Humanitarianism and peace: On the (im-)possible inclusion of humanitarian assistance into peacebuilding efforts

The nature of intra-state conflicts and the political manipulation of humanitarian aid in the 1990s has led to the popular postulate that humanitarianism has to be included as an instrument for peacebuilding efforts. So far, the debate surrounding such a linkage has largely ignored the nature and behaviour of aid agencies. This paper focuses on the feasibility of including humanitarian action into peacebuilding strategies by taking a closer look at the reality of humanitarian organisations. Based upon the concept of peacebuilding, three sets of prerequisites for successfully combining humanitarian and peacebuilding efforts will be discussed: the compatibility of the objectives pursued in humanitarianism and peacebuilding, the perception of politics by aid agencies, and their capacity to analyse the political context of aid. The analysis highlights the heterogeneity of humanitarian actors and concludes that their contribution to peacebuilding can only be very limited.Als Reaktion auf innerstaatliche Konflikte und den in diesem Umfeld oft zu beobachtenden Missbrauch humanitärer Hilfe nach Ende des Kalten Krieges entstand die Forderung nach einer Einbindung humanitärer Hilfe in Peacebuilding-Strategien. Die bisherige Diskussion um solch ein synergetisches Vorgehen hat die Charakteristika humanitärer Organisationen dabei jedoch weitgehend ignoriert. Dieser Artikel geht der Frage nach, inwiefern eine Koalition aus humanitärer Hilfe und Peacebuilding machbar erscheint angesichts der Spezifika von Hilfsorganisationen. Ausgehend vom Konzept des Peacebuilding werden drei, für eine mögliche Einbindung humanitärer Hilfe in Peacebuilding wesentliche Faktoren diskutiert: Erstens, die Vereinbarkeit der Ziele und Motivationen von humanitärer Hilfe und Peacebuilding, zweitens, die von Hilfsorganisationen vorgenommene Positionierung der eigenen Arbeit in Bezug zu politischen Akteuren und zum politischen Umfeld und drittens, die Fähigkeit zur Analyse des politischen Umfelds humanitärer Hilfe. Diese Diskussion macht zum einen die Heterogenität humanitärer Akteure deutlich und kommt insgesamt zu dem Ergebnis, dass eine Einbindung humanitärer Hilfe in Peacebuilding nur äußerst begrenzt möglich ist

The prevalence and characteristics of sexting behaviours among adolescents and adults in Cape Town, South Africa

Includes bibliographical references.'Sexting' is defined as the act of sending sexually suggestive text messages (SSTMs), or the self-generation of nude or semi-nude images (NSNIs) and sending them to others via digital devices. It has recently emerged as a risk behaviour, particularly as it relates to adolescent sexuality. The consequences of sexting may include humiliation, ostracism, depression, anxiety, suicide and criminal or legal action. As such, research into the practice is vital in order to mitigate the risk to adolescents. The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of sexting among a sample of adolescents and adults in Cape Town, South Africa

Minimal renormalization without \epsilon-expansion: Three-loop amplitude functions of the O(n) symmetric \phi^4 model in three dimensions below T_c

We present an analytic three-loop calculation for thermodynamic quantities of the O(n) symmetric \phi^4 theory below T_c within the minimal subtraction scheme at fixed dimension d=3. Goldstone singularities arising at an intermediate stage in the calculation of O(n) symmetric quantities cancel among themselves leaving a finite result in the limit of zero external field. From the free energy we calculate the three-loop terms of the amplitude functions f_phi, F+ and F- of the order parameter and the specific heat above and below T_c, respectively, without using the \epsilon=4-d expansion. A Borel resummation for the case n=2 yields resummed amplitude functions f_phi and F- that are slightly larger than the one-loop results. Accurate knowledge of these functions is needed for testing the renormalization-group prediction of critical-point universality along the \lambda-line of superfluid He(4). Combining the three-loop result for F- with a recent five-loop calculation of the additive renormalization constant of the specific heat yields excellent agreement between the calculated and measured universal amplitude ratio A+/A- of the specific heat of He(4). In addition we use our result for f_phi to calculate the universal combination R_C of the amplitudes of the order parameter, the susceptibility and the specific heat for n=2 and n=3. Our Borel-resummed three-loop result for R_C is significantly more accurate than the previous result obtained from the \epsilon-expansion up to O(\epsilon^2).Comment: 29 pages LaTeX including 3 PostScript figures, to appear in Nucl. Phys. B [FS] (1998

Calculation of the persistence length of a flexible polymer chain with short range self-repulsion

For a self-repelling polymer chain consisting of n segments we calculate the persistence length L(j,n), defined as the projection of the end-to-end vector on the direction of the j`th segment. This quantity shows some pronounced variation along the chain. Using the renormalization group and epsilon-expansion we establish the scaling form and calculate the scaling function to order epsilon^2. Asymptotically the simple result L(j,n) ~ const(j(n-j)/n)^(2nu-1) emerges for dimension d=3. Also outside the excluded volume limit L(j,n) is found to behave very similar to the swelling factor of a chain of length j(n-j)/n. We carry through simulations which are found to be in good accord with our analytical results. For d=2 both our and previous simulations as well as theoretical arguments suggest the existence of logarithmic anomalies.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figures, changed conten

A flexible CubeSat education platform combining software development and hardware engineering

While many secondary schools offer courses or extracurricular activities that focus on satellite engineering, e.g. CanSats or the assembly of ground stations, these projects usually stay close to ground. With SpaceTeamSat1, the TU Wien Space Team wants to enhance this approach and tackle the challenge to perform various experiments in space, enabling students to participate in a space mission that actually orbits our planet. Therefore, our goal is to develop a 1U CubeSat platform, which allows students at secondary schools to access a set of different sensors connected to a Raspberry Pi. Consequently, students can write their own software experiments in Python and exploit the possibilities of sensors in space. In this context, participation happens at different stages: For one, students are getting in contact with Python, which also allows an easy step into software engineering paradigms. Moreover, our team will pose some challenges, such as re-doing an earlier satellite mission and giving impressions about how CubeSats can be used, e.g. to combat climate change. To complete these challenges, the CubeSat is equipped with various sensors such as temperature sensors, gyrometers, magnetometers, as well as two cameras. Moreover, the participating students also have the possibility to design their own experiments independently to leave room for creativity. Further enhancing this educational mission, participating students are also invited to work on hardware topics. This is mainly aimed at engineering schools, which are encouraged to assemble Raspberry Pi HATs which contain the actual mission sensors, as well as a SatNOGS ground station, which also enables students to get an insight on satellite communication. It needs to be considered that the educational mission follows a modular setup since the combination of all individual tasks is not realizable within a single school year. Thus, schools are also able to individually select appropriate tasks. In the past we were already collaborating with the European Space Education Resource Office as we are acting as launch provider of CanSats for ESERO’s Austrian CanSat competition. In this sense, STS1 shall be an extension to the space educational program in Austria. Based on that, we believe that the STS1 mission has a high potential to bring something that is currently out of reach for most people, outer space, closer to a demographic with a lot of talent and enthusiasm for engineering and potential future engineer

Le dilemme inévitable de l’action humanitaire

Cet article analyse le débat actuel sur le dilemme humanitaire et la crise de l’action humanitaire. Il met en question la diagnose et les conclusions dominantes. L’article présente l’ambiguïté comme un phénomène structurel de l’action humanitaire. L’analyse des cas concrets du dilemme humanitaire, notamment de la Corée du Nord, révèle différentes catégories d’organisations humanitaires. L’auteur conclut que l’humanitarisme est caractérisé par un état de confusion par rapport aux principes les plus fondamentaux de l'action humanitaire. Ainsi, les organisations d’aide font face à une crise de cohérence.This article analyses the contemporary debate about the humanitarian dilemma and the crisis of humanitarian action. The author challenges the diagnosis and the dominant conclusions that are usually offered. The article shows that the ambiguity is a structural phenomenon of humanitarian action. The empirical case studies, primarily about North Korea, reveal different types of humanitarian organisations. The author concludes that humanitarianism is characterised by a state of confusion concerning the role of the most fundamental principles of humanitarian action. As a consequence, the humanitarian relief agencies are faced with a crisis of coherence

Zwischen Gesichtsverlust und Machterhalt - Der nordkoreanische Staat und sein Umgang mit der Hungerkrise

Nordkorea ist seit Beginn der 90er Jahre nicht mehr in der Lage, seine Bevölkerung ausreichend mit Lebensmitteln zu versorgen. Das Land ist somit abhängig von internationaler Hilfe. Seit dem Hilfsappell an die internationale Gemeinschaft 1995 erhielt Nordkorea allein von den UN-Organisationen World Food Program (WFP) und Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Hilfslieferungen im Wert von 815 Millionen US-Dollar, was die Hilfe für Nordkorea mittlerweile zur größten Hilfsaktion in der Geschichte der Vereinten Nationen werden ließ (FAO/WFP 2000: 7). Hinzu kommen die insbesondere von den USA, China, Südkorea, Japan und der EU geleistete bilaterale Hilfe und die von Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NGOs) und Internationalem Roten Kreuz finanzierten Projekte. Eine grundlegende Besserung der Situation und damit ein Ende der Hilfe ist nicht in Sicht. Im Gegenteil, mit Ausnahme des Jahres 1999 stieg das Hilfsvolumen stetig an und wird für die Vereinten Nationen im Jahr 2001 mit einem vorgesehenen Budget von 380 Millionen US-Dollar einen neuen Höchstwert erreichen (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid/UNOCHA 2000)

Land quality, urban development and urban agriculture within the Cape Town urban edge

The article analyses the consumption of agricultural land within the Cape Town urban edge between 2002 and 2007. The agricultural potential of the developed land and the distribution of land uses are analysed to determine the impact of urban growth on urban agriculture. The research indicates that low-density residential development is still the major consumer of high-potential agricultural land within the Cape Town urban edge. Commercial, industrial and informal residential development has little impact on the loss of agricultural land. High-potential agricultural land is not sufficiently protected. Urban agriculture is limited by open competition with more profitable land uses such as residential development. Consequently, the article argues for a flexible urban containment policy whereby high-potential agricultural land within the urban edge is reserved solely for agricultural production, while land with little agricultural potential outside the urban edge should be made available for future urban development

Crossover scaling functions and an extended minimal subtraction scheme

A field theoretic renormalization group method is presented which is capable of dealing with crossover problems associated with a change in the upper critical dimension. The method leads to flow functions for the parameters and coupling constants of the model which depend on the set of parameters which characterize the fixed point landscape of the underlying problem. Similar to Nelson's trajectory integral method any vertex function can be expressed as a line integral along a renormalization group trajectory, which in the field theoretic formulation are given by the characteristics of the corresponding Callan-Symanzik equation. The field theoretic renormalization automatically leads to a separation of the regular and singular parts of all crossover scaling functions. The method is exemplified for the crossover problem in magnetic phase transitions, percolation problems and quantum phase transitions. The broad applicability of the method is emphasized.Comment: Expanded version of an invited talk presented at the StatPhys-Taipei-1995 (Taipei, July 1995

Minimal renormalization without epsilon-expansion: Amplitude functions in three dimensions below T_c

Massive field theory at fixed dimension d<4 is combined with the minimal subtraction scheme to calculate the amplitude functions of thermodynamic quantities for the O(n) symmetric phi^4 model below T_c in two-loop order. Goldstone singularities arising at an intermediate stage in the calculation of O(n) symmetric quantities are shown to cancel among themselves leaving a finite result in the limit of zero external field. From the free energy we calculate the amplitude functions in zero field for the order parameter, specific heat and helicity modulus (superfluid density) in three dimensions. We also calculate the q^2 part of the inverse of the wavenumber-dependent transverse susceptibility chi_T(q) which provides an independent check of our result for the helicity modulus. The two-loop contributions to the superfluid density and specific heat below T_c turn out to be comparable in magnitude to the one-loop contributions, indicating the necessity of higher-order calculations and Pade-Borel type resummations.Comment: 41 pages, LaTeX, 8 PostScript figures, submitted to NPB [FS