Moving from Fear towards Unity among Intergroup Dialogue Participants in Israel-Palestine: Findings from a Qualitative Meta-Data-Analysis

This qualitative meta-data-analysis was designed to identify themes of experience of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Arab intergroup dialogue participants. A review of the literature indicated a scarcity of research that describes the ‘meaning-making’ processes that these participants undergo while engaged in structured intergroup dialogue, and this study was designed to address that shortage. The analyst conducted a targeted search of academic journal articles and Ph.D. dissertations published after 1999. The result of this search was a set of 17 primary reports, and the findings of this study are based on the verbatim quotations of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Arab intergroup dialogue participants as cited within the set of primary reports. The analyst performed a thematic analysis of said quotations and, guided by contact theory, social identity theory, and intersubjectivity theory, concluded that Israeli Jews, Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, and Palestinian Arabs in the Occupied Territories all enter dialogue carrying varying levels of fear and anger; and if they remain dedicated to dialogue processes, they eventually—to varying degrees—seek truth, pursue justice, and realize unity. This study’s primary contribution is its explication of the specific areas intergroup dialogue facilitators and researchers need to focus in Israel-Palestine. The findings indicate that more research needs to be conducted on inter-religious, narrative, and activist models. Furthermore, the data evidences the presence of geotheological influences on participant perspectives. Overall, the findings of this dissertation are consistent with previous research that affirms the power of dominant group narratives to sustain intractable conflict and the necessity of intergroup dialogue to foster cross-group friendships that can overcome intractable conflict

Electrical cardioversion during pregnancy: safe or not?

Two pregnant patients with a sustained symptomatic maternal supraventricular arrhythmia are presented. Both patients were treated with direct-current cardioversion. Electrical cardioversion during pregnancy is a rarely applied but highly effective procedure in the treatment of maternal cardiac arrhythmias and is assumed safe for both mother and child. However, once foetal viability is reached, monitoring of the foetal heart rate is advised and facilities for immediate caesarean section should be available

Monitoring the moneylenders: institutional accountability and environmental governance at the World Bank’s inspection panel

This article discusses how Independent Accountability Mechanisms (IAMs) such as an Inspection Panel have the potential to improve both the legitimacy and environmental governance of multilateral financial institutions such as the World Bank. The World Bank provides loans and credit to developing countries to stimulate social and economic development in an attempt to alleviate poverty, often investing in infrastructure projects such as pipelines, power plants, and oil and gas fields. With billions in annual lending, the World Bank is the largest international financial institution in the world. Between 1994, when it started operations, and June 2015, the World Bank Inspection Panel received 103 requests for inspection across more than 50 countries that resulted in 34 approved investigations. Based on a qualitative case study methodology, the study finds that institutional accountability has inherent value in improving the internal governance of an institution—in this case the World Bank—and its ability to achieve development and sustainability goals. Yet to be effective, collaborative governance needs steered by committed and independent leaders on all sides, and there are limits to what IAMs such as the IP can accomplish. Understanding the internal dynamics, processes, and accountability mechanisms of the World Bank offers a rare chance to test the efficacy of institutional accountability in practice. Moreover, this study shows how attributes reflecting independence, impartiality, transparency, professionalism, accessibility, and responsiveness are crucial to improving governance outcomes and more equitable decision-making processes— themes highly relevant to public policy and development studies as well as environmental governance and the extractive industries

The Agricultural Economy of Somalia

Basically an agrarian and pastoral country, Somalia is nearly self-sufficient in good crop years. But frequent recurring droughts cause food imports to average a quarter or more of total imports over time. Livestock support a large proportion of the population and since 1967 have been the major export item. Bananas (the second largest export) and sugarcane are the principal cash crops. Banana production provides a livelihood for about a quarter of the settled population. Staples of the Somali diet are sorghum, milk, meat, pulses, vegetables, and fruit. Principal food imports are cereals, cereal preparations, fruits and vegetables, and sugar. Chief foods imported from the United States are cereals and vegetable oils; chief exports to the United States are hides and skins. With external assistance, development projects have been aimed at agriculture through the introduction of new crops, diversification, expansion of irrigation, and improvement of marketing facilities and infrastructure

Connecting people, sharing knowledge, increasing transparency: using the Land Portal to increase access to open data, share best practices and monitor women’s land rights

Access to knowledge is essential for individuals and communities seeking to secure land rights, particularly for women. Stronger networks between government agencies, CSOs, and emerging social movements are needed to support more just, equitable and gender aware land governance. Over recent decades land governance groups have come to use the Internet in their practice, but it’s full potential is by no means realized. In this paper we explore how online platforms can support land advocacy and governance, drawing on learning from current practice, and highlighting emerging frontiers of relevance to the field. We focus in particular on learning from two years of The Land Portal (landportal.info), and on plans for it’s next phase of development. We draw on a recent online dialogue that focused on ways of optimizing the use of online platforms in efforts to promote equitable and sustainable natural governance and social justice, and to share experiences on approaches to monitoring women’s land rights. We end the paper looking to the future of the Land Portal as a platform for open content, open data, and ultimately, a more open and collaborative approaches to land governance

The Agricultural Economy of Iraq

Excerpt from the report Summary: Iraq is primarily an agricultural country with a considerable number of people engaged in pastoral activity. However, petroleum dominates its export trade, and light industry is increasing in growing urban centers. About three-fifths of Iraq's agricultural output by value comes from crops and two-fifths from livestock products. The country is an exporter of livestock products, fruit, cotton, and in some years, barley, but an importer of several other agricultural products, especially sugar, tea, fats and oils, and, in recent years, grain. Grains are by far the most important crops in Iraq. They occupy over 80 percent of the area reported in crops and account for well over half the calories in the average diet. Livestock products are next in importance to the diet, generally contributing about 20 percent of the calories. Livestock are raised throughout the country and are an important, or the only, source of income for a large share of the population of Iraq. Barley is the leading winter crop, while rice and cotton are the main summer crops. Much citrus and other fruits are grown for local consumption while Iraq is one of the world's leading producers of dates; and, in turn, dates are usually the first or second most important agricultural export, competing with barley for first place. Other important exports are wool, hides and skins, and cotton