The Emerging Budget Crisis: Urgent Fiscal Choices

This report presents a sober examination of the large, long-term federal budget deficits facing the United States. The report also strongly warns that, with the retirement of the baby-boom generation a few short years away, policymakers can afford to wait no longer to make the difficult decisions necessary to prepare the country for the economic consequences of an aging population. Prudent action is needed now on all budgetary fronts to avoid a financial debacle -- with significant implications for important issues such as taxes, health care, and Social Security

The safety and regulatory challenges associated with the geological disposal of the UK’s higher activity radioactive waste in England and Wales

The UK’s higher activity waste (HAW) is set to be disposed of in a geological disposal facility (GDF). International consensus is that a GDF provides the most comprehensive means of isolating and containing HAW and its harmful radionuclides, with nations at different stages in their implementation of geological disposal. The maturity of some nations’ disposal programmes (e.g. Finland, Sweden) ensures a regulatory framework for their GDF is well established. The UK is currently engaged in a GDF site selection process, as such it is necessary that the regulatory framework for the geological disposal of its radioactive waste be fully established to meet the unique challenges posed by this first-of-a-kind facility for the UK. The reduced hazard potential and unique features of the GDF may mean the existing framework applied to UK nuclear installations does not proportionately meet the requirements for maintaining worker and public safety and the protection of the environment. The purpose of the work presented in this thesis was to investigate the safety and regulatory challenges associated with the geological disposal of UK HAW. This began by building an understanding of the fundamentals of radioactive waste and geological disposal in the UK and the risks associated with geological disposal. Having investigated the performance of proposed engineered barrier materials for the GDF, a simplified, 1-dimensional risk assessment model was developed for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in a hypothetical geological setting. The model was verified against data provided by Radioactive Waste Management Ltd (RWM Ltd), the UK’s GDF delivery body, and utilised to conduct sensitivity studies, for the purpose of identify factors which could significantly impact on the radiological risk to the public due to the disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel. Where significant, it was considered whether this might impact on the nature of the regulatory oversight required. The framework applied to nuclear installations in the regulation of nuclear safety, security, environmental protection and safeguards was mapped and analysed for its applicability to GDF-specific challenges. International experience in the regulation of GDFs was drawn upon in order to identify common features. Stakeholder opinion, including members of industry, regulators, waste producers and local interest groups, was also sought, in order to highlight their views on the applicability of the current system of nuclear site licensing to a GDF. This work culminated with a proposal for a regulatory framework, which aims to proportionately address the unique challenges associated with geological disposal.Open Acces

An Analysis of Government Capabilities in Countering Terrorist Financing in Indonesia

Since 2002, Indonesia has enacted policies aimed at Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT). This thesis explores the ways in which terrorist groups in Indonesia have developed their financial structure and examines in detail the impact of CFT policies in disrupting illicit financial flows used for terrorism purposes between the period 2002 -2019. To this end, it provides an ethical analysis of the following questions: How have CFT policies used to combat terrorist financing networks in Indonesia, evolved between 2002 to 2019, and what impact have these policies had? Recent literature in this area presents that the Indonesian government has adopted measures in countering terrorist financing that were consistent with the FATF recommendations. Existing policy analysis discusses policy outputs and outcomes in terms of compliance or otherwise with the FATF recommendations. However, despite operational improvements in Indonesian CFT policies, the threat of terrorism remains relatively high. Law enforcement and policymakers are struggling to keep ahead in tackling terrorist financing crime. Rapid changes in terrorist financing environments, including rising abuse of charities, women and advanced technology in payment systems, pose emerging threats to the effective implementation of CFT policies. The analytical framework utilises a policy evaluation model that includes the concept of evidence-based policy analysis, impact analysis approach, and unintended consequences examination. Drawing on court documents, government reports and interviews with policymakers, investigators and experts in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Australia, this thesis is unique in which it identifies dynamics of terrorist financing networks and probes shortcomings in Indonesian CFT policies, noting the limited impact on terrorist financing networks. I argue that terrorist groups in Indonesia responded to changes in legislation, policy and procedures, technology, and social trends. Financial regulatory measures and law enforcement efforts play significant roles in disrupting terrorist financial transactions and thus undermining terrorist activities. In order to counter terrorist financing more effectively, the Indonesian government modified its CFT policies, but without catching up with the changes in terrorist financing tactics. Furthermore, this thesis also shows that the implementation of CFT policies generates intended and unintended consequences, which countries should acknowledge and address to improve policy effectiveness. Overall, the thesis shows that Indonesian CFT policies are lagging behind the development of technology as the primary channel used by terrorist groups to communicate, raise and move funds. Therefore, the crucial element of terrorist financial flows was left unaddressed. CFT policies fail to address the risks arising from evolving terrorist financing networks in Indonesia. This thesis suggests that there is room for improvement in the implementation of CFT policies to prevent financial support channelled for social welfare outreach through NPOs, and to diminish the misuse of illegal money remittances and financial technology for terrorist financing purposes. The present study will serve as a base for future studies where the growing threats of terrorism may potentially lead to a new era of cyberterrorism

Best Practices for Critical Information Infrastructure Protection (CIIP): Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean and Selected Countries

Over the past few decades, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has witnessed numerous changes in its development, with most being beneficial. Positive changes relate to sizable growth and expansion of the region’s network infrastructure sectors, such as transport, energy, and information and communications technologies (ICT), among others. In many cases, ICT interconnects these critical infrastructures, creating substructures referred to as critical information infrastructures (CIIs). This publication is written to provide insights to the strategic thinking behind the creation of the national critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP) frameworks. It also builds its recommendations on in-depth analysis of the best CIIP practices around the world, with consideration of the region-specific landscape to originate a base line from which further development can be delineated

State sovereignty and alternative community in southern Africa: exploring the Zion Christian Church as the building block for deeper notions of regional community

Regional community in southern Africa has been limited to the region’s states. As a result, deeper notions of community emanating from non-state actors, particularly transnational social movements, continue to be ignored. In an attempt to transcend state centrism, this thesis highlights alternative forms of regional community by exploring the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), one of southern Africa’s biggest and fastest growing cross-border movements. The ZCC is a potential agent for developing regional community from the bottom-up, driving a people-oriented regional integration approach in southern Africa. The ZCC, with its extensive following among the region’s poor, offers a compelling example of a grassroots and truly bottom-up approach to regional community. This thesis explores the possibility of the ZCC as a model of alternative community and identity centred on people’s daily experiences and grounded in a shared history and solidarity. It seeks to highlight the significance of transnational movements like the ZCC to policy makers in the region and it argues that grassroots communities are marching ahead of SADC member states and politicians in the area of integration. There exists a transnational cooperation amongst followers of the ZCC and other grassroots communities across the region and this cooperation transcends the traditional notion of state sovereignty, thereby highlighting deeper notions of what it means to be a community at regional level

ADDRESSING CASCADING CONSEQUENCES FOR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND VITAL SOCIETAL FUNCTIONS IN FLOODING EVENTS

Although there have been significant advances in the research field of critical infrastructures and vital societal functions during the last decade, there still exist many challenges in implementing and carrying out studies in practice. One of these challenges is a feasible method for mapping, analysing and visualising the cascading consequences that arise for critical infrastructures and societal functions affected by large spatial hazards. The presented study is the result from commissioned work for the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), aiming at contributing to improved risk, vulnerability and continuity management for regions in Sweden at risk of being affected by severe spatial hazards. The study takes it basis from, and connects to, ongoing work in Sweden relating to the risk of severe flooding events in accordance to the EU Floods Directive and work related to critical infrastructure protection in accordance to the EU Directive on European Critical Infrastructures. The results from the study where mainly derived through a literature review and workshops, utilising a flood prone region in Sweden as a case. The literature review focused on methods and approaches, both scientific and in grey literature, for estimation, visualisation and weighing of consequence arising for critical infrastructures and vital societal functions for large spatial hazards. Here a specific focus was on literature addressing the issue of interdependencies and the use of GIS. The workshops involved participants from critical infrastructure operators, municipalities, regional county boards, MSB, Statistics Sweden, among others, aiming at the practical needs and challenges for a method and for testing the developed method. From the literature review it was clear that most studies focus on analysing the direct consequences of large spatial hazards. Only few studies address the indirect consequences that arise due to interdependencies, revealing that indirect consequences can be as high or higher than the direct consequences. This necessitates the need for addressing indirect consequences systematically. The review also highlighted that the required underlying data is not easily attainable and comes with several challenges with respect to collection, analysis and visualization of the results for decision making. The developed method is concluded to both fulfil a need, as expressed by the participants in the workshops, and was considered as a feasible approach to start addressing the issue of cascading consequences during large spatial events. However, we also conclude that, based on the literature review and the practical challenges present in this area, ample research opportunities exist

Taking back control of the energy sector?:A legal analysis of Brexit and the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement

This book focuses on the legal consequences of Brexit for the energy sector both in the United Kingdom and in the European Union. In particular, it considers to what extent the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is adequate for the energy sector post-Brexit by exploring whether the TCA delivers legal certainty, has been effectively implemented, and meets the Brexit objectives.The analysis of these questions leads to several recommendations, for instance in relation to the implementation of the TCA and its extension to new energy technologies