The "empty shell" approach: the setup process of international administrations in Timor-Leste and Kosovo, its consequences and lessons

State-building under the aegis of international administrations has faced various hurdles and obstacles in Kosovo and Timor-Leste — failures that came to full light in March 2004 in Kosovo and in May 2006 in Timor-Leste. However, the international conception buttressing the set up of international administrations — I dub it the "empty-shell" approach — is still present in certain policy circles. This article aims to analyze this international conception by clarifying how the UN came to impose its authority over the two territories in a very similar process. While the literature on each state-building experiment is vast and com- pelling, few authors have attempted to contrast the two case studies, especially regarding the mental conception informing the governance process of these territories since 1999. This article links the empty-shell approach with the delegitimization process that came to be experi- enced by the UN in both cases. The article describes the international policies put in place by the UN to expand its control over the two terri- tories, a mix of co-option of local elites and the marginalization of the local population. Finally, the article reveals some possible solutions in order to avoid the more blatant difficulties pertaining to state-building conducted from the outside-in

Operational testing of a figure of merit for overall task performance

An overall indicator or figure of merit (FOM), for the quality of pilot performance is needed to define optimal workload levels, predict system failure, measure the impact of new automation in the cockpit, and define the relative contributions of subtasks to overall task performance. A normative FOM was developed based on the calculation of a standard score for each component of a complex task. It reflected some effects, detailed in an earlier study, of the introduction of new data link technology into the cockpit. Since the technique showed promise, further testing was done. A new set of data was obtained using the recently developed Multi-Attribute Task Battery. This is a complex battery consisting of four tasks which can be varied in task demand, and on which performance measures can be obtained. This battery was presented to 12 subjects in a 20 minute trial at each of three levels of workload or task demand, and performance measures collected on all four tasks. The NASA-TLX workload rating scale was presented at minutes 6, 12, and 18, of each trial. A figure of merit was then obtained for each run of the battery by calculating a mean, SD, and standard score for each task. Each task contributed its own proportion to the overall FOM, and relative contributions changed with increasing workload. Thus, the FOM shows the effect of task changes, not only on the individual task that is changed, but also on the performance of other tasks and of the whole task. The cost to other tasks of maintaining constant performance on an individual task can be quantified

Lifting Coalgebra Modalities and MELL\mathsf{MELL} Model Structure to Eilenberg-Moore Categories

A categorical model of the multiplicative and exponential fragments of intuitionistic linear logic ($\mathsf{MELL}$), known as a \emph{linear category}, is a symmetric monoidal closed category with a monoidal coalgebra modality (also known as a linear exponential comonad). Inspired by Blute and Scott's work on categories of modules of Hopf algebras as models of linear logic, we study categories of algebras of monads (also known as Eilenberg-Moore categories) as models of $\mathsf{MELL}$. We define a $\mathsf{MELL}$ lifting monad on a linear category as a Hopf monad -- in the Brugui{\`e}res, Lack, and Virelizier sense -- with a special kind of mixed distributive law over the monoidal coalgebra modality. As our main result, we show that the linear category structure lifts to the category of algebras of $\mathsf{MELL}$ lifting monads. We explain how groups in the category of coalgebras of the monoidal coalgebra modality induce $\mathsf{MELL}$ lifting monads and provide a source for such groups from enrichment over abelian groups. Along the way we also define mixed distributive laws of symmetric comonoidal monads over symmetric monoidal comonads and lifting differential category structure.Comment: An extend abstract version of this paper appears in the conference proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Formal Structures for Computation and Deduction (FSCD 2018), under the title "Lifting Coalgebra Modalities and $\mathsf{MELL}$ Model Structure to Eilenberg-Moore Categories

Bivariate Bannai-Ito polynomials

A two-variable extension of the Bannai-Ito polynomials is presented. They are obtained via $q\to-1$ limits of the bivariate $q$-Racah and Askey-Wilson orthogonal polynomials introduced by Gasper and Rahman. Their orthogonality relation is obtained. These new polynomials are also shown to be multispectral. Two Dunkl shift operators are seen to be diagonalized by the bivariate Bannai-Ito polynomials and 3- and 9-term recurrence relations are provided.Comment: 19 page

Rosca Participation in Benin: a Commitment Issue

In the light of first-hand data from a Beninese urban household survey in Cotonou, we investigate several motives aiming to explain participation in Rotating Savings and Credit ASsociations. We provide anecdotal pieces of evidence, descriptive statistics, FIML regressions and matching estimates which tend to indicate that most individuals use their participation in a rosca as a device to commit themselves to save money and to deal with self-control problems.ROSCA, self-control, commitment device, Benin

An empirically derived figure of merit for the quality of overall task performance

The need to develop an operationally relevant figure of merit for the quality of performance of a complex system such as an aircraft cockpit stems from a hypothesized dissociation between measures of performance and those of workload. Performance can be measured in terms of time, errors, or a combination of these. In most tasks performed by expert operators, errors are relatively rare and often corrected in time to avoid consequences. Moreover, perfect performance is seldom necessary to accomplish a particular task. Moreover, how well an expert performs a complex task consisting of a series of discrete cognitive tasks superimposed on a continuous task, such as flying an aircraft, does not depend on how well each discrete task is performed, but on their smooth sequencing. This makes the amount of time spent on each subtask of paramount importance in measuring overall performance, since smooth sequencing requires a minimum amount of time spent on each task. Quality consists in getting tasks done within a crucial time interval while maintaining acceptable continuous task performance. Thus, a figure of merit for overall quality of performance should be primarily a measure of time to perform discrete subtasks combined with a measure of basic vehicle control. Thus, the proposed figure of merit requires doing a task analysis on a series of performance, or runs, of a particular task, listing each discrete task and its associated time, and calculating the mean and standard deviation of these times, along with the mean and standard deviation of tracking error for the whole task. A set of simulator data on 30 runs of a landing task was obtained and a figure of merit will be calculated for each run. The figure of merit will be compared for voice and data link, so that the impact of this technology on total crew performance (not just communication performance) can be assessed. The effect of data link communication on other cockpit tasks will also be considered

Coerced transitions in Timor-Leste and Kosovo

Statebuilding under the aegis of international administrations has faced various hurdles and obstacles in Kosovo and Timor-Leste. One of these hurdles is related to the specific mandate of these missions, which created a specific conflict of objectives for the international presence – between democracy promotion and institution-building. The piece analyzes specifically the strategies of international and local elites in this context. After trying to prioritize institution-building while paying lip service to democratization imperatives, international officials had to readjust their strategy following contestation and resistance from local partners. Facing practical consequences of the conflict of objectives, international officials then proceeded to prioritize democracy promotion imperatives and reduced their institution-building role. The paper concludes on the implications of these experiences for the debate concerning democracy promotion and highlights the possibilities of the “participatory intervention” framework put forth by Chopra and Hohe