Europe must adapt to the reality that we are living in a world increasingly dominated by Asia

Economic development in China and other Asian countries has an impact on the role of European states in global affairs. Craig J. Willy argues that with the rise of Asian economies, the world is increasingly moving away from the model of free trade championed by Europe and other states in the West. Unless Europe becomes a more cohesive actor which is capable of convincing other nations to respect Western legal and commercial principles, it will find itself forced to adapt to the East Asian development model

Contrary to what is promoted by the EU’s central bankers, higher taxes tend to coincide with lower deficits and low debt.

Eurozone central bankers have advocated cutting taxes as part of deficit reduction, placing the burden entirely on public spending cuts, while politicians across the eurozone have tended to prefer spending cuts over tax increases in implementing austerity. But are lower taxes the key to deficit reduction? Craig J. Willy looks at evidence from across the OECD and finds that higher taxes tend to be correlated with lower levels of public debt, and greater fiscal sustainability. In addition, greater levels of income equality in countries are also correlated with fiscal sustainability

In order to avoid a demographic “death trap” Western Europe must implement new and fair policies for both present and future generations.

The principle of ‘intergenerational justice’ implies that young people should be treated fairly in comparison with older citizens. As Craig J. Willy notes, however, large debt burdens, unsustainable economic practices, and the electoral effects of ageing populations present a challenge in ensuring fairness for young Europeans. He argues that while some policies, such as compulsory voting, or providing ‘extra’ votes to parents (Demeny voting), might improve the representation of young people, policy experimentation across Europe is likely to be the key in avoiding a demographic ‘death trap’

Diverging trends in 2004 accession states show how fragile Central-Eastern European attachment to western political models really is

It is now over a decade since the 2004 enlargement which brought eight states in Central and Eastern Europe into the EU, alongside Cyprus and Malta. Craig Willy writes that while most of these states greeted EU accession enthusiastically, political trends have been diverse in the decade since. While some countries, such as Poland, have embraced a largely ‘Western’ political model, other states such as Hungary have started to move in the opposite direction. He argues that these developments illustrate how fragile the attachment to the EU and Western institutions really is in Central-Eastern European states

Belgium must do more to prevent its citizens from joining Islamic State

Among European countries, Belgian citizens account for one of the largest per capita shares of foreign Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq. Craig J. Willy writes on Belgian immigration and labour market policies in light of the threat posed by terrorism. He argues that Belgium could be doing substantially more to promote equal opportunities in employment and education, which would help improve the integration of migrants into Belgian society

Minnesota River Basin Flood Mapping and Impact Assessment

South Central Minnesota has experienced frequent flooding in the past because of the relatively flat topography, low elevation, and large amounts of snow melt in the spring. When these events happen, there is a large economic impact and potential health hazards to residents of the area. Having up-to-date flood zone maps can help residents be better prepared for emergency situations. Using Geographic Information Science (GIS), flood zone maps can be updated frequently in a more time efficient and inexpensive manner. Using a 30-meter digital elevation model (DEM) Compound Topographic Index (CTI) and Stream Power Index (SPI) layers were calculated for the all of South Central Minnesota for this study. These two indices combined were used to identify areas that would be more prone to flooding. 30-meter, 10-meter, and 3-meter resolution DEMs were used to create CTI and SPI layers for analysis in the Seven Mile Creek Watershed. They were used to not only find areas prone to flooding but also to find how the resolution of the DEM affects the outcomes of the indices. Also, flood levels were created for the city of Mankato, MN using a DEM cell selection process. These flood levels were used to identify land and buildings that could be inundated in the event of flood water breaching the levee. The costs of such damages were also calculated using parcel shapefiles and lidar-derived building footprints. The role of the DEM was also examined during the creation of these flood levels. Using 30-meter, 10-meter, and 1-meter resolution DEMs, the differences in the total extent of each flood stage and the predicted financial impacts were examined

Robust Sensitivity Analysis for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) Proposal Selection Model

Throughout Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, the Department of Defense (DoD) faced challenges not experienced in our previous military operations. The enemy’s unwavering dedication to the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against the coalition forces continues to challenge the day-to-day operations of the current war. The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization’s (JIEDDO) proposal solicitation process enables military and non-military organizations to request funding for the development of Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) projects. Decision Analysis (DA) methodology serves as a tool to assist the decision maker (DM) in making an informed decision. This research applies Value Focused Thinking (VFT), a specific methodology within DA, to the JIEDDO proposal selection process in order to assist DMs in filtering out proposals that do not meet desired C-IED objectives. This research evaluated the validity of the previously developed JIEDDO Proposal Value model to address the following questions: Does the value model adequately reflect JIEDDO’s decision process; and secondly, given the dynamic environment of the current war, how confident can we be in the model’s ability to continually and effectively screen proposals based JIEDDO’s current values? The author utilizes multivariate techniques to investigate JIEDDO’s ability to make consistent decisions within their proposal evaluation process. Once it has been determined that the model effectively screens proposals, it is possible to proceed with the second question. By consolidating and applying n-way sensitivity analysis techniques the author proposes a consistent sensitivity analysis image profiling technique