bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Radiation and fluctuations in plasmas
Authors: Bers Abraham
Published: August 2022

This chapter outlines the interaction of radiation with matter and plasmas. The interaction of radiation fields, in general, with material particles inside a plasma is treated in detail. For a quantitative evaluation of the radiation emitted by a plasma, one needs to take account of its optical thickness for the radiation that it can emit. If the plasma is optically thick (fully-opaque), then it emits as a black body, and the resulting energy loss can be important. To evaluate the radiated power in an optically thin plasma on the other hand, one needs to proceed to a detailed analysis of processes responsible for the emission of radiation. In all the cases, coupling of radiation with matter must also be taken into account as the radiation emitted by some internal parts of the plasma can be absorbed in its external layers, and the resulting emission in the external vacuum depends upon these phenomena of self-absorption.
Development and validation of a frailty index compatible with three interRAI assessment instruments
Authors: Abey-Nesbit Rebecca , Bergler Ulrich , Pickering John W , Nishtala Prasad S , Jamieson Hamish
Published: August 2022

Background

a Frailty Index (FI) calculated by the accumulation of deficits is often used to quantify the extent of frailty in individuals in specific settings. This study aimed to derive a FI that can be applied across three standardised international Residential Assessment Instrument assessments (interRAI), used at different stages of ageing and the corresponding increase in support needs.

Methods

deficit items common to the interRAI Contact Assessment (CA), Home Care (HC) or Long-Term Care Facilities assessment (LTCF) were identified and recoded to form a cumulative deficit FI. The index was validated using a large dataset of needs assessments of older people in New Zealand against mortality prediction using Kaplan Meier curves and logistic regression models. The index was further validated by comparing its performance with a previously validated index in the HC cohort.

Results

the index comprised 15 questions across seven domains. The assessment cohort and their mean frailty (SD) were: 89,506 CA with 0.26 (0.15), 151,270 HC with 0.36 (0.15) and 83,473 LTCF with 0.41 (0.17). The index predicted 1-year mortality for each of the CA, HC and LTCF, cohorts with area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of 0.741 (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.718–0.762), 0.687 (95%CI: 0.684–0.690) and 0.674 (95%CI: 0.670–0.678), respectively.

Conclusions

the results for this multi-instrument FI are congruent with the differences in frailty expected for people in the target settings for these instruments and appropriately associated with mortality at each stage of the journey of progressive ageing.
Inverted-V Deformity: An Anatomic Study
Authors: Minelli Lennert , Callan Peter P
Published: August 2022

Background

The inverted-V deformity is an unwanted aesthetic consequence of dorsal hump resection. Despite their attachment to the nasal bones, the upper lateral cartilages (ULCs) can separate from the nasal bones, creating a step-off after cartilaginous dorsal hump removal.

Objectives

The mechanism of how the ULCs can separate from the nasal bones despite their attachment was studied to improve understanding of the inverted-V complication and its prevention.

Methods

A dorsal hump resection (bony and cartilaginous) was performed on 12 fresh cadavers to observe the effect on the ULCs. As a secondary study, the effect of different preventative maneuvers was investigated.

Results

Cartilaginous dorsal resection destroys the spreader mechanism of the T-frame and impacts the stabilization of the ULCs, resulting in them becoming free-floating. This causes them to migrate in a posterior, medial, and cranial direction relative to the nasal bones. The dynamic attachment of the ULCs to the nasal bones is key in this mechanism and allows actual separation of the ULCs from the nasal bones to result in the inverted-V deformity. Caudal traction to the ULCs re-tensions these attachments, pulling the ULCs against the nasal bones again.

Conclusions

This anatomic dissection study has established that the connection between the nasal dorsum and ULCs is not a static fusion but is dynamic. This attachment can be used in primary rhinoplasty to prevent inverted-V deformity by applying caudal traction to the ULCs when reconstructing the dorsum which will tension the ULCs toward the nasal bones.
Effect of Tax Structure Reform on Public Debt in Developing Countries
Authors: Gnangnon Sèna Kimm
Published: August 2022

To reduce their public revenue dependence on international trade tax revenue, policymakers in developing countries have engaged (with the assistance of international financial institutions and bilateral donors) in the reform of their tax revenue structure, with a view to reducing their public revenue dependence on international trade tax revenue. This reform (referred to as tax reform) is particularly important given the ongoing unavoidable trade liberalization that sooner or later further erode international trade revenue. Using an unbalanced panel dataset of 127 countries over the period 1980–2019, and the two-step system generalized method of moments, the present article investigates the public debt effect of this tax reform. The empirical analysis has shown that a greater extent of tax reform helps to reduce public debt, with the magnitude of this negative effect being larger in countries with a high share of non-resource tax revenue in public revenue. In addition, the public debt reduction effect of tax reform is larger, the greater is countries’ share of international trade tax revenue in non-resource tax revenue. This analysis has important policy implications. (JEL codes: H63, H10, and H20)
Financialisation and the authoritarian state: the case of Russia
Authors: Mishura Anna , Ageeva Svetlana
Published: August 2022

Using the example of Russia, we argue that financialisation in an authoritarian state can take place primarily through formation in financial sector monopoly-like state-related structures controlled by a limited circle of the irreplaceable elite. It occurs because financialisation and new financial technologies in an authoritarian state increase both the opportunities and incentives for dominance of large state-dependent institutions in the financial sector. The authoritarian state and its elite are using financial and information technology developments in accordance with their goals, adopting and enhancing some financial practices and innovations from the experience of developed countries while rejecting, distorting or slowing down others. As a result, on the one hand, within the framework of the formation of such monopoly-like institutions, financialisation is proceeding actively, the role of finance and financial relations in society is increasing everywhere and the use of new financial technologies, digitalisation and financial inclusion are expanding. On the other hand, some financial markets remain underdeveloped because either they imply a certain degree of competition, diversity, institutional quality and independence from state voluntarism, or the state and authoritarian elite have not yet fully elaborated a strategy of integrating these financial markets into the orbit of their interests. Thus financialisation in DEEs with an authoritarian political regime can strengthen and facilitate the dominance of authoritarian elites. We draw these conclusions considering the example of financialisation in Russia in the last two decades, where the banking sector is at the core of the financial system.
Multiple Histograms-Based Reversible Data Hiding Using Fast Performance Optimization and Adaptive Pixel Distribution
Authors: Yuan Junying , Zheng Huicheng , Ni Jiangqun
Published: August 2022

In prediction error-based reversible data hiding, multiple histograms modification (MHM) is well known for high image quality and thus has received wide attention in recent years. However, the computational cost for performance optimization in MHM is too high, which is particularly critical for real-time applications. This manuscript aims to reduce the computational complexity of MHM by presenting two techniques, including fast performance optimization and adaptive pixel distribution. Fast performance optimization provides a two-stage process for optimal bin selection by exploiting the concept of per-bit distortion of data embedding within a prediction error histogram (PEH). In fast performance optimization, the distribution characteristics of the per-bit distortion are investigated to significantly narrow down the solution space of optimal bin selection. The second technique is adaptive pixel distribution, which tries to nonuniformly allocate pixels into multiple PEHs to further reduce the time complexity. Extensive experiments show that the computational complexity of MHM is significantly reduced while well preserving the image quality.
Are the Fingerprints of WTO Staff on Panel Rulings a Problem? A Reply to Joost Pauwelyn and Krzysztof Pelc
Authors: Steinbach Armin
Published: August 2022

By employing stylometric data analysis, Joost Pauwelyn and Krzysztof Pelc underpin the narrative of a power-mongering World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat. As ‘holder of the pen’ in writing WTO rulings, the Secretariat would absorb control over WTO adjudicators and the dispute settlement procedure. This reply disagrees. First, with stylometric analysis informing style rather than substance, this technique does not encrypt the intellectual ownership of WTO rulings, nor does it offer account of the deliberation between bureaucrats and adjudicators. Second, with public power typically deriving legitimacy from both political or judicial accountability as well as rational and de-politicized bureaucracies, an assertive WTO Secretariat under the direction of panellists is normatively desirable. Third, a WTO Secretariat pursuing consistent application of the growing WTO acquis does not impair the members-driven adjudication process.
Girls start life on an uneven playing field
Authors: Marphatia Akanksha A , Saville Naomi S , Manandhar Dharma S , Cortina-Borja Mario , Reid Alice M , Wells Jonathan C K
Published: August 2022

Background and objectives

Evolutionary research on the sex ratio at birth (SRB) has focused on explaining variability within and between populations, and whether parental fitness is maximized by producing daughters or sons. We tested predictors of SRB in a low-income setting, to understand whether girls differ from boys in their likelihood of being born into families with the capacity to invest in them, which has implications for their future health and fitness.

Methodology

We used data from a cluster randomized control trial from lowland rural Nepal (16 115 mother-child dyads). We applied principal component analysis to extract two composite indices reflecting maternal socio-economic and reproductive (parity, age) capital. We fitted mixed-effects logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios of having a girl in association with these individual factors and indices.

Results

The SRB was 112. Compared to the global reference SRB (105), there were seven missing girls per 100 boys. Uneducated, early-marrying, poorer and shorter mothers were more likely to give birth to girls. Analysing composite maternal indices, lower socio-economic and reproductive capital were independently associated with a greater likelihood of having a girl.

Conclusions and implications

In this population, girls start life facing composite disadvantages, being more likely than boys to be born to mothers with lower socio-economic status and reproductive capital. Both physiological and behavioural mechanisms may contribute to these epidemiological associations. Differential early exposure by sex to maternal factors may underpin intergenerational cycles of gender inequality, mediated by developmental trajectory, education and socio-economic status.
Host taxonomy determines the composition, structure, and diversity of the earthworm cast microbiome under homogenous feeding conditions
Authors: Aira Manuel , Pérez-Losada Marcos , Crandall Keith A , Domínguez Jorge
Published: August 2022

Host evolutionary history is a key factor shaping the earthworm cast microbiome, although its effect can be shadowed by the earthworm’s diet. To untangle dietary from taxon effects, we raised nine earthworm species on a uniform diet of cow manure and compared cast microbiome across species while controlling for diet. Our results showed that, under controlled laboratory conditions, earthworm microbiomes are species-specific, more diverse than that of the controlled diet, and mainly comprised of native bacteria (i.e. not acquired from the diet). Furthermore, diet has a medium to large convergence effect on microbiome composition since earthworms shared 16%–74% of their bacterial amplicon sequence variants (ASV). The interspecies core microbiome included 10 ASVs, while their intraspecies core microbiomes were larger and varied in ASV richness (24%–48%) and sequence abundance across earthworm species. This specificity in core microbiomes and variable degree of similarity in bacterial composition suggest that phylosymbiosis could determine earthworm microbiome assembly. However, lack of congruence between the earthworm phylogeny and the microbiome dendrogram suggests that a consistent diet fed over several generations may have weakened potential phylosymbiotic effects. Thus, cast microbiome assembly in earthworms seem to be the result of an interplay among host phylogeny and diet.
Correlations of expression of nuclear and mitochondrial genes in triploid fish
Authors: Cui Jialin , Zhang Hong , Gao Xin , Zhang Xueyin , Luo Mengxue , Ren Li , Liu Shaojun
Published: August 2022

The expression of nuclear and mitochondrial genes, as well as their coordinated control, regulates cell proliferation, individual development, and disease in animals. However, the potential coregulation between nuclear and mitochondrial genes is unclear in triploid fishes. The two triploids (R2C and RC2) with distinct mitochondrial genomes but similar nuclear genomes exhibit different embryonic development times and growth rates. They are an excellent model for studying how nuclear and mitochondrial genes coordinate. Here, we performed the mRNA-seq of four stages of embryonic development (blastula, gastrula, segmentation, and hatching periods) in the two triploids (R2C and RC2) and their diploid inbred parents (red crucian carp and common carp). After establishing the four patterns of mitochondrial and nuclear gene expression, 270 nuclear genes regulated by mitochondrial genes were predicted. The expression levels of APC16 and Trim33 were higher in RC2 than in R2C, suggesting their potential effects on regulating embryonic development time. In addition, 308 differentially expressed genes filtered from the list of nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes described by Mercer et al. in 2011 were considered potential genes for which nuclear genes regulate mitochondrial function. The findings might aid in our understanding of the correlation between mitochondrial and nuclear genomes as well as their synergistic effects on embryonic development.
3. The Evolution of Modern Warfare
Authors: Sheehan Michael
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines how the theory and practice of war has evolved over the past two centuries. It first provides an overview of modern warfare and the transformation in the way that wars are fought. In particular, it charts the decline of limited warfare and considers the ideas of Prussian career soldier Carl von Clausewitz, along with the emergence of the Napoleonic way of war and the legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte with regard to strategy. It then discusses the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the planning for and conduct of war, focusing on the ways that weapons technology transformed both strategy and tactics. It also explores the evolution of naval warfare, how nuclear weapons ended the era of total war, and the rise of revolutionary warfare. Finally, it reflects on how the transition to postmodernity can influence war as a politico-cultural institution.
5. The Causes of War
Authors: Garnett John , Baylis John
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines theories that explain the causes of war. It considers ideas advanced by political scientists, sociologists, biologists, and philosophers, showing that different explanations of war give rise to different requirements or conditions for peace. After highlighting the difficulties in studying war, the chapter discusses human nature explanations of war, citing such factors as frustration, misperception, misunderstanding, miscalculation, and errors of judgement as well as the role of human collectives including factions, tribes, nations, and states. It then describes the bargaining model of war before turning to inter-state wars, intra-state conflicts, and ethnic conflicts. It also explores the debate over whether ‘greed’ or ‘grievance’ are the main causes of civil wars. The chapter concludes that identifying a single cause appropriate to all wars is an exercise in futility and that a worldwide ‘just’ peace is unattainable.
7. Law, Politics, and the Use of Force
Authors: Morris Justin
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines the place of international law in international politics, with particular emphasis on whether legal constraint is effective in averting or limiting the use of force by states. It begins with a discussion of the efficacy of international law in regulating the behaviour of states, focusing on the so-called perception–reality gap in international law. It then considers various reasons why states obey the law, from fear of coercion to self-interest and perceptions of legitimacy. It also explores the role and status of breaches of international law in international politics as well as the functions of the two laws of armed conflict, namely, jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Finally, it analyses the apparent paradox of legal constraint on warfare in relation to power politics and the mitigatory effects of norms governing the conduct of war.
8. Technology and Warfare
Authors: Grauer Ryan
Published: August 2022

This chapter explores the relationship between military technology and warfare, with a particular focus on the tools and the ways they are used in conventional wars between states. There are significant technological changes afoot in military affairs, and conventional wisdom suggests that countries failing to keep pace with developments risk being relegated to the dustbin of history. However, there is reason to doubt this general claim. Militaries have always been incentivized to develop weapons and to integrate them into existing and emerging forces. As a consequence, there have been several ‘revolutions in military affairs’ throughout history and it is possible that a new one is currently under way. Technological development in the warfighting realm is not easy, however. As militaries seek to develop new tools and processes, they are constrained by a variety of factors, including national capacities, strategic culture, and strategic requirements. When they do acquire new technologies, the utility of the tools is limited by the frailty of the humans using them, their own organizational processes, and the nature of war itself. Countries that solve these problems can bolster their efficiency, effectiveness, and power in combat and so gain a decisive edge in combat over those that do not. Perfect solutions are evasive, however, and, except in cases of extreme technological disparities, tools and processes only rarely determine outcomes. The challenges of technological development persist into the present day and will continue to confound attempts to weaponize tools like artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Nevertheless, because there is significant potential in such technologies, strategists ignore them at their own peril.
9. Intelligence and Strategy
Authors: George Roger Z.
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines the role of intelligence in the development and execution of strategy. It begins with a discussion of what intelligence is all about and how its utility has been viewed by strategists. In particular, it considers the different components of the ‘intelligence cycle’, namely, intelligence collection, intelligence analysis, and special intelligence missions that rest on effective counterintelligence and counterespionage. It then charts the history of US intelligence, from its use to support cold war strategies of containment and deterrence to its more recent support to US strategies for counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. It also reviews the challenges and causes of ‘strategic surprise’, citing a number of historical cases such as the September 11 terrorist attacks. The chapter concludes with an assessment of how the US intelligence community has performed since reforms were made in response to 9/11 and its focus on new threats posed by cyberwar and cyberattacks.
10. Geography and Strategy
Authors: Moran Daniel
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines how geographical setting shapes the conduct of war. It first provides an overview of the ways that physical geography influences the tactical identities of armed forces as well as their strategic effects, focusing on practices that lie at the heart of ‘joint’ warfare—in which land, sea, and air forces cooperate to their collective advantage. The discussion highlights the strategic possibilities presented by warfare in different physical environments—that is, land warfare, naval warfare, and air warfare. The chapter also considers the strengths and weaknesses of forces that fight on land and sea and in the air, unconventional warfare fought on land, the maritime strategy employed by navies, theory vs practice of air power, and coercive bombing. Finally, it analyses the strategic potential of space war, the expansion of war into cyberspace, and the use of ‘cyber’ weapons in information warfare.
20. Strategic Studies and its Critics
Authors: Peoples Columba
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines key themes in the criticism levelled at strategic studies. It begins with a discussion of the relationship between strategic studies and its critics in the ‘golden age’, a period that saw the rise to prominence of a new breed of strategic thinker, the ‘civilian strategist’. These civilian strategists favoured the incorporation of game theory and systems analysis into the study of nuclear strategy and deterrence. After reviewing prominent critical appraisals of deterrence theory in the 1960s, the chapter explains how these critiques were subsequently addressed by strategic theorists. It then considers the emergence of a ‘third wave’ of strategists that engaged in a reconstructive critique of strategy, before concluding with an analysis of recent critical approaches to strategic studies that have focused on its role in constructing a particular Western-centric vision of world order, the relationship between strategic theory and policymaking, and the language of strategic studies.
23. Does Strategic Studies Have a Future?
Authors: Freedman Lawrence
Published: August 2022

This chapter considers whether the field of strategic studies has a future, beginning by tracing its development in universities and think tanks as traditional military patterns of thought appeared inadequate in the thermonuclear age, and how it evolved into a broad field of enquiry by the end of the cold war. The chapter then describes the ‘golden age’ of strategic studies that created a market for professionally trained civilian strategists, and examines how strategic studies had become more diffuse as the political context of international relations changed. It also explains how the study of strategy posed a particular challenge to the social sciences, and how ethical and practical difficulties created tensions between academics and policymakers. The chapter goes on to discuss elements of realism that are useful in the study of strategy, strategic studies’ focus on the role of armed force both in peacetime and in war, and future prospects for strategic studies.
2. What Are Terrorism Studies?
Authors: Wilson Tim
Published: August 2022

This chapter gives a basic overview of the field of terrorism studies. It looks at attempts to define the boundaries of terrorism as a subject. It traces the evolution of orthodox terrorism studies since the 1970s. The term terrorism was first coined during the French Revolution. Terrorism sparks powerful images of sudden, disruptive, and system-shaking political violence. The academic study of terrorism as it exists now reflects the shifting concerns of both governments and the public. Scolarship on terrorism has never been richer and more diverse than it is now. New research opportunties always raise new challenges so it will be interesting to see the field of terrorism studies evolve even further in the future.
11. Can Terrorism Be Rational?
Authors: Abrahms Max
Published: August 2022

This chapter looks into the rationality of terrorism. It starts off by looking into the paradox of terrorism. Political scientists typically view terrorists as rational political actors. However, empirical research on terrorism suggests that terrorism is in fact an ineffective political tactic. Evidence indicates that in instances where there has been terrorist attacks on civilians, governments rarely grant concessions. This might explain why terrorism is often selected as a tactic only if alternative options are no longer viable. The chapter uses Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State as case studies to examine broader patterns of terrorism. Knowing the priority of terrorists is vital for governments when considering counterterrorism actions. Having an understanding of the grievances of terrorists helps political actors predict which targets the terrorists will attack.
13. Longevity of Terrorist Groups
Authors: Malkki Leena
Published: August 2022

This chapter explores the average longevity, characteristics, and operational environment of terrorist groups. A large number of terrorist groups do not survive their first year, while the average lifespan of terrorist organizations is around 8–9 years. Large groups tend to have a longer lifespan than smaller ones, especially if they form alliances. The chapter also looks into factors motivating groups to continue with violent attacks. Such factors include specific state and group characteristics and intergroup relations. It examines the instrumental model and the organizational model and looks into the rationality behind terrorist decision-making.
15. Gendered and Racialized Terrorism
Authors: Gentry Caron E.
Published: August 2022

This chapter focuses on gendered and racial terrorism. One reason that terrorism is perceived as significantly worse than state violence is because of how gender and race have become delegitimizing forces in socio-political life. Post-structuralism and intersectionality are used in this chapter to try to understand how terrorism is subjective. This is particularly the case in terms of the power structures of gender and race. Gender and race structures use essentialization and idealization to create and maintain hierarchical relationships between people and objects such as states and terrorist groups. The chapter discusses the incel revolution. Here gender and race had been the primary driving forces in this rising social movement.
23. Foreign Policy and Countering Terrorism
Authors: Singh Rashmi
Published: August 2022

This chapter explains how foreign policies intersect and interact with terrorism and counterterrorism. It considers core instruments of foreign policy and methods for countering terrorism. Examples include diplomacy and culture, economic statecraft, and the military. There is some evidence suggesting the use of military pressure can be quite effective in achieving specific policy objectives. However, the chapter also emphasizes how an interrelationship and interdependence between foreign policies and counterterrorism could hinder the fight against terrorism. The sub-divisions of countering terrorism are anti-terrorism, counter-terrorism, and consequence management. States must include compromise elements in their foreign policy in their direct dealings with other governments when it comes to countering terrorism.
28. Victims of Terrorism and Political Violence
Authors: Lynch Orla , Joyce Carmel
Published: August 2022

This chapter focuses on victims of terrorism and political violence. Psychological and criminological research on victimhood challenges the portrayal of victims as rand and unlucky targets of indiscriminate violence. Research on victims is often concerned with the psychological impact of violence and this results often in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The chapter also highlights how victims of terrorism often become public victims and are politicized in the process. It also looks at the hierarchy of victimhood, the Just World Hypothesis, characteristics of an ideal victim, and differences between good and bad victims.
2. Realism
Authors: Glaser Charles L.
Published: August 2022

This chapter describes the basic features of realist theory, including its emphasis on the implications of international anarchy and the importance of power. The chapter then explores major divisions within the realist family, and their implications for states’ security policies and war. The most fundamental division is between structural realism—which focuses on the impact of the international system on states’ decisions—and motivational realism—which focuses on the impact of variation in states’ motives. Also important is the ongoing debate within structural realism—between Kenneth Waltz’s structural realism, offensive realism, and defensive realism. The first two of these find that international structure generates a strong tendency towards competitive policies, while defensive realism finds that cooperation is, under some conditions, a state’s best strategy for achieving security. The chapter illustrates how these different arguments result in divergent predictions for how China’s continuing economic growth is likely to influence international security.
6. Social Constructivism
Authors: Agius Christine
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines the impact of social constructivism on Security Studies, and how it calls into question the assumed orthodoxy of rationalist approaches to security and the international system by asking how security and security threats are ‘socially constructed’. It focuses on the importance of social relations and why identity, norms, and culture matter. Whereas rationalist approaches focus on material forces to understand and theorize security, social constructivism argues that ideational as well as material factors construct the world around us and the meanings we give to it. Therefore, its significance for Security Studies is crucial in terms not only of conceptualizing security but of providing alternative readings of security. However, constructivism is not a uniform approach. As this chapter demonstrates, it is broadly divided into two camps, which differ on questions of methodology and particular aspects of how knowledge and identity are interrogated. Throughout this chapter case studies of constructivist approaches to security questions will be discussed, and the chapter concludes with a consideration of critiques of constructivism.
7. Critical Security Studies: A Schismatic History
Authors: David Mutimer , Verbakel Derek
Published: August 2022

This chapter provides a partial history of a label. It is partial both in that it is not, and cannot be, complete, and in that I, David Mutimer, am both the author of, and participant in, the history. It is therefore partial in the way all other history is partial. The label is ‘Critical Security Studies’. The chapter tells a story of the origin of the label and the way it has developed and fragmented since the early 1990s. It sets out the primary claims of the major divisions that have emerged within the literatures to which the label has been applied: constructivism, critical theory, and poststructuralism. Ultimately, the chapter suggests that Critical Security Studies needs to foster an ‘ethos of critique’ in either the study or refusal of security, and that the chapter is an instance of that ethos directed at Critical Security Studies itself.
12. Securitization Theory
Authors: Thomson Catarina , Baele Stephane
Published: August 2022

This chapter introduces securitization theory, situating its intellectual roots and tracing its emergence and evolution as a framework for analysis, and spelling out its main concepts and dimensions. The chapter also presents four empirical cases in securitization research—migration, religion, the environment and climate change, and health (including how COVID-19 has been securitized). Finally, the chapter addresses the key criticisms and challenges that have been voiced against securitization theory. These are threefold—the theory has been said to lack coherence, the empirical methods used by securitization researchers have been claimed to lack rigor, and the normative and critical status of the framework has been debated.
13. Popular Culture and Security
Authors: Press-Barnathan Galia
Published: August 2022

This chapter explores the roles that popular culture plays in shaping and understanding security-related processes. It explains the different ways in which popular culture is conceived by different IR scholars and consequently how it impacts politics, and security issues more specifically. The chapter then focuses on the role of pop culture in managing conflicts (how it shapes basic beliefs about conflicts and how it helps sustain enemy images), how pop culture is used in inter-state geo-political competition, as a source of soft power, and finally, what roles pop culture can play in supporting transitions to peace, and in normalizing various types of understandings of peace.
17. Environmental Security
Authors: Dabelko Geoff
Published: August 2022

This chapter discusses the concept of environmental security. It explains the way environment and climate change have both broadened and deepened the issue of security. It describes the evolution of the concept as a merger of international environmental agreements, efforts to contest the meaning and practice of security, the proliferation of new security issues in the post-Cold War era, recognition that environmental and climate changes pose grave risks to human well-being, and the growing community of research practice that seeks to build peace through natural resource management. The chapter examines the different meanings of environmental security, and then explains four major categories of environmental security problems—namely, the way environmental change can be a factor in violent conflict, the way environmental change can be a risk to national security, the way war and preparation for war can damage the environment, and the way environmental change can be a risk to human security. It explains how environmental security can mean different things to different people and can apply to vastly different referent objects in ways that sometimes have very little to do with environmental change.
26. Health and Security
Authors: Elbe Stefan , Hilberg Eva
Published: August 2022

What threat can diseases pose to security? The sheer breadth of possible answers to this question has become increasingly evident during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which was caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This chapter explores three such links between health and security. First, some diseases are identified as threats to human security. The human security framework draws particular attention to diseases—such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis—that remain endemic in many low-income countries, that continue to cause millions of deaths annually, and that also pose substantial challenges to the survival and well-being of individuals and communities. Second, some emerging infectious diseases—such as SARS, pandemic flu, Ebola, and COVID-19—are identified as threats to national security because their rapid spread can cause high death tolls and trigger significant economic disruption. Finally, some diseases are also identified as narrower threats to bio-security within the context of international efforts to combat terrorism. Here concerns have focused on the spectre of a terrorist attack using a disease-causing biological agent such as anthrax, smallpox, or plague. The chapter concludes by contrasting two different ways of understanding this health–security nexus: as an instance of securitization or medicalization.
3. Carrying the EU Forward: The Era of Lisbon
Authors: Church Clive , Phinnemore David
Published: August 2022

This chapter explores how the EU ended a long period of constitutional change by agreeing the Treaty of Lisbon and used it to face new challenges of financial crisis, Brexit, and Covid-19—the latter events leading to thoughts that further treaty change might be needed. The process started with the 2002–03 Convention on the Future of Europe leadin to the Constitutional Treaty of 2004 and in October 2007 produced the Treaty of Lisbon which eventually entered into force on 1 December 2009. Its implementation was complicated by the eurozone crisis, resulting in extra-treaty arrangements and another treaty amendment. Although the official appetite for treaty reform all but evaporated in the 2010s, the UK’s June 2016 vote to quit the EU raised the hopes for further changes. The end of the 2010s and into the 2020s saw Brexit being negotiated within the terms of the Treaty of European Union the EU’s treaty agreeing measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. Calls for treaty revision continued but active steps to re-negotiate the consolidated treaties have not yet begun.
4. Neo-functionalism
Authors: Strøby Jensen Carsten
Published: August 2022

This chapter reviews a theoretical position, neo-functionalism, which was developed in the mid-1950s by scholars based in the United States. The fundamental argument of the theory is that states are not the only important actors on the international scene. As a consequence, neo-functionalists focus their attention on the role of supranational institutions and non-state actors, such as interest groups and political parties, who, they argue, are the real driving force behind integration efforts. The chapter that follows provides an introduction to the main features of neo-functionalist theory, its historical development since the 1950s, and how neo-functionalism is used today.
12. The European Parliament
Authors: Burns Charlotte
Published: August 2022

This chapter focuses on the European Parliament (EP), an institution that has been transformed from being a relatively powerless institution into one that is able to have a genuine say in the legislative process and hold the European Union’s executive bodies to account. However, increases in the Parliament’s formal powers have not been matched by an increase in popular legitimacy: decreasing turnout in European elections up to 2014 turned around in 2019, but an increasing share of the vote is now going to populist Eurosceptic parties. The EP’s legislative power is comparable to that of many national parliaments, but it has struggled to connect with the wider European public. The chapter explores these issues: the EP’s evolution from talking shop to co-legislator; its powers and influence; its internal structure and organization, with a focus on the role and behaviour of the political groups. Finally, the EP’s representative function as the EU’s only directly elected institution is discussed.
17. Trade and Development Policies
Authors: Smith Michael
Published: August 2022

This chapter focuses on the external economic relations of the European Union—the longest-established area of collective European international policy-making and action—and specifically on trade and development policy. The chapter begins by examining institutions and policy-making for trade, in which the Commission plays a central role in initiating and conducting policy, and looks especially at the Common Commercial Policy (CCP). It goes on to examine development policy—an area of mixed competence, in which policy responsibility is shared between the EU institutions and national governments. The chapter then proceeds to explore the substance and impact of EU trade and development policies, and to assess the linkages between the two areas. The conclusions draw attention to a number of tensions and contradictions in EU trade and development policy, including those arising from the departure of the United Kingdom.
20. The Single Market
Authors: Egan Michelle
Published: August 2022

This chapter charts the evolution of the Single Market, from its original conception in the 1950s, beginning with the Treaty of Rome through to efforts to expand and enforce Single Market commitments in a climate of unfair trade practices and rising economic nationalism. The chapter highlights the tensions and trade-offs between legal and regulatory strategies to integrate markets; the challenges of creating a social market due to internal asymmetries between market integration at supranational level and social protection at national level; and the efforts to facilitate the free movement of goods, capital, services, and labour. The chapter highlights the importance of the Single Market in seeking to promote competitiveness and growth as well as the diffusion of its regulations beyond its borders. It concludes by demonstrating how both traditional international relations theories of integration and newer approaches in comparative politics and international relations, can be used to shed light on the governance of the Single Market.
23. The Common Agricultural Policy
Authors: Fouilleux Ève , Gravey Viviane
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines one of the first European policies, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It does so by focusing on the policy’s objectives, instruments, actors, and debates. It looks at the way in which the CAP has evolved since the 1960s, and attempts to explain this evolution by asking and answering a number of important questions: why has the CAP been so problematic for European policy-makers? Why has it proven so resistant to change? Given the constraints identified, how has reform come about? This chapter also looks at some of the challenges facing agricultural policy, as new debates emerge among citizens on the place and the functions performed by agriculture. The chapter grants particular attention to the way the CAP tackles issues such as rural development, relations between agriculture, food and the environment, transparency, and social equity.
25. The Euro Crisis and European Integration
Authors: Hodson Dermot , Puetter Uwe
Published: August 2022

This chapter discusses the European Union’s (EU) response to the euro crisis that emerged in late 2009, two years after the global financial crisis struck. It identifies the challenges this crisis has posed to the existing institutional set-up of economic and monetary union (EMU) and shows that it had a lasting impact on dicussions over the EU’s future well beyond its most dramatic moments. A timeline of the euro crisis is provided and the main changes to the institutional framework of European economic governance at the time of writing are reviewed. The chapter considers whether the crisis was caused by a deficit of centralized decision-making and whether it has served, in turn, as a catalyst for deeper economic and political integration in the euro area and the Union more generally. The consequences of the crisis for the EU’s legitimacy are also explored from competing theoretical perspectives.
27. Brexit
Authors: Pérez-Solórzano Borragán Nieves , Cini Michelle
Published: August 2022

This chapter analyses the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union (EU), commonly known as Brexit. The chapter examines the historical context that shaped the UK’s decision to join the European Economic Community (EEC) and its subsequent relationship with the EU. It charts the events leading to the 2016 EU referendum, including the campaign and explains the reasons for the narrow Leave vote. The Withdrawal Agreement (WA) negotiations under Article 50 are discussed by focusing on process, actors, and outcomes. This is followed by an evaluation of the negotiations leading to the signing of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and its implications. The chapter ends by discussing the impact and implications of the UK’s departure from the EU.
3. The EU’s Institutions
Authors: Corbett Richard , Kenealy Daniel , Hadfield Amelia
Published: August 2022

It is impossible to understand the EU without a careful study of its key institutions and how they work. This chapter examines the six key institutions of the EU: the European Commission; the Council (of ministers); the European Council; the European Parliament; the Court of Justice of the European Union; and the European Central Bank. The chapter discusses the structures and formal powers of the six institutions and how these powers have evolved in practice over time. While it may be tempting to regard EU institutions as dry and complex, they are also dynamic organisms exercising a unique mix of legislative, executive, and judicial power. The chapter explains why these institutions matter in determining EU politics and policy more generally, focusing on three central themes: the extent to which the EU is an experiment in motion; the importance of power sharing and consensus; and the capacity of the EU structures to cope with the Union’s expanding size and scope.
5. Policy-making in the EU
Authors: Kenealy Daniel
Published: August 2022

This chapter examines how EU policies are made. Most EU legislation is now adopted via a process in which the Council and the European Parliament have equal powers. The basic policy-making rules laid down in the treaties have been supplemented over the years by formal agreements and informal understandings between the main actors in the decision-making institutions. The chapter considers how policy is made formally, explaining the underlying principles, principal actors, and key stages of the policy process. It goes on to consider what happens in practice, exploring the EU’s institutional hierarchies and policy networks. It also evaluates the transparency and efficiency of the EU policy-making process.
9. Enlargement and Wider Europe
Authors: Sedelmeier Ulrich , Avery Graham
Published: August 2022

The EU has expanded many times and many countries still aspire to join. Enlargement illustrates the success of the European model of integration. It has also provided the EU with a powerful tool to influence domestic politics in would-be members. But enlargement also poses fundamental challenges. It has implications both for how the EU works (its structure and institutions) and for what it does (its policies). The chapter first compares ‘widening’ and ‘deepening’ before discussing enlargement as a form of soft power. It then explains how the EU has expanded and why countries want to join. It also looks at wider Europe and the EU’s relationship with Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland, as well as prospective members in the Balkan countries. The chapter goes on to consider the EU’s relationship with Turkey and the European Neighbourhood Policy. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the potential limits of EU expansion and an evaluation of the enlargement process.
10. Current and Future Challenges
Authors: Amelia Amelia , Kenealy Daniel , Corbett Richard
Published: August 2022

As it moves into the third decade of the 21st century, the EU faces a number of new and unprecedented challenges–as well as some perennial ones. The chapter opens with a discussion of the challenges posed by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (Brexit). It goes on to consider how the COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed a series of pre-existing internal and external policy challenges, as well as creating new ones. These in turn have raised questions about various aspects of the EU’s governance, from the size and scope of its budget to the quality of democracy across its member states; from the role of the Commission to decision-making rules in the Council. How well the EU responds to these many challenges will shape the future of the Union.