The limits of technocracy and local encounters: The European Union and peacebuilding

ABSTRACT

This article is the conclusion to a special issue that examines the European Union (EU), peacebuilding, and “the local.” It argues that technocracy—particularly EU technocracy—shapes the extent to which local actors can hope to achieve ownership of externally funded and directed peace support projects and programs. Although some actors within the EU have worked hard to push localization agendas, a number of technocracy linked factors come together to limit the extent to which the EU can truly connect with the local level in its peace support activities. While the EU and other international actors have invested heavily into capacity building in conflict-affected contexts, the EU’s own capacity has not necessarily been built to address the scalar problem of accessing the local in ways that are meaningful.     

War and rumours of war,do improvements in space technologies bring space conflict closer?

Combat in near-Earth orbit is emerging as a more realistic possibility. The argument here is that changes in space technologies combined with a sea change in political rhetoric is bringing the possibility of military conflict in space technologies. This movement reflects a generational shift as the original decisions regarding military conflict in space are now being reassessed by a generation who did not experience World War II or the Cold War. For these, the sanctuary approach to space activities is not as persuasive and new enhanced space technologies bring the possibility of victory or at least survival possible during a conflict in space.     

Note: Dynamic lot sizing for a finite rate input process

The basic single-product dynamic lot-sizing problem involves determining the optimal batch production schedule to meet a deterministic, discrete-in-time, varying demand pattern subject to linear setup and stockholding costs. The most widely known procedure for deriving the optimal solution is the Wagner-Whitin algorithm, although many other approaches have subsequently been developed for tackling the same problem. The objective of this note is to show how these procedures can readily be adapted when the input is a finite rate production process. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 44: 221–228, 1997     

Graph distance‐dependent labeling related to code assignment in computer networks

For nonnegative integers d₁, d₂, and L(d₁, d₂)‐labeling of a graph G, is a function f : V(G) → {0, 1, 2, …} such that |f(u) − f(v)| ≥ d_i whenever the distance between u and v is i in G, for i = 1, 2. The L(d₁, d₂)‐number of G, λ(G) is the smallest k such that there exists an L(d₁, d₂)‐labeling with the largest label k. These labelings have an application to a computer code assignment problem. The task is to assign integer “control codes” to a network of computer stations with distance restrictions, which allow d₁ ≤ d₂. In this article, we will study the labelings with (d₁, d₂) ∈ {(0, 1), (1, 1), (1, 2)}. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2005