Barry Wilson

The relationship between China and Taiwan is more stable in 2009 than it has been years; at the same time, the cross-strait military balance is shifting in ways that are problematic for Taiwan's defense. This volume examines the changing China-Taiwan political dynamic, evaluates key aspects of the cross-strait military balance, and considers how Taiwan might be successfully defended against a Chinese invasion attempt.

Among the hottest flashpoints in the world today, U.S. policymakers and diplomats cannot ignore the Taiwan Strait. China regularly rattles its saber to intimidate Taiwan and influence U.S. policy but has thus far stopped short of overt military action. This report analyzes the steps Taiwan should take to bolster the odds in its favor should a conflict with the mainland occur and describes how the United States can most effectively contribute in both peace and crisis. The authors conclude that the United States and Taiwan can take a number of fairly simple and relatively inexpensive measures - including hardening air bases and other facilities and upgrading the air defense command and control system - that would significantly enhance Taiwan's ability to defend itself against a large-scale Chinese attack.

The Biogeography of the Australian North West Shelf provides the first assembly of existing information of the North West Shelf in terms of geological, oceanographic and climatological history and current understanding of such issues as biodiversity, connectivity, larval dispersal and speciation in the sea that determine the distribution patterns of its invertebrate fauna. It is intended as a source of information and ideas on the biota of the shelf and its evolutionary origins and affinities and the environmental drivers of species’ ecology and distribution and ecosystem function. Regulators and industry environmental managers worldwide, but especially on the resource-rich North West Shelf, are faced with having to make decisions without adequate information or understanding of conservation values or the factors that drive ecosystem processes and resilience in the face of increasing anthropogenic and natural change. This book will provide a resource of information and ideas and extensive references to issues of primary concern. It will provide a big-picture narrative, putting the marine biota into a geological, evolutionary, and regional biodiversity context.

The teacher work sample (TWS) has become increasingly widely adopted as an end-of-program, performance-based assessment for student teachers. Improving Teacher Quality offers a comprehensive introduction to teacher work sample methodology for teacher educators, student teachers, student teacher supervisors, cooperating teachers, program coordinators, and school administrators. This well-organized and clearly written guide shows how implementation of the TWS can catalyze a series of widespread changes in assessment, teaching, and program improvement. The authors use their extensive experience to describe how to implement the TWS in a carefully sequenced progression that includes creating a valid and reliable system of scoring, teaching reflective thinking skills, making program improvements, and conducting research with TWS data. Helpful suggestions are provided throughout for those interested in adopting the TWS as a performance-based assessment in their teacher education program, those interested in how the TWS can provide evidence of minimal competency, and those interested in how the TWS can provide data for making program improvements.

While most biographies of Arnold concentrate on his revolutionary exploits and subsequent treason, Wilson explores his role in Canadian history and the routes that brought him to Canada. He takes the reader into rural Quebec in the 1760s and 1770s when Arnold toured the area as a Yankee trader and goes behind the scenes in 1775-76 when Arnold's American forces almost captured Quebec after an amazing trek through the Maine wilderness. Wilson explores Arnold's business exploits in Saint John, New Brunswick, the emerging Loyalist port town where for six years Arnold commanded an international trading network before returning to England. Written for those interested in unexpected tales from Canada's colourful history, Benedict Arnold follows Arnold's life from the battlefields of New England to the siege of Quebec, from the high seas to the day-to-day details of running a trading company in Saint John. Wilson offers a detailed, sometimes sympathetic, portrait of this controversial and complex man.

The Joint Integrated Contingency Model (JICM) is a very large simulation system that encompasses the strategic and operational levels of land, air, and naval warfare with a global set of models and databases. An annotated briefing adapted from a class, this document is a user manual for the ground combat portion of the JICM. It is an overview of the terrain, forces, and combat processes; the orders that manage combat; the parameters that set combat rates; and the displays that show what is occurring. It assumes that the reader is familiar with the operation of the JICM system software and the orders necessary to move ground forces to the theater of combat.