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How to lose a war the story of America's intervention in Afghanistan. By Amin Saikal. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press. 2024. 320pp. £18.99. ISBN 978 0 30026 624 5. Available as e-book.
No full textIntegrating global perspectives in biomedical science education: the role of project-based learning in addressing Western-centric paradigms and enhancing student preparedness for global health challenges
No full textBiomedical Sciences education has traditionally focused on Western paradigms, often overlooking the health challenges faced in less economically developed countries. Integrating global perspectives is essential, yet institutional guidelines lack clear directives for doing so. This perspective paper proposes a project-based learning (PBL) approach within undergraduate biomedical sciences modules, which focuses on tropical infectious diseases to promote decolonized learning by contrasting the Global North and South. In this model, students will work collaboratively to learn problem-solving techniques relevant to real-world issues like tropical diseases. Although in theory PBL is a useful way of learning, there are potential challenges with group dynamics and engagement. This paper discusses the various benefits and limitations of implementing this approach
The protection of crypto-assets in international investment law
No full textThe recent spate of regulatory intervention in the crypto-industry suggests it is only a matter of time before investment treaty claims concerning crypto-assets emerge. Crypto-assets today represent immense economic value, but many are traded for pure financial speculation. As such, there is clear tension between international investment law and the nature of these cryptocurrencies as assets capable of treaty protection. Several questions emerge: how can decentralised assets be localised in a State's territory? Can (and should) States be liable to protect investors holding speculative assets, with a remote economic contribution, from State regulation? Is international investment law equipped to address the challenges to the conventional boundaries of jurisdiction and merits that these assets will provoke? To answer these questions, this article envisages a hypothetical crypto-exchange on which crypto-assets are traded worldwide. A hypothetical investor seeks to bring a claim against a State for regulating the exchange, but their only ‘investment’ is the crypto-tokens hosted on the exchange. Through this hypothetical, the article explores the legal and economic materialisation of a crypto ‘investment’, and highlights its relevance for substantive questions of expropriation and fair and equitable treatment (FET). It also contends that traditionally flexible notions of ‘territory’ for financial instruments are unsuitable for crypto-assets, advocating a return to private international law instead. This article situates the immense potential of crypto-assets within the competing concerns of States’ newer investment treaties. Accordingly, it identifies the characteristics of value-generating crypto-assets that should be protected under international investment law
Integrating climate mitigation and adaptation in the UK: a new anticipatory narrative for achieving “Climate Resilient Net Zero” in preparing for heat risk
No full textClimate Policy Integration (CPI) is key to mainstreaming and harmonising mitigation and adaptation in policy responses to climate change worldwide. However, little is known about how CPI can be applied in practice, beyond single policy areas, particularly in the integration of adaptation and mitigation responses. We investigate this in the context of responding to climate impacts such as extreme heat, a climate risk growing in international importance. Using the 2022 UK heatwaves as a case study, our paper explores: (a) the extent to which key stakeholders consider the integration of adaptation and mitigation to be important; (b) perceptions of the feasibility of integration; and (c) main enablers and/or challenges with integration of adaptation and mitigation. To do this, interviews (N = 38) and four focus groups (N = 21) were conducted with policymakers, first responders, utility providers, and civil society responsible for managing heat risks. Our findings reveal a tension that CPI is essential to achieving a “climate resilient net zero”, yet unrealised. To facilitate CPI, we present a new anticipatory narrative with international and multi-contextual significance, that considers the convergence of key elements integral to effective CPI decision-making in the context of heat risk: (1) ‘Challenges’ − that may hinder, undermine, or act as a barrier to the integration of mitigation and adaptation; (2) ‘Enablers’ − which support, or help to facilitate greater integration, or synergies, between mitigation and adaptation; (3) ‘Framings’ − different ways participants described, defined or interpreted the issue of integration; (4) ‘Importance’ – the extent to which participants thought that integrating mitigation and adaptation was important; and (5) ‘Feasibility’ – or how possible integration is. We conclude that unless all five elements are fully addressed iteratively by end-users when tackling and understanding heat risks, new problems may emerge
Kant’s republican account of citizenship
No full textKant's political philosophy has experienced a recent revival, largely due to influential interpretations that frame his concept of right as a republican account of “non-domination.” One of the major challenges in reconstructing Kant's concept of law within neo-republican terms is his notion of citizenship. While neo-republicans have made substantial efforts to distance themselves from the traditional view that restricted voting rights to mainstream white men, Kant's distinction between “active” and “passive” citizens still echoes this conventional line of thought. Without dismissing the prevalence of the sexist and classist prejudices inherent in Kant's active/passive dichotomy, this paper argues that Kant introduces this distinction with the republican aim of securing a state governed by non-arbitrary laws. I contend that this aim explains Kant's concern with the civic character of citizens and their ability to contest structures of domination—a line of argument that aligns him more closely with contemporary neo-republicanism
Persuasion, positioning and issue framing: a cross-cultural comparison of British, German and Slovak political discourse relating to the Ukraine conflict
No full textA central aspect of diplomacy is persuasion in the context of intercultural communication. A challenge is that persuasive appeals are culturally informed, reflecting differing linguistic affordances and rhetorical traditions. This study investigated persuasion through a cross-cultural comparison of the identity positioning work and issue framing of British, German and Slovak politicians as they communicated with their own national audiences. A key difference was that German and Slovak politicians made use of more collective and communitarian positioning cues and framing work than was present in the English language discourse. While contextual factors are important, linguistic affordances also seem influential
The link between contextual poverty and academic achievement: evidence using panel data from a lower-middle-income country
No full textThe association between contextual poverty and educational achievement is not well-researched in lower-income countries. This paper investigates this link and examines how it varies between urban and rural school locations in Bangladesh, acknowledging the dual urban-rural dynamics of the country. Analyses based on original school-level longitudinal data, encompassing over 90 per cent of secondary schools in Bangladesh, demonstrate that subdistrict-level educational poverty (measured as the proportion of adults with education below the primary level) has a stronger and significantly negative association with achievement at the secondary level compared to economic poverty (measured as the percentage of people under the national poverty line). This negative association is starker for the ‘science’ academic stream, which necessitates supplementary private tutoring. I argue that in poorer local areas, pupils are less likely to encounter successful role models in science fields, experience a shortage of qualified instructors, and face difficulties in securing additional resources for science subjects due to poverty. Furthermore, urban areas generally exhibit higher achievement levels, reflecting a greater proportion of educated individuals and role models. However, urban achievement experiences a sharper decline with increasing educational poverty, likely due to structural inequalities such as informal settlements and unequal access to quality schools. In contrast, rural areas show less sensitivity to educational poverty, possibly due to the ‘scarcity effect’ of role models, where the limited presence of role models exerts a disproportionately positive influence on aspirations, even in high-poverty contexts
Security meanings and land defense in the context of the Interoceanic Corridor infrastructure (CIIT) megaproject
No full textThis article explores the meanings of security within the context of the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (CIIT) project in southern Mexico, a proposed multimodal transport corridor connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. Touted as a viable alternative to the Panama Canal, the CIIT aims to expedite global goods circulation while simultaneously boosting the local economy. However, as with many large-scale infrastructure or resource extraction projects, such developments often lead to profound changes—altering landscapes, populations, and economies—frequently at the cost of the environment and communities’ established ways of living. Drawing on interviews with local residents, the article delves into the significance of the communal life system, or comunalidad, in securing alternative lifeworlds. These lifeworld-based notions of security stress the importance of mutuality, reciprocity, and care—principles through which natural resources are managed and collective well-being is structured. This article argues that in order to adequately conceptualize, critique, and challenge the harm caused by invasive infrastructure megaprojects, it is necessary to broaden conventional security frameworks to include the protection of distinct lifeworlds—that is, co-constituted conditions of being-together, rooted in the interconnectedness of human, non-human, and natural worlds
Differences in the risk of frailty based on care receipt, unmet care needs and socio-economic inequalities: a longitudinal analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
No full textBackground The older population is increasingly reliant on social care, especially those who are frail. However, an estimated 1.5 million people over 65 in England have unmet care needs. The relationship between receiving care, or receiving insufficient care, and changes in frailty status remains unclear. Objectives To investigate the associations between care receipt (paid or unpaid), unmet care needs, frailty status, and mortality. Design We used multistate models to estimate the risk of increasing or decreasing levels of frailty, using English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) data. Covariates included age, gender, wealth, area deprivation, education, and marital status. Care status was assessed through received care and self-reported unmet care needs, while frailty status was determined using a frailty index. Participants 15,003 individuals aged 50+, using data collected over 18 years (2002–2019). Results Individuals who receive care are more susceptible to frailty and are less likely to recover from frailty to a less frail state. The hazard ratio of males receiving care transitioning from prefrailty to frailty was 2.1 [95 % CI: 1.7–2.6] and for females 1.8 [1.5–2.0]. Wealth is an equally influential predictor of changes in frailty status: individuals in the lowest wealth quintile who do not receive care are as likely to become frail as those in the highest wealth quintile who do receive care. As individuals receiving care (including unpaid care) are likely to be in poorer health than those who do not receive care, this highlights stark inequalities in the risk of frailty between the richest and poorest individuals. Unmet care needs were associated with transitioning from prefrailty to frailty for males (hazard ratio: 1.7 [1.2–2.4]) but not for females. Conclusions Individuals starting to receive care (paid or unpaid) and people in the poorest wealth quintile are target groups for interventions aimed at delaying the onset of frailty
What do we know about income and earnings volatility?
No full textWe first review research about income and earnings volatility and second provide new UK evidence about the latter using high‐quality administrative record data. The USA stands out as a high‐volatility country relative to the UK and other high‐income countries, but volatility levels have remained constant in these countries recently. Almost all research has considered volatility from an annual perspective whereas we provide new evidence about month‐to‐month earnings volatility. There is a distinct within‐year seasonal pattern to volatility, and volatility is highest for the top and bottom tenths of earners. High earnings volatility among top earners and its seasonality reflect pay bonus patterns whereas, for low earners, the instability of hours including zero‐hours contracts likely plays important roles. Our findings have relevance to the design of cash transfer support in the UK because the monthly reference periods it uses do not align with many earners' pay periods