Africa is experiencing a commodity boom, and in the past decade, six out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world have been in Africa. Chinese investments and trade are an important aspect of the present econ...
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Africa is experiencing a commodity boom, and in the past decade, six out of the ten fastest growing economies in the world have been in Africa. Chinese investments and trade are an important aspect of the present economic boom, and scholars are divided whether Africa now has the solid foundation for sustained growth or whether this is just a commodity boom that would subside with little economic development in Africa. China's presence in Africa is not uncomplicated. Within West Africa with its plans for a regional economy (Economic Community of West African States) and its desire to create regional infrastructure to integrate national economies, China represents an opportunity, especially in its resource-backed loans for infrastructural development. However, large Chinese immigration and influx into restricted economic sectors such as retail trade and even illegal mining have created points of tension. Using Ghana as a case study, but situated within the broader West African context, this paper will examine the opportunities and challenges China represents in West Africa's regional and national developmental agendas.
China is home of headwaters to at least 10 major transboundary rivers and shares 40 major transboundary watercourses with every of its continental neighboring countries. The freshwater resources dimension in China'...
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China is home of headwaters to at least 10 major transboundary rivers and shares 40 major transboundary watercourses with every of its continental neighboring countries. The freshwater resources dimension in China's relations with its neighbors attracts continuous attention and increasingly so in part due to enhanced awareness about the impacts of global climate change. This presentation attempts to offer a purview of some of the prevailing international commentaries about China and its neighbors over the topic of transboundary water use. The focus is on how China handles upstream-downstream interactions associated with the Mekong and the Yarlung Tsangpo-Brahmaputra river systems. By going through some of the key points of contention that represent interests within and outside China, we take issue with the utility of water as a 'security' referent in looking at relations between China and its neighbors. We make a case, instead, for interdisciplinary research collaboration that can help de-securitize considerations of water as a source of tension between China and its neighboring countries.
In the past forty years, there have been two significant environmental management transitions dealing with pollution and environmental quality that have taken place in China and around the world. These are: 1) a shift...
In the past forty years, there have been two significant environmental management transitions dealing with pollution and environmental quality that have taken place in China and around the world. These are: 1) a shift from an engineering to an economic regulatory framework;and 2) within the economic framework, a shift from price-based to quantity-based instruments. The nature of these shifts is outlined in this paper, along with reasons for their occurrence. China is currently at the forefront of these transformations, given its severe environmental concerns - but it remains to be seen whether the country will be able to provide the institutional support necessary for their success. In the U.S., the quantity-based approach has apparently reached its limit for traditional pollutants. Europe has applied quantity-based mechanisms to meet Kyoto Protocol targets, and the U.S. is employing it for greenhouse gases on a sub-national basis. While both have the institutional infrastructure necessary for implementation of these two transitions, it is not clear that either currently has the political will necessary to apply them for the significant reductions required to address climate change concerns.
The paper explore the multiple strategic uses academic cooperation and internationalization has for developing countries, and how different goals create relevant constraints in the design of the policies and instrumen...
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The paper explore the multiple strategic uses academic cooperation and internationalization has for developing countries, and how different goals create relevant constraints in the design of the policies and instruments mobilized for cooperation. Using the theoretical frameworks proposed by the literature on academic cooperation, innovation, and the concept of soft power, as proposed by Prof. Joseph Nye, the paper analyze the multiple impacts of academic cooperation for universities, science and international relations. The paper explore the impacts of academic cooperation and internationalization on the internal dynamics of academic institutions in developing countries, and the relevance of international cooperation for bringing knowledge production in these countries to the leading edge in strategic areas that are relevant for economic and social development. Last, it explores the roles of academic cooperation and internationalization for strengthening trust between countries. The last session explores different institutional designs for academic cooperation and internationalization and the relationship between institutional design and objectives for cooperation.
Higher Education exists in, and is very much affected by, a world that increasingly operates across sovereign borders. Just as countries have become more interconnected worldwide so, too, have colleges and universitie...
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Higher Education exists in, and is very much affected by, a world that increasingly operates across sovereign borders. Just as countries have become more interconnected worldwide so, too, have colleges and universities. Plainly evident in the now-routine exchange of students and scholars and in research increasingly conducted by international teams, this reality is much more than a passing phenomenon. Rather, it embodies a wholly new way of thinking and working in higher education. In the 21 st century, higher education is explicitly a global enterprise. This era of ever growing connectivity will require leadership, vision, strategy and a deep sense of responsibility for the outcomes of engagement. Ideally global engagement will be a win-win proposition for all parties and not simply a stronger educational power determining the terms and conditions of engagement with little recognition of the needs and interests of less well-resourced institutions.
Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have garnered worldwide attention since the 160,000 student MOOC offered by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig in 2011. The MOOC experiment has now moved from an exploration in open c...
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Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have garnered worldwide attention since the 160,000 student MOOC offered by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig in 2011. The MOOC experiment has now moved from an exploration in open course delivery to a distance education movement. Institutions of higher education are embracing MOOCs as the platform of the future and as a way to create brand extension and broader education access. From the viewpoint of instructional design, the typical MOOC lacks proven instructional design elements. In addition, standard MOOCs violate many principles of instruction. This paper will address the brisk rise in popularity of MOOCs. Advantages and disadvantages of MOOCs will be explored through the lens of instructional design and Merrill's First Principles of Instruction. The paper will provide recommendations on ways to improve MOOCs, as well as take a look into the likely evolution and future of MOOCs.
The Democratic Republic of Congo （DRC）, formerly known as Zaire, represents one of world’s most extreme cases of the structural causal relationships between the application of Western concepts of economics, politic...
The Democratic Republic of Congo （DRC）, formerly known as Zaire, represents one of world’s most extreme cases of the structural causal relationships between the application of Western concepts of economics, politics and society and the sustained reproduction of conditions conducive for perpetual warfare, conflict and violence. The Western economic models characterized by the role of force and violence in production, as well as Western concepts of peace and conflict resolution have generated more than a dozen wars in the DRC since independence in 1960.. These economic models are based on the culture of capital whose roots can be traced back to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade through the 1860 period of the European "scramble for Africa" right up to the cold war engagement with Mobutism. Genocidal basis of economic relations is very much linked with the "conflict resolution" theories of Western liberal scholarship that reproduced images of tribal and warlike Africans. These same models are now being repackaged as reconstruction plans by Western consultancy groups and Western governments.
China has been investing heavily in water engineering projects over the past few decades based on the assumption that these projects can solve its water problems. China now is number 1 in the world in terms of the num...
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China has been investing heavily in water engineering projects over the past few decades based on the assumption that these projects can solve its water problems. China now is number 1 in the world in terms of the numbers of constructed reservoirs (around 90,000) and the installed hydropower capacity. Although the water engineering projects that have already been completed have played a role in promoting social development, simultaneous problems such as droughts/floods, biodiversity losses and other human-induced disasters, have surfaced and cannot be overlooked. Lessons from past failures have explicitly shown that an excessive dependence on water engineering projects has not sufficiently addressed China's water problems. Given its inherent shortcomings, the present engineering-dominated strategy for the management of water resources cannot help solve China's water problems. Therefore, the present strategy for water resources exploitation needs to be reevaluated and redressed. A policy change to achieve better management of Chinese rivers is urgently needed.
The subject of culture is taking an increasingly important role in the agendas of institutions concerned with development. As a result of this interest, it is widely accepted that no true human development may be atta...
The subject of culture is taking an increasingly important role in the agendas of institutions concerned with development. As a result of this interest, it is widely accepted that no true human development may be attained without development of each nation’s cultural potentials. However, the broad and diverse areas encompassed by culture make outlining concrete policy programs for application of this widespread consensus highly difficult and complex. During the past few years, both university academic environments and the most important international policy conferences have highlighted the integrating role of culture, adding it to the more widespread commercial, economic and political integration initiatives. The importance and breadth of the task is unquestionable. However, progress in this area seems to have been made more in the legal than in the political sphere. This is clearly evident in the differences between existing legislation on interculturality, especially at an international level, with a few pioneering efforts at national levels, and the concrete application of legal measures requiring consideration and respect for indigenous and native cultures in the development of each nation. This is one of the major tasks to be faced in preventing conflict and attaining harmonious development.
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