The Armed Forces as security agency and the civil-military relationship in Brazil

In the run-up to major sports events, Brazil increasingly relies on the support of Armed Forces in the provision of public security. Given the country´s authoritarian past, this raises concerns about the current state of civilian supremacy over the military. Applying a model that subdivides the civil-military relationship into the five dimensions of elite recruitment, public policy, internal security, external defence as well as military organization, this article aims at assessing the development of civilian supremacy from the transition to democracy until today. It finds out that military prerogatives have been considerably reduced, even though the civilian supremacy still lacks a proper institutionalization. In the long run, informal ways of keeping the Armed Forces out of politics might not be efficient enough

Brasilien als "Emerging Donor": politische Distanz und operative Nähe zu den traditionellen Gebern

Durch den Aufstieg sogenannter »Emerging Donors«, die nicht zu den traditionellen Gebern gezählt werden, gerät die vorherrschende globale Entwicklungsarchitektur zunehmend unter Anpassungsdruck. Brasilien und andere Akteure des »globalen Südens« wie China oder Indien, die selber noch Entwicklungshilfeleistungen empfangen, werden seit einiger Zeit auch als Geber aktiv. Die Süd-Süd-Kooperationen haben sich im Zuge dessen dynamisch entwickelt. Dies hat einer seit längerem geführten Debatte Auftrieb gegeben, die sich mit den entwicklungspolitischen und politisch-strategischen Implikationen der Vervielfältigung aktiver Geber ebenso befasst wie mit Strategien zur Einbindung der neuen Geber – etwa in Gestalt von Dreieckskooperationen. Die arrivierten Geberländer der Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (OECD) begegnen nichttraditionellen Gebern oftmals mit jener Skepsis, die üblicherweise den »new kids on the block« gilt. Das Misstrauen der Industrienationen steigert sich noch, wenn die »Emerging Donors« zugleich »Emerging Powers« sind, die auf der internationalen Bühne eigene Ansprüche und Vorstellungen geltend machen – und dabei imstande sind, in bestimmten globalen Politikfeldern (oftmals abweichend von den Erwartungen der OECD-Staaten) gestaltend zu agieren. Als aufstrebende Konkurrenten auf dem entwicklungspolitischen Markt geraten sie sogar in Verruf, weil ihnen vorgeworfen wird, die politische und sozioökonomische Entwicklung in den Partnerländern negativ zu beeinflussen und dort die Politik der traditionellen Geber zu konterkarieren. In dieser Studie wird die Diskussion über die Zukunft der globalen Entwicklungsarchitektur aufgegriffen. Konkret wird nach Selbstverständnis und Praxis Brasiliens als nichttraditionellem Geber gefragt. (Autorenreferat

Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets from 1992 to 2020

Ice losses from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have accelerated since the 1990s, accounting for a significant increase in the global mean sea level. Here, we present a new 29-year record of ice sheet mass balance from 1992 to 2020 from the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE). We compare and combine 50 independent estimates of ice sheet mass balance derived from satellite observations of temporal changes in ice sheet flow, in ice sheet volume, and in Earth's gravity field. Between 1992 and 2020, the ice sheets contributed 21.0±1.9g€¯mm to global mean sea level, with the rate of mass loss rising from 105g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 between 1992 and 1996 to 372g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 between 2016 and 2020. In Greenland, the rate of mass loss is 169±9g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 between 1992 and 2020, but there are large inter-annual variations in mass balance, with mass loss ranging from 86g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 in 2017 to 444g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1 in 2019 due to large variability in surface mass balance. In Antarctica, ice losses continue to be dominated by mass loss from West Antarctica (82±9g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1) and, to a lesser extent, from the Antarctic Peninsula (13±5g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1). East Antarctica remains close to a state of balance, with a small gain of 3±15g€¯Gtg€¯yr-1, but is the most uncertain component of Antarctica's mass balance. The dataset is publicly available at 10.5285/77B64C55-7166-4A06-9DEF-2E400398E452 (IMBIE Team, 2021)

Synergy effects between MINUSTAH and public security in Brazil

This article assesses the complex relationship between UN Peace Operations and public security in Brazil. It shows that there are obvious similarities at an operational level between military actions in MINUSTAH and Rio´s Pacification, which arguably result in reciprocal learning processes among troops. With the establishment of dedicated training centres and a considerable amount of practical experience in missions that differ significantly from combat-orientated warfare, soldiers are becoming increasingly familiar with police tasks. Considering the extension of the legal framework for allowing domestic military actions, I argue that this “police-ization of the military” (Dunlap, 1999, p. 222) is probably more significant for internal “Guaranteeing Law and Order” (GLO) missions than for further Brazilian participations in Peace Operations

Final Results of a Phase I/II Trial of the Combination Bendamustine and Rituximab With Temsirolimus (BeRT) in Relapsed Mantle Cell Lymphoma and Follicular Lymphoma

In this phase I/II study, we explored the combination of Temsirolimus with Bendamustine and Rituximab (BeRT) in patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) follicular lymphoma (FL) or mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). Patients with 1 to 3 previous therapies received Bendamustine (90 mg/m(2), day 1 +2) and Rituximab (375 mg/m(2), day 1) with Temsirolimus in doses from 25 to 75 mg in phase I and 50 mg Temsirolimus in phase II, added on day 1, 8,15 of a 28 days cycle. The primary endpoint of the phase II was ORR at the end of treatment. Overall, 39 (29 MCL, 10 FL) patients were included. Median age was 71 years and median pretreatment number was 2. Grade 3/4 non-hematologic adverse events were rare and included hyperglycemia in 3 patients (7%) and angioedema in 2 patients (5%). Infectious complications grade 3/4 were observed in 9 patients (23%). Hematologic grade 3/4 events included leukopenia in 22 (56%), neutropenia in 18 (46%), lyrnphopenia in 16 (41%) and thrombocytopenia in 14 patients (36%). An objective response (best response) was observed in 33/39 patients (89%; 24 MCL (89%) and 9 FL (90%)), including 14 CR (38%; 12 MCL (36%) and 2 FL (20%)). Median PFS is 1.5y for MCL and 1.82 years for FL, and median OS has not been reached for either entity. This data demonstrates promising efficacy of Temsirolimus in r/r MCL and FL with acceptable toxicity. The BeRT regimen may be used as a treatment option for both entities