Interstate Dynamics Research Articles

Analysing inter-state communication dynamics and roles in the networks of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation

The International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) was an international organisation established post-World War I, aimed to foster intellectual relations for global peace. As this institution becomes centenary, the digitisation of archival records has democratised access, sparking renewed scholar interest and eventually enabling new research avenues. Here, we examine two letter collections from IIIC’s digitised funds, focusing on administrative and artistic/literary matters. By analysing recognisable sender-receiver pairs and their geographical origins, we construct networks revealing intricate international relationships. Notably, the community structures and roles differ between administrative and literary exchanges, suggesting distinct communication dynamics. Administrative matters depict a more egalitarian distribution. In contrast, relevant literary correspondents include Western European countries exclusively, reflecting the prominence of certain geocultural areas as well as potential geopolitical influence attempts, challenging the established historical narratives on centres and peripheries, inviting a revaluation of the IIIC’s geographical organisation and intellectual cooperation during the interwar period.

Which foreign vaccine should the government purchase in a pandemic? Evidence from a survey experiment in the United States

BackgroundFor many countries confronting a future pandemic, the initial vaccines available will come from abroad. Public hesitancy to receive these foreign vaccines is important, as it may create an incentive for governments to forego procuring them for public use. We investigate the influence of the vaccine's country of origin on public support for government procurement during the early stages of a pandemic and examine whether endorsements from the WHO can mitigate such biases. MethodsIn the summer of 2023, we carried out a survey experiment of 1,110 U.S. residents where we asked respondents to rate their support for vaccine purchasing policies for 20 hypothetical vaccines (13,320 evaluations). We varied the vaccine's country of origin and its endorsement status from the WHO, while also randomizing other vaccine attributes. ResultsCompared to foreign vaccines from countries Americans see favorable (e.g., Germany, the United Kingdom), those originating from less favorable countries (e.g., China, Russia), garnered lower support for government procurement. Our causal mediation analysis indicates that this country-of-origin effect is primarily driven by participants' sentiments toward the vaccine. Surprisingly, WHO endorsement does little to mitigate the effect of the vaccine's country of origin. These findings are consistent across various sample subsets and considerations of vaccine quality. ConclusionOur study advances previous work on vaccine country-of-origin effects by assessing its impact on policy preferences for procuring initial vaccines from overseas (as opposed to uptake intentions), identifying a mechanism by which vaccine favoritism occurs, and documenting that neither personal disease susceptibility nor vaccine quality fully mitigates country of origin effects. We conclude by discussing why the study of “vaccine diplomacy” ought to not only include interstate dynamics governing vaccine purchasing and availability but also consider vaccine-producing countries' more general reputations.

The Russia–Ukraine war and inter-state dynamics in the Indo-Pacific

The Russia–Ukraine war and inter-state dynamics in the Indo-Pacific

Sanctions through the Ages: Historical and Legal Perspective

Sanctions, which hold both the potential to influence state behavior and the risk of imposing unintended harm on civilians, have been a persistent tool of governance since the dawn of civilization. The article challenges traditional narratives that portray sanctions as a linear progression towards effectiveness. Instead, it delves deeper through a 'dual lens' historical analysis, employing a comparative approach to trace the evolution and impact of sanctions across different eras. One lens examines their development as instruments of power, exploring how power dynamics have shaped their application throughout history, alongside the evolving legal framework that governs their use. The other lens focuses on the phenomenon of unintended consequences. By tracing the use of sanctions from ancient Greece to the contemporary era, this article explores how legal norms, diplomatic practices, and interstate dynamics have influenced their effectiveness and limitations. This critical reassessment of sanctions' historical continuum — their evolution, limitations, and unintended consequences — offers valuable insights for engaging in more informed discussions about their potential applications in the 21st century.

Athletic competition between the states: The rapid spread of Name, Image, Likeness laws and why it matters for understanding policy diffusion

AbstractIn the study of the policy diffusion process, scholars have found that states adopt policies to remain competitive with one another over economic resources. But the rapid spread of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies, which treat college athletes as professionals, is not readily explained by economic competition nor other diffusion mechanisms. The NIL phenomenon points to a new dimension of competition between the states, which is more closely tied to states protecting or enhancing their reputations than it is to directly accruing economic resources. To test if NIL spread as the result of athletic reputation competition, we model the adoption of NIL legislation as a function of internal characteristics (i.e. number, value, and ranking of college football programs) and interstate dynamics (i.e. actions of football, conference, and Power 5 competitors). We test the effect of these measures alongside traditional diffusion indicators, finding that both internal and interstate indicators of athletic competition drive states to adopt and implement NIL. NIL is important to study as it has changed the landscape of amateur sports, as well as our scholarly understanding of policy diffusion in the American federal system, specifically broadening our conceptualization of the competition mechanism and developing customized measures of it.

Turkey at 100: Between Constancy and Change

One hundred years after its establishment, the Turkish Republic remains an international actor of considerable geopolitical and also analytical consequence. As with all such actors, the exercise of its growing power is shaped by tension between rest and motion, structural parameters and human agency, and domestic and interstate dynamics. Utilizing some key insights of Thucydides and Ibn Khaldun, this essay will consider the interplay of these factors through a case study of the AK Party’s foreign policy. Special attention will be devoted to the increasingly fraught relationship with the United States, a dynamic illuminated, it is suggested, by considering the evolution of American attitudes toward Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s.

Selecting Features for Markov Modeling: A Case Study on HP35.

Markov state models represent a popular means to interpret molecular dynamics trajectories in terms of memoryless transitions between metastable conformational states. To provide a mechanistic understanding of the considered biomolecular process, these states should reflect structurally distinct conformations and ensure a time scale separation between fast intrastate and slow interstate dynamics. Adopting the folding of villin headpiece (HP35) as a well-established model problem, here we discuss the selection of suitable input coordinates or "features", such as backbone dihedral angles and interresidue distances. We show that dihedral angles account accurately for the structure of the native energy basin of HP35, while the unfolded region of the free energy landscape and the folding process are best described by tertiary contacts of the protein. To construct a contact-based model, we consider various ways to define and select contact distances and introduce a low-pass filtering of the feature trajectory as well as a correlation-based characterization of states. Relying on input data that faithfully account for the mechanistic origin of the studied process, the states of the resulting Markov model are clearly discriminated by the features, describe consistently the hierarchical structure of the free energy landscape, and─as a consequence─correctly reproduce the slow time scales of the process.

Strategic visibility: architectures of data colonialism in Las Vegas

This article articulates the continuity between past and present infrastructural development in Las Vegas by focusing upon the materiality and visual cultural expression of the Google Henderson NV data center. The political implications and interstate dynamics at play in the development of this data center are historicized, focusing on large-scale tech and military projects that characterize the region’s development. Google’s promise that a data-driven future would be accompanied by social and economic benefits for the Las Vegas community lies in stark contrast to the reality of its data center’s function. The strategic adoption of Google’s vision by key local and state officials, alongside the data center’s material embodiment as visually abstract and camouflaged, allows the facility to avoid scrutiny and teaches us about the evolving position of labor in a post-Fordist economy, particularly with regard to housing and employment.

Explosive aftermaths: Reassembling transnational memory- and policyscapes of victims and terrorism in the United Kingdom

This article discusses how multilevel ‘policyscapes’ and complex temporalities of ‘memoryscapes’ are assembled to reshape the categories and dynamics of terrorism and victimhood in the context of the United Kingdom. It specifically examines a case where unionist politicians from Northern Ireland are seeking to realign memory – and policyscapes through integrating diverging transnational policy narratives on victims and terrorism in debates on the Libyan Asset Freeze Bill in the UK Houses of Parliament. It is argued that these particular parliamentary interventions work to transcend the parameters of a peace process which otherwise prevent unionists from asserting a particular interpretation of conflict in Northern Ireland. Repositioning Northern Ireland in relation to the contemporary ‘War on Terror’ allows them to reassemble a bounded British mnemonic community. Theoretically, the article sets out a framework for an empirical study of memory – and policyscapes that conceptualizes dimensions of transnationalism as both intra-state and interstate dynamics.

Ligand modulation of the conformational dynamics of the A2A adenosine receptor revealed by single-molecule fluorescence

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest class of transmembrane proteins, making them an important target for therapeutics. Activation of these receptors is modulated by orthosteric ligands, which stabilize one or several states within a complex conformational ensemble. The intra- and inter-state dynamics, however, is not well documented. Here, we used single-molecule fluorescence to measure ligand-modulated conformational dynamics of the adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) on nanosecond to millisecond timescales. Experiments were performed on detergent-purified A2R in either the ligand-free (apo) state, or when bound to an inverse, partial or full agonist ligand. Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) was performed on detergent-solubilized A2AR to resolve active and inactive states via the separation between transmembrane (TM) helices 4 and 6. The ligand-dependent changes of the smFRET distributions are consistent with conformational selection and with inter-state exchange lifetimes ≥ 3 ms. Local conformational dynamics around residue 2296.31 on TM6 was measured using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), which captures dynamic quenching due to photoinduced electron transfer (PET) between a covalently-attached dye and proximal aromatic residues. Global analysis of PET-FCS data revealed fast (150–350 ns), intermediate (50–60 μs) and slow (200–300 μs) conformational dynamics in A2AR, with lifetimes and amplitudes modulated by ligands and a G-protein mimetic (mini-Gs). Most notably, the agonist binding and the coupling to mini-Gs accelerates and increases the relative contribution of the sub-microsecond phase. Molecular dynamics simulations identified three tyrosine residues (Y112, Y2887.53, and Y2907.55) as being responsible for the dynamic quenching observed by PET-FCS and revealed associated helical motions around residue 2296.31 on TM6. This study provides a quantitative description of conformational dynamics in A2AR and supports the idea that ligands bias not only GPCR conformations but also the dynamics within and between distinct conformational states of the receptor.

Examining the Role of Gender in Educational Policy Formation: The Case of Campus Sexual Assault Legislation, 2007–2017

The persistent problem of sexual assault on college campuses is receiving attention in both the public sphere and state legislatures. Although a considerable body of research examines various aspects of campus sexual assault, such as rates and reporting, scholars have not examined how state characteristics and interstate dynamics influence the policy process related to campus sexual assault. This gap is compounded by an underemphasis on gender in theories of state policy adoption, even as a record number of women serve in state legislatures. Drawing on a data set that captures the introduction and enactment of campus sexual assault legislation between 2007 and 2017, David R. Johnson and Liang Zhang examine in this article how the state policy adoption and diffusion framework explains the introduction and enactment of campus sexual assault policy. The results of their study show that the number of forcible sex offenses at public colleges, the number of female Democrats in state senates, contributions from women’s interest groups, gubernatorial power, Republican influence, and bipartisan sponsorship influence the campus sexual assault policy process, with varying influence across legislative stages. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for researchers interested in policy adoption and gender issues as well as for advocates working on campus sexual assault policy reform.

Market dynamics, cyclical patterns and market states

PurposeIn this paper, the authors seek to investigate the dynamics of Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and Ripple daily returns and volatilities.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors apply the MS-ARMA model on daily returns of Bitcoin (19/04/2013-13/02/2018), Ripple (05/08/2013-14/02/2018), Litcoin (29/04/2013-14/02/2018) and Ethereum (08/02/2015-14/02/2018). This model allows capture of the nonlinear structure in both the conditional mean and the conditional variance of cryptocurrency returns.FindingsAll the cryptocurrency markets show regime switching in the return-generating process. Market dynamics seem to be governed by two different states which differ from one cryptocurrency market to another in terms of mean return, volatility and interstate dynamics. These findings can be explained by investors’ behavior, i.e. speculative trading and herding behavior. By choosing to participate (or imitating some investors) in some cryptocurrency markets (in particular Bitcoin market), they affect the price movements and therefore the market dynamics in the short run.Practical implicationsIdentifying the different market states provides information for investors to make more accurate portfolio decisions in the virtual market and follow the market timing strategy.Originality/valueThis paper attempts to analyze potential nonlinear structure in cryptocurrencies returns and analyze if there is a difference between the cryptocurrencies market cycles. So, the search for congruent and adequate specification to reproduce the stock returns dynamics in the virtual market still remains the concern of several empirical studies. This research not only examines the behavior of stock returns in the cryptocurrencies’ market but also highlights the existence of nonlinearity propriety as a stylized fact.

The precarious and circumstancial legal status of the state as the foremost subject of the international normative order

O Estado manifesta-se como elemento cardeal e estrutural do Direito Internacional. A ordem normativa internacional deriva, fundamentalmente, das dinâmicas interestatais. O Direito Internacional carrega, contemporaneamente, a pretensão de definir seu estatuto jurídico. Inúmeras são as críticas e divergências, não obstante, quando os esforços concretos são direcionados para determinação de parâmetros para a caracterização do status de Estado e quais os desdobramentos jurídicos objetivos dessa condição. A análise do tema sob o prisma do Direito Internacional - por meio das vagas (e muitas vezes conflitantes) proposições teóricas; das exíguas e superficiais manifestações jurisprudências; da escassez e inoperância dos instrumentos normativos; e das contingenciais construções políticas - corrobora o argumento de que a qualidade de Estado ainda apresenta-se como um estatuto jurídico geral cuja determinação é menos técnico-jurídica do que circunstancial.

Intrastate and Interstate Influences on the Introduction and Enactment of Campus Carry Legislation, 2004–2016

Using a data set that captures the introduction and enactment of “campus carry” bills between 2004 and 2016, we examined how the state policy adoption and diffusion framework explains the policy process related to allowing concealed weapons on the campuses of U.S. colleges and universities. Panel data logistic regression analyses revealed that active shooter incidents, the percentage of Republicans in state government, citizen political ideology, and policy diffusion influence the introduction of campus carry legislation. In addition, survival analysis showed that conservative citizen political ideology and anti-gun-control interests are positively related to the enactment of campus carry laws. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical analysis of the policy process related to campus carry legislation. It expands the empirical scope of higher education policy research by considering a social problem that, like free speech and transgender “bathroom bills,” is only indirectly related to student achievement but nevertheless a high priority for some state legislators. Importantly, the results underscore the importance of examining how the influences of state characteristics and interstate dynamics vary across stages of the policy process.

Rigid boundaries between Turkey and China: is political mobility possible?

ABSTRACT This article examines the rigid boundaries in relations between China and Turkey by applying social identity theory to international relations. It evaluates different networks of political alliance and external cultural-ethnic ties as rigid boundaries between the two countries. Turkey-China relations have been shaped by both inter-systemic and inter-state dynamics. Therefore, to show how social context and the permeability of social structure have affected the nature of bilateral relations, this article divides relations into two historical contexts of Cold War and post-Cold War periods. It concludes that it will be hard to go beyond rigid boundaries as long as each side has its own solutions to problems between the two countries.

Free Energy Landscape of the Complete Transport Cycle in a Key Bacterial Transporter.

PepTSo is a proton-coupled bacterial symporter, from the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), which transports di-/tripeptide molecules. The recently obtained crystal structure of PepTSo provides an unprecedented opportunity to gain an understanding of functional insights of the substrate transport mechanism. Binding of the proton and peptide molecule induces conformational changes into occluded (OC) and outward-facing (OF) states, which we are able to characterize using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The structural knowledge of the OC and OF state is important to fully understand the major energy barrier associated with the transport cycle. In order to gain functional insight into the interstate dynamics, we performed extensive all atom MD simulations. The Markov state model was constructed to identify the free energy barriers between the states, and kinetic information on intermediate pathways was obtained using the transition pathway theory (TPT). TPT shows that the OF state is obtained by the movement of TM1 and TM7 at the extracellular side approximately 12–16 Å away from each other, and the inward movement of TM4 and TM10 at the intracellular halves to 3–4 Å characterizes the OC state. Helix distance distributions obtained from MD simulations were compared with experimental double electron–electron resonance spectroscopy and were found to be in excellent agreement with previous studies. We also predicted the optimal positions for placement of methane thiosulfonate spin label probes to capture the slowest protein dynamics. Our finding sheds light on the conformational cycle of this key membrane transporter and the functional relationships between the multiple intermediate states.

Policy Spillover and Gun Migration: The Interstate Dynamics of State Gun Control Policies*

ObjectiveIn this article, we examine state policy spillover by examining how differences between state gun control policies affect the migration of guns between states with lax regulatory environments for gun purchasing and licensing to states with relatively strict regulatory environments.MethodWe test our hypothesis using data from 2007 to 2013 from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on the presence of criminal guns and from the Brady Campaign on state gun control laws.ResultsOur results suggest that a large proportion of criminal guns in states with strict gun control laws were originally purchased in states with fewer regulations. There is a direct correlation between where criminal guns were originally purchased, where criminal guns are uncovered, and the strength of state gun laws.ConclusionState gun control laws appear to make purchasing a gun through legal frameworks more difficult and shift the “market” for criminal guns to purchasing locations across state borders where purchasing is easier. Gun control laws appear, therefore, to be affected by policy spillover.

Introduction: hybrid warfare in post-Soviet spaces, is there a logic behind?

Hybrid warfare, or whichever nomenclature one chooses to use, has emerged as one of the most innovative and popular instruments in contemporary international politics and is in no way limited to post-Soviet spaces. This special issue offers a multi-layered account of interstate and intrastate dynamics with respect to insurgent violence in the former Soviet Union over an extended period of time. The contributors explore both internal dynamics with respect to insurgencies and civil wars and the roles of external constituencies – whether through the use of hard power (for example in directly supporting insurgent groups) or soft power (through the power of international aid and strategic communications). Most importantly, however, they provide an insight into the complicated and diverse range of conflict-related situations and experiences relevant to Russia’s ‘near abroad’. This collection also offers nuance to accounts that seek to explain complicated dynamics in the former Soviet space with a single overarching realist or neorealist metanarrative that can occlude important insights to be derived from more multi-layered perspectives.

Multilateralism and Concepts of Security in South America

Security in South America: The Role of States and Regional Organizations is the last of a four-part study by Rodrigo Tavares that examines regional security scenarios across the globe, with a focus on the role played by regional organizations in each context. Its origin as part of a study that seeks breadth of coverage across regional contexts goes a long way toward explaining both its strengths and its weaknesses. South America—to the extent that it can usefully be treated as a coherent security complex—has long been notable for the gap between its interstate and domestic security dynamics. Traditional approaches to security have been notoriously unable adequately to capture and address the violent phenomena that have greatest effect on the everyday lives of those living in the region. Thus, it is refreshing that Tavares grounds the book, in its four initial chapters, in a sophisticated and up-to-date review of security concepts, culminating in the juxtaposition of the traditional and human security that spans the volume's numerous case studies.

Страны БРИКС и распространение демократии

The article explores whether the interstate dynamics of the BRICS can activate those processes of convergence of politicalregimes and practices known as “democratic contagion.” As this contagion was experienced during the “third wave” ofdemocratization, mainly because of homogeneity among states and structural conditions for democratic attraction, theBRICS are not likely to repeat these dynamics. On the contrary, the only real constitutional homogeneity among the BRICScountries is the standard of non-interference in the internal affairs of each member. Non-interference also means abstainingfrom any initiative to condition the transformation of political regimes in consideration of the same interstate cooperation. Thedynamics of the BRICS shows that different political regimes can promote institutionalized forms of interstate cooperationwithout any mutual contamination at the constitutional level. The theories of “transition” and “democratic contagion” areinsufficient to understand these dynamics in the context of the BRICS; for this reason, the theory of democratic transitioncannot provide an adequate analysis of BRICS. With its members “split in unity,” as an institution the BRICS suggests anevolution toward a model of “not eurocentric dependence” that can overcome the “peripheral realism” of the role of eachstate in its own foreign policy.