The disciplines of strategic intelligence at the governmental level and competitive business intelligence constitute accepted methods of decision-supporting to prevent mistakes and strategic surprise. This research discovered that many researchers in the intelligence field feel that intelligence methodology in both contexts has reached a "glass ceiling." Thus far, research has focused separately on national intelligence and intelligence in business, without any attempt to benchmark from one field to the other. This book shows that it is possible to use experience gained in the business field to improve intelligence practices in national security, and vice versa through mutual learning. The book's main innovation is its proposition that mutual learning can be employed in the context of a model distinguishes between concentrated and diffused surprises to provide a breakthrough in the intelligence field, thereby facilitating better prediction of the surprise development. We Never Expected That: A Comparative Study of Failures in National and Business Intelligence focuses on a comparison between how states, through their intelligence organizations, cope with strategic surprises and how business organizations deal with unexpected movement in their field. Based on this comparison, the author proposes a new model which can better address the challenge of avoiding strategic surprises. This book can contribute significantly to the study of intelligence, which will become more influential in the coming years.

This book examines the progress of institutionalisation of evaluation in European countries from various perspectives. . It describes both prior developments and current states of evaluation in 16 European countries and across the European Union (EU), focussing on three dimensions, namely the political, social and professional systems. These detailed country reports, which have been written by selected researchers and authors from each of the respective countries, lead to a concluding comparison and synthesis. This is the first of four volumes of the compendium The Institutionalisation of Evaluation to be followed by volumes on the Americas, Africa and Australasia. The overall aim is to provide an interdisciplinary audience with cross-country learning to enable them to better understand the institutionalisation of evaluation in different nations, world regions and different sectors.

This publication discusses economic relations connecting Poland with other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In order to clarify this matter, the authors began with a methodological outline, and then presented an analysis of economic history and trade relations in the region. They also took up the subject of geo-economics and cooperation models in Central Europe. The outline is complemented by an analysis of the role of the most important Polish figures of economic life and their economic concepts of cooperation with neighbours. These issues constituted an extremely important aspect of the twentieth century integration proposals, which also have significance today.

Post-Soviet Russia in the 1990s saw a surge in civic participation. The traditional power structure officially relinquished control of political rhetoric and a nascent civil society had begun to emerge. Free elections and political partisanship between reformist and conservative elements of Russian society, spurred on by Russia's economic troubles, gave a "Wild West" tenor to public rhetoric that was reflected in the election campaigns of 1993, 1995, and 1996. In this volume, the authors examine, through a series of contemporaneously written essays, the arc of government rhetoric during the height of media freedom, the quest for a new national identity, and the struggle for self-government.

Given the importance that entrepreneurship and start-up businesses in technology-intensive sectors like life sciences, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, financial technologies, software and others have come to assume in economic development, the access of entrepreneurs to appropriate levels of finance has become a major focus of policymakers in recent decades. Yet, this prominence has led to a variety of policy models across countries and even within countries, as different levels of government have adapted to new challenges by refining or transforming pre-existing institutions and crafting new policy tools. Small Nations, High Ambitions investigates the roots of such policy diversity at the "subnational" level, offering in-depth accounts of the evolution of Quebec's and Scotland's policy strategies in the entrepreneurial finance sector and venture capital more specifically. As compared to other regions and provinces in the United Kingdom and Canada, Quebec and Scottish venture capital ecosystems rely on a high degree of state intervention, either direct (through public investment funds) or indirect (through government-backed, hybrid, or tax-advantaged funds). These two regions can thus be described as "sponsor states," heavily involved in the strategic backing of innovative businesses. Whereas most of the literature on venture capital has focused on economic variables to explain variations in policy models, this book seeks to explain policy divergence in Quebec and Scotland through political and ideological lenses. Its main argument is that the development of venture capital ecosystems in these regions was underpinned by Quebecois and Scottish nationalisms, which induced preferences for policy asymmetry and state intervention.

Politics and Government in South Africa introduces readers to all aspects of government and politics in South Africa, from local, to provincial, national, and on to international considerations. The perfect guide for students and general readers, this textbook explains how South Africa's key institutions are governed and interact with each other, and how important issues such as economics, gender, race, and class shape relations between citizens and government. Grounded in history and leading theories and debates, the book also brings in alternative perspectives from artists, writers, and popular culture, to demonstrate the diverse ways in which issues of politics and social justice are engaged with within South Africa. Written with the needs of students at the forefront, each chapter includes: Review and discussion questions Key terms and further resources Fun facts in a Did you know? section Supplementary sources and quotations in a The Past as Present section Interactive and engaging, Politics and Government in South Africa invites readers to consider what they would do in tackling issues such as land distribution, peacekeeping, South Africa's role in the African Union, and military engagement abroad. It is an essential read for undergraduate students studying Political Science, International Relations, and African Studies, and for anyone looking to develop a deeper understanding of South Africa.

This major new study examines the nature of Chinese power and its impact on the international order. Drawing on an extensive range of Chinese-language debates and discussions, the book explains the roles of different actors and interests in Chinese international interactions, and how they influence the nature of Chinese strategies for global change. It also gives a unique perspective on how assessments of the consequences of China's rise are formed, and how and why these understandings change. Providing an important challenge to scholars and policy makers who seek to engage with China, the book demonstrates just how far starting assumptions can influence the questions asked, evidence sought and conclusions reached.

This book begins a series of publications devoted to political reflection on the integration of Central and Eastern Europe with the participation, or even under the aegis, of Poland. The attempts to make it happen have lasted from the late nineteenth to the outset of the twenty-first century. The idea of organized order in the central and eastern part of the continent that aimed to ensure the security of Poland and stability of the region, took various forms: from Pilsudski's federation concept through the Intermarium and the idea of Giedroyc's ULB to the Three Seas Initiative promoted by Poland in recent years. The vitality and diversity of this idea is undoubtedly a historical phenomenon, which has become the subject of analyses of well-known Polish historians and political scientists in this volume.

Beginning in 2010, there has been a consolidating cooperation among existing powers in the Euro-Mediterranean in face of the rapid de-stabilization of the Arab region. This fact alone accelerated the hesitant responses by the EU towards emerging hegemons, particularly Russia and China, who in-turn applied traditional mechanisms of increasing regional economic influence to bolster their political influence, but with the difference that a normative influence is missing, in contrast to the EU's and US' influence, which is strongly centered on universal norms pertaining to political, economic and social-cultural norms. This book examines the Arab Spring not only from its intra but also inter-regional geo-political and strategic implications by analyzing the Euro-Mediterranean region following the onset of the Arab Spring. It aims to connect the broader economic and political strands of power shifts that have taken place since the Arab Spring, making it of interests to political scientists and policy-makers concerned with the Mediterranean and Euro-Arab relations.

Thoroughly revised, expanded, and updated, the new edition of this classic text provides the most authoritative and current analysis of contemporary Russia. Leading scholars explore the domestic and international problems Russia confronts, including political, economic, societal, and foreign policy issues. The new edition provides an analysis from multiple perspectives on the major challenges facing Russia and Putin's regime. Updates include new sections on corruption, Russia's conflicts with Ukraine and Georgia, Russia's response to Only by understanding these challenges--and previous efforts to deal with them--will it be possible to understand the trajectory for Russia. Well written and clearly organized, this text is an indispensable guide for anyone wanting to understand contemporary Russia.

The defeat of Donald Trump in November 2020 followed by the attack on the US Congress on 6th January 2021 represented a tipping point moment in the history of the American republic. Divided at home and facing a world sceptical of American claims to be the 'indispensable nation' in world politics, it is clear that the next few years will be decisive ones for the United States. But how did the US, which was riding high only 30 years ago, arrive at this critical point? And will it lead to the fall of what many would claim has been one of the most successful empires of modern times? In this volume, Michael Cox, a leading scholar of American foreign policy, outlines the ways in which five very different American Presidents - Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and now Biden - have addressed the complex legacies left them by their predecessors while dealing with the longer-term problems of running an empire under increasing stress. In so doing, he sets out a framework for thinking critically about US foreign policy since the end of the Cold War without ever losing sight of the biggest question of all: can America continue to shape world affairs or is it now facing long-term decline?

Qualitative comparative methods - and specifically controlled qualitative comparisons - are central to the study of politics. They are not the only kind of comparison, though, that can help us better understand political processes and outcomes. Yet there are few guides for how to conduct non-controlled comparative research. This volume brings together chapters from more than a dozen leading methods scholars from across the discipline of political science, including positivist and interpretivist scholars, qualitative methodologists, mixed-methods researchers, ethnographers, historians, and statisticians. Their work revolutionizes qualitative research design by diversifying the repertoire of comparative methods available to students of politics, offering readers clear suggestions for what kinds of comparisons might be possible, why they are useful, and how to execute them. By systematically thinking through how we engage in qualitative comparisons and the kinds of insights those comparisons produce, these collected essays create new possibilities to advance what we know about politics.

This book analyzes China's attitude to international law based on historical experiences and documents, and provides an explanation of China's approaches to international legal issues. It also establishes several elements for a possible framework of Chinese theory on international law. The book offers researchers, university students and practitioners valuable insights into how China views international law and why it does so in the way it does.

This groundbreaking work examines Latin America's prison crisis and the failure of mass incarceration policies. As crime rates rose over the past few decades, policy makers adopted incarceration as the primary response to public outcry. Yet, as the number of inmates increased, crime rates only continued to grow. Presenting new cross-national data based on extensive surveys of inmates throughout the region, this book explains the transformation of prisons from instruments of incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation to drivers of violence and criminality. Bergman and Fondevila highlight the impacts of internal drug markets and the dramatic increase in the number of imprisoned women. Furthermore, they show how prisons are not isolated from society - they are sites of active criminal networks, with many inmates maintaining fluid criminal connections with the outside world. Rather than reducing crime, prisons have become an integral part of the crime problem in Latin America.

This book offers a unique analysis of the participatory spaces available for civil society organisations (CSOs) in Caribbean governance. It reveals the myriad ways in which the region's CSOs have contributed to enriching Caribbean societies and to scaffolding Caribbean regionalism, and also uncovers that despite their contributions, Caribbean CSOs (and civil society more broadly) have found limited space for involvement in governance. The author peers into Caribbean state-civil society participatory dynamics using in-depth country case studies (Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago), mini-case studies and evaluations of the approaches to inclusion within the regional institutions of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). This novel contribution to the Caribbean civil society literature uses these assessments to make a case for regularising state-civil society collaborative practices to enhance the quality of democracy in the region.

This book critically explores the relationship between mobility patterns, transport provision and urban development in East African cities. Bringing together contributions on the futures of mobility in urban East Africa, the chapters examine transport provision, mobility patterns, location-specific modes of transport and transformative factors for transport and mobility in the rapidly urbanising region. The book outlines different mobility needs to be addressed in transport planning to serve and shape the respective cities and examines the decision-making process in transport planning and the level of accountability to the public. The contributors show the dialectic between innovation in transport/mobility and urban development under rapid urbanisation and discusses how to practically integrate mobility and transport provision into urban development. This book will be of interest to scholars in urban planning, transport planning, transport geography, social sciences and African studies.

This volume re-centres African women scholars in the discourse on African women and peacebuilding, combining theoretical reflections with case studies in a range of African countries. The chapters outline the history of African women's engagement in peacebuilding, introducing new and neglected themes such as youth, disability, and religious peacebuilding, and laying the foundations for new theoretical insights. Providing case studies from across Africa, the contributors highlights the achievements and challenges characterising women's contributions to peacebuilding on the continent. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of peacebuilding, African security and gender.

Contributing to the literature on democratic transitions and with a focus on institutional bargaining, in this fascinating book the Hungarian case is contrasted with those of Poland, South Africa and China to explore the contours of what bargaining strategies affect outcomes. The result is increased understanding of how actors and their interaction can make peaceful transitions are possible.

Thoroughly revised, expanded, and updated, the new edition of this classic text provides the most authoritative and current analysis of contemporary Russia. Leading scholars explore the domestic and international problems Russia confronts, including political, economic, societal, and foreign policy issues. The new edition provides an analysis from multiple perspectives on the major challenges facing Russia and Putin's regime. Updates include new sections on corruption, Russia's conflicts with Ukraine and Georgia, Russia's response to Only by understanding these challenges--and previous efforts to deal with them--will it be possible to understand the trajectory for Russia. Well written and clearly organized, this text is an indispensable guide for anyone wanting to understand contemporary Russia.

The New Silk Roads takes a fresh look at the relationships being formed along the length and breadth of the ancient trade routes today. The world is changing dramatically and in an age of Brexit and Trump, the themes of isolation and fragmentation permeating the western world stand in sharp contrast to events along the Silk Roads, where ties are being strengthened and mutual cooperation established.

This prescient contemporary history provides a timely reminder that we live in a world that is profoundly interconnected. Following the Silk Roads eastwards from Europe through to China, by way of Russia and the Middle East, Peter Frankopan assesses the global reverberations of continual shifts in the centre of power – all too often absent from headlines in the west.

The New Silk Roads asks us to re-examine who we are and where we stand in the world, illuminating the themes on which all our lives and livelihoods depend.

The Silk Roads, a major reassessment of world history, has sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

How did representative institutions become the central organs of governance in Western Europe? What enabled this distinctive form of political organization and collective action that has proved so durable and influential? The answer has typically been sought either in the realm of ideas, in the Western tradition of individual rights, or in material change, especially the complex interaction of war, taxes, and economic growth. Common to these strands is the belief that representation resulted from weak ruling powers needing to concede rights to powerful social groups. Boucoyannis argues instead that representative institutions were a product of state strength, specifically the capacity to deliver justice across social groups. Enduring and inclusive representative parliaments formed when rulers could exercise power over the most powerful actors in the land and compel them to serve and, especially, to tax them. The language of rights deemed distinctive to the West emerged in response to more effectively imposed collective obligations, especially on those with most power.

With new assertiveness and prominence, China under President Xi Jinping is rightly considered an emerging and aggressive superpower backed by growing economic and impressive military strength. In this meticulous and balanced assessment, Robert G. Sutter traces China's actions under Xi Jinping, including the many challenges they post to the international status quo. He provides a comprehensive analysis of newly prominent Chinese unconventional levers of power and influence in foreign affairs that were previously disguised, hidden, denied or otherwise neglected or unappreciated by specialists. Sutter considers the domestic issues that preoccupy Beijing and the global factors economic and political factors that complicate and constrain as well as enhance China's advance to international prominence.

Fifty years ago, academics and policymakers throughout the world agreed that it was impossible for certain sets of historically antagonistic groups to coexist peacefully on a long-term basis. This book examines the system of consociation, which was identified by Arend Lijphart and ended that pessimistic consensus. Lijphart's specific observations concerning the impact of consociation are assessed quantitatively and qualitatively, facilitated through careful operationalization of his descriptions of consociation's four components: grand coalition, minority veto, proportionality, and segmental autonomy. Insights derived from a dataset representing the experiences of eighty-eight countries are examined further through case study analysis of the seven societies most often discussed in relation to consociation: Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Switzerland. The components of consociation are found to promote lasting peace in divided societies most successfully when combined with additional incentives for the encouragement of cross-cutting cleavages and shared loyalties.