Western Governments Research Articles

Huawei Is Quietly Dominating China’s Semiconductor Supply Chain

Huawei is emerging as the leader of China’s national team in semiconductors, dominating chip manufacturing and seeking to integrate the country’s entire supply chain. Its ambitions stem from both its placement on the U.S. Entity List and strong government support at the national and local level. Internationally, Huawei is coy about these ambitions, hiding its supply chain involvement and often operating under a different company’s name. Meanwhile, Huawei’s experience is also encouraging other Chinese technology companies to support China’s quest for chip self-sufficiency, developing new hardware and software for that purpose. The clandestine nature of Huawei’s involvement—it is not known who serves what role in semiconductor production—makes it more difficult for Western companies and governments to assess China’s progress in technology, vet potential partners and customers, and conduct risk assessments.

Stigmatisation as settler colonialism: designating humanitarian and civic society organisations in Palestine as security threats

ABSTRACT Since Hamas’s 7th October attacks on southern Israel, the Palestinian population living in the Gaza Strip has been subjected to an unprecedented level of destruction that has decimated every aspect of Palestinian life. The ongoing Israeli military invasion has been considered a ‘plausible case of genocide’, and the humanitarian catastrophe has been compounded by major restrictions on access to humanitarian aid. Accusations of supporting ‘terror’ have been levied against UNRWA, the major provider of humanitarian services in Gaza, leading to an initial suspension of donor support to the organisation by many western governments. In this article, we consider the Israeli government’s tactics used to delegitimise those involved in providing humanitarian and lifesaving support for the Palestinian population, concluding that the construction and dissemination of narratives that depict them as being ‘terroristic’ or having ‘terrorist’ connections is a sophisticated additional layer of the settler colonial logic of elimination and erasure.

Co-resident grandparent and maternal employment. A Northern Ireland cross-sectional administrative data analysis

The trade-off between the costs of childcare provision and the benefits of having an increased proportion of women, particularly women with dependent children, in employment is one of the most taxing social issues for Western governments. In countries like Northern Ireland, the limited subsidised childcare provision for preschool and primary school children has been partially offset by a rise in informal childcare though this has been considerably hard to assess both in terms of magnitude and effect. Using the entire 2011 Census cohort of mothers with children aged 1 to 16 years of age, we argue that co-resident grandparents have a substantial positive impact on maternal labour force participation in Northern Ireland. The presence of a co-resident grandparent was associated with an increase of 3.7 percentage points in employment for single-parent mothers and 2 percentage points for mothers in two-parent households. Mothers with co-resident grandparents report an increase of 2.7 percentage points for a single mother and of 3.7 percentage points for a mother in a two-parent household being in full-time employment than mothers without. Overall, the presence of a co-resident grandparent was associated with at least a 3.2 percentage point increase in labour force participation among mothers with primary-school-age children.

Speech Acts of Advising in Selected News Texts about Coronavirus

After the invading of Coronavirus in 2019 in China, The world Health Organization has declared this virus as a pandemic. The virus outbreaks among countries terrifying manner which makes governments take some quick decisions to stop it. Government all over the world employes TV channels and media to deliver instructions and advices to their peoples. But, this time the advice and instructions are different in style and language, since there is a crisis which may destroy the whole country, as what has happened in Ital pandemicly. Therefore, the speech act of advising which is used under this circumstances is a bit different for imposing more emphasis to face that danger. Advising people needs to be more directive and imperative. This study hypothesizes that under serious crisis, speech act of advice tends to be more directive and imperative to make the language receiver takes the advice in his/her consideration. This study tries to answer the following question: Do strategies in performing speech act of advice under a common crisis differ between government and Tv Channels? The study analyses ten texts from two different news channels. The first five texts are taken from Kurdistan 24 Channel and the other five are taken from BBC NEWS Channel. The study reaches to the findings that under serious crisis, there is no difference between western and esteran government in the strategies used to direct their people. In both channels, the speech act of advice tends to be direct and imperative more than other strategies to express it.

Sino-Belgian research collaborations and Chinese military power

ABSTRACT China’s rise as a scientific superpower and its increasingly assertive geopolitical stance have raised concerns among Western governments over the security implications of research collaborations with China. Indeed, studies have revealed how China uses technology transfers to advance its military capabilities. In this article, we examine the links of Sino-Belgian research collaborations to the Chinese military and the evolution of these collaborations using a mixed methods approach comprising a bibliometric analysis and two case studies. Our study finds that 10% of Sino-Belgian collaborations were on critical technologies and conducted with scientists affiliated to Chinese institutes with military links. The collaborations with a military link have increased rapidly over the last two decades and have grown faster than the overall Sino-Belgian research collaborations. The results of the study reveal that research collaboration in the knowledge domain has crucial ties to the security domain and should therefore be considered in international security analysis. However, invoking Susan Strange’s structural power theory, we argue that Sino-Belgian research collaborations should not only be seen as contributing to China’s military power but also as a function of China’s growing overall power, including in the knowledge structure, where it entails the power to convey or deny knowledge.

The Trap of Securitizing Science

In response to China’s rise, Western governments are acting to limit scientific collaboration—but these measures will not increase economic competitiveness and could inhibit the practice of science itself.

Cohort profile: Understanding the influence of early life environments and health and social service system contacts over time and across generations through the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS) Linked Data Study

PurposeDespite the volume of accumulating knowledge from prospective Aboriginal cohort studies, longitudinal data describing developmental trajectories in health and well-being is limited. The linkage of child and carer cohorts from...

Political and Legal Dimension of the Prospects for Ukraine's Invitation to NATO

The purpose of the research is to reveal the possibilities of inviting Ukraine to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the context of the escalation of Russian aggression. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, scientificity, verification, authorial objectivity, moderate narrative constructivism, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special-historical (historical-genetic, historical-typological, historical-systemic ) methods. The scientific novelty is that for the first time in historiography, the current prospects of Ukraine's invitation to NATO have been considered. Conclusions. Accession to NATO is a constitutionally enshrined main priority of Ukraine, a fundamental condition for its survival. Today, the political elite of Ukraine and Western governments are unanimous on the issue of Ukraine's membership in NATO. The Russian-Ukrainian war acts as an arena in which the political and military strategies of the global West are formed and break into the intentions of those world forces that promote anti-democratic values and, using Western technologies, intend to play a leading role in world civilization. The further development of the world system depends on Ukraine for a long period, and possibly for centuries to come. The need to invite Ukraine to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is due to the possibility of overcoming the global crisis of international security. In favor of the rapid Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, the uniqueness of the military experience in the large-scale modern war against powerful Russia, the removal of the financial burden from the NATO members, the demonstration of the unity of the Alliance and the ability to respond to modern challenges testify. Ukraine demonstrates commitment to high spiritual values, such as freedom, independence, dignity and self-respect, on which the Alliance is built. Thanks to its armed forces and active civil society, it deserves NATO membership.

Hezbollah in Lebanon

Abstract This paper explores the evolution of Hezbollah following Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Initially established to counter Israeli aggression and occupation, Hezbollah transitioned into a significant political and military entity in Lebanon post-2001. The organization has gained prominence as Lebanon’s leading political force, receiving substantial support from the Islamic Republic of Iran and adhering to the doctrine of Wilayat al-Faqih. Its transformation into a regional entity, coupled with a significant security role beyond Lebanon’s borders, has been noteworthy. However, Hezbollah’s dual existence as both a political party and an armed group has led to divergent perceptions internationally, with some Western governments labeling it a terrorist organization. The paper critically examines Hezbollah’s historical trajectory and delves into the ongoing debate over its dual roles, highlighting the internal conflicts and national controversies within Lebanon due to the concentration of military power in the hands of a single party.

Beyond Orientalism: The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Strategic Preferences Regarding Nuclear Weapons

When studying the issue of nuclear weapons proliferation, Iran is often presented as a rogue state driven by a volatile Islamic belief system. Such accounts present Iran as perpetually seeking nuclear weapons due to its foreign and defense policy, which is conceived by irrational Muslim clerics. This article deconstructs such consistent Orientalist discourses across Western academia, think-tanks, lobbying, and governments concerning the rogue and irrational pursuit of nuclear weapons by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Departing from them, the article moves to peruse a range of views held by some prominent Iranian clerics about nuclear weapons and demonstrates the rationales that bring Iran’s clerics to socially construct external threats, dangers, and other strategic concerns from within the Islamic Republic. In doing so, a new framework for understanding Iran’s strategic preferences—unbridled by the limitations of Orientalist discourse, as well as the biases of secular and state-based realist thinking—is offered.

Protection of Civilians and Treatment of Prisoners during War are at Stake: A Comparative Study

The atrocities of Israel's aggression perpetrated from 07 October 2023 on the civilian population and the treatment of prisoners of war shocked the world. Western governments have encouraged Israel to continue its tyranny. Many other governments around the world preferred to remain silent despite the presence of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). This has led to a re-launch of the debate on the credibility of IHL and the positioning of International Islamic Humanitarian Law (IIHL) on the world stage. The aim of this study is therefore to compare IHL and IIHL, from a theoretical and practical point of view, in the field of the protection of civilians during war and the treatment of prisoners of war. To do this, we opted for a comparative approach between these two components, both conceptually and functionally. This approach focused, on the one hand, on the main sources of the Sharia, the Quran and the Sunnah, as well as on the opinions of Muslim scholars (ulamas), supported by concrete examples of the application of Islamic norms by the Prophet and the Rashidoun caliphs. On the other hand, it also examined all the conventions, treaties and other documents that constitute the sources of the IHL. From a theoretical point of view, the results showed that there are many similarities between the two laws. In practical terms, however, the IIHL stands out for its concrete form and effective application. These observations led us to recommend that the current world order be rethought in view of the juxtaposition of the IIHL and IHL rules.

Strategic Storytelling: Russian State-Backed Media Coverage of the Ukraine War

Abstract Strategic narratives help shape wars. In modern history, strategic narratives were used during the Cold War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War to justify military invasions and manipulate opponents. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia was accused of weaponizing its state-backed media outlets to promote a pro-Russian version of the war. Consequently, Russian state-backed media faced a series of new sanctions from Western governments and technology companies. While some studies have sought to identify disinformation about the war, less research has focused on understanding how these stories come together as narratives, particularly in non-English language contexts. Grounded in strategic narrative theory, we analyze Russian state-backed media coverage of the Ukraine war across 12 languages. Using topic modeling and narrative analysis, we find that Russian state-backed media focused primarily on promoting identity narratives, forming an image that Russia is powerful, Ukraine is evil, and the West is hypocritical. Russian strategic narratives both converged and diverged across languages and outlets in ways that met Russia’s desired image and objectives in each region. This paper allows us to better theorize the evolving and transformative role of strategic narrative in Russian state-backed news media during times of conflict.

The Indian Government’s Web Identity: An Analysis

We live in a period where digital communication plays an integral role in citizen-government interactions. This holds reason enough to attest to the significance of the design and usability of government infrastructure on the internet- or, to be particular, the websites. The Indian Union’s executive comprises 58 distinct ministries and 93 departments, most of which operate their websites independently. Apart from the use of a “.gov.in” URL, they appear to not adhere to any form of distinctive visual identity or any system thereof. To establish a basis for comparison, and to draw inspiration to propose potential solutions, this study will look into the work done by various Western governments in branding their governments or their nation itself, like the Dutch, Swiss, and German Governments. This study aims to propose measures to bring consistency and personality to the Indian government’s websites, through adequate design solutions. The implications of this academic venture are far-reaching, including but not limited to better governance, better accessibility of government resources, better trust in the government, elevation of user experience.

К вопросу об использовании инструментария дипломатии в террористических целях

The modern landscape of counterterrorism is characterized by a shift towards geopolitical confrontation, exemplified by the situations in Libya and Syria. Through the utilization of near-terrorist tactics such as narrative warfare, intimidation, and blackmail, officials, including diplomatic personnel, from certain countries wield international influence in pursuit of their geopolitical objectives, fostering panic, fear, and societal unrest. This phenomenon has become evident since the initiation of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, where actions by terrorist factions received endorsement from Western governments. Currently, diplomatic services and select international bodies overtly rationalize terrorist activities and levy accusations against Russia. Considering the transformation of diplomatic activity, there is a need to study such a destructive international phenomenon as “diplomatic terrorism”, which inherently runs counter to classical diplomacy based on the principle of peaceful resolution of foreign policy issues. The genesis of this phenomenon is intertwined with technological advancements, the globalization of relations, the proliferation of states worldwide, and the degradation of elite cohorts. The phenomenon of diplomatic terrorism represents a paradigm shift in international relations, challenging traditional diplomatic norms and fostering an environment of heightened geopolitical tensions. Addressing this issue necessitates a multifaceted approach that combines diplomatic efforts, counterterrorism measures, and international cooperation to safeguard global stability and security.

Non-Traditional Finance and the Infrastructural Imagination of Geoeconomic Hegemony: The Case of Russia’s War in Ukraine

Abstract Against the background of the war waged by Russia against Ukraine, this paper addresses the role of non-traditional financial infrastructures in geopolitical struggles that are conducted by geoeconomic means. Non-traditional finance (in the following: NTF),1 like cryptocurrencies, crypto exchanges, and related services, promises to provide financial security—for instance, in terms of payments—outside of traditional financial infrastructures. NTF gains geopolitical significance in the wake of the US and EU-led financial sanctions against Russian institutions and individuals. The paper investigates this potentially new role of NTF through a theoretical and conceptual architecture that views hegemony, including geopolitical hegemony, from a social-theoretical standpoint: Hegemony is conceptualized as the result of “articulations”—that is, contingent interrelations encompassing both linkages and distinctions—between heterogeneous elements in which the respective role and function of those elements is re-defined through the articulation. With regard to the emerging role of NTF in geopolitical conflicts, the question is how political perceptions of geopolitical conflict and agency are iterated in terms of non-traditional financial infrastructures, and how, in turn, those infrastructures are articulated with respect to their political weight. The paper empirically analyzes the ways in which NTF agents and organizations have been addressed as geopolitical factors in the war confrontation between Russia and Ukraine by political institutions (focusing on the United States, the EU, Russia, and Ukraine), and how they understand their role themselves. Findings show that NTF, in spite of its rising prominence, use, and promise of autonomy, has effectively been articulated as an infrastructure whose concerns with financial and payment security must be subordinated to considerations of political security and international supremacy. In that articulation, Western, Russian, and Ukrainian governments significantly differ with respect to the ways they deploy an infrastructural imagination to define their interests and their views on NTF in the conflict.

Evolution of Sustainability and Media Coverage at the 2022 Qatar World Cup: An Analytical Study

Sustainability has become a key component of Sports Mega-Events (SME) since its inception in the 1980s and has evolved to include themes around social, economic, and environmental fronts. The 2022 Qatar World Cup is the first to be hosted in the Middle East, which presented a unique opportunity not only for Qatar to demonstrate its culture and heritage globally but also to allow people from around the world to connect with and share the Middle Eastern way of life. However, the event faced consistent criticism from Western media, governments, and NGOs, which became the key global narrative around the World Cup and reflected in the event’s sustainability strategy. This study first analyzes the sustainability frameworks of recent SMEs and finds an overwhelming focus on human rights issues in the Qatar World Cup, unlike other contemporary events. To understand this phenomenon, a content analysis of the coverage of the World Cup in major global news agencies found largely negative reporting of the event on issues such as corruption, human rights abuses, and intolerance towards marginalized communities. Applying the framework of Orientalism helps explain this disparity, and the paper furthers some tentative suggestions for governments and sports organizing bodies to adopt a sustainable framework, which is culturally responsive and aware of the needs of countries from the Global South.

The Plight of Syrian Refugees in the United States: Between Indifference and Dehumanization

Forced or voluntary migration worldwide and the quest for a safer and better life has not always resulted from armed conflicts or any form of political, ethnic, or religious persecution. Natural disasters have often enticed waves of deprived people across sovereign national borders. The present study investigates the plight of Syrian refugees in the aftermath of the 2011 upheavals which shook the Arab World, not as much because it poses unprecedented humanitarian and political challenges, but principally because it laid bare the double standard policy pursued by certain Western governments scapegoating Arab/Muslim stocks as a lingering menace to their security. To reconfigure the boundaries of decent debate and break down taboos over such a controversial issue, the paper raises a number of questions with regard to the essence of humanitarian work and how, over the past few decades, it has been politicized by ruthless politicians and unscrupulous technocrats to determine the resettlement of displaced masses or the allocation of funds to international relief organizations based on national, religious, and even racial standards. It takes the United States as a case in point to show how, despite being the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees, it has resettled only a tiny fraction of such a group compared to poorer contiguous states. The paper posits, finally, to contribute survey-based argument to available literature which, to some degree, has not sufficiently explored the hypothetical connection between refugee flows and transnational terrorism to demonstrate, ultimately, that not every Arab/Muslim refugee is a terrorist-in-waiting.

Everybody Needs Help Sometimes: Facilitators of Soviet Defectors’ Publications

Soviet intelligence officer defectors arrived in their new countries lacking skills that translated easily into postdefection jobs. To earn money, they often turned to the one asset they had—their stories. To publish their stories, they had to work with a variety of facilitators who connected them with publishing companies and distributed their works. Those helpers can be characterized into four categories: activists/dissidents, academics, journalists, and intelligence practitioners. Helpers were sometimes connected to and supported by a Western government, particularly the United States or United Kingdom, and the resulting work reflected the Cold War ideological competition. However, government sponsorship was not always the case, and some helpers expressed views that extended beyond the receiving government’s policy or that criticized the handling agency. In any case, most defectors could not have published their works without the helpers’ support.

Igbo Culture and Business Practices in South East Nigeria: A Critical Review

This study examined the relationship between Igbo culture and business practices in the South-Eastern region of Nigeria. Over the years, scholars have introduced so many leadership, management and business theories to guide businesses. This study aims to examine critical Igbo cultural practices that serve same purposes as some of these business management theories in guiding business successes in the South East of Nigeria. This study also looked at how the Igbo culture and Igbo leadership influence Igbo entrepreneurial practices. It was found that so many Igbo Cultural practices such as Igbo apprenticeship system and business mentorship guide and motivate Igbo entrepreneurs to succeed in business. As a result of these values, individuals train under their master to gain general business management skills (known as Igba-Boi). In some cases, some of trainees end up pursuing other types of businesses quite different from the where they served using the same business skills in the new trades. The study recommended that Nigerian government should learn from western government in encouraging Igbo apprenticeship system that governs most successful businesses among Ndigbo and developed as an official business incubation system for the youth. The study further recommended government can support individuals who have mastered certain skills but lack capital with fund infusion.

Land Titling and Microcredit in Cambodia: Examining the Reality of Hernando de Soto’s ‘Three Steps to Heaven’

Starting with the work of Hernando de Soto in the 1980s, the role of land tenure soon attracted the attention of the international development community as a neoliberal-oriented theory of change rooted in the possession and use of private individual land titles by the poor. One of the central mechanisms proposed by de Soto was a three-step process that involves the poor (1) “securing” their tenure with land titles, (2) using their newly acquired land titles as collateral to leverage large amounts of microcredit to be used to establish a functioning microenterprise, and then (3) escaping from their poverty due to the jobs and income associated with founding and running a microenterprise. This paper explores what I call de Soto’s “three steps to heaven” theory of change, a concept that was taken on board with gusto by leading Western governments and virtually all of the main international development institutions, particularly the World Bank. I argue that Cambodia provides the ideal setting for evaluating de Soto’s concept because, since around 2020, it has possessed the largest microcredit sector in the world (on a per capita basis), thanks largely to the obligatory use of land titles as the collateral required to obtain microcredit. While the first two of de Soto’s “three steps to heaven” have been realized, the evidence shows that the assumptions related to step three have proved to be extremely problematic: the ubiquity of microcredit that was achieved since the early 2010s via steps one and two has not, in general, improved the lives and communities of Cambodia’s poor through accelerated microenterprise development. It appears, instead, to have contributed to deeper poverty, insecurity, vulnerability and inequality. I conclude that de Soto’s “three steps to heaven” theory reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the real institutional drivers of sustainable local economic development and poverty reduction.