Pragmatism and effective fragmented governance : comparing trajectories in small arms and military and security services

A hallmark of contemporary global governance is its complex nature. Understanding the implications of the array of “governors” and their efforts is paramount for scholars of global law and global politics. Most analyses have treated fragmented governance as a piece, arguing about its general effects. I concentrate instead on variation within fragmented situations, seeking to understand the conditions under which complexity yields more or less effective governance. I propose an analytical scheme for gauging effectiveness focused on how the array of governance efforts in an issue area relate to one another. I then compare these efforts in two issue arenas: small arms and private military and security services. Despite a similar complexity, similar array of actors trying to exert influence, and similar timing, complexity in small arms generated what most see as less effective results while in military and security services it has generated what seems to be a more promising path toward effective governance mechanisms. This difference is best explained with insights from pragmatism and network theory. When a broader range of relevant governors engage pragmatically to form linked networks governance is more likely. When governors engage ideologically and break off ties governance is less likely. Pragmatic engagement among the variety of relevant governors, including the US, is most likely to generate effective global governance. Una característica distintiva del gobierno mundial contemporáneo es su naturaleza compleja. Entender las implicaciones de la serie de "gobernadores" y sus esfuerzos es fundamental para los estudiosos del derecho internacional y la política mundial. La mayoría de los análisis han tratado el gobierno fragmentado como una pieza, discutiendo sobre sus efectos generales. El análisis se centra en cambio en la variación dentro de situaciones fragmentadas, buscando entender las condiciones en las que la complejidad produce un gobierno más o menos efectivo. Se propone un esquema analítico para medir la eficacia centrada en cómo el conjunto de esfuerzos de gobierno en un área temática se relacionan entre sí. Así, se comparan estos esfuerzos en dos ámbitos: las armas pequeñas y los servicios de seguridad y militares privados. A pesar de una complejidad similar, una gama similar de actores que tratan de ejercer influencia y un calendario similar, la complejidad de armas pequeñas generó ver los resultados como menos eficaces, mientras que en los servicios militares y de seguridad ha supuesto lo que parece ser un camino más prometedor hacia mecanismos eficaces de gobierno. Esta diferencia se explica mejor con los puntos de vista de pragmatismo y la teoría de redes. Cuando una gama más amplia de relevantes gobiernos emplea una forma pragmática para formar redes vinculadas, la gobernabilidad es más probable. Cuando los mandatarios se enfrentan ideológicamente y se rompen los lazos, el gobierno es menos probable. El compromiso pragmático entre la variedad de relevantes gobiernos, incluyendo EE.UU., es más probable que genere un gobierno mundial eficaz

Race, Ethnicity, and American Views of Climate Change

Asian, Hispanic, and Black Americans are more likely to view climate change as a threat than Americans as a whole, data show.In the United States, definitions of national security threats are shifting, highly politicized, and closely tied to identity. At the same time, the US is more racially diverse than at any time in its past. To better understand how this diversity feeds into threat perception, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the New America Foundation have partnered to conduct novel research on the views of white, Black, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans as part of the 2022 Chicago Council Survey

De novo assembly and annotation of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) genome

Background: Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) is an economically and ecologically important fish species in the family Nototheniidae. Juveniles occupy progressively deeper waters as they mature and grow, and adults have been caught as deep as 2500 m, living on or in just above the southern shelves and slopes around the sub-Antarctic islands of the Southern Ocean. As apex predators, they are a key part of the food web, feeding on a variety of prey, including krill, squid, and other fish. Despite its importance, genomic sequence data, which could be used for more accurate dating of the divergence between Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish, or establish whether it shares adaptations to temperature with fish living in more polar or equatorial climes, has so far been limited. Results: A high-quality D. eleginoides genome was generated using a combination of Illumina, PacBio and Omni-C sequencing technologies. To aid the genome annotation, the transcriptome derived from a variety of toothfish tissues was also generated using both short and long read sequencing methods. The final genome assembly was 797.8 Mb with a N50 scaffold length of 3.5 Mb. Approximately 31.7% of the genome consisted of repetitive elements. A total of 35,543 putative protein-coding regions were identified, of which 50% have been functionally annotated. Transcriptomics analysis showed that approximately 64% of the predicted genes (22,617 genes) were found to be expressed in the tissues sampled. Comparative genomics analysis revealed that the anti-freeze glycoprotein (AFGP) locus of D. eleginoides does not contain any AFGP proteins compared to the same locus in the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni). This is in agreement with previously published results looking at hybridization signals and confirms that Patagonian toothfish do not possess AFGP coding sequences in their genome. Conclusions: We have assembled and annotated the Patagonian toothfish genome, which will provide a valuable genetic resource for ecological and evolutionary studies on this and other closely related species

Military maladaptation : counterinsurgency and the politics of failure

Tactical learning is critical to battlefield success, especially in a counterinsurgency. This article tests the existing model of military adaption against a ‘most-likely’ case: the British Army’s counterinsurgency in the Southern Cameroons (1960–61). Despite meeting all preconditions thought to enable adaptation – decentralization, leadership turnover, supportive leadership, poor organizational memory, feedback loops, and a clear threat – the British still failed to adapt. Archival evidence suggests politicians subverted bottom-up adaptation, because winning came at too high a price in terms of Britain’s broader strategic imperatives. Our finding identifies an important gap in the extant adaptation literature: it ignores politics.PostprintPeer reviewe

From Mercenary to Citizen Armies: Explaining Change in the Practice of War

Mercenaries went out of style in the nineteenth century. Statesaltered the conduct of war by raising citizen armies and eschewing theuse of mercenaries in practice or in law. It became common sense thatarmies should be staffed with citizens. Both realists and sociologistshave interpreted this change as a functional response to aninternationaldemand, either strategic or normative. Realists assumestates act strategically to insure their security in the system, sostates choose strategies that win wars.

The Private Security Events Database (PSED)

THE PRIVATE SECURITY EVENTS DATABASE (PSED) provides information on more than 1200 events related to private military and security companies in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia from 1990-2012. It includes information on the services PMSCs provide, the clients they work for, and the consequences of their actions. An updated version extending the data to 2016 will be released later in 2019