107159 research outputs found
Sort by
The brutal geography of global elite scientific research
Get PDFIn theory, science aspires to be cosmopolitan. Where you are from and where you undertake your research are secondary to the quality of your ideas. However, as Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Leiboyu Xiang, and Neil Lee show, the geography of elite research remains firmly entrenched in a small number of locations
The UK shouldn't rush to a social media ban for children under 16
Get PDFAustralia’s ban of social media accounts for children under 16 has re-ignited the same debate in the UK, with the Lords voting in favour of a similar policy. But Sonia Livingstone argues that caution and more evidence is needed before making such a bold move, not least giving the children that such a ban would affect a voice on the matter
Trump's Venezuela military campaign is unlikely to help him politically and will further undermine the rules-based international order
Get PDFOn January 3rd President Trump announced that following a military operation in Caracas, Venezuela, US forces had “captured” the country’s president Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, subsequently transporting them to the US to face drugs and weapons charges. In this short Q&A Phelan US Centre Director, Professor Peter Trubowitz, writes that while it is too early to tell what America’s seizure of Maduro will mean for Venezuela’s people, it will make it harder for the US to insist that other countries like Russia and China follow the already weakened international order
The rise and decline of Iran's Forward Defense Strategy
No full textThe complexity of Iran’s networks with military non-state actors have drawn significant policy attention. These networks have long constituted the backbone of Iran’s ‘Forward Defense Strategy’ designed to project power and deter threats beyond its borders. However, this strategy suffered a major blow in the wake of the Gaza War and the following collapse of the Assad regime of Syria. Despite the significance of the Islamic Republic’s rhetoric, the present article examines the foundations of this strategy through the lens of Iran’s distinctive geography and historical experience, emphasizing that its forward defencedefencedefence strategy is shaped by key geopolitical factors in conjunction with its revolutionary ideology. The paper also delves into the essential concept of ‘strategic loneliness’, presenting it as an enduring characteristic of Iran’s geopolitics, while emphasizing the country’s geographical challenges and its persistent historical sense of insecurity. The analysis reveals the significant ramifications of Iran’s weakened Gray Zone military strategy on the trajectory of its non-state foreign policy initiatives. The article eventually contends that although its forward defencedefencedefence strategy has preserved Iran’s national security, it ultimately ensnared the country in a lasting geopolitical predicament and exacerbated the wider crises in the Middle East
The relationship among climate policy uncertainty and energy markets: fossil versus renewable and low‐carbon assets
Get PDFThis paper investigates the intricate relationship between climate policy uncertainty (CPU) and energy market dynamics, focusing on fossil‐based and renewable/low‐carbon energy assets. Utilising a comprehensive dataset spanning from April 1987 to December 2023, comprising monthly observations of CPU, stock market returns, spot oil prices and various energy commodity futures, we employ time series regressions to analyse the effects of CPU on market returns. Our findings reveal that fossil‐based energy assets are significantly and negatively impacted by changes in CPU, while renewable and low‐carbon energy assets exhibit minimal or negligible effects. Moreover, we identify a heightened negative impact of CPU during periods of increased uncertainty, underscoring investor sensitivity to abrupt spikes in climate policy uncertainty, particularly in fossil‐based energy sectors. Robustness analysis confirms the efficacy of the CPU index as a reliable indicator, emphasising the importance of using comprehensive metrics to assess the influence of climate policy uncertainty on financial markets. Our study underscores the necessity for policymakers and industry stakeholders to recognise the implications of climate policy uncertainty on energy markets and prioritise efforts to establish clear and consistent policy frameworks to facilitate the transition to a more sustainable energy landscape
An English School analysis of colonialism, decolonization and the emergence of the post-colonial states on the primary institutions of international society
Get PDFBetween 1945 and 1970 the world shifted from an international society dominated by colonial empires to a global body of nation states. At the same time many of the norms and practices of international society were either being contested or newly created. The United Nations, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other cornerstones of the contemporary international order were being founded to codify these new norms. This twenty five year period represented the biggest transition for the norms and practices of International Society for at least a century and created our contemporary international society. Much of this change was driven by the newly emergent postcolonial world. These new states formed coalitions of interest, represented at the United Nations by bodies such as the Non-Aligned Movement, to try to develop new norms and practices in the interest of the newly emergent post-colonial world. This research seeks to take an English School approach to the study of this transition, and question first what role colonialism played in establishing the pre-1945 world order and then consider how the emergence of the post-colonial states contributed to the creation of the norms of contemporary international society from the previous colonial dominated international order. The thesis is divided into three parts: the first section of this work situates the wider thesis in the intellectual tradition of the English School. The second section of this work will explore how colonialism functioned as a key organizing principle of international society prior to 1945. Having established the nature of international society in the previous colonial era, the final section of this thesis looks at each of the primary institutions of international society in turn and questions how the emergence of the post-colonial states changed international society from its previous colonial order to our contemporary global international society
Science in the courtroom: evidentiary needs in climate litigation
Get PDFThis guide, the first in a new series from the Grantham Research Institute at LSE and the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London, explores and reflects on the role of scientific research in climate litigation. It outlines the main types of evidence used across three major case categories and how scientific evidence is utilised by claimants. The guide focuses on strategic climate litigation cases that aim to further climate action, drawing on a range of case studies from around the world: Part 1 outlines how science is understood and perceived in climate litigation. It reviews how courts have evaluated and engaged with scientific evidence, reflecting on the different roles played by scientists in the courtroom and the importance of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Part 2 distinguishes between the different evidentiary needs present in the three different types of cases. It provides practitioners, non-specialists and those generally interested in the science–law intersection with a clear overview of how different types of scientific evidence have historically been used across climate litigation
Social policy gone bad educationally: unintended peer effects from transferred students
No full textWhat is the impact of an increase of lower-ability students in a university class? We examine a natural experiment in which students from large, low-income families had the chance to transfer to academic programs at a local university. Multiple law changes meant that there was significant, quasi-random variability in the number of transferred students over time, which was orthogonal to the quality of receiving students. We create a novel dataset for the top economics department in Greece and show that the social policy had a negative educational impact by uniformly lowering recipient students' academic performance once the proportion of transferred students exceeded a certain threshold
China’s role in implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
Get PDFThis policy insight explores China’s role in promoting the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). While the nation’s domestic policies and progress in biodiversity conservation, as well as its influence in global climate action, have been widely explored, its potential for supporting global efforts in the fight against biodiversity loss has so far been neglected. With the trend towards biodiversity loss and its impacts intensifying, at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Biodiversity COP15) in Montreal, Canada, in 2022, the international community reached consensus on halting and reversing nature loss by 2030 under the GBF. However, national commitments and actions since then have fallen far short of halting the crisis, and growing geopolitical fragmentation, weakening multilateral cooperation and recent setbacks in international environmental governance have further widened this gap. Within this global landscape, China is emerging as a ‘great power’ in biodiversity. With its vast territory, China houses a rich array of species and ecosystems. Through its overseas infrastructure projects and investments, as well as its large demand for natural resources from abroad, China’s influence on biodiversity reaches far beyond its borders. Since adopting the GBF, China has actively translated the global commitments into national action and has achieved outstanding tangible outcomes. As the presidency of Biodiversity COP15 and subsequently, China has demonstrated a strong capacity in shaping global environmental politics, from initiating agendas and coordinating efforts to building consensus and promoting action. As the world fears another decade of failure on biodiversity and urgently seeks leadership to advance the GBF, China stands in a position to take a lead on and further enhance its influence in international environmental governance
Walking sociologically, teaching on the move: thinking with London’s streets
No full textThere has been recent recognition of the potentials of walking as a social research method but less has been written about its pedagogical uses in sociology. This article sets out an approach for using walking in teaching as a collective practice that has the potential to shake up the traditional dynamics of the classroom. It argues that moving through the streets together and in dialogue makes a feminist intervention through challenging the figure of the lone male walker who still looms large in walking literature. The article sets out how walking can be used as an engaged and live teaching method to bring sociological concepts to life, generating and developing the sociological imagination of students. Using an example of a walk in Westminster, the article gives a practical outline for how these ideas can be mobilised