Suchergebnisse

AbstractBy most accounts, the Commission President's potential for political leadership within the EU system has declined since the 1990s, due to the increasingly assertive role of the European Council, and a more autonomous European Parliament (EP). Furthermore, the incumbent's authority over the Commission is complicated by the Commission's internal fragmentation and specialization. Based on interviews with experienced policy‐makers from the Commission, the Council and the EP, this article argues that Juncker's leadership inside the Commission, as well as his leadership within the EU system have been strengthened by his organizational reforms, such as the introduction of project‐team leading Vice‐Presidents and a stronger role of the Secretariat General. These findings challenge the accounts emphasizing the declining leadership capacity of the Commission.

AbstractThe present situation of UNESCO is unique in both, financial and legal terms. The United States with an assessment rate of 22 per cent to be contributed to the regular budget stopped paying its membership dues as of 2011 when the General Conference of UNESCO admitted Palestine as a Member State. But the United States decided to remain full member of the Organization. Israel followed the same way. The impact of an increasing 'debt mountain' over the years is obvious which led to a serious reduction in staff and activities. No one dares to question the issue of membership. Other member states started paying their annual dues either late or not at all. Ad hoc attempts of organizational change dominate the running of UNESCO without overcoming the existing fragmentation.

As the third largest city in Mexico, Monterrey is a manufacturing hub that offers a provocative counterpoint to industrial cities in developed countries. Suburban sprawl, political instability, violence, social injustice, and de-industrialization illustrate increasing fragmentation—or terrain vague—where the conventional urban fabric unravels and less formal occupancies unfold. Defined by Catalan architect and theorist Ignasi Solà-Morales, terrain vague is expressed through obsolescence and various organic practices that react to depopulation and under-productivity. Investigating production and city-building, this article positions post-industrial Monterrey as a place of difference reflecting hybridized Latin American and American normative conditions. It surveys processes of industrialization and changing technology to situate iconic European and American architectural and urban precedents as forerunners of similar conditions in Monterrey.

Globalization has affected legal services and converged legal systems, especially in consumer protection in Indonesia and Australia. This process has resulted to a more formal, transparent, and adversarial laws and regulations that typically reflect to the common Law system. Then, the incorporation of local wisdom encourages significantly for the receptiveness of this globalization and convergence process both in Indonesia and Australia. This paper will show and analyze the extent to which globalization has affectedconsumer protection in Indonesia and Australia by dividing the impact from the result of economic liberalization and political fragmentation. It will then show how the incorporation of local wisdom canaccelerate the globalization of legal services and convergence of legal systems on consumer protection in Indonesia and Australia Keywords: Local Wisdom, Consumer Protection, Law, Indonesia, Australia.

After the Schengen Agreement entered into force in 1995, most of the old internal checkpoints, in particular the peripheral ones, remained abandoned and out of service. Still their presence allows viewers and occasional passers-by to find significant traces of a recent history of political, economic, and social fragmentation. Ignacio Evangelista's series of photographs "After Schengen" moves from a very personal experience to show this reality. Borders separate homogeneous landscapes, introduce unnatural fractures to mark domains, create antagonisms and hostilities that sharpen right along the territorial margins. Checkpoints are guarded thresholds, points of contact, transit, exchange. Through an analysis of Evangelista's photos, the contribution offers a reflection on the power of agency bording crossings holds and their impact in the construction of a European cohesion.

A holism tendency in International Relations (IR) studies treats international systems and states as unitary wholes and thus leads to a tripartite view on China's international role as either a revisionist, status quo or a pragmatist power. China's stances in global financial governance (GFG), however, are inconsistent, which indicates that China is not a pure challenger or status quo power. These inconsistent stances do not allude to China being a pragmatist power, which makes policies and takes actions in a practical and matter-of-fact way without consistent national interests. Instead, China has inconsistent stances but consistent core national interests. The ostensible contradiction is due to the explanatory deficiency of the IR holistic tendency, which pays inadequate attention to fragmentations of international and domestic systems. (J Contemp China/GIGA)

This study assessed the spatial-temporal dynamics of green spaces in response to urban growth for the seven municipalities of Lubumbashi city, Democratic Republic of the Congo between, 1989 and 2014. Pattern analysis revealed that since 1989, the built-up proportion has gradually increased in all municipalities at the expense of green space area as a result of rapid demographic pressure coupled with a lack of an appropriate program for their preservation. In terms of pattern dynamics, green space extent has been dominated by attrition, fragmentation and dissection processes. This is opposed to creation and aggregation which characterized built-up areas. Our observations emphasize the need for a sustainable management of green spaces that takes into account the socio- economic context of each municipality. ; Peer reviewed

AbstractThe probation service has showed a remarkable facility to reinvent itself over a century of turbulent, but sustained, history. This 16th Bill McWilliams Memorial Lecture will explore the ethos underpinning that survival as the service faces its potential fragmentation, and even dismantling, given the government commitment to privatise much of its current business. If the institution of probation collapses, is there still an important place for probation skills and in what institutional forms will this be reconstructed? Can a hopeful scenario for the future be garnered from the current policy imperatives? Does it matter? And if it matters, how can a vision be created which builds on that history in concert with partners from all sectors? This lecture will reflect on these themes in a policy framework which is fluid, uncertain, and deeply challenging.

THE LEGAL SYSTEM IN PERSPECTIVE OF ITS APPLICATIONThis study is dedicated to the issue of the system of law in the process of application of law. Taking into consideration the modest on the assumption size of the text, only the selected issues — directly connected with the problems in question — were discussed within the text. In particular, the issue of the features characteristics of the system conditioning its efficiency, namely completeness and consistency. Moreover, the issue of the horizontal fragmentation of the system of law treated as a set in the collective sense and exploration of the elements of the system of law treated as one of the sets in the distributive sense. This, consequently, is analysed within the context of adjudicating on determination of specific legal situations of the legal entities.

Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (Xinjiang Shengchan Jianshe Bingtuan-shortened form Bingtuan) is a distinctive military agricultural settlement and production institution in China's western region, Xinjiang. It is also a modern form of China's traditional ethnic frontier governing mechanism. This article discusses Bingtuan's historical precedents, modern development and innovative change for Xinjiang governance. In an examination of Bingtuan's main functions for China's ethnic frontier governance, this article argues that in addition to economic sustainability and territorial security, Bingtuan played an important but multifaceted role in ethnic relations in Xinjiang, such as territorial fragmentation, ethnic separation and redefinition of regional identity; therefore Bingtuan not only makes its administrated area China's 'frontier of settlement' but also acts as a key state agency for whatever future Xinjiang might have. (J Contemp China/GIGA)

Participatory mapping has recently become an instrument used by NGOs to advocate for adat (customary) land in Indonesia. Maps produced from participatory mapping are expected to support legal recognition through land formalization or titling. In order to stop land grabbing through the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) project, this strategy has also been applied in Merauke district, Papua. However, the pitfalls of communal participatory mapping have brought negative impacts to adat communities. This paper analyzes the land grabbing and mapping processes in three villages in the MIFEE area to show the unexpected consequences of participatory mapping. These mapping processes have caused fragmentation and conflict among adat communities. Furthermore, the legal recognition of communal adat land ownership is facilitating the buy-out of adat land by companies and/or the state. (ASEAS/GIGA)

In the Mediterranean of the Nineteenth century the Italian peninsula seems to have played a marginal role, in which the political fragmentation did not help. Starting from the unification, the numerous studies that tried to rebuild the Italian presence beyond national borders have emphasized that the Italians who crossed the ancient seawater in those sixty years were mostly exiles, escaping conservative persecution. In these cases not only men travelled, but also ideas. But those studies also tried to build Italy's Mediterranean history – of which the "excellent" nineteenth-century migrations had been key steps – with the aim of legitimizing the Italian presence in the mare nostrum. Looking at the Peninsula's Mediterranean perspective, this essay wants to investigate – through travel writings – in what terms that space was experienced by the travellers before the unification.

The relationship between institutions and economic growth has
attracted significant attention in recent years with the dominant view
being that institutional quality positively influences economic
performance of a country. However, the impact of similar kind of
institutions on economic growth varies across regions and countries.
Various reasons including, Income inequality and ethnic fragmentation
have been put forth as proximate cause of the weaker relationship
between institutions and economic growth [Easterly, et. al (2006);
Ann-Sofie (2007)]. However not enough literature is available on why the
impact of similar set of institutions on growth varies across countries
and regions. Given that inequality may weaken the impact of
institutional quality on growth, this study seeks to examine the
composite impact of institutional quality and inequality on growth in
selected Asian economies

AbstractThis article undertakes a comparative, firm‐level analysis of joining supply chain trade in fiveSoutheastAsian economies to improve our understanding of fragmentation of manufacturing across borders. The findings suggests that firm size (reflecting economies of scale to overcome entry costs) matters for joining supply chain trade with large firms playing the dominant role inSoutheastAsian economies. Meanwhile, small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) make a small contribution to supply chain trade relatively to the sectors employment contribution. However, firm size is not the whole story. Efficiency—particularly investment in building technological capabilities and skills—and access to commercial bank credit also influence joining supply chain trade. The article suggests that governments can facilitateSMEsjoining supply chain trade through a market‐oriented strategy, modern physical infrastructure, streamlined regulations and efficient business support services.