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This paper begins by noting a number of recent trends which challenge the self- contained autonomy of the nation-state, and the recent conceptualization of such trends in terms of 'globalization', a concept which is hard to fault, embracing as it does so many ambiguities and contradictions. Much related sociological work has focused on the cultural and economic dimensions of globalization, although one of its defining features is the emergence of multinational and transnational institutions. In the traditional intellectual division of labour it has fallen to our neighbour disciplines of law, international relations and political science to consider the substantive detail of such institutional developments. The present paper investigates their sociological significance, through a preliminary exploration of the issues raised by international population flows and policy responses in the context of the European Union (EU). Minimally, it proffers an account of the global/national tension noted in much of the globalization literature and apparent in the policy and politics of migration. More critically, this account attempts an assessment of quite how `post-national' Europe really is, and whether 'globalization' offers any help in unravelling the complexity of empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of the post-Cold War era on the social structure of the armed forces of the advanced societies. The end of the Cold War is viewed as one aspect of a broader social transformation. These 'New Times' are defined in terms of the growth of risk complexity, globalization, the relocation of political authority to transnational and subnational agencies, challenges to national sovereignty, and the impact of globalized communications on the relationship between politics and public opinion. The paper shows how armed forces are seeking to redefine their role and redesign their structures in order to address the inter- national and domestic challenges posed by these 'New Times'. The range of missions is being broadened and significant changes in the co-ordination of military and political decision-making are taking place. In response to strategic and financial pressures, armed forces are not only becoming smaller, they are also seeking to achieve greater flexibility in their organization structures. At the same time, armed forces have to respond to pressures from wider society to conform to civilian values such as social equality, as is reviewed in current debates on the position of women and homosexual personnel in the services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares influentials in contemporary American and British sociology for a time span for 11 years, between 1958-68. Authors of the article have compared names of the men most cited in journals "American Sociological Review" and "British Journal of Sociology" for two time periods and have found that lists for the second time period contained a larger number of names in common than the list for the first period. This finding was interpreted as support for the thesis that sociology is becoming more international. A comparison of the two American lists revealed no essential differences in the national origin of the most important influentials for the two periods. A similar examination of the two British lists revealed that contemporary sociologists from the U.S. are becoming increasingly influential in British sociology. It was therefore suggested that the internationalization of sociology may, for the immediate future, be equivalent or almost equivalent to the Americanization of sociology.