Foreign Service Research Articles

Tác động của Hiệp định thương mại tự do Liên minh châu Âu- Việt Nam (EVFTA) tới hoạt động của các ngân hàng thương mại Việt Nam

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has been implemented and took effect from August 1, 2020. Since the Agreement was signed, changes have been made in many areas of the economy. In the banking sector, the Agreement poses many opportunities as well as many challenges for Vietnamese commercial banks. By using qualitative research methods, through collecting data from expert consultations, analyzing and synthesizing information, the article studies the main provisions of the EVFTA Agreement related to the field of the banking and finance sector, assessing the impacts of the EVFTA on attracting foreign direct investment, risk management, digital transformation, income, costs, products and services for the operation of Vietnamese commercial banks, thereby giving some recommendations on improving risk management capacity, enhancing technology, security, diversifying products to meet customer needs to take advantage of positive impacts and reduce the negative impacts from the Agreement.

Foreign Policy: Character of Nigeria’s President in Foreign Relationship (Case of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan)

This piece of write-up is aimed at examining whether or not Nigeria’s foreign policy under former President Goodluck Jonathan contributed to improving the image of Nigeria globally. The study reveals that Nigeria’s foreign policy over the years has been greatly sabotaged by inconsistencies and ambiguities. The study also shows that more than external challenges, it is the internal challenges that are dampening Nigeria’s attainment of positive international image and national transformation. Some of those challenges include leadership crisis, corruption, insurgency and terrorism amongst others. It is therefore recommended that major reorganization of the foreign services, such that positions in the diplomatic corps and other key positions will no longer be politicized and the government should integrate professional international public relations practitioners in its interactions with the international community at large, in order to effectively boost the global image of Nigeria.

Public service announcement as a tool for building trust in organ donation

Rationale. In developed countries, public service announcement has long been a universal tool for diagnosing and correcting social behavior, including the donor activity increase. Considering the existing organ donation popularization inertia in Russia, the review of positive foreign public service announcement examples has a high scientific and practical relevance. Aim. To study the world examples of organ donation public service announcement. Material and methods. We reviewed public service announcement products of donor organizations from Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Vatican, Belgium, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Singapore, and Japan. We assessed the popularization of organ donation in Russia and highlighted the ways for its improvement. Conclusion. Organ donation public service announcement are widely used both in "Opt In" and "Opt Out" countries and have a high potential for forming a positive public opinion in the Russian Federation. In Russia, the activities aimed at promoting organ donation are insufficient, there is a need to scale it up. In this regard, independent non-profit organizations with the necessary professional staff and marketing competencies can be considered as reliable partners for the government in conducting educational work on organ donation, in particular, in the public service announcement implementation.

Crisis as Opportunity: The Politics of ‘Seva’ and the Hindu Nationalist Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Kerala, South India

The paper examines how Hindu nationalist social service organizations, specifically the Deseeya Seva Bharathi (DSB), reconfigured the religious conception of ‘Seva’ to advance the project of constructing a Hindu social identity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of Kerala. The southern Indian state of Kerala has remained an exception in the story of the rise of the Hindu nationalist movement in contemporary India, which has repeatedly failed to make any considerable political inroads in the state. However, the disastrous economic consequences and livelihood challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic in the state, which was heavily dependent on foreign remittance and service industries, have opened up new spaces of engagement for Hindu nationalists. Drawing on the fieldwork conducted in central Kerala during the pandemic, this paper will elaborate on how the DSB used the crisis moment of the pandemic to reach out to economically and socially disadvantaged communities using the language of ‘Seva’ to build a Hindu social identity, which imbues the influence of majoritarian Hindu nationalist politics. The paper argues that the DSB’s articulation of ‘Seva’ as a distinct and superior form of social service that is ‘self-less’, ‘non-instrumental’ and ‘non-reciprocal’ is significant in understanding the growing appeal of Hindu nationalist social service in the contested political sphere of Kerala, which is marked by competing social provisions by the state as well as other secular and religious groups. The paper notes that the reconfiguration of ‘Seva’ as a continuous religious concept enables Hindu nationalists to attain greater acceptance and legitimacy that even the secular state welfare could not achieve, while also concealing the inherent instrumental nature of its social service towards the construction of a Hindu social identity in the region.

The Factors of Affecting The Intention of Merchandise In Flight

This study aims to determine the effects of attitude, brands, social influence and satisfaction on purchase intentions of merchandise in flight to air transportation service users both domestically and abroad. This research used accidental sampling technique which was conducted on 201 samples from users of domestic or foreign air transportation services in 2019. The method was a questionnaire and an interview. By using SEM Amos 21 statistical tools. The results showed that all variables used in this study were attitudes, brands, social influences and satisfaction had a significant and positive influence on purchase intention variables. This shows that the presence of internal and external factors of a customer will also affect the customer's purchase intention for a merchandise.

Community organizations and ethnic media working with foreign household service workers: Applying communication infrastructure theory to migrant health

Informed by Communication Infrastructure Theory (CIT), this article explores the ways community organizations and ethnic media serve as communicative resources and form into storytelling networks with different health-enhancing purposes for Filipina household service workers (FHSWs) in Hong Kong (HK). Using key informant interviews with print and broadcast media, non-governmental organizations, and faith-based organizations in HK, it found that cancer, stroke, and depression were shared concerns among FHSWs. Community organizations and ethnic media explained these concerns based on work and labor conditions. As communicative resources, they provided health information, offered tangible support, and campaigned to employers and governments. In discussing social media for health, community organizations highlighted accessibility, whereas ethnic media focused on journalistic practices. Overall, this article highlights ethnic media and community organizations as key but often overlooked publics in health communication and the importance of further incorporating temporality in CIT-informed research for migrant health. Implications to public health campaigns and health reporting are discussed.

The Religion of American Greatness: What’s Wrong with Christian Nationalism. By Paul D. Miller

Paul D. Miller, Professor at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, has written a book of immense importance and critical relevance. The Religion of American Greatness addresses the dangers of nationalism broadly and Christian nationalism particularly. As a first step, Miller examines the “identity myth” of nationalism itself, the belief that “humanity is divisible into mutually distinct, internally coherent cultural groups defined by shared traits like ethnicity, language, religion, or culture” (p. 31). Such a “nation,” Miller warns, privileges some aspect of culture, however delineated, rather than being predicated on timeless, fundamental, and universal ideals. Nationalism thus becomes a “raw tribalism” which can lead to an “internal imperialism, the rule by a cultural majority over a cultural minority under the ruling group’s predominant language, culture, or religion” (p. 75). In this context, Miller addresses Christian nationalism, which emphasizes the founding as a religious enterprise within the intellectual and cultural stream of “Anglo-Protestantism.” Moreover, Christian nationalists hold that the government has a responsibility to uphold this heritage as the cultural template for the entire country. In doing so, this subverts a fundamental principle of small-r republicanism: that of limited government. Miller describes nationalism as a form of identity politics, based as it is on a specific cultural locus. By extension, Christian nationalism becomes a form of identity politics for “tribal evangelicals.”

How China's digital technology development affects the environmental costs related to global value chains? Evidence from regional manufacturing sectors

China needs to address the environmental costs to participate in global value chains (GVCs) more sustainably. Digitalization presents a potential solution to overcome information barriers and improve energy efficiency in global production networks. However, the impact of digital technology on GVC-related carbon intensity has not been systematically studied. This paper utilizes embedded multi-regional input-output (EMRIO) tables to analyze the relationship between digital technology and GVC-related carbon intensity in China's 28 regions and 11 manufacturing sectors. The study calculates three indexes: digital technology development, the openness degree of digital technology, and the carbon intensity related to GVCs for the years 2002, 2007, 2010, and 2012. Through a fixed-effect model, the paper examines how digital technology can reduce domestic embodied carbon intensity related to GVCs in China. The findings indicate that: (1) digital technology development has a negative impact on GVC-related domestic embodied carbon intensity; (2) digital technology development indirectly reduces domestic embodied carbon intensity by decreasing energy consumption intensity and increasing foreign services' input intensity; (3) enhancing the openness of digital technology in China can strengthen the reduction effect of digital technology development on the environmental cost related to GVCs.

User Awareness on the Implementation of Digital Service Tax in Malaysia

The development of information technology and rising internet usage has fueled the expansion of digital-based services across the globe. The government started charging a six percent digital service tax (DST) to foreign digital service providers (FSPs) on 1st January 2020. In its first year of operation, this tax brought in more than RM400 million for the government. Digital Service Tax is only imposed on taxable digital services that are provided to consumers in Malaysia. Although the implementation of DST has been previously announced and the act has been enacted, there is a possibility that users have low awareness due to lack of information and unclear about the purpose of DST implementation. Moreover, a lack of understanding of the law may be a factor in the consumers' need for more awareness. Thus, this study aimed to examine factors influencing user awareness on the implementation of DST in Malaysia. This study applied a quantitative research method where questionnaires were distributed through Google forms among individual users in Klang Valley. A total of 63 respondents have been received, and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) has been used to analyse the data. According to this study, approximately 50% of the respondents learned about DST from television, radio, Internet and websites. Furthermore, the relationships between self-attitude, economic factors and user acceptance towards user awareness have been tested. Nevertheless, only economic factors and user acceptance have a significant positive influence towards the user awareness in the implementation of DST in Malaysia. Disseminating DST information to all users will increase their understanding and inculcate positive self-attitude towards acceptance of new tax policy. Therefore, the result of the study will assist the regulator, particularly the tax authority in finding a solution that could increase the level of tax awareness among the public and users.

በኢትዮጵያ የሩዝ ሜካናይዜሽን: አዝማሚያዎች እና ተስፋዎች

The domestic rice industry of Ethiopia is constrained by low productivity, poor quality, and old processing machines. The rice production system is done by hand or with rudimentary tools, and only 2% of households have access to tractors. It takes 175 labor days to weed and 66% of the total farm operations. Rice harvesting and threshing are done manually using a serrated sickle and animal trembling respectively. Farmers are responsible for most of the pre-milling operations and store paddy for household consumption in local stores. Challenges include fragmented farm holdings, poor marketing channels, and a lack of awareness of post-harvest utilization. The prospects for rice mechanization development include improving the rice mechanization research system, training local entrepreneurs, providing repair and maintenance services, promoting custom hiring centers, local manufacturing of farm implements, organizing agricultural cooperatives, landholding, and land ownership structures, assessing foreign experience, linking importers and service providers, and encouraging investments in the rural infrastructure.

The Effects of Urban Living Conditions on Subjective Well-Being: The Case of German Foreign Service Employees

In an increasingly urbanized world, understanding the determinants of urban well-being will continue to grow in importance. Although the effects of different indicators of living conditions on well-being have been widely studied individually, little is known about their relative impact when examined jointly. In this study, we use a unique multi-source dataset that allows us to investigate the effect and relative importance of a variety of subjectively and objectively assessed aspects of urban living conditions on the subjective well-being (SWB) of German Foreign Service expatriates. The study captures living conditions in metropolises around the world at different stages of development, and assesses living conditions in a culturally comparably homogeneous set of participants, thus being potentially less confounded with cultural differences. Using linear regression and dominance analysis, we find that ‘quality of and access to nature’ (i.e., green space), ‘quality of housing’, and ‘quality of public goods’ (i.e., water, air, and sewage systems) have the strongest associations with SWB. Subjectively rated characteristics show stronger associations with SWB than externally assessed characteristics. Additionally, we examine whether the size of a city or the level of development of a country has an effect on SWB. Both living in a megacity (≥ 10 million inhabitants) and a lower development status have negative effects on SWB. However, these effects disappear when the various indicators of living conditions are controlled for. Our findings can inform organisations sending employees abroad as well as urban planners seeking to improve their policies and decision-making.

사용 목적에 따른 서비스 로봇 인터랙션 디자인 사례 연구

Recently, the development of service robots that can assist or replace human work is accelerating by utilizing technological advances such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. Through this, the size of the global service robot market is increasing, and it is expected that the contact point between humans and robots will increase in real life according to these changes. Therefore, research on human-robot interaction (HRI) for smooth communication is a meaningful research topic. This study examined various interaction cases of foreign and domestic service robots. The human-likeness of the robot was derived as an evaluation factor, and the service robot was classified into functional and relational types according to the role of the robot, and it was analyzed by comparing the utilization of interaction feedback. As a result, relational service robots have higher utilization of interaction feedback in visual appearance, touch, movement, interaction behavior, and non-verbal communication than functional service robots. In the case of sound interaction, it was highly utilized regardless of relationship type and functional type, and the interaction between verbal communication and social behavior was highly utilized for functional service robots. Through this study, it is expected that a meaningful direction can be presented by helping to supplement and improve the interaction of many service robots to be developed in the future.

AI 서비스 로봇의 개발 방향 및 제언

The service robot market is globally driven by the advancement in robotics, increase in robot automation demand, and rise in living standards. This study proposes the development direction of AI service robots by classifying and organizing them according to their application field and scope and then examining the market trends and prospects of domestic and foreign AI service robots. AI service robots are those whose applications have been expanded beyond manufacturing and into domestic, medical, national defense, firefighting, and agriculture, as distinguished from industrial robots. The global market of service robots reached $35.24 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow up to $140.94 billion by 2027, with an average annual growth rate of 21.9%. The short-term and long-term strategies of AI service robots were presented by reflecting technical feasibility and social requirements.

Does regional services development enhance manufacturing firm productivity? A manufacturing servitization perspective

Based on the micro-firm data in China, this study investigates the impact of regional services development on manufacturing productivity from the perspective of manufacturing servitization. The results indicate that: (1) The uneven development of regional services has a 13.09% inhibitory effect on manufacturing firm productivity. (2) With the level of manufacturing servitization increases, regional services development will significantly improve manufacturing firm productivity by 19.98%. (3) This improvement effect differs significantly across service sectors and manufacturing technology categories, particularly pronounced in the financial and high-tech industries. (4) The higher the share of foreign service factor inputs used by the industry to which the firm belongs, the more the negative impact of regional services development on manufacturing firm productivity. These findings, which remain robust under two-way causality and indicator reconstruction, have important implications for the next stage of sustainable development with high-quality and effective integration of manufacturing and services in China.

Investment Obligations and Levies on VOD Media Service Providers and Cultural Policies of Member States

Digital video streaming platforms that provide on-demand services are subject to financial contributions stemming from media policy regulations in different countries, including the majority of EU Member States. In particular, such financial obligations include direct investments in European media works or indirect levies for national film funds. In 2018, the European Union revised the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, extending the scope of the financial obligations to cover not only the domestic media service providers established in the country that requires financial contribution but also foreign media service providers targeting the audience in this state. The provision was transposed (or is considered to be transposed) in the domestic legislation of at least 14 EU Member States. Yet, the technical design of the respective domestic provisions significantly varies, which can lead to distortive effects on investments and trade in the European Union, including due to the risk of double imposition of financial obligations by several Member States on the same income. In this article, the authors analyse tax-related issues regarding financial obligations, namely how certain well-established cross-border tax mechanisms can enhance the legislative AVMSD framework to achieve a better balance between the societal policy goal of promoting European culture, on one hand, and respecting economic rights in the implementation of the financial obligations for audiovisual media service providers under article 13(2) of the AVMSD on the other. From an international tax perspective, the authors analyse whether financial obligations, in particular the levy for national film funds, can be regarded as an earmarked tax on business income, its compatibility with double tax treaties, as well as whether it is covered by the commitment of the OECD Inclusive Framework Members to remove the unilateral measures similar to digital services taxes (DSTs) for the purposes of OECD Pillar One.

About Currency Restrictions in 2022, Introduced in Respect of Individuals

The focus of this article is the currency restrictions imposed by the Russian Federation on resident individuals in response to the deployment by foreign states and their unions of a policy of sanctions pressure on the national banking system. First, the authors identify regulatory windows and types of country sanctions: freezing of reserves and assets of the Bank of Russia, a ban for the Bank of Russia on access to the capital market and a ban on the sale, supply, transfer or export of cash euros and US dollars to Russia. Further, the domestic legal order is analyzed in terms of the introduction and operation of currency restrictions that apply to resident individuals. It is revealed that the main restrictions consisted in the forced conversion of part of foreign currency deposits, prohibitions on crediting currency to foreign accounts and providing loans to non-residents, setting thresholds for crossborder transfer of non-cash and cash funds; prohibition of electronic money transfers with the help of foreign payment service providers and transactions with persons of foreign states committing unfriendly acts or included in the sanctions list by the Government of the Russian Federation. The legality of the establishment of these currency restrictions and the practice of their application are investigated. Based on the results of the analysis, ways to improve domestic legislation are proposed.

Editors' Note

Editors' Note Daria Farman-Farmaian and Mikael Pir-Budagyan Dear Reader, Whereas identities may previously have been independent of one another because of geographic isolationism, our increasingly globalized world challenges these norms of homogeneity. Today, people all over the world are forced to contend with changing personal, national, state, ethnic, economic, and political affiliations. For better or for worse, identity is inherently disordered but exists at every level of our world. It merges, erases, changes, and coexists in distinct forms and environments. It does not disappear in international relations; instead, often, it is brought to the fore, making the global order infinitely more complex and challenging to predict. And though some identities are blatant, most remain unobservable, disrupting the clarity of our everyday world. As a source of both conflict and unity, identity is no less important in international relations than issues such as international law, economic development, armed conflict, global health, or sustainability policy. In fact, we believe identity is at the core of all these topics. The field of international affairs faces an unprecedented and diverse set of challenges and opportunities. Across the climate crisis, a globalizing world, democratic advancement and backsliding, or the war in Ukraine, identity remains a central part of the debate. Whether forged on the battlefield or transformed by technological innovation, identities transgress the linear perception of global developments and deserve the utmost attention from academics and practitioners. The question is not if we address identity in international relations but when and how. The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs Edition 24, Volume I is a bold attempt to bring identity center stage and explore its implications globally. In pursuing this goal, we lead with a few questions: How do global forces bring us together or tear us apart? What are the dangers and opportunities of increased identity polarization or homogeneity? How do identities intersect, conflict, and coexist on a global scale? We are grateful for the insight of this volume's contributing scholars and practitioners who have sought to probe such questions. Because of their expertise, we have had the opportunity to explore issues such as digital identity and inclusion, ethnonationalist conflicts in Ethiopia, and Armenian identity in the face of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Editing the works of these authors has made clear to us that a conversation about identity on a global scale is long overdue. This volume of the 24th edition would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of each graduate and undergraduate student member of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. The Journal's high publication and professional standards are safeguarded by the hard work and dedication of our organization's Editorial Assistants, Section Editors, Development Team, and the rest of our Board. It has been an enriching experience for both of us, and we look forward to you, Reader, discovering the insights this volume presents. Daria Farman-Farmaian, SFS '23 Mikael Pir-Budagyan, MAERES'24 GJIA Print Editor's in Chief [End Page 1] Copyright © 2023 Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University

International Students’ Nostalgic Behaviour towards the Purchase of Products and Services

The literature has highlighted that international students abroad exhibit a strong preference for products from their country compared with foreign products and services, thus suggesting that the cultural disposition of consumers influences their purchasing decisions. Therefore, this current research aimed to determine how the feeling of groundedness could affect international students’ purchasing behavior in Malaysia through cultural products and services. To this end, quantitative data were collected from international students at the University of Malaya and the University Utara Malaysia and then analyzed using a structural equation model (SEM). The findings of this research highlighted that consumer behavior was influenced by a “feeling of groundedness”. This suggested that cultural services and products are valued by international students in foreign universities because of their ability to evoke a feeling of groundedness. The theoretical contributions of this study, particularly to the consumer behavior literature, are extensive, including how it highlights the influence of the feeling of groundedness on international consumers’ purchasing behavior. The marketing implications of this research are also valuable for businesses targeting international students.

Interview with Izabela Matusz

Izabela Matusz (Warsaw, 22 September 1974) is a Polish diplomat.
 She serves as Ambassador of the European Union and Head of the Delegation to Panama since 1 September 2022.
 She joined the Polish Foreign Service in 2002. Between 2013 and 2017, she served as Ambassador of Poland to Peru, concurrent for Bolivia and Ecuador. She also served at the Embassies of Poland in Argentina and Spain.
 While at Headquarters in Warsaw, she worked in the Department of the Americas, Department of Economic Cooperation and the Cabinet of the Minister.
 She holds a MA degree in Economics and International Relations from the SGH Warsaw School of Economics and a Postgraduate degree from the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Warsaw.

Влияние эксклавности и уровня доходов населения на потребительские предпочтения пациентов на рынке медицинских услуг

The article presents the results of a qualitative analysis of the influence of exclavity and the level of income of the population on the consumer preferences of patients in the medical services market using the Kaliningrad region as an example. Economic disparity in access to healthcare services contributes to the psychographic stratification of healthcare consumer preferences. Territorial isolation from the country and the proximity of foreign countries leave an imprint on the social and economic life of the population of an exclave subject and commitment to medical tourism. M a t e r i a l s a n d m e t h o d s . In the period from September to November 2022, a one-time comparative study of consumer preferences for choosing a country and a medical organization in the medical services market of 773 working-age residents of the Russian Federation was planned and conducted. All respondents were stratified into two groups according to their place of residence: residents of the Central Federal District and the Kaliningrad Region. The groups were comparable in terms of gender and age. Methods used: open online survey, qualitative analysis, statistical. The significance of differences in the percentages of the trait was estimated by the Fisher angular transformation coefficient (φ) with a given confidence level of 95%. R e s u l t s . The influence of exclavity and income level on consumer preferences for choosing a medical organization has been established. The features of the priority motivators for the choice of public, private or foreign medical services of the respondents of the Kaliningrad region are revealed. The comfort of receiving medical services (“lack of queues”) was 1,4 times more likely to motivate the choice of private medicine among respondents in the Kaliningrad region compared to respondents in other regions. The demand for the services of private and foreign clinics in the exclave territory is proportional to the level of income. Medical tourism services were used by 28,7% of respondents from the exclave territory who prefer private medicine. C o n c l u s i o n . A distinctive feature of consumers of medical services in the exclave Kaliningrad region is the increase in demand for private medicine and treatment abroad in proportion to the increase in income levels. Respondents from the exclave territory are 1,4 times more likely to choose private clinics and 23,9 times more likely to use medical tourism services compared to residents of the Central Federal District. Every fourth respondent in the Kaliningrad region does not trust the quality of training of doctors in the Russian Federation. Transport accessibility of the EU countries, dissatisfaction with the level of training of medical personnel, the lack of a number of medical services in the Russian Federation, the ability to realize the desire to combine treatment with a trip abroad with a sufficient level of income of the population in the exclave region, along with a shortage of medical personnel in the subject, contribute to increasing the attractiveness of private medical organizations, import of medical services and outflow of patients abroad. Recommendations are given to increase the attractiveness of state medicine in the exclave territory.