From subtle political intrigue to outright physical combat, conflict is essential to interesting stories. Narratology research emphasizes that conflict provides structure and engagement, so narrative systems stand to benefit greatly from a computational model of this phenomenon. We present such a model based on AI planing, along with formulas for measuring seven essential properties: participan...

The self-limiting revolutions of 1989 in Central Europe offer an alternative paradigm of revolutionary change that is reminiscent more of the American struggle for independence in 1776 than the Jacobin tendencies that grew out of the French Revolution of 1789. In order to understand the contradictory impulses of the revolutions of 1989—the desire for a radical renewal and the concern for preser...

Based on a sample of matched adult children and aging parents in the rural Midwest, this study examined the effects of family relationship history on depressive symptoms among elderly parents. The study used reports from both adult children and aging parents regarding intergenerational affectional solidarity and relationship strain. Aging parents reported levels of depressed affect. Adult child...

there are many reasons for the health inequities that we see around the world today. public policy and the way society organises its affairs affects the economic, social and physical factors that influence the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age - the social determinants of health. tackling health inequities is a political issue that requires leadership, political cour...

seistan was one of the important ancient urban centres in south eastern persia. the ruins of the city show the prosperity and fertility of this city to the extent that a british civil officer considered it as the ancient london of asia. this article attempts to describe the enormous latent wealth of this ancient city which made it important for strategic, political and commercial reasons. due t...

The importance of increased levels of education in improving the status of women throughout the world is well established. Higher levels of education are associated with lower birth rates, higher incomes, and greater autonomy for women. Yet, women’s struggle to have a voice in higher education has been fraught with difficulties in the US and worldwide, particularly in overcoming widely held per...

Those who see only race/ethnicity in politics in Guyana, as others who see tribe and religion in other countries, are not viewing reality comprehensively, objectively and scientifically. They fail to note that the two major ethnic groups in Guyana are not, in class terms, uni-class; that economics, on the one hand, and politics, ideology, culture and institutions, on the other are inter-related...

The Struggle over Migration Policy ∗ In this paper we analyze the endogenous determination of migration quota viewing it as an outcome of a two-stage political struggle between two interest groups: those in favor and those against the proposed migration quota. We first compare the proposed policies of the two interest groups under random behavior of the government, with and without lobbying. Th...

In the UK, policy on the governance of medical performance is characterised by a continuing struggle between state and profession for control of the agenda setting, formation and implementation stages of the policy process. Since 1998 both sides have continued to produce policies in response to highly visible political pressures but have yet to agree on how those policies should engage as they ...