Participatory technology development in agricultural mechanisation in Nepal: how it happened and lessons learned

International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center (CIMMYT) projects on new resource-conservation technologies (RCTs) in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of Nepal aimed to strengthen equity of access, poverty reduction, and gender orientation in current rural mechanisation processes – more specifically, to promote machine-based resource conservation and drudgery-reduction technologies among smallholder farmers. These projects, together with other projects and other actors, gave rise to an informal ‘coalition’ project, which used participatory technology development (PTD) approaches, where farmers, engineers, scientists, and other partners worked towards equitable access to new RCTs. This experience showed that PTD projects need to be flexible, making use of learning and change approaches. Once successful adoption is occurring, then what? Such projects need to ensure that everyone is benefiting in terms of social inclusion and equity; this might necessitate new unforeseen work.     

French nuclear idiosyncrasy: how it affects French nuclear policies towards the United Arab Emirates and Iran

This article elaborates the notion of ‘nuclear idiosyncrasy’ as a specific understanding of what nuclear weapons and energy are, what they stand for and what they can do. It then assesses the persistence of nuclear idiosyncrasy over time and its effects on French nuclear policies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran. Based on interviews in France, Geneva and the UAE, this article contributes to three debates within foreign policy analysis and nuclear history. Is a regional approach necessary to understand the framing of foreign policies in the twenty-first century? Does a change in leadership fundamentally affect the orientations of nuclear policies? Are the risks of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and the measures to prevent it similarly understood by all the players in the international community? First, it shows that French nuclear policies in the Middle East are not shaped by dynamics specific to the region as the often invoked notion of an ‘Arab policy of France’ would suggest. Secondly, in-depth analysis leads one to reject the idea of a major change between the nuclear policies of Presidents Chirac and Sarkozy. Thirdly, persistent French nuclear idiosyncrasy leads also to rejection of the idea of convergence towards a shared understanding of the proliferation threat in the Middle East.     

Cutting the fuse: the explosion of global suicide terrorism and how to stop it,by Robert A. Pape and James K. Feldman

This article considers a ‘new-old’ media – that is, a relatively newly created medium with deep historical roots – that has gained increasing popularity in recent years: a subgenre of the comic book, most often referred to as the graphic novel. Presented here as an antidote to dominant interpretations of political violence ranging from the state terrorism of the Holocaust to the events of 9/11, the article briefly traces the history of graphic novels and details their growing popularity before describing and analysing representations of terrorism, both written and visual, in eight paradigmatic works that purvey variously victim, survivor and perpetrator perspectives.     

CAI: China is ready,how is about Europe

Asia Europe Journal - The China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) is a balanced, high-level, and mutually beneficial investment agreement. It not only sets up a new legal framework for...     

Building a strong nation, how does China perform in science and technology

A common perception is that China has relied on the expansion of labour-intensive industries and flooded the world market with cheap but low to medium level technology products. Although it has become the third largest exporting nation, China has failed to create a large number of big businesses that can compete with the world’s leading multinational companies (Nolan (2004)). The Chinese government has long been aware of the weakness of its development strategy and has been trying to improve its own technological capacity through investments in basic research, innovations and the application of new technologies, utility models and designs. China’s strategy on science and technology can be best described by the so-called ‘walking with two legs’ principle. The first leg is based on building up domestic research and innovative capacity. This is through investments in research institutes, universities and LMEs. China’s second leg has been to build up its technology capacity through its open policy and attracting FDI and technology. China has made significant advances in the following areas regarding science and technology.

Let's make it two

Throughout the industrialized world the birth rate has fallen to barely replacement level. Economic pressure is the main brake. Family income is reduced when the mother leaves work to bear and rear children just when family expenditure is increased; the major item of expenditure is the need for extra space. Consequences for children will include the financial and economic burdens of sustaining an increasingly elderly society. But loneliness is the greatest burden that the child must bear as the result of being an only child, or only 1 of 2. Moreover, social mobility has broken the extended family. The child therefore faces over-intense relationships with his parents, which can actually cripple development. Worse, the child may have only 1 parent with whom to relate because divorce rates are rocketing. Every year divorce cases leave a million American children in single parent families; 1 in 3 children born in the 1970s will have this experience. More widespread is the loss of the full time mother because she works and probably expects to work. She may see the child as an encumbrance. The television set has become the surrogate parent. Fathers are unable to sustain the emotional demands because they face their greatest career anxieties during the child-rearing years. The psychological effect is uncharted, but many children of today may be suffering the trauma of rejection.     

Stability in Syria: What Would it Take to Make it Happen?

The Syrian Civil War has taken a devastating toll on the country's civilian infrastructure and population. Tackling the legacy of the conflict and restoring a measure of stability will constitute a monumental and generational challenge. The article addresses the “day after” in Syria by mapping out the main issues that a future post-conflict recovery, reconstruction, and reconciliation process would need to address in order to attain some level of stability and to be sustainable. It then describes and analyzes one of the most complex challenges of a future post-war transition, namely the need to reign in the proliferation of non-state armed groups and to ensure a process of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) of former combatants, including those hailing from the jihadi camp. Finally, the article briefly addresses the role that local actors can play in beginning to build stability.The views expressed here are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect her employer's position. This article is part of a special project conducted by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, titled: “After the Caliphate: Reassessing the Jihadi Threat and Stabilizing the Fertile Crescent,” which includes a book, a thematic issue of Orbis: FPRI's Journal of World Affairs (Summer 2018), and a series of podcasts. Each element of the project can be found here: https://www.fpri.org/research/after-the-caliphate-project/.     

Media monitoring methodology: doing it with rhetoric; doing it with numbers

Abstract

The rise and dominance of social networking sites has generated increasing interest amongst scholars, mainly to understand their nature and the activities supported by these social sites. Studies conducted on social networking sites have generated information on the potential of such sites in boosting revenue-generating businesses, with limited research on how online sites can be used to address the social challenges faced by societies today. This article maintains that online social sites, in particular HIV/Aids-related sites, can possibly be used for HIV/Aids communication. The article therefore presents and reflects on the use of social networking sites amongst Rhodes students and the implications for HIV/Aids communication. The concept ‘use’ in this article is discussed under three sub-topics: (1) extent of social network site use; (2) topics or issues discussed on social sites focusing on HIV/Aids issues; and (3) the advantages and challenges of using social sites to communicate about issues such as HIV and Aids. Using both quantitative and qualitative approaches to the research design and methodology, the study found that social networking sites have become part of the youth's everyday activities, with social sites focusing on HIV/Aids-related issues being used as platforms for learning about the disease, sharing personal experiences and even finding encouragement from peers facing similar challenges. Drug abuse and sexual debut are amongst the topics discussed on HIV/Aids sites. The study also reveals that the effectiveness of social sites in communicating about HIV/Aids can be downplayed by issues of privacy, artificiality and the nature of relationships within networks.     

Wiki and the Agora: ‘It's organising,Jim, but not as we know it’

This article argues that those keen to characterise and harness the empowering potential of Information and Communications Technology [ICT] for development projects must understand that the very existence of this technology opens up alternative models of co-operation and collaboration. These models themselves necessitate breaking away from ‘traditional’ command-and-control models of management. One alternative is to persuade participants, or potential participants, to co-ordinate their efforts along the lines exemplified by the open-source software movement and the contributors to Wikipedia: models of co-ordination that ought not to work but appear to do so. The article offers a summary of this argument, and then suggests ways in which NGOs in particular might try to incorporate these insights into their strategies. This is particularly critical for organisations that rely on increasingly pressurised funding opportunities, and which also seek to develop and engender participation and determination from within and among specific target groupings.     

Harmonisation: how is the orchestra conducted?

Harmonisation of donor efforts is one of the current buzzwords in the world of official aid. However, while it is an attractive idea in theory, as long as donors do not recognise and address the operations of power in the aid relationship, harmonisation is likely to be counterproductive in promoting locally initiated responses to development challenges.     

NATO's Southern flank and Italy's role in it

The end of the Cold War brought about a change in US basing policy in Italy. Some bases were dismantled, while others, like the one in Vicenza, were strengthened raising considerable local protest for environmental reasons. The article examines whether agreements establishing the US bases have a solid foundation in the Italian Constitution and whether the weapons detained there are in conformity with the disarmament treaties binding Italy. Since the bases are now employed for NATO “out-of-area” operations and have become a part of the US strategy of “war on terror”, they inevitably influence Italy's foreign policy and its option to stay out of ongoing conflicts. The article also considers the continuing need for US bases from the point of view of Atlantic solidarity.     

开拓非洲市场不能急功近利

中非经贸合作发展迅速,前景广阔.但在我国对非贸易中,仍存在着贸易额较小、贸易不平衡问题突出、贸易结构有待改善等问题.开拓非洲市场既要积极进取,又要避免急功近利;既要统筹规划,又要重点开发.对非投资应有我们自己的特色,发展强项,重点放在农业和制造业领域.     

浅谈当代非洲的发展及面临的问题

非洲幅员辽阔，人口众多，是世界上仅次于亚洲的第二大陆。非洲的政治、经济、社会和环境有其独特的发展道路。虽然同世界其他地区相比较，非洲仍贫穷落后，是全球最不发达国家最集中的大陆。非洲还面临政治发展易变性大和可持续发展挑战严峻等突出问题。然而，非洲形势逐步缓和，政治发展进入新阶段，非洲经济也出现转机，非洲一体化进程已进入新的发展阶段。我们有理由相信，非洲的前途会是光明的。