Journal articles on the topic 'France Strategic aspects'

In 1996 the national libraries of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK and the USA took part in a study of their experiences with strategic management. A literature review had identified 15 key aspects of strategic management. Respondents were asked their views of the importance of each aspect, and how satisfied they were with the library's achievement of it. In every case the importance attached to the aspect was greater than the library's satisfaction with achievement. Each library was also asked to nominate from a checklist the reason or reasons why it had produced its first strategic document. The centrality of the digital information environment to the core functions of national libraries has been highlighted by the study.

Abstract Cultural diplomacy has lesser aspects of monolithical sustainability, but it can have stronger gist production. Romania and France have always rebounded their relations in the court of cultural relations. Throughout this article, we will try to emphasize the sequel and tenor of cultural diplomacy in foreign policy and the sorts and medium it can have for solidarity rendering. Further, we will use these explanations in order to accent its proper usability in contemporary France-Romanian relations. We contend that the relaunching of the strategic partneship between Romania and France, opens new chances of predisposition for the avenues of cultural diplomacy. We will commence with the timely nearness between Romania and France in the last century and then, proceed with the lines of approach of cultural diplomacy in Romanian-France contemporary foreign policy affairs.

The article treats political, military and strategic aspects of disarmament process, in particular the involvement of nations other than USA and Russia. The author briefly analyses the positions of the European nations (United Kingdom and France), China, India and Pakistan on the issue. Also, the article covers the approaches of the informal and non-recognized nuclear states (North Korea and Israel).

The article aims to explore the interplay between economic and strategic reasons, which influenced the oil policy of the French government and business in the 1920s. The author demonstrates the heterogeneity and complexity of this policy the diverse nature of motives and interests behind the different attempts to acquire access to the oil. The French case throws some new light on the role of the “oil factor” in international relations and Great Powers’ politics. The article comprehensively deals with the topics often divided between different fields strategic studies, international political economy, diplomatic history. The author uses French archives to place Paris’ oil policy into the broader context of the French strategy and diplomacy in the first decade after WWI. Additional documents from the British and Russian archives help understand essential aspects of the Anglo-French and FrancoSoviet interactions around the “oil question.” After underlying the new strategic importance of oil, which became evident during WWI, and describing the oil dependence of France from the Anglo-American trusts (“Standard Oil” and “Royal Dutch-Shell”), the author traces the three key aims of the French oil policy. First, to diversify the supplies; second, to acquire control or direct access to the oil sources; and, finally, to consolidate the French business interests with the mediation of the state authorities. French actions in these three directions were interlinked, and they mirrored a specific situation of power and weakness of France after WWI. The article concludes that the strategic and economic reasons were interwoven inside the French oil policy. Though the French authorities perceived the growing strategic importance of oil sharply, they were not prepared to follow the clear étatist economic policy and did not try to make a radical change of the established rules of oil policy both inside the Third Republic and in the relations with “Standard Oil” and “Royal Dutch-Shell.”

Few commercial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects are currently operating in the world, with almost all in the USA and China. Despite a high number of CCS pilot-scale projects achieved in Europe, only two commercial-scale projects are operating today. The goal of this study is to present a case study in France to select a promising location to deploy a notable CCS pilot-scale project based on a multicriteria regional-scale approach. The methodology applied in this case study describes and assesses different aspects involved in CCS technology at the regional scale, and then an evaluation of economic key performance indicators (KPI) of CCS is carried out. The assessment at the regional scale gives an overview of where CCS could be applied, when CCS could be deployed and how to launch CCS considering the needs and concerns of stakeholders in the region. Technical aspects were mapped, such as the location of irreducible CO2 sources and long-lasting emissions and the location of storage resources and existing potential transport infrastructures. We identified the waste-to-energy and chemical sectors as the main CO2 sources in the region. An economic analysis of a hypothetical scenario of CCS deployment was elaborated considering three of the higher emitters in the region. A CCS scenario in the Paris Basin region with a deployment between 2027 and 2050 indicates a low CO2 cost per ton avoided between 43 EUR/t and 70 EUR/t for a cumulated total of 25 Mt and 16 Mt, respectively, of CO2 captured and stored for 26 years, including 7.7 Mt of CO2 from biomass (potential negative emissions). Storage maturity and availability of the resource are the most uncertain parameters of the scenario, although they are the key elements to push investment in capture facilities and transport. Geological storage pilot projects are mandatory to prove storage resource and should be located in strategic locations close to potential CO2 sources in case of confirmation of proven resources. Well-perceived pilot-scale projects are the first step to start engaging in deciding and investing in commercial-scale CCS projects.

In the light of the current changing global scenarios, green infrastructure is obtaining increasing relevance in planning policies, especially due to its ecological, environmental and social components which contribute to pursuing sustainable and resilient planning and designing of cities and territories. The issue of green infrastructure is framed within the conceptual contexts of sustainability and resilience, which are described through the analysis of their common aspects and differences with a particular focus on planning elements. In particular, the paper uses two distinct case studies of green infrastructure as representative: the green infrastructure of the Region Languedoc-Roussillon in France and the one of the Province of Turin in Italy. The analysis of two case studies focuses on the evaluation process carried on about the social-ecological system and describes the methodologies and the social-ecological indicators used to define the green infrastructure network. We related these indicators to their possible contribution to the measurement of sustainability and resilience. The analysis of this relationship led us to outline some conclusive considerations on the complex role of the design of green infrastructure with reference to sustainability and resilience.

À Météo-France, la décennie 1985-1995 a vu une profonde transformation de la prévision numérique du temps (PNT) qui a d'abord conduit au remplacement des modèles de prévision opérationnels Émeraude et Péridot par Arpège et Aladin. Dans la même période, un vaste programme de recherche et de développement a été lancé conjointement avec le CEPMMT concernant l'initialisation des modèles par des techniques d'assimilation de données dites « variationnelles ». Cette période a été aussi marquée par un virage vers beaucoup plus de coopération entre institutions travaillant sur la PNT dans les différents pays européens. Jean-François Geleyn s'est trouvé en première ligne de cette profonde transformation, toujours impliqué dans les décisions stratégiques, mais aussi souvent impliqué comme expert dans les études et développements touchant plusieurs aspects scientifiques. At Météo-France, the 1985-1995 decade was marked by a complete transformation of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) which led first to the replacement of the operational models Émeraude and Péridot by Arpège and Aladin. In the same period, a large research and development programme was initiated jointly with ECMWF on model initialisation through so-called 'variational' assimilation techniques. This period was also marked by an important change towards closer cooperation between the different institutions working on NWP in European countries. Jean-François Geleyn was instrumental in this complete transformation of NWP. He was always involved in the strategic decisions, but also as an expert in the studies and developments on several scientific aspects.

AbstractThe political and strategic aspects of General de Gaulle's policies, his grandeur rhetoric and his hostility to European integration have between them taken up the attention of historians. It has therefore been overlooked that the 1960s were a period of unprecedented mobilisation by the French state in the promotion of French exports. This policy is not only due to the history of commercial diplomacy. The senior civil servants in charge of this process were interested not only in selling but also in creating a fundamental change to the perception of France by those abroad. It was a keen fight, involving not only official and semi-official bodies, but also private enterprise, who together furthered the neo-corporatist programme of the French state.

This article considers the organisational component of the preparation of the English invasion of France in 1415. The army of Henry V was one of the largest during the entire Hundred Years War. The development of raising whole armies, rather than merely minor, “non-royal”, expeditions, by contracting for indentured retinues should be seen as primarily an evolutionary consequence of the need to plan and manage the increased scale and duration of continental wars. The three central points to mobilisation are the recognised and necessary authority of the king, the strategic planning role of the council, and the function of the chancery in communicating administrative instructions. Both modern researchers and chroniclers are forced to determine the purpose of the invasion relying on the subsequent actions of the king and his army; until the last moment, the king kept even the place of the upcoming landing secret. The paper analyses the principles of acquisition of the expeditionary military contingent: the influence of the king’s personal participation on the composition, organisational structure, and recruiting of troops (a combination of direct recruitment and indentured retinues). It is emphasised that almost all the highest nobility of the kingdom was involved in the royal army. A significant number of military retinues (and captains) are noted as a distinctive feature of the army in 1415. The article also analyses the financing of the campaign and the sources of payment for military service (direct and indirect taxes, loans, and pleading of the crown jewels). The author examines the organisation of the supply and logistic aspects of the upcoming military expedition to the continent, i.e. the preparation and provision of weapons (including siege equipment), horses and vehicles, provisions and fodder, the principles of collecting ships and their number, payment for ships and crews, the place / mooring of the fleet, and features of landing.

At least in the medium term, the matrix of international relations will be determined not only by the emerging global «geopolitical rift», such as tensions between the United States and China, but also by the return of competition between the great powers. At the same time, the Indo-Pacific Region (IPR) inevitably becomes the main arena for the global confrontation between the United States and China for the opportunity to influence the reformatting of the world order. For the ITR, the growing tension in the South China Sea, the issue of non-proliferation of nuclear and other types of WMD are becoming increasingly important, while the competition of interests of the most important players (USA - China, China - India) in this region generates new security risks and challenges. As a major export trading power, Germany is not going to be limited to the role of an additional player in the region, the economic and geopolitical importance of which is steadily growing, especially given that conflicts in the ITR can threaten the most important trade and transport arteries linking Europe with Asia and Africa. Berlin’s goal is to expand Germany’s presence in the Indo-Pacific, relying on intra-regional cooperation, because the consolidation of the «bipolar structures» of the United States and China in the region is one of the main risks for other major players, as the confrontation between Washington and Beijing could take the form of a proxy war, destroying global supply chains. The strategic planning of the FRG in the ITR, in contrast to the similar strategy of the United States, does not have a pronounced anti-Chinese orientation, although it is aimed, in fact, at «containment» of China. Moreover, a more balanced policy of Germany and its European allies (primarily France) in the region, based on the search for a balance of interests, could contribute to a softer structuring of zones of influence in the ITR with an emphasis on a multilateral approach.

Member governments of the European Community have frequently urged the necessity of closer cooperation and collaboration in meeting the challenge posed by new technologies and in countering the lead achieved by the United States and Japan. After delays which seemed almost to contradict any sense of urgency, the Council of Ministers of the Community agreed to a multi-annual Framework Programme of Scientific Research in 1983. A critically important element of that Programme, the European Strategic Programme of Research and Development in Information Technology (ESPRIT), was agreed only after further extensive delays in February 1984. The renewal and extension of the Framework Programme was proposed by the European Commission in early 1986 but was finally agreed only in September 1987, the delay having been caused by the opposition of Britain, France and West Germany, the three member states largely responsible for the protracted negotiations on ESPRIT in 1984. Much attention has been paid to the history of the Framework Programme and ESPRIT, but the budgetary aspects of the decisions, aspects that were highly significant in delaying agreement, especially on the part of Britain and West Germany, have tended to be ignored.

Abstract The implementation of bancassurance activity in the banking field contributes to the strengthening of the competitive environment, the development of new products in insurance and the higher satisfaction of the consumer's needs. The strategic priorities of banks are to increase business protection by adding new products to their portfolios, according customer's needs. The distribution of insurance in the bancassurance system is a future solution and will continue to develop on the Romanian market as well. Bancassurance is the main distribution channel in many countries, accounting for more than 50% of life insurance products (eg France, Italy, Spain, Austria), in Portugal the share goes up to 80% and in Romania is around 30%. Among the aspects needed to develop this service, bank representatives propose both the diversification of types of insurance sold through banks, as well as the growth of consumer financial education development and digitalization. This paper aims to highlight different perspectives to relaunch bancassurance activity according to changes from customer behavior and the identification of factors which contributing to the sustainability of bancassurance in digital environment. In addition, will be presented a comparison of the internet penetration rate in the world, the categories of clients using online banking services.

This article explores how French diplomatic and military representatives in Russia perceived the growing revolutionary crisis of 1917 and what means they proposed to terminate it. Though the French perceptions of the Russian revolution are rather well researched, scholars paid attention chiefly to French estimates linked to the international and strategic situation of Russia and not to the interior processes in this country. Exploring these questions allows us to widen our understanding of the international context of the Russian revolution and to throw new light on the events of 1917 through the lens of French perceptions. This article is based on the underresearched documents from the Diplomatic archives of the French Foreign Ministry and from the National Archives of France. After having analyzed dispatches of French diplomats and military representatives in Russia during 1917, the author discerns two interlinked tendencies of these observers. First, they notice growing disorganization and “anarchy” in Russia; second, they tried to find and to support political forces in Russia that were capable of restoring “order” and to continue the fight in the war. However, inside this conceptual “frame” there were significant controversies. Conservative French diplomats and the military initially put their hopes in Alexander Kerensky and then in General Lavr Kornilov. After being disappointed in both, they tried to restore “discipline” and to conserve the Eastern front by external forces. Left French observers initially had more enthusiasm for the February revolution and even after the evaporation of these hopes warned Paris not to support counterrevolutionary forces in Russia. In many aspects, discussions about Russian policy of France in 1917 foreshadowed the dilemmas in the relations of Paris with “Reds” and “Whites” during the intervention and the Civil war.

The subject of the study is Iranian-German relations in 2010-2020. The object of the research is the development of relations between Iran and Germany. The author of the work examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the history of the development of relations between Iran and Germany, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which directly affects Iran's relations with the world community, in particular with the European Union. Particular attention is paid to the role of Germany as a strategic partner of Iran. Germany has traditionally been seen as Iran's closest partner in Europe, although its policy towards Iran during the so-called nuclear crisis of the 2000s largely followed the example of Washington due to Germany joining the latter's power diplomacy. The main conclusions of the study are: The future of German-Iranian relations will depend on a number of international, regional and domestic factors, the development of which is difficult to predict with any certainty; besides Germany, the positions of Great Britain and France in relation to Iran matter to a lesser extent; Iran's geopolitical attractiveness, along with Iran's willingness to welcome Germany as an active player in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, as well as pressure from the country's economic groups to develop trade relations with Iran, encourage Germany to take the lead in European foreign policy towards Iran ; With the start of nuclear talks in 2013, Berlin played a positive role in the negotiations that culminated in the nuclear deal in July 2015. Since then, close cooperation has been established both in industry and in the field of education; The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the results of the study can be applied in the strategic planning of international relations with Iran.

This paper applies the concepts of gateways and centrality, formerly opposing approaches to spatial planning, by now a powerful merged tool for archaeologists, to understand the dynamics of the evolution of cities and settlements in a long-term perspective. The samples are the two main port cities in South-Eastern Provence (France), Marseille and Arles. By means of several archaeological markers it will be shown how natural landscapes and political control influenced the fate of the economic development of both cities in Greco-Roman times. Therefore, this study focuses on the aspects of trade and administration encompassing the functionality of the ports as trans-shipment centers, the impact of political interference as well as the supply and exchange of long distance and local/regional products. Within this research framework, Marseille emerged as a static gateway for its service area with a distinct perspective on Mediterranean trade. Arles, however, was the main gateway for the whole Rhône corridor in Roman times due to its strategic location in an area characterized by a variety of landscapes and the promotion of politics as a port of the annona. The data presented here aim to reject the frequently used narrative of an ongoing competition between Arles and Marseille in favor of a more nuanced picture of economic interactions and overlapping trading networks.

The subject of this research is the political relations that developed between the Czech national politicians of Bohemia and the French diplomatic mission in Austria-Hungary in the early 1870s. Analysis is conducted on the initial stage of Czech political Francophilism. The article employs the historical-genetic method that allows tracing the establishment and development of the indicated ties. Comparative-historical method is used for describing the specificity and important aspects of the Czech-French contacts of the early 1870s in relation to 1860s, as well as on the background of parallel Czech-Russian relations. The novelty is defined by the fact that this topic, namely the Czech political Francophilism, has not been previously covered within the Russian historiography. The main conclusion lies in the thesis that in the early 1870s Czech politicians and French diplomats manifested equal and mutual interest for the first time. Both parties pursued to exert pressure on Vienna: the French – to entice over the Third Republic in the conflict with Prussia, and the Czechs – to force change the status of the Czech lands in the monarchy. The analysis demonstrates that the Czech politicians were exceedingly pragmatic: if in the end of 1870 they openly supported France, then in the beginning of 1871 they have ignored the initiatives of French diplomats. This is substantiated by the potentially successful negotiations with the imperial center. Moreover, the political Francophilism suggested the desire of the Czechs to show the strategic (economic, political, and cultural) significance of the lands of the Czech Crown not only in Austria-Hungary, but also in the European space.

During the Bronze Age, in many Western Mediterranean areas (Spain, France, Italian peninsula, islands), we can observe the development of a series of fortified centers and structures, often on high places, aimed to the defense of strategic locations and resources. These fortifications, which began to be built from the Copper Age, are the answer to a need for possession and control of the territory linked to a greater degree of social complexity, with an ever-increasing hierarchy and the rise to power of persons or groups who very often show the possession of weapons and, consequently, can be related to warlike activities. In Sardinia, Nuragic phenomenon developed during Protohistoy: an extraordinary culture ranging from the Middle to Late Bronze Age (XVIII-XII centuries BC), some of whose features could last from Final Bronze Age until the beginnings of Iron Age (XI-VIII centuries BC), characterized by the building of great monuments, especially nuraghi, cyclopean-type constructions similar to towers. These great buildings have multiple functions, but in particular were used to surveil the whole island territory. We have mainly carried out different GIS analyzes on different sample areas with the aim to reading the visual-perceptive aspects and to try to research about the relationship between settlements and territory and the mobility systems across different territories through the applying of the least-cost path analysis. Reconstruction of certain characteristics of Sardinian Protohistoric Landscape in these areas is achieved. GIS-based analysis show how these territorial control systems, consisting of several nuraghi and settlements, were intended to control the most important natural and economic resources and transit routes.

Using the expression ‘late-colonial State’ obviously induces not only a chronological differentiation, but also some kind of specific institution. Is it possible to show that colonialism changed courses at an identifiable moment in time? If one observes the realities of the colonial presence in French Occidental Africa (Afrique Occidentale Française: AOF), and more particularly in the nomadic zone, a superficial glance could make one think the opposite is true. Nomads of the AOF and the area of land they travel are hardly obvious examples of ‘the colonial development’. The conquest of the Saharan areas was carried out with difficulty, hindered by immeasurable distances, the logistic difficulties of mounting and supply, the ignorance of the routes and wells, and especially the resistance to the French colonial regime from the Moorish and Tuareg nomads. The French managed to impose a lasting peace only after the Tuareg revolts of 1916 and 1917, after the fall of Djanet in the early 1920s, and finally after the pacification at the beginning of the 1930s of the last pockets of Moorish ‘dissidence’, putting an end to the raids against colonial establishments along the Niger river and in Adrar des Ifoghas. French soldiers and administrators initially held a certain mistrust towards the turbulent nomads. This feeling, combined with the apparent economic uselessness of the huge desert spaces they inhabited, makes it possible to understand that the essential efforts of colonial France were concentrated on military aspects and on keeping law and order within the major strategic routes connecting the southern and northern African possessions through the Sahara; routes that in these areas represented creations of major infrastructure.

Today technological development is recognized as one of the key factors in increasing the competitiveness of national economies. In this direction, an active scientific search is being carried out both to identify the significance of the technological entrepreneurship phenomenon for innovative ecosystems, and to develop effective mechanisms for its development. This article is the contribution of the authors to the solution of the first scientific problem. The review of the literature on the Republic of Kazakhstan innovative development showed that the existing works either do not cover the significance of technological entrepreneurship for the current stage of economic development, or the studies are focused only on certain aspects of innovative activity. Therefore, a study is required to assess the dynamics and current state of innovation activity in the country and the prospects for the technological entrepreneurship development. In accordance with this goal, official statistical data were collected for the Republic of Kazakhstan for the period 2010–2020, characterizing the level of innovative development of the economy in accordance with the Oslo Manual’s requirements. The compiled time series of data were analyzed through an assessment of the dynamics of changes and compared with similar data from the countries of the European Union. As a result, it was found that in terms of innovative development the Republic of Kazakhstan lags far behind the leading EU countries (Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy) and is at a similar level with such countries as Lithuania, Cyprus, and Malta. For each indicator of innovative activity, the significance of the development of technological entrepreneurship was substantiated from the point of view of realizing the economic and innovative potential of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The study results contribute to the understanding of the strategic opportunities for the development of innovative entrepreneurship in the Republic of Kazakhstan and can be considered both as an achieved result and as a reference point for future measures to stimulate technological innovation.

The article considers the main directions of the Russian Federations foreign policy in the Mediterranean region in the period from 2015 to autumn 2021. The authors present a historical analysis of Russias military presence in the Mediterranean Sea since its first deployment in the 18th century and separately during the Cold War, since the key strategic goals and operational-tactical tasks facing the 5th Soviet Navy operational squadron in those years, as a whole, remained unchanged. Only their scale was adjusted. Three key aspects that determine the need for Russias presence in the Mediterranean are researched. These are the military, political and economic (raw) components that form the determinant of Russian foreign policy in the region. The expansion of the military activity of NATO countries - in particular, the United States, Great Britain and France - in the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, especially since the beginning of the civil war in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2011, requires an asymmetric response from Russia in the context of protecting its national interests. As far as geopolitics is concerned, Russias return of at least partial of those Soviet influence in the region also contributes to strengthening our countrys international positions. Finally, Russias presence in a part of the world, which is a natural logistics hub in the context of both world trade and energy supplies, conceptually complements the military-political agenda. The authors use the methods of historical and political analysis and practical systematization in order to formulate the main hypothesis of the study and come to scientific and theoretical conclusions. The main hypothesis is that the expansion of Russias military, political and economic presence in the Mediterranean will be intensified as the countrys economic potential grows. The authors suggest the following order as tools for implementing the strategy: speeding up efforts to ensure the permanent military presence of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean, deepening bilateral ties with Syria and conducting a pragmatic economic policy towards Turkey, which claims to be an important actor in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East as a whole.

While the Kanaks’ (local indigenous population of New Caledonia) pro-independence protests against the French settlers and, more broadly, the French Republic, have been extensively documented in the global media and academic literature, another protest - more subtle and diffused, but deeply embedded - is taking place in New Caledonia.New Caledonia is a South Pacific archipelago colonised by the French in 1853 and set to decide whether to remain in the French Republic or become independent in a referendum between 2014 and 2019.This paper suggests that there is a polarisation in the New Caledonian media sphere, which deeply affects journalistic practices with tendencies to resist Western impositions, standards and dominance (for Kanak journalists and their leaders), while metropolitan journalists (who have settled in New Caledonia from France) tend to often reject customs or indigenous rules shaping general and media communication within local communities. Both tendencies also have a significant impact on which material the journalists will be able to collect for their news organisations, as well as an impact on the relationships these journalists will maintain (or not) with local communities and personalities.This paper examines some aspects of Pacific knowledge (including traditions, values, beliefs and protocols) and explores the nuances of a complex socio-political ‘liquid modern’ context in order to present examples of how developments inherent from tradition, colonisation and decolonisation aspirations, affect the work of local journalists (both metropolitan journalists, and Kanak journalists). Drawing on data collected during periods of archival research, participant observation and interviews conducted at both the metropolitan daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, and the pro-independence radio station, Radio Djiido, this paper demonstrates how local journalists problematically navigate, and often contest, diverse socio-cultural values, practices and principles inherent from different times and places/spaces creating a deep division in the New Caledonian media sphere. It is suggested in this paper that Kanak values are often strongly contested by many metropolitan journalists, who often refuse to give any consideration to cultural factors, while, on the other hand, Kanak journalists will often tend to reject some of the principles of Western (or modern) journalism, adjusting these values and/or standards for specific or strategic reasons, such as preserving ‘la coutume'. This paper will also argue that deploying an approach that engages with the concept of liquid modernity, takes into account re-emerging oceanic epistemologies, and that provides a thicker explanation of observed media practices, proves useful for studying journalism in New Caledonia, where culture appears to deeply affect journalism practice on a daily basis.

CiteSpace was used to visualize the knowledge ecology of the green finance research literature in CNKI and WOS, and NVivo software was used to root the code analysis of the current green finance policies in China. From the analysis of the research hotspots, both in China and internationally, great importance is attached to the research on green finance, and the research on green financialization has broad prospects. The core group of authors on green finance research in China has taken shape, whereas the core group of authors of green finance research in the rest of the world has not yet taken shape. There is a lack of close cooperation and a relatively low level of communication among important domestic green finance research institutions, and a certain scale of cooperation network has been formed among influential international institutions. The major countries for influential international green finance research are Singapore, France, Switzerland, Canada and Saudi Arabia, and the international influence of China’s green finance needs to be improved. Both domestic and foreign countries attach great importance to the balance between economic growth and the low-carbon green transition. China attaches more importance to macroeconomic development and strategic transition, but internationally, the trend is toward microcorporate green performance, policy optimization and market innovation. The research focus of green finance has achieved in three stages of evolution, namely, green industry in the early stage, green services in the middle stage and green strategy in the near future. International green finance research focuses on climate change, market players, government performance, social responsibility sharing, etc. In particular, reducing the cost of green development is the focus of international green finance. The domestic focus is on climate risk, carbon neutrality, carbon peak, low-carbon transition, carbon reduction, and green transition themes. Internationally, the focus is on financial performance, decisions, green finance, credit, drivers, quality, socially responsible investment and other topics. Considering the practical implementation of green finance in China, the governance logic of China’s green finance policy consists of five main categories: policy belief, policy objective, policy tool, policy feedback and policy cycle. In the future, the development and improvement of China’s green finance policy should achieve breakthroughs in the following aspects: first, guiding the main body of green finance policy to firmly establish policy beliefs; second, improving the clarity of green finance policy objectives; third, enhancing the overall effectiveness of the governance of green financial policy instruments; fourth, strengthening the green finance incentive policy feedback system construction; and fifth, improving the quality of green finance policy cycles.

This essay discusses the impact of defining English as the lingua franca in academia, taking it as an additional barrier to achieving more equitable participation and a diversity of perspectives in scientific publications in the field of communication studies. Two aspects are particularly problematised. The first is the characterisation of a so-called research that travels, contrasting the ideal model of a strategic definition on what materials should be published on which platform with a scoring and evaluation system that prevents or limits intelligence in these choices. The second aspect is the definition of an acceptable level of eloquence for international circulation, in which the domestication of language leads to an epistemological domination. The debate is illustrated with a series of data regarding the (in)visibility of Latin American scientific production in international academic publications. Such barriers are, finally, presented as mechanisms of power that feed the so-called status of #CommunicationSoWhiteAndRich. The reflection suggests that the search for scientific rigour should not be confused with the rigidity of forms, valuing the construction of solidarity networks that contribute to the decolonisation of scientific thought.

In the second World Entrepreneurship Forum in Lyon, France in 2009, Bina Swadaya stated definition of Social Entrepreneurship is social development with entrepreneurship solution. Developments that includes aspects of poverty alleviation, productive employment and social integration. PT Bina Swadaya Konsultan, a subsidiary of Bina Swadaya Organization with the spirit of entrepreneurship in an effort to sustain the community development process that can provide benefits for society and the life-cycle companies develop social entrepreneurship in accordance with its competence. . The purpose of this study was (1) Identify the internal and external factors that influence the development of social entrepreneurship PT BSK, (2) Getting some alternatives strategy in the development of social entrepreneurship to the purpose of the development of social entrepreneurship, (3) Obtain the priority of social entrepreneurship development strategy in accordance with the company's internal and external conditions. Research methodology using IFE, EFE, IE Matrix, SWOT and QSPM. Priority strategy of development of social entrepreneurship PT BSK are (1) Restructuring and Market Penetration, (2) Focus, Product Development and Differensiation, (3) Market Development and Market Penetration, (4) Vertical Integration, (5) Product Improvement and Diversification.

Despite growing internationalization, national ties have remained a structural aspect of missionary and humanitarian work. This was especially true of the Interwar period in the Middle East, where colonial powers, independent states and political ideologies competed. The beginnings of the Action Chrétienne en Orient (ACO) bear witness to this: the ACO, specialized in assistance to Christian Anatolian refugees and missionary work towards Muslims, made strategic use of its national connections. It retained German and Protestant connections, while serving as a formally French broker between refugees or Protestant missionary organizations and the French colonial authority. Yet as looming independence seemed to threaten the position of Christian refugees, the ACO gradually entered the ‘colonial quadrillage’ through which France exerted guidance over voluntary organizations.

This paper analyzes the influence of national culture on the integration mechan isms exercised in international acquisitions. The study of 75 international acquisi tions in Europe (France and the United Kingdom) shows that firms are influenced by their national administrative heritage when they acquire companies abroad. For instance, the French exercise higher formal control of the strategy and the operations, and lower informal control through teamwork than the Americans when they buy firms in the United Kingdom. The Americans exercise higher formal control through procedures than the British when they buy firms in France. As some of these aspects of control were found to be linked with the attitudinal and/or economic performance of the acquired company, we argue that being conscious of the influence of a national administrative heritage should help anticipate cultural problems in the integration process following international acquisitions.

<em>Based on British and French archive material, this paper seeks to contribute to the limited “coalition warfare historiography” by exploring a neglected but revealing aspect of Franco-British chemical warfare between 1915-1918: Intelligence sharing. A contextual overview of the two allied intelligence services prior to and following the outbreak of war highlights their complementary strength and global reach. The tactical and strategic significance of French and British intelligence failures at the time of the first German poison gas attacks in April 1915 is examined and contrasted with subsequent allied experience. The discussion focuses upon the two most productive sources of allied intelligence information, mainly reports from secret agents and enemy prisoner of war interview digests. The volume, quality and detail of this material, and its importance to the Franco-British gas war effort are underlined. The article demonstrates how closely and effectively the two allies co-operated by exploiting their shared intelligence data to successfully anticipate German initiatives and to mitigate the searching battlefield challenge posed by an enemy whose technological superiority and resource advantages were evident especially during the earlier periods of the gas war on the Western Front.</em>

Purpose – This paper aims at understanding teachers' (the authors refer to “teachers” in higher education as lecturers or senior lecturers) professional autonomy in the context of the current university English teachers in France. Design/methodology/approach – The authors present here the preliminary results of the test-questionnaire the authors have made to gather main tendencies on the topic (the results were presented orally at the SAES national conference held in Paris from 20 to 22 May 2011, http://saes.univ-paris3.fr). This paper is organized in three different themes that correspond to the three main parts of the test-questionnaire. Findings – The authors first show that the current degree of professional autonomy is both satisfying and an essential factor of self-development. The data underline the fact that teachers' professional autonomy is indeed a very important aspect of teaching as a job within the organizational university context. Then, the authors distinguish individualism from autonomy; stressing the fact that team-work does not entail less professional autonomy, contrary to what people may often think. Finally, most colleagues who participated in this first study have expressed concern that organizational constraints, such as the size of the groups, the obligation to conform to an overly constraining curriculum, the obligation to reach some success quotas or employment quotas, etc. could reduce or even threaten their professional autonomy and self-development. Originality/value – Many books have been written on learners' autonomy and teachers' role on this aspect. Teachers' professional autonomy at university level on the other hand is a much less studied topic. Often taken for granted, this autonomy now appears to be questioned because of the implementation of new organizational systems.

Venture capitalist and buy-out funds are often considered experts at investing in high-risk projects and companies. To be successful investors, private equity funds must therefore manage the many aspects of risk that are associated with investing in non-public enterprises. This study examines how Indian private equity funds manage several dimensions of risk in comparison to non-Anglo-Saxon funds. We analyze risk management preferences in Indian and Franco-German funds in pre- and post-investment stages. The results, which are discussed in detail, show significant differences between the two groups.

Purpose This paper examines the case of Nashoba, a Tennessee-based social enterprise founded in 1824 by Scottish immigrant Frances Wright. The Nashoba venture intended to diminish the institution of slavery in the USA through entrepreneurial activity over its five years of operation. Design/methodology/approach This study methodology entailed mining primary source data from Wright’s letters; communications with her cofounders and contemporaries; and documentations of enterprise operations. The authors examined these data using social enterprise theory with a focus on personal identity and time-laden empirical aspects not captured by traditional methodologies. Findings The social enterprise concept of a single, self-sustaining model generating more than one denomination of value in a blended form has a deeper history than the literature acknowledges. As an entrepreneur, Wright made strategic decisions in a context of supply-side and demand-side threats to the venture. The social enterprise engaged injustice by going beyond market and state contexts to generate impact in the realms of institutions and non-excludable public goods. Research limitations/implications This study generates two formal implications for the development of new research questions in social enterprise studies. The first implication addresses the relation between social entrepreneurs and their constituencies. The second implication pertains to the effects of macro-level education, awareness and politics on social enterprise performance and impact. The implications herald new insights in social enterprise, such as the limits of moral conviction and the importance of social disruption. Originality/value This paper broadens the current understanding of how social enterprises redress unjust and unethical institutions. It also contributes new insights into social enterprise launch and growth based on shared values within communities and coordinated strategic intentions across communities.

AbstractIn light of Perry Anderson's recent re-Iaunch of New Left Review, and the publication of Gregory Elliott's Perry Anderson: The Merciless Laboratory of History, it is perhaps an opportune moment for Marxists to assess Anderson's contribution to socialist strategic thought. At the heart of Anderson's manifesto is the claim that the principal aspect of the past decade ‘can be defined as the virtually uncontested consolidation, and universal diffusion, of neoliberalism'. There is, obviously, something in this claim. However, Anderson also briefly notes, amongst other counter-currents, the labour upsurge in France in 1995, but dismisses the significance of these events with the claim that ‘capital has comprehensively beaten back all threats to its rule'. Anderson compares the context of the launch of the first New Left Review with that of the present day. He writes that, back then, a third of the planet had broken with capitalism, the discrediting of Stalinism in 1956 had unleashed a vital process of the rediscovery of authentic Marxism, while, culturally, there had been a qualitative break with the conformism of the 1950s. Today, by contrast, American capitalism has reasserted its international primacy, European social-democratic governments are implementing policies designed to follow the American model, Japan is suffering from a slump, while the Russian catastrophe has produced no popular backlash. Moreover, the Western powers have recently asserted themselves successfully in the Balkans, and, despite upsurges against capital in the 1990s, ‘no collective agency able to match the power of capital is yet on the horizon’. How are socialists to respond to this diagnosis? In this essay, I want to locate the logic of Anderson's interpretation of the present conjuncture within the context of his previous strategic claims. I will argue that, while socialists will always have much to learn from Anderson, strategically his thought has systematically suffered from a form of political impressionism. This suggests that his interpretation of the present conjuncture may fail the test of history.

Objective: The diversity and volume of health data have been rapidly increasing in recent years. While such big data hold significant promise for accelerating discovery, data use entails many challenges including the need for adequate computational infrastructure and secure processes for data sharing and access. In Europe, two nationwide projects have been launched recently to support these objectives. This paper compares the French Health Data Hub initiative (HDH) to the German Medical Informatics Initiatives (MII). Method: We analysed the projects according to the following criteria: (i) Global approach and ambitions, (ii) Use cases, (iii) Governance and organization, (iv) Technical aspects and interoperability, and (v) Data privacy access/data governance. Results: The French and German projects share the same objectives but are different in terms of methodologies. The HDH project is based on a top-down approach and focuses on a shared computational infrastructure, providing tools and services to speed projects between data producers and data users. The MII project is based on a bottom-up approach and relies on four consortia including academic hospitals, universities, and private partners. Conclusion: Both projects could benefit from each other. A Franco-German cooperation, extended to other countries of the European Union with similar initiatives, should allow sharing and strengthening efforts in a strategic area where competition from other countries has increased.

This study conducts a bibliometric review of World Englishes (WE) from 2010 to 2020 using CiteSpace. Based on the articles in the four leading journals of WE retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database, several findings have been found. First, the number of articles has been gradually increasing from 2010 to 2020, with its citation frequency increasing enormously. Second, the landmark articles in WE research mainly focus on two aspects: the reconceptualization of theoretical frameworks, and the study of English varieties, with an emphasis on English in China. Third, WE research over the past decade includes four major areas: the study of Asian Englishes; language ideology, perceptions, and attitudes toward WE; WE in social media and popular culture; and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF).

The article reveals the problem of Ukrainian and foreign state symbols criminal law protection considering domestic and world practice. The relevant norms of criminal laws of the Russian Empire, USSR and Poland, which were in force in the Ukrainian lands in the XIX-XX centuries, have been examined. An analysis of domestic judicial practice in criminal cases related to the abuse of state symbols has been done. It has been illustrated that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies do not always correctly determine the nature of this crime. That is due to the lack of constitutional laws enshrining the system of state symbols of Ukraine, as well as gaps in legal regulation, in particular in the aspect of criminal protection of the European Union flag as membership in this organization is a strategic foreign policy priority of Ukraine. Inter alia, the erroneous legal treatment of individuals’ actions during the protest which took place near the President’s Office on March 20, 2021 as an insult to the State Emblem has been emphasized. The authors also considered solutions of the problem within the framework of a particular legal system – in criminal law of the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Iceland, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Japan and other countries. The scientific novelty of this investigation, among other things, is in the examination of both retrospective and prospects of legal responsibility for disrespect of the State language, which is necessary to establish according to the Constitutional Court’s decision on the validity of the Law of Ukraine “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language”. However, the authors are inclined to think that this issue should be regulated by administrative law, given the experience of some post-Soviet states. Proposals for amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine have been made.

According to the Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2015), making sustainable business decisions should be the driving force in achieving environmentally-oriented improvements. The key document that supports the 10 principles that ensure SDGs is the United Nations Global Compact Strategy 2021–2023 (UN, 2021). Achieving the goals of the Strategy requires the use of an improved business decision-making model that simultaneously increases revenues and revises the distribution of domestic funds for meeting the principles in the sphere of human rights, economic growth, satisfactory working conditions and the environment, and combating corruption as a key driver of corporate sustainability and responsible business practices. The authors have developed a methodological approach to the assessment of business sustainability, which is based on a combination of elements: analysis of world best practices and trends, determination of the impact of business on the social status and environment, quality assessment of relevant certification, and analysis of compliance with social indexes of sustainable development. The analysis of economic indicators of sustainable business (The B Impact Assessment, 2021) for 2020–2021 allowed singling out companies that finance the environmental sphere. Today, a quarter of the world’s countries carry on sustainable business and finance the environmental degradation impact. The 8 leaders include: France, USA, Brazil, India, Germany, Norway, Ireland and South Korea. Methods of rating and expert assessment constitute an applied aspect of research for identification of prospects of sustainable business formation in Ukraine in the regional context. The result shows that only 8 regions are suitable for sustainable business conduct, while the environmental criterion is more than 9.2 points of 10, the economic criterion does not exceed 5, and the social criterion is 4.02–5.02. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the organization of sustainable business according to the key strategic state priorities in formation of the mechanisms for the investment and the innovation policy of a sustainable development support system through the use of regulatory tools for reformation of existing business approaches to internationally regulated ones, such as business for nature.

As instituições privadas de educação infantil atendem a um mercado que está em franca expansão, devido à carência de serviços prestados pelos órgãos públicos. Por estarem inseridas em um mercado competitivo, necessitam de ferramentas que as auxiliem na tomada de decisão. Neste sentido, a pesquisa teve como objetivo a aplicação do método de custeio ABC, para o auxílio à tomada de decisões gerenciais em uma instituição privada de educação infantil. Trata-se de um estudo de caso, com objetivos exploratórios caracterizando-se quanto ao problema como uma pesquisa qualitativa com aspectos quantitativos. A análise e interpretação dos dados ocorreram de forma sistemática. Os dados numerários coletados e as respostas do questionário foram tabulados e copilados em uma planilha eletrônica de excel, para o processamento e análise de conteúdo, o que levou a demonstrações e resultados da real situação do estudo em questão, obtendo uma visão mais clara dos objetivos da pesquisa. Deste modo, este artigo se propõe a aplicar o método de custeio ABC na instituição pesquisada, tendo vista que a mesma, não possui sistema de custeio. Assim, o resultado da pesquisa auxilia a instituição na tomada de decisões, por gerar informações e visualização dos gastos por aluno e turmas sobre as atividades realizadas para a prestação dos serviços educacionais.

Amidst negative demographic trends, emigration of the young, reproductive and employable population is one of the vital issues for the further development of the Republic of Serbia. Hence, there is a need for in-depth academic research and expert discussions that would allow for a better understanding of the issue, while pointing out its limitations and potentials. Since the country’s emigration potential is not sufficiently represented in previous research, this paper aims to shed light on the phenomenon of migration by discussing the attitudes, intentions and motives of senior-year high school students. It also aims to identify the factors for the potential emigration of young people. In line with the research subject and aims, the paper relies on the focus group method. The analysis was carried out using data from a focus-group survey conducted in three local governments – the City of Leskovac, the City of Užice and the City of Zaječar. Regional centres in the southern, western and eastern parts of Serbia were selected because they best represent the heterogeneity of its socio-economic development and migration patterns. Given that the group is the main unit of analysis within the chosen qualitative research method, the respondents had to share at least one important characteristic. In this case, they were senior-year high school students, born or residing in the mentioned cities. Focus groups were organised in Medical Schools and Grammar schools, while in the City of Zaječar and the City of Leskovac, the research was conducted in the Technical School, too. During the research, a total of 15 focus-group interviews were conducted, in which 149 students participated. All respondents were 18 or 19 years old at the time of the survey, while in terms of gender structure, there were slightly more females (77 compared to 72 males). The participants recognised the importance and relevance of youth migration, showed enthusiasm and, at the same time, took the discussion seriously. The results showed that most of the participants intend to stay in Serbia, while also indicating a relatively high level of readiness to emigrate after finishing school. The intention to stay is more pronounced among the students from the City of Leskovac, which is understandable considering that this is an area where traditional family values are important. On the other hand, the intentions to emigrate are most frequent among students from the City of Zaječar, a traditional emigration area. Although the desire to aid the development of the community stands out as a significant determinant of staying, attachment to the family emerges as the main factor influencing the decision not to emigrate. When observing the respondents’ opinions according to the type of school, significant differences were noticed. Students of medical schools in all cities have to a greater extent expressed their readiness to stay in the country, which is contrary to the generally present trend of emigration of medical workers to EU countries. The research showed that students from these schools are more optimistic than students from other schools because they believe that the prospects of finding a job for their educational profile in Serbia are currently somewhat more favourable. It is important to point out that students who intend to stay in Serbia in most cases plan to continue living in one of the large regional centers – Belgrade, Novi Sad or Niš. Their decision to participate in internal migration flows can be related to the fact that they plan to continue their education in the mentioned regional centres and to stay there after graduation. It was found that students from the City of Leskovac primarily intend to continue their education in Niš, students from the City of Užice opt for faculties in Belgrade, while students from the City of Zaječar gravitate almost equally towards Belgrade and Niš. By considering the motives that influence young people’s migration intentions, it was established that economic factors have a distinct role in deciding on potential emigration. The most frequent push factor is the unfavourable financial situation in the family. When it comes to the pull-factors, the majority of respondents stated that the standard of living, higher salaries and more adequate conditions for professional development and advancement abroad are decisive for potential emigration. As to the importance of education in the process of deciding on migration, it does not appear to be a significant factor for external migration, given that a small number of students plan to continue their education abroad immediately after high school. While discussing the most significant push-factors, the participants expressed dissatisfaction with the general living conditions in Serbia. The students’ discussion about the potential destination led to the conclusion that the majority see traditional destinations of the inhabitants of Serbia as potential countries of emigration: Austria, Germany, France, the USA or Canada. When it comes to the choice of a destination, the participants emphasised the crucial importance of migration networks, i.e., connections with relatives and friends abroad. Some respondents emphasise that having relatives and acquaintances in the chosen destination country can be of great importance during integration into a new environment. Although some students emphasise that migration can improve the lives of individuals and families, the majority view emigration as a process that negatively affects the overall development of Serbia. Interestingly, the respondents in all three local government units expressed a unanimous attitude that too many resources are being invested in the development of Belgrade, while insufficient investments are directed to the planning of the development of other local governments, primarily in rural areas. Based on the discussions and exchange of opinions of focus group participants, it was possible to create certain recommendations to decision-makers to mitigate the problem of the emigration of young people. The respondents suggested several concrete measures that the state should take to improve certain aspects of life in Serbia. Their recommendations are focused, above all, on improving the economic situation, including increased monthly incomes, creating new jobs (especially for highly educated people) and encouraging youth entrepreneurship. They recognised the need for part of the investments to be directed towards rural areas in order to mitigate the effects of depopulation and economic decline. In the context of improving the education system, the recommendations call for reforms that would align education profiles with the needs of the labour market. Students in all three local governments believe that strategies and plans for future development should be tailored to the specific needs of different regions. Although the importance of youth migration is recognised at the academic level in Serbia, this phenomenon requires a more complex analysis in development and strategic documents. In this regard, qualitative research needs to intensify at the local, regional and national levels, which would enable the adoption of adequate plans, strategies and measures of population policy towards the migration of young people. The results of this paper can contribute significantly to and serve as the basis for further research on the migration processes among young people in Serbia.

At the end of the 18th century, with the birth of a nation, the rise of the nation-state led to the modernization of politics. In France, the era of parliamentarism and popular politics began. This also had the effect of leveling and unifying all of the French. In addition, industrialization, urbanization, expansion of telecommunications and trade networks, and the standardization of large-scale education systems have lifted the entire population from illiteracy. The phenomena of modernization also affected the French concept of nation and national identity. With the inauguration of the Third Republic, the central tasks of political modernization were the creation of a unified nation and the unification of the French. This paper tried to focus on the issues of division and unity of the Third Republic, focusing on the policies promoted for national unity during the period of ‘Absolute Republic’ in the first half of the Third Republic. In other words, what were the contents of the policies for ‘integration’ that the state focused on, and despite the Republican consensus, what were the issues that arose within the French over the policy of the absolute republic at the time, and I try to understand the aspects of the ‘divided society’. In the end, it could be seen that the issue was the ‘ethnicity’ inherent in the nation that blocked the unity of the French.(Soongsil University)

El texto aborda la evolución del análisis historiográfico que se ha llevado a cabo sobre la Cataluña moderna entre finales del siglo XVI y principios del XVIII. Aunque la frontera moderna de Cataluña puede ser múltiple, nos centramos esencialmente en aquella que va desde el Valle de Arán hasta el Mediterráneo. El texto abre con una primera reflexión sobre el camino hacia el cambio de modelo, luego evoca los efectos de las guerras con Francia, con algunos ejemplos concretos, como el de Cerdaña, y, por último, expone la realidad percibida y llevada a cabo con la nueva “fortificación” de la frontera catalana a finales del siglo XVII, cuando el control de Francia se hace evidente. Palabras clave: Frontera, fronterización, fortificaciónTopónimos: Francia, España, Cataluña,Período: época moderna ABSTRACTThe text addresses the evolution of the historiographical analysis that of modern Catalonia between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 18th century. 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Le Val d’Aran entre deux monarchies, Pyrégraph, Aspet, 1998.— “Comunicació i divisió a la frontera septentrional de Catalunya entre els segles XV i XVIII”, Catalan Historical Review, 11, (2018), pp. 137-149.Sahlins, P., Boundaries: the making of France and Spain in the Pyrenees, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1989.Sancho, M., “Apunts per una arqueologia dels castells i fortificacions pre-feudals a l’Alt Pirineu (Urgell, Pallars i Ribagorça), segles VI-X”, Treballs d’Arqueologia, 22, (2018), pp. 5-28.Sanllehy, M.A., “Le Val d’Aran: la frontière et les frontières (XVII et XVIIIe siècles)”, en Pays pyrénéens et Pouvoirs centraux (XVIe-XXe s.), Actes du Colloque International de Foix, Association des Amis des Archives de l’Ariège, Foix, 1993, pp. 467-478.— Comunitats, veïns i arrendataris a la Val d'Aran (S. XVII-XVIII), Garsineu, Tremp, 2 vols., 2007.Sanz Camañes, P., “Fronteras, poder y milicia en la España Moderna. Consecuencias de la administración militar en las poblaciones de la frontera catalano-aragonesa durante la Guerra de Secesión Catalana (1640-1652)”, Manuscrits, 26, (2008), pp. 53-77.— Estrategias de poder y guerra de frontera. Aragón en la Guerra de Secesión catalana (1640-1652), CEMCM, Huesca, 2001.Simon, E. y Obiols, L. (eds.), La Cerdanya de 1603: El Tractat del comtat de Cerdanya de Joan Trigall, Anem Editors, Andorra, 2020.Stopani, A., La production des frontières. Etat et communautés en Toscane (XVIe-XVIIe siècles), École Française de Rome, Roma, 2008.Takayanagi, S., “On projects of citadels in four spanish cities by Tiburzio Spannocchi”, Journal of Architecture and Planning, 81-719, (2016), pp. 225-235.Vivar Lombarte, G., “La fortificació de Catalunya: la introducció de les noves teories europees sobre el bastió (1675-1733)”, Pedralbes, 18-2, (1998), pp. 539-547.

In 2022, the Swiss branch of the international publishing house Springer published a book, a collection of papers entitled Military Geoscience: A Multifaceted Approach to the Study of Warfare. It consists of selected contributions by international researchers in the field of military geoscience, presented at the 13th International Conference on Military Geosciences, held in Padua in June 2019. The first paper is by the editors, Aldin Bondesan and Judy Ehlen, and provides a brief overview of understanding the concept of military geoscience as an application of geology and geography to the military domain, and the historical development of the discipline. It should also be pointed out that the International Conferences on Military Geosciences (ICMG), which organises this biennial international conference, has over the past two decades also covered other aspects, such as conflict archaeology. The publication is further divided into three parts. The first part comprises three contributions covering military geoscience up to the 20th century. The first paper, by Chris Fuhriman and Jason Ridgeway, provides an insights into the Battle of Marathon through topography visualisation. The geography of the Marathon field, the valley between Mt. Cotroni and Mt. Agrieliki, allowed the Greek defenders to nullify the advantage of the Persian cavalry and archers, who were unable to develop their full potential. This is followed by a paper by Judy Ehlen, who explores the geological background of the Anglo-British coastal fortification system along the English Channel, focusing on the Portsmouth area of Hampshire. The author thus points out that changes in artillery technology and naval tactics between the 16th and 19th centuries necessitated changes in the construction of coastal fortifications, both in terms of the form of the fortifications and the method of construction, including the choice of basic building materials, as well as the siting of the fortifications in space. The next article is then dedicated to the Monte Baldo Fortress in north-eastern Italy, between Lake Garda and the Adige River. In his article, Francesco Premi analyses the presence of the fortress in the transition area between the Germanic world and the Mediterranean, and the importance of this part of Italy (at the southernmost part of the pre-Alpine mountains) in military history, as reflected in the large number of important military and war relics and monuments. The second part of the book, which is the most comprehensive, focuses on the two World Wars and consists of nine papers. The first paper in this part provides an analysis of the operation of trench warfare training camps in the Aube region of France. The group of authors, Jérôme Brenot, Yves Desfossés, Robin Perarnau, Marc Lozano and Alain Devos, initially note that static warfare training camps have not received much attention so far. Using aerial photography of the region dating from 1948 and surviving World War II photographic material, they identified some 20 sites where soldiers of the Entente forces were trained for front-line service in trenches. Combined archaeological and sociological fieldwork followed, confirming the presence of these camps, both through preserved remains and the collective memory. The second paper in this volume also concerns the survey on trenches, located in northern Italy in the Venezia Tridentina Veneto area in northern Italy. The authors Luigi Magnini, Giulia Rovera, Armando De Guio and Giovanni Azzalin thus use digital classification methods and archaeology to determine how Italian and Austro-Hungarian First World War trenches have been preserved or, in case they have disappeared, why this was the case, both from the point of view of the natural features as well as from the anthropological point of view of the restoration of the pre-war settings. The next paper, by Paolo Macini and Paolo Sammuri, analyses the activities of the miners and pioneers of the Italian Corps of Engineers during the First World War, in particular with regard to innovative approaches to underground mine warfare. In the Dolomites, the Italian engineers, using various listening devices, drilling machinery and geophysical methods, developed a system for drilling underground mine chambers, which they intended to use and actually used to destroy parts of Austro-Hungarian positions. The paper by Elena Dai Prà, Nicola Gabellieri and Matteo Boschian Bailo concerns the Italian Army's operations during the First World War. It focuses on the use of tactical maps with emphasis on typological classification, the use of symbols, and digital cartography. The authors thus analysed the tactical maps of the Italian Third Army, which were being constantly updated by plotting the changes in positions and tactical movements of both sides. These changes were examined both in terms of the use of new symbols and the analysis of the movements. This is followed by a geographical presentation of the Italian Army's activities during the First World War. The authors Paolo Plini, Sabina Di Franco and Rosamaria Salvatori have thus collected 21,856 toponyms by analysing documents and maps. The locations were also geolocated to give an overview of the places where the Italian Army operated during the First World War. The analysis initially revealed the complexity of the events on the battlefields, but also that the sources had misidentified the places of operation, as toponyms were misidentified, especially in the case of homonyms. Consequently, the area of operation was misidentified as well. In this respect, the case of Vipava was highlighted, which can refer to both a river and a settlement. The following paper is the first on the Second World War. It is the article by H. A. P. Smith on Italian prisoners of war in South Africa. The author outlines the circumstances in which Italian soldiers arrived to and lived in the southern African continent, and the contribution they made to the local environment and the society, and the remnants of their presence preserved to the present day. In their article, William W. Doe III and Michael R. Czaja analyse the history, geography and significance of Camp Hale in the state of Colorado. In doing so, they focus on the analysis of the military organization and its impact on the local community. Camp Hale was thus the first military installation of the U.S. Army, designated to test and train U.S. soldiers in mountain and alpine warfare. It was here that the U.S. 10th Mountain Division was formed, which concluded its war path on Slovenian soil. The Division's presence in this former camp, which was in military use also after the war until 1965, and in the surrounding area is still visible through numerous monuments. This is followed by a paper by Hermann Häusler, who deals with German military geography and geology on the Eastern Front of the Second World War. A good year before the German attack on the Soviet Union, German and Austrian military geologists began an analysis of the topography, population and infrastructure of the European part of the Soviet Union, which led to a series of publications, including maps showing the suitability of the terrain for military operations. During the war, military geological teams then followed the frontline units and carried out geotechnical tasks such as water supply, construction of fortifications, supply of building materials for transport infrastructure, and analysis of the suitability of the terrain for all-terrain driving of tracked and other vehicles. The same author also authored a paper in the next chapter, this time focusing on the activities of German military geologists in the Adriatic area. Similarly to his first contribution, the author presents the work of military geologists in northern Italy and north-western Slovenia. He also focuses on the construction of fortification systems in northern Italy and presents the work of karst hunters in the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral. Part 3 covers the 21st century with five different papers (chapters). The first paper by Alexander K. Stewart deals with the operations of the U.S. Army specialised teams in Afghanistan. These Agribusiness Development Teams (ADTs) carried out a specialised form of counter-guerrilla warfare in which they sought to improve the conditions for the development of local communities through agricultural assistance to the local population. In this way, they were also counteracting support for the Taliban. The author notes that, in the decade after the programme's launch, the project had only a 19% success rate. However, he stresses that such forms of civil-military cooperation should be present in future operations. The next chapter, by Francis A. Galgan, analyses the activities of modern pirates through military-geographical or geological methods. Pirates, who pose a major international security threat, are present in four regions of the world: South and South-East Asia, East Africa and the Gulf of Guinea. Building on the data on pirate attacks between 1997 and 2017, the author shows the temporal and spatial patterns of pirate activities, as well as the influence of the geography of coastal areas on their activities. This is followed by another chapter with a maritime topic. Mark Stephen Blaine discusses the geography of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Through a presentation of international law, the strategic importance of the sea (sea lanes, natural resources) and the overlapping territorial claims of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, the author shows the increasing level of conflict in the area and calls for the utmost efforts to be made to prevent the outbreak of hostilities or war. M. H. Bulmer's paper analyses the Turkish Armed Forces' activities in Syria from the perspective of military geology. The author focuses on the Kurdish forces' defence projects, which mainly involved the construction of gun trenches, observation towers or points, tunnels and underground facilities, as well as on the Turkish armed forces' actions against this military infrastructure. This involved both mountain and underground warfare activities. While these defensive infrastructures proved to be successful during the guerrilla warfare period, direct Turkish attacks on these installations demonstrated their vulnerability. The last chapter deals with the current operational needs and limitations of military geosciences from the perspective of the Austrian Armed Forces. Friedrich Teichmann points out that the global operational interest of states determines the need for accurate geo-data as well as geo-support in case of rapidly evolving requirements. In this context, geoscience must respond to new forms of threats, both asymmetric and cyber, at a time when resources for geospatial services are limited, which also requires greater synergy and an innovative approach to finding solutions among multiple stakeholders. This also includes increased digitisation, including the use of satellite and other space technologies. The number of chapters in the publication illustrates the breadth and depth of military geoscience, as well as the relevance of geoscience to past, present and future conflicts or military operations and missions. The current military operations in Ukraine demonstrate the need to take into account the geo-geological realities of the environment and that terrain remains one of the decisive factors for success on the battlefield, irrespective of the technological developments in military engineering and technology. This can also be an incentive for Slovenian researchers and the Slovenian Armed Forces to increase research activities in the field of military geosciences, especially in view of the rich military and war history in the geographically and geologically diverse territory of Slovenia.

In my postgraduate formation during the last years of the 80’s, we had close to thirty hospital beds in a pavilion called “sépticas” (1). In Colombia, where abortion was completely penalized, the pavilion was mostly filled with women with insecure, complicated abortions. The focus we received was technical: management of intensive care; performance of hysterectomies, colostomies, bowel resection, etc. In those times, some nurses were nuns and limited themselves to interrogating the patients to get them to “confess” what they had done to themselves in order to abort. It always disturbed me that the women who left alive, left without any advice or contraceptive method. Having asked a professor of mine, he responded with disdain: “This is a third level hospital, those things are done by nurses of the first level”. Seeing so much pain and death, I decided to talk to patients, and I began to understand their decision. I still remember so many deaths with sadness, but one case in particular pains me: it was a woman close to being fifty who arrived with a uterine perforation in a state of advanced sepsis. Despite the surgery and the intensive care, she passed away. I had talked to her, and she told me she was a widow, had two adult kids and had aborted because of “embarrassment towards them” because they were going to find out that she had an active sexual life. A few days after her passing, the pathology professor called me, surprised, to tell me that the uterus we had sent for pathological examination showed no pregnancy. She was a woman in a perimenopausal state with a pregnancy exam that gave a false positive due to the high levels of FSH/LH typical of her age. SHE WAS NOT PREGNANT!!! She didn’t have menstruation because she was premenopausal and a false positive led her to an unsafe abortion. Of course, the injuries caused in the attempted abortion caused the fatal conclusion, but the real underlying cause was the social taboo in respect to sexuality. I had to watch many adolescents and young women leave the hospital alive, but without a uterus, sometime without ovaries and with colostomies, to be looked down on by a society that blamed them for deciding to not be mothers. I had to see situation of women that arrived with their intestines protruding from their vaginas because of unsafe abortions. I saw women, who in their despair, self-inflicted injuries attempting to abort with elements such as stick, branches, onion wedges, alum bars and clothing hooks among others. Among so many deaths, it was hard not having at least one woman per day in the morgue due to an unsafe abortion. During those time, healthcare was not handled from the biopsychosocial, but only from the technical (2); nonetheless, in the academic evaluations that were performed, when asked about the definition of health, we had to recite the text from the International Organization of Health that included these three aspects. How contradictory! To give response to the health need of women and guarantee their right when I was already a professor, I began an obstetric contraceptive service in that third level hospital. There was resistance from the directors, but fortunately I was able to acquire international donations for the institution, which facilitated its acceptance. I decided to undertake a teaching career with the hope of being able to sensitize health professionals towards an integral focus of health and illness. When the International Conference of Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo in 1994, I had already spent various years in teaching, and when I read their Action Program, I found a name for what I was working on: Sexual and Reproductive Rights. I began to incorporate the tools given by this document into my professional and teaching life. I was able to sensitize people at my countries Health Ministry, and we worked together moving it to an approach of human rights in areas of sexual and reproductive health (SRH). This new viewpoint, in addition to being integral, sought to give answers to old problems like maternal mortality, adolescent pregnancy, low contraceptive prevalence, unplanned or unwanted pregnancy or violence against women. With other sensitized people, we began with these SRH issues to permeate the Colombian Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, some universities, and university hospitals. We are still fighting in a country that despite many difficulties has improved its indicators of SRH. With the experience of having labored in all sphere of these topics, we manage to create, with a handful of colleagues and friend at the Universidad El Bosque, a Master’s Program in Sexual and Reproductive Health, open to all professions, in which we broke several paradigms. A program was initiated in which the qualitative and quantitative investigation had the same weight, and some alumni of the program are now in positions of leadership in governmental and international institutions, replicating integral models. In the Latin American Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FLASOG, English acronym) and in the International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO), I was able to apply my experience for many years in the SRH committees of these association to benefit women and girls in the regional and global environments. When I think of who has inspired me in these fights, I should highlight the great feminist who have taught me and been with me in so many fights. I cannot mention them all, but I have admired the story of the life of Margaret Sanger with her persistence and visionary outlook. She fought throughout her whole life to help the women of the 20th century to be able to obtain the right to decide when and whether or not they wanted to have children (3). Of current feminist, I have had the privilege of sharing experiences with Carmen Barroso, Giselle Carino, Debora Diniz and Alejandra Meglioli, leaders of the International Planned Parenthood Federation – Western Hemisphere Region (IPPF-RHO). From my country, I want to mention my countrywoman Florence Thomas, psychologist, columnist, writer and Colombo-French feminist. She is one of the most influential and important voices in the movement for women rights in Colombia and the region. She arrived from France in the 1960’s, in the years of counterculture, the Beatles, hippies, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre, a time in which capitalism and consumer culture began to be criticized (4). It was then when they began to talk about the female body, female sexuality and when the contraceptive pill arrived like a total revolution for women. Upon its arrival in 1967, she experimented a shock because she had just assisted in a revolution and only found a country of mothers, not women (5). That was the only destiny for a woman, to be quiet and submissive. Then she realized that this could not continue, speaking of “revolutionary vanguards” in such a patriarchal environment. In 1986 with the North American and European feminism waves and with her academic team, they created the group “Mujer y Sociedad de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia”, incubator of great initiatives and achievements for the country (6). She has led great changes with her courage, the strength of her arguments, and a simultaneously passionate and agreeable discourse. Among her multiple books, I highlight “Conversaciones con Violeta” (7), motivated by the disdain towards feminism of some young women. She writes it as a dialogue with an imaginary daughter in which, in an intimate manner, she reconstructs the history of women throughout the centuries and gives new light of the fundamental role of feminism in the life of modern women. Another book that shows her bravery is “Había que decirlo” (8), in which she narrates the experience of her own abortion at age twenty-two in sixty’s France. My work experience in the IPPF-RHO has allowed me to meet leaders of all ages in diverse countries of the region, who with great mysticism and dedication, voluntarily, work to achieve a more equal and just society. I have been particularly impressed by the appropriation of the concept of sexual and reproductive rights by young people, and this has given me great hope for the future of the planet. We continue to have an incomplete agenda of the action plan of the ICPD of Cairo but seeing how the youth bravely confront the challenges motivates me to continue ahead and give my years of experience in an intergenerational work. In their policies and programs, the IPPF-RHO evidences great commitment for the rights and the SRH of adolescent, that are consistent with what the organization promotes, for example, 20% of the places for decision making are in hands of the young. Member organizations, that base their labor on volunteers, are true incubators of youth that will make that unassailable and necessary change of generations. In contrast to what many of us experienced, working in this complicated agenda of sexual and reproductive health without theoretical bases, today we see committed people with a solid formation to replace us. In the college of medicine at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and the College of Nursing at the Universidad El Bosque, the new generations are more motivated and empowered, with great desire to change the strict underlying structures. Our great worry is the onslaught of the ultra-right, a lot of times better organized than us who do support rights, that supports anti-rights group and are truly pro-life (9). Faced with this scenario, we should organize ourselves better, giving battle to guarantee the rights of women in the local, regional, and global level, aggregating the efforts of all pro-right organizations. We are now committed to the Objectives of Sustainable Development (10), understood as those that satisfy the necessities of the current generation without jeopardizing the capacity of future generations to satisfy their own necessities. This new agenda is based on: - The unfinished work of the Millennium Development Goals - Pending commitments (international environmental conventions) - The emergent topics of the three dimensions of sustainable development: social, economic, and environmental. We now have 17 objectives of sustainable development and 169 goals (11). These goals mention “universal access to reproductive health” many times. In objective 3 of this list is included guaranteeing, before the year 2030, “universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, including those of family planning, information, and education.” Likewise, objective 5, “obtain gender equality and empower all women and girls”, establishes the goal of “assuring the universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights in conformity with the action program of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Action Platform of Beijing”. It cannot be forgotten that the term universal access to sexual and reproductive health includes universal access to abortion and contraception. Currently, 830 women die every day through preventable maternal causes; of these deaths, 99% occur in developing countries, more than half in fragile environments and in humanitarian contexts (12). 216 million women cannot access modern contraception methods and the majority live in the nine poorest countries in the world and in a cultural environment proper to the decades of the seventies (13). This number only includes women from 15 to 49 years in any marital state, that is to say, the number that takes all women into account is much greater. Achieving the proposed objectives would entail preventing 67 million unwanted pregnancies and reducing maternal deaths by two thirds. We currently have a high, unsatisfied demand for modern contraceptives, with extremely low use of reversible, long term methods (intrauterine devices and subdermal implants) which are the most effect ones with best adherence (14). There is not a single objective among the 17 Objectives of Sustainable Development where contraception does not have a prominent role: from the first one that refers to ending poverty, going through the fifth one about gender equality, the tenth of inequality reduction among countries and within the same country, until the sixteenth related with peace and justice. If we want to change the world, we should procure universal access to contraception without myths or barriers. We have the moral obligation of achieving the irradiation of extreme poverty and advancing the construction of more equal, just, and happy societies. In emergency contraception (EC), we are very far from reaching expectations. If in reversible, long-term methods we have low prevalence, in EC the situation gets worse. Not all faculties in the region look at this topic, and where it is looked at, there is no homogeneity in content, not even within the same country. There are still myths about their real action mechanisms. There are countries, like Honduras, where it is prohibited and there is no specific medicine, the same case as in Haiti. Where it is available, access is dismal, particularly among girls, adolescents, youth, migrants, afro-descendent, and indigenous. The multiple barriers for the effective use of emergency contraceptives must be knocked down, and to work toward that we have to destroy myths and erroneous perceptions, taboos and cultural norms; achieve changes in laws and restrictive rules within countries, achieve access without barriers to the EC; work in union with other sectors; train health personnel and the community. It is necessary to transform the attitude of health personal to a service above personal opinion. Reflecting on what has occurred after the ICPD in Cairo, their Action Program changed how we look at the dynamics of population from an emphasis on demographics to a focus on the people and human rights. The governments agreed that, in this new focus, success was the empowerment of women and the possibility of choice through expanded access to education, health, services, and employment among others. Nonetheless, there have been unequal advances and inequality persists in our region, all the goals were not met, the sexual and reproductive goals continue beyond the reach of many women (15). There is a long road ahead until women and girls of the world can claim their rights and liberty of deciding. Globally, maternal deaths have been reduced, there is more qualified assistance of births, more contraception prevalence, integral sexuality education, and access to SRH services for adolescents are now recognized rights with great advances, and additionally there have been concrete gains in terms of more favorable legal frameworks, particularly in our region; nonetheless, although it’s true that the access condition have improved, the restrictive laws of the region expose the most vulnerable women to insecure abortions. There are great challenges for governments to recognize SRH and the DSR as integral parts of health systems, there is an ample agenda against women. In that sense, access to SRH is threatened and oppressed, it requires multi-sector mobilization and litigation strategies, investigation and support for the support of women’s rights as a multi-sector agenda. Looking forward, we must make an effort to work more with youth to advance not only the Action Program of the ICPD, but also all social movements. They are one of the most vulnerable groups, and the biggest catalyzers for change. The young population still faces many challenges, especially women and girls; young girls are in particularly high risk due to lack of friendly and confidential services related with sexual and reproductive health, gender violence, and lack of access to services. In addition, access to abortion must be improved; it is the responsibility of states to guarantee the quality and security of this access. In our region there still exist countries with completely restrictive frameworks. New technologies facilitate self-care (16), which will allow expansion of universal access, but governments cannot detach themselves from their responsibility. Self-care is expanding in the world and can be strategic for reaching the most vulnerable populations. There are new challenges for the same problems, that require a re-interpretation of the measures necessary to guaranty the DSR of all people, in particular women, girls, and in general, marginalized and vulnerable populations. It is necessary to take into account migrations, climate change, the impact of digital media, the resurgence of hate discourse, oppression, violence, xenophobia, homo/transphobia, and other emergent problems, as SRH should be seen within a framework of justice, not isolated. We should demand accountability of the 179 governments that participate in the ICPD 25 years ago and the 193 countries that signed the Sustainable Development Objectives. They should reaffirm their commitments and expand their agenda to topics not considered at that time. Our region has given the world an example with the Agreement of Montevideo, that becomes a blueprint for achieving the action plan of the CIPD and we should not allow retreat. This agreement puts people at the center, especially women, and includes the topic of abortion, inviting the state to consider the possibility of legalizing it, which opens the doors for all governments of the world to recognize that women have the right to choose on maternity. This agreement is much more inclusive: Considering that the gaps in health continue to abound in the region and the average statistics hide the high levels of maternal mortality, of sexually transmitted diseases, of infection by HIV/AIDS, and the unsatisfied demand for contraception in the population that lives in poverty and rural areas, among indigenous communities, and afro-descendants and groups in conditions of vulnerability like women, adolescents and incapacitated people, it is agreed: 33- To promote, protect, and guarantee the health and the sexual and reproductive rights that contribute to the complete fulfillment of people and social justice in a society free of any form of discrimination and violence. 37- Guarantee universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health services, taking into consideration the specific needs of men and women, adolescents and young, LGBT people, older people and people with incapacity, paying particular attention to people in a condition of vulnerability and people who live in rural and remote zone, promoting citizen participation in the completing of these commitments. 42- To guarantee, in cases in which abortion is legal or decriminalized in the national legislation, the existence of safe and quality abortion for non-desired or non-accepted pregnancies and instigate the other States to consider the possibility of modifying public laws, norms, strategies, and public policy on the voluntary interruption of pregnancy to save the life and health of pregnant adolescent women, improving their quality of life and decreasing the number of abortions (17).

1. Introduction This Special Issue (Part 2) expands upon the theme “Building Local Capacity for Long-term Disaster Resilience” presented in Special Issue Part 1 (JDR Volume 5, Number 2, April 2010) by examining the evolving concept of disaster resilience and providing additional reflections upon various aspects of its meaning. Part 1 provided a mixed set of examples of resiliency efforts, ranging from administrative challenges of integrating resilience into recovery to the analysis of hazard mitigation plans directed toward guiding local capability for developing resiliency. Resilience was broadly defined in the opening editorial of Special Issue Part 1 as “the capacity of a community to: 1) survive a major disaster, 2) retain essential structure and functions, and 3) adapt to post-disaster opportunities for transforming community structure and functions to meet new challenges.” In this editorial essay we first explore in Section 2 the history of resilience and then locate it within current academic and policy debates. Section 3 presents summaries of the papers in this issue. 2. Why is Resilience a Contemporary Theme? There is growing scholarly and policy interest in disaster resilience. In recent years, engineers [1], sociologists [2], geographers [3], economists [4], public policy analysts [5, 6], urban planners [7], hazards researchers [8], governments [9], and international organizations [10] have all contributed to the literature about this concept. Some authors view resilience as a mechanism for mitigating disaster impacts, with framework objectives such as resistance, absorption, and restoration [5]. Others, who focus on resiliency indicators, see it as an early warning system to assess community resiliency status [3, 8]. Recently, it has emerged as a component of social risk management that seeks to minimize social welfare loss from catastrophic disasters [6]. Manyena [11] traces scholarly exploration of resilience as an operational concept back at least five decades. Interest in resilience began in the 1940s with studies of children and trauma in the family and in the 1970s in the ecology literature as a useful framework to examine and measure the impact of assault or trauma on a defined eco-system component [12]. This led to modeling resilience measures for a variety of components within a defined ecosystem, leading to the realization that the systems approach to resiliency is attractive as a cross-disciplinary construct. The ecosystem analogy however, has limits when applied to disaster studies in that, historically, all catastrophic events have changed the place in which they occurred and a “return to normalcy” does not occur. This is true for modern urban societies as well as traditional agrarian societies. The adoption of “The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015” (also known as The Hyogo Declaration) provides a global linkage and follows the United Nations 1990s International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction effort. The 2005 Hyogo Declaration’s definition of resilience is: “The capacity of a system, community or society potentially exposed to hazards to adapt by resisting or changing in order to reach and maintain an acceptable level of functioning and structure.” The proposed measurement of resilience in the Hyogo Declaration is determined by “the degree to which the social system is capable of organizing itself to increase this capacity for learning from past disasters for better future protection and to improve risk reduction measures.” While very broad, this definition contains two key concepts: 1) adaptation, and 2) maintaining acceptable levels of functioning and structure. While adaptation requires certain capacities, maintaining acceptable levels of functioning and structure requires resources, forethought, and normative action. Some of these attributes are now reflected in the 2010 National Disaster Recovery Framework published by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [13]. With the emergence of this new thinking on resilience related to disasters, it is now a good time to reflect on the concept and assess what has recently been said in the literature. Bruneau et al. [1] offer an engineering sciences definition for community seismic resilience: “The ability of social units (e.g., organizations, communities) to mitigate hazards, contain the effects of disasters when they occur, and carry out recovery activities in ways that minimize social disruption and mitigate the effects of future earthquakes.” Rose [4] writes that resiliency is the ability of a system to recover from a severe shock. He distinguishes two types of resilience: (1) inherent – ability under normal circumstances and (2) adaptive – ability in crisis situations due to ingenuity or extra effort. By opening up resilience to categorization he provides a pathway to establish multi-disciplinary approaches, something that is presently lacking in practice. Rose is most concerned with business disruption which can take extensive periods of time to correct. In order to make resource decisions that lower overall societal costs (economic, social, governmental and physical), Rose calls for the establishment of measurements that function as resource decision allocation guides. This has been done in part through risk transfer tools such as private insurance. However, it has not been well-adopted by governments in deciding how to allocate mitigation resources. We need to ask why the interest in resilience has grown? Manyena [11] argues that the concept of resilience has gained currency without obtaining clarity of understanding, definition, substance, philosophical dimensions, or applicability to disaster management and sustainable development theory and practice. It is evident that the “emergency management model” does not itself provide sufficient guidance for policymakers since it is too command-and-control-oriented and does not adequately address mitigation and recovery. Also, large disasters are increasingly viewed as major disruptions of the economic and social conditions of a country, state/province, or city. Lowering post-disaster costs (human life, property loss, economic advancement and government disruption) is being taken more seriously by government and civil society. The lessening of costs is not something the traditional “preparedness” stage of emergency management has concerned itself with; this is an existing void in meeting the expanding interests of government and civil society. The concept of resilience helps further clarify the relationship between risk and vulnerability. If risk is defined as “the probability of an event or condition occurring [14]#8221; then it can be reduced through physical, social, governmental, or economic means, thereby reducing the likelihood of damage and loss. Nothing can be done to stop an earthquake, volcanic eruption, cyclone, hurricane, or other natural event, but the probability of damage and loss from natural and technological hazards can be addressed through structural and non-structural strategies. Vulnerability is the absence of capacity to resist or absorb a disaster impact. Changes in vulnerability can then be achieved by changes in these capacities. In this regard, Franco and Siembieda describe in this issue how coastal cities in Chile had low resilience and high vulnerability to the tsunami generated by the February 2010 earthquake, whereas modern buildings had high resilience and, therefore, were much less vulnerable to the powerful earthquake. We also see how the framework for policy development can change through differing perspectives. Eisner discusses in this issue how local non-governmental social service agencies are building their resilience capabilities to serve target populations after a disaster occurs, becoming self-renewing social organizations and demonstrating what Leonard and Howett [6] term “social resilience.” All of the contributions to this issue illustrate the lowering of disaster impacts and strengthening of capacity (at the household, community or governmental level) for what Alesch [15] terms “post-event viability” – a term reflecting how well a person, business, community, or government functions after a disaster in addition to what they might do prior to a disaster to lessen its impact. Viability might become the definition of recovery if it can be measured or agreed upon. 3. Contents of This Issue The insights provided by the papers in this issue contribute greater clarity to an understanding of resilience, together with its applicability to disaster management. In these papers we find tools and methods, process strategies, and planning approaches. There are five papers focused on local experiences, three on state (prefecture) experiences, and two on national experiences. The papers in this issue reinforce the concept of resilience as a process, not a product, because it is the sum of many actions. The resiliency outcome is the result of multiple inputs from the level of the individual and, at times, continuing up to the national or international organizational level. Through this exploration we see that the “resiliency” concept accepts that people will come into conflict with natural or anthropogenic hazards. The policy question then becomes how to lower the impact(s) of the conflict through “hard or soft” measures (see the Special Issue Part 1 editorial for a discussion of “hard” vs. “soft” resilience). Local level Go Urakawa and Haruo Hayashi illustrate how post-disaster operations for public utilities can be problematic because many practitioners have no direct experience in such operations, noting that the formats and methods normally used in recovery depend on personal skills and effort. They describe how these problems are addressed by creating manuals on measures for effectively implementing post-disaster operations. They develop a method to extract priority operations using business impact analysis (BIA) and project management based business flow diagrams (BFD). Their article effectively illustrates the practical aspects of strengthening the resiliency of public organizations. Richard Eisner presents the framework used to initiate the development and implementation of a process to create disaster resilience in faith-based and community-based organizations that provide services to vulnerable populations in San Francisco, California. A major project outcome is the Disaster Resilience Standard for Community- and Faith-Based Service Providers. This “standard” has general applicability for use by social service agencies in the public and non-profit sectors. Alejandro Linayo addresses the growing issue of technological risk in cities. He argues for the need to understand an inherent conflict between how we occupy urban space and the technological risks created by hazardous chemicals, radiation, oil and gas, and other hazardous materials storage and movement. The paper points out that information and procedural gaps exist in terms of citizen knowledge (the right to know) and local administrative knowledge (missing expertise). Advances and experience accumulated by the Venezuela Disaster Risk Management Research Center in identifying and integrating technological risk treatment for the city of Merida, Venezuela, are highlighted as a way to move forward. L. Teresa Guevara-Perez presents the case that certain urban zoning requirements in contemporary cities encourage and, in some cases, enforce the use of building configurations that have been long recognized by earthquake engineering as seismically vulnerable. Using Western Europe and the Modernist architectural movement, she develops the historical case for understanding discrepancies between urban zoning regulations and seismic codes that have led to vulnerable modern building configurations, and traces the international dissemination of architectural and urban planning concepts that have generated vulnerability in contemporary cities around the world. Jung Eun Kang, Walter Gillis Peacock, and Rahmawati Husein discuss an assessment protocol for Hazard Mitigation Plans applied to 12 coastal hazard zone plans in the state of Texas in the U.S. The components of these plans are systematically examined in order to highlight their respective strengths and weaknesses. The authors describe an assessment tool, the plan quality score (PQS), composed of seven primary components (vision statement, planning process, fact basis, goals and objectives, inter-organizational coordination, policies & actions, and implementation), as well as a component quality score (CQS). State (Prefecture) level Charles Real presents the Natural Hazard Zonation Policies for Land Use Planning and Development in California in the U.S. California has established state-level policies that utilize knowledge of where natural hazards are more likely to occur to enhance the effectiveness of land use planning as a tool for risk mitigation. Experience in California demonstrates that a combination of education, outreach, and mutually supporting policies that are linked to state-designated natural hazard zones can form an effective framework for enhancing the role of land use planning in reducing future losses from natural disasters. Norio Maki, Keiko Tamura, and Haruo Hayashi present a method for local government stakeholders involved in pre-disaster plan making to describe performance measures through the formulation of desired outcomes. Through a case study approach, Nara and Kyoto Prefectures’ separate experiences demonstrate how to conduct Strategic Earthquake Disaster Reduction Plans and Action Plans that have deep stakeholder buy-in and outcome measurability. Nara’s plan was prepared from 2,015 stakeholder ideas and Kyoto’s plan was prepared from 1,613 stakeholder ideas. Having a quantitative target for individual objectives ensures the measurability of plan progress. Both jurisdictions have undertaken evaluations of plan outcomes. Sandy Meyer, Eugene Henry, Roy E. Wright and Cynthia A. Palmer present the State of Florida in the U.S. and its experience with pre-disaster planning for post-disaster redevelopment. Drawing upon the lessons learned from the impacts of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, local governments and state leaders in Florida sought to find a way to encourage behavior that would create greater community resiliency in 2006. The paper presents initial efforts to develop a post-disaster redevelopment plan (PDRP), including the experience of a pilot county. National level Bo-Yao Lee provides a national perspective: New Zealand’s approach to emergency management, where all hazard risks are addressed through devolved accountability. This contemporary approach advocates collaboration and coordination, aiming to address all hazard risks through the “4Rs” – reduction, readiness, response, and recovery. Lee presents the impact of the Resource Management Act (1991), the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act (2002), and the Building Act (2004) that comprise the key legislation influencing and promoting integrated management for environment and hazard risk management. Guillermo Franco and William Siembieda provide a field assessment of the February 27, 2010, M8.8 earthquake and tsunami event in Chile. The papers present an initial damage and life-loss review and assessment of seismic building resiliency and the country’s rapid updating of building codes that have undergone continuous improvement over the past 60 years. The country’s land use planning system and its emergency management system are also described. The role of insurance coverage reveals problems in seismic coverage for homeowners. The unique role of the Catholic Church in providing temporary shelter and the central government’s five-point housing recovery plan are presented. A weakness in the government’s emergency management system’s early tsunami response system is noted. Acknowledgements The Editorial Committee extends its sincere appreciation to both the contributors and the JDR staff for their patience and determination in making Part 2 of this special issue possible. Thanks also to the reviewers for their insightful analytic comments and suggestions. Finally, the Committee wishes to again thank Bayete Henderson for his keen and thorough editorial assistance and copy editing support.

Abstract Drawing on the IR theories of norm translation and strategic narratives, this article focuses on how states translate international norms to their own advantage by producing strategic narratives to advance their soft power ambitions abroad. Using the example of feminist foreign policy (FFP), the article compares Sweden, Canada, France, and Mexico in their attempts to translate international feminist norms into their countries’ strategic narratives. This comparison is based on three strategic narrative types (issue, national, and international system narratives) and two types of feminism (liberal, intersectional). Issue narratives reveal that Sweden and Mexico give more priority to social policies, while France and Canada emphasise the role of the market in addressing gender inequality. International system narratives demonstrate that Sweden and Mexico perceive global challenges as drivers of gender inequality, while France and Canada see gender inequality as a cause of global problems. National narratives show that Sweden and Mexico refer to other FFP countries to ‘back up’ their feminist initiatives, while France and Canada do not relate to other states. Finally, while liberal feminism dominates all four FFPs, each state either prioritises particular aspects of it (legal, market, security, rights-based) or incorporates elements from intersectional feminism.

The work focuses on strategic aspects of tourism development, some of the development of international tourism in Georgia and modern trends. Political decision-making during the new tourist planning, the complex nature of tourism and the long-term perspective of its development should be included. Tourism should be sustainable and must be mixed with nature. There is a tendency of a significant increase in visitors from EU countries: Poland, Germany, France. Georgia has long been dependent on its neighboring countries be- cause the recognition of Georgia in these countries is high. The arrival of these countries is relatively inexpensive and takes a little bit of time. But in a new era when 60% of the world's traffic is on airways, there is no improvement in air traffic in the country, challenging challenges in aviation, and the right management is necessary to manage the processes. In 2016, the 19% growth is confirmed by the fact that Georgia is a tourist model. However, the questions remain on how this development affects people and their well-being. Following visualization, you need to develop the pace of development. There are important challenges. Georgia should work on new markets, especially in the direction of Asia and the Middle East markets, to accentuate Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian Thai and singapore

The study focuses on NATO’s nuclear policy in the face of Russia’s aggressive policy and threats from the Kremlin. The author examines the history of the nuclear policy of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since the founding of NATO, as well as key aspects of the implementation of NATO’s nuclear deterrence policy. Part of the study focuses on the geostrategic aspects of NATO’s nuclear triad and covers the three components of the nuclear triad: strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). It also examines specific aspects of the use of nuclear systems by the three main nuclear powers of NATO, namely the USA, the UK, and France, and the main geopolitical rivals of the Alliance, specifically the Russian Federation, taking into account Russian aggression against Ukraine, and the People’s Republic of China.

Globalization represents the structural making of the world characterized by the free flow of technology and human resources across national boundaries as well as the spread of Information Technology and mass media presenting an everchanging and competitive business environment.The article deals with the practical consequences of globalization for human resource management (HRM). Globalization makes national culture an increasingly strategic issue that has to be faced and properly managed. The problem is the balancing of the global trends in human resource management with the influence of national culture because many aspects of HRM are affected by differences in national culture. The article analyses the major challenges arising from globalization and affecting human resource management practices in the 21st century in selected industrialized countries (United Kingdom, France, USA, Japan) and Lithuania as a new member of the EU.The general aim of the article is to analyse the problem of balancing seemingly opposing forces (globalization and the influence of national culture) and to identify trends in HRM across five countries: United Kingdom, France, USA, Japan and Lithuania.

Purpose Drawing on multiple theoretical approaches, this study aims to investigate whether the presence of foreign directors on the board is associated with a company’s carbon emissions performance (CP) and carbon disclosure (CD). Design/methodology/approach The sample comprises 67 non-financial listed firms from the Société des Bourses Françaises 120 index for the period 2010–2018 and the analysis relies on carbon reports from the carbon disclosure project, using a panel data analysis based on random-effects regression. Findings The paper finds that having foreign directors has a positive significant impact on both aspects of carbon emissions (CE), namely, CP and CD. Foreign directors’ incentives to reveal extensive sustainability information depend on the volume of CE. The findings also indicate that foreign directors are more engaged in enhancing environmental transparency and lowering information asymmetry to maintain/ improve corporate legitimacy. Practical implications The findings show that foreign directors play a vital role as one of the main pillars of a carbon model for sustainable carbon activities and disclosure. The evidence has important insights for the managers of French listed firms, shareholders and regulators. Social implications The evidence underlines the value of foreign directors as a critical resource that enhances CE strategic decisions. Thus, the findings are valuable to managers, as they may consider balancing between foreign and local directors to benefit from a rich heterogeneous resource encompassing the diverse merits of both types of directors, with particular emphasis on foreign directors’ international exposure and experience. Originality/value This study offers significant insights, as it examines the relationship between foreign directors and both the CP and CD in the French context, which is characterized by a non-English civil law system and the issuing of many environmental, climate and emission control laws.

Ukraine as a European state implements a set of strategic measures for economic development on a global platform, collecting, processing and analysing information about suspicious financial transactions that may be related to money laundering, but the prevention mechanisms are not effective enough and the ranges of such crime pose a real threat to the national security of the country, which determines the relevance of this study. The purpose of the study is to comprehensively analyse foreign strategies to prevent money laundering and, accordingly, consider the possibility of implementing certain measures in the legal plane of the Ukrainian state. In the course of the entire study, a group of general logical methods was used – comparison, analysis, synthesis, and generalisation, which allowed objectively assessing the level and effectiveness of national and legal phenomena to prevent illegal legitimisation by foreign states, which is carried out both on the territory of the country and abroad. The theoretical basis of this study is the investigations of Ukrainian and foreign researchers on aspects of preventing money laundering, and government websites created for the purpose of storing public information in the form of open data and ensuring access to it to a wide range of people. Based on the conducted research in the context of the existing foreign system of combating money laundering, its normative, organisational, and to some extent, socio-cultural aspects were considered. In particular, the activities of the central office represented by the inspector general of financial information of the Polish anti-money laundering system are described. The system of preventing the money laundering of the main financial intelligence unit within the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry of France is investigated. The analysis of measures to prevent money laundering carried out by the federal agency for supervision of the activities of financial institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany is carried out. The study considers the practice of preventing money laundering by a professional unit operating as part of the organised crime group in Austria. The state system of measures implemented by the commission for combating money laundering of the Kingdom of Spain is analysed. The preventive activities of the anti-money laundering service of the monetary and financial administration in Italy are described. Attention is focused on effective legal means that have a significant positive impact on the activities of economic processes in the global market economy and proposals were made to supplement the current national legislation regulating the sphere of money laundering prevention. The practical significance of the study is conditioned by the fact that the studied scientific provisions, generalisations, conclusions, and recommendations have both theoretical and applied significance, which can later be used in research activities and the educational process

Abstract Diabetes is a long term non-communicable disease of major socioeconomic and public health significance. 60 million people live with diabetes in Europe and its prevalence is increasing across all ages, mostly associated with overweight and obesity, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity (WHO, 2018). Type 2 diabetes (T2D), accounting for 90% of those with this condition, is usually acquired in later life and can be successfully controlled through healthy lifestyle choices combined with appropriate medication when necessary. Self-management education programmes are viewed as a critical component in diabetes care, yet most of them are targeted only to at-risk groups, focussed on aspects of education and are not comprehensively evaluated for their added value to routine care. There is also lack of cross-national understanding of how such programmes can tackle common public health challenges experienced across Europe and improve quality of life of people with T2D. In this workshop, a holistic and co-produced approach to self-management of type 2 diabetes will be considered as was delivered by the Diabetes and WELLbeing (DWELL) 12-week psychoeducational programme across four European countries. DWELL was a four-year European project, funded by EU INTERREG 2Seas Mers Zeeën, involving healthcare providers and academics from UK, France, Netherlands and Belgium, to deliver a social innovation programme for people with type 2 diabetes. DWELL aimed to introduce a co-designed, co-produced programme in collaboration with T2D patients, focussing on empowerment of participants to access tailored support and take control of their condition by improving overall wellbeing. The cross-border collaboration also aimed to assist in developing a strategic approach and promote good practice and shared learning across the regions. The main new elements of DWELL were the combination of participant-driven design and delivery of the programme, shift of focus from medical condition to holistic care with emphasis on wellbeing and peer support, and a motivational approach to identify long-term lifestyle changes focussing on the person as a whole and not as a T2D patient. The workshop will provide the opportunity to consider the development and benefits of a novel approach to self-management of diabetes as well as lessons learnt by delivering a common programme in European countries with different approaches to diabetes care. The format of the workshop will be regular presentations followed by discussion with the audience. Presentations will introduce the DWELL programme and evaluation study protocol, interim quantitative findings of participant outcomes and qualitative findings in relation to participant experiences of the programme. Key messages This workshop will deal with lessons learnt from a European project promoting a holistic and co-designed approach to self-management of type 2 diabetes. A complex interventions evaluation approach is important for comprehensive evidence of improvements in individual empowerment, healthy eating habits and control over condition.