Hasil untuk "Asia and Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Area, and Antarctica"

Sinjae Kang, Jiyoung Park

This article examines legislative waffling behavior—where legislators reverse their position between bill sponsorship and floor voting—in the South Korean National Assembly from 2004 to 2020. Using multilevel logistic regression analysis of 21,292 bill-legislator observations across four legislative terms, we develop a novel theoretical framework that disaggregates waffling into three distinct strategic types: dissent (voting against), abstention, and no-show (strategic absence). Our findings challenge US-based theories by revealing that minority party members in Korea exhibit significantly higher rates of waffling across all types, with the effect particularly pronounced when bills are passed as chairman’s substitutes in majority-controlled committees. We demonstrate that ideologically extreme legislators are more prone to waffling, while main sponsors maintain greater consistency throughout the legislative process. The analysis of committee control structures reveals complex dynamics where minority party members face heightened waffling pressures even in committees they control, suggesting that formal institutional authority cannot fully overcome broader power imbalances in consensus-based systems. These findings highlight how Korea’s distinctive institutional features—including proportional distribution of committee chairs, mixed electoral system, and consensus-oriented legislative culture—create fundamentally different incentive structures for legislative behavior compared to majoritarian systems, underscoring the importance of developing context-specific theoretical frameworks for comparative legislative studies.

Verchenko A.L.

The article analyzes China's experience in promoting the concept of a Community with a shared future for mankind. The idea was first voiced to an international audience by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, during his first state visit to Russia. Over the next 10 years, the concept became the major component of China's foreign policy doctrine and was actively used as a part of “soft power” at home and abroad. Its author, Xi Jinping, remained the main propagandist of the concept. His high position allows him to present it in various configurations at the most authoritative international forums. Xi Jinping supplemented the concept with three initiatives (global development, security and civilization), as well as a cultural component. The evolution of the concept indicates a change in China's assessment of its role in the international arena: from a developing state to a world power that claims its right to participate in global governance, propose its own programs for reforming the world order and play the most active role in it. The PRC applies the concept differentially to developed and developing countries, the so called Global South and East. In developing countries it is backed up by a real basis in the form of assistance through the Belt and Road project. Depending on the international situation, China changes the forms of promoting the concept, including economic international, regional and bilateral forums, political party summits, inviting foreign youth to study, assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic, public diplomacy, etc. The concept has not received worldwide recognition, but it has not gone unnoticed. Taking into account the international situation, China will certainly continue to promote it in the world.

Aleksandrova Maria V.

Despite China's success in global monopolization of container production, containerization equipment and vehicles, the country remains concerned about global market instability. To reduce these tensions, China has actively developed rail container transportation both domestically and internationally. The China-Europe Express has become the shortest “bridge” connecting China’s domestic and foreign markets. The express train is crucial for promoting high-quality economic development in the country’s hinterland. A number of Chinese cities have become assembly hubs for container train products. The author analyzes the specifics of their development on the example of Chongqing, Xi'an and Wuhan. Special attention is also paid to the issue of train subsidies. The author notes that the container express train has changed the development logic of China's interior regions, significantly improving their transport links.

Pak Shen Choong, Nurisya Mohd Shah, Yung Szen Yap

Amid the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology 2025 (IYQ 2025), a significant portion of global funding has been dedicated to various quantum initiatives, with over 30 countries announcing their respective quantum strategies. Within the Southeast Asia context, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines have launched their respective quantum strategies and roadmaps. Meanwhile, six out of eleven Southeast Asia countries have expressed interest in formulating a regional quantum ecosystem to pursue a set of common goals. Quantum technologies, though still in their infancy within the second quantum revolution, have advanced rapidly in recent years. Due to their dual-use nature, quantum technologies are considered emerging and disruptive, often raising concerns from the cybersecurity perspective. While several discussions regarding Malaysia's quantum initiative and strategy are ongoing, it is vital to broaden the conversation and position Malaysia within the regional ecosystem. This paper provides an overview of Malaysia's quantum landscape and a summary of the regional initiatives since the establishment of Southeast Asia Quantum Network. We then analyse Malaysia's strengths in quantum research and provide four recommendations to strengthen the regional ecosystem.

Maurizio Boccia, Veronica Dal Sasso, Leonardo Lamorgese et al.

Union Pacific (UP) is one of the largest transportation companies in the world, with over 50.000 kms of rail network covering 23 states in the United States. In 2017 Union Pacific embarked on a project that within 5 years would lead it to become the only rail operator in the world equipped with a technology capable of fully automating the real-time management and optimization of train traffic. In 2021 the main milestone of such project has been reached with the first deployment of the automated dispatching system we present here. To attack such large and complex problem, we decomposed it into distinct but interrelated functional components, and developed optimization models and methods to handle such components. The models communicate with each other through variables and constraints, and by a careful timing of invocations. In this paper we give an overview of the overall approach.

Yan Xia, Yong-Fu Lin, Jin-Yi Yu et al.

Decadal-scale interactions between the tropical Atlantic and Pacific Oceans play a crucial role in global climate variability through bidirectional teleconnections. Current climate models show persistent biases in representing these basin interactions, particularly in simulating the Atlantic's influence on Pacific climate. Using historical simulations from 27 CMIP6 models and two configurations of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) during 1950-2015, we systematically evaluate tropical Atlantic-Pacific teleconnections through both Walker circulation and extratropical wave responses. Most models exhibit Pacific-dominated teleconnections, contradicting observational evidence of Atlantic control on Pacific variability during the past 40 years. By developing a performance metric that combines tropical circulation patterns and extratropical wave propagation, we identify two distinct model behaviors: high-skill models capture the bidirectional Atlantic-Pacific teleconnections with a secondary symptom of systematic 20-degree westward shifts in convective centers, while low-skill models display amplified Pacific dominance through reversed Walker circulation responses warming in both tropical basins. Comparative analysis between standard E3SMv2 and its multi-scale modeling framework configuration demonstrates that implementing more sophisticated cloud-scale processes alone, with limited model tuning, cannot resolve these teleconnection biases. Our results identify four CMIP6 models and E3SMv2 that effectively reproduce observed teleconnection pathways, offering a comprehensive diagnostic framework for evaluating decadal Atlantic-Pacific interactions in climate models.

Romanchev D.D.

The article analyzes the spread of modern firearms in Japan during the Bakumatsu transition period (1853–1868), as well as their use during the civil war of 1863–1868. In the 1840–60s, the world experienced one of the largest revolutions in military technology, which completely changed the very approach to warfare. Japan, forced against its will to end its 200-year isolation from the outside world in 1853, was also affected by th e global trend toward rearmament. Faced with external pressure, the Japanese government attempted to modernize its armed forces, but the weapons that flooded the country were used not to repel foreign aggression, but during the civil war, which resulted in the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and global changes in Japanese society.

Chinasa T. Okolo

In light of prominent discourse around the negative implications of generative AI, an emerging area of research is investigating the current and estimated impacts of AI-generated propaganda on African citizens participating in elections. Throughout Africa, there have already been suspected cases of AI-generated propaganda influencing electoral outcomes or precipitating coups in countries like Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Gabon, underscoring the need for comprehensive research in this domain. This paper aims to highlight the risks associated with the spread of generative AI-driven disinformation within Africa while concurrently examining the roles of government, civil society, academia, and the general public in the responsible development, practical use, and robust governance of AI. To understand how African governments might effectively counteract the impact of AI-generated propaganda, this paper presents case studies illustrating the current usage of generative AI for election-related propaganda in Africa. Subsequently, this paper discusses efforts by fact-checking organisations to mitigate the negative impacts of disinformation, explores the potential for new initiatives to actively engage citizens in literacy efforts to combat disinformation spread, and advocates for increased governmental regulatory measures. Overall, this research seeks to increase comprehension of the potential ramifications of AI-generated propaganda on democratic processes within Africa and propose actionable strategies for stakeholders to address these multifaceted challenges.

Quishpe-Vásquez, C., Gámiz-Fortis et al.

This study presents a basin wide assessment about the spatio-temporal variability of streamflows in Ecuador for the period 1979-2015. The influence of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) on stremaflow variariability from February to April (FMA) period, as the months showing maximum stramflow for the wet season in Ecuador, and from the June to August (JJA), correspondign to the dry season, was analysed. First, a long-term trend analysis was carried out by applying the Sen's slope estimator and the Mann-Kendall test to monthly streamflow data from 45 gaging stations located in different basins across Ecuador. While the coastal region showed the highest generalized positive trends from July to January, the results for the Pacific Andean area suggested a strengthening of the seasonality, presenting an overall increase in the streamflow for all months except August, September and October, which showed negative trends. Second, a singular-value decomposition (SVD) was applied in order to find the main coupled variability patterns between the FMA streamflow and the quasi-coetaneous SST (December-February, DJF) and between the JJA streamflow and the coetaneous SST. The results revealed two main coupled modes for DJF SST/FMA streamflow, the first associated with the canonical El Niño and the second with El Niño Modoki. The latter exerted a major influence on FMA streamflow over most of Ecuador. For JJA streamflow, however, the pattern associated with the traditional El Niño was even more relevant. These results establish the foundations for streamflow modelling in Ecuador based on the Pacific SST, showing the strong response of the streamflows to different types of El Niño events

Ismaila Temitayo Sanusi, Fitsum Gizachew Deriba

Noticeably, Africa is underrepresented in the computing education research (CER) community. However, there has been some effort from the researchers in the region to contribute to the growing need for computing for all. To understand the body of works that emerged from the global south region and their area of focus in computing education, we conducted a systematic review of the literature. This research investigates the prominent CER journals and conferences to discern the kind of research that has been published and how much contribution they have made to the growing field. Of the 68 selected studies, 45 papers were from South Africa. The prominent aspect of computing in the literature is programming, which accounts for 43%. We identified open areas for research in the context and discussed the implication of our findings for the development of CER in Africa.

Allahsera Auguste Tapo, Ali Traore, Sidy Danioko et al.

In the last 5 years, the availability of large audio datasets in African countries has opened unlimited opportunities to build machine intelligence (MI) technologies that are closer to the people and speak, learn, understand, and do businesses in local languages, including for those who cannot read and write. Unfortunately, these audio datasets are not fully exploited by current MI tools, leaving several Africans out of MI business opportunities. Additionally, many state-of-the-art MI models are not culture-aware, and the ethics of their adoption indexes are questionable. The lack thereof is a major drawback in many applications in Africa. This paper summarizes recent developments in machine intelligence in Africa from a multi-layer multiscale and culture-aware ethics perspective, showcasing MI use cases in 54 African countries through 400 articles on MI research, industry, government actions, as well as uses in art, music, the informal economy, and small businesses in Africa. The survey also opens discussions on the reliability of MI rankings and indexes in the African continent as well as algorithmic definitions of unclear terms used in MI.

Kim En Un, Konovalova A.I.

The article is devoted to the round table “70th Anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement”, which was held on July 31, 2023 at the Institute of China and Contemporary Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Experts in Korean studies, political and public figures from Russia, the DPRK and the Republic of Korea from various scientific, state and public organizations discussed a wide range of historical issues related to the situation on the Korean peninsula in 1950-1953, presented an assessment of the Armistice Agreement and conclusions from the Korean War from the modern perspective. It was noted, in particular, that the United States currently continue their hostile policy against the DPRK, which creates a tense situation on the Korean peninsula.

Danny Schindler

Following the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his main contender Raila Odinga in 2018, the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) was launched to unite the country and improve governance. As a main outcome, a proposal to amend the 2010 constitution was introduced in 2020. However, on 31 March 2022 the Supreme Court declared the BBI unconstitutional since Kenyatta had opted to alter Kenya’s highest law by means of a popular initiative under Article 257 which is the preserve of ordinary citizens. Against the background of this failure for procedural reasons, the paper evaluates the initiative’s most important proposals in the realm of constitutional parliamentary law, i.e. the introduction both of a prime minister and the office of the leader of the opposition. For that purpose, the reform coalition’s own claims and intentions serve as a yardstick. The analysis yields mixed results. While the court’s verdict plainly provides proof that the rule of law prevails, it is more difficult to speak of a missed opportunity to readjust the political system’s design. The executive extension hardly mitigates the winner-takes-all principle that centres around the presidency. It neither shows real interest in more inclusive politics. Constitutionalizing the chief opposition post might be more welcomed even though its selection rule holds potential for conflict. It reduces the stakes of elections by giving greater weight to this office which might serve as consolation prize but also stands as symbol of democratic tolerance. In general, failed attempts to revise the supreme law merit more attention since they are part and parcel of a country’s constitutional politics and, hence, form the background for future reforms.

Alexandrova M.V., Sun Fanxi

The epidemic of COVID-19 in China has caused the worst public health emergency since the formation of the PRC. At the international level, there is a general pattern of the impact of such situations on employment and income of the population, which remains relevant in different periods and national contexts. The spread of COVID-19 has provoked a higher risk of negative consequences for farmers in poor areas. Some of them have limited development opportunities and cannot cope with sudden life difficulties. Despite the successes of the PRC in the fight against absolute poverty and the implementation of the targeted approach, the coronavirus epidemic showed the bottlenecks of this policy. The reduction of poverty in rural areas through the industrial complex formation remains a difficult task. Currently, most industries in the areas freed from poverty are still supported by the government and the political leadership, and not through sustained productivity growth. In terms of project selection, due to the tight deadlines and heavy burden of poverty eradication, most of the poor households chose industries with short industrial chains and low added value of products, which led to a more serious problem of homogeneity and identity of industrial products produced in villages. In poor areas, wage of the migrant workers accounts for the bulk of rural household income. During the coronavirus epidemic, due to the multiple restrictions, it was extremely difficult for migrant workers to return to big cities where they had jobs. As a result, their families in the villages suffered. Migrant peasants are mainly employed in the unstable urban informal sector. Since the epidemic has limited mobility and the informal sector has not been able to fully resume operations and production, the wages of migrant workers have declined due to unstable employment, which has increased fluctuations in the incomes of peasant households.

Raden Ajeng Rizka Fiani Prabaningtyas, Tri Nuke Pudjiastuti, Athiqah Nur Alami et al.

The protracted refugee situation in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased refugee children's vulnerability due to the non-fulfillment of their fundamental rights, including the right to education. Drawing on data collected through interviews and observation of refugee children during fieldwork in the cities of Batam and Makassar, this paper aims to investigate how and why their access to education has changed during the pandemic. This study finds that, shortly before the pandemic, the Indonesian government provided access to education for refugee children through the issuance of the Circular Letter from the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology Number 752553/A.A4/HK/2019 dated on 10 July 2019. However, the pandemic complicated the accessibility of education for refugee children suggested by the Circular Letter due to lockdown policy and mobility restrictions. The complication is apparent in four aspects of accessibility, namely: access to information, activities in the learning process, environmental support, and the motivation of refugee children. Notwithstanding, this study also finds that the pandemic has induced developments of adaptation strategies through the adoption of online learning among refugee communities to enable wider access to education for refugee children. Therefore, the pandemic may have revealed the urgency for a more rights-based policy on refugee treatment in Indonesia.

Antje Missbach, Gunnar Stange

Abdijabar Yussuf Mohamed, Samuel Kang'ara Kamau

As the internet penetration rate in Africa increases, so does the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Along with this growth in internet access is the risk of cyberattacks to vulnerable IoT devices mushrooming in the African cyberspace. One way to determine IoT vulnerabilities is to find open ports within Africa s cyberspace. Our research leverages Shodan search engine, a powerful tool for discovering IoT devices facing the public internet, to find open ports across Africa. We conduct an analysis of our findings, ranking countries from most to least vulnerable to cyberattack. We find that South Africa,Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, and Nigeria are the five countries most susceptible to cyberattack on the continent. Further, 69.8% of devices having one of the five most commonly open internet ports have had past documented vulnerabilities. Following our analysis, we conclude with policy recommendations for both the public and private sector.

Aimé-Parfait Niyonkuru

Loi organique, loi ordinaire. Ces expressions si familières aux juristes et parlementaires. Contrôle préalable de constitutionnalité des lois. Cet exercice auquel sont habitués les juges de la Cour constitutionnelle du Burundi. Mais lorsque les complexités et les nuances technico-juridiques s’invitent, il n’est pas certain que les uns et les autres parviennent toujours à éviter de bien malencontreuses méprises. A l’aune de l’intelligibilité attendue de la jurisprudence, ce papier analyse les arrêts rendus par la Cour constitutionnelle du Burundi en matière de contrôle préalable de constitutionnalité. Il questionne, entre autres, sa lisibilité, sa constance, sa cohérence et la qualité du syllogisme mis en œuvre par le juge constitutionnel dans l’application de la règle de droit.

Kazakov O.I.

The article examines some aspects of Russian-Japanese relations in 2022, due to the end of the COVID-19 epidemic and the beginning of the special Russian military operation in Ukraine. The epidemic has significantly weakened the humanitarian ties between Moscow and Tokyo, and the Ukrainian factor has put the bilateral political relations almost on the verge of collapse. Nevertheless, the humanitarian cooperation was not completely destroyed – cultural events continued both in Russia and in Japan. Sharp deterioration of the Russian-Japanese political and economic relations in 2022 actualizes the importance of “soft power”, which is able to prevent a complete rupture of the ties between countries, and for this it is necessary to maintain and develop the humanitarian cooperation. It will contribute to the full-fledged interaction of the states in the future, but after the elimination of the reasons hindering this process.

Leonardo Rydin Gorjão, Jacques Maritz

In this work, we explore two mechanisms that explain non-Gaussian behaviour of power-grid frequency recordings in the South African grid. We make use of a Fokker-Planck approach to power-grid frequency that yields a direct relation between common model parameters such as inertia, damping, and noise amplitude and non-parametric estimations of the same directly from power-grid frequency recordings. We propose two explanations for the non-Gaussian leptokurtic distributions in South Africa: The first based on multiplicative noise in power-grid frequency recordings, which we observe in South Africa; The second based on the well-known scheduled and unscheduled load shedding and rolling blackouts that beset South Africa. For the first we derive an analytic expression of the effects of multiplicative noise that permits the estimation of all statistical moments - and discuss drawbacks in comparison with the data; For the second we employ a simple numerical analysis with a modular power grid of South Africa. Both options help understand the statistics of power-grid frequency in South Africa - particularly the presence of heavy tails.