Policy Space Research Articles

Faroese self-government: development over time and effects of critical junctures

ABSTRACT The Faroe Islands is receiving increased international attention due to the political changes in the Arctic region. This is causing challenges for the Home Rule model and the Danish Realm. The Faroe Islands have previous experiences with critical junctures that have led to change in self-government settings. Based on historical institutionalism, this article conducts a comparative case study of two previous critical juncture events and time-periods for the Faroe Islands. The first is the Second World War followed by the implementation of the new Home Rule model in 1948, and the second is the severe economic crisis in the 1990s followed by path dependency institutional adaptations to the Home Rule model in 2005. The investigation resembles a different-outcomes comparison and focuses on identifying the contextual political factors of importance and how these factors varied for the two cases. The findings show shifts in the within-case political power balance in opposite directions, changes in the policy space, differences in the Danish state´s position and third-party actor roles as well as differences in terms of international salience of national self-determination norms.

COPSRO: An Offline Empirical Game Theoretic Method With Conservative Critic.

This article studies how to learn approximate Nash equilibrium (NE) from static historical datasets by empirical game-theoretic analysis (EGTA), which provides a simulation-based framework to model complex multiagent interactions. Generally, EGTA requires plentiful interactions with the environment or simulator to estimate a cogent and tractable game model approximating the underlying game. However, these exploratory interactions often suffer from low data utilization efficiency and may not be feasible in risk-sensitive applications. To address these problems, this article investigates a new EGTA paradigm for offline settings and introduces a novel algorithm called conservative offline policy space response oracle (COPSRO) to identify NE from fixed datasets without active data collection. COPSRO initiates by extracting a set of strategies from the offline dataset to construct an overcomplete strategy population, achieving an approximation to the policy space of the original game. Then, COPSRO integrates the conservative critic (CC) to tackle the challenge of overestimation inherent in offline learning scenarios. Additionally, it devises the offline NE solver to iteratively compute approximate NE. Consequently, COPSRO can ascertain equilibrium strategies without real-world interaction, markedly enhancing its utility in risk-averse settings. This article provides both theoretical analysis and empirical evaluation to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of COPSRO across various real-world tasks in the offline setting. Our method surpasses existing approaches in terms of convergence and exploitability, especially when the coverage ration of dataset is low (20% or 10%).

Space Policy and Space Law of Ukraine: “Relatives” or “Strangers”

Space Policy and Space Law of Ukraine: “Relatives” or “Strangers”

Back to the Future: Outer Space Policy Review of the Past for Clues to the Future

Sixty years later, Professor Paul B. Larsen revisits and discusses seven outer space legal issues identified by early space law experts and their current impacts on space policy. The first section addresses the ambiguous boundary of the non-sovereign outer space legal regime which, increasingly causes states to claim control of non-sovereign outer space. Second, Larsen analyzes how the lack of outer space regulation by an international agency like the International Civil Aviation Organization has encouraged states to seek to control outer space unilaterally. Third, although the original aim of space law experts was for outer space to be free for exploration and use by all states, increasingly, outer space is being controlled by competing groups of states. Fourth, outer space was originally dedicated to peaceful use with minimal allowance for the military uses then in effect, but now military uses are voluminous and growing, with conflicts possible in the near future. Fifth, all persons in outer space were originally military acting as envoys of mankind to be rescued in the event of accidents. However, the sixth section explores how persons in outer space are increasingly now employed by competing non-governmental operators or perform military functions, not acting as envoys of mankind. Lastly, the adoption of a private international law convention on liability might require non-governmental operators to obtain adequate insurance coverage to reimburse for conjunctions, as a condition for permission to enter outer space.

Theoretical and political foundations of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy in the post-soviet space

Theoretical and political foundations of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy in the post-soviet space

Soft power and foreign policy of the Russian Federation: some aspects of the present

The article is devoted to the analysis of the development and transformations of the Russian Federation foreign policy. Since the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine, the policy of Russia is undoubtedly one of the most researching areas in modern political science these days due to many practical aspects. It objectively dynamically develops and transforms in accordance with the promising new role of this state on the world stage. The purpose of the article is to determine the involvement of Soft power elements in their modernization and transformation in the further implementation of Russian foreign policy in the world space in the short and medium term. As a result, the article attempts to determine the main conceptual changes in Russian foreign policy and certain forecasts about the directions of possible upgrades and improvements in the translation and promotion of Soft power by the Russian side in the foreign policy space. In the course of the analysis, the authors came to the conclusion that the main participants in the political confrontation on the world stage in the near future will actively develop and improve the Soft power technology in their foreign policy. Objectively, they will also receive a new impetus to the development of methods and technologies for counteraction, strengthening their constant application in practice. Thus, the leading countries, including Russia, are drawn into a kind of "arms race" in the format of the unarmed advancement of their foreign policy interests.

НАПРЯМИ І ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ ЦИФРОВІЗАЦІЇ І КОМП’ЮТЕРИЗАЦІЇ ПРОЦЕСУ НАДАННЯ МЕДИЧНИХ ПОСЛУГ

Ensuring the development and further development of the electronic health care system are priority conditions for achieving the goals and objectives of improving the quality of the provision of medical services, improving the health of the population, improving the quality of communication processes between interested parties, reducing the number of medical errors, ensuring effective control over circulation and the use of medical technologies and medicines, the formation of a unified policy and medical space with the EU. The purpose of the article is to analyze the implementation of strategic plans for the development of the electronic health care system of Ukraine, to determine the most priority directions for its improvement and prospects for further development in the light of providing strategic planning for the development of the health care sector. The results of the study of the state of the e-Health system, conducted by specialists of the Agency for Local Economic Development of Yavoriv Oblast within the project "Synergy of electronic health and digital skills in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine: a way to increase the resilience of civil societies of the Eastern Partnership in times of crisis" were analyzed; research by experts of the independent public association-coalition "Ukraine after Victory"; study "Primary medical care in Ukraine: progress achieved and next steps: data analysis for 2020-2021"; the study "Telemedicine in Ukraine: a situational analysis" conducted by the Charitable Fund "Patients of Ukraine" and the Ukrainian Center for Health Care within the framework of the "Sustainable Development of National Health Care Systems" (LHSS) and USAID "Integrated Health Systems IDIQ" projects, and as well as the content of the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Functioning of Telemedicine", the explanatory note to it and "Strategy for the Development of Telemedicine in Ukraine". It was determined that 50% of the tasks of the "Concept for the Development of Electronic Healthcare" approved in 2020 have not been completed, 36% of the tasks have been partially completed, and only 24% of the tasks have been completed to a sufficient extent. The implementation of telemedicine as one of the most priority areas of development of the e-health system in Ukraine as of 2023 is unsatisfactory. The adoption of the Law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding the Functioning of Telemedicine" and the approval of the "Strategy for the Development of Telemedicine in Ukraine" do not create prerequisites for solving the accumulated problems due to the determination of technical assistance funds from international institutions, organizations and foreign countries as the only source of funding , the absence of measures to minimize possible risks of strategy implementation, as well as a contradictory statement regarding the participation in the implementation of the tasks of the main stakeholders.

Інноваціонно-екологічні аспекти розвитку вітчизняного підприємництва

The aim of the article is to provide a theoretical substantiation of the formation of innovative and ecological aspects of the development of domestic entrepreneurship in conditions of turbulence. The main motives for the introduction of ecological innovations at domestic enterprises are considered, the possibility of creating a new management system on the basis of innovation policy and synergetic space is considered. The ways and mechanisms of increasing innovation and ecological activities are described and methods of implementation are proposed. It is analyzed that the improvement of the innovation management system and the development of the internal business environment involves changes in the sphere of planning, employment of the population of the region, promotion of products, interaction of the authorities, domestic entrepreneurship, as well as knowledge management. Innovations in the field of business management will provide a long-term competitive advantage to specific areas and contribute to their development, taking into account and combining scientific and technological solutions with administration and innovation management. Particular attention is paid to domestic enterprises in the ecological aspect – for the implementation of innovative and ecological activities, business strategies and the search for a balance between profit, ecological protection and social justice. On the basis of the carried out analysis of the ecological aspects of innovation activity, important characteristics of innovative development of domestic enterprises have been allocated and an understanding of this economic category has been provided. Based on the results of the analysis of scientific papers, the main directions of innovative development of enterprise are determined, as well as the main motivational principles in this area are considered. Today, in order to overcome the innovation and ecological crisis, it is important to develop and implement ecologically friendly and cost-effective innovations. Ecological innovations, like other types of innovation, are aimed at making a profit and reducing costs, but their specificity is manifested in social, cultural and ethical contexts.

Driver Modeling Using a Continuous Policy Space: Theory and Traffic Data Validation

Driver Modeling Using a Continuous Policy Space: Theory and Traffic Data Validation

Вовлечение неарктических субъектов в развитие Арктической зоны Российской Федерации: кейс Санкт-Петербурга

The development of the Arctic territories is a priority in the policy of the Russian Federation, primarily due to the vast resource wealth of the Arctic. In this paper is observed how the state, seeking to ensure the development of the zone, engages non-Arctic actors in the process, facilitating the establishment of interregional and international relations. Saint Petersburg has a special role in this process. The study leads to the conclusion that St. Petersburg should have occupied an intermediary position, accumulating information about the needs and opportunities of the Arctic actors and presenting the information in the foreign policy space. However, problems of an external nature did not allow this vision to be fully realised.

Reindustrialização na convenção de desenvolvimento sustentável

ABSTRACT This article assumes the importance of the manufacturing industry to long-term growth and examines Brazil’s deindustrialization process since its economic opening. The manufacturing sector’s recovery is analyzed in light of the proposal to reindustrialize the economy in the ongoing global climate emergency. In line with the new-developmentalist literature, reindustrialization implies widening policy space to recover public and private investment in productive assets, providing financial conditions compatible with long-term returns. It assumes an active role in state intervention. In this sense, the New Brazilian Industry industrial policy should anchor long-term expectations to enhance productive investment committed to the green transition. This approach positions industrial policy as the anchor to build a sustainable development convention.

Long-Term Tracking of Evasive Urban Target Based on Intention Inference and Deep Reinforcement Learning.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been widely used in urban target-tracking tasks, where long-term tracking of evasive targets is of great significance for public safety. However, the tracked targets are easily lost due to the evasive behavior of the targets and the unstructured characteristics of the urban environment. To address this issue, this article proposes a hybrid target-tracking approach based on target intention inference and deep reinforcement learning (DRL). First, a target intention inference model based on convolution neural networks (CNNs) is built to infer target intentions by fusing urban environment information and observed target trajectory. Then, the prediction of the target trajectory can be inspired by the inferred target intentions, which can further provide effective guidance to the target search process. In order to fully explore the policy space, the target search policy is developed under a DRL framework, where the search policy is modeled as a deep neural network (DNN) and trained by interacting with the task environment. The simulation results show that the inference of the target intentions can effectively guide the UAV to search for the target and significantly improve the target-tracking performance. Meanwhile, the generalization results indicate that the proposed DRL-based search policy has high robustness to the uncertainty of the target behavior.

Vision-driven UAV River Following: Benchmarking with Safe Reinforcement Learning

In this study, we conduct a comprehensive benchmark of the Safe Reinforcement Learning (Safe RL) algorithms for the task of vision-driven river following of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in a Unity-based photo-realistic simulation environment. We empirically validate the effectiveness of semantic-augmented image encoding method, assessing its superiority based on Relative Entropy and the quality of water pixel reconstruction. The determination of the encoding dimension, guided by reconstruction loss, contributes to a more compact state representation, facilitating the training of Safe RL policies. Across all benchmarked Safe RL algorithms, we fnd that First Order Constrained Optimization in Policy Space achieves the optimal balance between reward acquisition and safety compliance. Notably, our results reveal that on-policy algorithms consistently outperform both of-policy and model-based counterparts in both training and testing environments. Importantly, the benchmarking outcomes and the vision encoding methodology extend beyond UAVs, and are applicable to Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs) engaged in autonomous navigation in confined waters.

Outlining Inconsistencies in the Indian Space Policy 2023

Outlining Inconsistencies in the Indian Space Policy 2023

항공우주자위대 창설을 통해 본 일본 우주정책의 변화와 전망

항공우주자위대 창설을 통해 본 일본 우주정책의 변화와 전망

Challenges justifying the necessary harmonization of economic and financial criminal laws in O.H.A.D.A. space

Some African countries have decided to create the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (O.H.A.D.A.) to build a common legal space to meet their economic and social needs. This organization results from their desire to standardize their legislation to find solutions to the persistent economic sluggishness generating endemic mass unemployment. Its primary purpose is to restore confidence to investors who, for a long time, have turned their backs on Africa because of the obsolescence, scattering, and extreme heterogeneity of its legislation of an economic nature. With this in mind, the Community body has introduced several uniform laws conducive to economic activity between Member States. That raises the question of security within this regional space. Appearing as a strategic weapon, the regional legislator has put legal means of protection on the civil level, which unfortunately proves to be insufficient. Because of this, recoursing to criminal law is necessary. However, we note that the member states of the O.H.A.D.A. consider the penal field their preserve. The corollary of this national character results in a need to move towards unifying the penal field within the framework of an organization of integration, which is O.H.A.D.A. That constitutes a problematic challenge regarding determining a penal policy in the regional space.

PREFACE

PREFACE

Tendencje behawioralne w polityce zagranicznej Turcji w okresie rządów Partii Sprawiedliwości i Rozwoju

Behavioral trends in Turkish foreign policy during the rule of the Justice and Development Party Turkey’s foreign policy behavior in a given period can be understood by examining the ruling party and domestic relations, the interests and composition of the governing coalition and prevalent international dynamics. The aim of the article is to show, that paradigmatic shifts in foreign policy and the drivers of Turkey’s quest for autonomous policy space can be understood as an outcome of interrelated transformations at global, regional and domestic levels. After 2010, Turkish foreign policy was marked by a period of „autonomization”, in which the ruling party decided to fill the geopolitical vacuum created in the region after the failure of negotiations with the European Union in the gradual withdrawal of the United States from the local diplomatic chessboard.

Evolution of techno-nationalism: The role of the space factor

Technological changes of the last four decades (1980s ‒ 2020s) encourage scientists of various fields to assess the impact of technologies on the transformation of the system of international relations and national strategies of states. In particular, the main focus of many studies is devoted to the system of relations between countries with conflicting technological interests. Therefore, in the presented article, let’s focus on the theoretical understanding of the evolution of the concept of techno-nationalism. Consideration of techno-nationalism through the prism of space policy, in particular US-China relations, is appropriate from the point of view of determining the relevance of the obtained research results. In view of this, the research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary approach, which made it possible to look at the problem through the perspective of historical, economic, political sciences and the theory of international relations. The analysis of publications on this issue shows that the development of techno-nationalism took place in a dichotomous relationship with techno-globalism. In the context of the end of the Cold War, techno-nationalism was used to refer to the protectionist policies of states that opposed the free exchange of technology. Space technology, which is an indicator of leadership and has a dual purpose, has become an important element of interstate communication in the post-bipolar era. Changes in this system led to an attempt by the United States to balance the interests of national security and commercial benefits from the use of space. However, these efforts led to a further strengthening of the export control regime from the second half of the 1990s. These restrictions were mainly based on concerns about the transfer of space technology to China, which was showing signs of military modernization. Thus, the leadership challenge facing the US and China in the space industry continued to strengthen the techno-nationalist elements of innovation systems throughout the 2000s and 2010s. Based on the views of the studied scientists, the author of the article provides his own definition of techno-nationalism as a state policy, scientific approach and ideology where national factors play a key role. The results of the study showed that the components of technological systems can be affected by the process of globalization to varying degrees. And therefore, techno-globalism and techno-nationalism are components of these systems and demonstrate interdependence. In this light, such categories as digital nationalism, digital identity, and techno-authoritarianism need further development.

LESSONS FROM FOUR DECADES IN AGING POLICY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: WHAT A LONG FINE TRIP IT’S BEEN

Abstract Aging policy has come a long way over the last four decades. Building on the history of leadership in policy and aging at the University of Southern California’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, we offer six lessons from the intersection of policy, practice, and research for researchers and for those interested in careers as policy gerontologists. Lessons include: 1) Researchers must communicate scientific truths clearly, humbly, often, relevantly, and broadly to a wide array of key stakeholders; 2) To continue to build the bench for the next generation of leaders, interested educators should convene to plan a Policy Leadership Program 2.0. 3) Researchers and practitioners should remember: If everything is going according to plan, something is wrong; 4) Those considering policy research, program development, or program evaluation should recognize that it can be funded by a variety of sources with different strengths and constraints; 5) Given a host of innovative ideas, perspectives, programs and services, in the aging policy space, evaluators and researchers will learn far more from those doing policy and practice work than they can ever hope to repay; 6) Progress is not linear nor does it consistently advance in the hoped for direction. It requires patience, persistence, and stamina.