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42. Third Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
- Author:
- The University of Sydney China Studies Centre
- Publication Date:
- 07-2024
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- China Studies Centre, The University of Sydney
- Abstract:
- The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held its Third Plenum from 15 July to 18 July. The Third Plenum is usually a meeting focused on economic reforms and sometimes proposes significant directions related to reforms. After the meeting concludes, a communiqué is typically issued, followed after a few days by the full text of a fuller Resolution. The Communique of this plenum was published on 18 July and the Resolution on 21 July. The full text of the Resolution appears as Appendix 1 On 26 July, the China Studies Centre hosted an online roundtable to discuss the main conclusions and resolutions of the plenum and their implications.
- Topic:
- Economics, Government, Reform, Domestic Politics, Macroeconomics, and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
- Political Geography:
- China and Asia
43. Recommendations for Government Development and Use of Advanced Automated Systems to Make Decisions about Individuals
- Author:
- Susan Landau, James X. Dempsey, Ece Kamar, and Steven M. Bellovin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2024
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Stanford University
- Abstract:
- Contestability -- the ability to effectively challenge a decision -- is critical to the implementation of fairness. In the context of governmental decision making about individuals, contestability is often constitutionally required as an element of due process; specific procedures may be required by state or federal law relevant to a particular program. In addition, contestability can be a valuable way to discover systemic errors, contributing to ongoing assessments and system improvement. On January 24-25, 2024, with support from the National Science Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, we convened a diverse group of government officials, representatives of leading technology companies, technology and policy experts from academia and the non-profit sector, advocates, and stakeholders for a workshop on advanced automated decision making, contestability, and the law. Informed by the workshop's rich and wide-ranging discussion, we offer these recommendations. A full report summarizing the discussion is in preparation.
- Topic:
- Government, Science and Technology, Automation, and Decision-Making
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
44. Government, State, and National Wars in Africa
- Author:
- Nathaly Silva Xavier Schütz and Hernán Olmedo González
- Publication Date:
- 03-2024
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brazilian Journal of African Studies
- Institution:
- Brazilian Journal of African Studies
- Abstract:
- To what extent were internal wars in African countries after World War II conditioned by their limited levels of governmental entrenchment and statehood? This is the central issue guiding the following research, which focuses on African countries in the post-World War II period, a period in which the system of sovereign States — with its origins in modernity and formally in Europe with the Peace of Westphalia treaties of 1648 — reached the vast majority of the international system. To achieve this objective, the following article is structured as follows.The first section aims to present, in the first instance, empirical information about the relative weight that internal national wars had on the international system in general and in Africa in particular, followed by a presentation of the different propositions about the conditioning factors of this type of war in the international system and African States, and, finally, establish guiding hypotheses for the empirical research of the study. The second section describes the methodological project followed to test the hypo-theses defined in the first section. The third section presents the empirical results of the research and the data analysis. Finally, the article develops a conclusion that systematizes the main aspects of the study.
- Topic:
- Government, Sovereignty, War, State, and International System
- Political Geography:
- Africa
45. The Number of Countries with Coups d’etats and Other Constitutional Changes in Government is Rising: How should donors stay engaged?
- Author:
- Sarah Cliffe, Renata Dwan, Betty N. Wainaina, and Leah Zamore
- Publication Date:
- 03-2023
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Center on International Cooperation (CIC)
- Abstract:
- Last week, CIC released a major new joint report with Chatham House on aid to “politically-estranged” settings – countries where donor relations with national authorities are frayed or broken because of unconstitutional changes in government, internationally contested elections, and major sanctions. Development aid to these countries has been suspended or severely curtailed, often because of domestic pressures to disengage, leaving the problem to traditional humanitarian approaches. In this report, CIC and Chatham House argue that development engagement is needed, and outline the ways to do so without legitimizing unconstitutional regimes, in concertation with regional actors. This piece focuses on two major areas: Why should donors care in this current moment? What has been new in our thinking about the major challenges and solutions for how to work in these contexts?
- Topic:
- Government, Constitution, Multilateralism, Coup, and Donors
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
46. Anti-corruption Capacities of Public Procurement in the Security Sector: Report for 2020 and 2021 - Part I
- Author:
- Erdin Halimić, Dajana Bašić, and Aleksandar Maletić
- Publication Date:
- 01-2023
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Centre for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- Investigations into corruption in the security sector are often focused on contracting, that is, on the stages of public procurement in which civil servants prepare and sign contracts with suppliers of equipment and services and manage their implementation. However, in order to discover the functioning mechanisms of public procurement and potential critical points for the emergence of corruption, we must investigate the entire public procurement procedure and then prepare appropriate conclusions and recommendations for its suppression. In our case, this implies an indepth analysis of relevant normative acts, practices and challenges in public procurement in the security sector. The report was made on the basis of qualitative and quantitative parameters based on which the anti-corruption capacities of 13 security sector institutions from different levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were measured and evaluated. The time period covered by the research refers to two years, 2020 and 2021.
- Topic:
- Security, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement, Institutions, and Public Procurement
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, Balkans, and Bosnia and Herzegovina
47. Anti-corruption Capacities of Public Procurement in the Security Sector: Report for 2020 and 2021 - Part II
- Author:
- Erdin Halimić, Ajla Popović, Haris Vejezović, Aleksandar Maletić, and Dajana Bašić
- Publication Date:
- 01-2023
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Centre for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- Investigations into corruption in the security sector are often focused on contracting, that is, on the stages of public procurement in which civil servants prepare and sign contracts with suppliers of equipment and services and manage their implementation. However, in order to discover the functioning mechanisms of public procurement and potential critical points for the emergence of corruption, we must investigate the entire public procurement procedure and then prepare appropriate conclusions and recommendations for its suppression. In our case, this implies an indepth analysis of relevant normative acts, practices and challenges in public procurement in the security sector. The report was made on the basis of qualitative and quantitative parameters based on which the anti-corruption capacities of 12 security sector institutions from different levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were measured and evaluated. The time period covered by the research refers to two years, 2020 and 2021.
- Topic:
- Security, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement, Institutions, and Public Procurement
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, Balkans, and Bosnia and Herzegovina
48. Equitable Sharing of Mining Profits: The Best Deal for Tanzania?
- Author:
- Thomas Scurfield
- Publication Date:
- 09-2023
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Natural Resource Governance Institute
- Abstract:
- Tanzania’s unique approach to mining taxation, described as an equitable sharing of economic benefits between government and mining company according to a negotiated split, could leave the country shortchanged. Tanzanian citizens have access to the terms of only one profit-sharing deal, a 50-50 framework agreement for Barrick’s gold mines. The rest remain unpublished, despite laws that require the government to disclose deal terms. The Barrick deal predicates government revenues more heavily on mine profitability than a more typical regime, making these revenues more uncertain. This structure also increases the risk that companies may seek to avoid tax payments. Negotiating the split on a project-by-project basis, without any legal guardrails on the approach, increases the risks of corruption and unfavorable deal terms. The Tanzanian government could eliminate these risks by borrowing provisions from other countries that also require a specific government share of mine profits but take a different approach. However, unless the government has identified benefits from its current sharing mechanism that a more typical regime does not offer, it should not pursue a sharing mechanism and instead focus on improving the underlying regime, such as increasing its flexibility with regards to profits and reducing tax avoidance risks. To gain more trust from citizens, Tanzania’s government should explain how the mechanism works in existing deals.
- Topic:
- Government, Natural Resources, Tax Systems, Mining, Transparency, Contracts, and Energy Transition
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Tanzania
49. America’s Best Choice in Sudan Is the Least Bad Option
- Author:
- Joshua Meservey
- Publication Date:
- 05-2023
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Hudson Institute
- Abstract:
- Long-simmering tensions between Sudan’s two most powerful generals broke into open warfare on April 15. A series of ceasefires have failed, and fighting continues in the capital city, Khartoum, and in other areas throughout the country. Street protests in April 2019 prompted Sudan’s security services to oust the former dictator, Omar al-Bashir, and forced them to include civilians in the subsequent transitional government. Ever since, the United States has tried to help those civilians consolidate power.1 In October 2021, however, the two most senior generals in the transitional government—Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (usually known as “Hemeti”), leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, leader of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)—forced the civilians out. Still, the United States supported negotiations between the junta and elements of the civilian protest movement until both generals’ desire for supreme power forced the confrontation that now threatens to dismember the country.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Government, Leadership, Armed Conflict, and Strategic Interests
- Political Geography:
- Africa, Sudan, and United States of America
50. The Governments of Mauricio Macri and Jair Bolsonaro: Ideology, Pragmatism and Foreign Policy
- Author:
- André Luiz Coelho, Mariano Ignacio Treacy, and Beatriz Bandeira de Mello
- Publication Date:
- 12-2023
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- AUSTRAL: Brazilian Journal of Strategy International Relations
- Institution:
- Postgraduate Program in International Strategic Studies, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
- Abstract:
- This article compares the foreign policy of the governments of Mauricio Macri in Argentina and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, based on the positions of the presidents and their representatives on three issues: 1) relations with the United States, 2) with China and 3) regional integration. We suggest that the Macri government has had to adapt its positions and discursive practices throughout its administration to national and international pressures. We understand that Jair Bolsonaro has adopted a similar stance in his foreign agenda and that his discourses, although strongly ideological, are opposed to more pragmatic actions, especially in the Brazilian economic and trade agendas, as in Argentina. The methodology used in this study is content analysis of speeches and reports from the Brazilian and Argentine foreign ministries, and the theoretical contributions of foreign policy analysis.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Foreign Policy, Government, Ideology, Regional Integration, Jair Bolsonaro, and Mauricio Macri
- Political Geography:
- China, Brazil, South America, and United States of America