Marine Resources, Climate Change and International Management Regimes

This open access volume examines how international institutions set up to manage marine living resources are adapting to the effects of climate change on the geographic distribution of these resources. In the Barents Sea, the world’s biggest cod stock is expanding north-eastwards, while in the Nordic Seas significant changes in abundance, distribution and migration patterns can be observed in the world’s largest stocks for mackerel and herring. In the Antarctic, increasing temperatures and the associated declines in sea ice, ocean acidification and changes in circulation is likely to affect the geographical distribution of krill, the keystone species of Southern Ocean ecosystems. These developments put established international management regimes under pressure. In this interdisciplinary research volume, world-leading marine biologists, international lawyers and political scientists join efforts to study the resilience of Arctic and Antarctic marine resource management institutions to large-scale shifts of major marine stocks. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com

Marine Resources, Climate Change and International Management Regimes

This open access volume examines how international institutions set up to manage marine living resources are adapting to the effects of climate change on the geographic distribution of these resources. In the Barents Sea, the world’s biggest cod stock is expanding north-eastwards, while in the Nordic Seas significant changes in abundance, distribution and migration patterns can be observed in the world’s largest stocks for mackerel and herring. In the Antarctic, increasing temperatures and the associated declines in sea ice, ocean acidification and changes in circulation is likely to affect the geographical distribution of krill, the keystone species of Southern Ocean ecosystems. These developments put established international management regimes under pressure. In this interdisciplinary research volume, world-leading marine biologists, international lawyers and political scientists join efforts to study the resilience of Arctic and Antarctic marine resource management institutions to large-scale shifts of major marine stocks. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com

Joint Venture Ongoing Negotiation: Approaches, Relational Antecedents, and Influence of National Culture

Business Administratio

Social Welfare

"Social Welfare" offers, for the first time, a wide-ranging, internationally-focused selection of cutting-edge work from leading academics. Its interdisciplinary approach and comparative perspective promote examination of the most pressing social welfare issues of the day. The book aims to clarify some of the ambiguity around the term, discuss the pros and cons of privatization, present a range of social welfare paradoxes and innovations, and establish a clear set of economic frameworks with which to understand the conditions under which the change in social welfare can be obtained

Exploring the contribution of complexity theory to the system of political negotiations – a case study of the intractable conflict in Cyprus

The thesis explores the nature of political negotiations that has been in place in Cyprus since 1968 under UN Good Offices Mission auspices, with special attention to the period 2008 and 2014 when the process of full-fledged negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General was revived through the establishment of six main chapters on substantive issues with the intention to reach an agreement based on bizonal, bicommunal federation with both communities enjoying political equality. Cyprus has experienced a long-standing intractable conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots since before 1974 when the government of Turkey exercised unilateral intervention based on the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, ultimately leading to UN engagement to stabilise the conflict. The major outcome of the intervention was the division of the island into two sections, the South and North, with the ceasefire line (1974) to become the United Nations Buffer Zone (green line) persisting through time. Since then the conflict may be described as a stalemate with neither side gaining ground over the other and effectively no binding progress made. Through a series of intensive interviews with Greek and Turkish Cypriot political leaders and United Nations experts together with a number of other well-informed academics on both sides of the island, as well as more general research, the thesis explores their experiences and views on the nature of political negotiations in the 2008-2014 period. Part of the research concentrates on obtaining their perceptions on the nature of the stalemate as a prominent feature of political negotiations. The other part pays attention to an exploration of the readiness of the parties to accept an alternative to the conventional wisdom of political negotiation methodology, through selected ideas drawn from complexity theory. These mainly include ideas from systems thinking notably the concept of leverage points, supported by several other aspects of complexity. The evidence-base for the thesis leads to the core argument that the elements of reductionism, linearity and sequential approach to political negotiations between 2008 and 2014 period, together with strong psychological dimension embedded in the psyche of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on both sides of the island, penetrated the system of political negotiations and is a major obstacle preventing the sides reaching settlement. Further, employment of a political elitist formula into the system of negotiations produced additional obstacles to negotiations, as it became clear from the interviews that both the Greek and Turkish civil society on Cyprus were not involved in the process of negotiations which led to a lack of momentum being achieved. In terms of original knowledge, the contribution of the research identifies reductionism and linearity in the system of the political negotiations as a likely cause of stalemate. The thesis introduces ideas from complexity theory, notably fractal and systems thinking theories that offer an alternative interpretation and approach, which appeared to attract the interest of practitioners as a feasible and innovative way of facilitating political negotiations. A major awareness while undertaking the research was the unknown elements, which may be termed ‘political will’ that run beneath the surface of the conflict in Cyprus.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation & Innovation Centre (ECIC), 201

Distributed, decentralised and compensational mechanisms for platoon formation

Verkehrsprobleme nehmen mit der weltweiten Urbanisierung und der Zunahme der Anzahl der Fahrzeuge pro Kopf zu. Platoons, eine Formation von eng hintereinander fahrenden Fahrzeugen, stellen sich als mögliche Lösung dar, da bestehende Forschungen darauf hinweisen, dass sie zu einer besseren Straßenauslastung beitragen, den Kraftstoffverbrauch und die Emissionen reduzieren und Engpässe schneller entlasten können. Rund um das Thema Platooning gibt es viele Aspekte zu erforschen: Sicherheit, Stabilität, Kommunikation, Steuerung und Betrieb, die allesamt notwendig sind, um den Einsatz von Platooning im Alltagsverkehr näher zu bringen. Während in allen genannten Bereichen bereits umfangreiche Forschungen durchgeführt wurden, gibt es bisher nur wenige Arbeiten, die sich mit der logischen Gruppierung von Fahrzeugen in Platoons beschäftigen. Daher befasst sich diese Arbeit mit dem noch wenig erforschten Problem der Platoonbildung, wobei sich die vorhandenen Beispiele mit auf Autobahnen fahrenden Lastkraftwagen beschäftigen. Diese Fälle befinden sich auf der strategischen und taktischen Ebene der Planung, da sie von einem großen Zeithorizont profitieren und die Gruppierung entsprechend optimiert werden kann. Die hier vorgestellten Ansätze befinden sich hingegen auf der operativen Ebene, indem Fahrzeuge aufgrund der verteilten und dezentralen Natur dieser Ansätze spontan und organisch gruppiert und gesteuert werden. Dadurch entstehen sogenannte opportunistische Platoons, die aufgrund ihrer Flexibilität eine vielversprechende Voraussetzung für alle Netzwerkarte bieten könnten. Insofern werden in dieser Arbeit zwei neuartige Algorithmen zur Bildung von Platoons vorgestellt: ein verteilter Ansatz, der von klassischen Routing-Problemen abgeleitet wurde, und ein ergänzender dezentraler kompensatorischer Ansatz. Letzteres nutzt automatisierte Verhandlungen, um es den Fahrzeugen zu erleichtern, sich auf der Basis eines monetären Austausches in einem Platoon zu organisieren. In Anbetracht der Tatsache, dass alle Verkehrsteilnehmer über eine Reihe von Präferenzen, Einschränkungen und Zielen verfügen, muss das vorgeschlagene System sicherstellen, dass jede angebotene Lösung für die einzelnen Fahrzeuge akzeptabel und vorteilhaft ist und den möglichen Aufwand, die Kosten und die Opfer überwiegt. Dies wird erreicht, indem den Platooning-Fahrzeugen eine Form von Anreiz geboten wird, im Sinne von entweder Kostensenkung oder Ampelpriorisierung. Um die vorgeschlagenen Algorithmen zu testen, wurde eine Verkehrssimulation unter Verwendung realer Netzwerke mit realistischer Verkehrsnachfrage entwickelt. Die Verkehrsteilnehmer wurden in Agenten umgewandelt und mit der notwendigen Funktionalität ausgestattet, um Platoons zu bilden und innerhalb dieser zu operieren. Die Anwendbarkeit und Eignung beider Ansätze wurde zusammen mit verschiedenen anderen Aspekten untersucht, die den Betrieb von Platoons betreffen, wie Größe, Verkehrszustand, Netzwerkpositionierung und Anreizmethoden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die vorgeschlagenen Mechanismen die Bildung von spontanen Platoons ermöglichen. Darüber hinaus profitierten die teilnehmenden Fahrzeuge mit dem auf verteilter Optimierung basierenden Ansatz und unter Verwendung kostensenkender Anreize unabhängig von der Platoon-Größe, dem Verkehrszustand und der Positionierung, mit Nutzenverbesserungen von 20% bis über 50% im Vergleich zur untersuchten Baseline. Bei zeitbasierten Anreizen waren die Ergebnisse uneinheitlich, wobei sich der Nutzen einiger Fahrzeuge verbesserte, bei einigen keine Veränderung eintrat und bei anderen eine Verschlechterung zu verzeichnen war. Daher wird die Verwendung solcher Anreize aufgrund ihrer mangelnden Pareto-Effizienz nicht empfohlen. Der kompensatorische und vollständig dezentralisierte Ansatz weißt einige Vorteile auf, aber die daraus resultierende Verbesserung war insgesamt vernachlässigbar. Die vorgestellten Mechanismen stellen einen neuartigen Ansatz zur Bildung von Platoons dar und geben einen aussagekräftigen Einblick in die Mechanik und Anwendbarkeit von Platoons. Dies schafft die Voraussetzungen für zukünftige Erweiterungen in der Planung, Konzeption und Implementierung effektiverer Infrastrukturen und Verkehrssysteme.Traffic problems have been on the rise corresponding with the increase in worldwide urbanisation and the number of vehicles per capita. Platoons, which are a formation of vehicles travelling close together, present themselves as a possible solution, as existing research indicates that they can contribute to better road usage, reduce fuel consumption and emissions and decongest bottlenecks faster. There are many aspects to be explored pertaining to the topic of platooning: safety, stability, communication, controllers and operations, all of which are necessary to bring platoons closer to use in everyday traffic. While extensive research has already made substantial strides in all the aforementioned fields, there is so far little work on the logical grouping of vehicles in platoons. Therefore, this work addresses the platoon formation problem, which has not been heavily researched, with existing examples being focused on large, freight vehicles travelling on highways. These cases find themselves on the strategic and tactical level of planning since they benefit from a large time horizon and the grouping can be optimised accordingly. The approaches presented here, however, are on the operational level, grouping and routing vehicles spontaneously and organically thanks to their distributed and decentralised nature. This creates so-called opportunistic platoons which could provide a promising premise for all networks given their flexibility. To this extent, this thesis presents two novel platoon forming algorithms: a distributed approach derived from classical routing problems, and a supplementary decentralised compensational approach. The latter uses automated negotiation to facilitate vehicles organising themselves in a platoon based on monetary exchanges. Considering that all traffic participants have a set of preferences, limitations and goals, the proposed system must ensure that any solution provided is acceptable and beneficial for the individual vehicles, outweighing any potential effort, cost and sacrifices. This is achieved by offering platooning vehicles some form of incentivisation, either cost reductions or traffic light prioritisation. To test the proposed algorithms, a traffic simulation was developed using real networks with realistic traffic demand. The traffic participants were transformed into agents and given the necessary functionality to build platoons and operate within them. The applicability and suitability of both approaches were investigated along with several other aspects pertaining to platoon operations such as size, traffic state, network positioning and incentivisation methods. The results indicate that the mechanisms proposed allow for spontaneous platoons to be created. Moreover, with the distributed optimisation-based approach and using cost-reducing incentives, participating vehicles benefited regardless of the platoon size, traffic state and positioning, with utility improvements ranging from 20% to over 50% compared to the studied baseline. For time-based incentives the results were mixed, with the utility of some vehicles improving, some seeing no change and for others, deteriorating. Therefore, the usage of such incentives would not be recommended due to their lack of Pareto-efficiency. The compensational and completely decentralised approach shows some benefits, but the resulting improvement was overall negligible. The presented mechanisms are a novel approach to platoon formation and provide meaningful insight into the mechanics and applicability of platoons. This sets the stage for future expansions into planning, designing and implementing more effective infrastructures and traffic systems

China's foreign policy towards Central Asia: expanding the concepts of national interest and national security

The present study provides an analysis of China’s foreign policy towards Central Asia to trace ‘culture of China’s foreign policy’. The culture of China’s foreign policy approach deals with China as an identity and process rather than being static or within boundaries. The present research highlights China’s multilateral and cooperative policies in Central Asia and with Russia as an outcome of evolutionary process of construction of China’s identity. The complex process of building relations with Central Asian region although within a short period of time (in post-Soviet context) are analysed to make a case for China’s innovative (partially) political processes of dealing with frontier security and embracing multilateralism. This is explained by studying the evolution of China’s identity and interests and the role of significant events that affect its perceptions of self and that are a prescription for its policy orientations as observed in case of foreign policy towards Central Asia. The theoretical foundation of Peter Katzenstein thesis is helpful premises upon which an argument in favour of the discourse of identity and security is developed to see how culture of national security of China and ‘complementarity’ of Central Asian states is at work in security cooperation seen among these states. By problematizing the notion of ‘national interest’, the present study argues that interests of the states can be contextualized in a broader environment referred as civilization to trace the relationship between interests and identities of China as at play in Central Asian region. By placing the political state of ‘China’ in the broader context of civilization and as evolving, helps understand how Chinese political spectrum seeks to construct and maintain a great power identity while locating ‘self’ against ‘others’. It further argues that the cooperative and multilateral policies of China in form of Shanghai Cooperation Organization can be understood best by studying how the configurations of identity of China has guided the policy formation process; that constructs and reconstructs interstate normative structure in form of SCO

Leading Change in a Complex World

Leading Change in a Complex World : Transdisciplinary Perspectives is a transdisciplinary book offering tools for leaders, analysts and students of leadership to navigate in complex and interconnected settings. It proposes an analytical framework based on complexity, relational leadership, and dynamic change. Individual chapters examine these ideas in relation to topical societal, organisational and business challenges such as the changing global security environment, urbanisation, demographic changes, and business-government relations. The leadership roles of heads of states and societal stakeholders are analysed, and versatile leadership and management practices from conflict management to evaluation are introduced. The possibilities for change are examined through global megatrends, shifting global power blocs, changes in consumer practices, as well as those emanating from abstract concepts such as the circular economy.Leading Change in a Complex World : Transdisciplinary Perspectives on poikkitieteellinen kirja, joka tarjoaa johtajille, johtajuuden tutkijoille sekä opiskelijoille työkaluja monimutkaisissa ja kytköksisissä ympäristöissä suunnistamiseen. Kirjassa esitellään analyyttinen viitekehys, joka rakentuu kompleksisuuden, relationaalisuuden ja dynaamisen muutoksen käsitteiden ympärille. Kirjan luvuissa näitä käsitteitä hyödynnetään yhteiskunnan, organisaatioiden, politiikan sekä liike-elämän ilmiöiden analyysiin. Luvut käsittelevät esimerkiksi globaalin turvallisuusympäristön muutosta, kaupungistumista, työvoiman ikääntymistä sekä valtioiden ja yritystoiminnan suhdetta. Johtajuutta tarkastellaan niin valtionjohdon kuin yhteiskunnallisten sidosryhmien toiminnan kautta. Muutoksen mahdollisuuksien tarkastelussa huomio kiinnittyy esimerkiksi megatrendeihin, muuttuviin globaaleihin valtablokkeihin, kulutuskäytäntöihin sekä kiertotalouden mahdollisuuksiin

Kissingerism and Iranian-American Relations: Prospects for Reconciliation and the Establishment of a New Order

This thesis is an attempt to resurrect the strategic and philosophical thinking of Henry Kissinger in order to unlock the Iranian-American impasse. Encounters between the two countries have been in a state of deadlock since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, though its genesis dates back, at least, to the American-sponsored coup d’état of 1953. Within the American foreign policy establishment, no one looms larger than Dr. Kissinger: his contributions intersect the two worlds of academic diplomatic history and statecraft at the highest levels of international relations. He was the chief diplomat at a momentous period. Kissinger―through his writings and public policy―emphasizes balance of power, raison d’état, and international pluralism. As a result, these are the scaffolds of this study. Using these concepts (in addition to others), I bring forth new policy possibilities for the United States and Iran to adopt, centered around the general and mutual position of détente. It is my contention that such recommendations could help mollify the deep and mutual antagonism that undergirds the current stalemate