The government of Qatar has made significant investments in post-secondary education to ensure that Qataris are able to contribute to the country's social and economic goals. The authors describe RAND's analysis of occupational demand and related post-secondary educational opportunities, and offer recommendations for improving the country's current provision of post-secondary education.

The military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the United States' longest military engagements since the Vietnam War and the most severe test of the all-volunteer force, with the possible exception of the Gulf War in 1991. More than 1.5 million service members were deployed between 2002 and 2007, many of them more than once, and the fast pace of deployment has been felt throughout the military. Soldiers and marines have faced a steady cycle of predeployment training and exercises, deployment itself, and postdeployment reassignment and unit regeneration. Service members not on deployment are nonetheless busy planning and supporting military operations, caring for injured service members, and attending to recruiting, training, and other responsibilities at home and abroad. Many service members are married, and deployments have disrupted their family routines and created stress from separation and reintegration. At the same time, the long hours, tension, uncertainty, and violence of deployments have stressed the service members sent to fight. Remarkably, despite the pressures from deployments on service members and their families, reenlistment rates have been stable since 2002. The purpose of this monograph is to enhance understanding of whether deployments affected service members' willingness to stay in the military, as the stress caused by deployments would suggest, and how it was that reenlistment held steady.

Among the many hardships of military activation is the possibility of losing earnings, and though some research points to such a loss, other research suggests that reservists in fact earn substantially more when they are activated. The authors examine earnings reports from the 2004 and 2005 Status of Forces Survey of Reserve Component Members (SOFS-R) and those from administrative data--the Social Security Administration and military pay records.

To help Qatar identify priorities for developing post-secondary educational offerings, this report presents the results of a survey of Qataris who left secondary school in 1998 concerning their education and employment experiences since graduation. Most sample members worked in a government ministry or for an establishment owned by the government. The survey showed sharp gender differences. For example, majors in education and the humanities were pursued exclusively by women. And, although more women than men had completed university training, fewer women were employed. Both male and female respondents felt that being made to feel respected and appreciated was the most important feature of a job. This knowledge could help policymakers develop policies to foster greater willingness to work in the private sector.

Vivimos tiempos distópicos. Cada día aparecen nuevos best-sellers y blockbusters empeñados en dibujar futuros atroces. Su éxito sin precedentes se suma al de ciertos discursos científicos, políticos y filosóficos afianzados alrededor del miedo. El diagnóstico que ofrecen proyecta un horizonte sin alternativas donde resulta más sencillo imaginar el fin del mundo que el fin del capitalismo. Con una prosa ágil y caústica, Contra la distopía destapa las inconsistencias teóricas y contraindicaciones prácticas de las narraciones distópicas fabricadas por el cine y la literatura. Muestra cómo su multiplicación actual no está exenta de ideología sino que juega a favor del orden imperante al incentivar la desmovilización y el derrotismo o la adopción de activismos defensivos, limitados a la queja y la denuncia. Hasta las obras que escenifican revoluciones populares esconden, casi siempre, un fondo conservador. Francisco Martorell Campos ha firmado el primer libro consagrado específicamente a cuestionar la distopía. En sus páginas asoma una original guía introductoria a este género de moda que recorre sus principales escuelas, temáticas y clichés. El viaje va de los textos fundadores a hitos contemporáneos como Matrix y V de Vendetta. De las rarezas más desconocidas a Los juegos del hambre, El cuento de la criada y Black Mirror. De los clásicos de Orwell, Huxley y Bradbury a las distopías reaccionarias escritas en la Segunda República. Martorell suministra herramientas para seguir disfrutando de la distopía, pero ahora con mirada crítica e informada. Su conclusión es clara: solo conseguiremos una sociedad distinta y mejor si complementamos las historias inspiradas en nuestros temores con historias inspiradas en nuestros deseos.

Un fantasma recorre el mundo: el pesimismo. La creencia de que todo va a ir a peor se ha apoderado de las mentes y del debate. No solo el neoliberalismo mató a la utopía, sino que el izquierdismo contribuyó a ello con un suicidio político: renunciar a la noble idea de crear un mundo distinto y mejor. Tras cuatro décadas de pragmatismo mal entendido y hegemonía conservadora, ha llegado la hora de crear nuevas utopías. Las viejas ya no sirven. Soñar de otro modo embarca al lector en un viaje por medio milenio de utopías y distopías literarias y las confronta con la exploración de la era postmoderna. Un recorrido por aquellas sociedades imaginarias que ilusionaron o aterrorizaron a la humanidad antes de quedar obsoletas. De la Amauroto de Moro a la Icaria de Cabet. Del Londres futurista de Morris y Wells a los avernos de Orwell, Huxley y Zamiatin. Francisco Martorell Campos reivindica en este ensayo –ameno y profundo, panfl etario y mordaz– la necesidad de una utopía secularizada, libre de los dogmas y mitos metafísicos instalados en las utopías de antaño. Porque solo una utopía así, antitotalitaria y abierta, alumbrará las ideas transgresoras capaces de amenazar la autoridad del nuevo Dios que nos avasalla: el capitalismo globalizado.

"Journalistic account of the life and activities of Oscar Spinosa Melo, an associate of President Menem whose tenure as Argentine ambassador to Chile ended amid accusations of extortion, drug consumption, and debauchery. Even if some of the accusations remain unproven, the narrative highlights the problems arising from the personalistic practices in Argentina's foreign service"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.