Suchergebnisse

With the increasing use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)s military operations, there is a growing need to develop new methods of control and navigation for these vehicles. This investigation proposes the use of an adaptive swarming algorithm that utilizes local state information to influence the overall behavior of each individual agent in the swarm based upon the agent's current position in the battlespace. In order to investigate the ability of this algorithm to control UAVs in a cooperative manner, a swarm architecture is developed that allows for on-line modification of basic rules. Adaptation is achieved by using a set of behavior coefficients that define the weight at which each of four basic rules is asserted in an individual based upon local state information. An Evolutionary Strategy (ES) is employed to create initial metrics of behavior coefficients. Using this technique, three distinct emergent swarm behaviors are evolved, and each behavior is investigated in terms of the ability of the adaptive swarming algorithm to achieve the desired emergent behavior by modifying the simple rules of each agent. Finally, each of the three behaviors is analyzed visually using a graphical representation of the simulation, and numerically, using a set of metrics developed for this investigation.

The collection, introduced in this first contribution, sets out to analyze the development of politics in the Mediterranean against the background of a paradigmatically changing international environment. It embarks on the hypothesis that September 11 (2001) has resulted in a worrying tendency to securitize international terrorism. The concept of securitization legitimizes the fight against a vital threat by recourse to all possible means, including the breaking of existing rules. This is perceived as worrying because it undermines pivotal factors for security building, such as the rule of international law, respect for human rights, & democracy. Empirical research verifies that since September 11, what were already weak processes of democratization in the Mediterranean have been damaged by the irresponsible depreciation of binding rules. However, since Mediterranean politics have always been determined by the interrelations of international, regional, & domestic dynamics, these have to be taken into consideration too. The Al-Aqsa Intifada, the change of political elites in some Arab countries, the evolution of a unilateral European Security & Defence Policy, & the process of EU enlargement all have their own political impact. Security building in the Mediterranean needs to be analyzed in the context of these highly interrelated developments. 18 References. Adapted from the source document.

Political feasibility of emission trading systems may crucially depend on the free initial allocation of emission allowances to energy-intensive industries in order to ameliorate adverse production and employment effects. We investigate the potential trade-off between such compensation and economic efficiency for alternative allocation rules where emission allowances are based on either emissions or output. Based on analytical partial equilibrium and numerical general equilibrium analysis, we show that in open trading systems the trade-off becomes the more severe, the higher the international permit price is. Whenever the permit price can be considered exogenous to firms or industries, the output-based allocation rule is distinctly less costly than the emission-based rule to preserve output and employment in energy-intensive sectors. The reason is that emission-based allocation of allowances not only provides an implicit output subsidy but also lowers the effective price of emission inputs to regulated firms. Emissionbased allocation is particularly expensive towards higher international permit prices where the implicit subsidies to emission use in energy-intensive sectors produce drastic efficiency losses, since they imply high expenditures for carbon permit imports rather than high net revenues from efficient carbon permit exports.

State immunity — Jurisdiction — Head of state — Scope of immunity of former Head of State — Whether commission of crimes against humanity or other crimes against international law precluding former Head of State from relying on State immunityWar and armed conflict — Enforcement of international humanitarian law — Geneva Conventions, 1949, and Additional Protocols, 1977 — Belgian Law of 1993 incorporating provisions of Conventions and Protocols into domestic law — Requirement of existence of international or internal armed conflictRelationship of municipal law and international law — Crimes against international law — Punishment of crimes against humanity by municipal courts — Whether such crimes forming part of customary international law and jus cogens — Whether such crimes automatically incorporated into domestic legal order — Whether any requirement that crimes against humanity be committed during an armed conflict — Inapplicability of statutory limitation of 346prosecution for crimes against humanity — Whether now recognized as a rule of customary international law evidenced by international treatiesJurisdiction — Universal — Crimes against humanity — United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3074 of 3 December 1973 on international cooperation in punishment of crimes against humanity — Whether now recognized as enshrining rule of customary international law on universal jurisdiction over such crimes — Whether such rule automatically binding in domestic legal order — The law of Belgium

Expands on two reasons why George W. Bush's order to try suspected terrorists before military tribunals is wrong: It undermines (1) the rule of law & (2) US ability to prosecute the war on terrorism under the aegis of the rule of law. It is argued that the lack of independence in military commissions violates the separation of powers & that Bush's military order attacks four fundamental values (eg, holding perpetrators accountable) promoted by trials by, eg, creating the impression of kangaroo courts. Further, Military commissions dole out ad hoc justice & uncertain protection to defendants. Use of these tribunals will render ineffective US protest against the use of the same against American citizens abroad. Credible justice must be applied universally to provide any basis to claims of moral rectitude & fidelity to the rule of law. It is argued that the Dept of Defense's massaging of these military tribunals has made them more fair in fact, but such tinkering erases their alleged practical advantages while retaining their unfair appearance. In considering other options, skepticism is expressed at the idea of quickly creating a fair international tribunal, opting instead for the well-established legal institutions of the US. J. Zendejas

How does the World Trade Organization (WTO) relate to the wider corpus of public international law? What, in turn, is the role of public international law in WTO dispute settlement? This paper aims at resolving these two difficult questions. No straightforward answers to them can be found in WTO rules. Yet answering them has major ramifications both for the WTO (is the WTO a largely "self-contained regime" or is it not?) and for international law (is the future of international law further fragmentation or increased unity?). This exercise will be conducted under the law as it stands today—that is, the law as it may be invoked at present before the WTO "judiciary" (panels and the Appellate Body). Of course, WTO members (viz., the WTO "legislator") could clarify or change the relationship between WTO rules and other rules of international law. However, it is unlikely that such changes will occur any time soon. In part I, I examine the general relationship between public international law and WTO law. I then assess, more specifically, the role of public international law in WTO dispute settlement in part II and offer some conclusions in part III.

Much has been written about Jerusalem since the Madrid peace conference in 1991, most of it
by partisans on both sides. Sir Martin Gilbert's work is one of the most entertaining, but
least objective. Gilbert is a fellow of Merton College, Oxford University, and a biographer of Sir
Winston Churchill and historian of World War II. He begins where his earlier volume, Jerusalem: Rebirth of a City, ended—around the turn of the 20th century. He starts his story with the last few years of Ottoman rule; dwells on British rule (1917–48) and the 1948 war; skims over the years between 1948 and 1967, especially the Jordanian rule of East Jerusalem; then gives a long account of the years after 1967. He ends his book with an endorsement of a plan to return part of East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. Gilbert is a master of
the art of compressing an enormous amount of materials about the city's social,
architectural, cultural, religious, and political history during the past century into a compelling and
readable narrative. His book thus provides a panoramic account of the city, and, because he relies
on newspapers, it has an eyewitness quality to it.

The government often uses narrow tax reforms to target specific planning strategies. Sometimes the targeted transaction is stopped. But in other cases, taxpayers press on, tweaking the deal just enough to sidestep the reform. The difference often lies in transaction costs, financial accounting, and other 'frictions, " which are constraints on tax planning external to the tax law. This Article contributes a methodology for determining whether frictions will block end runs, and illustrates the effect of frictions by comparing the constructive sale rule of section 1259 with the constructive ownership rule of section 1260. These reforms use the same statutory language to target tax motivated derivatives transactions, but taxpayers have responded differently. Theoretically, taxpayers can avoid either rule through relatively modest changes in economic return. Although the strategy is common for section 1259, however, it is rarely used for section 1260 because securities dealers cannot supply the necessary derivative. Thus, if a friction blocks a transaction, the tax law does not have to block it, too. More attention to frictions is warranted, and legal academics should offer greater assistance. Without a grounding in frictions, narrow reforms are unlikely to play a constructive role.

Investigates the issue & role of prerogative in constitutional states as determined by John Locke, a consequentialist, & Benjamin Constant, a deontologist, & whether the invocation demonstrates &/or achieves weakness or strength. The article begins with an example of its exercise by occupied Belgium in WWI before moving on to the question of whether prerogative should be recognized, & whether the extent of its application is controllable. Carl Schmitt's critique of the liberal state is also examined, including the relationship between rule of law & man's free will & his analysis of state typology, mostly to emphasize that Schmitt, like Locke, argues in favor of prerogative, stating that the pure rule of law is an illusion. Locke & Constant's arguments are analyzed, including Constant's advocacy of a neutral power -- not bound by rules & answering only to the people -- that would effect similar results. The author summarizes that prerogative is always bound to purpose, & the constitutional state was an end to Constant & a means to Locke. It is argued that Locke's optimistic principle should be followed, but that to reconcile prerogative with the principles of democracy, additional democratic justification through authoritarian measures must accompany the conditions for exercise. 76 References. C. Houle

It has been estimated that graphology is used by over 80% of European companies as part of their personnel recruitment process. And yet, after over three decades of research into the validity of graphology as a means of assessing personality, we are left with a legacy of equivocal results. For every experiment that has provided evidence to show that graphologists are able to identify personality traits from features of handwriting, there are just as many to show that, under rigorously controlled conditions, graphologists perform no better than chance expectations. In light of this confusion, this paper takes a different approach to the subject by focusing on the rationale and modus operandi of graphology. When we take a closer look at the academic literature, we note that there is no discussion of the actual rules by which graphologists make their assessments of personality from handwriting samples. Examination of these rules reveals a practice founded upon analogy, symbolism, and metaphor in the absence of empirical studies that have established the associations between particular features of handwriting and personality traits proposed by graphologists. These rules guide both popular graphology and that practiced by professional graphologists in personnel selection.

In an earlier issue of the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Eugen König argued that doping exposes sport as an enterprise which is inherently exploitative (1995). Doping is consistent with other practices and technologies which push human limits of performance but which are arbitrarily included as part of `pure', `natural', and `authentic' sport only because they are not against the rules. By circumscribing what is to count as ethical inquiry in sport within a discussion of obligations in relation to proscriptive rules, sport ethicists cannot avoid being complicit in supporting a sport culture that is often harmful to athletes. König charges that a sport ethics that concerns itself only with questions that emanate from rule breakage `does not deserve the name of ethical criticism' and is `a powerless protest against sport' and `actually prevents what it pretends to intend' (1995: 256). We take König's critique of sport ethics seriously and, through this commentary, we aim to initiate a discussion about a new sport ethics that would have quite different pedagogical, political and scholarly tasks. The discussion is situated in the ethics of French intellectual, Michel Foucault, and contextualized in the proliferation of ethical concerns and debates within contemporary Canadian sports discourse.

For the first time in history, international monetary relations were institutionalized after World War II as a set of legal obligations. The Articles of Agreement that formed the International Monetary Fund contain international legal obligations of the rules of good conduct for IMF members. Members were required to maintain a par value for their currency (until 1977), to use a single unified exchange-rate system, and to keep their current account free from restrictions. In this article I explore why governments committed themselves to these rules and the conditions under which they complied with their commitments. The evidence suggests that governments tended to make and keep commitments if other countries in their region did so as well. Governments also complied with their international legal commitments if the regime placed a high value on the rule of law domestically. One inference is that reputational concerns have a lot to do with international legal commitments and compliance. Countries that have invested in a strong reputation for protecting property rights are more reluctant to see it jeopardized by international law violations. Violation is more likely, however, in the face of widespread noncompliance, suggesting that compliance behavior should be understood in its regional context.

The author attempts to explain the fall of the Serbian ruler Slobodan Milosevic in Oct 2000. Milosevic's system of power can be analyzed as a regime with sultanistic tendencies, a dictatorial system based on direct control of power by the ruler, his family, & the staff recruited on personal loyalty. Although activities of the opposition were seriously restricted & the elections were neither free nor fair, the regime could not completely do away with the opposition & elections. Milosevic's regime relied on electoral mobilization of popular support. At the same time it used a wide range of instruments of electoral manipulation. When Milosevic decided to organize presidential elections one year before the end of his term, he neglected two factors: rapid decline of his legitimacy as result of NATO air strikes against Serbia & the ability of the Serbian opposition to overcome its fragmentation & unit behind Kostunica as the presidential candidate. Electoral support for Kostunica ultimately exceeded so significantly the support for Milosevic that it couldn't be counterbalanced by any manipulation. Thus Milosevic became victim of the populist method of rule by which he came to power. 4 References. Adapted from the source document.

Simmons untersucht die Verrechtlichungsprozesse innerhalb der internationalen Währungsordnung vom Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts bis in die Zeit nach dem Ende von Bretton Woods. Im Zentrum steht dabei die Frage, wann und warum Staaten internationalen Währungsinstitutionen und -ordnungen beitreten, sich ihren Normen unterwerfen und sie (nicht) konsequent einhalten. Die Autorin kommt zu dem Schluss, dass die jeweilige regionale Rechtskultur und die nationale Rechtsordnung bestimmend für die Akzeptanz internationaler Normen sind. Mitentscheidend für den Grad an Regelbeachtung sind die bei Regelverstössen zu erwartenden Auswirkungen auf die politische Reputation, ihre "reputational costs" (SWP-BRW)

The European Union ("E.U.") has been economically consolidating for some time, but the US appeared to feel this new composite player was relatively benign. In the past few years, though, the E.U. Has started asserting itself and setting rules in the game of international commercial gamesmanship. Until recently, the rules were limited to specific products and practices. This year, however, the E.U. changed the rules about how it would do business and, more significantly, how it would not. The E.U.'s Data Protection Directive came into force early in 2000 and presented the US with a huge dilemma: If the US would not alter its law to provide a specific level of privacy protection for E.U. customers, then the US, quite simply, could not do business with those E.U. Customers They presented the US with an economic dilemma it simply cannot ignore any longer - one that may force the US to close the privacy gap between its status quo policy of commercial data freedom and the E.U.'s pro-consumer privacy protections. This comment explores the history, the problems, and the possible solutions the US might employ to avoid being disqualified from playing in the European arena.