Written by Andrew Jack, the Moscow Bureau Chief of the Financial Times, here is a revealing look at the meteoric rise of Vladimir Putin and his first term as president of Russia. Drawing on ...interviews with Putin himself, and with a number of the country’s leading figures, as well as many ordinary Russians, Jack describes how the former KGB official emerged from the shadows of the Soviet secret police and lowly government jobs to become the most powerful man in Russia. The author shows how Putin has defied domestic and foreign expectations, presiding over a period of strong economic growth, significant restructuring, and rising international prestige. Yet Putin himself remains a man of mystery and contradictions. Personally, he is the opposite of Boris Yeltsin. A former judo champion, he is abstemious, healthy, and energetic, but also evasive, secretive, and cautious. Politically, he has pursued a predominantly pro-western foreign policy and liberal economic reforms, but has pursued a hardline war in Chechnya and introduced tighter controls over parliament and the media and his opponents, moves which are reminiscent of the Soviet era. Through it all, Putin has united Russian society and maintained extraordinarily high popularity. Jack concludes that Putin’s “liberal authoritarianism” may be unpalatable to the West, but is probably the best that Russia can do at this point in her history. Inside Putin’s Russia digs behind the rumors and speculation, illuminating Putin’s character and the changing nature of the Russia he rules. Andrew Jack sheds light on Putin’s thinking, style and effectiveness as president. With Putin’s second term just beginning, this invaluable book offers important insights for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of Russia.
Constructing Neoliberalismpresents a rich analysis of the shift to neoliberal economic policies in four Anglo-American democracies - Canada, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand - over the course of ...the 1980s and 1990s.
Zipf's law is a very tight constraint on the class of admissible models of local growth. It says that for most countries the size distribution of cities strikingly fits a power law: the number of ...cities with populations greater than S is proportional to 1/S. Suppose that, at least in the upper tail, all cities follow some proportional growth process (this appears to be verified emperically). This automatically leads their distribution to converge to Zipf's law.
This official account of the crisis in the Persian Gulf traces the Canadian Forces commitment to the Gulf region in response to Iraqi aggression in 1990-1991. Written by two officers who served in ...the Persian Gulf during the period of hostilities in 1991, this official account is the fruit of four years of detailed research. Based upon their personal experiences, numerous interviews, and unrestricted access to official papers, they have produced a candid account of value for both the military professional and the interested civilian. In January 1991, the Chief of Defence Staff authorized the Director of History to post Major Jean Morin as field historian to the staff of the Commander, Canadian Forces Middle East (Commodore Ken Summers). It was the first time since the Korean War that a historical officer had been posted to the staff of a Canadian commander overseas.
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•75% of the species of Heliconia were included in a phylogeny based on seven genes.•A combined Old World and Ecuadorian clade is sister to the rest of Heliconia.•Extant Heliconia ...arose 39Ma, making it the oldest hummingbird pollinated clade.•Flower resupination and inflorescence habit show correlated evolution.•Half of the phylogenetic diversity in Heliconia has been described since 1975.
Heliconia (Heliconiaceae, order Zingiberales) is among the showiest plants of the Neotropical rainforest and represent a spectacular co-evolutionary radiation with hummingbirds. Despite the attractiveness and ecological importance of many Heliconia, the genus has been the subject of limited molecular phylogenetic studies. We sample seven markers from the plastid and nuclear genomes for 202 samples of Heliconia. This represents ca. 75% of accepted species and includes coverage of all taxonomic subgenera and sections. We date this phylogeny using fossils associated with other families in the Zingiberales; in particular we review and evaluate the Eocene fossil Ensete oregonense. We use this dated phylogenetic framework to evaluate the evolution of two components of flower orientation that are hypothesized to be important for modulating pollinator discrimination and pollen placement: resupination and erect versus pendant inflorescence habit. Our phylogenetic results suggest that the monophyletic Melanesian subgenus Heliconiopsis and a small clade of Ecuadorian species are together the sister group to the rest of Heliconia. Extant diversity of Heliconia originated in the Late Eocene (39Ma) with rapid diversification through the Early Miocene, making it the oldest known clade of hummingbird-pollinated plants. Most described subgenera and sections are not monophyletic, though closely related groups of species, often defined by shared geography, mirror earlier morphological cladistic analyses. Evaluation of changes in resupination and inflorescence habit suggests that these characters are more homoplasious than expected, and this largely explains the non-monophyly of previously circumscribed subgenera, which were based on these characters. We also find strong evidence for the correlated evolution of resupination and inflorescence habit. The correlated model suggests that the most recent common ancestor of all extant Heliconia had resupinate flowers and erect inflorescences. Finally, we note our nearly complete species sampling and dated phylogeny allow for an assessment of taxonomic history in terms of phylogenetic diversity. We find approximately half of the currently recognized species, corresponding to half of the phylogenetic diversity, have been described since 1975, highlighting the continued importance of basic taxonomic research and conservation initiatives to preserve both described and undiscovered species of Heliconia.
Human primary CMML cells produce immunosuppressive ROS that may impact on NK cell‐ and T cell‐mediated clearance of leukemic cells.
Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a myeloproliferative and ...myelodysplastic neoplasm with few treatment options and dismal prognosis. The role of natural killer (NK) cells and other antileukemic lymphocytes in CMML is largely unknown. We aimed to provide insight into the mechanisms of immune evasion in CMML with a focus on immunosuppressive reactive oxygen species (ROS) formed by the myeloid cell NADPH oxidase‐2 (NOX2). The dominant population of primary human CMML cells was found to express membrane‐bound NOX2 and to release ROS, which, in turn, triggered extensive PARP‐1–dependent cell death in cocultured NK cells, CD8+ T effector memory cells, and CD8+ T effector cells. Inhibitors of ROS formation and scavengers of extracellular ROS prevented CMML cell‐induced lymphocyte death and facilitated NK cell degranulation toward Ab‐coated, primary CMML cells. In patients with CMML, elevation of immature cell counts (CD34+) in blood was associated with reduced expression of several NK cell‐activating receptors. We propose that CMML cells may use extracellular ROS as a targetable mechanism of immune escape.
This account of historical politics in Ukraine, framed in a broader European context, shows how social, political, and cultural groups have used and misused the past from the final years of the ...Soviet Union to 2020. Georgiy Kasianov details practices relating to history and memory by a variety of actors, including state institutions, non-governmental organizations, political parties, historians, and local governments. He identifies the main political purposes of these practices in the construction of nation and identity, struggles for power, warfare, and international relations. Kasianov considers the Ukrainian case in the context of a global increase in the politics of history and memory, with particular emphasis on a distinctive East-European variety. He pays special attention to the use and abuse of history in relations between Ukraine, Russia, and Poland.
Russia rebounds Robinson, David O; Robinson, David O; Owen, David Edwin Wynn
2003., 09/09/2003, 2003, 2003-09-15, 20030101
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Russia Rebounds analyzes Russia's dramatic economic recovery since the country's 1998 financial crisis, emphasizing macroeconomic issues and fiscal and banking sector reforms. The crisis was a ...massive shock to the system and a considerable surprise to both Russians and foreign investors, who a year before had come to think that the worst of the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy was over. Macroeconomic performance since the crisis has been impressive. The book assesses the contribution of various factors underlying this recovery and highlights key policy challenges to ensure its sustainability.
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