Letteratura scientifica selezionata sul tema "Kommunistische Initiative (Political group)"

Abstract This manuscript analyses the role and importance of cooperation between the Visegrad Group (V4) countries and the most globally active member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is the United Arab Emirates. In view of the V4+ concept implemented with partners from the Middle East, Israel or Egypt, the presented analysis is important and meets the lack of this element in the scientific debate. This study is based on empirical research and its findings are the result of not only observation but also 10 years of direct participation of the author in many activities related to the cooperation of the Visegrad Group countries and the UAE, including as ambassador, senior advisor to Dubai Expo 2020, especially responsible for strategies and dynamisation relations between Central and Eastern Europe (except Poland) and the United Arab Emirates. According to the author’s opinion, presented in the conclusion, there is now a huge opportunity to present V4 projects, including as a part of the broader strategy of the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) during World Expo Dubai, which will take place from October 2021 to March 2022, and make this initiative a globally recognizable project. However, coordinating and accelerating joint actions is required.

This study examines how the ultimate attribution error (group attribution bias) plays out in the interaction between trust/distrust in a political actor and the success or failure of the actor’s proposed policy initiative. We conducted an experiment where student participants ( n = 222) from Latvian universities evaluated reasons for the success versus failure of a policy initiative proposed by a trusted versus untrusted political party in terms of the perceived benevolence, competence, and integrity of the political party as dispositional factors contributing to the initiative’s outcome, or external circumstances not under the political party’s control. The results showed evidence of the ultimate attribution error in the participants’ answers. The success of a policy initiative was explained more in terms of positive dispositions of the authoring party when the initiative came from a trusted political party than when it came from a distrusted party, and an initiative’s failure was explained more in terms of a lack of these positive dispositions when the initiative came from a distrusted party. There were no indications of the ultimate attribution error when explaining an initiative’s success or failure by external factors not controlled by the party authoring the initiative. The results provide additional insight into how the mechanisms of intergroup attribution play out in the context of political trust and may influence both overall trust in political actors and the evaluation of specific policy initiatives authored by these actors.

This study examines how the ultimate attribution error (group attribution bias) plays out in the interaction between trust/distrust in a political actor and the success or failure of the actor’s proposed policy initiative. We conducted an experiment where student participants ( n = 222) from Latvian universities evaluated reasons for the success versus failure of a policy initiative proposed by a trusted versus untrusted political party in terms of the perceived benevolence, competence, and integrity of the political party as dispositional factors contributing to the initiative’s outcome, or external circumstances not under the political party’s control. The results showed evidence of the ultimate attribution error in the participants’ answers. The success of a policy initiative was explained more in terms of positive dispositions of the authoring party when the initiative came from a trusted political party than when it came from a distrusted party, and an initiative’s failure was explained more in terms of a lack of these positive dispositions when the initiative came from a distrusted party. There were no indications of the ultimate attribution error when explaining an initiative’s success or failure by external factors not controlled by the party authoring the initiative. The results provide additional insight into how the mechanisms of intergroup attribution play out in the context of political trust and may influence both overall trust in political actors and the evaluation of specific policy initiatives authored by these actors.

Among the consequences of geopolitical changes in the twenty-first century is the increase in the political and economic activity of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Adriatic lies a group of post-communist countries whose economic development is lower than that of other countries belonging to the ‘old’ European Union (EU). A group of these countries has launched a joint political and economic initiative (Three Seas Initiative) in an attempt to limit the growing energy dependence on the Russian Federation and to create prospects for the region’s development. The beginning of 2020 confirmed the desire to intensify this cooperation, which goes beyond the EU environment, creating transatlantic unions and counting on the support of the United States and inducing interest in China (including the concept of ‘One Belt, One Road’ – OBOR). The Three Seas Initiative is part of the broader context of EU development and is not in competition with the EU.

Dubai has experienced enormous economic and population growth, transforming the city from a small regional business hub in the 1970s to a global business hub of financial and tourism activities in the 21st century. Relevant Dubai Municipality reports were reviewed and semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions conducted with representatives of large food importers and local producers to evaluate the link between the food importation requirements and minimising food loss. Measures taken by the Municipality of Dubai to successfully reduce food loss and improve food security include the diversion of potential food loss to the United Arab Emirates Food Bank and recycling it into animal feed when appropriate. These measures significantly reduced food loss by 93% in the four years from 2016 to 2019. Some political and managerial implications of the study are highlighted.

Given its political appeal, economic logic and community-based focus, regional planning has re-emerged as a significant strategic initiative in our shifting health care system. As regional planning becomes more prevalent in Canada, it is increasingly necessary to establish a framework of sound organizational behaviour principles in which it can succeed. These principles — which relate to human relations and group interactions — are especially relevant in a complex undertaking such as regional health planning which is often encumbered by stakeholder self-interest, philosophical differences and a tradition of autonomy and independent initiative.

Social workers not only help service users, they also help each other, and they know the group as a space through which opportunities to give and receive help multiply. In Italy, the initiative ‘Social Workers Helping Each Other’ was launched to help practitioners stay resilient and mutually supportive during the COVID-19 pandemic. In these unprecedented and turbulent times, social workers have been called on to face new challenges and new concerns for service users and for themselves. The initiative consisted of online mutual support groups for social workers conducted through a virtual platform. Participants were 45 social workers divided into three groups on the basis of the social workers’ area of intervention. The author facilitated the groups, encouraging the development of reciprocal support dynamics typical of self-help and mutual aid groups. Group sessions were very rich in content, and the discussion focused on several topics following the participants’ needs. The content analysis revealed that the mutual support conversations among social workers focused on three main categories: practical and organizational; methodological and ethical; and personal and emotional. The groups offered supervision and mutual support based on experiential learning processes. The article presents the rationale, methods and outcomes of the experience. This initiative could inspire the development of online mutual support groups for social workers.

The article is part of the research related to the perception of the Belt and Road Initiative of the PRC in the Visegrad Group countries. It presents results of discourse analysis on perception of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Slovak Republic in government and expert circles and data from a sociological survey on the attitude of Slovaks to the Chinese initiative. The results show that the Slovak perception of the Belt and Road Initiative is pragmatic and focuses on possible economic benefits from participation in the initiative. The experts are not oblivious to the political and economic risks associated with China’s expanding influence in the region, which makes the Slovak discourse rather balanced and utilitarian. The Slovak expert discourse has been found to have a significant influence on the pragmatic sentiments in the Visegrad Group countries regarding the Belt and Road Initiative. The independent think tank of the Central European Institute for Asian Studies (CEIAS) plays a major role in the transmission of these ideas, producing a number of analytical reports and actively engaging researchers from the Visegrad Four countries in its work. As for the governmental discourse, the Chinese theme is present in it to a limited extent; in recent years there have been several cases that have divided the views of the ruling elite regarding Sino-Slovak relations. In general, these have concerned human rights issues and interaction with the Dalai Lama and the resulting problem of whether it is worth raising sensitive issues and criticising the PRC at the state level to the detriment of economic ties. In conclusion, the author describes the main trends and forecasts of the development of the Slovak discourse about the Chinese initiative.

This thesis draws on David Harvey’s concept of “accumulation by dispossession” and an international political economy (IPE) approach centred on the institutional arrangements and power structures that privilege certain actors and values, in order to critique current capitalist practices of primitive accumulation by the global corporate extractive industry. The thesis examines how accumulation by dispossession by the global extractive industry is facilitated by the “free entry” or “free mining” principle. It does so by focusing on Canada as a leader in the global extractive industry and the spread of this country’s mining laws to other countries – in other words, the transnationalisation of norms in the global extractive industry – so as to maintain a consistent and familiar operating environment for Canadian extractive companies. The transnationalisation of norms is further promoted by key international institutions such as the World Bank, which is also the world’s largest development lender and also plays a key role in shaping the regulations that govern natural resource extraction. The thesis briefly investigates some Canadian examples of resource extraction projects, in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of Canadian mining laws, particularly the lack of protection of landowners’ rights under the free entry system and the subsequent need for “free, prior and informed consent” (FPIC). The thesis also considers some of the challenges to the adoption and implementation of the right to FPIC. These challenges include embedded institutional structures like the free entry mining system, international political economy (IPE) as shaped by international institutions and powerful corporations, as well as concerns regarding ‘local’ power structures or the legitimacy of representatives of communities affected by extractive projects. The thesis concludes that in order for Canada to be truly recognized as a leader in the global extractive industry, it must establish legal norms domestically to ensure that Canadian mining companies and residents can be held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad. The thesis also concludes that Canada needs to address underlying structural issues such as the free entry mining system and implement FPIC, in order to curb “accumulation by dispossession” by the extractive industry, both domestically and abroad.

The Shit Flow Diagram (SFD) graphic is an advocacy tool that aims to assist technical and non-technical stakeholders to implement plans and programs related to urban sanitation. The SFD methodology is increasingly being used to analyze the extent of safely managed sanitation in urban areas, providing a valuable picture of the prevailing sanitation conditions, from containment to disposal. As such, it is a widely recognized advocacy and decision support tool that aims to understand, communicate, and visualize how wastewater and fecal sludge move within a city or town. As stated on the SuSanA website, the SFD methodology offers “a new and innovative way to engage sanitation experts, political leaders, and civil society in coordinated discussions about excreta management in their city”. The production and publication of an SFD report for Cap-Haitien (Haiti) would help to visualize the current sanitation situation in the city, resulting in a potential to shift current activities and efforts towards more efficient investments in the places along the sanitation chain that need more attention, improving the urban sanitation situation and the surrounding environment of the city. The structure of this SFD report consists of an executive summary and the SFD report. The latter includes: i) general city information describing its main characteristics; ii) sanitation service outcomes, with a thorough explanation of the SFD graphic outcome and the assumptions made; iii) the service delivery context analysis, which contains information on the regulatory framework of water and sanitation at country and city levels, and describes the city plans, budget and future projects to improve the sanitation situation and; iv) a detailed description of the surveys, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) conducted, as well as the key stakeholders involved, field visits carried out and references used to develop this SFD report.

In an assessment of the distinctive British contribution to the study of policy networks, the chapter reviews, first, the micro-level of analysis: group dynamics, and social network analysis. Second, it examines the meso-level of analysis: interorganizational analysis, subgovernments, and intergovernmental relations. Third, it looks at the macro-level of analysis: political economy, and neo-pluralism. It assesses the British contributions looking at the Rhodes model, the ESRC’s government–industry relations initiative. The chapter suggests that we disaggregate and explore subsectoral variations, extend the analysis to the EU, and provide more case studies of networks ‘in action’. The article was written in 1990. The Afterword reflects on the success of the concept, which has become the standard fare of textbooks.

This Conference is the consequence of the conjunction of the results and progress of the ongoing research on the water treatment ENMA group at the University and the particular social and political moment that water management is facing in Catalonia and, particularly in the city of Terrassa, that locates the INTEXTER (Institute for Textile Research and Industrial Cooperation of Terrassa), venue of the Conference. This congress aims to give space for a scientific debate and reflection on water and its importance with regard to the environment and wider society. We hope that this initiative will consolidate the entire educational, scientific and professional community to respond to the prospective challenges that the development and implementation of new technologies brings together with their impacts in relation to water. Please, enjoy the presentations, posters, sessions and the whole event activities.

THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE KRAKÓW AND NATIONAL LEGAL ENVIRONMENT TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE POLITICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE THIRD POLISH REPUBLIC (1980-1994): LEGISLATIVE PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES PEOPLE, ACHIEVEMENTS AND EVALUATIONS Few events in the post-war history of Poland brought about such significant effects as the creation of Solidarity. During the 16-months of the so-called "Solidarity carnival", representatives of various social groups undertook a series of activities aimed at improving the situation in communist Poland, plunged in an economic and political crisis. A particularly valuable initiative was undertaken by a group of lawyers from the Center for Civic Legislative Initiatives (COIU) together with its Social Legislative Council (SRL). Since the creation of COIU in January 1981, the jurists associated in this organization have developed dozens of social draft bills. Their work was stopped on December 13, 1981 when the martial law was introduced, but under the influence of the political and systemic transformation of 1989, opposition lawyers reactivated their efforts, significantly contributing to introducing legal changes in Poland.

Starting point of the book is the ongoing reform process on ISDS at UNCITRAL working group III and the proposal to implement an MIC. An introduction sets the stage and provides readers with the latest developments and historical background. On this basis, the following chapters highlight different aspects of creating and implementing an MIC. The chapters cover key elements of the MIC proposal such as the court’s institutional framework, the design of an appeal mechanism, the use of procedures for the settlement of mass claims, and the establishment of an advisory centre for developing countries. In addition, the selection and appointment of judges is discussed. Apart from the court’s structure and procedures, questions of implementation arise. How to integrate the MIC into the current system of ISDS? How can the enforcement of its decisions be ensured? On a political level, the MIC project is based on an initiative of the EU. Therefore, the role of the EU in the reform process is analysed in a separate chapter. Remarks from a practitioner’s perspective round up the contributions. Each chapter highlights the legal issues subject to discussion and puts them into a broader context. The aim is to provide readers an understanding of how the different aspects work individually or in combination. The evaluation of reform ideas is based on their potential to efficiently respond to the most prominent criticisms of the current ISDS system. With contributions by Ingo Borgdorf, Johanna Braun, Alexander Dünkelsbühler, Leonard Funk, Moritz Keller, Caroline Kittelmann, Niclas Landmann, Carla Müller, Philipp Reinhold and Julian Scheu.

The Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance launched an experiment in 2011 called the Community Voices initiative. Community Voices was a student-led group devoted to bringing graduate students and faculty from diverse backgrounds into thoughtful dialogue with leaders who have devoted their professional lives to spurring or assisting with community change. This book is the product of those conversations. Conversations in Community Change features 12 interviews conducted by members of Community Voices, since renamed the Community Change Collaborative (CCC). The interviewees are leaders who have worked in many different contexts across the public, nonprofit, and for-profit sectors to instigate meaningful change (democratic social, political and economic) in their communities. The animating idea behind these interviews is that those in search of peaceful democratic social change, especially amidst ongoing economic and social dislocation, have much to learn from one another within the United States and internationally, and at all levels of governance. Among the topics and initiatives discussed in the book: - Efforts to secure civil and human rights for groups that have historically experienced discrimination, - How food system pioneers are seeking to make alternatives to the present corporate-dominated food production framework real for growers and consumers alike, - How the arts can open up new public and private spaces to permit reconsideration of otherwise dominant assumptions and thinking, - The social exigencies created by capitalism’s constant economic dislocation and roiling, Ultimately, readers will come away from the book with a fuller appreciation for the complexities of democratic change—and the need for modesty, patience, and perseverance among those who would seek to lead or encourage such efforts.

In this chapter I describe the work of the Palestine Strategy Study Group (PSSG). I received an invitation to a workshop joining a group of Palestinians from the West Bank and the Diaspora at the Dead Sea, Jordan. The approach came from an International Peace and Security think-tank, the Oxford Research Group (ORG), based in London. The approach seemed interesting because the proposal was to get together a group of Palestinian politicians, academics, businessmen and activists from different political backgrounds and from different regions of the world. Prior to this most initiatives were about ‘dialogue’ between Palestinians and Israelis and have singularly failed to produce a positive outcome. The title of the project was ‘Regaining the Initiative: Exploring Palestinian Strategic Options’.

AbstractOperazione Arcevia (OA) is an urban settlement project, born for the purpose of the social, economic, and touristic regeneration of a marginal area in the Marchigiane hills, characterized by its postwar exodus. Conceived between 1972 and 1974 on the initiative of the businessman Italo Bartoletti, like every newly constituted city it was designed with a political and cultural identity by the architect Ico Parisi in collaboration with two renowned critics (Cripolti and Restany), a psychologist, and a large number of artists (Arman, César, Ceroli, Soto, Staccioli, among others). OA remained in its germinal phase, and this was indeed its final result, the fruit of participative work presented at several exhibition events: Venice 1976; Rome 1979). In this ideal city imagined by the erudite group of operators, along with its utopian aspects, there are also practical ones and design hypotheses that can still inspire and provide food for thought: the close collaboration between planners and artists; anti-monumental intentions for art with a social nature and characterized by shared practice; built-up urban relations and the landscape dimension; the coexistence between productive and residential communities and temporary communities, both touristic, in terms of hospitality, and as a secular space in which to take refuge. Cooperating together with Parisi and the critics were 33 artists who together created tavole progettuali (design boards) that combined design, technical design, photographic images, and collages, i.e. fully-fledged works of art and creativity.

This chapter examines how feminists broke the taboo of domestic violence and created popular and political support for their movement. It particularly focuses on the opening of the first women's shelter in West Berlin in 1976. Despite starting as an initiative of a small group of women at the Berlin women's centre in 1974, less than two years later the shelter opened as a publicly funded three-year pilot project sponsored by the federal government and the Berlin Senate. This chapter argues that such support was only possible due to the transformation and deradicalization of feminist politics, whereby the federal government and Berlin Senate required feminists to move away from their grassroots, autonomous organization to fit into an institutional framework. While these changes helped corral support for the shelter, by simplifying feminist practices and politics the broader fight for women's equality was simultaneously undercut. Examining this process of deradicalization, this chapter reveals the normative boundaries of the putative ‘success story’ historians have mapped out for West Germany after 1945.

The citizens’ initiative to legalise euthanasia was addressed in the Finnish Parliament in 2017. The Parliament rejected the initiative and appointed an expert group to investigate the need for legislation regarding end-of-life care and the need for euthanasia. Thus, the debate continues. This chapter provides an overview of the public debate and the political process associated with the citizens’ initiative. The initiative is critically examined on the basis of expert opinions requested by the Parliament’s Social and Health Committee. In a vote, the MPs rejected the initiative. One of the central arguments has been that it is not appropriate to legalise euthanasia when end-of-life care is not sufficiently developed in Finland. From many quarters, opinions were raised against the legalisation of euthanasia, promoting support for legislation on end-of-life care instead.

Chapter 8 compares the four innovations described in the case study chapters (Chapters 4–7) and draws out lessons about the way that institutional change occurs. None of the models entail comprehensive reform of the way work is regulated in a nation. Nor do they fundamentally challenge the international institutional arrangements, which have altered and undermined the power of national institutions to regulate work, and which were seen to be at play in each of the case studies. They have instead sought solutions which were politically feasible and improved the conditions of a specific group of workers—homeworkers, head-load workers, and garment workers. They arose out of particular political moments and institutional trajectories. The initiatives have in common that they (a) expand or sidestep the employment relationship so as to encompass broader forms of work (with the exception of the Cambodian initiative); and (b) increase the strength of regulation in order to push against countervailing pressures which lower working conditions. However, each initiative has achieved this in different ways and to different extents. This chapter compares these different methods and explores why some levers are stronger than others.

In May 1974 a two week long industrial stoppage spearheaded by a little known group of loyalist trade unionists brought about the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive and ended a political process which had begun two years earlier with the suspension of the Northern Ireland Parliament. A political initiative which was intended to replace an unstable system of government had ended in abject failure after only five months. Given the time, effort and political capital invested by Governments and political parties in the Castle talks and Sunningdale Agreement why had the outworking proved such a failure? The answer to this question lies partly in the fact that the Ulster Workers' Council strike represented a 'perfect storm' in terms of its ability to destroy Sunningdale. It drew together all of the unionist opponents (and to some degree republican opponents as well) of power-sharing and the Council of Ireland and highlighted the flaws and inconsistencies in the arguments and actions of those who supported Sunningdale. The chapter will look at the course of events leading up to, and during, the strike examining the motivations of the main political actors and the pressures on each group. The article will also argue that the UWC strike reflected a particular combination of attitudes and circumstances at a specific moment in time which meant that the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive was an almost inevitable outcome.

Citizens are often asked to make decisions about ballot measures, but they rarely have access to reliable information with which to make those decisions. This chapter tells the story of Seattle’s failed monorail project to explain the problems voters face when figuring out how to cast their vote. It introduces a new governing institution that could help solve that dilemma, the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR). The CIR gathers together a small group of citizens to deliberate about a ballot measure and then pass along their findings for voters to use when making their own decisions. The CIR continues the tradition of experimental democracy, which seeks to improve the ways that citizens govern themselves. The CIR, and deliberative institutions like it, attempt to empower the public by introducing reliable information into political decision making.

This chapter provides a detailed analysis of the multi-year design process leading to the implementation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2008. It considers the question: How did RGGI’s policy designers succeed in auctioning virtually all of the program’s emissions allowances, wheresimilar efforts to promote auctions failed? After reviewing the limits of existing explanations of RGGI’s decision to auction allowances that are grounded in the interest group politics model, the chapter offers a detailed analysis of the RGGI design process to demonstrate the central role of the new public benefit model in making auctions politically viable. Public and private accounts confirm the prominence of this new normative framing for auctions from the very beginning of the process, and its influence over the political choice to make this policy change.

Abstract The American Declaration of Independence came to light the same year as Smith’s Wealth of Nations. It proclaimed men’s right to happiness, as well as life and liberty, describing the pursuit of self-interest as a natural virtue. The colonists pronounced that they had come of age and outgrown the yoke of royal authority. Their English supporters hailed the new revolution as evidence that light and knowledge were gaining ground. The task of constitutional design would focus on the task outlined by Montesquieu—a system of checks and balances that would prevent one group from imposing its will upon another. A good society, like a good clock, would regulate itself. The founding fathers of the new republic preached not just the ideals but also the assumptions of the Enlightenment. Political victory and economic progress would flow from the virtues of Christian love combined with individual initiative.

Year by year, the interest for new technologies and how to bring them effectively in the classroom increased, even if we think from the teacher's perspective or from the students' perspective. The use of ICT in school partnerships is well supported by the European initiatives and programs, as Erasmus+ and eTwinning, and through political strategies as Education and Training 2020 initiative. The educational projects and activities that are implemented at European level are effective tools that schools can use in order to innovate practices, to successfully and actively involve students in their learning and to diversify the teaching practices in order to a meet the current need of leaners and to integrate new technologies in learning and teaching. During 2017, at European level, 5900 eTwinners declared that eTwinning had a significant impact on the development of individual teachers' skills and teaching practices, as well as on student's motivation and learning practices, confirming that eTwinning is an important tool to promote innovation in schools. European eTwinning projects have demonstrated during the last 12 years their pedagogical value through the innovation of teaching practices, encouraging group / partnership work and peer learning, the use of new information and communication technologies (ICT) to support the teaching process, involving students in teaching-learning-evaluation activities, diversification of learning activities by valorisation of projects in the formal curriculum, etc. The article explores the development of the eTwinning Action and its impact reported by teachers involved in eTwinning online school projects, trying to underline the added value of this type of projects in terms of innovation of educational practices and making learning more attractive.

Over the recent decades, the changes in the paradigm of international trade have been observed. As the result of decreasing of trade barriers as well as the reduction in trade costs allowed companies to divide their production into stages and to locate it in different countries according to their competitive advantage. Eventually, the production process has become more fragmented, both geographically and vertically. It means that intermediate products are shipped across boarders many times and every exporting economy provides some value added according to its competitive advantage. As a result, global value chains have become one of the most important feature of international trade. Following (Gereffi & Fernandez-Stark, 2011), in this study global value chains are defined as “the full range of activities that firms and workers do to bring a product from its conception to its end use”. Humphrey and Schmitz (2002) pointed out four types of upgrading in global value chains: product, process, functional and chain. Product and process upgrading involve companies retaining their positions in global value chains by enhancing productivity gains through adopting new product processes or “new configurations of product mix”. Thus, functional upgrading involves a slicing up the global value chains into new activity which generates higher value added, e.g. own brand manufacturing. In turn, chain upgrading involves a going up to new activity, which needs higher skills and capital and value added. Milberg and Winkler (2013) offered similar classifications of upgrading. Production fragmentation has caused a rapid increase in trade in intermediate goods as often companies offshore an intermediate stage of production process. Offshoring production has been typical to manufacturing (Timmer, et al., 2012), however, services have been often overlooked, but play a major role, especially in supporting global value chains (Kommerskollegium 2013). In turn, Digital Silk Road, announced in 2015, has become a significant part of Chinese Belt and Road Initiative strategy. China has implemented this strategy as a part of its long-term technological plan, under which China provides support to its exporters, including many well-known technology companies and builds a network of cooperation with selected countries in the field of technology, including ICT infrastructure, services, 5G networks, e-commerce, etc. China's rapid technological changes must not go unnoticed by trading partners, including analysed European countries, which, to maintain international competitiveness, are increasing the technological advancement and enhancing market protection against Chinese technology. Until recently, the value added from China to European countries was concentrated mainly on medium technology industries and value added from Europe to China focused more on advanced goods and services. Nowadays, there is a redirection of Chinese value added to high-tech activities (including service activities), which reflects China's ambition to build an economy that leads to innovation and industry 4.0. The transition of the CEE states’ economic and political systems initiated in the early 1990s, earned them the EU membership in 2004. The accession to the EU’s structures meant that these countries achieved the free-market economy status and they should be treated as the full member of the global business networks. Moreover, the decline in trade costs (transport and transaction), greater openness of their market and the removal of trade barriers have all helped the CEE states to join global value chains. Hence, the CEE economies are going to be more heavily involved in global production linkages. Many empirical studies have presented the close and dynamic integration of these countries with the EU market (especially the EU-15) and in a more limited scope with the whole global economy as well (Behar and Freund 2011). Generally, democratisation, the strengthening of political and economic relations (particularly with the EU), and the modernisation of many sectors (including financial sector, more advanced industries), were common elements of the CEE countries long-term development policies. One of their priorities was the redirection of foreign trade towards the EU and joining the global production linkages where China has become the core producer. Recently, the role of the economy in global value chains is more determined by the advancement of value added that it offers. Companies move toward services and innovations in the business model (Nenenen & Storbacka, 2010) and introduce industry 4.0 (Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung, 2016). A symptom of these novelty is a concept of servicification of manufacturing (Neely et al. 2011) and cross-sectoral connections, which have reconstructed traditional global value chains (Naude et al. 2019) and, together with Industry 4.0, is expected to change the landscape of global manufacturing. As a result of facilitation of manufacturing, economies placed in the downstream market can improve their role in global value chains. In Europe, this can be an opportunity for most Central and Eastern European countries. Analyzing changes in CEE’s role in technological global value chains, we should take into account its two most important value-added suppliers: China and Germany, as well as their most important value-added buyer - Germany. These three economies established a sort of value added flows triangle. The regional supply chains built by Germany in the CEE allowed it to maintain a comparative advantage in sectors important for the economy, while helping the CEE countries join global value chains, positively influencing economic growth, but also reducing them to entities operating in less advanced stages of production (Jacoby, 2010; Fortwengel, 2011). Today, Germany also cooperates strongly with China (as a result of Digital Silk Road), and the CEE economies (especially the Visegrad Group) are increasingly dependent on Chinese value added, still linked to German value added. The most visible connections can be found in automotive and electronics. Hence, the question is: how strong are these links in servicification of manufacturing and whether there are visible trends in value-added flows in between this triangle in the era of industry 4.0 and Chinese Digital Silk Road. The research question seems to be relevant, thus in the subject literature, little is known about the mentioned relations (Roland Berger, 2021). The research method based on the analysis of data from the OECD Trade in Value Added databases, containing the world input-output tables for the period 2005–2018. The system of balance equations in the input-output model for one economy has been adopted to a multi-economy model. The model is described in more detail in (Koopman et al. 2013 or Hummels et al, 2001) and is based on the decomposition of gross exports. The method includes not only estimates of total value added in global value chains, but also calculations at both the mezoeconomic level and cross-sectoral flows of value added (including servicification of manufacturing). The results of analysis showed that most relations between economies continued to deepen the imbalance in flows of value added. The CEE economies are making their manufacturing increasingly dependent on advanced services (both from Germany and China). On the other hand, the share of CEE services to Chinese and German manufacturing is decreasing or remains steady. However, some trends could be observed in the last years, especially between Germany and China. German manufacturing is starting to rely more on Chinese value added (information and communication technologies services and the subgroup computer programming, consultancy and information services activities in manufacturing, information and communication technologies services' value added in transport equipment), although previously Germany provided more of these services to China. In telecommunications in manufacturing between CEE and Germany, the trend has turned against CEE. However, there was no direct compensation between pairs of economies, but the decrease in German value-added flows to China resulted in a much larger increase in value-added from China in German manufacturing. If the presented changes in flows were to reflect the effectiveness of Chinese industry 4.0 and Digital Silk Road. These strategies serve their purposes and increases not only the advancement of Chinese value-added exports, but also makes important economies dependent on this added value. On the contrary, the industry 4.0 strategy in CEE has not improved its position in the triad. Germany has still a strong position as a provider of value added, but its dependence on foreign value added is high, which derives from the links with CEE.

Extractive industry governance is a hot topic in both academic research and the public arena. The area that has been most heavily studied in the academic field is the resource curse, which documents the negative effects of dependence on resource-rents in resource-rich developing countries. The political strand of this literature argues that a strong dependence on resource-rents negatively impacts three governance outcomes: accountability, corruption and trust. Scholars argue that these governance issues can be improved if transparency is increased, which inspired the creation of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI). The EITI is a transnational non-governmental organisation launched in 2002, with the aim of improving accountability, corruption and trust in the extractive industry by increasing transparency in the sector. In order to be EITI-compliant, countries must make key documents and data from their extractive industry publicly available and form a multi-stakeholder group with members of civil society organisations (CSOs), extractive industry and government representatives to oversee reporting. Summary of ICTD Working Paper 175.

This paper formed part of a Conference "Mercosur: In Search of a New Agenda" held in the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro in June 2003. The purpose of the Conference was to was to examine future directions for Mercosur in light of emerging political dynamics pointing to renewed interest in deepening the initiative after a turbulent 1999-2002. The papers and the conference were supported by the Integration and Regional Programs Department of the Inter-American Development Bank through its Special Initiative on Trade and Integration. The Department is grateful for the collaboration of the Foundation and in particular to Professor Renato Flores. This paper is based on the conclusion that MERCOSUR suffers from an "institutional deficit". This deficit is associated to lack of credibility on the project, inefficient rules production system, fragile mechanisms that "oblige" country members to the compliance with agreed rules, and to the impacts, of this group of characteristics, over the "degree of effectiveness" of assumed commitments at the subregional level, and the "level of relevancy" of such commitments for the performance of public and private actors from the member countries. Under this view, to institutionalize does not imply the creation of institutions per se, but rather the strengthening of credibility of a rule production and implementation system at the subregional level: this should be the main objective on the institutionalization agenda of the integration process. A MERCOSUR institutionalization agenda is not only part of a minimalist strategy for the perfecting of the process but also constitutes an "informed" vision of the deep integration process. Above any hypothesis this institutionalization agenda must contemplate three priority areas: (i) rule production system: legislation characteristics, a profile of the decision taking structure and the exchange mechanism between domestic policy formulation and the decision-making processes at the subregional level; (ii) secondly, implementation mechanisms of subregional regulations, that is, "obligation" rules of the member states in relation to the fulfillment of assumed commitments within MERCOSUR and (iii) "the focus" of the rules, i.e. their content.

Under the United Nations Charter, the U.N. Security Council has several important functions and powers, not least with regard to taking binding actions to maintain international peace and security. The ten elected members have the opportunity to influence this area and others during their two-year terms on the Council. In this paper, we aim to illustrate some of these opportunities, identify potential guidance from prior elected members’ experiences, and outline the key procedures that incoming elected members should be aware of as they prepare to join the Council. In doing so, we seek in part to summarize the current state of scholarship and policy analysis in an effort to make this material more accessible to States and, particularly, to States’ legal advisers. We drafted this paper with a view towards States that have been elected and are preparing to join the Council, as well as for those States that are considering bidding for a seat on the Council. As a starting point, it may be warranted to dedicate resources for personnel at home in the capital and at the Mission in New York to become deeply familiar with the language, structure, and content of the relevant provisions of the U.N. Charter. That is because it is through those provisions that Council members engage in the diverse forms of political contestation and cooperation at the center of the Council’s work. In both the Charter itself and the Council’s practices and procedures, there are structural impediments that may hinder the influence of elected members on the Security Council. These include the permanent members’ veto power over decisions on matters not characterized as procedural and the short preparation time for newly elected members. Nevertheless, elected members have found creative ways to have an impact. Many of the Council’s “procedures” — such as the “penholder” system for drafting resolutions — are informal practices that can be navigated by resourceful and well-prepared elected members. Mechanisms through which elected members can exert influence include the following: Drafting resolutions; Drafting Presidential Statements, which might serve as a prelude to future resolutions; Drafting Notes by the President, which can be used, among other things, to change Council working methods; Chairing subsidiary bodies, such as sanctions committees; Chairing the Presidency; Introducing new substantive topics onto the Council’s agenda; and Undertaking “Arria-formula” meetings, which allow for broader participation from outside the Council. Case studies help illustrate the types and degrees of impact that elected members can have through their own initiative. Examples include the following undertakings: Canada’s emphasis in 1999–2000 on civilian protection, which led to numerous resolutions and the establishment of civilian protection as a topic on which the Council remains “seized” and continues to have regular debates; Belgium’s effort in 2007 to clarify the Council’s strategy around addressing natural resources and armed conflict, which resulted in a Presidential Statement; Australia’s efforts in 2014 resulting in the placing of the North Korean human rights situation on the Council’s agenda for the first time; and Brazil’s “Responsibility while Protecting” 2011 concept note, which helped shape debate around the Responsibility to Protect concept. Elected members have also influenced Council processes by working together in diverse coalitions. Examples include the following instances: Egypt, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and Uruguay drafted a resolution that was adopted in 2016 on the protection of health-care workers in armed conflict; Cote d’Ivoire, Kuwait, the Netherlands, and Sweden drafted a resolution that was adopted in 2018 condemning the use of famine as an instrument of warfare; Malaysia, New Zealand, Senegal, and Venezuela tabled a 2016 resolution, which was ultimately adopted, condemning Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory; and A group of successive elected members helped reform the process around the imposition of sanctions against al-Qaeda and associated entities (later including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), including by establishing an Ombudsperson. Past elected members’ experiences may offer some specific pieces of guidance for new members preparing to take their seats on the Council. For example, prospective, new, and current members might seek to take the following measures: Increase the size of and support for the staff of the Mission to the U.N., both in New York and in home capitals; Deploy high-level officials to help gain support for initiatives; Partner with members of the P5 who are the informal “penholder” on certain topics, as this may offer more opportunities to draft resolutions; Build support for initiatives from U.N. Member States that do not currently sit on the Council; and Leave enough time to see initiatives through to completion and continue to follow up after leaving the Council.