being

• Last ditch air-defence: the ultimate umbrella: originally intended to safeguard forward troops from direct attacks by low-flying aircraft, very-short-range air-defence (V-Shorad) guided missiles are being developed into high-lethality systems to protect ground and naval units, against not only aircraft, but also cruise missiles, reconnaissance and attack drones and air-launched tactical weapons, including precision-guided bombs.

The final decades of the 20th century brought advances in military technology that exacerbated demands on V-Shorad systems, the last line of defence....

• Armada International
• Vol. 35 Num. 3, Juin 2011

• Romansh: sparks vocal debate: despite being declared the official written version of Switzerland's fourth national language by both the Swiss Confederation and the canton of Graubunden, Rumantsch Grischun continues to be opposed by locals in some areas. Swiss News visits the Lower Engadine, to find out more about the controversy.

The Romansh language--spoken by a mere 60,000 inhabitants of Switzerland's only trilingual canton--could be considered an endangered tongue. To make t...

• Swiss News
• Num. 2011, Janvier 2011

• Beyond Biosafety - an Analysis of the Ec-Biotech Panel Report

The Panel report in EC-Biotech, for the time being, puts an end to one of the most complex cases in the history of WTO dispute settlement. The analysis at hand covers the issues relevant beyond the realms of biotechnology, namely the impact of non-WTO rules of public international law on the interpretation of WTO law. the scope of the SPS Agreement, the categories "undue delay" and "insufficient scientific evidence" in connection with precautionary measures, and product-origin as a criterion for the national-treatment obligation. On the one hand, some of the criticism raised against the Panel report turns out to be unjustified. It is, on the other hand, a deficiency of the Panel report that some parts of it do not foster legal clarity.

• Aussenwirtschaft; Zeitschrift für internationale Wirtshaftsbeziehungen
• Vol. 62 Num. 1, Mars 2007

• Combat search and rescue: the United States Air Force has written the book on combat search and rescue (Csar). The Pentagon's current rethink is only the latest chapter in a long story of budgetary feasts and famines, and hard-won operational lessons being forgotten and expensively relearned.

In May 2009 Ashton Carter, the Pentagon's Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, formally cancelled the US Air Force's $ 15 billio...

• Armada International
• Vol. 34 Num. 1, Février 2010

• Telge Glíma - Combining History with Bruises

One of Telge Glima's activities is performing. Dressed up like peasants 150 years ago, you can catch them present games like "Badger the Bear", "Hitting the Jug" or "Master of the Circle" at open-air museums like Stockholm's Skansen or Old Linköping. Or perhaps you'll come across them on some mediaeval festival, performing even older games, like backwards leaps, tug-of-war, or glima. Next year we'll be celebrating and we're planning on going to the U.S. A few of us were in Texas in 2003 at a Viking festival, but this time we're all coming. We're looking into festivals and the likes where we could fit in. There are some ideas about where to go and what to do, but mainly we're open to any ideas. We'll perform as long as someone can provide us with a place to sleep, something to eat and a...

...see: www.telgeglima.com. MORE ON GLÍMA. Being strong and fit for active service were important q...

• Nordic Reach
• Vol. 22 Num. 29, Septembre 2009

• Air ops: at their best, special operations involve high-value objectives being achieved by small forces in difficult conditions and in the face of numerically superior opponents. Succeeding against the odds depends not only on surprise, superior training and dedication, but also on special equipment and support from a secure rear base.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Technological advances are now allowing aerospace assets to make an even greater contribution to special operations, through...

• Armada International
• Vol. 32 Num. 6, Décembre 2008

• Responsibility Lies with the G20

Emerging economies are now directly implicated; their economies are being damaged by a decade of G7 governance failures in financial markets. This changes the type of political guidance that is needed now from the G20. A perverse feedback between recession and protectionism is no longer an historical reminiscence of the 1930s, but a possible scenario today. What G20 leaders did at the London Summit was useful, but they should do more. They should try to get out to front of the crisis and take concrete steps to retire the spiral never gets started.

• International Trade Forum
• Num. 1, Janvier 2009

• A home for the 21st century: a unique opportunity to own a luxury, eco-friendly home designed by the renowned architect Daniel Libeskind is being offered in the village of Orselina, which overlooks the resort town of Locarno and enjoys stunning views of Lake Maggiore.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Villa Libeskind project is the result of a cooperation between Daniel Libeskind, one of the world's leading architects an...

• Swiss News
• Num. 2010, Février 2010

• Switzerland's last witch hunt: Anna Goldi holds the dubious honour of being the last person executed in Europe for being a 'witch'. She was decapitated for her crimes in Canton Glarus some 226 years ago. Swiss News investigates this treacherous tale, permeated with adultery, child abuse and sorcery.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Anna Goldi made the headlines recently due to an official declaration in August 2008 by Canton Glarus, stating that the domes...

• Swiss News
• Num. 2008, Avril 2008

• United States fly high: while the United States and the Soviet Union were the first to re-explore uncrewed aircraft technologies since the second world war in the 1960s, notably through Ryan and Tupolev (but with mixed results in both cases), Israel was really the first nation to turn the discipline into a viable proposition in the 1980s, before being overtaken in terms of market size by the United States.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Compared to spending on manned aircraft (the Lockheed Martin F-22 alone receiving over $ 3.5 billion in FY08), that on drones...

• Armada International
• Vol. 32 Num. 3, Juin 2008