Changing foreign policy: the Obama Administration’s decision to oust Mubarak

This paper analyses the decision of the Obama administration to redirect its foreign policy towards Egypt in the wake of the Arab Spring. It attempts to highlight the issue of how governments deal with decision-making at times of crisis, and under which circumstances they take critical decisions that lead to major shifts in their foreign policy track record. It focuses on the process that led to a reassessment of US (United States) foreign policy, shifting from decades of support to the autocratic regime of Hosni Mubarak, towards backing his ouster. Specifically, the paper attempts to assess to what extent the decision to withdraw US support from a longstanding state-leader and ally in the Middle East can be seen as a foreign policy change (FPC). A relevant research question this paper pursues is: how can the withdrawal of US support to a regime considered as an ally be considered, in itself, as a radical FPC

Positive leadership education and practice: a self determination theory based leadership development program

Abstract of a presentation at the Fourth World Congress on Positive Psychology, Florida, USA, 25-28 June

Positive leadership education and practice: a self determination theory based leadership development program

Abstract of a presentation at the Fourth World Congress on Positive Psychology, Florida, USA, 25-28 June

Improving the retention of volunteers through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs

Retention of staff is, and will continue to be, a critical issue in the sustainability of most organisations. When we consider retention in terms of volunteers, the issue becomes increasingly more complex as the volunteer workforce itself becomes a source of competition as not-for-profit organisations vie for the same scarce resource - volunteers. Organisations which intend to attract and retain a solid cadre of reliable volunteer labour must ensure they look within themselves to ensure they manage these staff well. Leadership is among the key management skills an organisation must hone to do this, and to do it well. This research looks at the development of a unique leadership program using Self Determination Theory (SDT) to train leaders to develop volunteer work environments which meet the three basic psychological needs that all humans have. The training program is discussed and its value is assessed through an experimental empirical research design. The findings show that leadership development which is focused towards SDT has strong benefits towards the retention of volunteers