EU development policy: evolving as an instrument of foreign policy and as an expression of solidarity

This article introduces the special issue on the evolution of European Union development policy, against the background of fundamental challenges that have emerged since the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. The special issue's objective is to highlight the complex dynamics of a policy area that is called on to address the massive challenges of poverty, inequality, healthcare capacity, climate change, insecurity and weak governance in countries of the global south, and at the same time support European foreign policy objectives including political stability, migration management, access to resources and markets. In this introductory article, we attempt to sketch the broad outlines of the conceptual and practical dilemmas faced by a policy area that is supposed to be able to fix almost any problem. We observe that European development policy's evolution is driven by the tension between its raison d'etre as a concrete expression of global solidarity and international cooperation, and its increasing instrumentalisation in the service of European economic and security interests. We highlight some of the key challenges that have emerged in the last decade, including rising populist nationalism and Brexit within Europe, the changing nature of relationships between Europe and countries who receive EU aid, and the changing nature of development cooperation itself, exemplified by the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. We outline the specific contributions the articles in this special issue make to research and policy debates on the themes we raise in this introduction. We conclude that the battle between the forces of solidarity and instrumentality has evolved EU development policy into an impossibly complex arena of competing norms, practices and institutions, which raises many open questions for future research

Collective behavior and evolutionary games - An introduction

This is an introduction to the special issue titled "Collective behavior and evolutionary games" that is in the making at Chaos, Solitons & Fractals. The term collective behavior covers many different phenomena in nature and society. From bird flocks and fish swarms to social movements and herding effects, it is the lack of a central planner that makes the spontaneous emergence of sometimes beautifully ordered and seemingly meticulously designed behavior all the more sensational and intriguing. The goal of the special issue is to attract submissions that identify unifying principles that describe the essential aspects of collective behavior, and which thus allow for a better interpretation and foster the understanding of the complexity arising in such systems. As the title of the special issue suggests, the later may come from the realm of evolutionary games, but this is certainly not a necessity, neither for this special issue, and certainly not in general. Interdisciplinary work on all aspects of collective behavior, regardless of background and motivation, and including synchronization and human cognition, is very welcome.Comment: 6 two-column pages, 1 figure; accepted for publication in Chaos, Solitons & Fractals [the special issue is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09600779/56

Complex Networks

Introduction to the Special Issue on Complex Networks, Artificial Life journal.Comment: 7 pages, in pres

Trust and control interrelations: New perspectives on the trust control nexus

This article is the post-print version of the published article that may be accessed at the link below. Copyright @ 2007 Sage Publications.This article introduces the special issue on New Perspectives on the Trust-Control Nexus in Organizational Relations. Trust and control are interlinked processes commonly seen as key to reach effectiveness in inter- and intraorganizational relations. The relation between trust and control is, however, a complex one, and research into this relation has given rise to various and contradictory interpretations of how trust and control relate. A well-known discussion is directed at whether trust and control are better conceived as substitutes, or as complementary mechanisms of governance. The articles in this special issue bring the discussion on the relationship between both concepts a step further by identifying common factors, distinctive mechanisms, and key implications relevant for theory building and empirical research. By studying trust and control through different perspectives and at different levels of analysis, the articles provide new theoretical insights and empirical evidence on the foundations of the trust-control interrelations

Evolutionary game theory: Temporal and spatial effects beyond replicator dynamics

Evolutionary game dynamics is one of the most fruitful frameworks for studying evolution in different disciplines, from Biology to Economics. Within this context, the approach of choice for many researchers is the so-called replicator equation, that describes mathematically the idea that those individuals performing better have more offspring and thus their frequency in the population grows. While very many interesting results have been obtained with this equation in the three decades elapsed since it was first proposed, it is important to realize the limits of its applicability. One particularly relevant issue in this respect is that of non-mean-field effects, that may arise from temporal fluctuations or from spatial correlations, both neglected in the replicator equation. This review discusses these temporal and spatial effects focusing on the non-trivial modifications they induce when compared to the outcome of replicator dynamics. Alongside this question, the hypothesis of linearity and its relation to the choice of the rule for strategy update is also analyzed. The discussion is presented in terms of the emergence of cooperation, as one of the current key problems in Biology and in other disciplines.Comment: Review, 48 pages, 26 figure

Trade development strategy, regional economic development and cooperation: The case of the Murmansk region, Russia

The purpose of the article is to explore the concept of a trade development strategy and to identify its impact on cross-border trade and cooperation. The case focuses on the Murmansk region and cross-border trade with Finland. This study is designed as a qualitative, single-case, embedded study. Primary data collection was executed by means of a survey and semi-structured interviews. The acquired data were analyzed by developing a case description. In this study trade development strategy is understood from the practice theory perspective and is defined as a set of strategic activities initiated by formal and informal institutions. The concept of a trade development strategy includes activities related to (1) intelligent growth, (2) trade promotion, (3) infrastructure development, and (4) support for market access and international trade cooperation. This study reveals that the absence of a thoroughly devised international trade´development strategy in the Murmansk region does not allow for the streamlining of strategizing activities related to trade development; therefore the activities tend to be uncoordinated and unbalanced

Cellulose Biodegradation Models; An Example of Cooperative Interactions in Structured Populations

We introduce various models for cellulose bio-degradation by micro-organisms. Those models rely on complex chemical mechanisms, involve the structure of the cellulose chains and are allowed to depend on the phenotypical traits of the population of micro-organisms. We then use the corresponding models in the context of multiple-trait populations. This leads to classical, logistic type, reproduction rates limiting the growth of large populations but also, and more surprisingly, limiting the growth of populations which are too small in a manner similar to the effects seen in populations requiring cooperative interactions (or sexual reproduction). This study hence offers a striking example of how some mechanisms resembling cooperation can occur in structured biological populations, even in the absence of any actual cooperation.Comment: 37 pages, accepted to ESAIM: Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Analysis (2017