Book review: Power and policy in Syria: intelligence services, foreign relations and democracy in the modern Middle East

"Power and Policy in Syria: Intelligence Services, Foreign Relations and Democracy in the Modern Middle East." Radwan Ziadeh. I.B. Tauris. November 2012. --- Syria’s 1970 bloodless coup by General Hafez al-Assad put in place a powerful autocratic machinery at the core of the state which continues under the control of his son Bashar. Power and Policy in Syria presents an analysis of Syria’s political structure: a ‘despotic’ state monopoly, a bureaucratic climate marked by fear, and an administrative structure through which centralized control is exercised. Andreas Aagaard Nøhr finds that this book’s value lies in the bold boundaries it attempts to push rather than its ultimate conclusion

The cold consequences of war - An investigation into the effects of the Ukraine war on Russia's Arctic strategy

This thesis examines how the ongoing war in Ukraine has affected Russia’s activities in the Arctic and to what extent these effects have caused Moscow to deviate from its official Arctic strategy, policies and activities. For centuries, the Arctic has played a visible role in Russian history. It has gone from being the land of opportunity and exploration during the Tsarist period, to constituting a vital part of Russia’s economic and ideological development, both in the Soviet Union and in 21st century Russia. The current Arctic policy of the Russian Federation has been mainly formulated in four strategic documents since 2008. Based on these documents and websites belonging to key actors within Russian Arctic policy, the thesis makes a comparative analysis between the policy development taking place before and after the outbreak of the war on February 24, 2022. The analysis focuses on the fields of energy and natural resources, transport infrastructure, military security, and international cooperation, as these are considered especially suitable for investigating the influence of foreign affairs on Russian domestic policy. The analysis finds that the strategy conducted in the Artic since 2008 has been characterized by a great deal of consistency or recurrence, mainly caused by a very slow implementation process. The thesis concludes that the Ukraine war and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Russia have harmed Arctic development in multiple areas. As a response to this, Moscow has searched for new ways of promoting private investment within the energy sector, increasing state financing of transport infrastructure, strengthening military control and defense, and seeking stronger cooperation with Asian partners. Despite these consequences, Russia still appears determined to deviate as little from its Arctic strategy as possible in a time of great international pressure. Furthermore, it is expected that Russia will continue this course in the future in order to obtain its development goals, both in regard to domestic and international Arctic policy

Communication and empathy in an emergency setting involving persons in crisis

The article presents a study of the interaction between paramedics and parents in cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). We have sought to understand how the parents perceived the paramedics ability to communicate as well as empathise and deal with practical aspects of the situation. We have also sought to understand how the paramedics view their role as professional health workers, and how they think they should interact with persons in crisis. The method used in this study is qualitative and involves semi-structured interview schemes. We conducted twelve interviews – six with parents and six with paramedics. One of our primary findings is that many of the parents interviewed were not satisfied with the paramedics' communication, empathy and ability to take care of the practical aspects of the situation. The interviews have also revealed that there is significant disagreement among paramedics about the interpersonal role of health workers in situations involving people in crisis. The final part of this article includes a discussion of these and other findings. We argue that guidelines that specify threshold conditions for communication and care should be implemented in education and training. The aim of such guidelines should be to make sure that parents of lifeless children are secured a minimum of relevant explanations, information and care

The Effect of Fluctuating Temperature on the Stability of Turoctocog Alfa for Hemophilia A

Factor VIII (FVIII) is indicated for the prevention or treatment of bleeding in patients with hemophilia A. FVIII product stability under high and fluctuating temperatures is important, particularly for patients who reside in, or travel to, regions with high ambient temperatures, as they may remove their product from the refrigerator and return it, unused, multiple times. We evaluated the effect of variable temperature storage conditions, including up to 40 °C, on the stability of the recombinant FVIII product, turoctocog alfa