Relocating Philippine English in Schneider’s dynamic model

It has been claimed that Philippine English is in phase 3 of Schneider’s dynamic model, probably approaching phase 4. This paper argues that Philippine English has already met the parameters set for phase 4 and that this phase may be dawning in the development of Philippine English. Event X already took place in the development of Philippine English, the ratification and implementation of two inequitable Acts that were supposedly to be an aid in the post-war rehabilitation of the Philippines. Aside from this Event X, several incidents took place after that also contributed to the feeling of separation of the Philippines from the United States. The Philippines has long achieved its freedom and independence and has been self-governing since its independence from the United States. It has likewise formulated its own language policies without any external control. There seems to be general acceptance of an emerging local norm, though there remains residual linguistic conservatism. English has been in use in literature almost ever since the language was introduced in the Philippines. There are signs of structural stabilization both synchronically and diachronically. The English used in the country has already been homogenized to a point that codification is now possible through dictionaries and reference grammars.

Kendo: Culture of the Sword by Alexander C. Bennett

Reviewed by: Kendo: Culture of the Sword by Alexander C. Bennett Michael Wert (bio) Kendo: Culture of the Sword. By Alexander C. Bennett. University of California Press, Berkeley, 2015. xxxvi, 286 pages. $32.95, cloth; $32.95, E-book. Alexander Bennett, a well-known kendo practitioner and New Zealand expatriate living in Japan, has produced an engaging survey of kendo from its putative origins in medieval Japan to the present. These two biographical details are not meant as introductory filler; from the prologue to the final chapter, the author’s project is not simply an academic study but a personal journey, “reassessing why I had embarked on this journey in the first place and why I persist in trekking down this intangible, eternal path to self-perfection” (p. 237). Like many surveys with a long temporal scope, this book is not argument driven but a presentation of how kendo changed over time. The author offers many smaller, insightful arguments that connect his subject to other historiographical issues familiar to scholars of Japan: kendo as a device for the “taming” of the samurai, an invented tradition in the Meiji period, a vehicle for nationalism and militarism during Japan’s modern wars, and an object for postwar rehabilitation, democratization, and internationalization. The book has something for everyone. For the casual reader and martial [End Page 371] arts enthusiast (the book is priced for this market, unlike the publisher’s specialist monographs which are almost double the price), this work acts as a highly readable and intelligent survey of early modern and modern Japanese history through the lens of kendo. There are also extensive translations of rules, mission statements, mandates, speeches, and the like. I cannot imagine that anyone will attempt a historical kendo survey for the general audience that will so thoroughly cover the major issues in kendo history. For those with an academic interest in the topic, each chapter is better than the last—analytically the strongest chapters occur in the latter half of the book as the chronology moves into the modern period and closer to the author’s own involvement at the very highest levels of the kendo world in Japan and abroad. The first two chapters cover the late medieval and early modern periods. Bennett summarizes the historical context as it relates to the samurai, for example, the “rise of the samurai” debate among Karl Friday, Wayne Farris, and Eiko Ikegami. And those who have read martial art historical works such as Cameron Hurst’s Armed Martial Arts of Japan, Friday’s Legacies of the Sword, and the late John Rogers’s often-cited dissertation, “The Development of the Military Profession in Tokugawa Japan,” will be familiar with the historical personages, sword “styles” (ryūha), and general narrative of martial art history.1 The central argument of the two opening chapters is that swordsmanship originated as an “art of killing” and became an “art of living” as it shifted from a skill set used in combat to an art form that adopted the vocabulary, institutions, and pedagogy found in other cultural arts such as nō and tea ceremony. The author demonstrates how swordsmanship was part of what Norbert Elias famously termed the “civilizing process.” Citing Elias, Bennett argues that the civilizing process began during the Muromachi period as samurai created cultural practices that would not embarrass them while living among the Kyoto nobility. This process accelerated during the Tokugawa period when swordsmanship, the author asserts convincingly, became integral to what Ikegami defined as samurai “taming.” Chapters 3 and 4 trace swordsmanship’s popularity in the early modern period, through its fall after the Meiji Restoration and its revival during Japan’s modern wars. Swordsmanship reached peak sportification in the mid-nineteenth century but suddenly dropped in popularity during the Meiji “civilization and enlightenment” boom when much of samurai culture [End Page 372] was depicted as archaic and undesirable. Kept alive as a carnivalesque exhibition by a small group of martial artists, kendo gradually began to find supporters among people who felt that kendo, and martial arts more generally, would be beneficial in education. Although initial efforts to introduce martial arts into education were unsuccessful, for reasons fully explored...

Malaysia. A matter of risk: Insurance in Malaysia, 1826–1990 By Lee Kam Hing Singapore: NUS Press, 2012. Pp. 647. Maps, Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index.

A matter of risk: Insurance in Malaysia, 1826-1990 By LEE KAM HING Singapore: NUS Press, 2012. Pp. 647. Maps, Plates, Notes, Bibliography, Index. doi:10.1017/S0022463414000733 This illuminating and well-researched book, written with the support of the General Insurance Association of Malaysia, is an in-depth history of the insurance industry in Malaysia. It is also timely, given the significance and indispensable nature of the global service sector. At least two-thirds of A matter of risk traces the evolution of the insurance industry since the colonial era (chapters 1-10). This is natural given the fact that the defining moments in Malaysian history required the services of the insurance sector--the First and Second World Wars, the postwar rehabilitation periods, and most importantly, the Emergency (1948-60). The final two chapters trace the trajectory of the industry from the 1960s through the 1990s. Lee Kam Hing rightly points out the large gaps in published work on the insurance industry (p. 10) and the difficulty of acquiring empirical and statistical data. Yet he has managed to uncover a vast literature on the subject by tapping into the resources available in Malaysia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Data is severely limited for the war years and the early postwar rehabilitation period, but the author manages to provide a detailed and comprehensive account of the insurance industry and the overall economic development of the country. This study focuses on the historical development of the insurance industry in Malaya/Malaysia as well as its interaction with the colonial and postcolonial state. Lee points out that the Western insurance companies which had moved into the Straits Settlements markets since 1793 eventually became Malaysian entities. This perhaps was a reflection of the trend of British companies divesting assets in developing countries and moving into other areas of investment and the consequence of state 'localisation'. Lee traces this shift very well, explaining along the way the trials and tribulations of these highly entrepreneurial and competitive firms. The important role of agency houses is discussed in chapter 1, followed by a detailed account of the existence of foreign and local insurance companies which at a later stage provided the platform for collaboration between British and local Chinese insurance companies. Chapter 3 evaluates the role of insurance in society, focusing on fire and motor insurance. The increased numbers of motor vehicles led to the introduction of insurance in Malaya covering motor accidents in the early 1920s; third party insurance was implemented by 1930. Three chapters cover the same period (1908-41) and discuss risks in various key commodities, mainly, the rubber and tin industries and later palm oil; dockyard risks are also discussed, given the importance of trade and shipping. New sectors such as insurance for the entertainment industry and the introduction of motorcycle insurance reflected the growing needs of a maturing society. …

戦後復興期タイにおける道路整備（1945―1957年）

戦後復興期タイにおける道路整備（1945―1957年）

Deviance, equivalence, renaissance.

The rationale for The Economist magazine is that everything relates to economics. Is it possible to make the same argument for medicine and health? This issue of JRSM, while not necessarily proving that case, tests the hypothesis. Russia's involvement in Ukraine is dominating news headlines, but you might have missed the significance of recent statements by President Vladimir Putin on homosexuality. Robert Bartholomew argues that Russia is edging towards medicalising deviance, in echoes of the way Nazi Germany manipulated ‘science’ to classify Jews as physically and mentally inferior.1 The former Soviet Union, to take another example, attempted to ‘rehabilitate’ political dissidents using psychiatric treatments. Putin's stance on homosexuality, says Bartholomew, poses a challenge to Russian health professionals. In an essay, Alex Till et al.2 discuss the provision of prison health services, and argue that health services for prisoners should be equivalent to those available to the rest of the population. Equivalence, propose the authors, is a minimum acceptable standard, since the needs of the prison population may be greater and more complex. Dinesh Bhugra,3 in the second article in his series on medicine and society, explains why medicine cannot exist in a social vacuum, an argument that provides a broader context for any call for better prison health services. Finally, public health specialists review conditions in Iraq 10 years after the US-led invasion, which was meant to consider the post-war rehabilitation of the country.4 Inevitably, data are far from perfect, and some indicators for Iraq are better than other countries in the region, but the authors conclude unsurprisingly that Iraq's health and social system is yet to recover to pre-war levels and requires ongoing support from other countries. The consequences of war are not easily erased, and here's an example of where better health, the renaissance of Iraq, clearly requires more economic aid. Sexual discrimination, prisoner health, the interplay between medicine and society, and a war in Iraq might be different from the routine matter of a teaching hospital grand round but the practice of medicine touches these themes and more. Doctors may not be economists just yet, despite the best efforts of politicians, but the rights of our fellow humans and a greater empathy with the trials of humanity are often prime motivations for people to embark upon a career in medicine. In the whirlwind of medical practice, these noble inspirations are too easily forgotten.