U.S. SINGAPORE RELATIONS *

Though geographically only about three times the size of Washington, DC, and with a population of about 5.9 million, the city-state of Singapore exerts economic and diplomatic influence on par with much larger countries. Its stable government, strong economic performance, educated citizenry, and strategic position along key shipping lanes afford it a large role in regional and global affairs. For the United States, Singapore has been a partner in both trade and security initiatives and an advocate of a strong U.S. role in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, Singapore's leaders have aimed to maintain close relations with China, and to maintain positive ties with all regional powers.

The role of career development in ensuring effective quality management of training

Orientation: It is widely acknowledged that career development needs to be viewed as a critical element by organisations to capacitate employees and contribute to organisational success. The role of career development in capacitating leaders to ensure effective quality management (QM) of training is not well known. Research purpose: This research aimed to investigate officers in corps training units' perceptions regarding the role of career development in managing the quality of training in the South African (SA) Army. Motivation for the study: Limited research exists concerning the career development of leaders responsible for the QM of training internationally and nationally. This study intended to fill the gap. Research design and method: Qualitative focus group interviews were conducted using a sample comprising 49 officers at six SA Army corps training units. Main findings: The appointment of unqualified and incompetent leaders in critical positions, lack of continuity in the staffing of personnel, the appointment of incompetent personnel in training positions and the lack of mentors and opportunities for mentoring of officers adversely affected the QM of training in the SA Army. Practical/managerial implications: There is a need for leaders in the SA Army to ensure that career development strategies are adequately planned and managed in the training context. This will ensure that leaders with adequate potential are appointed and developed to guarantee high-quality training. Contribution/value-add: This research provided an empirical description of the role that career development plays in the organisational system to ensure adequate QM of training.

AI and the Automation of Warfare

Packer and Reeves also collaborated on the forthcoming co-authored book Prison House of the Circuit: Politics of Control from Analog to Digital (Packer, Nuñez de Villavicencio, Monea, Oswald, Maddalena, & Reeves, in press). [...]just two or three weeks ago, the U.N. released a report explaining that it's likely that the first instance of autonomous drones making their own decision to kill soldiers occurred in a skirmish in Libya in March 2020 (United Nations Security Council, 2021). [...]I think there's a general recognition by folks in the military, by journalists writing about this issue, by intellectuals, that there has been a shift in the past half century, 75 years, to a different kind of warfare. In terms of a paradigm, too, I'm also just interested because the American military, post-Vietnam, has described itself as subscribing to the idea of information warfare-using embedded journalists, managing the flows of information surrounding conflicts. Media doot only manipulate soldiers to fight better and citizens to support various military efforts but rather, the scale of warfare has reached a level of complication that without a vast logistical apparatus, war is going to be lost-that logistical terrain of war is going to be lost-and the "logistically dominant" force, nation, (or) group of allies will prevail.

Non-Traditional Security and China-US Relations

This essay discusses setbacks to societal level of interactions between the United States and China resulting from the Trump administration's turn to comprehensive confrontation. Bilateral cooperation in areas like public health, technology trade and development, law enforcement, and trade in food and energy has been severely curtailed. Future efforts to repair damage to bilateral relations will have to begin with these and related areas that indisputably have a direct impact on individual welfare in the two societies.

US-China Higher Education Links in Crisis: Behind the Curtain of Suspicion

Has America's complex academic relationship with China been a largely positive experience, or has it eroded our national security by enabling Chinese Communist academic espionage and influence operations to take root at US colleges and universities? For almost forty years beginning in 1978, US-China education links were widely considered a clear benefit to both countries. Today, academic relationships have become a focal point of the current crisis in US-China relations. A web of suspicion has come down over Chinese students and scholars in the United States, as well as Chinese scientists and entrepreneurs. Some members of the Trump administration have even talked about cancelling all Chinese student visas. This article focuses on Chinese students and scholars in the United States. It examines the flashpoints of academic espionage and China's influence operations on American campuses, looks at how American institutions are responding, and closes with recommendations and reflections.

Law and Politics on Export Restrictions: WTO and Beyond by Chien-Huei WU,. Cambridge International Trade and Economic Law Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021. xxii + 284 pp. Hardcover: AUD$110.00;eBook: USD$88.00. doi: 10.1017/9781108953566

By examining the framework of export restrictions and pertinent concepts of export controls and restraints, the book unveils intertwined areas of WTO law, public international law, investment and competition law. The detailed analysis of case law on export restrictions and the national security exception in trade and investment law particularly benefits academic research and legal practice. [...]in addressing export control regimes, the book predominantly underscores US and EU legislation, which form the basis for most of the legal compliance issues.

Leadership Through Organizational High Reliability During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Navy Medicine's Experience

Many of these required skills exist outside of what is traditionally taught in medical school.1 One leadership paradigm, the use of high-reliability organization (HRO) principles, is increasingly applied in several areas of medicine.2-5 The leadership of Navy Medicine found applying the principles and practices of an HRO to be of particular value in responding to the challenges of the current viral crisis. While many positive actions were taken in response to the outbreak and a great many medical personnel worked tirelessly to ensure the well-being of the crew and return the ship to sea, the ship did not leave Guam to continue on its mission until June 4, a little more than two months after the first case;nearly a quarter of the ship's personnel had contracted COVID-19. Deference to expertise was also demonstrated by bringing in public health professionals with the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center to work with the crew and the various Navy entities to determine which cleaning solutions worked best aboard the ship, how to reconfigure duty sections to reduce cross-contamination, and establish ways to reduce other disease vectors that could lead to reinfection of the crew based on available information at the time. Additionally, an outbreak investigation was conducted in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to better understand transmission and characteristics of the disease.7 This study, published in the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, was one of the first scientific studies to identify the role that asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases played in disease transmission as well as the loss of taste and smell as additional symptoms not previously described.

Not in Our Name: The Disingenuous Use of "Public Health" as Justification for Title 42 Expulsions in the Era of the Migrant Protection Protocols

Sadly, Celina's experience at the US border is not uncommon, although her ultimate admission to the United States is rare indeed. Because ofthe confluence of MPP and the 2020 invocation of 42 US Code 265 (hereafter "Title 42"), an obscure public health policy last updated in 1944, more than a million expulsions of migrants and asylum seekers occurred at the US border in fiscal year 2021 alone, contrary to international law.1 POLICY BACKGROUND The policy known today as Title 42 originated in a 1944 law called the Public Health Service Act, which (among other things) granted the federal government quarantine powers and the power to prevent the introduction of disease at the border. Robert Redfield, then director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), determined that introduction into congregate settings of persons from Canada or Mexico would increase the already serious danger to the public health of the United States to the point of requiring a temporary suspension of the introduction of covered aliens into the United States.3 The same order also noted the logistical challenges of preventing the transmission ofCOVID-19 at the border: Widespread, compulsory federal quarantines or isolations of such persons pending test results are impracticable due to the numbers of persons involved, logistical challenges, and CDC resource and personnel constraints.3 Although the US government did not have access to vaccines or rapid tests in March 2020, they need not have adopted such an extreme policy to protect the public's health. Given the barriers to effective implementation of PPE [personal protective equipment] and administrative controls to prevent the spread of [COVID-19] in immigration detention centers, an evidence-based public health approach suggests . . . the release of detainees from immigration detention centers, as this strategy will reduce the likelihood of person-to-person infection and enhance the possibility of engaging in meaningful social distancing and hygienic practices as directed by the CDC.4(p112) That the US government invoked Title 42 for those coming through land borders but instituted only temporary travel bans for other international travelers and did not institute interstate travel bans underscores how unnecessary these extreme measures truly were, even in the early days of COVID-19.5 In addition to the challenges posed by the use of Title 42 to prevent the entry of asylum seekers during COVID-19, MPP-often referred to as the Remain in Mexico program- creates additional barriers for migrants seeking to enter the United States.

Development Strategies for National Economies After Covid-19 Pandemic

What are the economy sectors will help countries overcome the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic? How countries should rezone their investment strategies to bolster recovery in main economy sectors? Using the Cobb-Douglas model, the importance of agriculture, energy, education, and ICT industries for GDP growth was proven. It was confirmed that agriculture and industry will be key sectors in the post-crisis period for Ukraine, Poland and Austria. During the time of economic uncertainty growth, ICT and e-commerce sectors are principal tools that will sustain the population's well-being.

Trump Ended WTO Dispute Settlement. Trade Remedies are Needed to Fix it

Unhappy with the rulings of the WTO dispute settlement system, which disproportionately targeted US use of trade remedies, the United States ended the entire system in 2019. There are multiple hurdles to agreeing to new terms of trade remedy use and thus potentially restoring some form of binding dispute settlement. First, a change would affect access to policy flexibility by the now large number of users of trade remedies. Second, although China's exports are the overwhelming target of trade remedies, exporters in other countries increasingly find themselves caught up in trade remedy actions linked to China. Third, critical differences posed by China's economic model may call for new rules for trade remedies, but no consensus on those rules has emerged. Even some of the most promising reforms have practical limitations, create additional challenges, or may be politically unviable.

China's Strategic Partnership with Russia amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

According to a joint statement issued by the two countries, Sino-Russian relations have reached "the highest level in their history" and exceeded the form of a military and political alliance during the Cold War.1 In the meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin called China's President Xi Jinping his "dear friend" and the relations with China a real model of interstate cooperation in the 21st century.2 Despite the warm words exchanged between the two leaders, in a contradictory manner, Russia was one of the first countries to shut the border with China during the early outbreak of COVID-19 in the Chinese city of Wuhan. [...]there have been concerns that COVID-19 could have shaken the strategic partnership between Russia and China.3 These concerns are not simply unfounded fears since China's mishandling of COVID-19 during the early phases resulted in severe global backlash from the world. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, the majority of advanced economies believe the Chinese government poorly handled the COVID-19 outbreak and negative views of China have reached historic highs.4 Given the gap between rhetoric and reality in the Sino-Russian strategic partnership and the global backlash faced by China, this research examines two fundamental questions related to the development of the bilateral relationship: (1) What is the real nature of the strategic partnership between Russia and China? (2) Does Russia's response to COVID-19 pandemic indicate its shift in attitude toward China? [...]Sino-Russian cooperation was more political than economic at the time.

Wolf Warriors and Diplomacy in the New Era: An Empirical Analysis of China's Diplomatic Language *

[...]after Zhao posted a computer-generated image of an Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to the throat of an Afghan child and condemned Australia's violation of human rights in Afghanistan, the Australian prime minister called a media briefing and demanded an apology from the Chinese government.3 The wolf warrior actions of some Chinese diplomats have gone beyond rhetoric. [...]there is still debate about whether this form of diplomacy represents an official foreign policy line or, rather, the more limited tactics of the MFA or even individual diplomats.6 Global Times, a Chinese state-controlled daily newspaper, has praised the wolf warrior diplomacy for reflecting the interests of the Chinese people and attributed Western concern over it to the ongoing shift in the relative positions of China and Western countries.7 At the same time, some long-serving and high-profile career diplomats, such as Cui Tiankai (S¾M) and Fu Ying (#?), have publicly condemned and tried to tamp down the wolf warrior diplomacy.8 International relations scholars in China, such as Yan Xuetong (l¾??.), have also urged the world to stop treating diplomats' personal statements and social media posts as China's official foreign policy.9 How does wolf warrior diplomacy relate to Xi Jinping's diplomacy? [...]Xi's diplomacy also stresses China's responsibility to assist developing countries and the importance of going beyond the narrow pursuit of its interests. While these conflicting strands of Xi's diplomacy might seem incoherent to the international audience, they allow for great flexibility, in that the aggressive wolf warrior style satisfies the domestic nationalist audience, and the egalitarian and liberal rhetoric creates the foreign policy space for China to deescalate international tensions.

Guest editorial: International business in times of global disruption

[...]of global pandemic, the governments were pushed to adapt their trade policies, which changed the landscape of business and put a lot of pressure on and disrupted global supply chains (GSC) and global value chain (GVC) (Sharma et al., 2020). [...]organizations’ responses to the global pandemic need to be able to deal with uncertain and continuously changing rules, regulations and socio-economic environment (Ahlstrom et al., 2020). [...]the interplay between formal and informal institutions is crucial to understand. The relevance of disruption to change in cross-border operations has been studied, e.g. from a risk management perspective (Revilla and Sáenz, 2014), considering the organization of global supply chains (Revilla and Sáenz, 2017).

Prioritizing risks with composition of probabilistic preferences and weighting of FMEA criteria for fast decision-making in complex scenarios

Purpose>This study aims to develop a risk prioritization process using failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) in association with composition of probabilistic preferences (CPP) and weighting the risk analysis criteria. It seeks to develop decision-making considering the fast response necessary to achieve project objectives in complex scenarios, such as the pandemic of COrona VIrus Disease 19 (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approach>After identifying the risks, the prioritization process was applied to a project in the oil and gas area, in which a focus group assessed these risks. This evaluation took place employing traditional FMEA, FMEA with CPP by axes considering four points of view and FMEA with CPP by weighted sum with the use of a multicriteria method to weight the criteria. These approaches were compared to understand their differences and benefits, with a flow chart being developed, consolidating the procedure.Findings>The methodologies that showed the greatest benefits were FMEA with CPP by axes PO (progressive-optimistic) and by weighted sum. Essentially, this was mainly related to the interrelationship between risks and to the importance of prioritization.Originality/value>This procedure can consider company's views on what is critical and the interrelationship between risks. It provides a clear segmentation of what should and should not be prioritized. It was also developed in a practical case, showing a possible alternative to support fast responses in decision-making.

BUSINESS INFORMATION SECURITY AS A PART OF CORPORATE SECURITY

In the new concept of national security, intelligence collects business information and has a significant place in the range of instruments for achieving the economic dimension of national security. Vulnerability in the information system causes a negative chain reaction in all other systems and is therefore a matter of general security. The value of business information is measured in billions of dollars, and the U.S. economy has suffered $ 300 billion in damage over the past few years due to the loss of business information. Effective information security can be achieved through a holistic approach that includes organizational and sociological factors within the organization combined with technological measures. Information security should be the responsibility of everyone in the organization, from management and the CEO to the lower level of management and all employees. People are a crucial factor in ensuring the security of the organization and the most common causes of information loss by employees are omissions and fraud, and information security depends on employee behavior that can enhance security and nurture an information security culture that promotes positive security behavior. It is important that the business entity assesses the risks and what information will be available to the public, and that it uses innovative technologies related to the defensive dimension - counterintelligence and greater security of the business entity.

Covid 19 Pandemisi Sürecinde Dünyada Şiddet ve Göç

Covid 19 Pandemisi, çatışma ve göçler üzerinde önemli etkileri olmuştur. Pandemi tüm ülkeleri etkilerken küresel ve sistemler arası ilişkileri, çatışma tarafları arasında ortak bir zemin oluşturmayı zorlaştırmıştır. Pandemi sırasında bölgesel ve küresel barışın saǧlanması mümkün olmamıştır. Pandeminin siyasi, sosyal, ekonomik açıdan da çok yönlü ve önemli sonuçları olmuştur. Pandemi sürecinde dünya genelinde savaş ve çatışma gibi şiddet türlerinde azalmalar görülürken sivillere karşı işlenen eylemlerde artış yaşanmıştır. Pandemi döneminde başta sosyal izolasyon olmak üzere tüm tedbirlere raǧmen ülke içinde ve ülke dışına göç eden insan sayısında artış gerçekleşmiştir. Íç çatışmaların yaşandıǧı ülkeler ulusal güvenlik için harcamaları gereken maddi ve manevi enerjilerinin önemli kısmını pandemi ile mücadeleye harcamışlardır. Bu çalışma, tarama modelinde betimsel bir araştırmadır. Çalışmanın amacı, Pandeminin yaşandıǧı süreçte dünyadaki şiddet ve göç olaylarının daǧılışını ve yoǧunluǧunu incelemektir. Çalışmada harita, tablo ve grafiklerle mevcut durum hakkında bilgiler verilmiştir.Alternate :The Covid 19 Pandemic has had significant effects on conflict and migration. While the pandemic affected all countries, its global and inter-system relations made it difficult to establish a common ground between the conflict parties. It has not been possible to achieve regional and global peace during the pandemic. The pandemic has had multifaceted and important consequences in terms of political, social and economic aspects. While there has been a decrease in the types of violence such as war and conflict throughout the world during the pandemic process, there has been an increase in the actions against civilians. Despite all the measures, especially social isolation, during the pandemic period, there has been an increase in the number of people migrating inside and outside the country. Countries with internal conflicts have spent a significant part of their material and moral energies, which they need to spend for national security, on the fight against the pandemic. This study is a descriptive research in survey model. The aim of the study is to examine the distribution and intensity of violence and migration events in the world during the pandemic. In the study, information about the current situation is given with maps, tables and graphics.

O Nouă Filosofie Europeană privind Reziliența și Redresarea. Mecanismul de Redresare și Reziliență și Impactul asupra Statelor Membre

UE oferă diferite fonduri statelor membre pentru investiţii si dezvoltare în infrastructură, guvernare, economie si societate. Acestea sunt orientate către priorităţile UE si necesităţile naţionale, oferind sansa statelor membre si statelor partenere de a se adapta la noile provocări. Pandemia de COVID 19 a testat statele, societăţile si economiile si scos în evidenţă nevoi care anterior ocupau un rol mai puţin important în finanţarea UE. Mai mult, statele europene aveau nevoie de soluţii personalizate pentru contextul post-criză, care să le ajute să se recupereze rapid din efectul domino generat de pandemiei. Toate acestea au fost cumulate în Mecanismul pentru Redresare si Rezilienţă, care, pe baza planurilor naţionale, oferă fonduri pentru o redresare rapidă si investiţii în sectoare cheie. Mecanismul a scos la iveală o întreagă filozofie în abordarea rezilienţei si redresării, întrucât, chiar dacă statele au urmat aceleaşi reguli în elaborarea planului, ele au orientatfondurile pentru diferite investiţii, reforme sau activităţi. Prezentul articol analizează modul în care statele si-au canalizat planurile de rezilienţă si de redresare, deoarece acestea oferind diferite filozofii în abordarea recuperării si rezilienţei.Alternate :The EU offers different funds to member states for investments and development in infrastructure, governance, economy, and society. They are targeted towards the EU priorities and national necessities, offering the chance for member states and partner states to adapt to the new challenges. The COVID 19 pandemic tested states, societies and economies, and pinpointed towards needs which previously occupied a less important role in EU funding. Moreover, European states needed tailor made solutions for the post-crisis context, which will help them recover fast from the domino effect of the pandemic. All these were gathered in the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which, based on national plans, offer funds for a rapid recovery and investments in key sectors. The mechanism revealed an entire philosophy in approaching resilience and recovery, as, even if states followed the same rules in developing the plan, they oriented funds for different investments, reforms or activities.

EUROPEAN UNION AND CIS COUNTRIES ON THE WAY TO A NEW STRATEGY: NEW APPROACHES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR COOPERATION

The economic, social, political processes taking place in the world radically transformed the system of relations between countries in the post-Soviet space. The readiness of the CIS countries for global changes was clearly insufficient. The development of complex processes related to the transformation of all relations in society has highlighted the problems of stability and social integration. The problem of studying the content of these processes is becoming increasingly important. First of all, it is necessary to realize that change cannot be limited to a narrow economic field. In our understanding, this approach allows us to analyze relations in a transitional society, where politics, economics and the social sphere are closely intertwined. The transition to the stage of sustainable economic growth is possible only on the basis of the formation of the technological potential of production, the development of entrepreneurship, and social mobility of workers. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and the new independent states remained with a very unusual configuration of the economy and the infrastructure and technological base. The traditional business in the CIS - trade in raw materials and industrial cooperation - is in crisis. Especially the economies of the oil-exporting countries of the region have undergone significant changes under the influence of falling oil prices in world markets. In 2015, a sharp drop in world prices for raw materials, devaluation of national currencies, economic sanctions against Russia had negative consequences in trade relations within the region, as well as with the EU countries. But now, political, financial and technical obstacles tied to the spread of the Coronavirus may disrupt this relations and making it logistically and politically complicated.

Zero Trust in a Virtual Cybersecurity World

With the sudden shift to large-scale remote work, organizations rapidly expanded remote access with virtual private networks (VPN). According to a study of large-scale breaches, cybercrime increased in the first quarter of 2020 by 273% compared to 2019.3 In another study, 71% of IT and cybersecurity professionals worldwide reported increased cybersecurity threats and attacks since the onset of COVID-19.4 As data breaches rise, "going perimeter-less" is becoming more prevalent.5 Agencies are also pushing more information to the cloud. "7 In a recent major supply chain attack,8 threat actors inserted malicious code into a software program that impacted thousands9 of customers for over six months.10 After gaining a foothold into an affected network, the attackers were able to move laterally, using multiple different credentials, and evade detection.11 Cybersecurity experts expressed hope that this attack, termed one of the most serious in U.S. history, would accelerate work to implement NIST's ZTA.12 William Evanina, former director of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said the U.S. should maintain a ZT supply chain risk mitigation program with an "understanding of who provides your services, where they get them.. Given the role of data in its mission, FM must help agency cybersecurity leaders articulate the benefits of ZTA in protecting data:16 P Form a team from FM, program offices, functional areas and cybersecurity to develop the business case for ZTA.