Why China s Thirst for Energy does not Trigger Resource Wars
The realistic notion of great power competition over shrinking oil reserves seems to fit in the patterns of China s oil diplomacy. Indeed, many pundits and politicians in Washington and elsewhere are stoking fears about the worldwide implications of China s insatiable demand for energy . In this paper, it will be argued that this view is not able to grasp the complexity of the international energy economy. It cannot provide sufficient explanations why cooperation and confrontation among China and its potential great power rivals exists in parallel. Rather the perception of the other nation s intentions and the world energy economy seems to cause both conflict and cooperation. Furthermore, the analysis shows that China s international energy policy clearly follows cooperative and market oriented lines. In order to further understand and explain China s international energy policy, alternative theoretical frameworks, beyond realism, need to be applied.
Wirtschaftliche Kooperation zwischen China und Indien - eine Allianz der neuen Mächte?
During the last few months there has been a lot of hype around Sino-Indian economic relations and possible implications of intensifi ed cooperation between the rising Asian giants for Western economies. By analysing the bilateral flows o f trade, investments and services the article shows that economic relations between China and India show highly unbalanced patterns in favour of China that presumably will not change in the near future. From the Chinese perspective trade and investment relations with India are still marginal in spite of imposing growth rates, and India is regarded primarily as supplier of cheap raw materials and market for Chinese goods. On the other hand, Indian enterprises, though investing in China, so far have not successfully tapped the Chinese domestic market, whereas Chinese investments and exports of services have been facing political reservations on the Indian side. Hence, synergies envisioned by politicians of both countries so far have failed to materialize.
Preservation in microbial mats: mineralization by a talc-like phase of a fish embedded in a microbial sarcophagus
Microbial mats have been repeatedly suggested to promote early fossilization of macroorganisms. Yet, experimental simulations of this process remain scarce. Here, we report results of 5 year-long experiments performed onfish carcasses to document the influence of microbial mats on mineral precipitation during early fossilization. Carcasses were initially placed on top of microbial mats. After two weeks, fishes became coated by the mats forming a compact sarcophagus, which modified the microenvironment close to the corpses. Our results showed that these conditions favoured the precipitation of a poorly crystalline silicate phase rich in magnesium. This talc-like mineral phase has been detected in three different locations within the carcasses placed in microbial mats for more than 4 years: 1) within inner tissues, colonized by several bacillary cells; 2) at the surface of bones of the upper face of the corpse buried in the mat; and 3) at the surface of several bones such as the dorsal fin which appeared to be gradually replaced by the Mg-silicate phase. This mineral phase has been previously shown to promote bacteria fossilization. Here we provide first experimental evidence that such Mg-rich phase can also be involved in exceptional preservation of animals.