Intergovernmental Cooperation Research Articles

'Follow the cattle': a joint cross-border trachoma MDA perspective.

Trachoma, a disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, is the leading infectious cause of blindness. To fight it, endemic East African countries adopted the World Health Organization's SAFE Strategy, targeting surgery, antibiotics through mass drug administration (MDA), facial cleanliness and environmental improvement. Trachoma persists among nomadic communities along the Kenya-Uganda and Kenya-Tanzania borders. To address this, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda launched synchronized MDA campaigns, simultaneously treating populations across borders. Successes included joint planning, community involvement and intergovernmental cooperation, although challenges remained in resourcing MDA cross-border focal points and in addressing coverage and funding. Novel strategies like synchronized joint cross-border MDA with community engagement are vital for sustainable trachoma elimination in these nomadic settings.

The challenge of the global ecological crisis for world politics

The ecological crisis is one of the greatest challenges humanity faces in this century. Climate change and ecosystem degradation pose real threats to the future of life on the planet. However, despite global security and survival being key themes in the study of international relations, environmental issues have remained on the sidelines of the discipline in recent decades. This reality seems to be changing with the publication of an increasing number of works that seek to rethink the discipline and the practice of world politics through the lens of ecology. These works call for a political transformation to address the crisis and challenge the traditional institutionalist approach dominant in the literature, which focuses on the analysis of intergovernmental cooperation and the effectiveness of international environmental institutions, such as the United Nations (UN) climate and biodiversity regimes.

Labour Mobility in the Asean Economic Community – A Story in Viet Nam's Sustainable Development Goals

Purpose: This article analyzes Vietnam's sustainable development strategy when participating in the Southeast Asian Community of Nations (ASEAN) based on 3 pillars: Political-Security Community, Economic Community and Socio-Cultural Community. The admission of labour by member states participating in ASEAN's labour market will become a more cohesive political-economic entity, a community "united in diversity"; continue to be an open and important regional cooperation organization in the Asia-Pacific. Theoretical reference: The overall objective of the ASEAN Community is to build the Association into a deeper and more binding intergovernmental cooperation organization based on the legal basis of the ASEAN Charter; but not a supranational and non-closed organization that still expands cooperation with the outside. Methods: the article analyzes the factors affecting the outlook, the labour market in ASEAN has gradually transformed into an intergovernmental cooperation organization with a higher level of legal binding and deeper links but has not become a supranational organization. In that process, Vietnam's participation in the ASEAN labour market is an inevitable process of the ASEAN Economic Community. Results and conclusions: In the economic field, this is an area with important strides and is currently a driving force for accelerating the process of regional integration. Up to now, ASEAN has basically fulfilled its commitments on the formation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), with most tariff lines having been reduced to 0-5%. ASEAN has identified 12 priority areas for early integration to further boost intra-regional trade. Intra-regional trade currently reaches about US$300 billion and accounts for about 25 per cent of ASEAN's total trade. Vietnam's participation in the ASEAN Economic Community has favorable factors and challenges. Vietnam needs to improve policies in training high-quality human resources to meet labor standards in the ASEAN Economic Community. Implications of research: The ASEAN Economic Community aims to create a single common market and unified production base, including the free flow of goods, services, investment, capital and skilled labour; thereby enhancing competitiveness and promoting shared prosperity for the whole region; making it attractive for investment – business from the outside. Viet Nam's extensive labour market participation in ASEAN will boost effectiveness in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Originality/value: With the goal of "For an ASEAN Economic Community for Sustainable Development", the article analyzed Vietnam's participation in the ASEAN labour market.Successful integration in the labour market will help Vietnam reduce poverty rates, improve the quality of human resources and develop sustainably.

Comparing qualitative and quantitative text analysis methods in combination with document-based social network analysis to understand policy networks

AbstractThe literature that reflects on the application of Social Network Analysis (SNA) in combination with other methods is flourishing. However, there is a dearth of studies that compare qualitative and quantitative methods to complement structural SNA. This article addresses this gap by systematically discussing the advantages and disadvantages relating to the use of qualitative text analysis and interviewing as well as quantitative text mining and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques such as word frequency analysis, cluster analysis, topic modeling, and topic classification to understand policy networks. This method-oriented comparative study features two empirical studies that respectively examine the Employment Thematic Network, established under the aegis of the European Commission, and the intergovernmental cooperation network set up within the Bologna Process. The article compares and discusses the underlying research processes in terms of time, human resources, research resources, unobtrusiveness, and effectiveness toward the goal of telling meaningful stories about the examined networks in light of specific guiding hypotheses. In doing so, the paper nurtures the debate on mixed-methods research on social networks amidst the well-known paradigm war between qualitative and quantitative methods in network analysis.

Addressing transboundary challenges: Exploring the interactive relations between collaborative governance and transboundary marine spatial planning in Europe

Transboundary challenges or issues have become the main drivers of collaborative governance (CG) in coastal and marine waters, contributing more specifically to the initiatives of transboundary marine spatial planning (TMSP). The purpose of this article is to explore the interactive relations between CG and TMSP and consider how to combine them to solve transboundary problems. Based on literature review, the process of CG in a transboundary context is summarised to produce a theoretical framework for use in case study analysis of five European TMSP projects. These represent different regional seas and the study leads to a new model showing how the collaboration dimensions of TMSP have been established. The main findings are: (1) CG provided a theoretical and practical framework for the conceptual development of TMSP, especially in intergovernmental cooperation, cross-sectoral integration and multi-stakeholder engagement; (2) three existing CG dimensions, and an additional one of data harmonisation, constitute a four-dimensional assessment; (3) existing CG mechanisms or frameworks in any transboundary context, not just marine-related, can contribute to, and benefit from, TMSP; (4) TMSP has been proved to be an effective tool to promote marine CG, but requires higher collaboration performance and further capacity building to respond to transboundary challenges and ensure the sustainability of transboundary collaboration over time.

Beyond the gate: Shaping the future of military installation compatibility in the United States

ABSTRACT As land use incompatibilities between military installations and neighboring communities become more prevalent across the United States, the need for innovative policies, programs, and strategies amplifies. The U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) program was explicitly designed to combat these intergovernmental challenges at the local level. This descriptive study engages community stakeholders from 55 JLUS sites across the United States to perform the first ex-post evaluation of the program. A stakeholder survey is used to measure the perceived performance and conformance of the plans sponsored by this program. The evaluation criteria examined include the program’s ability to progress regional democratic participation, intergovernmental cooperation, military readiness, and compatible civilian development. Discussions in this study highlight the program’s successes, where it can be improved, and how community leaders can facilitate military installation compatibility with urban societies.

A Review of Intergovernmental Cooperation on the Mitigation of Climate Change

This working paper provides an overview of the landscape of intergovernmental cooperation on climate change mitigation efforts across sectors. The analysis of over 90 initiatives – alliances and partnerships – can help guide future efforts in enhancing intergovernmental cooperation for climate action.

Issues of national minorities in the policy of the Eastern Partnership

The peculiarities of implementing the policy of the EU’s Eastern Partnership Initiative in regards to protecting the rights of national minorities have been studied. The issue of national minorities in the EU is considered from the perspectives of security, democracy, and regional integration. Despite contemporary criticism of the EU’s Eastern Partnership Initiative, many initiatives aimed at protecting the rights of national minorities in the region have been implemented, thereby fostering intergovernmental cooperation. It is evident that Ukraine and Moldova are the most proactive in protecting the rights of national minorities amongst the Eastern Partnership countries. These countries have been granted the status of candidate for EU accession. Despite the Russian-Ukrainian war, Ukraine actively works on improving legislation in the field of ethno-policy. Particular emphasis is placed on analysis of the institutional structure of national minorities, communication pathways, and non-discriminatory policies in Eastern Partnership countries. Member states of the Eastern Partnership actively utilize “soft power” techniques through a network of minority organizations. It has been suggested that European integration of Ukraine and Moldova has generated considerable opportunities for the development of national minorities. Loosening of state borders has enabled national minorities to connect more deeply with their ethnic homelands, thereby transforming them into engaged participants of transborder cooperation and significant figures of regional policy. The Eastern Partnership furnishes a platform for minorities to assert themselves in decisions which pertain to their lives, execute grant initiatives, and take part in regional associations of minorities. Nevertheless, certain risks are highlighted, such as particular nations exploiting EU enlargement to tackle minority matters or manipulate minority rights. The EU has analyzed programs supporting national minorities, especially those implemented in the Eastern Partnership countries. While Eastern Partnership countries have developed their policies regarding national minorities, there are common problems faced by minorities in the region. Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Armenia are involved in conflicts, being former Soviet Union countries, and face numerous challenges concerning the functioning of the Russian minority, which is numerically significant in this region. It is stated that the EU cooperates with the Eastern Partnership countries on matters regarding national minorities, and it is crucial to develop innovative models for managing ethnic diversity, promoting the involvement of national minorities in making socio-political decisions and integrating them into society.

The International Recognition of Governments in Practice(s): Creatures, Mirages, and Dilemmas in Post-2011 Libya

Abstract The international (non)recognition of governments is a composite macro practice that has grown in visibility in recent years in response to contentious domestic political processes such as coups d’état, revolutions, and civil wars, yet it remains understudied in international relations. Doctrinal debates in international law and foreign policy reveal the normative vacuum and normative competition that have long surrounded this phenomenon, but say little about its specific operation and effects. This article brings together insights from recognition theory and international practice theory, and uses post-2011 Libya as an in-depth case study, drawing on elite interviews with diplomats, international officials, and other practitioners. The aim is to sketch a new research agenda by building a generalizable typology of smaller-scale government recognition micro practices (declaratory, diplomatic, informal engagement, intergovernmental cooperation, and support practices), and uncovering their guiding logics and consequences. I argue that, first, the international (non)recognition of governments is endowed with a distinct generative power, as it produces its own creatures through a range of micro practices that have identity formation and change, material empowerment, political legitimation, and sovereignty line-drawing effects. Secondly, it is geopolitically inevitable, as external actors involved in a country cannot ultimately avoid engaging with territorially grounded domestic political actors. Thirdly, it is not a black-and-white situation, as it involves a broad variety of practices guided by different, often contradictory logics. Finally, international government recognition practices are likely to run into three dilemmas stemming from three tensions: international versus domestic recognition, legitimacy versus effectiveness, and coherence versus inclusivity in conflict mediation.

Intergovernmental cooperation and joint purchasing agreements: Do governments free‐ride?

AbstractPublic management scholars argue that collective action problems (e.g., incentives to free‐ride on the efforts of others or shirk agreements) threaten the feasibility of intergovernmental cooperation. Drawing on collective action theory, this article examines factors associated with overcoming free‐riding incentives and provides evidence challenging the idea that governments are prone to such strategic behavior. The empirical analysis of a national Danish purchasing group demonstrates how coercion is not necessary to induce subnational governments to incur private costs to join the group and, despite opportunity and incentive to free‐ride, contribute to its production of joint purchasing agreements—collective goods whose quality depends on the staff resources and expertise the participating governments contribute to their production. Further, multivariate analyses find that governments are more likely to help produce these collective goods when they receive more of their benefits, face lower contribution costs, and receive stronger social norm pressures from peers.

Состояние и факторы развития международного туризма в странах Ближнего Востока

Development of international tourism is a key direction for economic diversity of Middle Eastern countries. It provides favorable long-time economic aspects and enhances positive image of the region. The purpose of the research is to assess the current state and identify the factors of development of international tourism in the Middle East in order to validate priorities for tourism development applying specific features of each country. Based on comprehensive analysis of the main indicators of tourism, authors identified significant differentiation among countries and different contributions of tourism service exports to the development of national economies. The largest contribution of tourism service export is made by Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE to the national GDP and by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt to the national exports. In terms of aggregate service exports the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq have the highest contributions. The leading countries in the region are the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, which account for two-thirds of the tourism service exports in the Middle East. Based on determining the average values for the region for each indicator, the authors ranked countries into "above average" and "below average" groups to account for the specific characteristics of tourism development in each country. Through the analysis, the authors justified and classified positive and destructive factors of tourism development in the region. The following priorities for tourism development were formulated for countries: focusing on the development of modern tourism infrastructure, especially in Yemen, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Kuwait; promoting tourist attractions; restoring tourist trust in the region's security (Syria, Iraq, Palestinian Authority, Israel, etc.); diversifying the tourism product (UAE, Qatar, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia); providing comprehensive services (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain); deepening intergovernmental cooperation and creating a joint regional tourism product (for all countries in the region).

정부간협력에 대한 조정제도의 영향

The study examined how the perception of the effectiveness of the dispute mediation institution and the local financial coordination system affects intergovernmental cooperation. To this end, the study conducted a comprehensive analysis using crosssectional regression analysis and joint OLS based on the “Survey on Intergovernmental Relations(IGR)” data(2011, 2014, 2017, 2020) provided by the Korea Institute of Public Administration.
 Summarizing the results, the perception of the effectiveness of the dispute mediation system and the local financial coordination system had a static effect on the perception of intergovernmental cooperation, and the sense of cooperation among public officials and financial decentralization also had a static effect.
 Based on this, in order to further promote intergovernmental cooperation, policy implications such as changing the perception of not only the local self-government system but also the dispute mediation system and the local financial coordination system were proposed.

Development and validation of convolutional neural network-based model to predict the risk of sentinel or non-sentinel lymph node metastasis in patients with breast cancer: a machine learning study

For patients with sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis and low risk of residual non-SLN (NSLN) metastasis, axillary lymph node (ALN) dissection could lead to overtreatment. This study aimed to develop and validate an automated preoperative deep learning-based tool to predict the risk of SLN and NSLN metastasis in patients with breast cancer (BC) using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) images. In this machine learning study, we retrospectively enrolled 988 women with BC from three hospitals in Zhejiang, China between June 1, 2013 to December 31, 2021, June 1, 2017 to December 31, 2021, and January 1, 2019 to June 30, 2023, respectively. Patients were divided into the training set (n=519), internal validation set (n=129), external test set 1 (n=296), and external test set 2 (n=44). A convolutional neural network (CNN) model was proposed to predict the SLN and NSLN metastasis and was compared with clinical and radiomics approaches. The performance of different models to detect ALN metastasis was measured by the area under the curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. This study is registered at ChiCTR, ChiCTR2300070740. For SLN prediction, the top-performing model (i.e., the CNN algorithm) achieved encouraging predictive performance in the internal validation set (AUC 0.899, 95% CI, 0.887-0.911), external test set 1 (AUC 0.885, 95% CI, 0.867-0.903), and external test set 2 (AUC 0.768, 95% CI, 0.738-0.798). For NSLN prediction, the CNN-based model also exhibited satisfactory performance in the internal validation set (AUC 0.800, 95% CI, 0.783-0.817), external test set 1 (AUC 0.763, 95% CI, 0.732-0.794), and external test set 2 (AUC 0.728, 95% CI, 0.719-0.738). Based on the subgroup analysis, the CNN model performed well in tumour group smaller than 2.0cm, with the AUC of 0.801 (internal validation set) and 0.823 (external test set 1). Of 469 patients with BC, the false positive rate of SLN prediction declined from 77.9% to 32.9% using CNN model. The CNN model can predict the SLN status of any detectable lesion size and condition of NSLN in patients with BC. Overall, the CNN model, employing ready DCE-MRI images could serve as a potential technique to assist surgeons in the personalized axillary treatment of in patients with BC non-invasively. National Key Research and Development projects intergovernmental cooperation in science and technology of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, and Zhejiang Medical and Health Science Project.

Reputation, Network, and Performance: Exploring the Diffusion Mechanism of Local Governments’ Behavior during Inter-Governmental Environmental Cooperation

The selective behavior of local governments during regional environmental cooperation could generate a diffusion effect through the black box of reputation mechanism. This study incorporates the reputation mechanism, social capital, and environmental governance performance into a unified analysis framework, empirically testing the moderating effect of the implementation rate of environmental cooperative projects (indicating reputation) on the relationship between two types of social capital and environmental governance performance among cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) regions. The inter-governmental environmental cooperation news and policies are collected by Data Capture technology as a dataset, and a set of social-economic data is also adopted. The spatial econometric regression results show that an increase in reputation could both strengthen the leadership and coordination ability (bridging social capital) of the central cities in the YRD and BTH regions, thus improving their environmental governance performance. However, the bonding social capital path could only significantly work in the BTH region, which unexpectedly increases pollutant emission through excessive internal cohesion. The results indicate that a “community of entangled interest” should be constructed among cities within urban agglomerations, which requires local governments to weaken the concept of their administrative boundary. At the same time, in order to avoid excessive internal condensation, a clear division of rights and responsibilities is also necessary during continuous inter-governmental environmental cooperation. We believe that these findings could provide empirical evidence for local governments to avoid failing to the traps of “agglomeration shadow”.

Towards effective national and international governance for a sustainable bioeconomy: A global expert perspective

In an ideal scenario, the bioeconomy creates technology-based opportunities that promote economic growth and social progress while decoupling these development goals from increasing resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Over the last decade, many countries worldwide have adopted comprehensive bioeconomy strategies. However, little is known about the implementation of these strategies. The following article presents and discusses the results of a survey of 282 global bioeconomy experts conducted in 2020 on behalf of the German Bioeconomy Council. We take stock of the implementation of bioeconomy strategies, identify continued governance gaps that constrain transformative shifts towards a sustainable bioeconomy and determine political support measures to overcome these gaps. Most importantly, our results show that even more intergovernmental cooperation and coordination at the international level is needed to create frameworks for sustainable bioeconomy development.

Financing and delivering early childhood education and childcare across levels of government

This paper explores how Early Childhood Education and Childcare (ECEC) can be more effectively financed and delivered to promote human capital development, economic growth and well-being. It discusses evidence showing that quality ECEC contributes to better education outcomes and higher future earnings, particularly for socio-economically disadvantaged children. Yet it identifies challenges in delivering ECEC services, including uneven coverage and lack of affordability in many OECD countries, necessitating intergovernmental fiscal co-operation. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruptive effects on children’s learning and future GDP, the paper underscores the urgent need for effective policy interventions. These include augmenting public spending, implementing equitable fiscal governance models, enhancing the affordability of services and establishing robust monitoring systems. By addressing these issues, the paper posits that we can ensure equitable access to high-quality ECEC and fortify the resilience of our education systems for future generations.

Impact of environmental tax on pollution control: A sustainable development perspective

China’s implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Act in 2018 aimed to promote sustainable development and reduce pollutant emissions yet its mechanism and impact of pollution reduction are not clear. This study collected data from 287 cities between 2010 and 2019 in order to evaluate the impact of this tax on reducing pollution and assess its mechanism. The results show that the environmental tax had a significant spillover effect on reducing emissions of sewage, waste gases, and solid waste, suggesting that the implementation of environmental tax policies and their emission reduction effects can be enhanced through regional collaboration and intergovernmental cooperation. Furthermore, the impact of pollution control was more significant in cities with a higher concentration of heavy polluting enterprises, that is, the central and eastern regions and cities with large population. The impact of the policy was threefold: Firstly, the tax prompted the control of pollution by changing the external costs of pollution into the internal costs for businesses. Secondly, through the promotion of green innovation, the regulating bodies tracked and limited their pollutant emissions. Thirdly, the policy boosted the development of environmental protection facilities which aid in controlling pollutant emissions. The mechanism analysis suggests that the pollution control effectiveness of environmental taxation can be further improved by adopting a comprehensive and multi-dimensional approach to environmental protection measures. This study offers valuable policy guidance for the effective implementation of environmental taxation and provides a solid theoretical foundation for collaborative pollution control and multi-dimensional alleviation of environmental pollution, thus it has significant implications for promoting sustainable development.

Noninstitutionalized international security alliances: safeguarding world peace and regional stability

The article summarizes the Ukrainian diplomatic’ success stories in launching non-conventional modalities, instruments, methods of cooperation with global actors aimed to protect fundamental human rights and maintains the grounds for the present international order and stability.
 The constructions, instruments and methods in question are peculiar security alliances that encourage intergovernmental cooperation, first of all, in the case of international human rights protection and deepening political, economic, cultural and education diplomacy.
 The author produces a personal description of the noninstitutionalized security alliances and provides evidence-based examples of the permanent efficiency of such partnerships. The author pays attention to examining noninstitutionalized intergovernmental cooperation to clearly understand the security status quo in Europe and the world.
 Although most classic international organizations informally support Ukraine in its military defense against russia, there are no factual perspectives to formalize this cooperation, such as NATO or EU integration, in the nearest future. The author illustrates the dualistic nature of noninstitutionalized international security alliances. On the one hand, they support fundamental regional actors such as NATO and the EU to execute their policy without formal promises or official bunding upon Ukraine. From another hand, it assists Ukraine in integrating state policy into the NATO and EU agenda and structure. Thus it brings Ukraine closer to Euro-Atlantic and European integration implicitly with both separate EU and NATO member states and such organizations as a whole.
 Eventually, the democratic states practice establishing and maintaining international cooperation in extraordinary security alliances as alternatives to classic international relations to ensure regional security and global peace. Ukrainian experience based on the full-scale international armed conflict is an excellent case to examine and further research.

Beyond intergovernmental cooperation: domestic politics of transboundary air pollution in Korea and Singapore.

This study explores why the implementation of domestic environmental policies that tackle transboundary air pollution has been undermined by comparing the cases of the Republic of Korea (Korea) and Singapore. Heavy smog recurs in Korea and Singapore every year despite various attempts to reduce air pollution through the signing of environmental cooperation agreements and the introduction of domestic measures. While existing scholarship has examined intergovernmental cooperation aimed at mitigating transboundary air pollution, this study focuses on domestic factors affecting policy implementation processes at the national level. How do domestic factors shape governmental policy actions within environmental cooperation agreements in the cases of Korea and Singapore? I employed a process-tracing method to analyze the entanglement of domestic stakeholders from the late 1990s to 2019. By drawing upon domestic politics theory, I find that domestic dynamics, intricately linked to other stakeholders, have limited the effectiveness of policies implemented to address poor air quality. This finding suggests that domestic politics play a critical role in establishing effective regional environmental cooperation in the long run.

Peran Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) pada Konflik Transnistria

This paper attempts to explain what efforts have been made by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to deal with the conflicts that occurred in Transnistria. OSCE is an intergovernmental cooperation organization in the field of defense and security. Transnistria is a region in Moldova. The history of this conflict occurred at a time of weakening influence until the collapse of the power of the Soviet Union. Which after Moldova's independence there was a group that declared independence from Moldova and made the name of a new country with the name Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Transnistria. One of the triggers for this conflict is linguistic and cultural differences, where most Moldovan people are close to Romania while Transnistria is close to Slavic. This conflict caused many casualties, as well as ethnic and national sentiments from various groups. For this reason, OSCE, as the organization's defense and security organization, helps this conflict by carrying out several functions such as the Information function, regulatory function, and operational function.
 Keywords — OSCE, Conflict, Moldova, Transnistria