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Epstein files between international politics and the Middle East: an analytical study of networks, influence, and geopolitical implications
Get PDFThis research provides an interdisciplinary analysis of an international case that has been intensely scrutinized in the international media. It is described as an introduction to understanding the interaction between specific networks, political communication and media discourse within the framework of international relations, with a focus on how it is received and reinterpreted in the Arab context. Furthermore, more than a descriptive, event-based approach is required to construct a synthetic analytical framework that integrates geopolitical analysis, political communication theory, media framing, and digital information dynamics. Thus, it enables one to understand the mechanisms of production, transmission and reconfiguration of global narratives within regional spaces.The study used a qualitative approach based on discourse analysis and theoretical frameworks based on scientific literature in international relations, media studies and political communication. It focused on three interrelated themes: First, the symbolic geopolitical dimension of international issues and their role in shaping perceptions of global power and influence. Secondly, the structural role of traditional and digital media in setting the agenda and creating interpretive frameworks. Third, the interaction of Arab formal and informal political discourse with these narratives in local political and cultural contexts. The results revealed that global affairs became arenas for deliberation with media resonance, where symbolic power, media influence and geopolitical perception overlapped. Media systems played an important role in shaping patterns of interpretation, while digital spaces helped accelerate the spread of narratives and strengthen information polarization. In addition, the study reveals that the reception of these issues within the Arab countries is impacted by the media structure and political systems and historical experiences which results in hybrid interpretative approaches that combine global information flows with regional priorities. Therefore, it concludes that understanding the political and communicative influence of transnational cases requires adopting an integrated analytical model which combines geopolitical, informational, and socio-cultural dimensions. Thereby, it contributes to the promotion of multidisciplinary approaches within the field of international relations and providing a deeper framework for interpreting the dynamics of modern international politics
Intertemporal MPC and shock size
Get PDFWe elicit the intertemporal Marginal Propensity to Consume (iMPC) based on hypothetical different size lottery winnings through questions in the Italian Survey of Consumer Expectations (ISCE). Survey respondents were asked to allocate three hypothetical lottery winnings (€1,000, €10,000, and €50,000) between consumption and saving in both the year following the survey and over the longer term. We find that the iMPC of a €1,000 win declines from about 28 % in the first year to less than 3 % in the fourth year. The impacts of large shocks are more persistent (between 16 % and 19 %) and drop to less than 4 % in the fifth year. The iMPC shows a weak negative relation to the cash-on-hand amount and a negative relation to income risk. Calibrated simulations of incomplete market models with borrowing constraints, income risk, and household heterogeneity are broadly consistent with these empirical findings
"Drawing on the paper, hanging it on the wall" lingering challenges for planners to navigate China's planning system
No full textUsing a heritage conservation project in Anyang as a case study, this paper explores the current challenges for planners to navigate China’s planning system. It argues that, similar to decades ago, local governments still dominate the planning and implementation of local projects and reduce planners to technicians. To understand the root of this issue, it is necessary to properly situate planning within the political system. Characterised as fragmented authoritarianism, China’s political system grants planners de jure power, yet without de facto power. In the meantime, the constant interplay between decentralisation and (re-)centralisation has actually centralised planning power in the local state, particularly local top leaders, making the local planning process more authoritarian than fragmented and further constraining planners’ de facto power
How geopolitics, geoeconomics and new organizational models are changing the world of business
No full textWe explore the implications for international business of scenarios in which the gradual dealignment between geopolitics and geoeconomics has led to the emergence of two inward-looking political-economic groupings. These developments leave some countries and blocs, especially the European Union, only weakly aligned. Firms in some sectors are simultaneously vertically reintegrating, abandoning elements of global comparative advantage under technological or political pressure. International value chains and trade do not disappear as a result, but their shape and effects will change. How an MNE approaches these big shifts in the world economy will depend on its home location with implications for national economic policy, MNE internationalization and corporate strategizing
Green Foreign Direct Investment is flowing far beyond renewables: a taxonomy-guided LLM analysis
Get PDFForeign direct investment (FDI) finances and diffuses the capital, skills and know-how needed for the low-carbon transition, yet ‘green FDI’ remains systematically under-measured. Sector proxies – typically renewable energy and waste remediation – miss green activities embedded within other industries, yielding a partial and geographically-biased picture. Here we combine Large Language Models with the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities to classify investment projects against sector-specific green criteria. Applying this taxonomy-guided framework to 109,084 inward greenfield FDI projects into the European Union and the United Kingdom (2013– 2024), we identify 15.7% of FDI value as green – around twice the share captured by traditional measures. We show that sector metrics miss large volumes in manufacturing and services, and that beyond-energy green FDI is more strongly linked to extra-European investors, implying distinct geopolitical dependencies. Blinded human coding and robustness tests confirm high accuracy and reproducibility. Together, these results enable scalable monitoring of investment alignment with climate objectives
Bob Van der Linden. 2024. Romantic Nationalism in India: Cultivation of Culture and the Global Circulation of Ideas. Brill. 187 pp. EUR 99.00 (hbk).
No full textHow gender shapes job loss and job searching
No full textPrior research on unemployment has paid little attention to women's unemployment experiences. I draw on my study of in-depth interviews and observations of US families experiencing unemployment to illuminate the gendered experience of unemployment. First, men and women interpret job loss differently, with both seeing it as a business decision, but women additionally seeing it as a negative statement on their professional worth. Second, men's and women's job loss is understood differently in their families. In men's families, it is seen as an urgent problem, and resources are directed to help men find new jobs; this is not the case for women. Third, men and women search for jobs differently. Getting a new job remains a central preoccupation for men, but some women indicate a detachment from the labor force. My study demonstrates that we need to continue to pay attention to the gendered implications of employment insecurity
Working with and against climate finance
No full textRefusing simple narratives that equate the state of climate action to the quantity of finance flowing in its name, Climate Finance shows that financial instruments and ideas are built on moral and political assumptions about what is valued, whose risks need protection, and who is responsible for redressing harm. Departing from both mainstream and critical approaches to climate finance, the authors neither take financial logics and dynamics to be inevitable and essential, nor dismiss its possibilities for real climate action. Instead, they investigate finance as a dynamic space of political contestation, in which unevenly situated actors envision, negotiate, and build diverse climate futures. In doing so, the book not only offers us vital tools and frameworks to understand what climate finance is and does. Rather, by recognizing the need for a multiplicity of strategies to address our planetary predicament, Climate Finance also pushes for a more expansive imagination of the possible in relation to the actual
The relative value of mental health for pandemic response: a discrete choice experiment with stakeholders and the general population in Europe
No full textDuring a public health emergency, health policies often prioritised physical over mental health, prompting concerns about whether these decisions reflected societal values. This study assessed stated preferences for mental health relative to other wellbeing domains and examined how these priorities align between the general population and health policy stakeholders across eight European countries. A discrete choice experiment (DCE), grounded in random utility theory, was administered via an online survey to 1615 members of the general population (nationally representative samples) and 145 health stakeholders in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Participants assessed six pairs of hypothetical countries (A and B), differing in four attributes representing pandemic policy consequences: hospital admissions, psychological distress, employment loss, and movement restrictions. Among the four attributes, psychological distress accounted for 34% of the relative importance in decision-making, compared to 30% for hospital admissions. In contrast, restrictions on mobility exerted the least influence on choice. On average, respondents expected 0.61 fewer hospitalisations (per 100,000) to accept a 1% increase in psychological distress. Compared to the general population, stakeholders placed greater emphasis on reducing psychological distress and were more willing to accept restrictions on mobility. Respondents who held more negative views towards individuals with mental health problems or those hospitalised due to COVID-19 were significantly less likely to prioritise reductions in psychological distress. There is similar importance attached to psychological distress and to the risk of COVID-19-related hospitalisation by the general population and stakeholders, but they diverge regarding civil liberties restrictions, providing insights into essential considerations for shaping effective mitigation policies for public health emergencies. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2026 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.