203 research outputs found
Business opportunities and food safety of the Myanmar edible oil sector
This report analyses the business opportunities of the oilseed and edible oil sector in Myanmar as well as the food safety control system. Myanmar is a significant producer of oilseed specialities. It is worldâs largest producer of sesame seeds, ranks on the sixth position for groundnut production and for mustard seeds on the third position. However, the exports are insignificant. The food safety control system of this sector is developed weakly. Myanmar has huge opportunities on the world market: foreign currency earnings are in the magnitude of countryâs total trade deficit by exporting sesame oil substituted by importing a same amount of palm oil
Re-imagining the Borders of US Security after 9/11: Securitisation, Risk, and the Creation of the Department of Homeland Security
The articulation of international and transnational terrorism as a key issue in US security policy, as a result of the 9/11 attacks, has not only led to a policy rethink, it has also included a bureaucratic shift within the US, showing a re-thinking of the role of borders within US security policy. Drawing substantively on the 'securitisation' approach to security studies, the article analyses the discourse of US security in order to examine the founding of the Department of Homeland Security, noting that its mission provides a new way of conceptualising 'borders' for US national security. The securitisation of terrorism is, therefore, not only represented by marking terrorism as a security issue, it is also solidified in the organisation of security policy-making within the US state. As such, the impact of a 'war on terror' provides an important moment for analysing the re-articulation of what security is in the US, and, in theoretical terms, for reaffirming the importance of a relationship between the production of threat and the institutionalisation of threat response. © 2007 Taylor & Francis
Magnetic Field Draping in Induced Magnetospheres: Evidence from the MAVEN Mission to Mars
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission has been orbiting
Mars since 2014 and now has over 10,000 orbits which we use to characterize
Mars' dynamic space environment. Through global field line tracing with MAVEN
magnetic field data we find an altitude dependent draping morphology that
differs from expectations of induced magnetospheres in the vertical (
Mars Sun-state, MSO) direction. We quantify this difference from the classical
picture of induced magnetospheres with a Bayesian multiple linear regression
model to predict the draped field as a function of the upstream interplanetary
magnetic field (IMF), remanent crustal fields, and a previously underestimated
induced effect. From our model we conclude that unexpected twists in high
altitude dayside draping (800 km) are a result of the IMF component in the
MSO direction. We propose that this is a natural outcome of
current theories of induced magnetospheres but has been underestimated due to
approximations of the IMF as solely directed. We additionally
estimate that distortions in low altitude (800 km) dayside draping along
are directly related to remanent crustal fields. We show dayside
draping traces down tail and previously reported inner magnetotail twists are
likely caused by the crustal field of Mars, while the outer tail morphology is
governed by an induced response to the IMF direction. We conclude with an
updated understanding of induced magnetospheres which details dayside draping
for multiple directions of the incoming IMF and discuss the repercussions of
this draping for magnetotail morphology.Comment: Accepted in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physic
Integrating Machine Learning for Planetary Science: Perspectives for the Next Decade
Machine learning (ML) methods can expand our ability to construct, and draw
insight from large datasets. Despite the increasing volume of planetary
observations, our field has seen few applications of ML in comparison to other
sciences. To support these methods, we propose ten recommendations for
bolstering a data-rich future in planetary science.Comment: 10 pages (expanded citations compared to 8 page submitted version for
decadal survey), 3 figures, white paper submitted to the Planetary Science
and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-203
National Government Responses to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Certification: Insights from Atlantic Canada
Over the last decade, the proliferation of social and environmental certification programmes has attracted the attention of a growing number of political scientists interested in new forms of âprivateâ transnational governance. However, we still lack analyses on the nature and extent of different state responses to and involvement in new private transnational governance arrangements in particular sectors and in different jurisdictions. This paper advances our understanding of the interactions between nation-state and private transnational modes of governance by analysing the role of national government authorities in Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) fisheries certification in Atlantic Canada, known more for the disastrous collapse of Northern cod stocks than good marine stewardship. Focusing on the 2008 certification of Northern shrimp (Pandalus borealis) fisheries off the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the analysis finds that the implementation and maintenance of MSC certification in this case depended on significant support from government authorities. The delicate legitimacy of both authorities face a period of uncertainty in this case since some certified shrimp stocks appear to be in decline and perhaps also migrating northward off Newfoundland and Labrador
The Role of For-Profit Actors in Implementing Targeted Sanctions:The Case of the European Union
The evolution of sanctions from comprehensive to targeted has favored the inclusion of for-profit actors in the policy process. Sanctions are used to deal with security challenges and while the role of for-profit actors in the provision of public goods has been investigated, less has been said about their role in the provision of security. This chapter investigates the role of for-profit actors in the implementation of sanctions. More specifically, this chapter suggests a typology of regulatory environments that facilitates explaining and understanding the behavior of for-profit actors in implementing targeted sanctions. By looking at the quality of instructions provided by state authorities and their capacity to monitor the implementation of such decisions, the chapter argues that overcompliance, uneven and lack of compliance are more likely in certain regulatory environments rather than in others. The theoretical framework is tested on the case study of the restrictive measures of the EU. The data for this research was collected through semi-opened interviews and focus groups held in Brussels from 2013 to 2015
The political economy of international accounting standards
On 1 January 2005, all stock exchange listed companies in the European Union (EU) began using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) written by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). This article argues that the IASB's introduction of fair value accounting reflects and reinforces changed relations of production in which the financial sector increasingly dominates the productive sector, nationally institutionalized economic systems are undermined, and new forms of economic appropriation are validated. As a private body, the IASB has been able to rapidly introduce the fair value paradigm with little public debate outside specialized financial circles. In contrast to more functionalist views, this article argues that accounting standards are inherently political. Accounting numbers provide some of the key economic anchors around which social relations are structured. Accounting techniques cannot be reduced to questions of efficiency since they set out to quantify and compare things which, by their very nature, are neither quantifiable nor directly comparable. © 2006 Taylor & Francis
Enhancing Europeâs global power: a scenario exercise with eight proposals
In the present context of intensifying competition between the major trading economies and potentially game-changing technological developments, the European Union is generally seen as the weaker party. Lacking the âhard powerâ derived from military capabilities, it has laid claim to a âsoft powerâ of normative influence externally, yet even that is only partially utilised. Nor has Europe been able to exercise the power to coerce â âsharp powerâ â commensurate with its economic weight as a trading bloc equivalent in size and reach to the US or China, its most prominent global competitors. How can Europe strengthen its position, and in what fields? Through a scenario exercise, we develop eight policy proposals aimed at countering EuropeÂŽs vulnerabilities and enabling it to assert its sharp and soft power more effectively. Specifically, we consider the feasibility, means and scope for their realisation. Together, they provide a transformative agenda for the EUâs position in the world
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