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This research note examines the work of interpreters in the Dutch and Belgian contributions to peace operations in Bosnia and Afghanistan. We distinguish between two sorts of interpreters, locally hired people and interpreters who come along with the troops, and we focus on the way that interpreters behave in their interaction with both the military peacekeepers and the local population. It shows that interpreters are capable of offering more than just their translation skills; they are clearly more than 'translation machines'. Almost all of them play a supporting, if not diplomatic, role as language mediator in the interaction between the peacekeepers and the locals, and consequently develop a role of their own in the peacekeeping process. But they also find themselves poised between trust and distrust in relation to the military force that hires them andthough less frequently -in relation to the local population and their own colleagues.

Summary In this paper a few remarks are made with respect to inventory chains. Most of the theoretical work in the area of inventory decisions is devoted to single warehouse situations, whereas commonly in practice a number of warehouses is linked with a factory and with each other. Some attention is paid to both situations.

Summary This paper deals with the analysis of a problem often met when determining purchasing policies. From a number of different kinds of goods, which are to be bought, the total quantity is restricted by storing capacity or financial limits. The problem “how much of each kind will be bought” is solved for a discrete as well as for a continuous distribution of demand for the various goods.