Apex Group announced an “exciting” start to 2024, having completed the acquisition of Retransform from The Annet Group. A spokesperson said, “Leading international financial services business Apex Group today announces an exciting start to 2024 after closing its acquisition of Retransform from The Annet Group. “Retransform is a global real estate provider offering Proptech, Technology […]

A Next Leader competitor is in an extremely fortunate position. A Next Leader is a competitor or product that offers much better than industry standard performance for a low price to a specific subset of industry customers. While offering better benefits to some customers, it may reduce benefits for others. But all Next Leaders offer low prices. The Next Leader can do this because it has a very low cost structure. (See “Video #22: Definition of Next Leaders” on StrategyStreet.com.) Next Leaders do not appear in many industries. When they do appear, they can change an industry, whether the industry is in manufacturing, retail or service. For example, Toys R Us invented the Toy Retailing Category Killer, a Next Leader product. Home Depot has done much the same in hardware retailing. Other Next Leaders include the early Apple personal computer, Intuit personal financial management software, Jiffy Lube in auto services and Domino’s Pizza.

We have studied many Next Leader competitors. Our study has suggested there are two kinds of Next Leaders products: Reformers and Transformers. A Reformer product is a type of Next Leader that reduces the benefits for the user while increasing benefits for the buyer, compared to the industry’s Standard Leader product. Jiffy Lube and Domino’s Pizza would both be Reformer Next Leader competitors. The second type of Next Leader competitor, Transformer products and companies, increase the benefits for the user of the product but offers, at least initially, fewer buyer benefits than the Standard Leader product. Toys R Us and Home Depot are two examples of Transformer Next Leader competitors.

Direct Edge is an example of a Transformer competitor. It offers its customers very fast securities trading on virtually any platform, from computers to smart phones. It is a young electronic stock exchange and it is having a big impact on securities trading. Its first noticeable impact is in market share. As recently as five years ago, the New York Stock Exchange accounted for 70% or more of the trading in the stocks listed on its exchange. Today, the stock exchange handles 36% of those trades. (See “Audio Tip #85: Evaluate the Company's Success in Penetrating each Price Point in the Market” on StrategyStreet.com.) Twelve other public exchanges, several electronic trading platforms and many “dark pools” command the rest of the market share in NYSE listed stocks.

Direct Edge came into existence during 2010. Several brokerage firms and other financial players formed Direct Edge to offer a counter veiling power to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Direct Edge now owns 10% of stock trading in the United States.

Direct Edge is not only big and fast-growing, but inexpensive as well. It has ready access to the share trading of its brokerage house and hedge fund owners. It operates many banks of state-of-the-art computers in warehouse-type facilities in New Jersey rather than in more-expensive New York. And, despite its size, it has fewer than one hundred employees.

The evolution of these non-traditional exchanges has resulted in declining trading costs and much faster trading times for all customers. Next Leaders do that.

By Leo Babauta Something that has long been a struggle for me is when people complain a lot — I really don’t love the negative energy, and I tend to turn away from people who are complaining. So I’ve been examining this in recent years … and I’ve been learning a lot about myself. The […]

The post Transforming Our Complaints into Something Generative appeared first on zen habits.

By Leo Babauta I talk to dozens of people every month — Zen Habits readers, coaching clients and Fearless Living Academy members — who struggle with a feeling of overwhelm from all of the things on their plates. Overwhelm from tasks, messages, and more is completely normal. It’s based on a fear that we can’t […]

The post Transforming Overwhelm into a Creative, Productive Energy appeared first on zen habits.

Self-reflection may seem simple, but it holds the power to transform your life in surprising ways. It’s about taking the time to pause, look inward, and really understand your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. But why should anyone care? Well, because understanding yourself is the first step to improving anything about your life. Whether it’s better ... Read more

The post The Power of Self-Reflection: Transform Your Life from Within appeared first on LifeHack.

We’ve all heard a million times: growing demand for robust cybersecurity in the face of rising cyber threats is undeniable. Globally small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly targeted by cyberattacks but often lack the resources for full-time Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). This gap is driving the rise of the virtual CISO (vCISO) model, offering a cost-effective

Two projects — one that maps the function of the brain’s neuronal network in unprecedented detail and another that combines robotics and light-based computer circuits to create safe self-driving vehicles — have been awarded funding through Princeton’s Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Exhibition co-curated by Princeton professor Deana Lawson and Michael Famighetti, editor-in-chief of Aperture magazine. Featuring work by 23 artists who explore the poetics of photography, its instability, and its latent potential. Hurley Gallery open daily 10 AM - 8 PM. Gallery closed 11/28-12/1 for Thanksgiving; reopens 12/2-5.

Life is like a mirror. Everything you see has a reflection. It can be good or bad. It can be both. We are exposed to a lot of negatives with the widespread use of the internet and social media platforms. Also, we have received a ton of positives we can take advantage of in everyday ... Read more

The post Unleash Your Potential: How Fitness Challenges Can Transform Your Life appeared first on Star Two.

1. PM Modi’s Rs 12,100 crore infrastructure push to transform Bihar’s railways and roadways – Here’s all you need to know  The Financial Express
2. PM Modi to visit Bihar on Wednesday, inaugurate projects worth Rs 12,100 Cr  Deccan Herald
3. PM Modi lays foundation stone for AIIMS Darbhanga, says NDA Govt committed to welfare of people  The Hindu
4. PM Modi Bihar Visit Live: Nitish Kumar removed 'jungle raj' in Bihar, says PM Modi in Darbhanga  Moneycontrol
5. Politics News Today Live Updates on November 13, 2024: ‘BJP trying to create controversy’: Karnataka Deputy CM Shivakumar on ‘Kaalia’ remark against Kumaraswamy  Mint

How Women are Transforming Indonesia Interview sysadmin 20 May 2019

In a series exploring women in international affairs, Isabel Dunstan speaks to Gitika Bhardwaj about the rise of the women’s movement in Indonesia.

Southeast Asia has one of the highest records of gender-based violence in the world and Indonesia was recently ranked as the second most dangerous place for women in the Asia-Pacific. What is the state of women’s rights and gender equality in Indonesia?

It is true that Indonesia has high rates of violence against women, however, it’s difficult to know the realities of women’s experiences because in the past the data has been somewhat unreliable. This has been due to reasons such as a lack of reporting mechanisms available to survivors of violence and the fact that discussing sexual violence is a taboo and, if reported, can result in stigmatization which limits the number of survivors who have come forward.

However, the first reliable nationwide survey on gendered violence in Indonesia was conducted in 2017 by the Indonesian Ministry of Women and Child Protection and the United Nations Population Fund. Interestingly, it showed that Indonesia’s rates of violence against women are on par with the global rate which is that 1 in 3 women are affected by sexual violence in their lifetime.

It’s therefore difficult to generalize that Indonesia is an unsafe place for women because it’s an extremely diverse country. There is a growing middle class while there is pervasive poverty. There is religious diversity where the eastern-most province of Aceh is the only province in the country where Sharia law is enforced, whereas in the western-most province of West Papua, the dominant religion is Christianity and the ways of life are completely different.

Nevertheless, violence against women is high in Indonesia and can happen in all places – rich or poor, east or west – and has different manifestations from street harassment and trafficking to domestic violence and workplace harassment.

In some parts of the country there are high rates of child marriage too and, according to UNICEF, 14 per cent of girls in Indonesia are married by the time they turn 18 which is shocking when we think about how child marriage limits girls’ access to education and makes them more vulnerable to sexual violence and therefore restricts their futures.

Child marriage is high in Indonesia in part due to rooted gender norms, low levels of education and discriminating legislation, such as the marriage law, which states that, although it is legal to marry at 21, girls can marry at 16 and boys can marry at 19 with parental consent. But this can be even lower meaning parents could get their daughters married at as young as 13. So the law is fundamentally unfair between girls and boys and the women’s movement in Indonesia has been fighting extremely hard to reform legislation that discriminates against women and girls.

From the country’s first female president, Megawati Sukarnoputri​, to incumbent finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati – who was voted ‘Best Minister in the World’ in 2018 – and maritime​ and fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti – who has become notorious for her tough stance against illegal fishing activities – how are women progressing in Indonesian politics?

Indonesia has come a long way since becoming a democracy in 1998. Before that, the second president and dictator, Suharto, ruled the country for almost 32 years and increased the inequality gap between men and women during his reign.

Since the fall of Suharto, however, gender equality is explicitly enshrined in Indonesia’s constitution and the country has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The country has also been undergoing a process of democratization which has involved slowly decentralizing its power. This means that greater authority has been distributed to the 34 provincial governments outside of the capital of Jakarta.

Furthermore, to aid gender equality, a quota system requiring political parties to be made up of 30 per cent women has been put in place, although remnants of Suharto’s old system of cronyism remain, limiting the impact of the quotas translating to more women in provincial parliaments.

But the defining approach to furthering gender equality in Indonesia has been through gender mainstreaming and gender-responsive budgeting which can be seen throughout provincial administrations in the country.

This means there is the intention to ensure infrastructure, health and education outcomes include results that address specific gender equality gaps. The challenge for effective gender mainstreaming, however, is the political will to translate the approach into well-resourced programmes from one province to another.

Nevertheless, we have just seen Indonesia go through the most incredible presidential and legislative elections last month – won by the current president, Joko Widodo, who has often been called the ‘Barack Obama of Southeast Asia’ and whose existing cabinet has the highest number of women in the country’s history. This is not simply a matter of filling seats in the cabinet with women – such as the wives and sisters of male politicians – because it’s required by law. But, rather, there are some incredible female political figures who are there because they are strong, smart and capable.

You’ve rightly mentioned Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Susi Pudjiastuti, who is a fabulous role model for a lot of women particularly women who have not had tertiary education because she entered politics through an unorthodox route.

Then there’s Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is also the former leader of the World Bank and is such an inspiration to a lot of women who are looking to work in public life because of her experience as well as her work to include gender mainstreaming in state budgets.

There is also Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, Yohana Susana Yembise, who is a Papuan woman, as well as many more female public figures.

Resetting Africa-Europe relations: From self-deception to economic transformation 28 October 2024 — 12:30PM TO 1:30PM Anonymous (not verified) 16 October 2024 Chatham House and Online

Experts assess the status of ties between Africa and Europe in a rapidly changing world, launching a new book that explores how misconceptions in the relationship can harm Africa’s economic agenda.

The relationship between Africa and Europe has long been shaped by colonial legacies, power imbalance and shifting geopolitical interests.

Almost three years on from the last EU-AU summit in Brussels in February 2022, questions remain over the delivery of headline commitments under the continent-to-continent partnership – ranging from the EU’s Global Gateway infrastructure strategy to wider climate financing promises.

As Africa seeks to strengthen its standing on the global stage, marked by the African Union’s upcoming debut at the G20 summit in November, a critical reassessment of these dynamics is needed to examine whether the continent’s relationship with Europe can overcome stigmatized narratives in search of genuine economic benefit.

At this event, which launches a new book by Professor Carlos Lopes: The Self-Deception Trap: Exploring the Economic Dimensions of Charity Dependency within Africa-Europe Relations, speakers assess the prospects for a transformative shift towards a more equitable and mutually beneficial Africa-Europe partnership.

Jason M. Ridlon
Feb 1, 2006; 47:241-259
Reviews

The Impact of Brexit on Energy Transformation in the UK and EU 28 March 2019 — 8:15AM TO 9:45AM Anonymous (not verified) 3 December 2018 Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

The UK’s decision to leave the EU will fundamentally reshape many of the UK’s policies and its relations with countries around the world. For energy and climate, the changes could be significant and will need to be managed carefully to secure ongoing investment, stable energy prices and ambitious climate objectives. The UK’s departure will also affect the balance of political support for climate and energy policies with the EU institutions and potentially impact upon regional initiatives.

This roundtable will discuss:

• The impact on the energy sector of Brexit during the transition period through until December 2020 including the operation of interconnectors and access to the Internal energy market, ongoing engagement in European research collaboration and the replacement of European financial resources.
• The possible opportunities and risks for the UK’s energy sector in 2021 and beyond.
• The implications of Brexit on the EU’s energy and climate policy.

The roundtable will discuss the role of the public and business in shaping the future deal as it will need to be ratified by the parliaments of all member states.

Attendance at this event is by invitation only.

Power Sector Transformation, New Market Dynamics and Geopolitical Implications 7 November 2018 — 8:00AM TO 9:30AM Anonymous (not verified) 6 December 2018 Chatham House | 10 St James's Square | London | SW1Y 4LE

The global electricity sector is experiencing profound change due to a confluence of technological innovation, environmental policies and regulatory reform. The effect is most obvious in the EU28, Australia and parts of North America.

However, this is just the beginning and the success of the next phase of electricity sector transformations hinges on enhancing system flexibility to facilitate unhindered low-cost deployment of renewables. It remains to be seen how utilities will seek to navigate this second phase of electricity transformations.

This session starts with a presentation and discussion that focuses on:

• Public and private sector risks of the transformation of the power sector, changes in generation mix and their implications for supply chain, employments and investment patterns.
• The role of government and the regulatory framework in light of changing market structure, new entrants and big data.
• Wider geopolitical issues including the implication for fossil fuel producers and the rise in demand for new materials and changes in land use.
• The possible implications on the power sector on the electrification of heat and transport.

The discussion then moves to the speed of transformation and what this means for existing and new market actors.

Food system transformation: A blind spot for climate and biodiversity action? 20 October 2022 — 12:00PM TO 1:00PM Anonymous (not verified) 5 October 2022 Chatham House and Online

How can COP27 and COP15 accelerate the agenda for sustainable food systems and land use?

Tackling the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss requires extraordinary levels of action at an unprecedented speed. Agriculture is the biggest user of land, the biggest source of methane emissions, a major contributor to total greenhouse gas emissions and the leading driver of biodiversity loss.

Anything short of a food system transformation puts climate and biodiversity objectives in peril. However, governments have not yet produced credible pathways and strong policies for tackling our growing ‘foodprint’ – the negative impacts of what we grow and eat.

In advance of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh for climate and COP15 in Montreal for biodiversity, Chatham House has published a new briefing paper which examines aligning food systems with climate and biodiversity targets.

The paper reviews the climate and biodiversity policy landscape to 2030, with a focus on land-based aspects and the inclusion of food and agriculture. The paper highlights serious conflicts between the impacts of the food system and goals to protect and restore biodiversity and mitigate climate change.

In light of this, opportunities for joined-up action on food, climate and biodiversity are identified, including three key steps for countries to take this decade to produce suitably ambitious and effective policies across the climate–biodiversity–food nexus.

This event brings together leading voices from the international policy arenas for climate and biodiversity to react to the briefing paper and discuss how COP27 and COP15 can accelerate the agenda for sustainable food systems and land use.

Marko Voutilainen, Lauri Viitasaari and Pauliina Ilmonen
Theor. Probability and Math. Statist. 111 (), 181-197.
Abstract, references and article information

Yongqiang Liu, Laurentiu Maxim and Botong Wang
Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 152 (), 5279-5288.
Abstract, references and article information

Animals can sense the presence of microbes in their tissues and mobilize their own defenses by recognizing and responding to conserved microbial structures (often called microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs)). Successful host defenses may kill the invaders, yet the host animal may fail to restore homeostasis if the stimulatory microbial structures are not silenced. Although mice have many mechanisms for limiting their responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a major Gram-negative bacterial MAMP, a highly conserved host lipase is required to extinguish LPS sensing in tissues and restore homeostasis. We review recent progress in understanding how this enzyme, acyloxyacyl hydrolase (AOAH), transforms LPS from stimulus to inhibitor, reduces tissue injury and death from infection, prevents prolonged post-infection immunosuppression, and keeps stimulatory LPS from entering the bloodstream. We also discuss how AOAH may increase sensitivity to pulmonary allergens. Better appreciation of how host enzymes modify LPS and other MAMPs may help prevent tissue injury and hasten recovery from infection.

Bile acids, which are synthesized from cholesterol by the liver, are chemically transformed along the intestinal tract by the gut microbiota, and the products of these transformations signal through host receptors, affecting overall host health. These transformations include bile acid deconjugation, oxidation, and 7α-dehydroxylation. An understanding of the biogeography of bile acid transformations in the gut is critical because deconjugation is a prerequisite for 7α-dehydroxylation and because most gut microorganisms harbor bile acid transformation capacity. Here, we used a coupled metabolomic and metaproteomic approach to probe in vivo activity of the gut microbial community in a gnotobiotic mouse model. Results revealed the involvement of Clostridium scindens in 7α-dehydroxylation, of the genera Muribaculum and Bacteroides in deconjugation, and of six additional organisms in oxidation (the genera Clostridium, Muribaculum, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Acutalibacter, and Akkermansia). Furthermore, the bile acid profile in mice with a more complex microbiota, a dysbiosed microbiota, or no microbiota was considered. For instance, conventional mice harbor a large diversity of bile acids, but treatment with an antibiotic such as clindamycin results in the complete inhibition of 7α-dehydroxylation, underscoring the strong inhibition of organisms that are capable of carrying out this process by this compound. Finally, a comparison of the hepatic bile acid pool size as a function of microbiota revealed that a reduced microbiota affects host signaling but not necessarily bile acid synthesis. In this study, bile acid transformations were mapped to the associated active microorganisms, offering a systematic characterization of the relationship between microbiota and bile acid composition.

This article provides an introduction to Fourier transform-based mass spectrometry (FTMS). The key performance characteristics of FTMS, mass accuracy and resolution, are presented in the view of how they impact the interpretation of measurements in proteomic applications. The theory and principles of operation of two types of mass analyzer, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance and Orbitrap, are described. Major benefits as well as limitations of FTMS technology are discussed in the context of practical sample analysis, and illustrated with examples included as figures in this text and in the accompanying slide set. Comparisons highlighting the performance differences between the two mass analyzers are made where deemed useful in assisting the user with choosing the most appropriate technology for his/her application. Recent developments of these high-performing mass spectrometers are mentioned to provide a future outlook.

Tectonic Politics: Global Political Risk in an Age of Transformation Book sysadmin 7 May 2019

Political risk now affects more markets and countries than ever before and that risk will continue to rise. But traditional methods of managing political risk are no longer legitimate or effective.

In Tectonic Politics, Nigel Gould-Davies explores the complex, shifting landscape of political risk and how to navigate it. He analyses trends in each form of political risk: the power to destroy, seize, regulate, and tax.

He shows how each of these forms reflects a deeper transformation of the global political economy that is reordering the relationship between power, wealth, and values. In a world where everything is political, the craft of engagement is as important as the science of production and the art of the deal.

The successful company must integrate that craft—the engager’s way of seeing and doing—into strategy and culture.

Drawing on a career in academia, business, and diplomacy, Gould-Davies provides corporate leaders, scholars, and engaged citizens with a groundbreaking study of the fastest-rising political risk today. ‘As tectonic plates shape the earth,’ he writes, ‘so tectonic politics forges its governance.’

The book is published as part of the Insights series.

Praise for Tectonic Politics

About the author

Nigel Gould-Davies was an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House.

Purchase

• UK (via Amazon)
• Rest of world (via Brookings Institution Press)
• Students (via Browns Books)

NATO must now transform old missions into new strategy Expert comment NCapeling 21 June 2022

As the war in Ukraine becomes prolonged and unpredictable, risks for the transatlantic alliance will increase, as will the global shockwaves of the conflict.

As a revitalized NATO alliance deals with a crisis that has major economic and humanitarian as well as military dimensions, the need for it to develop both a European and a global containment strategy grows ever more urgent.

Bolstering NATO’s defences so as to provide the capability to repel any form of Russian attack on land, at sea, in the air, or through space and cyberspace is a key aspect of this strategy as, in recent weeks, more combat forces able to defend territory have taken the form of additional troops, ships, and aircraft reinforcing the Baltic states and the Black Sea coastlines of Poland and Romania.

Ten allies have so far contributed to this effort, placing 40,000 troops under direct NATO command. Those sceptical about the future of the transatlantic security relationship have been confounded by the major role the US has played in this effort, sending parts of the 82nd Airborne Division and 3rd Armoured Division to Poland, and redeploying US Stryker brigades from Germany and Italy to the Baltic states and Romania.

Although many other allies have sent useful assets – such as French and UK aircraft to Romania or German and Netherlands Patriot batteries to Slovakia – the US contribution still surpasses all European efforts put together. The US now has 100,000 troops in Europe, the most it has deployed there since the mid-1990s.

Transitioning from temporary to permanent deployment

NATO has also mobilized its high-readiness Reaction Force for the first time and aims to establish four new multinational battalions in the Black Sea region – with France offering to lead the one in Romania, Italy in Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic in Slovakia. Most of these deployments are on a temporary basis, but the receiving allies would understandably like them to stay longer and for NATO to commit to permanent stationed forces.

Although this would oblige the alliance to break formally from the pledge it made to Moscow in 1997 not to station substantial combat forces or nuclear weapons or build military infrastructure on the territory of its new member states in eastern Europe, this was a political undertaking linked to circumstances prevailing at the time.

Given Russia’s behaviour, there is no reason why NATO should not now abandon it. There is also a question over whether NATO could also repeal the NATO-Russia Founding Act and the NATO-Russia Council, or simply leave them in suspension for a future, more cooperative, and less bellicose Russian regime.

Beyond showing the flag along its eastern flank, NATO does face longer-term issues which need to be clarified in its new Strategic Concept. First is whether to abandon its current strategy of reinforcement and military mobility across Europe – known as the Enhanced Forward Presence in the NATO jargon – in favour of the deployment of heavy armoured brigades or even divisions in fixed positions close to borders.

This will be expensive in the long-run and deprive allies of the flexibility they have enjoyed since the end of the Cold War to use their forces as and where they wish – from deployments in the Sahel or Afghanistan to fighting forest fires or building emergency hospitals for COVID-19 patients at home. The only exception is when they have put forces on rotation into the NATO high readiness forces or the European Union (EU) Battle Groups.

Germany’s commitment gives NATO more options

The decision of Germany to increase its defence spending to two per cent of GDP and to devote €100 billion to modernizing the Bundeswehr makes it technically possible for NATO to move to a Cold War-style forward, armoured defence. But it is unclear how quickly Berlin could raise its new divisions given its problems with procurement and government/industry relations in the defence sector.

It may make more sense for Germany not to launch new acquisition programmes but to buy existing off-the-shelf capabilities – as it has recently done with its decision to buy 35 US F35 aircraft – which other European countries are also acquiring, offering economies of scale and cheaper operating and maintenance costs.

But if Germany abandons ambitious defence projects with France – which prefers a ‘buy European’ approach – such as the Future European Air Combat System, the relationship with France will become strained and French plans for EU self-reliance in the military field put at risk.

As a country averse to war fighting and narrow military approaches to security, it is uncertain how much of the conventional defence burden in NATO Germany would be willing to take on, so this could be the opportunity to create more integrated European units with France, the Benelux, Poland, and Italy, even with the post-Brexit UK.

The UK has doubled the size of its forces in Estonia and sent 1,000 troops to Poland, as well as devoting a substantial portion of its army, navy, and airforce to regular NATO exercises in the Baltic region. London was also the first ally to grant Sweden and Finland a temporary security guarantee pending full integration into the alliance.

NATO will likely settle on a compromise, increasing the size of its battalions on its eastern flank – turning them into battle groups – but giving each one a larger reserve force which will remain in Germany or other European allied countries.

A NATO strategic plan is now needed

The other issue for NATO is to develop a single theatre-wide strategic plan managed by the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) and the NATO command structure. In reinforcing the alliance’s eastern flank, allies have sent forces to wherever they like and largely under national command, but this would not work in a real war.

NATO must revise its exercises to prepare and train for the new threat level, ensuring its forward deployed forces are fully integrated with local forces and the police and border guards to anticipate and respond to any Russian hybrid war tactics. It also needs to step up its joint planning and interoperability with Sweden and Finland and bring their territories into its standing defence plans.

One thing NATO has done well in this crisis is its political messaging. As Russia has become more threatening and reckless, it has been essential for NATO to be consistent and predictable. Re-affirming its core defensive purpose, calmly rejecting Putin’s nuclear posturing, and refusing to put NATO forces in Ukraine may be frustrating for some but it is vital not to play into Putin’s playbook regarding an ‘aggressive NATO’ or give him the sense he is being pushed into a corner. However, NATO strategic ambiguity can be useful when considering how to respond to a Russian escalation in Ukraine itself, such as using chemical weapons.

The key questions for NATO are:

• What should be the balance between permanently deployed and rotational forces in NATO’s new posture?
• What should be the balance of US/Canadian and European forces in this posture?
• How can the capability development programmes under EU Strategic Autonomy (such as PESCO and the European Defence Fund) be geared to support the European role and responsibility in the alliance? Air and missile defence would seem to be priorities given Russia’s reliance on long range strikes.
• How can the EU’s Strategic Compass, NATO’s next Strategic Concept and the third NATO-EU Joint Declaration be harmonized to bring the two institutions more closely together in responding to Russian hybrid operations and influence campaigns, and in assisting both Ukraine and others such as Georgia and Moldova?
• What should be the balance between forces for collective defence with heavy armour and directed artillery fire, and those for expeditionary missions beyond Europe such as counterterrorism, stabilization and peacekeeping?

NATO is revived and refocused

Although the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a catastrophe for Ukraine and Europe more generally, the multilateral system has discovered a new energy and sense of purpose as NATO has been revived and refocused on its core mission.

The EU and the US have pulled together with daily coordination of their policies and actions, and the EU is also facing up to its geo-political role, as recognizing the EU aspirations of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia as well as the countries of the western Balkans shows its responsibility for the security and economic integration of the whole of Europe.

The National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y., announced this year's inductees: My Little Pony, Transformers and Phase 10.

Divergent Technologies developed a digital production system that can revolutionize automotive and industrial scale manufacturing. Divergent uses new manufacturing solutions and their Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS™) software to make […]

The post Transforming Industrial and Automotive Manufacturing appeared first on HPCwire.

Health experts agree that there is a clear connection between an individual’s dental health and mental health. But although this fact is supported by a number of clinical studies, it is rarely explored or discussed among health professionals. A person with poor oral health may experience bad breath, tooth loss, compromised speech and other symptoms […]

The post How Innovations in Dental Services Transform Patient Care and Improve Mental Health first appeared on What is Psychology?.

The school board in Gwinnett County, Ga., will shift from a 4-1 white Republican majority to a 3-2 Black Democratic majority, mirroring demographic changes in the county.

Although public and educators' concerns are growing about testing, performance assessment done well can strengthen instruction and enhance learning, says Linda Darling-Hammond.

Odor information arrives first in the main olfactory bulb and is then broadcasted to the olfactory cortices and striatum. Downstream regions have unique cellular and connectivity architectures that may generate different coding patterns to the same odors. To reveal region-specific response features, tuning and decoding of single-unit populations, we recorded responses to the same odors under the same conditions across regions, namely, the main olfactory bulb (MOB), the anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), the anterior piriform cortex (aPC), and the olfactory tubercle of the ventral striatum (OT), of awake male mice. We focused on chemically closely related aldehydes that still create distinct percepts. The MOB had the highest decoding accuracy for aldehydes and was the only region encoding chemical similarity. The MOB had the highest fraction of inhibited responses and narrowly tuned odor-excited responses in terms of timing and odor selectivity. Downstream, the interconnected AON and aPC differed in their response patterns to the same stimuli. While odor-excited responses dominated the AON, the aPC had a comparably high fraction of odor-inhibited responses. Both cortices share a main output target that is the MOB. This prompted us to test if the two regions convey also different net outputs. Aldehydes activated AON terminals in the MOB as a bulk signal but inhibited those from the aPC. The differential cortical projection responses generalized to complex odors. In summary, olfactory regions reveal specialized features in their encoding with AON and aPC differing in their local computations, thereby generating inverse net centrifugal and intercortical outputs.

Rome, 2 December 2014 – The Ministers of Agriculture of the European Union and of other Mediterranean countries welcomed FAO’s transformational changes implemented in the last two years, and underlined [...]