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Für die ostmitteleuropäischen Länder war die Befreiung von der sowjetischen Oberherrschaft und vom aufgezwungenen sozialistischen System 1989/90 gleichbedeutend mit einer "Rückkehr nach Europa", an der sie bis dahin gewaltsam gehindert worden waren. Die logische Konsequenz dieser Sicht ist ihr ausgeprägter Wille, den zwischenstaatlichen Gemeinschaften ebenfalls anzugehören, in denen sich die Westeuropäer zusammengefunden haben. Bezüglich der internationalen Sicherheit ist die NATO der Adressat dieser Wünsche. Im folgenden Beitrag wird im einzelnen dargestellt, wie sich die USA als Führungsmacht des atlantischen Bündnisses zu diesem Wunsch verhalten und welche Aussichten sich daraus für die beitrittssuchenden Länder ergeben. (Aussenpolitik / DGAP)

Raportissa tarkastellaan sotilaallisen t&k-panostuksen ja kilpailukyvyn välisiä yhteyksiä. Aineistona käytetään brittiläisen International Institute for Strategic Studies -laitoksen (IISS) "The Military Balance" -raportin tietoja länsimaiden sotilaallisen t&kpanostuksen kehityksestä. Julkisen vallan sotilaallisia t&k-panostuksia verrataan maiden julkisiin siviilipuolen t&k-menoihin, sotilaallisiin hankintamenoihin, sekä suhteessa maiden BKT:hen ja puolustusbudjetteihin. Raportissa on mukana myös tiivis katsaus sotilaallisen t&k-panostuksen ja tuottavuuden välistä yhteyttä kuvaavista kansainvälisistä tutkimuksista. Raportin tulosten mukaan sotilaallisella t&k-panostuksella ja kilpailukyvyllä ei ole suoraa yhteyttä. ; This study discusses the relationship between military R&D and competitiveness. The study is based mainly on a British International Institute for Strategic Studies -institutes publication "The Military Balance", and furthermore its information about the development of Western countrye´s military R&D-stakes for the years 1994 -2001. Government military R&D is compared for government R&D, defence expenditure and also to the countries gross domestic product and defence budgets. The study also includes tight review about the previous international studies, which are focused to study the relationship between military R&D and productiveness. The study concludes, that there are no direct connection between military R&D and competitiveness.

This essay offers a succinct but comprehensive overview of Icelandic cinema from its early 20th-century emergence to the present day. Split into two parts, the first half focusses on filmmaking in Iceland prior to the founding of the Icelandic Film Fund in 1978, which was to establish a continuous local film production for the first time. Prior to that filmmaking in Iceland boiled down to the occasional efforts of local amateurs, albeit often quite skilled ones, and professional filmmakers visiting from abroad. Indeed, the few silent feature films made in the country all stemmed from foreign filmmakers adapting Icelandic literature and taking advantage of its photogenic landscapes. The first Icelandic feature was not made until 1948 and although immensely popular, like those that followed in its wake, the national audience was simply too small to sustain filmmaking without financial support. Although this changed fundamentally with the Icelandic Film Fund, which instigated contemporary Icelandic cinema and the subject of the essay's second half, the Fund's support proved insufficient as the novelty of Icelandic cinema began to wear off at the local box office in the late 1980s. The rescue came from outside sources, in the form of nordic and European film funds, whose support was to transnationalize Icelandic cinema in terms of not only financing and production but also themes and subject material. These changes are most apparent in Icelandic cinema of the 1990s which also began to garner interest at the international film festival circuit. In the first decade of the twenty first century, however, American genre cinema began to replace the European art film as the typical model for Icelandic filmmakers. Hollywood itself also began to show extensive interest in Icelandic landscapes for its runaway productions, as did many other foreign film crews. In this way Icelandic cinema is increasingly characterized by not only national and transnational elements but also international ones.

This paper is an analysis of the foreign Aid Policies of two OECD Development Assistance Committee member countries – Finland and Ireland. The analysis reveals that both Finland and Ireland share high principles on their relations with the developing world, although their current policy outlooks appear to differ significantly. Despite Finland's good economic performance and prosperity largely generated by the global demand and market access, the government has so far failed to include the increasing of ODA on its priority agenda. In addition to the declining commitment, the selection criteria for Finnish aid recipients appears to be partially commercially motivated. Ireland on the other hand has a solid record of targeting the poorest of the poor with its development assistance and has recently increased development country focus in national policies. The challenge for Ireland is the effective utilisation of these funds and even more importantly keeping the government's public, international commitment to the 0,7 percent recommendation level despite the possible future slowdown of the economy.

Kosningaréttur er grundvallarréttur þegna í lýðræðisríkjum og þátttaka í kosningum álitin ein af mikilvægustu athöfnum borgaranna. Þó að þessi réttindi skuli tryggð öllum þegnum sýna alþjóðlegar rannsóknir að fatlað fólk er víða útilokað frá þátttöku í kosningum. Fatlað fólk er síður líklegt til að kjósa en ófatlað fólk og mætir iðulega ýmsum hindrunum ef það reynir að taka þátt í kosningum. Þessi grein fjallar um kosningaþátttöku fatlaðs fólks með hliðsjón af niðurstöðum alþjóðlegra rannsókna. Í upphafi eru raktar helstu hindranir í vegi kosningaþátttöku fatlaðs fólks og leitast við að svara hvaða áhrif þessar hindranir hafi, ekki aðeins fyrir fatlaða borgara, heldur jafnframt hvað það þýði fyrir heilbrigði lýðræðis og lýðræðislegra stofnana þegar hluti þegnanna mætir alvarlegum hindrunum varðandi borgaraleg grundvallarréttindi. Íslenskar rannsóknir á þessu sviði eru ekki fyrir hendi og engin skipuleg tölfræðileg gögn eru til varðandi þátttöku fatlaðs fólks í kosningum eða stjórnmálum hér á landi. Byggt á gögnum sem aflað var hjá tveimur fjölmennustu heildarsamtökum fatlaðs fólks hér á landi er rýnt í reynslu, aðstæður og möguleika fatlaðs fólks til þátttöku í kosningum á Íslandi, lagasetningar þar að lútandi og skyldur ríkisins til að stuðla að og tryggja þátttöku fatlaðs fólks í stjórnmálum og opinberu lífi, ekki síst í ljósi þess að Samningur Sameinuðu þjóðanna (SÞ) um réttindi fatlaðs fólks (SRFF) hefur verið fullgiltur hér á landi ; The right to vote is a fundamental right of citizenship in democratic nations, and participation in elections in one of the most important acts undertaken by citizens. Although these rights are guaranteed to all citizens, international research shows that disabled people are widely excluded from participation in elections. Disabled people are less likely to vote than non-disabled people and often encounter various obstacles when they try to participate in elections. This article discusses the voting participation of disabled people in consideration of the international research. The main barriers that disabled people encounter in the voting process will first be outlined. This will be followed by questions concerning the effects these obstacles produce, not only for disabled citizens, but what this means overall for the health of democracy and democratic institutions when a portion of the citizenry encounter serious obstacles concerning their basic civil rights. Icelandic research in this field is extremely limited and no systematic statistical data exists on the participation of disabled people in elections, or politics in general, in this country. Based on data drawn from sources from two of the largest disabled people's organization in the country, the focus here is on the experiences, circumstances and opportunities for disabled people to participate in elections in the country. The findings draw attention to the obligations of the state to promote and ensure the participation of disabled people in politics and public life in light of the recent ratification in Iceland of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) ; Peer Reviewed

Ex ante assessment of regulatory impact upon businesses: A neo-institutional study on the context, international influences, and Finnish experiences Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) has an established place in the European Union and its member states. This article considers evolving Finnish ex ante RIA concerning certain regulatory costs to firms. Drawing upon a neo-institutional theoretical framework and proposing three generally oriented hypotheses we received the following results. (1) The rationality of theevolving Finnish ex ante RIA of selected administrativeregulatory costs to firms gives rise issuesgiven the low implementation rate of thegeneral natonal RIA guidelines. (2) Reference to the ex ante RIA of regulatory costs to firmsin other countries has served the legitimation of preferred procedures in Finland rather than offerssolid evidence on the rationality of the foreign procedures. (3) Without a stronger contextualization of the evolving Finnish ex ante RIAmof regulatory costs to firms its procedures risk adverse effects because of their confined scope, the uneven quality of their input data, and their weak connections to the general national ex ante RIA. These results suggest the redesign of the Finnish RIA to take better into account the institutional, political, historical and cultural characteristicsof governance in this country. Keywords: regulatory impact assessment, public policy evaluation, public policymaking, lawmaking, legal policy, deregulation ; Peer reviewed

This article discusses the phenomenon of self-harming or "non-Suicidal Self-In-jury" (nSSI). The International Society for the Study of Self-Injury defines non-sui cidal self-injury as the deliberate, self-inflicted damage of body tissue without suicidal intent and for purposes not socially or culturally sanctioned." The article discusses the cultural and social representations of self-injury, what is implied in it, who engages in it, and for what reasons. A lot can be deduced from interviews with self-harmers who use it to gain control over bad feelings and stress, by hurting their body and participating in risky behaviour. This dangerous activity often has more complicated sides with reference to rituals and spiritual associations to bloodletting, cleansing of all evil and healing, absolution and much wanted peace of mind. Finally, the changes in self-harming discourse and channels of communication are discussed. It has opened up during the last two decades with the arrival of social media. The self-harmers have built their own subcultures with special aesthetics and often preferring theatrical staging or performances instead of verbal expres-sion. These channels can have an uncanny power and influence over young and vulnerable people. The conclusion of the article is that all this requires an informed discussion as a special world, a special angst which is expressing itself in ways that might develop into suicidal behaviour if it is not taken seriously.

Abstract The present study concerns the recruitment of foreign workforce in municipalities and private enterprises which provide local services. We scrutinize in which professions the workforce is required in the future. This research also focuses on ways how the employer can hire the best suitable foreign employees in the organization. As the final step the aim is to develop a model for recruitment of foreign workforce. This topic is currently interesting because of the increase of the share of older population and the decrease of available workforce in Finland in the near future. It is estimated that for example there will be 185 000-210 000 new jobs available in social and health care sectors during 2005-2020. The purpose of this dissertation is to increase the knowledge regarding the recruitment of foreign workforce in the municipality sector. The research was carried out using questionnaires for ten different organizations in Northern Ostrobothnia. These are Pudasjärvi, Kempele, Liminka, Muhos, Hailuoto, Sievi, Lumijoki and Tyrnävä municipalities, Mäntykoti ry in Oulu and the Family home Ojantakanen in Pulkkila. The main research question of this dissertation is: How the recruitment of foreign workforce can be carried out in the municipality sector? The theoretical background of the analysis is based on international human resource management and multicultural literature, knowledge about the quantities of foreigners, and demographic prognosis of population statistics. Methodologically the study is a qualitative study. The research method is content analysis based on research data. The data were collected during 2011-2013 using three questionnaires to municipality and business managers. According to the results of this research the organizations need further information on how to organize the recruitment of foreign workforce the best way. There is need for the recruitment of foreign workforce in the Northern Ostrobotnia, but there are no strategies of how to carry out work-based immigration, or the strategies are inadequate. The personnel and the managers need further education to learn how to meet and orientate foreign employees. ; Tiivistelmä Tutkimus käsittelee ulkomaisen työvoiman rekrytointia kuntiin ja kunnallisia palveluja tuottaviin yksityisiin yrityksiin. Työssä selvitetään, mille aloille työvoimaa tulevaisuudessa tarvitaan ja millä keinoilla työnantaja voi palkata sopivimmat ulkomaiset työntekijät organisaatioonsa. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa on tavoitteena kehittää ulkomaisen työvoiman rekrytointimalli. Aihe on ajankohtainen, sillä väestön ikääntyminen ja työvoiman tarjonnan väheneminen vaikuttavat lähivuosina Suomen työvoiman määrään. On arvioitu, että muun muassa sosiaali- ja terveyssektorilla avautuu 185 000–210 000 työpaikkaa vuosina 2005–2020. Väitöskirjatyön tarkoituksena on lisätä tietoa ulkomaisen työvoiman rekrytoinnista kuntasektorilla. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin Pohjois-Pohjanmaalta kymmenestä eri organisaatiosta. Nämä ovat Pudasjärven, Kempeleen, Lumijoen, Limingan, Muhoksen, Hailuodon, Tyrnävän ja Sievin kunnat, Oulun Seudun Mäntykoti ry ja Ojantakasen perhekoti Pulkkilassa. Väitöskirjan keskeinen tutkimuskysymys on: Miten ulkomaisen työvoiman rekrytointi voidaan toteuttaa kuntasektorilla? Tutkimuksen teoreettinen tausta perustuu kansainvälisen henkilöstöjohtamisen sekä monikulttuurisuuden kirjallisuuteen ja väestötilastoihin liittyviin demografisiin ennusteisiin. Tutkimusote on laadullinen. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin aineistolähtöistä sisällönanalyysiä. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin vuosina 2011–2013 kolmella kunta- ja yritysjohtajille suunnatulla kyselyllä. Tutkimustulosten mukaan organisaatiot tarvitsevat lisätietoa siitä, mikä on paras tapa toteuttaa ulkomaisen työvoiman rekrytointi. Pohjois-Pohjanmaalla on tarvetta ulkomaisen työvoiman rekrytoinnille, mutta suunnitelmia työperäisen maahanmuuton toteuttamiseksi ei ole tai ne ovat puutteellisia. Henkilöstö ja esimiehet tarvitsevat koulutusta ulkomaalaisten työntekijöiden kohtaamiseen ja perehdyttämiseen.

Tutkimuksessa selvitetään, missä määrin työpaikkojen työsuojeluvalvontaa toteutetaan alueellisesti eri tavalla eli toteutuuko valvonta työpaikoilla yhtenäisesti eri puolilla Suomea. Tutkimuksen ennakko-oletuksena on, että merkittävä syy työsuojeluvalvonnan alueelliseen erilaisuuteen on valvonnan organisointi viiden itsenäisen aluehallintoviraston työsuojelun vastuualueen tehtäväksi. Työsuojeluhallintoa ja työsuojeluvalvonnan toteutumisen yhtenäisyyttä työpaikoilla ei ole tutkittu tieteellisesti 2000-luvulla. Tämä tutkimus arvioi työsuojeluhallinnon rakennetta ja valvonnan toteutumista sekä hallinnon että työpaikkojen näkökulmasta. Tutkimus antaa sekä tieteellisesti perusteltuja teoreettisia että hallinnon asiakkaiden näkökulmia työsuojeluhallinnossa käynnissä olevaan valvonnan yhtenäistämiskehitykseen. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena viitekehyksenä on hallinnon evaluaatiotutkimus, joka tarkoittaa hallinnon toimivuuden arviointia käyttäjä- ja asiakasnäkökulmasta. Työsuojeluhallinto toteuttaa työpaikoille kohdistuvaa työsuojeluvalvontaa työsuojelutarkastuksina, jolloin hallinnon asiakkaita ovat työpaikat ja niiden työnantajat ja työntekijät. Pääasiallisena tutkimusaineistona ovat valvontatietojärjestelmä Veran raportit ja niistä tehdyt 27 valvonnan alueellista vertailua sekä henkilöhaastattelut, jotka kohdistuvat 52:een työsuojeluhallinnon, työmarkkinajärjestöjen ja työpaikkojen työsuojeluhenkilöön. Tutkimuksessa on kolme päälukua: työsuojeluhallituksen aika 1973-1993, itsenäisten alueellisten työsuojeluviranomaisten aika vuodesta 1993 lähtien sisältäen työmarkkinajärjestöjen roolin työsuojeluvalvonnassa ja valvonnan alueellinen vertailu. Tutkimusmatkani kohti yhtenäistä työpaikkojen työsuojeluvalvontaa alkoi työsuojeluhallituksesta, joka perustettiin vuonna 1973 osana hyvinvointivaltion rakentamista ja valtiojohtoista suunnitteluoptimismia. Valtiollinen työsuojelu koottiin yhden ministeriön alaisuuteen. Työsuojeluhallituksen aikana oli keskusjohtoinen, ainakin osittain yhtenäinen työsuojeluvalvonta, mutta keskusviraston toiminta ei onnistunut, koska työnantajat vastustivat sitä koko ajan pitäen sen toimintaa konspiratiivisena, vehkeilevänä. Työsuojeluhallitus lakkautettiin vuonna 1993 osana keskusvirastojärjestelmän purkamista 1990-luvun alun taloudellisen laman seurauksena. Valtion harjoittamaa sääntelyä purettiin hallinnon kaikilla sektoreilla, ja hallintoa madallettiin lähemmäksi asiakasta. Valtion merkitystä vähennettiin koko yhteiskunnassa ja hyvinvointivaltiosta tehtiin kilpailuvaltio, jolloin markkinaliberalismi ja New Public Management voimistuivat. Työsuojeluhallituksen lakkautuksessa tehtiin ehkä muutakin politiikkaa; pirstaloimalla valvovaa hallintoa heikennettiin samalla työpaikoille kohdistuvaa keskitettyä valvonnan voimaa. Itsenäisten alueellisten työsuojeluviranomaisten aikana vuodesta 1993 lähtien entisten työsuojelupiirien ja nykyisten aluehallintoviraston työsuojelun vastuualueiden toiminnallinen itsenäisyys korostui. Hallinnon toiminnassa näkyy, ettei työsuojeluvalvonnalla ole yhteistä keskusjohtoa. Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriön työ- ja tasa-arvo-osasto, jonka alaisuuteen työsuojelu keskushallinnossa kuuluu, toteuttaa Kansainvälisen työjärjestön ILO:n (International Labour Organization) sopimusten tulkintaa, että työsuojeluhallinto on riippumaton valvontatehtävää suorittaessaan eikä ministeriö siten puutu valvonnan alueellisiin menettelytapoihin. Tutkimus käsittelee myös työsuojeluhallinnon laajaa yhteistyötä työmarkkinajärjestöjen kanssa. Järjestöt osallistuvat kaikkeen päätöksentekoon, jossa käsitellään hallinnon tavoitteita, painopisteitä, valvontaohjeita ja resursseja. Tutkimuksessa arvioidaan edustuksellisen demokratian näkökulmasta korporatiivisen etujärjestövaikutuksen ja hallinnon suhdetta riippumattoman työsuojeluvalvonnan päätöksenteossa ja toimeenpanossa. Tarkastuskertomuksiin perustuva alueellisen valvonnan vertailu osoittaa, että työsuojeluvalvonta on eriytynyt vastuualueittain. Työpaikkojen kunnossaolo määritellään usein eri tavalla, joten tarkastajien valvoma työturvallisuuden minimitaso ei toteudu yhdenmukaisesti koko maassa. Siten velvoitteita korjata tai poistaa työturvallisuusepäkohtia annetaan eri tavalla ja lopputuloksena on se, ettei työnantajia kohdella tasapuolisesti. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksenä on, että työsuojeluvalvonta on osa kansallista hallintotoimintaa ja laillisuusvalvontaa, ei alueellista tai paikallista hallintoa. Työsuojelu ei eroa toimialoittain maantieteellisesti, koska eri ammattialojen työ on pääpiirteissään samanlaista koko maassa ja niiden työturvallisuus ei juurikaan eroa maantieteellisesti. Tämän vuoksi myös työsuojeluvalvonnan pitäisi olla yhdenmukaista koko maassa. Suomeen pitäisi perustaa Pohjoismaiden mallin mukainen työsuojelun keskusorganisaatio, joka koordinoisi yhtenäistä laillisuusvalvontaa samalla tavalla kuin Poliisihallitus, Syyttäjälaitos ja uusi Tuomioistuinvirasto koordinoivat toimialojensa laillisuusvalvontaa ja toiminnan menettelytapoja. ; This study examines the extent to which workplace occupational safety and health (OSH) enforcing is carried out differently across the Finnish regions, in other words whether workplace enforcing is uniform across Finland. The presupposition of the study is that an important reason for the regional disparity in labour inspection is the decentralized organization of the inspection to by the five independent divisions of occupational health and safety of the regional state administrative agency. The OSH administration and the uniformity of the implementation of OSH in the workplace have not been scientifically studied in the 21st century. This study assesses the structure and implementation of the OSH administration from the perspective of both the administration and the workplace. The study provides a scientifically justified analysis covering both theoretical and customers' perspectives on OSH management and the ongoing integration of health and safety enforcement. The chosen theoretical approach of the study is the administrative evaluation framework, which means assessing the functionality of administration from the user and customer perspective. The Labour Inspectorate carries out workplace safety inspections in the form of occupational safety inspections, whereby the customers of the administration are the workplaces and their employers and employees. The main research material are OSH inspection database Vera reports and personal interviews carried out with 52 persons in the job protection administration, labour organizations and employment OSH personnel. The study consists of three main empirical chapters: the Labour Protection Board, the Central Office 1973-1993, the independent Regional Labour Inspectorate since 1993, including the role of labour organizations in labour inspection and the regional comparison of labour inspection. Shift towards an integrated job labour inspection started with the Labour Protection Board which was established in 1973 as part of the construction of the welfare state during the era of optimism in state-directed planning State labour protection was brought together under one ministry. The Labour Protection Board the system was center-led, at least regarding uniform occupational health and safety enforcing, but the Board's operations were not successful, mainly because the employers were opposed to it throughout its existence. The Labour Protection Board was abolished in 1993 as part of the dismantling of the central office system that followed the economic recession in the early 1990s. State regulation in all sectors of government was decentralized and administration was brought closer to the customers. The role of the state was diminished in society as a whole and the welfare state became a competitive state, with neoliberalism and New Public Management becoming stronger. Other objectives were also part of the decision to abolish the Labour Protection Board; at the same time, the fragmentation of supervisory authorities weakened the efficiency of workplace control. The era of the independent regional labour inspectorates since 1993 underlines the functional independence of the former OSH Inspectorate and the current division of occupational health and safety of the regional state administrative agency. The operation shows that there is no common central management for labour enforcement. The Department for Work and Gender Equality of the Social and Health Ministry, which is responsible for occupational safety in central administration, interprets International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions as meaning that the labour administration is independent in carrying out its supervisory function. Thus, the Ministry does not interfere with regional control procedures. The study also deals with the extensive co-operation between the labour protection administration and the labour market organizations. Trade unions are involved in all decision-making concerning management objectives, priorities, control guidelines and resources. The study examines the influence of corporatist interest groups and the governance of occupational health and safety enforcing decision-making and implementation from the perspective of representative democracy. A comparison of regional control based on inspection reports shows that OSH control of occupational health and safety has varied between the regional divisions. The condition of workplaces is often defined differently, so the minimum level of occupational safety supervised by inspectors is not uniformly applied throughout the country. Thus, obligations to remedy or eliminate occupational safety deficiencies in workplaces are given different treatment and the result is that employees are not treated equally. The conclusion of the study is that health and safety control should be in the competence of national administration and judicial review, not regional or local administration. Occupational safety and health does not differ geographically by industry, as the work of the various occupations is broadly similar throughout the country and there is little geographical variation in occupational safety. For this reason, labour inspection should also be uniform throughout the country. Finland should set up the Nordic model of a more centralized OSH system, which would coordinate an integrated review of legality in the same way as the National Police Board, the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of Justice co- ordinate the law enforcement and operational procedures of their respective sectors.