Strategic Cultures

Pojęcie kultury strategicznej jest dobrze zakorzenione w analizach strategicznych i w teorii stosunków międzynarodowych Zachodu, ale nadal bardzo rzadko jest stosowane w myśleniu na zachód od Odry. 1 Można wyróżnić już cztery generacje badaczy używających tego narzędzia analizy w swoich poszukiwaniach głębszego rozumienia polityki zagranicznej i obronnej państw, sojuszy wojskowo-politycznych i nawet struktur ponadnarodowych sui generis jakim jest Unia Europejska.

This article studies the Israeli 'way of war' in counterinsurgency in the period 1987-2005 by analysing the characteristic features of Israel's approach and its ability to adapt to the challenges posed by the Palestinian and Lebanese insurgencies. It first outlines the evolution of the Israeli counterinsurgency. It subsequently examines the Israeli approach through the lens of the country's strategic culture, illuminating its features, rationales and goals, and concludes by examining to what extent Israel managed to adapt to the challenges of fighting insurgents.

Discusses the underpinnings of Turkish foreign policy in the 2000s by assessing the elements of continuity and change. Assesses the influence of cultural and geopolitical factors and contextualizes the interplay of various factors as Turkey defines its foreign policy for the 21st century.

Background Nigeria has one of the highest burdens of pneumococcal disease in the world, but accurate surveillance is lacking. Molecular detection of infectious pathogens in dried blood spots (DBS) is an ideal method for surveillance of infections in resource-limited settings because of its low cost, minimal blood volumes involved, and ease of storage at ambient temperature. Our study aim was to evaluate a Streptococcus pneumoniae real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR) assay on DBS from febrile Nigerian children on Whatman 903 and FTA filter papers, compared to the gold standard of culture. Methods Between September 2011 to May 2015, blood was collected from children 5 years of age or under who presented to six hospital study sites throughout northern and central Nigeria with febrile illness, and inoculated into blood culture bottles or spotted onto Whatman 903 or FTA filter paper. Culture and rt-PCR were performed on all samples. Results A total of 537 DBS specimens from 535 children were included in the study, of which 15 were culture-positive for S. pneumoniae. The rt-PCR assay detected S. pneumoniae in 12 DBS specimens (2.2%). One positive rt-PCR result was identified in a culture-negative specimen from a high-risk subject, and two positive rt-PCR results were negative on repeat testing. Six culture-confirmed cases of S. pneumoniae bacteremia were missed. Compared