Over the 19th and 20th centuries, the political map of Europe changed considerably. At the end of this period, there were remarkably contrasting tendencies concerning the functions and densities of borders. The borders inside the European Union lost their importance, whereas Central and Eastern Europe saw the birth of a multitude of new state borders. The long-term study of border regions, therefore, is a relevant subject for geographers, historians, social scientists, and political scientists. The main thesis of this text is that the rise of the modern nation-state reinforced the separating...

Soft X-rays are a powerful probe of matter. They interact selectively with electrons in atoms and molecules and can be used to study atomic physics, chemical reactions, surfaces and solids, and biological entities. Over the past 20 years, synchrotrons have emerged as powerful sources of soft X-rays for experimental use.

The potential impact of global warming on water resources is of major national and international concern. This book draws together research work aimed at providing global and regional syntheses of the likely hydrological effects of climate change over the coming century. The chapters range from assessments at continental and sub-continental scale, to the development of new methodological approaches for down-scaling climatic predictions, analyses of recent trends in hydrometric data, and reviews of ongoing research on regional hydrological impacts. Although it is still early days for climatic...

Randstad Holland is the urbanized western part of the Netherlands. It contains the four largest cities of the country: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. The name Randstad (rim city) refers to the distinctive shape of the conurbation, a horseshoe of cities around an open agricultural and recreational area, known as the Green Heart.
This book analyzes the restructuring of the region. The volume summarizes the research of the Urban Networks research program. The discussion is focused on four themes: housing, labor market and employment, infrastructure and transportation, and the...

In his beautiful booklnvisible eities Italo Calvino writes about the two cities ofValdrada, the one which lies on the shores of a lake, and the other which is reflected in the lake and contains not only the exterior of Valdrada on the shores, but also its interior, and probably its inhabitants. "Valdrada's inhabitants know," writes Calvino, "that each of their actions is, at once, that action and its mirror image . . . and this awareness prevents them from succumbing for a single moment to chance and forgetfulness." Such mirror image relations are characteristic of the Israeli-Palestinian...

Georges Benko Societies are much messier than our theories of them Michael Mann The Sources of Social Power 1 Towards a unified social theory Why are there communication problems between the different disciplines of the social sciences? And why should there be so much misunderstanding? Most probably because the encounter of several disciplines is in fact the encounter of several different histories, and therefore of several different cultures, each interpreting the other according to the code dictated by its own culture. Inevitably geographers view other disciplines through their own cultural...

Country on the Move presents original research and a comprehensive multidisciplinary analysis of the spatial aspects of migration. It considers the spatial results of two diametrically opposed policies: planning from above to settle the North African and Asian newcomers in the 1950s, and planning by market forces for immigrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. Unlike other books on immigration, Country on the Move also analyzes internal migration within Israel, which is an outcome of the regional disparities produced by immigration. Moreover, it compares the...

Multi-Ethnic Metropolis is based on international comparative research on ethnic segre gation patterns and policy reactions at local and national level. The objective was to achieve a broader, European perspective. For the acquisition of the information on which this book is based, we relied heavily on our colleagues abroad and their network of relations, since a great deal of factual data and information on the policies pursued is usually not available in a freely accessible form and can only be obtained through persons who know their way around. Eventually, in formation was provided by...

Arising initially from a conference, the papers published here have been integrated into book form to provide information on human activities and the tropical rainforest in the past and present, and on the possible future of the rainforest, in a unique way. Other books have considered some, but not all, of these themes; however, none has stressed the continuity of change over time and its possible outcome for the people of the forest as well as for the forest itself.
Because of the approach taken, this book should appeal across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Indeed a prime aim has...