Decentralization Regional Diversity And Conflict

This edited volume focuses on the links between the ongoing crisis in and around Ukraine, regional diversity, and the reform of decentralization. It provides in-depth insights into the historical constitution of regional diversity and the evolution of center-periphery relationships in Ukraine, the legal qualification of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, and the role of the decentralization reform in promoting conflict resolution, as well as modernization, democratization and European integration of Ukraine. Particular emphasis lies on the securitization of both regional diversity issues and territorial self-government arrangements in terms of Russia’s support for self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. The volume captures the complexity of contemporary “hybrid” conflicts, involving both internal and external aspects, and the hybridization and securitization of territorial self-governance solutions. It thus provides an important contribution to the debate on territorial self-government and conflict resolution.

Why does political decentralization reduce intrastate conflict more in some countries than in others? Can political institutions be designed to engender peace? If so, how? Addressing these questions, Dawn Brancati's Peace by Design advances the current debate on decentralization beyond a discussion of whether or not decentralization is effective in reducing conflict, to when and under what conditions it is successful. The book bridges opposing views while offering an original one, arguing that decentralization's ability to reduce conflict hinges on the electoral strength of regional parties, which, in turn, varies according to different institutional features of decentralization. Various aspects of political systems likewise affect the extent to which regional parties stimulate conflict and conversely, the degree to which statewide parties mitigate it. Rich in scholarly as well as policymaking insights, and grounded in extensive qualitative and quantitative research, Peace by Design illuminates the exigent issue of how to design political institutions in order to promote peace. Dawn Brancati is an Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Previously, she taught at Harvard University and held fellowships from the Harvard-MIT Data Center and the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University. List of Figures List of Tables 1. Introduction Part I: Theory Development 2. Decentralization: Fueling the Fire or Dampening the Flames of Intrastate Conflict? Part II: Case Study Analysis 3. Czechoslovakia 4. Spain 5. India Part III: Quantitative Analysis 6. Ethnic Conflict and Secessionism 7. Regional Parties 8. Conclusion References Endnotes Index

The book offers new insights into how ethnicity, language and regional-local identity interact within the context of Ukrainian political reform, and indicates how these reforms affect social cohesion among ethno-cultural groups. While the individual chapters each focus on one or a few facets of the overall research question, together they draw a nuanced picture of the multifaceted challenges to creating and consolidating social cohesion in a nationalizing state. The concept integrates various disciplines, including political science, international relations, law, and sociology. Correspondingly, the contributions are based on various methodological approaches, ranging from legal analysis over media discourse analysis, individual and focus group interviews to analysis of data from a representative population survey. The findings of the in-depth study are discussed within the broader context of comparative research on diversity management and social cohesion in fragmented societies.

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 has not only caused immense suffering inside the country, and among its people, it has shifted the political landscape in Russia for the worse, altered the strategic map of Europe, and created division and economic pain in the rest of the world. In this volume, a group of internationally acclaimed academics – many originally from Ukraine or Russia – examine the deep causes of Putin’s war, the role played by other actors such as China and the United States, the severe consequences for the many millions of Ukrainians displaced from their home and country, the impact on the West and the Global South and the challenges confronting Ukraine when the war finally comes to an end. Part of the LSE Public Policy Review Series, Ukraine: Russia’s War and the Future of the Global Order offers a rigorous intellectual response to this extreme humanitarian crisis and considers the implications for the future of Ukraine and the transformed global order.

This book conceives federalism not as a static institutional architecture, but as a dynamic formation always in flux. This may entail processes of federalization, but in some cases also lead to de-federalization. It looks at emerging federal structures worldwide and analyses federal structures: their emergence, operation and categorization. The contributors highlight that the “emergence” of these federal structures has multiple facets, from the recognition of ethnic diversity to the use of federalism as a tool of conflict resolution. Identifying and categorizing processes of federalization and defederalization in a variety of cases, the book provides much needed empirical and theoretical discussion on emerging federal structures and the changing nature of federalism in the post-Cold War era.

This book gathers selected papers that were submitted to the 2021 International Conference on Comprehensible Science (ICCS 2021) that aims to make available the discussion and the publication of papers on all aspects of single and multi-disciplinary research on conference topics. ICCS 2021 held on June 18–19, 2021. An important characteristic feature of conference is the short publication time and worldwide distribution. Written by respected researchers, the book covers a range of innovative topics related to: artificial intelligence research; big data and data mining; blockchain and cryptocurrency; business, finance and accounting and statistics; cyber security systems; ecology systems; educational technologies; engineering and technology; innovative economics; media technologies; medicine, public health and rehabilitation; nutrition and diet researches; physical and material sciences; and smart cities and contracts. This book may be used for private and professional non-commercial research and classroom use (e.g., sharing the contribution by mail or in hard copy form with research colleagues for their professional non-commercial research and classroom use); for use in presentations or handouts for any level students, researchers, etc.; and for the further development of authors’ scientific career (e.g., by citing and attaching contributions to job or grant application).

The eight-volume set LNCS 13375 – 13382 constitutes the proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Computational Science and Its Applications, ICCSA 2022, which was held in Malaga, Spain during July 4 – 7, 2022. The first two volumes contain the proceedings from ICCSA 2022, which are the 57 full and 24 short papers presented in these books were carefully reviewed and selected from 279 submissions. The other six volumes present the workshop proceedings, containing 285 papers out of 815 submissions. These six volumes includes the proceedings of the following workshops: ​ Advances in Artificial Intelligence Learning Technologies: Blended Learning, STEM, Computational Thinking and Coding (AAILT 2022); Workshop on Advancements in Applied Machine-learning and Data Analytics (AAMDA 2022); Advances in information Systems and Technologies for Emergency management, risk assessment and mitigation based on the Resilience (ASTER 2022); Advances in Web Based Learning (AWBL 2022); Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers: Technologies and Applications (BDLTA 2022); Bio and Neuro inspired Computing and Applications (BIONCA 2022); Configurational Analysis For Cities (CA Cities 2022); Computational and Applied Mathematics (CAM 2022), Computational and Applied Statistics (CAS 2022); Computational Mathematics, Statistics and Information Management (CMSIM); Computational Optimization and Applications (COA 2022); Computational Astrochemistry (CompAstro 2022); Computational methods for porous geomaterials (CompPor 2022); Computational Approaches for Smart, Conscious Cities (CASCC 2022); Cities, Technologies and Planning (CTP 2022); Digital Sustainability and Circular Economy (DiSCE 2022); Econometrics and Multidimensional Evaluation in Urban Environment (EMEUE 2022); Ethical AI applications for a human-centered cyber society (EthicAI 2022); Future Computing System Technologies and Applications (FiSTA 2022); Geographical Computing and Remote Sensing for Archaeology (GCRSArcheo 2022); Geodesign in Decision Making: meta planning and collaborative design for sustainable and inclusive development (GDM 2022); Geomatics in Agriculture and Forestry: new advances and perspectives (GeoForAgr 2022); Geographical Analysis, Urban Modeling, Spatial Statistics (Geog-An-Mod 2022); Geomatics for Resource Monitoring and Management (GRMM 2022); International Workshop on Information and Knowledge in the Internet of Things (IKIT 2022); 13th International Symposium on Software Quality (ISSQ 2022); Land Use monitoring for Sustanability (LUMS 2022); Machine Learning for Space and Earth Observation Data (MALSEOD 2022); Building multi-dimensional models for assessing complex environmental systems (MES 2022); MOdels and indicators for assessing and measuring the urban settlement deVElopment in the view of ZERO net land take by 2050 (MOVEto0 2022); Modelling Post-Covid cities (MPCC 2022); Ecosystem Services: nature’s contribution to people in practice. Assessment frameworks, models, mapping, and implications (NC2P 2022); New Mobility Choices For Sustainable and Alternative Scenarios (NEMOB 2022); 2nd Workshop on Privacy in the Cloud/Edge/IoT World (PCEIoT 2022); Psycho-Social Analysis of Sustainable Mobility in The Pre- and Post-Pandemic Phase (PSYCHE 2022); Processes, methods and tools towards RESilient cities and cultural heritage prone to SOD and ROD disasters (RES 2022); Scientific Computing Infrastructure (SCI 2022); Socio-Economic and Environmental Models for Land Use Management (SEMLUM 2022); 14th International Symposium on Software Engineering Processes and Applications (SEPA 2022); Ports of the future - smartness and sustainability (SmartPorts 2022); Smart Tourism (SmartTourism 2022); Sustainability Performance Assessment: models, approaches and applications toward interdisciplinary and integrated solutions (SPA 2022); Specifics of smart cities development in Europe (SPEED 2022); Smart and Sustainable Island Communities (SSIC 2022); Theoretical and Computational Chemistryand its Applications (TCCMA 2022); Transport Infrastructures for Smart Cities (TISC 2022); 14th International Workshop on Tools and Techniques in Software Development Process (TTSDP 2022); International Workshop on Urban Form Studies (UForm 2022); Urban Regeneration: Innovative Tools and Evaluation Model (URITEM 2022); International Workshop on Urban Space and Mobilities (USAM 2022); Virtual and Augmented Reality and Applications (VRA 2022); Advanced and Computational Methods for Earth Science Applications (WACM4ES 2022); Advanced Mathematics and Computing Methods in Complex Computational Systems (WAMCM 2022).

This book challenges the common perception of authoritarian regimes as incompatible with federalism and decentralization. It examines how the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan have managed to exploit federalism and decentralization as useful instruments to help them preserve control, avoid political instability, and to shift blame to the regional authorities in times of crises and policy failures. The authors explain how post-Soviet authoritarian regimes balance the advantages and risks and emphasize the contradictory role of external influences and threats to the institutional design of federalism and decentralization. Advancing our understanding of how the institutions of federalism and decentralization are skillfully constrained, but at the same time used by authoritarian incumbents, they show that federalism and decentralization matter in non-democracies, though the nondemocratic character of the political systems greatly modifies their effects. The authors show the implication of the COVID-19 crisis and current Russian war against Ukraine for the center-regional relations in Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of post-Soviet politics, decentralization, federalism, and modern authoritarianism.