Risk Of Conflict Research Articles

Ship Collaborative Path Planning Method Based on CS-STHA

Ship path planning is one of the key technologies for ship automation. Establishing a cooperative collision avoidance (CA) path for multi-ship encounters is of great value to maritime intelligent transportation. This study aims to solve the problem of multi-ship collaborative collision avoidance based on the algorithm of Conflict Search (CS) and Space-Time Hybrid A-star (STHA). First, a static CA path is searched for each ship by using the space-time Hybrid A-star algorithm, and the conflict risk area is determined according to the ship safety distance constraint and fuzzy Collision Risk Index (CRI). Secondly, the space-time conflict constraint is introduced into the multi-ship cooperative CA scheme, and the binary tree is used to search for an optimal navigation path with no conflict and low cost. In addition, the optimal path is smoothed by using cubic interpolation to make the path consistent with actual navigation practice and ship maneuvering characteristics. Finally, considering the constraints of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs), the typical two-ship and multi-ship encounter scenarios are designed and simulated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of actual encounters and encounters based on CS-STHA is also carried out. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm in the study can obtain an optimal CA path effectively and provide a reference of CA decision-making for autonomous ships.

Conflict Risk Assessment between Non-Cooperative Drones and Manned Aircraft in Airport Terminal Areas

Recent years have seen an increase in events of drone incursion into airport terminal areas, leading to safety concerns and disruptions to airline operations. It is of great importance to identify the potential conflict, especially for those non-cooperative drones, as their intentions are always unknown. For the safe operation of air traffic, this paper proposes a conflict risk assessment method between non-cooperative drones and manned aircraft in the terminal area. First, the trajectory data of manned aircraft and drones are obtained. Real-time cylindrical protection zones are established around manned aircraft according to the separation interval for safe operation between the drone and the manned aircraft at different altitudes. Secondly, trajectory predictions for the manned aircraft and the drone are conducted, respectively. A quartile regression bidirectional gate recurrent unit neural network is proposed in this research for the trajectory prediction of the drones. The model integrates the bidirectional gated recurrent unit structure and the quartile regression structure. The performance indicators confirm the superiority of the proposed model. Based on the trajectory prediction results, it is then determined whether there is a conflict risk between the drone and manned aircraft by comparing the position distribution of the drone as well as the real-time cylindrical protection zone of the manned aircraft. The conflict probability between the drone and the manned aircraft is then calculated. The prediction accuracy of conflict probability is estimated by Monte Carlo simulation methods. The collision probability prediction accuracy of manned aircraft and drones at different flight stages and altitudes ranges from 73% to 97%, which shows the reliability of the proposed method. Finally, the collision probability between the drone and the manned aircraft at the closest encountering point and the estimated time to reach the closest encountering point are calculated. This paper predicts the conflict risk between the drone and manned aircraft, thus providing theoretical support for the safe operation of air transport in low-altitude environments.

Defining ecological and socially suitable habitat for the reintroduction of an apex predator

Reintroducing native carnivores risks creating conflict with people and consequently reducing support for coexistence and conservation efforts. Determining the interface between areas of ecological suitability and conflict risk can help enhance success of carnivore restoration, but this is often difficult because accurate data on risks and tolerance are lacking. Gray wolves ( Canis lupus ), a focus of reintroduction efforts in the US, require tolerance to persist in human-dominated landscapes but also catalyze societal-level conflicts throughout their global range. Via an unprecedented process to restore an apex predator, in November 2020, citizens in the state of Colorado, USA voted to reintroduce wolves to the state where they had been extirpated ~70 years prior. We leveraged voting records of over three million citizens to quantify and map an index of tolerance for wolves and combined it with spatially explicit data on livestock distributions and land ownership to create predictions of direct conflict risk between wolves and humans. Conflict risk was juxtaposed with estimates of wolf ecological suitability developed using seasonal prey densities along with environmental and anthropogenic features that influence wolf habitat use. Our social-ecological modeling approach predicted that ~56 % of the West Slope of Colorado contained ecologically suitable habitat and relatively low conflict risk. Our models also delineated possible conflict hotspots where ecological suitability and conflict risk converge, thus facilitating targeted proactive management. We demonstrate how voting patterns can provide unique, spatially explicit insight on tolerance that can be integrated with other information to help facilitate human-carnivore coexistence and carnivore restoration success.

Policy Problems and Progressive Solutions to Halt Increasing Social Harms on Disadvantaged Rural Communities from Current Neo-Colonial Land Grabbing Policy in Nepal: Insights and Opinions

Many critical problems are intensified in rural Nepal despite the policy advice and financial support from international agencies to alleviate them. This study attempted to explain the causes and policy solutions to the problems based on secondary sources of data and the authors’ insights. It identified that international agencies involved actively in policymaking and guided the land resource management policy to result in the best benefits to the people in privileged regions and other countries. The policies ruined institutions, resource conditions, social-ecological systems, and social environments essential for sustaining mountain farming and the rural economy in the country. The destructions exacerbated emigration, farming land abandonment, indigenous farming practice loss, food insecurity, and cultural heritage degradation. Adverse impacts of the policy interventions are exposed higher in disadvantaged areas and especially in the regions of indigenous ethnic communities. Those policies have institutionally placed the communities suffering for generations and increased risks of out-breaking interethnic conflicts and national security threats on many dimensions. This study explained some pragmatic policy measures to manage the agriculture and forestry resources for community wellbeing and national security. It also demonstrated how the national expert-driven policies would be for addressing the current problems in rural areas and the holistic development of the nation.

Indonesia's Great-Power Management in the Indo-Pacific: The Balancing Behavior of a "Dove State"

executive summary: This essay investigates Indonesia's strategic thinking toward the Indo-Pacific region amid changing great-power politics and examines both the principal drivers shaping Indonesia's strategic choices and the challenges facing Indonesian diplomacy in the region. main argument The Indo-Pacific region, born out of the great powers' efforts to forge new strategic alignments and reset the balance of power in Asia, is headed for a multi-tiered polarization that provides a challenging geostrategic context for Indonesia in the coming years. The U.S. and China form the two poles shaping the global and regional balance of power. Indonesia no longer holds a positive view toward the U.S.-China relationship in the Indo-Pacific region, and this gloomy view has prompted Jakarta to craft a foreign policy that mirrors what some experts refer to as "dove state" behavior. As a dove state, Indonesia has sought to balance its interests while navigating the uncertainties of the great-power rivalry. However, the strength of Indonesian diplomacy is likely to depend on the country's ability to walk a middle path as well as its ability to both keep ASEAN together and position the grouping as a credible regional architecture. policy implications • Indonesia is a status-quo power and is likely to oppose any policy initiative that amplifies the risk of great-power conflict or instability in the region. • As a developing country, a populist democracy, and an emerging market, Indonesia will respond proactively and positively to overtures that advance the country's economic development. • Great-power bellicosity and a weakened ASEAN may push Indonesia to be more insular and concentrate on partnerships that support Jakarta's development agenda.

Perception of political instability in election periods: Evidence from African firms

Political instability is a major obstacle to firms' investment and development. This article investigates how elections affect the perception of political instability of African firms. We use a survey-based dataset of approximately 21,500 firms in 33 African countries which we cross with 237 elections between 2004 and 2020. Our econometric strategy allows a detailed identification of election periods and the associated effects. We provide robust evidence of a pre-election increase in the perception of political instability by firms, but no, or limited post-election effects. The perception of political instability by firms is stronger for firms oriented towards foreign markets, in countries with non-democratic institutions or a high risk of conflict.

적법절차원칙 구현을 위한 청문제도 운영 방안

Under the Administrative Procedure Act(APA), as a due process for intrusive administrative measures, we require the interested parties to be given prior notice of the disposition and an opportunity to submit their opinions, and to hold hearings in exceptional cases where other statutes stipulate that hearings be held. An administrative hearing is understood as a trial-type fact-finding process. However, more often in Korea, it is operated as mere an oral-opinion-submission procedure rather than a trial-type fact-finding procedure. As a result, administrative agencies do not show much interest in guaranteeing the independence of the hearing examiners in the operation of the administrative hearing. Recently in the increasing number of cases a hearing examiner is selected from among experts such as lawyers or professors. However, Korea’s APA still permits the selection of hearing examiners among general administrative officials or former public officials. Even if the civil servants selected as the presiding officer of the hearing belong to a different department from the adjudicating department, it is difficult to expect independence from the adjudicating department due to frequent rotation within the office. In addition, even in the case of selecting a hearing examiner from among external lawyers, the adjudicating department often intervenes in the selection process, and there is a risk of conflict of interest, making it difficult to expect independence. The most important thing in the administrative hearing is to have an independent hearing examiner listen to statements from both the agency staff and the interested party, collect evidence, check the facts, judge the applicability of the relevant laws, and present an opinion on whether to issue orders. To secure the independence of the hearing examiner, it is necessary to hire a full-time hearing officer selected from among those with certain legal experience. The hearing officer needs to be exclusively responsible for presiding over the hearing and protected from interference from the head of the disposition department or administrative agency. The recent revision of the Administrative Procedure Act not only expanded the subject of the administrative hearing but also introduced the hearing committee system. As a result, the burden of time and cost to pay for the administrative disposition procedure became much greater. However, the reality of administrative hearing in Korea is insufficient to guarantee the Principle of due process of law.

Supplementing Environmental Assessments with Cumulative Effects Scenario Modeling for Grizzly Bear Connectivity in the Bow Valley, Alberta, Canada

Persistence of sensitive wildlife in populated regions requires conservation strategies that address gradual expansion of development footprint and human activity. The project-based environmental assessment regime for municipal development is poorly suited to provide necessary strategic perspective, given its focus on local and short-term impacts. We used the ALCES cumulative effects model to strategically assess impacts to grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in the Bow Valley of Alberta, Canada. Landscape simulation mapped expansion of past and potential future development footprint in the region over multiple decades. Consequences to movement connectivity for grizzly bears were estimated by applying a least cost path analysis to the landscape simulation. An index of recreational activity was derived from fitness tracking data and integrated with the landscape simulation to model change in recreational activity through time. Maps of grizzly bear connectivity and recreational activity were combined to calculate human-bear conflict risk. The analysis suggests that connectivity has been altered through displacement to upslope areas by settlement expansion, such that surrounding natural areas have become important for grizzly bear connectivity. These areas are also popular for outdoor recreation, resulting in elevated human-bear conflict risk which can be expected to increase if development and human activity continue to expand in high connectivity areas. Conservation of wildlife in populated regions will be supported by broadening the scope of environmental assessment to address cumulative effects of development footprint and human activity over large spatial and temporal scales.

Rio (1992) to Glasgow (2021): Three decades of inadequate mitigation of climate change and its slow onset effects

This study reviews the global increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), alongside the accelerated climatic change and its slow onset effects (or events) between 1992 and 2021. The establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, and the simultaneous UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, generated the international efforts to tackle climatic change. Over the years, the UNFCCC-Conference of the Parties (COP) has led the efforts in climate change mitigation and adaptation, with many sequential meetings across the world. Three decades later, at the COP26 meeting in Glasgow in 2021, it is evident that climate change impacts have substantially worsened. Despite some uncertainties, it seems that over the last three decades, the climate change slow onset events, including 1) increasing temperatures, 2) glacial retreat, 3) sea level rise, 4) ocean acidification, 5) soil salinization, 6) land and forest degradation, 7) loss of biodiversity, and 8) desertification, have substantially exacerbated. Simultaneously, other (non-GHGs related) anthropogenic impacts, including habitat fragmentation, land-use and sea-use change and misuse, species overexploitation, environmental pollution, infrastructure constructions, and urbanization, have considerably increased. With the aim of achieving the Shared Socio-Economic Pathways 1.9 (SSP1-1.9) or SSP1-2.6 ultimate goals—keeping global warming in 2,100 below 1.5°C or 2.0°C, respectively, compared to preindustrial levels—it may still be possible to avoid climate change’s irreversible tipping points. To reach this target, policymaking must become more decisive and proactive, with continuous risks assessment, frequent monitoring of outcomes and their compatibility to goals, implementing practical legislation tools, and assigning specific financial instruments, aimed at effectively tackling climate change slow onset events and related environmental issues. Substantial efforts should be invested in boosting climate change mitigation, while simultaneously targeting effective climatic change adaptation measures and promoting environmental conservation and restoration. Relying on tools such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will sustain provisioning, supporting, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services, thus improving water-, food-, environmental-, energy-, economic-, health-, and governance-security, while lessening the risks of social unrest, violent conflicts, mass migration, and other humanitarian catastrophes.

Nip risk in the bud: A system dynamic model to govern NIMBY conflict

“Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) conflict refers to public resistance to the government in delivering and operating NIMBY facilities. Although the antecedents of NIMBY conflicts are widely explored (e.g., negative externalities, public sensitivity, external triggers), there is rare literature systematically exploring their integrated effects on public resistance from the public social psychology perspective that considers the interplaying effects of public risk and emotion perception. Besides, to reflect the nonlinear change of public resistance (i.e., “emergency” and “discontinuity” features of NIMBY conflict), we originally integrate the catastrophe theory into the system dynamic method to establish an SD-Catastrophe model to simulate the evolution process of public resistance behavior. The effect of governmental response on NIMBY conflicts is especially examined in the simulation model, and the catastrophe characteristics of public resistance behavior in NIMBY conflict are verified. The result shows that governmental response contributes to eliminating NIMBY conflicts in four aspects: 1)Different facilities, different urgency; 2) The faster, the better; 3) The higher intensity, the better; and 4) Existing effect lag. Based on the nonlinear change of public resistance, two governance strategies, including the internal strategy (i.e., optimizing public psychological states) and the external strategy (i.e., controlling project external triggers), are formulated to help the government eliminate the risk of NIMBY conflict.

The Impact of Russia-Ukraine Conflict on Chinese Military Industry Sector -Based on Event Study

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has had a tremendous impact on the world economy. This paper uses the event study and selects 51 military enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen from February 14 to March 4, 2022. The date of the event was set as February 15, and within eight days of the event, the CAAR as a whole was positive. So, the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the Chinese military industry sector had a positive impact, but the impact of the shorter duration, was mainly affected by investor sentiment, and the overall performance of hedging demand. In the long run, the military industry sector will still be driven by fundamentals. Investors need to include the Chinese military industry sector in their portfolios to avoid the risk of geopolitical conflict. It is also important to note that due to the relatively short duration of events, the portfolio needs to be dynamically adjusted and the risk of late price declines cannot be ignored.

Фактор безпеки в контексті фінансового забезпечення сталого розвитку

Introduction. The issue of timely response of the global financial community to escalating military threats in certain regions of the world through targeted investments or financial assistance depends largely on the actualization of the issue of security as a leading factor of sustainable development in the global economy. The solution to this problem is possible with the introduction of innovative financial instruments, which could provide timely financing of security infrastructure. Problem Statement. The onset of military conflict brings with it enormous losses of socio-economic development. To a large extent, the risk of military conflict and its consequences can be reduced by financing the necessary measures to improve the defense capabilities of the country. According to the worldwide trend of implementing the concept of sustainable development, such funding is possible within one of the seventeen sustainable development goals. Purpose. To determine the main sources of financial aid except for the governments‘ aid of the world countries, to search for the possibilities of applying innovative mechanisms of financial support for sustainable development in the event of an aggravation of the security situation. Methods. General scientific and special methods were used: analysis, synthesis, grouping, description, comparison, theoretical generalization and classification. Results. It has been found that the security factor as a separate goal of sustainable development was established seven years ago, accordingly, the financing of security risks and military conflicts is carried out according to the principle of elimination of consequences. Therefore, there is a problem that requires the development of new tools for guaranteeing peace, which should be bonds, which are a financial tool for sustainable development in the event of increased risks of military aggression. The mechanisms of issuance must take into account different levels of risk. Which, in turn, should determine the requirements for the possibility of issuing such bonds and the results to be achieved. Conclusions. Under the present conditions, Ukraine has a unique opportunity to act as a catalyst for the recognition of the security factor as one of the defining components of the sustainable development concept, without which the achievement of sustainable development goals in the environmental, social and governance components is impossible. This increased focus on the security factor will require the search for and application of innovative financial instruments, one of which should be peace bonds.

Rational Origins of Revisionist War

Abstract The rise of China has returned attention to the links between power transitions and war. In this literature, three different causal mechanisms can be confused. This essay disentangles them. Power transitions can lead to three kinds of war: preventive, accidental, and revisionist. Formal models tend to study the first, in which a declining state tries to delay or prevent a rival’s ascent. However, major wars during great power transitions are usually initiated by the rising state, not the declining one. To describe these historical cases, less formal theories, especially neorealism and neoclassical realism, focus on accidental and revisionist wars, but these theories tend to fall back on nonrational mechanisms to connect changing power to the risk of conflict. This leaves a theoretical gap: Why would a rising, rational actor deliberately choose conflict, i.e., start a revisionist war? To suggest an answer, this essay demonstrates how a simple change in standard bargaining models—incorporating a nonzero probability of indecisive war—can ground realist intuitions on rationalist foundations. It further shows how this change leads immediately to an intuitive, formal definition of stability that aligns naturally with existing informal work. Then, contrary to existing realist theory, it shows why the rigorous analysis of realist assumptions leads to a nonmonotonic relationship between the offense/defense balance and war. It thus uses realism to inform and potentially redirect formal scholarship; it also uses formal scholarship to sharpen the logical foundations of realism and, in so doing, derive novel empirical predictions. The essay concludes by applying this synthesis to the rise of China today and indicating directions for deepening the formal/realist synthesis.

Research on Joint Ground Movement Optimization Based on Bilevel Programming

Requirements of digitization, intellectualization, and integration for the programming and management of air transportation have been recommended as information technology booms. A variety of single ground movement optimization problems have been discussed with few taking the impact of other segments into account. In this research, bilevel programming is applied to simultaneously consider three problems including the gate assignment, taxi path scheduling, and pushback time delay. For evaluating the strategy of gate assignment and measuring its connection with taxiing comprehensively, an auxiliary variable and the matching degree of gate and aircraft are introduced. In addition, an algorithm incorporating the genetic algorithm and routing algorithm is designed to obtain a solution with satisfactory performance in both taxi time and conflict risk. The scheme obtained also assigns aircraft to gates more appropriately and maintains the characteristics of environmental protection as well as high efficiency, showing considerable reliability in practice.

Environmental drivers of seasonal shifts in abundance of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in a tropical island environment

BackgroundNon-native wild pigs (Sus scrofa) threaten sensitive flora and fauna, cost billions of dollars in economic damage, and pose a significant human–wildlife conflict risk. Despite growing interest in wild pig research, basic life history information is often lacking throughout their introduced range and particularly in tropical environments. Similar to other large terrestrial mammals, pigs possess the ability to shift their range based on local climatic conditions or resource availability, further complicating management decisions. The objectives of this study were to (i) model the distribution and abundance of wild pigs across two seasons within a single calendar year; (ii) determine the most important environmental variables driving changes in pig distribution and abundance; and (iii) highlight key differences between seasonal models and their potential management implications. These study objectives were achieved using zero-inflated models constructed from abundance data obtained from extensive field surveys and remotely sensed environmental variables.ResultsOur models demonstrate a considerable change in distribution and abundance of wild pigs throughout a single calendar year. Rainfall and vegetation height were among the most influential variables for pig distribution during the spring, and distance to adjacent forest and vegetation density were among the most significant for the fall. Further, our seasonal models show that areas of high conservation value may be more vulnerable to threats from wild pigs at certain times throughout the year, which was not captured by more traditional modeling approaches using aggregated data.ConclusionsOur results suggest that (i) wild pigs can considerably shift their range throughout the calendar year, even in tropical environments; (ii) pigs prefer dense forested areas in the presence of either hunting pressure or an abundance of frugivorous plants, but may shift to adjacent areas in the absence of either of these conditions; and (iii) seasonal models provide valuable biological information that would otherwise be missed by common modeling approaches that use aggregated data over many years. These findings highlight the importance of considering biologically relevant time scales that provide key information to better inform management strategies, particularly for species whose ranges include both temperate and tropical environments and thrive in both large continental and small island ecosystems.

Secessionist conflict and affective polarization: Evidence from Catalonia

Can secessionism be a basis for affective or social polarization? Despite much research on independence movements, their relationship to polarization, a key mechanism theorized as increasing the risk of violent conflict, remains less understood. We argue that the issue of secession can affectively polarize along both policy and ethnic group lines even in the case of nonviolent disputes, and posit a number of expectations regarding such secessionist-based polarization. We test our argument with the case of Catalonia, a substate territory that has experienced a deep secessionist crisis since 2017, using new data from a panel survey and embedded experiments fielded across two key time periods. We find that individuals’ secessionist preferences condition high levels of affective polarization, in that pro- and anti-independence advocates have strong negative views of one another. In addition, there is spillover in terms of stereotypes of associated language groups (i.e. Catalan, Spanish). Importantly, we find a group of moderates in between the two policy poles that exhibit far less polarization. Finally, we document the persistence of these overall patterns. Our results contribute to understanding the underexplored polarization dynamics of secessionist movements, particularly in contexts where high intensity violence (e.g. terrorism, civil war) has not occurred.

Assessing Land Use Changes in Areas with High Risk of Human-Brown Bear Conflict in Fars Province

Assessing Land Use Changes in Areas with High Risk of Human-Brown Bear Conflict in Fars Province

Impact of access to electricity on internal conflicts in Africa: Does income inequality matter?

AbstractThis paper examines the impact of access to electricity on internal conflicts in Africa. Using income inequality as a transition variable and a sample of 36 countries, we estimate a panel data model by several regressions, including fixed effects, random effects, generalized least squares and the Driscoll–Kraay method from 1990 to 2017. Our findings show that regardless of the considered dimension, access to electricity reduces the risk of internal conflicts in Africa. However, its effects differ depending on whether a given area is urban or rural. The findings also suggest that income inequality is crucial to reducing internal conflicts in Africa.

Modeling conflict risk with real-time traffic data for road safety assessment: a copula-based joint approach

Abstract This study proposes a conflict-based traffic safety assessment method by associating conflict frequency and severity with short-term traffic characteristics. Instead of analysing historical crash data, this study employs microscopic trajectory data to quantify the relationship between conflict risk and traffic characteristics. The time-to-collision (TTC) index is used to detect conflicts, and a severity index (SI) is proposed on the basis of time-integrated TTC. With SI, the k-means algorithm is applied to classify the conflict severity level. Then the severity of regional conflict risk is split to three levels. Zero truncated Poisson regression and ordered logit regression methods are employed to estimate the effects of short-term traffic characteristics on conflict frequency and severity, respectively. Furthermore, the copula-based joint modelling method is applied to explore the potential non-linear dependency of conflict risk outcomes. A total of 18 copula models are tested to select the optimal ones. The HighD dataset from Germany is utilized to examine the proposed framework. Both between-lane and within-lane factors are considered. Results show that the correlations between traffic characteristics and conflict risk are significant, and the dependency of conflict outcomes varies among different severity levels. The difference of speed variation between lanes significantly influences the conflict frequency and severity simultaneously. Findings indicate that the proposed method is practicable to assess real-time traffic safety within a specific region by using short-term (30-second time interval) traffic characteristics. This study also contributes to develop targeted proactive safety strategies by evaluating road safety based on conflict risk, and considering different severity levels.

The UN Security Council and Non-Traditional Security Threats: Why the Failures of the Council's Covid-19 Response Dampen Hopes for Council Action on Climate Change

Since the late 1990s, the mandate of the United Nations Security Council has evolved significantly as the Council has increasingly engaged with non-traditional security threats. Such matters create economic, societal and/or political instability that places livelihoods in peril and increases risks of conflict. COVID-19 presents one such threat. This article analyses the Security Council's COVID-19 response and highlights the challenges preventing effective and efficient action, with a view to understanding the Council's present capacity to deal with emerging non-traditional security threats, particularly climate change. Key challenges include the political conflict within the Council, principally between permanent members, as well as the Council's limited "toolkit" for action, which is primed to respond to traditional security threats. Considering the burden that such challenges had on the Council's COVID-19 response efforts, it is argued that the Council cannot be primarily relied on to manage other non-traditional threats. This is especially so in the case of climate change, which presents a more complex, multifaceted threat than a pandemic. A role for the Council that addresses consequences of climate change that most clearly fall within the Council's mandate is proposed.