Suchergebnisse

У статті досліджено регіон Північної Європи, який узято за приклад стабільності, економічного та політичного розвитку, з активним громадянським суспільством, верховенством права, орієнтацією на миробудування й високі соціальні стандарти. На основі таких показників, як відсутність тривалий час внутрішніх і міжнаціональних воєн, високий рівень ВНП (за даними Міжнародного валют- ного фонду), запровадження загального виборчого права, значення ролі регіону та регіональної ідентичності (на основі досліджень Атласу європейських цінностей), індексів позитивного і структурного миру (згідно з доповідями Інституту економіки й миру та глобального індексу миру, Австралія), робиться загальний висновок про значні досягнення країн Північного регіону у справі побудови миру в регіоні та стабільного громадянського суспільства. Використовуючи неореалізм, неолібералізм і конструктивізм у дослідженні, показали багатоманітність концепту Північної Європи й геополітичні особливості кожної конкретної держави в його формуванні. Так, аналізуються такі підходи до розуміння регіону через геосхеми ООН, географічний детермінізм, геополітичну боротьбу між країнами регіону й сусідами, міждержавними територіальними утвореннями. Розмежовуються поняття «Північ», «Північна Європа», «Північний регіон», «Скандинавія», «скандинавізм», «панскандинавізм», «нордизм», «Балтійський регіон», «Балтоскандія». Досліджується особлива роль Великобританії, Німеччини та Росії у формуванні регіональної ідентичності Північної Європи, а також деякі регіональні об'єднання, наприклад, Північна Рада, Північна Рада Міністрів, Північний паспортний союз, Північно-Західна Рада, Рада країн Балтійського моря. Робиться висновок про відсутність прямого зв'язку між універсальним єдиним трактуванням концептуального осмислення регіону та показниками миру і стабільності в ньому. ; This article explores the region of Northern Europe as an example of stability, economic and political development with an active civil society, rule of law, orientation on piece building and high social standards. Indicators such as the absence of long internal and international wars, a high level of GNP (according to International Monetary Fund data), the introduction of universal suffrage, the meaning of the region and regional identity (see researches of the Atlas of European Value), the indexes of positive and structural peace (due to the Report of the Institute of Economics and Peace and Global Peace Index, Australia) lean us to make a general conclusion about the great achievements of the Nordic countries in building peace in the region, sustainable development and a stable civil society. Using neorealism, neo-liberalism and constructivism, the study will show the diversity of the Northern Europe concept and the geopolitical features of each particular state in its notion. Thus, the understanding of the region is explored through UN geoschemes, geographical determinism, geopolitical struggle between the countries of the region and its neighbors, intergovernmental cooperation. The article define the concepts "North", "Northern Europe", "Scandinavia", "Scandinavia", "panscandinavism", "Nordicism", "Baltic Region", "Baltoscandia". Moreover it is analyzed the role of the UK, Germany and Russia in shaping the regional identity of Northern Europeб and such regional unions such as Nordic Council, Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordic Passport Union, Nordic West Council, Council of the Baltic Sea States. Thus, it is concluded that there is no direct link between the universal unified interpretation of the conceptual understanding of the region of Northern Europe and the indicators of peace and stability in it.

ABSTRAKKota Tarakan memiliki empat kecamatan yaitu Tarakan Utara,Tarakan Barat,Tarakan Tengah dan Tarakan Timur. Berdasarkan data Badan Pusat Statistik Kota Tarakan tahun 2018 terdapat 37.894 tenaga kerjawanita dan terdapat 918 orang tenaga keja wanita yang bekerja pada sector perikanan. Perlindungan hokum terhadap tenaga kerja wanita merupakan amanat konstitusi,karena itu Negara harus berpastisipasi aktif untuk melindungi hak-hak pekerja wanita agar kodrat wanita tetap terjaga. Keberadaan tenaga kerja wanita pada sector perikanan sangatlah penting,karena sector perikanan adalah salah satu komoditas unggulan pemerintah daerah Kota Tarakan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian normative empiris yaitu penelitian yang mengkombinaskan antara ketentuan ketentuan normative hokum dengan pelaksanaan hukum di lapangan (law in book and law in action). Adapun tujuan penelitian ini menitik beratkan pada pelaksanaan perlindungan hokum terhadap tenaga kerja wanita yang bekerja pada sector perikanan baik oleh perusahaan maupun oleh pemerintah serta menelaah hambatan-hambatan yang menjadi penghalang tidak dapat di penuhinya hak-hak tenaga kerja wanita di sector perikanan. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian yang telah dilakukan,penulis menyimpulkan bahwa baik perusahaan maupun pemerintah telah memenuhi hak-hak tenaga kerja wanita sesuai ketentuan peraturan perundang – undangan khususnya tenga kerja wanita sebagai pegawai tetap perusahaan,akan tetapi belumefektif yang di akibatkan oleh rendahnya kemampuan keuangan perusahaan,petugas pengawas ketenagakerjaan yang terbatas serta perilaku tenaga kerja wanita yang terkadang tidak mematuhi ketentuan –ketentuan norma dalam bidang ketenagakerjaan.Keyword: Perlindungan,Perikanan dan Tenaga Kerja WanitaABSTRACTTarakan City has four districts namely North Tarakan, West Tarakan, Central Tarakan and East Tarakan. Based on data from the Tarakan City Central Statistics Agency in 2018 there were 37,894 female workers and there were 918 female workers working in the fisheries sector. Legal protection for women workers is a mandate of the constitution, therefore the State must actively participate in protecting the rights of women workers so that the nature of women is maintained. The existence of women workers in the fisheries sector is very important, because the fisheries sector is one of the leading commodities of the local government of Tarakan City.This study uses empirical normative research methods, namely research that combines the provisions of normative legal provisions with the implementation of law in the field (law in books and law in action). The purpose of this study focuses on the implementation of legal protection of women workers who work in the fisheries sector, both by companies and by the government, and examines the barriers that are barriers to the fulfillment of women's labor rights in the fisheries sector.Based on the results of research that has been done, the authors conclude that both companies and the government have fulfilled the rights of women workers in accordance with statutory provisions - particularly the workforce of women as permanent employees of the company, but not yet effective due to the low financial capability of the company, limited labor inspectors and the behavior of women workers who sometimes do not comply with norms in the field of employment.Keyword: Protection, Fisheries and Women Labor

Open Access Journal ; Résumé La plupart des politiques agricoles au Nigeria ont pour objectif d'intégrer les petits agriculteurs dans l'économie de marché. Au cours de la dernière décennie, le Nigéria a connu un important apport de capitaux privés et publics dans la promotion des unités de transformation du manioc de petite échelle. Cette étude utilise la fonction de frontière stochastique et des données d'entrées/sorties pour mesurer et expliquer les efficacités techniques (ET) de 274 entreprises de petite et moyenne taille. L'étude a montré que les entreprises de transformation du manioc ont une efficacité technique moyenne de 43% t, indiquant qu'une très grande proportion de la valeur de la production (57%) est perdue en raison des inefficacités propres aux entreprises. Les entreprises de transformation de la zone du Centre-Nord ont enregistré l'efficacité technique moyenne la plus élevée (61%), suivies par celle de la zone du Sud-Est / Sud-Ouest (42%) et enfin celle du Sud-Sud (26%). Les valeurs de l' ET étaient inférieures à 80% pour environ 85% des entreprises échantillonnées. Les efficacités techniques sont influencées par la classification de l'entreprise (petite ou moyenne taille, propriété individuelle ou propriété familiale), les facteurs sociaux (interactions avec d'autres acteurs), économiques (nombre de produits, de clients ou de commandes reçues) et la participation à un atelier de formation. Les gouvernements et les institutions ayant un rôle statutaire dans la promotion des chaînes de valeurs agricoles devraient envisager de façon adéquate l'encouragement et la promotion des unités de transformateurs de manioc de petite et moyenne taille et ceci, avec beaucoup plus de vigueur. L'organisation régulière d'ateliers pour renforcer les capacités et l'efficacité des transformateurs est également recommandée. Abstract Most agriculture policies in Nigeria are aimed at integrating the rural poor into market economy. In the last decade, Nigeria witnessed significant private and public injection of capital into the promotion of small-medium scale cassava processing. This study uses a stochastic frontier function and inputs/outputs data to measure technical efficiencies (TE) of 274 small-medium cassava processing firms in Nigeria. Results showed that the cassava processing enterprises had a mean TE of 43 percent, indicating that, a large proportion of output value (57%) is lost due to firm-specific inefficiencies. Cassava processing enterprises in the north-central area of Nigeria recorded a mean TE of 61% (highest), followed by South-east/South-west (42%) and South-south (26%). TE values were below 80% for about 85% percent of the sampled enterprises. Technical efficiencies were influenced by enterprise classification (small-medium, sole proprietorship or family ownership), social factors (interaction with other actors), economic (number of products, clients or orders received) and attendance of training workshop. It is recommended that government and institutions with statutory role to promote agricultural value chains should consider encouraging and promoting small-medium scale cassava processing the more with adequate impetus. Constant training workshops to improve the skills and efficiency of the cassava processors are also recommended. ; Peer Review

Anthropogenic climate change, and global warming in particular, has strong and increasing impacts on marine ecosystems (Poloczanska et al., 2013; Halpern et al., 2015; Smale et al., 2019). The Mediterranean Sea is considered a marine biodiversity hot-spot contributing to more than 7% of world's marine biodiversity including a high percentage of endemic species (Coll et al., 2010). The Mediterranean region is a climate change hotspot, where the respective impacts of warming are very pronounced and relatively well documented (Cramer et al., 2018). One of the major impacts of sea surface temperature rise in the marine coastal ecosystems is the occurrence of mass mortality events (MMEs). The first evidences of this phenomenon dated from the first half of'80 years affecting the Western Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea (Harmelin, 1984; Bavestrello and Boero, 1986; Gaino and Pronzato, 1989; Voultsiadou et al., 2011). The most impressive phenomenon happened in 1999 when an unprecedented large scale MME impacted populations of more than 30 species from different phyla along the French and Italian coasts (Cerrano et al., 2000; Perez et al., 2000). Following this event, several other large scale MMEs have been reported, along with numerous other minor ones, which are usually more restricted in geographic extend and/or number of affected species (Garrabou et al., 2009; Rivetti et al., 2014; Marbà et al., 2015; Rubio-Portillo et al., 2016, authors' personal observations). These events have generally been associated with strong and recurrent marine heat waves (Crisci et al., 2011; Kersting et al., 2013; Turicchia et al., 2018; Bensoussan et al., 2019) which are becoming more frequent globally (Smale et al., 2019). Both field observations and future projections using Regional Coupled Models (Adloff et al., 2015; Darmaraki et al., 2019) show the increase in Mediterranean sea surface temperature, with more frequent occurrence of extreme ocean warming events. As a result, new MMEs are expected during the coming years. To date, despite the efforts, neither updated nor comprehensive information can support scientific analysis of mortality events at a Mediterranean regional scale. Such information is vital to guide management and conservation strategies that can then inform adaptive management schemes that aim to face the impacts of climate change ; MV-L was supported by a postdoctoral contract Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación (IJCI-2016-29329) of Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. AI was supported by a Technical staff contract (PTA2015-10829-I) Ayudas Personal Técnico de Apoyo of Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (2015). Interreg Med Programme (grant number Project MPA-Adapt 1MED15_3.2_M2_337) 85% cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund, the MIMOSA project funded by the Foundation Prince Albert II Monaco and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 689518 (MERCES). DG-G was supported by an FPU grant (FPU15/05457) from the Spanish Ministry of Education. J-BL was partially supported by the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013 through national funds provided by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the programme PT2020 ; Peer Reviewed

Anthropogenic climate change, and global warming in particular, has strong and increasing impacts on marine ecosystems (Poloczanska et al., 2013; Halpern et al., 2015; Smale et al., 2019). The Mediterranean Sea is considered a marine biodiversity hot-spot contributing to more than 7% of world's marine biodiversity including a high percentage of endemic species (Coll et al., 2010). The Mediterranean region is a climate change hotspot, where the respective impacts of warming are very pronounced and relatively well documented (Cramer et al., 2018). One of the major impacts of sea surface temperature rise in the marine coastal ecosystems is the occurrence of mass mortality events (MMEs). The first evidences of this phenomenon dated from the first half of'80 years affecting the Western Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea (Harmelin, 1984; Bavestrello and Boero, 1986; Gaino and Pronzato, 1989; Voultsiadou et al., 2011). The most impressive phenomenon happened in 1999 when an unprecedented large scale MME impacted populations of more than 30 species from different phyla along the French and Italian coasts (Cerrano et al., 2000; Perez et al., 2000). Following this event, several other large scale MMEs have been reported, along with numerous other minor ones, which are usually more restricted in geographic extend and/or number of affected species (Garrabou et al., 2009; Rivetti et al., 2014; Marbà et al., 2015; Rubio-Portillo et al., 2016, authors' personal observations). These events have generally been associated with strong and recurrent marine heat waves (Crisci et al., 2011; Kersting et al., 2013; Turicchia et al., 2018; Bensoussan et al., 2019) which are becoming more frequent globally (Smale et al., 2019). Both field observations and future projections using Regional Coupled Models (Adloff et al., 2015; Darmaraki et al., 2019) show the increase in Mediterranean sea surface temperature, with more frequent occurrence of extreme ocean warming events. As a result, new MMEs are expected during the coming years. To date, despite the efforts, neither updated nor comprehensive information can support scientific analysis of mortality events at a Mediterranean regional scale. Such information is vital to guide management and conservation strategies that can then inform adaptive management schemes that aim to face the impacts of climate change ; MV-L was supported by a postdoctoral contract Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación (IJCI-2016-29329) of Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. AI was supported by a Technical staff contract (PTA2015-10829-I) Ayudas Personal Técnico de Apoyo of Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (2015). Interreg Med Programme (grant number Project MPA-Adapt 1MED15_3.2_M2_337) 85% cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund, the MIMOSA project funded by the Foundation Prince Albert II Monaco and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 689518 (MERCES). DG-G was supported by an FPU grant (FPU15/05457) from the Spanish Ministry of Education. J-BL was partially supported by the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013 through national funds provided by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the programme PT2020 ; Peer Reviewed

Anthropogenic climate change, and global warming in particular, has strong and increasing impacts on marine ecosystems (Poloczanska et al., 2013; Halpern et al., 2015; Smale et al., 2019). The Mediterranean Sea is considered a marine biodiversity hot-spot contributing to more than 7% of world's marine biodiversity including a high percentage of endemic species (Coll et al., 2010). The Mediterranean region is a climate change hotspot, where the respective impacts of warming are very pronounced and relatively well documented (Cramer et al., 2018). One of the major impacts of sea surface temperature rise in the marine coastal ecosystems is the occurrence of mass mortality events (MMEs). The first evidences of this phenomenon dated from the first half of'80 years affecting the Western Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea (Harmelin, 1984; Bavestrello and Boero, 1986; Gaino and Pronzato, 1989; Voultsiadou et al., 2011). The most impressive phenomenon happened in 1999 when an unprecedented large scale MME impacted populations of more than 30 species from different phyla along the French and Italian coasts (Cerrano et al., 2000; Perez et al., 2000). Following this event, several other large scale MMEs have been reported, along with numerous other minor ones, which are usually more restricted in geographic extend and/or number of affected species (Garrabou et al., 2009; Rivetti et al., 2014; Marbà et al., 2015; Rubio-Portillo et al., 2016, authors' personal observations). These events have generally been associated with strong and recurrent marine heat waves (Crisci et al., 2011; Kersting et al., 2013; Turicchia et al., 2018; Bensoussan et al., 2019) which are becoming more frequent globally (Smale et al., 2019). Both field observations and future projections using Regional Coupled Models (Adloff et al., 2015; Darmaraki et al., 2019) show the increase in Mediterranean sea surface temperature, with more frequent occurrence of extreme ocean warming events. As a result, new MMEs are expected during the coming years. To date, despite the efforts, neither updated nor comprehensive information can support scientific analysis of mortality events at a Mediterranean regional scale. Such information is vital to guide management and conservation strategies that can then inform adaptive management schemes that aim to face the impacts of climate change ; MV-L was supported by a postdoctoral contract Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación (IJCI-2016-29329) of Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. AI was supported by a Technical staff contract (PTA2015-10829-I) Ayudas Personal Técnico de Apoyo of Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (2015). Interreg Med Programme (grant number Project MPA-Adapt 1MED15_3.2_M2_337) 85% cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund, the MIMOSA project funded by the Foundation Prince Albert II Monaco and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 689518 (MERCES). DG-G was supported by an FPU grant (FPU15/05457) from the Spanish Ministry of Education. J-BL was partially supported by the Strategic Funding UID/Multi/04423/2013 through national funds provided by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the programme PT2020 ; Peer Reviewed

This article examines two issues – competing accounts of the military events in the Donbas and the Ukrainian experts' opinion on the factors that led to the beginning of violence. The literature analysis reveals the existence of two competing discourses, clustering around the concepts of "civil war" and "hybrid war" and the so-called "pragmatic discourse", recognizing the presence of both phenomena at the same time. While the major challenge for the authors, who share the discourse of the internal conflict, is to adequately account for the Russia's role in the war, the proponents of the "hybrid war" discourse underestimate the loss of Ukraine's monopoly on the legitimate use of force during the period of revolutionary change of power. The second issue surveys the weight of the factors of the conflict in the assessments of Ukrainian experts. In this part, seven external and internal factors that were most visible in the literature in 2014-2016 are identified. These are: the state fragmentation, the sudden change of power in Kyiv, the consequences of the Soviet policy of Russification, the destructive impact of regional elites, Russia's direct and indirect interference, the weakness of the organized Ukrainian groups and the loss of legitimacy of the new central government in the Donbas. Surveys conducted by pair comparisons in 2016 and 2017 demonstrate that most Ukrainian experts assign the largest weight to the Russia's hidden aggression (15.2 percent) and the destructive role of local elites (13.2 percent) as primary factors behind the conflict, whereas most of their western counterparts look at this event through the prism of the civil war. Differences in the two perspectives, apparently, are not due to the facts, but to pre-existing images and ways of thinking, which influence the perception of these events. ; У цій статті увага зосереджена на двох темах – академічній дискусії навколо суті військових подій на Донбасі і презентації двох хвиль експертних опитувань щодо чинників, які призвели до вибуху протистояння. Аналіз літератури вказує на існування двох конкурентних дискурсів, у яких домінуючими є поняття «громадянська війна» та «гібридна війна» і т. зв. «прагматичного дискурсу», що визнає присутність обох явищ одночасно. Якщо найбільші труднощі авторів, які поділяють дискурс внутрішнього конфлікту, пов'язані з російськоцентричним поглядом на війну і, відповідно, недооцінкою ролі Росії, то прихильники дискурсу «гібридної війни» не добачають втрати Україною монополії на легітимне використання примусу у період революційної зміни влади. Друга тема стосується ваги чинників конфлікту в оцінках українських експертів. У цій роботі визначено сім зовнішніх та внутрішніх чинників, які найчастіше зустрічалися в літературі у період 2014-2015 рр. Це фрагментація держави, раптова зміна влади в Києві, наслідки радянської політики русифікації, деструктивний вплив регіональних еліт, спрямовані дії Росії, слабкість організованих проукраїнських груп і втрата легітимності нової центральної влади на Донбасі. Опитування, виконані шляхом попарних порівнянь у 2016 і 2017 рр. показали, що більшість українських експертів бачать у цих подіях приховану агресію з боку РФ (15,2 %) і деструктивний вплив регіональних еліт (13,9 %), тоді як переважна частина їхніх західних колег дивиться на них крізь призму громадянської війни. Відмінності в оцінках, вочевидь, зумовлені не так фактами, як попередньо сформованими уявленнями та способами мислення, що впливають на сприйняття подій на Донбасі.

The content of the policy of the Polish authorities concerning the organization of municipal selfgovernment in the Volyn Voivodeship during the interwar period, the peculiarities of the «Volyn Experiment» by G. Yuzevskyi have been analyzed. The institution of self-government in Volyn during its western territories being as part of the Polish Republic in 1919–1939 at the initial stage of its formation followed the tradition of the Magdeburg Law. In the early 1930's, it was reorganized according to the republican system of the state. Municipal and county self-government in the Volyn Voivodeship was not only a means of local administrative administration but also an important factor in the social and political life of the country. For geopolitical and strategic reasons, the Polish government sought to turn the border with the USSR Voivodeship into the area free of acute social and interethnic conflicts. Despite the existence of democratic principles and procedures for the formation and operation of self-government bodies in cities, quite a wide range of their powers, the level of political subjectivity of local self-government in Volyn is deliberately minimized, and the authorities provided close monitoring to prevent their excessive politicization and the transformation of Volyn into an arena of political struggle for national liberation.The organization of self-government in Volyn is considered in connection with the activities of G. Yuzevskyi, who was the voivode of Volyn in 1928–1938, and the realization by him of the «Volyn experiment».Its organic component was the concept of separating Volyn from the political influences of Eastern Galicia. The materials of the article are based on the widespread use of materials of the then press − the newspapers «Narodnyi Visnyk», «Ukrainska Nyva», «Volyn Word». ; Здійснено аналіз змісту політики польської влади щодо організації самоврядування в містах Волинського воєводства у міжвоєнний період, особливостях «волинського експерименту» Г. Юзевського. Інститут самоврядування на Волині під час перебування її західних територій в складі Польської Республіки в 1919–1939 рр. на початковому етапі свого становлення наслідував традиції магдебурзького права. На початку 1930-х рр. його реорганізовано відповідно республіканського ладу держави. Міське і повітове самоврядування у Волинському воєводстві було не лише засобом адміністративного управління на місцях, а й важливим чинником суспільнополітичного життя країни. З геополітичних і стратегічних міркувань польський уряд прагнув перетворити прикордонне з СРСР воєводство на зону, вільну від гострих соціальних та міжетнічних конфліктів. Попри наявність демократичних принципів і процедур формування та діяльності органів самоврядування в містах, достатньо широке коло їхніх повноважень, рівень політичної суб'єктності місцевого самоврядування на Волині загалом свідомо зведено до мінімуму, а з боку влади забезпечено пильний контроль для того, щоб не допустити їх надмірної політизації й перетворення Волині на арену політичної боротьби за національне визволення.Організація самоврядування на Волині розглядається в органічному зв'язку з діяльністю Г. Юзевського, який був волинським воєводою в 1928–1938 рр. та проведенням ним «волинського експерименту», органічною складовою якого була концепція відмежування Волині від політичних впливів Східної Галичини. Матеріали статті базуються на широкому використанні матеріалів тогочасної преси – газет «Народний вісник», «Українська нива», «Волинське слово».

The Article examines the military and political integration of states in the European security architecture in the second half of the XX – beginning of the XXI centuries and analyzes the historical experience of the countries of the Europe in the security space issues. Features of participation in military-political integration in the European security architecture of countries that have implemented and are implementing alternative approaches to ensuring national security are highlighted. The positions of the following countries are reviewed: Great Britain and France, which have gone from an autonomous position to a "flagship" position in European military-political integration; the countries of Northern Europe, which pursued a course in military policy towards non-alignment with the international bloc policy, ensuring neutrality and proposed projects for the creation of an autonomous northern European defense; Austria, which is actively involved in European military-political integration, although it is based on the principles of neutrality.Particular attention is paid to the close relationship between the military and political rapprochement with the processes of the economic, technological and political integration in the Western European region.It is proved that despite the fact that these countries are part of in-depth European political, military and economic integration processes, their common security policy is aimed at protecting their own national interests.In particular, Great Britain demonstrates continuity in national security policy in terms of responding to major threats, builds its security on the traditional Atlanticism principles, has a strong position in NATO, cooperates and intends to continue to cooperate with NATO allies, European neighboring countries and EU structures. This should contribute to ensuring security and stability on the European continent. Great Britain is a country without which further European integration in the field of defense will be unproductive.France has also changed its independent and autonomous position, the tactics of "balancing" between the interests of the USSR and the USA in the bipolar world order, to use NATO's well-functioning security mechanisms with the parallel intensified development of the European collective security system, including with the possible involvement of European states (non-members of NATO and the EU).The policy of neutrality, which is held by Denmark and Norway on the eve of World War II, has given way to the course for NATO membership.Finland remains in a position of neutrality. Sweden is trying to consistently adhere to a non-aligned policy. Finland and Austria present their neutrality relatively freely, while Sweden adheres to the strict principles of neutrality. ; У статті досліджено забезпечення воєнно-політичної інтеграції країн в архітектурі європейської безпеки у другій половині ХХ – на початку ХХІ століть, а саме проаналізовано історичний досвід країн Європи у питаннях безпекового простору, виділено особливості участі у військово-політичній інтеграції в архітектурі європейської безпеки країн, що реалізовували і реалізовують альтернативні підходи до забезпечення національної безпеки, зокрема, Великої Британії, Франції, країн Північної Європи та Австрії. Особливу увагу звернено на тісний зв'язок військово-політичного зближення з процесами економічної та політичної інтеграції в Західноєвропейському регіоні. Доведено, що не дивлячись на те, що ці країни є частиною поглиблених європейських політичних, військових та економічних інтеграційних процесів, їх спільна політика безпеки направлена на захист власних національних інтересів.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), environmental air pollution is among the leading risks for noncommunicable diseases worldwide in terms of the global disease burden and the leading environmental cause of disease and death particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Air pollution is a highly complex mixture of various organic and inorganic components from natural and anthropogenic sources, occurring locally or being introduced by longrange transport of pollutants. Moreover, air pollution is modified by regional meteorological conditions. Accordingly, levels and composition of air pollution can vary substantially at a site, nevertheless typically showing a diurnal, weekly and annual cycle. Regulatory limits, as defined by the Air Quality Guidelines of the European Union, are enforced to minimize air pollution associated health hazards for the population. However, legal limits of the European Union clearly exceed the guideline values of the WHO, especially with regard to particulate matter. The burden of ambient air pollution is monitored by means of different indicator pollutants, especially particulate matter up to 2.5m (PM2.5) or 10m (PM10) in aerodynamic diameter, and gases such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or ozone (O3). In recent decades, in the western world, decreasing levels of air pollution have been achieved so that the main focus is nowadays on health hazards caused by low concentrations of pollutants. However, in Germany, especially urban areas are still suffering under higher levels of air pollution. In recent decades, a large number of studies have highlighted the harmful effects of air pollution on public health. Primarily, the respiratory and the cardiovascular system are targeted with exposure to higher levels of air pollution being associated with reduced lung function, unspecific respiratory symptoms, increased use of medication and acute exacerbations of lung diseases, myocardial infarction, stroke and even death. Further negative health outcomes such as atherosclerosis, reduced fetal growth, diabetes and limitations of cognitive function and neuronal development are supported by recent studies. Moreover, these studies have substantially improved our understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. The 2015 Global Burden of Disease Study underlined the significance of air pollution for public health, particularly in relation to increased morbidity and mortality resulting from chronic diseases. As causal factor for premature death, particularly cardiovascular death, ambient PM2.5 is the number 5 risk factor, well behind the commonly known risk factors elevated blood pressure, smoking, and increased blood levels of glucose and cholesterol. Ambient air pollution is the number 10 risk factor for the disease burden and also the leading environmental risk factor in Germany. Different studies have estimated that ambient air pollution increases mortality and may decrease life expectancy on average by about one year in the European Union. State of the art knowledge on the negative health effects of ambient air pollution and recommendations for environmental safety and health are introduced by this statement of the German Respiratory Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin). General concepts and health effects concerning the respiratory system are described in the first part of this statement.

This thesis investigates the motivations and rationale underlying the People's Republic of China's (PRC) Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It starts from a contextualisation of the project, scope and objectives, then presents an overview of the institutions and infrastructure created to promote, finance, and implement it, as well as of its main developments from 2013 to the present. In order to examine the key drivers for the BRI, it discusses the main (geo)political and (geo)economic challenges China faces after four decades of extraordinary economic growth following the politico-economic reforms and opening-up measures initiated by Deng Xiaoping, its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), 'Go Out' policy, and recent economic slowdown. It argues China's foreign policy has become more assertive since the 2008 international financial crisis, especially after Xi Jinping came into power, and that, in this context, the BRI besides being a response to China's domestic needs and international challenges, it also fits its medium to long-term strategy to reshape the world order. The last part of the thesis delves into whether or not the BRI constitutes a strategy to materialise an alternative model of globalisation through soft power or a mechanism to expand China's spheres of influence, as it is commonly suggested by the literature. It concludes that none of these arguments capture the logic of the BRI, as the strategy relies mostly on hard rather than soft power, and the concept of spheres of influence reflects a Western-centric view of the international system. ; Esta tese investiga as motivações e racionalidade subjacentes à 'Iniciativa Cinturão e Rota' da República Popular da China (RPC). Parte da contextualização do projeto, escopo e objetivos, em seguida, apresenta uma análise geral das instituições e infraestrutura criadas para o promover, financiar e implementar, assim como de seus principais desenvolvimentos de 2013 até o presente. Para examinar os impulsionadores-chave da iniciativa, discute os principais desafios (geo)políticos e (geo)económicos que a China encontra após quatro décadas de crescimento económico extraordinário a partir das reformas político-económicas e medidas de abertura iniciadas por Deng Xiaoping, de sua adesão à Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC), "Go Out Policy", e recente desaceleração económica. Argumenta-se que a política externa chinesa tornou-se mais assertiva desde a crise financeira internacional de 2008, especialmente após Xi Jinping assumir o poder e que, nesse contexto, a iniciativa, além de ser uma resposta às necessidades domésticas e aos desafios internacionais da China, também visa sua estratégia de médio e longo prazo de reformar a ordem mundial. A última parte da tese investiga se a iniciativa constitui uma estratégia para materializar um modelo alternativo de globalização através de "soft power" ou um mecanismo para expandir as esferas de influência da China, tal como comumente sugerido pela literatura. Conclui-se que ambos os argumentos são incapazes de capturar a lógica que sustenta a iniciativa, uma vez que a estratégia se alicerça sobretudo em "hard" ao invés de "soft power", e o conceito de esferas de influência reflete uma visão ocidental do sistema internacional.

The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, resulted from a complex pattern of causes, including historical contingencies. One of these was Günter Schabowski's ill-phrased announcement of free travel for GDR citizens, another Mikhail Gorbachev's access to power in 1985 and his promise of "perestroika". At the core of the matter lies "the German question" as the key issue of controversies, in the early phase of the Cold War. Even after 1955, when the two post-war German states had been integrated into the military blocs, the German question remained on the diplomatic agenda. The erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961, however, signified that the "German problem" had been shelved. After the Cuban crisis in October 1962, when the two superpowers refrained from nuclear confrontation, they appeared to enter into an era of détente. Facing up to these facts, West Berlin´s Mayor Willy Brandt and, foremost, his adviser Egon Bahr developed their concept of "Ostpolitik". Its long-term perspective was to change the status quo of German division by accepting the status quo, i.e. the consequences of WW II, the Oder-Neisse border to Poland, the reality of the blocs, and the East German state under Communist rule. It was based on the assumption a) that détente was an irreversible process and b) that the GDR, displaying economic stability at that time, while remaining an indispensable element in the Soviet bloc, would be disposed to forms of cooperation. The dialectics of history proved otherwise. Geopolitical rivalries between the superpowers continued to exist. In 1979, the Soviet Union's military intervention in Afghanistan coincided with its opening another round in the arms race focussing on intermediate-range missiles in Central Europe. Both decisions propitiated the interior crisis of the Soviet Union, due to technological backwardness and military overburdening of its state-run economy. Gorbachev's attempts at reform proved ineffective, his proclamation of glasnost encouraged dissident movements in Eastern Central Europe, e.g. the independent peace movement in the GDR, to resist their regimes. Gorbachev's renunciation of the "Brezhnev doctrine" motivated reform-minded governments in Poland and Hungary to test the limits of Soviet hegemony. The decisive factor was the comprehensive crisis in the GDR: an unproductive economy based on external debts, a decrepit infrastructure, ecological damage, an oppressive dictatorship rejecting reform, dissident activists challenging the regime. All this, in the autumn of 1989, led to the mass exodus of East Germans fleeing across Hungary's open border to Austria. The upshot of this course of events was the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Germany's reunification in 1990 entailed the creation of the European Union, an in-between of a confederation and a federal union of states. Its raison d´être is to a) provide a structure of peace in Europe b) to avert German hegemony on the Continent based on its power potential. Nonetheless, apprehensions concerning Germany's future role in Europe have not altogether vanished. With regard to its immigration policy, some observers speak of a new type of "moral hegemony". Last but not least, Merkel´s decision in 2015 admitting millions of migrants to Europe, tipped the scale in favour of Brexit.

Internet connectivity is essential for prosperity and development in all societies. This policy-focused report is the culmination of a qualitative study of digital connectivity and telecommunications in rural Far North Queensland (FNQ). In particular, the research investigated the lived experience of digital inclusion – a combination of internet access, affordability of technology, and digital ability - in agricultural households and communities the Northern Gulf region. The Australian Digital Inclusion Index (ADII) shows that North West Queensland (which takes in the Gulf Savannah) is one of Australia's least digitally included regions. The ADII further suggests that farmers and farm managers tend to score more poorly in the Index than others in comparable circumstances, particularly on the digital ability sub-index. This research aimed to unpack how these quantitative insights 'play out' in the context of rural FNQ, thereby shedding light on the nuanced and context-specific factors that impact digital participation of farming households and communities. In 2018, with funding from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), James Cook University partnered with Northern Gulf Resource Management Group to complete three week-long data fieldtrips to towns and properties across the Gulf Savannah. The lead researcher, Dr Amber Marshall, attended and presented at rural events, undertook interviews and focus groups, and conducted three case studies of cattle properties. These activities provided real world context for the policy analysis undertaken in this report. This cross-level, cross-sector policy analysis was undertaken to determine the laws and strategies that impact rural and remote internet access, reliability and affordability, along with digital ability and capacity building frameworks. The findings (11 in total) address issues ranging from barriers to connection (such as lack of continuity in the telecommunications network); social factors impacting digital resource allocation and consumption (such as intergenerational and gender-related circumstances); threats to agricultural industry (such as the need to preserve product integrity and to attract/train workers); and consumer-level insights (such as population heterogeneity and expectations of fairness). These comprehensive findings give rise to several recommendations for federal, state and local governments in partnership with community and industry organisations. These include: 1. Improve basic infrastructure and services at local scales, including diversifying service plans to meet specific needs 2. Embrace alternative connectivity infrastructure, whereby state and federal government partners with the regions to collaboratively fill infrastructure and service gaps 3. Redefine affordability at the federal level, to ensure the true cost of being connected in the bush is realised and accommodated 4. Deliver targeted digital capability building programs to address many farmers' thirst for digital skills 5. Develop digital mentors, support brokers and upskill remote workers, to help ensure digital skills programs are relevant and rolled out in situ 6. Empower rural local governments and community organisations to plan and deliver through strategic linkages with the broader national digital inclusion ecosystem 7. Adopt principles for a holistic approach to digital inclusion policy that recognises the critical role of digital capacity building to social and economic development in rural and agricultural Australia. This final recommendation essentially underpins achievement of the preceding recommendations.

This article examines two issues – competing accounts of the military events in the Donbas and the Ukrainian experts' opinion on the factors that led to the beginning of violence. The literature analysis reveals the existence of two competing discourses, clustering around the concepts of "civil war" and "hybrid war" and the so-called "pragmatic discourse", recognizing the presence of both phenomena at the same time. While the major challenge for the authors, who share the discourse of the internal conflict, is to adequately account for the Russia's role in the war, the proponents of the "hybrid war" discourse underestimate the loss of Ukraine's monopoly on the legitimate use of force during the period of revolutionary change of power. The second issue surveys the weight of the factors of the conflict in the assessments of Ukrainian experts. In this part, seven external and internal factors that were most visible in the literature in 2014-2016 are identified. These are: the state fragmentation, the sudden change of power in Kyiv, the consequences of the Soviet policy of Russification, the destructive impact of regional elites, Russia's direct and indirect interference, the weakness of the organized Ukrainian groups and the loss of legitimacy of the new central government in the Donbas. Surveys conducted by pair comparisons in 2016 and 2017 demonstrate that most Ukrainian experts assign the largest weight to the Russia's hidden aggression (15.2 percent) and the destructive role of local elites (13.2 percent) as primary factors behind the conflict, whereas most of their western counterparts look at this event through the prism of the civil war. Differences in the two perspectives, apparently, are not due to the facts, but to pre-existing images and ways of thinking, which influence the perception of these events. ; У цій статті увага зосереджена на двох темах – академічній дискусії навколо суті військових подій на Донбасі і презентації двох хвиль експертних опитувань щодо чинників, які призвели до вибуху протистояння. Аналіз літератури вказує на існування двох конкурентних дискурсів, у яких домінуючими є поняття «громадянська війна» та «гібридна війна» і т. зв. «прагматичного дискурсу», що визнає присутність обох явищ одночасно. Якщо найбільші труднощі авторів, які поділяють дискурс внутрішнього конфлікту, пов'язані з російськоцентричним поглядом на війну і, відповідно, недооцінкою ролі Росії, то прихильники дискурсу «гібридної війни» не добачають втрати Україною монополії на легітимне використання примусу у період революційної зміни влади. Друга тема стосується ваги чинників конфлікту в оцінках українських експертів. У цій роботі визначено сім зовнішніх та внутрішніх чинників, які найчастіше зустрічалися в літературі у період 2014-2015 рр. Це фрагментація держави, раптова зміна влади в Києві, наслідки радянської політики русифікації, деструктивний вплив регіональних еліт, спрямовані дії Росії, слабкість організованих проукраїнських груп і втрата легітимності нової центральної влади на Донбасі. Опитування, виконані шляхом попарних порівнянь у 2016 і 2017 рр. показали, що більшість українських експертів бачать у цих подіях приховану агресію з боку РФ (15,2 %) і деструктивний вплив регіональних еліт (13,9 %), тоді як переважна частина їхніх західних колег дивиться на них крізь призму громадянської війни. Відмінності в оцінках, вочевидь, зумовлені не так фактами, як попередньо сформованими уявленнями та способами мислення, що впливають на сприйняття подій на Донбасі.

The content of the policy of the Polish authorities concerning the organization of municipal selfgovernment in the Volyn Voivodeship during the interwar period, the peculiarities of the «Volyn Experiment» by G. Yuzevskyi have been analyzed. The institution of self-government in Volyn during its western territories being as part of the Polish Republic in 1919–1939 at the initial stage of its formation followed the tradition of the Magdeburg Law. In the early 1930's, it was reorganized according to the republican system of the state. Municipal and county self-government in the Volyn Voivodeship was not only a means of local administrative administration but also an important factor in the social and political life of the country. For geopolitical and strategic reasons, the Polish government sought to turn the border with the USSR Voivodeship into the area free of acute social and interethnic conflicts. Despite the existence of democratic principles and procedures for the formation and operation of self-government bodies in cities, quite a wide range of their powers, the level of political subjectivity of local self-government in Volyn is deliberately minimized, and the authorities provided close monitoring to prevent their excessive politicization and the transformation of Volyn into an arena of political struggle for national liberation.The organization of self-government in Volyn is considered in connection with the activities of G. Yuzevskyi, who was the voivode of Volyn in 1928–1938, and the realization by him of the «Volyn experiment».Its organic component was the concept of separating Volyn from the political influences of Eastern Galicia. The materials of the article are based on the widespread use of materials of the then press − the newspapers «Narodnyi Visnyk», «Ukrainska Nyva», «Volyn Word». ; Здійснено аналіз змісту політики польської влади щодо організації самоврядування в містах Волинського воєводства у міжвоєнний період, особливостях «волинського експерименту» Г. Юзевського. Інститут самоврядування на Волині під час перебування її західних територій в складі Польської Республіки в 1919–1939 рр. на початковому етапі свого становлення наслідував традиції магдебурзького права. На початку 1930-х рр. його реорганізовано відповідно республіканського ладу держави. Міське і повітове самоврядування у Волинському воєводстві було не лише засобом адміністративного управління на місцях, а й важливим чинником суспільнополітичного життя країни. З геополітичних і стратегічних міркувань польський уряд прагнув перетворити прикордонне з СРСР воєводство на зону, вільну від гострих соціальних та міжетнічних конфліктів. Попри наявність демократичних принципів і процедур формування та діяльності органів самоврядування в містах, достатньо широке коло їхніх повноважень, рівень політичної суб'єктності місцевого самоврядування на Волині загалом свідомо зведено до мінімуму, а з боку влади забезпечено пильний контроль для того, щоб не допустити їх надмірної політизації й перетворення Волині на арену політичної боротьби за національне визволення.Організація самоврядування на Волині розглядається в органічному зв'язку з діяльністю Г. Юзевського, який був волинським воєводою в 1928–1938 рр. та проведенням ним «волинського експерименту», органічною складовою якого була концепція відмежування Волині від політичних впливів Східної Галичини. Матеріали статті базуються на широкому використанні матеріалів тогочасної преси – газет «Народний вісник», «Українська нива», «Волинське слово».