This thesis deals on integration of ASEAN. The primary objective of this thesis is to find out the potential of ASEAN to be politically and economically integrated like EU, and the kind of difficulties it may face in a mid way. Since EU is a pioneer and benchmark for any integration and ASEAN takes EU as a reference, I choose EU as a base to compare the progress of ASEAN. As for the theoretical aspect, integration theory and its importance in global scenario is discussed. The research sought after the way ahead for ASEAN. This study is based on a comparative analysis of the development of both EU and ASEAN. The information and literature needed for the thesis will be collected from open source, which is easily accessible to all. After analyzing the historical background, present development and future prospect, I think ASEAN is turning out to be the successful regional cooperation. Even though ASEAN took reference from EU in its development, It don´t need to be like EU. Being the cooperation from different group of differently diversified nations, It can pave its own way forward and can lay good precedent for other upcoming regional co-operations. ; M-IR
- ; In critically important parts of the cold war era the Democratic Party was the steward of American foreign policy. But since September 11. 2001, the party has, however, mostly been a bystander to the major transformation of U.S. foreign policy carried out by the Bush administration. Will the party continue to play such a passive and reactive role or will it be able to formulate a coherent and realistic alternative the Bush foreign policy? Both the U.S. international behavior and world politics will be greatly affected by the outcome of the ongoing internal debate in the party. This paper takes a closer look at this debate and the various fractions that now compete for being the foreign policy face of the party. It is still too early to tell the outcome of this jockeying for power, and consequently the Bush administration will most likely continue as the dominant force behind American foreign policy.
During the pandemic model for swedish public management have been discussed. In the societal debate, demands have been made for increased centralization and for the state to take over municipal areas of responsibility. The pandemic's crisis management has revealed a lack of knowledge about municipalities among government authorities and that there are differences in conditions between municipalities for the implementation of the activities. In studies of five municipalities and one region during the period 2020–2021 the results show the local level's ability to handle pandemics, which is also confirmed by international studies. The crisis management of the region/municipalities has shown the strength of a decentralized structure, but also that important development issues must be handled locally for an effective management of future crises. The answer lie in strengthening local self-government and addressing the challenges that exist in the multi-level governance that has come to characterize the public sector. ; I samband med pandemin har den svenska förvaltningsmodellen diskuterats. Det har funnits ett ifrågasättande av kommunernas förmåga att hantera den kris som pandemin innebar. Samtidigt har pandemins krishantering avslöjat så väl brist på kunskap om kommunal verksamhet bland statliga myndigheter som att det föreligger skillnader i förutsättningar mellan kommuner för verksamhetens genomförande. I studier som genomförts av fem kommuner och en region under perioden 2020–2021 visar tvärtom resultatet på den lokala nivåns förmåga att hantera pandemin, vilket även bekräftas av internationella studier. Regionens och kommunernas krishantering har visat styrkan i en decentraliserad samhällsstruktur, men också att viktiga utvecklingsfrågor och blottlagda brister måste hanteras lokalt för en ändamålsenlig hantering av kommande kriser och för en gynnsam utveckling i vardagen. Svaret finns inte i en ökad centralisering, utan en förstärkning av det kommunala självstyret och att ta sig an de utmaningar som finns i ...
Centre of Excellence (CoE) is a politically initiated financing scheme from the Research Council in Norway aiming for long term, high quality and innovative research, contributing towards solving the big challenges of our society. Two evaluations conclude that this scheme is a success. These evaluations does not however pay much attention to the role of the administration in that regard. This master-thesis investigate how administrative leaders in the CoE contribute towards goal achievement. This has not previously been studied. For the data collection individual interviews was chosen, because they provide an open and investigative approach, well suited to gather relevant information. The analysis are based on organizational theory for public organizations, theories about organization types and previous research regarding the role of administrative personnel in research and higher education. The administrative leaders in CoE work in the interface between academic work and administration. My research shows that most of them have an academic background. They are highly educated, on master or PhD level, and some have research experience beyond that. Most of them have relevant work experience with a good overview of how the research and university systems work. The administrative leaders can further be recognised by their ability to create a good work environment and their social integration skills. This is very important in CoE, not the least because the centres depends heavily on recruitment of international research staff. In this regard good language skills and intercultural competence are also important. These leaders contribute to goal achievement through relieving the researchers and facilitating research related tasks, like conferences and meeting places, and haveing a good overview and ensure internal and external information flow. They also organize social activities and function as a central hub or connector. The administrative leader role demands a mix of knowledge and competencies, resembling the role of the classic middle range leader in the professional bureaucracy of today. With a great variety of different assignments coupled with being a connector for tasks and functions, both vertical and horizontal in the organization. In addition the administrative leader in a CoE also works close with the research leaders and the research activities at the centre. CoE are organized as time-limited projects with high demands and expectations. My study shows that the administration apparatus in CoE is important for goal achievement, but also that it is necessary with one 100% administrative leader or coordinator in a CoE, in order to take care of and coordinate the interests of the centre, both internally and in relation to the host institution. These CoE administrative leaders are a highly selected group regarding qualifications and background, which is something to be aware of when planning these kinds of research units, but also concerning the status- and role of administrative research personnel in general. ; publishedVersion