History as recorded very often follows the desire of political pragmatists. Nineteenth-century French views of Russia are a good example. France was in conflict with Russia through most of that century. As racism grew across Europe, French historians presented Russians as brutish Asiatics and a mortal threat to civilized Europe. The Russo-French alliance in 1894 changed these views, but the stereotypes continued to hibernate in the collective subconscious of the West to be resurrected in times of political expediency.

‘How did life start on Earth?’ and ‘Why were left-handed amino acids selected for the architecture of proteins?’ A new attempt to answer these questions of high public and interdisciplinary scientific interest will be provided by this review. It will describe most recent experimental data on how the basic and molecular building blocks of life, amino acids, formed in a prebiotic setting. Most amino acids are chiral, that is that they cannot be superimposed with their mirror image molecules (enantiomers). In processes triggering the origin of life on Earth, the equal occurrence, i.e. the parity between left-handed amino acids and their right-handed mirror images, was violated. In the case of amino acids, the balance was tipped to the left – as a result of which life's proteins today exclusively implement the left-handed form of amino acids, called l-amino acid enantiomers. Neither plants, nor animals, including humans, make use of d-amino acids for the molecular architecture of their proteins (enzymes). This review addresses the molecular asymmetry of amino acids in living organisms, namely the preference for left-handedness. What was the cause for the violation of molecular parity of amino acids in the emergence of life on Earth? All the fascinating models proposed by physicists, chemists, and biologists will be vividly presented including the scientific conflicts. Special emphasis will be given to amino acid enantiomers that were subjected to chiral photons. The interaction between racemic molecules and chiral photons was shown to produce an enantiomeric enrichment that will be discussed in the context of absolute asymmetric synthesis. The concluding paragraphs will describe the attempt to verify any of those models with the chirality-module of the Rosetta mission. This European space mission contains probe Philae that was launched on board the Rosetta spacecraft with the aim of landing on the icy surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and analysing whether chiral organic compounds are present that could have been brought to the Earth by comet impacts.

There is generally a negative image of the Turk – as arch-enemy – in Balkan countries. Yet this image refers less to real Turks than to different ethno-linguistic and religious neighbour groups, who are seen as more ‘Asiatic’ and less ‘European’ than oneself. Real Turks and the Turkish tradition – especially among Muslims – are rather admired. These images are constructions of high culture, albeit with sometimes dire consequences for all and sundry in times of conflict.

This paper discusses the reasons why Italian young people today are not in a position to develop a memory of their own regarding the fascist regime of the recent past. Neither families, nor schools and media, could transmit experiences and provide learning opportunities that enables young men and women to construct an adequate image of that period of their historical heritage. Fascism has become the object of a process of collective removal.

The public has to negotiate competing claims about which products, practices and policies will work. If we expect people to make sense of these, then knowledge about evidence, and an understanding of how it is obtained and reviewed, is vital. However, this public language of science has been neglected. The public is encouraged to admire science and to be entertained and amazed by it. We should be doing more to equip people with insights into evidence and scientific enquiry, and expanding discussion about what we know and how we know it.

‘The Soviet Union, like the United States, was a country established to serve and promote a political idea, not to be a state for nations. The United States was founded in order to be a modern democratic polity; the Soviet Union in order to promote Marxism-Leninism. The Soviet Union thus began as a ‘modern,’ post-imperialist state. The cement holding the state together was a compound of ideology, a hierarchical, disciplinary party, charismatic leadership, and external treats. [In the 80s] this cement was crumbling… [The Soviet] state had lost its raison d’être and the people turned to the traditional and conventional basis of the state – that is, the nation. But since this was a multinational state – and unlike the multiethnic United States, most peoples in the USSR have distinct languages and territories of their own – [they returned to them to establish independent states.]’1

Presented here is an overview of migration flows and demographic structures of Turks in Europe over the past 50 years. Large-scale labour migration from Turkey to Europe occurred between 1961 and 1974. After that, it gave way to family migration, which today has more or less ended. Recently, there is slightly more emigration than immigration from the European point of view. Thus, stable migrant stocks developed in the receiving countries, especially Germany, Austria, France, and the Netherlands. The migrant stocks lag in many respects behind developments in the receiving countries, yet nonetheless they slowly but surely adapt to these. Despite their low status and feelings of exclusion, most Turkish immigrants are content with their lot and do not plan to leave their new homes in Europe.

The rise of natural theology in the seventeenth century did not originate in theology, but in science. It was not started by theologians trying from above to impress a religious perspective on science. On the contrary, the natural theology of the century of the Enlightenment began as a grass-roots movement among believing scientists who were convinced both that God's existence could be proved and some of His attributes described from below, that is, on the basis of the expanding world of scientific knowledge. Essentially they were arguing for the existence of a Deity whose direct intervention would explain the gaps in the scientific discourse. But this manner of reasoning made natural theology extremely vulnerable. It would clearly lose its power at the moment when the scientific discourse itself became sufficiently advanced to close the gaps by its own force.

Since October 2000, mass graves from the Civil War and Franco's dictatorship have become the most visible issue of the process of recovery of historical memory in Spain, as a metaphor for digging up the traumatic past. This paper offers a historical reading of this process, pointing out the importance of recovering the buried bodies to give them a worthy burial, to restore their memory, and to allow families to complete their mourning. Mass graves have been the subject of different interventions: they have been located, marked and dignified, in some cases opened and the human remains exhumed. The graves, previously symbols of silence and oblivion are now sites of mourning and memory. In addition, many forgotten memories have been recovered. The victims of the war and the dictatorship have returned to the heart of the public debate, although not without controversy.

This paper examines the changes of the memorials in Lviv's representative Liberty Avenue throughout the twentieth century as they reflect the changing regimes of memory of the successive political systems, from the Habsburg Empire through the Republic of Poland, the Soviet and German occupation, the Soviet Union to the independent Ukraine.

In 2005 the European Union (EU) began formally to negotiate Turkey's application to become a full member. Today, the EU is a very different organization, Turkey has also experienced major changes, and the Arab Spring has dramatically impacted the Middle East. In sum, there is a changed context for the evolving relationship between Turkey and the EU. This article explains that context and concludes that, for the foreseeable future, Turkey is unlikely to become a full EU member, although close ties with respect to economic matters and immigration will persist.

Expected utility theory tells us how we should make decisions under uncertainty: we should choose the option that leads to the greatest expectation of utility. This may, however, not be the option that is likely to produce the best result – that may be the wrong choice if it also creates a small chance of a great disaster. A small chance of disaster may be the most important consideration in decision making. Climate change creates a small chance of disaster, and some authors believe this to be the most important consideration in deciding our response to climate change. To know whether they are right, we need to make a moral judgement about just how bad the disaster would be.

This paper describes the evolution of wine in Spain from Phoenician times to the present, within a historical context. Each of the six main sections deserves more careful analysis, but the broad overview given here could be of interest to the curious (and thirsty) reader.

This article challenges the notion that the EU accession process has reduced the scope for informal practice in the judiciary in post-communist states. Elite survey data suggest that such practice is widespread – although primarily used in response to transition, informal practice has to some extent been carried over from communism and is largely used out of habit. Efforts to reduce the negative impact of informal practice in the judiciary should therefore not only seek to enhance its independence and capacity, but also address (1) public attitudes towards the law and the judiciary as such; (2) the coping strategies applied when interacting with the judiciary; and (3) the judges’ and prosecutors’ responses to such strategies.

Falsifiability is the cornerstone of science. However, Rutherford notwithstanding, almost by definition science functions at the limits of measurement accuracy and theoretical grasp, so that statistical analysis is central to scientific advance. This applies as much to physics as it does to psychology, as much to geology as to biology. I look at some of the potholes in the path of scientific discovery, showing how easy it is to stumble, and at some of the consequences for the scientific endeavour.

Several pieces of legislation have been enacted with a view to regulating the European integration process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A plethora of bodies are in charge for approximating the EU acquis. However, the stabilisation and association process in the field of justice related matters has not proceeded as planned due to the existence of at least four legislatures for the Justice Sector and 14 Ministries of Justice (MoJs) whose competences and tasks are not well delineated. This article focuses on the specific issues affecting the transposition of Chapters 23 (Judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (Justice, freedom and security) of the EU acquis. Based on the analysis of existing legislation and administrative structures and meetings with local officials and foreign donors, the author argues how, for an effective legal approximation process, a review of the current allocation of competences among State, Entities, Brčko District and canton level cannot wait. After drawing comparisons with regional best practices in the field of European integration and illustrating the complex constitutional framework of the country, the administrative and legislative obstacles characterising the approximation of domestic legislation with European standards in the field of Justice and Home affairs are explained. The author concludes by offering a set of solutions to overcome the current situation.

Turkey and Europe are closely interlinked through migration, trade and investment flows. In the year 2000, the interrelationships entered a new phase. Return migration of Turkish migrants to Turkey set in, of often well-educated second-generation migrants, triggered by the fast economic growth and shortages of skilled labour in Turkey. At the same time continued family migration to Europe and Turkish business start-ups in Europe promote trade between Turkey and Europe due to preference and network channels. While economic growth in Turkey is dynamic, it is also volatile, depending on foreign capital. The major challenge for stable and sustainable economic growth is, however, the low labour force participation rate of women and the slow progress in the educational attainment level of its workforce.

The paper offers a conceptual framework for interpreting the actions, rhetoric and decisions of the Hungarian communities living in neighbouring countries. Its main topic is covering how post-communist social transformations have been linked to the images these different communities have of the future, including expectations, principles and strategic goals.