  In the context of the gauge-string correspondence, we discuss the spontaneous
partial breaking of supersymmetry. Starting from the orbifold of S^5,
supersymmetry breaking leads us to consider the (resolved) conifold background
and some of the gauge dynamics encoded in that geometry. Using this gravity
dual, we compute the low energy effective superpotential for such N=1 theories.
We are naturally led to extend the Veneziano-Yankielowicz one: glueball fields
appear.
