Recent Clash Research Articles

The German Mountain Troops and Their Opponents, 1943 to the Present

The most significant World War II battle between Germans and Italians outside of Italy was the September 1943 battle for the Greek island of Cephalonia, ending in the post-battle execution by German Mountain Troops of thousands of Italian soldiers. The recent clash between two German groups over what happened illustrates ongoing disputes about guilt and responsibility—how governments, historians, and civilians mobilize facts to write history. The Mountain Troops’ Veterans Association, which has influenced official German memory of the war, used the Cephalonia case to reassert the myth of Wehrmacht innocence, contrary to opinion-shaping Wehrmacht exhibits of the 1990s. In 2010, the federal government, backing a German judicial decision, reasserted the Wehrmacht Myth, despite opposition from Rome, Athens, and an international association of activists, as reports on right-wing extremism in the German police, judiciary, and military have become increasingly prevalent.

Inter-State Border Conflict in North-East India with Special Reference to Assam Nagaland Border Conflict

This paper is an attempt to study the inter-state border disputes in north-east India with special reference to Assam-Nagaland border conflict in the border areas of Golaghat district. The north-east region of India comprising of eight states has been gradually transforming into a conflicting area that breaks the harmony between the states and also undermines the concept of north-east India as a prosperous and culturally rich region of India. Due to some social, political and economic issues, this north east India divided into various states which were under the same umbrella at a time. Several inter-state disputes take place in this region with the upcoming of political and social unrest. The Naga insurgency that started in the late 1950’s is known as one of the unresolved armed conflicts in India. So, through this paper the researcher makes an attempt to study how the recent Naga-Assamese clash happened in the border areas of Golaghat district is responsible for breaking down of communal harmony, humanity, and inter-state peace process. As the dispute between Assam and Nagaland is currently the most prominent with a history of violent clashes between border areas, this paper aims to concentrate mainly on this issue. Moreover this paper will try to examine the role of the government regarding the above issue. Thus the above issues will be highlighted in the paper.

Values for the Sake of the (Post-Soviet) Nation

The aim of this paper is to deeply rethink and better understand the different approaches to ‘value-based’ politics – and social subroupings’ reactions to it – in the post-Soviet area through the lens of the Ukrainian scene, by analysing both the political and cultural narratives which have emerged in the aftermath of the recent Ukrainian-Russian clash of discourses. An accurate tracking of the policies normativising the field of culture on the one hand, and of blurred cultural boundaries on the other, will help us to question the fixed constructs of national and cultural identity when looking at the everchanging post-Soviet social milieus. This could lead to a general reassessment of the dynamics of self-representation in the post-Soviet cultural and political scene.

Faith, Football, and the First Amendment: Threading the Needle between Establishment and Free Exercise

From the “Hail Mary Pass” to the “Immaculate Reception,” “Touchdown Jesus” to “Catholics vs. Convicts,” and even “Tebowing” to the simple celebration prayer, faith and football have always been intertwined. Despite the significant impact of religion and prayer in shaping our football culture, the concern is when this tradition involves both coaches and players in the public-school context. Specifically, courts are being faced with determining when a coach’s expressive conduct around the football field is “private” speech expressing the views and emotions of the individual, or “public” speech expressing the views of the school and the state. This paper analyzes how Kennedy v. Bremerton School District — the most recent clash between faith and public-school football — sheds light on how lower courts are failing to interpret the proper scope of the Establishment Clause and in doing so, stripping high school football coaches of their First Amendment rights.

MODEL-FREE MULTI-PROBE LENSING RECONSTRUCTION OF CLUSTER MASS PROFILES

Lens magnification by galaxy clusters induces characteristic spatial variations in the number counts of background sources, amplifying their observed fluxes and expanding the area of sky, the net effect of which, known as magnification bias, depends on the intrinsic faint-end slope of the source luminosity function. The bias is strongly negative for red galaxies, dominated by the geometric area distortion, whereas it is mildly positive for blue galaxies, enhancing the blue counts toward the cluster center. We generalize the Bayesian approach of Umetsu et al. for reconstructing projected cluster mass profiles, by incorporating multiple populations of background sources for magnification bias measurements and combining them with complementary lens distortion measurements, effectively breaking the mass-sheet degeneracy and improving the statistical precision of cluster mass measurements. The approach can be further extended to include strong-lensing projected mass estimates, thus allowing for non-parametric absolute mass determinations in both the weak and strong regimes. We apply this method to our recent CLASH lensing measurements of MACS J1206.2-0847, and demonstrate how combining multi-probe lensing constraints can improve the reconstruction of cluster mass profiles. This method will also be useful for a stacked lensing analysis, combining all lensing-related effects in the cluster regime, for a definitive determination of the averaged mass profile.

China's “Soft” Clash with South Korea: The History War and Beyond

Abstract South Korea's mode of responding to the rise of China is not fixed but continues to evolve. The recent clash over Koguryo historiography provides a sobering example of how easily the symbiotic relationship can be abruptly interrupted. It shows the need for careful management of the bilateral relationship by both Seoul and Beijing.

Microfinance Meets the Market

In this paper, we examine the economic logic behind microfinance institutions and consider the movement from socially oriented nonprofit microfinance institutions to for- profit microfinance. Drawing on a large dataset that includes most of the world's leading microfinance institutions, we explore eight questions about the microfinance “industry”: Who are the lenders? How widespread is profitability? Are loans in fact repaid at the high rates advertised? Who are the customers? Why are interest rates so high? Are profits high enough to attract profit-maximizing investors? How important are subsidies? The evidence suggests that investors seeking pure profits would have little interest in most of the institutions we see that are now serving poorer customers. We will suggest that the future of microfinance is unlikely to follow a single path. The recent clash between supporters of profit-driven Banco Compartamos and of the Grameen Bank with its “social business” model offers us a false choice. Commercial investment is necessary to fund the continued expansion of microfinance, but institutions with strong social missions, many taking advantage of subsidies, remain best placed to reach and serve the poorest customers, and some are doing so at a massive scale. The market is a powerful force, but it cannot fill all gaps.

Institutional Convergence of CIS Towards European Benchmarks

The empirical analysis of the determinants of institutional development in transition countries as well as the qualitative country studies summarized in this publication allow for some optimism concerning a potential impact of the EU on institution building and governance quality in CIS countries. Regression analysis reveals a positive impact of EU cooperation agreements below a membership perspective. Alternatively to the EU, entry into the NATO accession process also exerts incentives for better institutions which are often overlooked. In contrast, WTO membership is not found to have any impact on institution building in CIS countries. While there is room for some EU-related optimism given the results from the regression analysis it depends on the country-specific ENP action plans and programs whether or not ENP cooperation actually leads to Europeanization or institutional convergence towards EU standards in the CIS. The case studies on the effectiveness of Neighborhood Europeanization through ENP in Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan reveal that current EU policies towards these countries can be, at best, seen as a catalyst but not as a main driver of institutional convergence. A perspective for a stake in the internal market is on the long horizon for Ukraine only. ENP mechanisms for conflict resolution in Georgia and Azerbaijan have been rather weak before the recent clash in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The top-down institutional convergence, i.e. an EU-first strategy, worked well for Enlargement Europeanization but implemented in the ENP it significantly reduces the leverage of the EU to create a ring of well-governed neighbour states.

Failure to check references

To the Editor .—The recent clash 1,2 over a publication on fibromyalgia 3 that has taken place in the Editor's Correspondence section of theArchivesunderlines the critical responsibilities of authors. Disagreement has brought claims of misstatement, inaccurate citation, careless reading, and careless writing. 2 This is not a singular occurrence in the medical literature. How often do we read a statement only to find that on exploring the reference facts were misquoted, conclusions were misrepresented, or the reference is highly questionable? 4 correspondence section is a unique vehicle for the rapid dissemination of new data and observations. Opinions that may shape the course of future research and practice are given a forum. Though they are brief, the nature of letters does in no way excuse authors from strict adherence to the instructions in bold type, The author is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the references and