Feedback loops in a world of complexity: a cybernetic approach at the interface of foreign policy analysis and international relations theory

Feedback in foreign policy occurs when a state's foreign policy affects the international context of that state and those changes in context subsequently impact on the state's future foreign policy decisions. In this way, feedback loops can develop, which may become self-reinforcing and in which foreign policy and international context continuously affect each other. Even though such processes are ubiquitous especially in a globalized world, they have hitherto received little systematic attention. We introduce cybernetics as a perspective that puts such feedback effects at the centre of attention and provides an accessible sequential framework for analysing them. Such a cybernetic analysis not only demonstrates the significance of feedback processes in foreign policies but also speaks to several recent debates in international relations theory and foreign policy analysis. In particular, it highlights processes of learning and change, of non-linearity and indeterminacy, and enables the researcher to integrate insights from structure- and agency-based approaches. We outline the merits of a cybernetic analysis by discussing the effects of feedback in the United States' War on Terror.     

Agricultural service delivery: strengthening private crop protection service in southern Ethiopia

As one element of agricultural service delivery, in Ethiopia crop protection service has generally only involved the private sector on a small scale. This article outlines a case study where private crop protection service (PCPS) was strengthened from 2006 to 2010 in Halaba Special District, southern Ethiopia. The study used questionnaires, analysis, service comparison, ranking, and indicator-based assessments. The study shows that PCPS in 2007/08 crop seasons served 1,104 households on 1,707?ha of land in 19 Kebeles, contributing US$327,752 in total. Assessment indicators values were better for PCPS than the informal crop protection service. Piloting PCPS strengthening is recommended to improve crop protection service and reduce crop loss in Ethiopia.     

Umbruch und Kontinuität des Erwerbseinstiegs in Russland

The paper analyzes the influence of institutional change on the transition from school to work in Russia during socialism and the transition period. Using information from the “Education and Employment Survey for Russia” and comparing the birth cohorts 1949–1986, we analyze the duration of the respondents’ first job episode and the transition out of the first job. The results document shorter first job durations, increasing risks of unemployment and, in the case of women, more rapid transitions out of the labor market. However, the basic patterns of transition from education to job positions continued to exist. Thus, the transition from school to work in Russia did not experience an abrupt change but a gradual adjustment to the new economic order.     

Internationalization and quality assurance: Towards worldwide accreditation?

This paper addresses two very closely related issues, namely the integration of the quality dimension in internationalization policies in higher education and the adaptation of quality assurance policies and practices to an increasingly international environment. Through an analysis of some issues and challenges in internationalization on the one hand and an overview of recent developments in quality assurance on the other, our objective is to question how internationalization and quality assurance can be integrated. Internationalization policies and practices are lacking a quality assurance dimension and quality assurance approaches are too much confined to national contexts. Can quality assurance give answers to the challenges facing internationalization and can the introduction of an international dimension give a solution to issues in the field of quality assurance. This paper then focuses on the concept of multiple accreditation and the development of worldwide mutual accreditation networks among institutions as a possible avenue for future progress. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Moving the Genocide Debate Beyond the History Wars*

The “History Wars” have paralysed the scholarly discussion on genocide in Australian history, because genocide is regarded as a politicized concept that distorts historical understanding. Both the public sphere and much historiography continue to regard genocide as a synonym for the Holocaust, framing public discussion of genocide in Australia as well as discouraging historians from engaging with the international comparative literature on colonial genocides. This article aims to stimulate reflection on these issues by explaining the origin and meaning of the term in intellectual and legal history. It suggests that thinking of genocide as a form of extreme counter‐insurgency helps us comprehend how colonial violence unfolds. Finally, it highlights some potential limitations of the concept in understanding the Indigenous experience of colonial genocide, before suggesting how historians can deploy it in the service of scholarship rather than “History Wars”.     

Maneuvering with Crime. An Empirical Reconstruction of “Populist” Stances on Youth Crime in German Parliamentary Debates

Recent years have seen a wide discussion of populism in penal policy, which is internationally regarded as a strong drive for establishing punitive tendencies. Generally, “penal populism” is characterized by an extensive consensus across the most influential political parties, a punitive orientation, and the dismissal of scientific or professional expertise. Recent penal policy therefore appears to be a relatively unified practice strongly oriented toward punitive measures that primarily address the public and its perceived need for protection. Because analyses of Anglophone countries are predominant in this discussion, we contrast them with a reconstruction of debates on youth crime in German parliaments from 1970 to 2012. They exhibit a wide variety of populist articulations. Although they imply a strong punitive bias, they also encompass a very heterogeneous rhetoric of penal policy. In conclusion, we argue that penal populism can (and should) be described as a tactical practice, i.e., as political maneuvering employed to negotiate the prospects of punitive and other styles of politics.     

Glocal targeted open innovation: challenges,opportunities and implications for theory,policy and practice

In line with the growing number and type of innovation sources and partners, companies’ institutional set up to manage the potential problems of multiple sources and partners for innovation is increasingly challenged to develop and maintain effective and efficient corporate innovation activities. The paper highlights recent developments of open innovation in companies. Findings are based on company case studies involving companies from different industries and company representatives. It shows that open innovation is actually a paradigm long practised but the main efforts are targeted to continuously developing the organization and managerial model of companies to meet the new innovation challenges.     

Detection of drug transport using X-ray techniques

The purpose of the paper was to show X-ray techniques used to discover drugs transported inside the body (body packers), on the body surface, in the garments or luggage, in goods and vehicles. The analysis was based on the X-ray findings of 141 body packers caught in Hamburg between 1989 and 2004 as well as individual cases from personal collections. The use of X-rays for border and security checks is described, different technical concepts are demonstrated and examples are given, e. g. transmission (fluoroscopic) and backscatter imaging of humans, luggage, goods, and vehicles as well as X-ray spectroscopy. The results showed that body packers produce characteristic findings in native X-ray photographs, which are even more pronounced in CT scans and after application of contrast media. Backscatter imaging allows the investigation of the body surface and the clothing. Transmission and backscatter imaging is suitable for checking humans, goods, passenger cars, trucks and containers. With the help of X-ray spectroscopy suspicious substances can be identified without opening the packaging material. According to present findings, the radiation dose applied seems low compared with exposure to environmental radiation and cosmic radiation during flights. The pictures obtained with the backscatter technique show the person checked in the nude, which raises the question of privacy versus the right of the state to carry out inspections and controls.