A European perspective for Ukraine: risks and challenges ; strategy recommendations

Die vorliegenden Empfehlungen befassen sich mit den Risiken und Herausforderungen, die sich aus einem EU-Beitritt der Ukraine ergeben. Zunächst beleuchten die Autoren den schwierigen Transitionsprozess in der Ukraine seit der 1991 erlangten Unabhängigkeit. Außenpolitisch wird ein erfolgreicher Balanceakt zwischen Russland und dem Westen vollzogen. Die innenpolitischen Reformen hin zu mehr Demokratie, Marktwirtschaft und Zivilgesellschaft hingegen werden nur sehr langsam vorgenommen, wofür neben einem Mangel an Fachkräften vor allem Korruption und die Nutzung staatlicher Institutionen für private Interessen verantwortlich sind. Obwohl es der Regierung im Jahr 2000 gelungen ist Strukturreformen durchzusetzen, die eine Maximierung des Wohlfahrtseffektes zum Ziel haben, stellen die zuvor erwähnten Probleme ein Risiko für die Transformation und die Beziehungen zur EU dar. Dies wird durch die neue Anti-Reform-Koalitionsregierung, die seit April 2001 regiert, noch verstärkt. Die Autoren bemängeln in diesem Zusammenhang das Wirtschaftswachstum, den nicht vollzogenen Beitritt zur WTO, fehlende administrative und strukturelle Reformen, die prekäre Situation des Staatshaushaltes sowie das schlechte Investitionsklima. Im Anschluss daran wird die europäische Politik gegenüber der Ukraine und hier vor allem das Partnerschafts- und Kooperationsabkommen, untersucht. Eine Mitgliedschaft der Ukraine hängt zum einen von der Entwicklung des Transformationsprozesses ab und zum anderen von dem Interesse der Ukraine selbst, EU-Mitglied zu werden. Abschließend geben die Autoren noch einige Strategieempfehlungen hinsichtlich der Beziehungen mit der Ukraine, aber auch der Osterweiterung im allgemeinen. Es wird deutlich, dass die EU in zunehmendem Maß Verantwortung für Sicherheit und Stabilität in Europa übernimmt. Das Defizit seitens der EU-Kommission besteht allerdings in einer mangelnden Differenzierung der potentiellen Beitrittskandidaten. (ICD

Belarus: kritische Überlegungen zu Politik und Wirtschaft des Lukaschenko-Regimes

'Wirtschaftliche Globalisierung, internationale Abkommen und die Delegation von Kompetenzen an supranationale Organisationen wie die WTO oder die Europäische Zentralbank haben zu einer bemerkenswerten Interdependenz und damit verbundenen Harmonisierung des nationalen politischen Handelns geführt. Allerdings verläuft dieser Prozeß ungleichförmig, und einige Nationalstaaten zeigen sich harmonisierungsresistent. Von besonderem Interesse in diesem Zusammenhang ist Belarus, das durch den Rückfall in autoritäre Strukturen und ausbleibende Wirtschaftsreformen eine Sonderstellung unter den Transformationsstaaten in Osteuropa einnimmt. Anhand der belarussischen Wirtschaftspolitik soll untersucht werden, warum sich das Lukaschenko-Regime bisher als wenig lernfähig erwiesen hat und die Erfahrungen der Nachbarländer kaum Auswirkungen auf den wirtschaftspolitischen Entscheidungsprozeß in Belarus haben.' (Textauszug)'Economic globalization, international agreements and the delegation of competences to supranational organisations such as the WTO or the European Central Bank have led to a noteworthy inter-dependence and ensuing harmonisation of national political activities. However, this process is not uniform, and some national states are proving resistant to harmonisation. One particular instance of this is Belarus, which has achieved distinction among the transforming states of Eastern Europe by reverting to authoritarian structures and by the absence of economic reforms. On the basis of Belarussian economic policy, the present study attempts to explain why the Lukashenka regime has up to now shown little ability to learn and why the experiences made in neighbouring countries have had little or no impact an the economic-policy decision-making process in Belarus.' (extract

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Search for direct stau production in events with two hadronic tau-leptons in root s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of the supersymmetric partners ofτ-leptons (staus) in final stateswith two hadronically decayingτ-leptons is presented. The analysis uses a dataset of pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of139fb−1, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LargeHadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the expected StandardModel background is observed. Limits are derived in scenarios of direct production of stau pairs with eachstau decaying into the stable lightest neutralino and oneτ-lepton in simplified models where the two staumass eigenstates are degenerate. Stau masses from 120 GeV to 390 GeV are excluded at 95% confidencelevel for a massless lightest neutralino

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Measurement of VH, H → b b ¯ production as a function of the vector-boson transverse momentum in 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

Cross-sections of associated production of a Higgs boson decaying into bottom-quark pairs and an electroweak gauge boson, W or Z, decaying into leptons are measured as a function of the gauge boson transverse momentum. The measurements are performed in kinematic fiducial volumes defined in the `simplified template cross-section' framework. The results are obtained using 79.8 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. All measurements are found to be in agreement with the Standard Model predictions, and limits are set on the parameters of an effective Lagrangian sensitive to modifications of the Higgs boson couplings to the electroweak gauge bosons

Search for heavy neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with b-quarks and decaying into b-quarks at root s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy neutral Higgs bosons produced in association with one or two b -quarks and decaying to b -quark pairs is presented using 27.8  fb − 1 of √ s = 13  TeV proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during 2015 and 2016. No evidence of a signal is found. Upper limits on the heavy neutral Higgs boson production cross section times its branching ratio to b ¯ b are set, ranging from 4.0 to 0.6 pb at 95% confidence level over a Higgs boson mass range of 450 to 1400 GeV. Results are interpreted within the two-Higgs-doublet model and the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model

Combination of searches for Higgs boson pairs in pp collisions at \sqrts = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This letter presents a combination of searches for Higgs boson pair production using up to 36.1 fb(-1) of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The combination is performed using six analyses searching for Higgs boson pairs decaying into the b (b) over barb (b) over bar, b (b) over barW(+)W(-), b (b) over bar tau(+)tau(-), W+W-W+W-, b (b) over bar gamma gamma and W+W-gamma gamma final states. Results are presented for non-resonant and resonant Higgs boson pair production modes. No statistically significant excess in data above the Standard Model predictions is found. The combined observed (expected) limit at 95% confidence level on the non-resonant Higgs boson pair production cross-section is 6.9 (10) times the predicted Standard Model cross-section. Limits are also set on the ratio (kappa(lambda)) of the Higgs boson self-coupling to its Standard Model value. This ratio is constrained at 95% confidence level in observation (expectation) to -5.0 &lt; kappa(lambda) &lt; 12.0 (-5.8 &lt; kappa(lambda) &lt; 12.0). In addition, limits are set on the production of narrow scalar resonances and spin-2 Kaluza-Klein Randall-Sundrum gravitons. Exclusion regions are also provided in the parameter space of the habemus Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and the Electroweak Singlet Model. For complete list of authors see http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2019.135103</p