Peacekeeping from Oceania: Perspectives from Australia,New Zealand and Fiji

Abstract

This article gives an overview of the involvement of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in peacekeeping operations with attention to motives, experience and ‘lessons learnt’. Australia and New Zealand have been strongly influenced by regional considerations and an understanding of good international citizenship. Fiji’s contribution has been determined less by regional considerations and more by its position as a small developing country whose peacekeeping activities bring economic benefits, although it could be argued that by providing a basis for extending military forces they have contributed indirectly to political instability. Police contributions have been increasingly important to Australia and New Zealand and they have advocated a stronger role for police in other situations around the world.     

The role of local government in the review of public administration in Northern Ireland: The challenges of enhancement,devolution and modernisation

A very limited system of local government has been one of the main characteristics of public administration in Northern Ireland for the past 35 years. Yet in the recently completed Review of Public Administration changes in local government occupied a very dominant position. This article gives an account of the reasons for this, analyses the processes which led to what may be viewed as an enhancement of local government but argues that the principles adopted by the UK Government to guide the reforms, of subsidiarity, strong local government, coterminosity and good relations have not been met. The lack of an analysis in the Review of the implications of devolution for local government reform and the distribution of functions is highlighted including the relevance of the distinction between administrative and political devolution. How the proposed reforms relate to the UK-wide local government modernisation agenda is also discussed.     

Learning by doing in contests

We introduce learning by doing in a dynamic contest. Contestants compete in an early round and can use the experience gained to reduce effort cost in a subsequent contest. A contest designer can decide how much of the prize mass to distribute in the early contest and how much to leave for the later one in order to maximize total efforts. We show how this division affects effort at each stage, and present conditions that characterize the optimal split. There is a trade off here, since a large early prize increases first period efforts leading to a substantial reduction in second round effort cost; on the other hand, there is less of the prize mass to fight over in the second round, reducing effort at that stage. The results are indicative of the fact that the designer often prefers to leave most of the prize mass for the second contest to reap the gains from the learning by doing effect.     

Nurturing knowledge: the UK Higher Education Links scheme

This article examines the development of academic networks and expertise through the UK Higher Education Links scheme, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development, managed by the British Council and supported by the principals of UK higher education institutions. The links are established between UK and overseas universities primarily to enhance research and/or teaching capacity, with the ultimate aim of alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable development. This article draws on data gathered for a large‐scale, multiple‐method evaluation which endorsed the scheme's continuation. It is argued that a crucial factor helping to make individual links a success was good relationships between respective co‐ordinators, although the nature of these relationships varied. The article discusses the extent to which the formation of fruitful academic networks and partnerships enabling knowledge transfer were encouraged. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Methods for estimating medical expenditures attributable to intimate partner violence

This article compares three methods for estimating the medical cost burden of intimate partner violence against U.S. adult women (18 years and older), 1 year postvictimization. To compute the estimates, prevalence data from the National Violence Against Women Survey are combined with cost data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the Medicare 5% sample, and published studies and with relative risk estimates from published studies. Results are compared and reasons for difference are explored, including the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. Estimates of the medical cost burden of intimate partner violence within the first 12 months after victimization range from USD 2.3 billion to USD 7.0 billion, depending on the method used. Although limited to women victimized in the last year, each method reveals that intimate partner violence imposes a substantial burden on the health care system. Among the approaches, there is no clear gold standard nor any evidence of bias.     

Statistical Modeling of the Case Information From the Ohio Attorney General's Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative

The Ohio Attorney General's Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) Testing Initiative has resulted in nearly 14,000 kits being processed since the initiation of the project in 2012. A logistic regression model was fit to the data from 2500 SAKs in order to determine the probability of obtaining at least one Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) eligible DNA profile based on a number of predictor variables. The probability of obtaining at least one CODIS eligible DNA profile from an SAK varied as a function of (i) days to kit collection following a sexual assault; (ii) years to kit submission to the laboratory for testing following kit collection; (iii) the age of the victim; and (iv) the occurrence of victim‐reported consensual sex around the time of the assault and/or kit collection. These findings demonstrate the utility of the statistical modeling of data obtained from the “forklift” testing approach of sexual assault kits.     

The future of the United States as a European power: The case of NATO enlargement

Abstract

European Union enlargement has left Russia on the margins of European political processes and led to widespread suspicion in the Moscow foreign policy establishment of European motives. This has resulted in, first, increasing resistance to the imposition of European norms and, second, a more assertive policy, particularly in the EU's and Russia's ‘overlapping neighbourhoods’. Although Moscow is likely to continue the strategy of engagement initiated under Putin, Brussels must radically rethink the nature and extent of Russia's ‘Europeanisation’. Russia's drive for modernisation will coexist with the strengthening of sovereignty and the power of the state, seen by the Putin administration as key to external and internal security. The EU will have to limit its ambition and work within this ‘window’—wider or narrower depending on state of play—of policy possibilities.