4,814 research outputs found

    Provision of water to the poor in Africa : experience with water standposts and the informal water sector

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    Standpipes that dispense water from utilities are the most common alternatives to piped water connections for poor customers in the cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. Fifty-five percent of the unconnected urban population relies on standpipes as their first water source. Other informal water providers include household resellers and a variety of water tankers and vendors, which are the first water source of 1 percent and 3 percent of the urban population, respectively. In the cities studied, the percentage of unconnected households ranges from 12 percent to 86 percent of the population. The percentage of unconnected people covered by standpipes is substantially higher for countries with higher rates of household connection, while the percentage of unconnected people covered by water tankers or water vendors is higher for countries with lower rates of household connection. Water prices in the informal market are much higher than for households with private connections or yard taps. Although standpipes are heavily subsidized by utilities, the prices charged by standpipe operators are closely related to the informal water reseller price. Standpipe management models also affect the informal price of water. For example, the shift from utilities management to delegated management models without complementary regulation or consumer information has often led to declines in service levels and increased prices. Standpipes are not the only or even the most efficient solution in peri-urban areas. Programs that promote private household connections and arrangements that improve pricing and services in the household resale market should also be considered by policy makers.Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Urban Water Supply and Sanitation,Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions,Water and Industry,Water Conservation

    A Neoclassical Realist’s Analysis Of Sino-U.S. Space Policy

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    During the Cold War, the United States focused its collective policy acumen on forming a competitive, actor-specific strategy to gain advantage over the Soviet Union. The fragmentation of the Soviet Union resulted in a multi-polar geopolitical environment lacking a near-peer rival for the United States. Overwhelming soft and hard power advantages allowed American policy makers to peruse a general, non-actor specific strategy to maintain its hegemonic position. However, the meteoric rise of China as a near-peer competitor in East Asia has challenged this paradigm. In order to maintain its competitive advantage, or at the very least ensure the safety of its geopolitical objectives through encouraging benign competition, U.S. strategy needs to evolve in both focus and complexity. It is essential for Spacepower, as a key element of national power, to be included in this evolution. In order to do so, this analysis will examine Sino-U.S. space relations using neoclassical realism as a baseline methodology. First, structural elements of the Sino-U.S. relationship will be modeled in a semi-quantitative game theoretical framework, using relative economic and military capabilities as primary independent variables. Second, key assumptions will be tested to ensure that this model accurately represents the current geopolitical environment. Third, the decision making apparatuses of the United States and China will be examined as intervening variables. This will account for imperfect rationality and how it modifies the game theoretical framework. Fourth, this framework will be used to present actionable space policy recommendations for the United States so that space can be incorporated into a competitive strategy for East Asia

    Graduate School Curriculum Committee Report, April 2023

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    April 2023 new course proposals before the Graduate School Curriculum Committee

    Combating a Religious Radical Ideology v. Suppressing Islamic Opposition: Jordan’s Approach to Counterterrorism

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    In the aftermath of 9/11, criminal law reform in Jordan was part of the worldwide expansion of criminal laws facilitated by UNSC Resolution 1373 that was enacted under mandatory Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The introduced criminal law amendments were largely offered as a symbolic response to 9/11; it was built on the assumption of inadequacy of criminal law without fully understanding the dimensions of deterrence. Probably with the exception of the new laws against the financing of terrorism, the state had a whole range of extraordinary measures available if not morally, then practically, to counter terrorism. Jordan’s experience with terrorists incidents and threat suggests that measures against terrorism, whether national or international in nature, are unlikely to be fully effective in the absence of appropriate political action to deal with legitimate grievances or double standards in dealing with national unrest or international crises. The government is aware that issues of inequality, discrimination, and controversial foreign policies may lie behind or contribute to the radicalization of its political opponents, thus their possible resort to terrorism. This paper aims to highlight the main characteristics of Jordan’s response to terrorism, in particular, its distinctive approach to counterterrorism post-9/11. The main argument advances a less often considered response option that addresses political capabilities, what Martha Crenshaw terms “de-legitimation,” that is, policies and practices designed to decrease the legitimacy of the terrorists or undermine their political support. I contend that the way in which the government has dealt with its political opponents and critics is a vital element of its legal strategies and antiterrorism practices

    Combating a Religious Radical Ideology v. Suppressing Islamic Opposition: Jordan’s Approach to Counterterrorism

    Get PDF
    In the aftermath of 9/11, criminal law reform in Jordan was part of the worldwide expansion of criminal laws facilitated by UNSC Resolution 1373 that was enacted under mandatory Chapter VII of the UN Charter. The introduced criminal law amendments were largely offered as a symbolic response to 9/11; it was built on the assumption of inadequacy of criminal law without fully understanding the dimensions of deterrence. Probably with the exception of the new laws against the financing of terrorism, the state had a whole range of extraordinary measures available if not morally, then practically, to counter terrorism. Jordan’s experience with terrorists incidents and threat suggests that measures against terrorism, whether national or international in nature, are unlikely to be fully effective in the absence of appropriate political action to deal with legitimate grievances or double standards in dealing with national unrest or international crises. The government is aware that issues of inequality, discrimination, and controversial foreign policies may lie behind or contribute to the radicalization of its political opponents, thus their possible resort to terrorism. This paper aims to highlight the main characteristics of Jordan’s response to terrorism, in particular, its distinctive approach to counterterrorism post-9/11. The main argument advances a less often considered response option that addresses political capabilities, what Martha Crenshaw terms “de-legitimation,” that is, policies and practices designed to decrease the legitimacy of the terrorists or undermine their political support. I contend that the way in which the government has dealt with its political opponents and critics is a vital element of its legal strategies and antiterrorism practices

    The formal and informal tools of design governance

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    This paper takes a typological exploration of the ‘tools’ of ‘design governance’. It begins by exploring the generic literature that focuses on the range of instruments, approaches and actions ‒ the tools ‒ that policy makers deploy in order to steer public and private actors towards particular policy outcomes. Subsequently, how the notion of tools relates to practices of design governance is examined: first, encompassing three ‘formal’ categories of design governance tools ‒ guidance, incentive and control ‒ and second, by drawing on the work of the former Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in England to introduce five categories of ‘informal’ design governance tools ‒ evidence, knowledge, promotion, evaluation and assistance. The result, and the key contribution of this paper, is a new and comprehensive (albeit evolving), design governance toolbox that extends from formal to informal tools and far beyond that which most policy makers recognize or use

    Sharpening the skein: assessing and targeting perpetual private land conservation programs

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    Kaylan Kemink assessed outcomes from a private land conservation program in the US Prairie Pothole Region. Her results supported including dynamics into prioritisation strategies, the need for impact evaluation, and highlighted non-financial motives for leveraging participation in the future. Regional non-profit organizations are using the results of her study

    Assessing prioritization measures for a private land conservation program in the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region

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    Private land conservation has become an important tool for protecting biodiversity and habitat, but methods for prioritizing and scheduling conservation on private land are still being developed. While return on investment methods have been suggested as a potential path forward, the different processes linking private landscapes to the socioeconomic systems in which they are embedded create unique challenges for scheduling conservation with this approach. We investigated a range of scheduling approaches within a return on investment framework for breeding waterfowl and broods in the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. Current conservation targeting for waterfowl in the region focuses mostly on the distribution and abundance of breeding waterfowl. We tested whether MaxGain approaches for waterfowl conservation differed from MinLoss approaches in terms of return on investment and which approach performed best in avoiding loss of waterfowl and broods separately. We also examined variation in results based upon the temporal scale of the abundance layers used for input and compared the region's current scheduling approach with results from our simulations. Our results suggested that MinLoss was the most efficient scheduling approach for both breeding waterfowl and broods and that using just breeding waterfowl to target areas for conservation programs might cause organizations to overlook important areas for broods, particularly over shorter timespans. The higher efficiency of MinLoss approaches in our simulations also indicated that incorporating probability of wetland drainage into decision-making improved the overall return on investment. We recommend that future conservation scheduling for easements in the region and for private land conservation in general include some form of return on investment or cost-effective analysis to make conservation more transparent

    If you build it, they wille come : applying the lessons of collective action theory to the 1991 Persian Gulf War

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    La thĂ©orie de l'action collective a Ă©tĂ© appliquĂ©e aux problĂšmes de la rĂ©partition du fardeau entre les alliĂ©s et le financement des biens publics internationaux. Bien que la littĂ©rature concernant la thĂ©orie Ă©conomique de l'action collective ait Ă©voluĂ©, sa mise en application dans le domaine des relations internationales a stagnĂ©. Plusieurs questions de sĂ©curitĂ© internationale se situent au niveau rĂ©gional et mettent en jeu des biens collectifs rivaux et exclusifs. Ces questions de sĂ©curitĂ© collective peuvent ĂȘtre reformulĂ©es en terme thĂ©orique comme "biens d'association". Les biens d'association ont tendance Ă  ĂȘtre fourni efficacement. Une Ă©tude de cas portant sur la Guerre du Golfe de 1991 semble dĂ©montrer la pertinence de l'action collective et la thĂ©orie de club dans le cadre de coalitions militaires internationales. La thĂ©orie de l'action collective explique certaines relations causales dĂ©terminant le succĂšs de la crĂ©ation de coalitions. Le leadership d'un acteur dominant peut forcer ses alliĂ©s Ă  rĂ©vĂ©ler leurs prĂ©fĂ©rences et Ă  payer en fonction de celles-ci. La technologie de l'agrĂ©gation de forces militaires pour mener une guerre offensive permet le remboursement si l'agrĂ©gation nĂ©cessaire n'est pas achevĂ©e, changeant ainsi le calcul des coĂ»ts-bĂ©nĂ©fices. Cette technologie diminue le risque associĂ© au leadership dans l'action collective et augmente ainsi la possibilitĂ© de coopĂ©ration
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