Introduction: : Independence, global entanglement and the co-production of sovereignty

This article introduces a special issue, exploring some of the themes that tie the articles together and relevant conceptual issuesPostprintPeer reviewe

Kinetics and thermodynamics of metal‐binding to histone deacetylase 8

Histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8) was originally classified as a Zn(II)‐dependent deacetylase on the basis of Zn(II)‐dependent HDAC8 activity in vitro and illumination of a Zn(II) bound to the active site. However, in vitro measurements demonstrated that HDAC8 has higher activity with a bound Fe(II) than Zn(II), although Fe(II)‐HDAC8 rapidly loses activity under aerobic conditions. These data suggest that in the cell HDAC8 could be activated by either Zn(II) or Fe(II). Here we detail the kinetics, thermodynamics, and selectivity of Zn(II) and Fe(II) binding to HDAC8. To this end, we have developed a fluorescence anisotropy assay using fluorescein‐labeled suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (fl‐SAHA). fl‐SAHA binds specifically to metal‐bound HDAC8 with affinities comparable to SAHA. To measure the metal affinity of HDAC, metal binding was coupled to fl‐SAHA and assayed from the observed change in anisotropy. The metal KD values for HDAC8 are significantly different, ranging from picomolar to micromolar for Zn(II) and Fe(II), respectively. Unexpectedly, the Fe(II) and Zn(II) dissociation rate constants from HDAC8 are comparable, koff ∼0.0006 s−1, suggesting that the apparent association rate constant for Fe(II) is slow (∼3 × 103 M−1 s−1). Furthermore, monovalent cations (K+ or Na+) that bind to HDAC8 decrease the dissociation rate constant of Zn(II) by ≥100‐fold for K+ and ≥10‐fold for Na+, suggesting a possible mechanism for regulating metal exchange in vivo. The HDAC8 metal affinities are comparable to the readily exchangeable Zn(II) and Fe(II) concentrations in cells, consistent with either or both metal cofactors activating HDAC8.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110703/1/pro2623.pd

'A Monstrous Failure of Justice'?:Guantanamo Bay and National Security Challenges to Fundamental Human Rights

This article considers challenges to the existing international human rights regime in the post-9/11 era. It uses an interdisciplinary approach that brings together issues of politics and law by focussing on international legal provisions and setting them into the context of International Relations theory. The article examines the establishment of Guantanamo Bay as a detention centre for suspected terrorists captured in the 'war on terror' and focuses on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in the name of national security. This article demonstrates that the wrangling over Guantanamo Bay is an important illustration of the complex interaction between interests and norms as well as law and politics in US policy making. The starting point is that politics and law are linked and cannot be seen in isolation from each other; the question that then arises is what kind of politics law can maintain. International Politics (2010) 47, 680-697. doi: 10.1057/ip.2010.25</p

A response : forum on Snapshots from Home

The commentary reflects on the contributions to the forum in light of the overall objectives of Snapshots from Home: Mind, Action and Strategy in an Uncertain World.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Reclaiming the political : emancipation and critique in security studies

The critical security studies literature has been marked by a shared commitment towards the politicization of security – that is, the analysis of its assumptions, implications and the practices through which it is (re)produced. In recent years, however, politicization has been accompanied by a tendency to conceive security as connected with a logic of exclusion, totalization and even violence. This has resulted in an imbalanced politicization that weakens critique. Seeking to tackle this situation, the present article engages with contributions that have advanced emancipatory versions of security. Starting with, but going beyond, the so-called Aberystwyth School of security studies, the argument reconsiders the meaning of security as emancipation by making the case for a systematic engagement with the notions of reality and power. This revised version of security as emancipation strengthens critique by addressing political dimensions that have been underplayed in the critical security literature

Contraria sunt complementa : global entanglement and the constitution of difference

The physicist Niels Bohr identified a parallel between quantum physics and Daoism and Buddhism. The parallel maps onto two debates regarding Global IR, on the one hand, and the implications of quantum physics for the social sciences, on the other, highlighting the potential for a conversation between them. The quantum arguments unsettle the hierarchy between ‘positivists’ and ‘reflectivists,’ raising a question of which science, while Daoism and Buddhism, as traditions that have for millennia explored questions of language, agency and ethics, provide a point of departure for thinking about the human and social implications of more recent discoveries in quantum physics. Starting with Bohr’s concept of complementarity, the argument moves to an analysis of Karen Barad and Alexander Wendt’s work on quantum physics and the social sciences, and then explores Bohr’s parallel to Daoism and Buddhism. The structuring of the article around a series of oppositions, including particle/wave, ontology/epistemology, materiality/consciousness, egoism/relationality, East/West, highlights the relationship between global entanglement and the constitution of difference with it.PostprintPeer reviewe

A De Novo Designed Metalloenzyme for the Hydration of CO 2

Protein design will ultimately allow for the creation of artificial enzymes with novel functions and unprecedented stability. To test our current mastery of nature’s approach to catalysis, a Zn II metalloenzyme was prepared using de novo design. α 3 DH 3 folds into a stable single‐stranded three‐helix bundle and binds Zn II with high affinity using His 3 O coordination. The resulting metalloenzyme catalyzes the hydration of CO 2 better than any small molecule model of carbonic anhydrase and with an efficiency within 1400‐fold of the fastest carbonic anhydrase isoform, CAII, and 11‐fold of CAIII. Chasing down the cheetah : A synthetic metalloenzyme was created that is capable of catalyzing the hydration of carbon dioxide with an efficiency within 1400‐fold of carbonic anhydrase II, one of the most efficient enzymes known. This designed zinc enzyme performs better than small‐molecule models of carbonic anhydrase. Picture: Zn purple, N dark blue, O red, C cyan.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108029/1/anie_201404925_sm_miscellaneous_information.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108029/2/7900_ftp.pd

The safety paradox : unknown knowns, ungrieved grief and collective agreements not to know

The article is part of a larger project, Mapping the Empire: The Contemporary Legacy of Historical Trauma and Forced Displacement, which has been funded by the U.S. Human Family Unity Foundation through a donation to the University of St. Andrews.The discussion between the developing and developed world in Egypt during COP27 brought the history of colonialism and its impact on climate change to the table, as did the earlier floods in Pakistan. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of unacknowledged grief, shame and guilt, accruing over centuries, on our ability to move forward to a more sustainable future. At stake is not only a question of ‘loss and damage’ for those who have suffered disproportionately in the past and present, but also the need to acknowledge how past practice has set the stage for inequality and climate change in the global future. In this article we develop concepts of unknown knowns and ungrieved grief, and explore the mechanisms by which populations collectively turn away from uncomfortable or shameful truths. The failure to look at the past has transgenerational consequences, as present distractions contribute to an inability to ‘see’ the consequences of past and present action for future generations. The final section explores the safety paradox that arises from the fragmented safety of turning to conflict and war, and a holistic safety that requires grieving for the global whole.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

To 'see' is to break an entanglement : quantum measurement, trauma and security

This article seeks to explore the quantum notion that to ‘see’ an entanglement is to break it in the context of an ‘experiment’ regarding the ongoing impact of traumatic political memory on the present. The analysis is a product of collaboration over the past four years between the two authors, one a scholar of international relations, the other a therapeutic practitioner with training in medical physics. Our focus is the conceptual claim that ‘seeing’ breaks an entanglement rather than the experiment itself. The first section explores a broad contrast between classical and quantum measurement, asking what this might mean at the macroscopic level. The second section categorizes Wendt’s claim about language as a form of expressive measurement and explores the relationship to discourse analysis. The third section explores the broad contours of our experiment and the role of a somewhat different form of non-linear expressive measurement. In the final section, we elaborate the relationship between redemptive measurement and breaking an entanglement, which involves a form of ‘seeing’ that witnesses to unacknowledged past trauma.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe