Management Application Interactions in Software-Based Networks

IEEE To support the next wave of networking technologies and services, which will likely involve heterogeneous resources and requirements, rich management functionality will need to be deployed. This raises questions regarding the interoperability of such functionality in an environment where potentially interacting applications operate in parallel. Interactions can cause configuration instabilities and subsequently network performance degradation, especially in the presence of contradicting objectives. Detecting and handling these interactions is therefore essential. In this article we present an overview of the interaction management problem, a critical issue in software-based networks. We review and compare existing solutions proposed in the literature and discuss key challenges toward the development of a generic framework for the automated and real-time management of these interactions

Collaborative Governance Assessment

This is the report of APFIC/FAO Regional Consultative Workshop, "Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Bringing together responsible fisheries and social development", held at theWindsor Suites Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, 6-8 October 2010. The 72 participants came from a cross section of fisheries sector stakeholders including from 20 countries and 12 Regional Fisheries Bodies and Regional Organizations and 14 fish workers' organizations, disaster preparedness and response agencies, and other civil society organizations. The workshop's objectives were to receive guidance from regional and national stakeholders on the nature, principles and key thematic areas of a possible international instrument to plan, implement and report on securing sustainability in small-scale fisheries. The workshop was further tasked to develop high priority actions and identify potential gaps in the implementation of good governance practices in small-scale fisheries and related assistance needs

Oil and international cooperation

The more that states depend on oil exports, the less cooperative they become: they grow less likely to join intergovernmental organizations, to accept the compulsory jurisdiction of international judicial bodies, and to agree to binding arbitration for investment disputes. This pattern is robust to the use of country and year fixed effects, to alternative measures of the key variables, and to the exclusion of all countries in the Middle East. To explain this pattern, we consider the economic incentives that foster participation in international institutions: the desire to attract foreign investment and to gain access to foreign markets. Oil-exporting states, we argue, find it relatively easy to achieve these aims without making costly commitments to international institutions. In other words, natural resource wealth liberates states from the economic pressures that would otherwise drive them toward cooperation

U.S.-UKRAINE RELATIONS AND THE CONCEPT OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

A strategic partnership has become particularly relevant in the wake of the Russian war in Ukraine. Most studies focus on the historical perspective of particular special relations leaning toward the long-standing nature and stability of those relations. Others describe interstate partnerships as dynamic developments rather than static phenomena. Conventionally, strategic partnerships are multifaceted, including the spheres of economic cooperation, military assistance and partnership, and democracy promotion. Scholars also single out cultural proximity as an important factor facilitating mutual trust and feasibility of strategic partnership. This thesis will discuss the historical background of the U.S.-Ukraine economic, socio-political, and military cooperation and its strengths and weaknesses compared to the US-Georgian Strategic Partnership. Finally, this study helps answer the following questions: How is the Georgian case similar to and different from the situation in Ukraine? Has the U.S. response, in 2008 and again in 2014, been an effective and adequate approach to conflicts in the post-Soviet space, which now seem to defy diplomatic resolution? Defense and security cooperation has been another central pillar of the strategic partnerships in Ukraine and Georgia, getting the most attention in the wake of the 2008 August war. Thus, answering these questions is critical in assessing the significance of recent U.S.-Ukraine relations and U.S.-Georgian relations, in light of emerging U.S.-Ukrainian strategic partnership

Fisheries and Coastal Resources Co-management in Asia: Selected Results from a Regional Research Project

Coastal fisheries, Fishery management, Resource management

The Political Economy of the Nigerian Government Amnesty Program in the Niger Delta: 2009 - 2018

The economic or political economy of conflicts and civil wars in Africa is an expanding field with an increase in research and literature especially in the last few decades. However, less attention has been devoted to the role of political economy in peacebuilding operations/interventions. This dissertation examines the extent to which political economy, specifically its elements in terms of interests, incentives, and institutions shapes the conceptualization, design and implementation of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) and the prospects for sustainable peace. The Niger Delta Amnesty (NDA) is used as an empirical case study.:CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction 1.1 State of the art 1.1.1 The political economy of peacebuilding 1.1.2 Institutions in rentier states 1.1.3 Resource curse discourse and interests 1.1.4 Wealth distribution and incentives 1.2 Research question 1.3 Problem statement 1.4 Overview of research methodology 1.4.1 Structural framework of the political economy approach 1.4.1.1 Neoliberalism Approach 1.4.1.2 Neopatrimonialism approach 1.4.2 Comment on sources 1.4.2.1 Research design 1.4.2.2 Research method 1.4.2.3 Data generation method 1.4.2.4 Method of data analysis 1.5 Challenges in the field 1.6 The structure of the dissertation CHAPTER TWO HISTORICIZING OIL CONFLICT IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION 2 Introduction 2.1 Analyzing the Origins and dynamics of the Niger Delta Conflict 2.1.1 The Geography and People of the Niger Delta 2.1.2 Pre-colonial Niger Delta and the Emergence of European Trade in Nigeria (1444 – 1850) 2.1.3 Colonial Considerations: Increasing Agitations, Palm oil Production and the Discovery of Oil (1851 – 1960) 2.1.4 Independent and Post Independent Nigeria and the Foundations of the Oil Conflict (1960 – Present) 2.1.5 Militant Movements in the Niger Delta in the Recent Past (1990s – Present) 2.2 Nigerian Political Economy, State Policy Response and the Nature of the Nigerian State 2.2.1 A Survey of the Nigerian Political Economy 2.2.2 State-centric Responses to the Niger Delta Oil Conflict (1960 – 2009) 2.2.2.1 Positive “Carrot” Approach 2.2.2.2 Coercive “Stick” Approach 2.2.3 An Explanation of the Nature and character of the Nigerian State 2.3 Conclusion CHAPTER THREE THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF STATE AND NON-STATE INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA 3 Introduction 3.1 Furthering Institutional Scholarship and Debates 3.1.1 The Mainstream Debate 3.1.2 The Critical School 3.2 State-to-State Institutional Interaction 3.2.1 Institutions as “Rules of the Game” 3.2.2 Differential Power Distribution 3.2.3 Formal Institutional Bargaining 3.3 Non-state Driven Institutional Interlinkage 3.3.1 Institutions as socially shared rules/traditional systems 3.4 State and Non-state Institutional Exchange 3.4.1 Institutional Bricolage 3.4.2 Institutional Credibility 3.5 State, Non-state and International Collaboration 3.5.1 Complexities of NDA and DDR Institutions 3.5.2 Complementarity of NDA and DDR Institutions 3.5.3 Limited Access Order in NDA and DDR Institutions 3.6 Implications of Statutory, Non-Statutory and International Institutions to NDA and DDR 3.6.1 Lack of Coordination 3.6.2 Exacerbation of Conflict 3.6.3 Weak Hybridized Institutions 3.7 Conclusion CHAPTER FOUR CONCEPTUALISING INTERESTS AND INCENTIVES IN THE FRAMING OF THE NIGER DELTA AMNESTY AND DDR PROGRAM 4 Introduction 4.1 Mapping Actor Network Analysis in the Niger Delta Conflict 4.1.1 The Nigerian Government 4.1.2 Oil Communities 4.1.3 Multinational Oil Companies (MNOCs) 4.2 Contested Interests: Actors, Encounters and Entanglements in the Niger Delta 4.2.1 Powerful Versus Powerless Encounters 4.2.2 Elitists Entanglements 4.2.3 Intra and Inter Community Contestations 4.2.4 MNOCs and Niger Delta Communities’ Confrontations 4.3 Conclusion CHAPTER FIVE A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NIGER DELTA AMNESTY, DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILIZATION AND REINTEGRATION PROGRAM 5 Introduction 5.1 Amnesty: A Peacebuilding Practice 5.2 The NDA and DDR Program and the Politics of conceptualization 5.3 NDA and DDR Program and the Art of Negotiation 5.4 NDA and DDR: The Practice of Planning 5.5 The Implementation Process of the Niger Delta Amnesty and DDR Program 5.5.1 The Disarmament Phase 5.5.2 The Demobilisation Phase 5.5.3 The Reintegration Phase 5.6 Niger Delta Amnesty and DDR Process: A Shift from a Neoliberal Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS) Principles to a Neopatrimonial DDR Practice 5.6.1 From a people centered approach to a patron-client driven approach 5.6.2 From a flexible, transparent and accountable doctrine to a non-transparent and unaccountable DDR process 5.6.3 Nationally Owned 5.6.4 From an Integrated IDDRS Norm to a non-integrated approach 5.6.5 From a well-planned IDDRS to a haphazard DDR 5.7 Conclusion CHAPTER SIX GENERAL CONCLUSION 6 Introduction 6.1 Main Research Questions and Empirical Findings 6.2 Theoretical and Empirical Contribution 6.3 Potential Concerns for Future Research BIBLIOGRAPH

Conflict detection in software-defined networks

The SDN architecture facilitates the flexible deployment of network functions. While promoting innovation, this architecture induces yet a higher chance of conflicts compared to conventional networks. The detection of conflicts in SDN is the focus of this work. Restrictions of the formal analytical approach drive our choice of an experimental approach, in which we determine a parameter space and a methodology to perform experiments. We have created a dataset covering a number of situations occurring in SDN. The investigation of the dataset yields a conflict taxonomy composed of various classes organized in three broad types: local, distributed and hidden conflicts. Interestingly, hidden conflicts caused by side-effects of control applications‘ behaviour are completely new. We introduce the new concept of multi-property set, and the ·r (“dot r”) operator for the effective comparison of SDN rules. With these capable means, we present algorithms to detect conflicts and develop a conflict detection prototype. The evaluation of the prototype justifies the correctness and the realizability of our proposed concepts and methodologies for classifying as well as for detecting conflicts. Altogether, our work establishes a foundation for further conflict handling efforts in SDN, e.g., conflict resolution and avoidance. In addition, we point out challenges to be explored. Cuong Tran won the DAAD scholarship for his doctoral research at the Munich Network Management Team, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, and achieved the degree in 2022. He loves to do research on policy conflicts in networked systems, IP multicast and alternatives, network security, and virtualized systems. Besides, teaching and sharing are also among his interests