For the positive experience with tying progress in negotiations with progress in reform in Central and Eastern Europe, the European Union made its membership offer to the Western Balkans countries conditional on specific democratic principles, most notably (full) cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Yet, although EU membership is regarded as highly attractive both for political elites and the general public in the region, the erratic record of compliance with ICTY-related EU conditionality in Croatia since 2000 raises questions about the EU’s ability to provide for ‘rule transfer’ and ‘norm diffusion’ in the current enlargement round and poses a puzzle to scholars of international relations and EU enlargement alike. My findings suggest that EU conditionality was rather inconsistently applied toward Croatia. Two main conclusions can be made from this. First, individual member states have gained in influence over enlargement policy that leads to a more politicized use of the conditionality tool undermining its effectiveness. Second, it illustrates the need to place politics in time and to go beyond purely rationalist explanations.
For the positive experience with tying progress in negotiations with progress in reform in Central and Eastern Europe, the European Union made its membership offer to the Western Balkans countries conditional on specific democratic principles, most notably (full) cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Yet, although EU membership is regarded as highly attractive both for political elites and the general public in the region, the erratic record of compliance with ICTY-related EU conditionality in Croatia since 2000 raises questions about the EU’s ability to provide for ‘rule transfer’ and ‘norm diffusion’ in the current enlargement round and poses a puzzle to scholars of international relations and EU enlargement alike. My findings suggest that EU conditionality was rather inconsistently applied toward Croatia. Two main conclusions can be made from this. First, individual member states have gained in influence over enlargement policy that leads to a more politicized use of the conditionality tool undermining its effectiveness. Second, it illustrates the need to place politics in time and to go beyond purely rationalist explanations.
Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: 1,0 (distinction, 77 Punkte), London School of Economics (Department of Management), course: graduate course ID440: "Corporate Social Responsibility and International Labour Standards", language: English, abstract: For the non-binding character of private CSR regulation and MNCs’ substantial resources to shape employment (for the better or the worse) in their subsidiaries, I argue that a necessary precondition for CSR policies to be effective, that is to raise working standards substantially and sustainably, consists in firms’ serious commitment to its enforcement and that firms’ level of commitment will be determined mostly by economic imperatives. However, CSR policies will only be sufficient to improve working conditions in combination with their ‘embeddedness’ in a particular political and institutional context that is conducive to solve technical problems (e.g. regarding monitoring, governance of supply chains) and that enables labor to manipulate potential conflicts of interest between financial and social priorities in favor of of the latter.
How do we make building sustainable and fit for the future? The book presents a strategy for tackling the construction industry’s future challenges from the perspective of the organizing architect, and with a view to the interdisciplinary knowledge, capable of integration, of related disciplines. With a profound insight into the operative processes, the author analyses the complex mechanisms of the system that affect the whole of society and often follow very traditional process structures. He investigates the interaction between the stakeholders’ actions in the construction process and the framework conditions and, on that basis, develops a strategy which—itself a process—computes the elements of the intended target state.
In uncertain times, only one thing is certain: hope is not a strategy and a future-oriented focus for your company has never been more important. At the same time, strategy development and implementation require an immense effort for entrepreneurs, managers and employees. That is why Christian Underwood and Jürgen Weigand have developed the StrategyFrame® from practical experience for practical application. Use it to bring order to your strategy process, develop a clear, understandable picture of your realignment with your team, and generate strategic know-how and momentum among all participants and stakeholders. "This book is a gem. It not only provides a sound foundation for thinking strategically, but offers powerful tools for translating these ideas into practice in a rapidly changing environment. A valuable field guide for creating winning strategies, applicable to managers at every level." William G. Pietersen, Professor, The Practice of Management, Columbia Business School "'Hope Is Not a Strategy' brings to life the transformative power of strategic thinking when properly planned and executed. It delivers you an actionable playbook designed to help unlock strategic thinking for real, measurable business impact." Brandon Carson, Vice President, Global Leadership Academy, Walmart
This essential gives an overview of the physical principles underlying nanotechnology, which today make it possible to use microscopic effects technologically. Methods are presented which allow the production of nanostructures with highest precision. In the last chapter the author gives an overview of exciting technological applications, starting with the use of nanotechnology-based effects in church glass windows to solar cells and CCD chips. This book is a translation of the original German 1st edition Licht in der Welt der Nanotechnologie by Christian Schneider, published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature in 2016. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors.
Produced biennially, The World's Water is the most comprehensive and up-to-to date source of information and analysis on freshwater resources. Each new volume examines critical global trends and offers the best data available on a variety of topics related to water. Volume 7 features chapters on U.S. water policy, transboundary waters, and the effects of fossil fuel production on water resources, among other timely issues. Water briefs provide concise updates on topics including bottled water, The Great Lakes Water Agreement, and water and security. The World's Water is coauthored by MacArthur "genius" Peter H. Gleick and his colleagues at the world-renowned Pacific Institute. Since the first volume was published in 1998, the series has become an indispensable resource for professionals in government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, researchers, students, and anyone concerned with water and its use.
This book examines Lebanese political parties and their encounters with modernity. Taking three, mainly Christian parties as an example, the book refutes the idea of Middle Eastern parties being backwards or antiquated. By combining historical and anthropological perspectives, it is shown that these parties stand for normativities of modernity. Lebanese, as well as Middle Eastern parties in general, have a rather poor reputation: they are considered family-based, ideologically meaningless, tailored solely to their leadership, and non-modern. Contrastingly, this book claims that the concept of the "real party" corresponds to an encounter with modernity and that these parties, although dysfunctional in parts, are better than their reputation. Most importantly, Lebanese parties are taking the nation-state as their central reference point, as they recognise it as the legitimate form of societal organization. The volume claims that important constituents of modernity, such as the individual, the nation, secularity, progress, and representing the people (demos), serve for the parties in question as resources of utopian elements informing much of these parties’ identities. Bringing Lebanese political parties into a global debate on modernity, the book tackles the notion of parties of the Middle East being non-modern. It will be of interest to scholars researching political science, political history and the Middle East.
This volume analyzes immigrant integration policies and the implications for governance in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. Leading experts review recent developments in their respective countries and current public policies and programs in three categories: selection/admission, economic and social integration, and civic and political integration (including naturalization). These analyses show that the integration of immigrants is an ongoing process that extends beyond the initial years of settlement in a new country, involving the actions of different governments, non-governmental organizations and others. By examining a range of policy and governance issues from the perspective of federalism, this volume fills a gap in the literature on immigrant integration. It will interest not only academics and researchers but also political representatives and public servants concerned with these important topics.
The European Commission is at the center of the European Union's political system. Within its five-year terms each Commission proposes up to 2000 binding legal acts and therefore crucially shapes EU policy, which in turn impacts on the daily lives of more than 500 million European citizens. However, despite the Commissions key role in setting the agenda for European decision making, little is known about its internal dynamics when preparing legislation. This book provides a problem-driven, theoretically-founded, and empirically rich treatment of the so far still understudied process of position-formation inside the European Commission. It reveals that various internal political positions prevail and that the role of power and conflict inside the European Commission is essential to understanding its policy proposals. Opening the 'black box' of the Commission, the book identifies three ideal types of internal position-formation. The Commission is motivated by technocratic problem-solving, by competence-seeking utility maximization or ideologically-motivated policyseeking. Specifying conditions that favor one logic over the others, the typology furthers understanding of how the EU system functions and provides novel explanations of EU policies with substantial societal implications.
This authoritative book offers a complete breakdown of the EUês political economy in the wake of the global financial crisis and will therefore appeal to students of European politics, international political economy and European studies, as well as po
Availability of water and desiccation of important water reservoirs is a vital challenge in semi-arid to arid climates with growing economy and population. Low quantities of precipitation and high evaporation rates leave the water supply vulnerable to human activity and climatic variations. Endorheic basins of Northern Iran were hydrologically landlocked within geological timescales and thus bear evidence of past variations of water resources in generations of water related landforms, like abandoned lake level shorelines, alluvial fans and stream terraces. Understanding the development of these landforms reveals crucial information about past water reservoirs and landscape history. This study offers a comprehensive approach on understanding the geomorphological development of the landscape throughout Late Pleistocene and Holocene times. It integrates remote sensing and geographic information system analysis, with geomorphological and stratigraphical mapping fieldwork and detailed sedimentological investigations. The work shows the importance of analytical geomorphological mapping for delineating stratigraphic units of the Iranian Quaternary. Thus, several phases of drying and lake level retreat were identified in parallel geoarchives and could be dated to a time span from today to Late Pleistocene. The findings link the fate of the citizens of the ancient city of "Tepe Hissar" to their access to water and to the power of geomorphological processes, which started changing their environment.
Christian Lönneker systematically explores the phenomenon of magical thinking in the context of severe grief reactions focusing on intrusive forms reported by bereaved individuals seeking professional support. The author succeeds in proposing a comprehensive definition of magical thinking and a rationale for its association with grief based on various disciplines, such as psychology, anthropology, and the cognitive science of religion. Within the scope of a grounded theory study, case reports comprise themes like bringing the deceased back to life, the magical efficacy of religious rituals, and attempts to ward off harmful influences of the dead.
Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: 1,0 (distinction, 77 Punkte), London School of Economics (Department of Management), course: graduate course ID440: "Corporate Social Responsibility and International Labour Standards", language: English, abstract: For the non-binding character of private CSR regulation and MNCs’ substantial resources to shape employment (for the better or the worse) in their subsidiaries, I argue that a necessary precondition for CSR policies to be effective, that is to raise working standards substantially and sustainably, consists in firms’ serious commitment to its enforcement and that firms’ level of commitment will be determined mostly by economic imperatives. However, CSR policies will only be sufficient to improve working conditions in combination with their ‘embeddedness’ in a particular political and institutional context that is conducive to solve technical problems (e.g. regarding monitoring, governance of supply chains) and that enables labor to manipulate potential conflicts of interest between financial and social priorities in favor of of the latter.
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