Myanmar military will retain edge over key opponent

Significance The military regime continues to crack down on anti-coup protesters. The National Unity Government (NUG) -- a parallel administration established by ousted lawmakers and other protest leaders -- has formed a People’s Defence Force (PDF) and seeks the support of ethnically based insurgents involved in long-running conflicts with the military. Impacts Rising violence will make it harder for Myanmar to contain its upsurge in COVID-19 cases. Cross-border drug trafficking will increase as the military eases up on local cartels in return for political support. Western powers will ramp up sanctions on the military while continuing to strive to limit the impact of these measures on wider society.

Author(s):  
Luca Giommoni ◽  
Giulia Berlusconi ◽  
Alberto Aziani

AbstractThere is a relative dearth of literature on both the effects of cross-border interdictions and the impact of different types of interventions on international drug trafficking. This study identifies the main trafficking routes for cocaine and heroin, along with comparing the disruptive effects induced by targeted and non-coordinated interventions. It adopts a social network approach to identify the routes along which cocaine and heroin are trafficked, and then simulates the impact of different interdiction strategies on these two trafficking networks. The findings indicate that targeting countries based on their respective positions in the networks, as opposed to on the basis of the quantity of drugs exchanged, is more likely to disrupt drug flows. More specifically, concentrating law enforcement resources on countries with several incoming or outgoing trafficking connections, or those countries that mediate between producer, transit and consumer countries, would appear to be particularly effective in this regard. Interventions focused on specific trafficking routes are also likely to be effective if these routes have high edge betweenness centrality scores. This study contributes to extant understanding on the vulnerability of cocaine and heroin international trafficking networks, and, moreover, demonstrates that empirically-driven strategies are potentially more effective at interdicting international trafficking than non-strategic and non-coordinated interventions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Yuran Li ◽  
Mark Frost ◽  
Shiyu Rong ◽  
Rong Jiang ◽  
...  

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the critical role played by cultural flow in fostering successful expatriate cross-border transitions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop and test a model on the interplay among cultural intelligence, organizational position level, cultural flow direction and expatriate adaptation, using a data set of 387 expatriate on cross-border transitions along the Belt & Road area.FindingsThe authors find that both organizational position level and cultural flow moderate the relationship between cultural intelligence and expatriate adaptation, whereby the relationship is contingent on the interaction of organizational position status and assignment directions between high power distance and low power distance host environments.Originality/valuePrevious research has shown that higher levels of cultural intelligence are positively related to better expatriate adaptation. However, there is a lack of research on the effect of position difference and cultural flow on such relationship. Our study is among the first to examine how the interaction between cultural flow and organizational position level influences the cultural intelligence (CI) and cultural adjustment relationship in cross-cultural transitions.


Significance The deployment of the UK troops comes at a time when jihadists attacks are intensifying across the Sahel amid an escalating internecine conflict between the al-Qaida-affiliated Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS). Impacts Mali’s coup is likely to distract the military leadership away from its core mandate to improve national security. The G5 Sahel Joint Force may continue to struggle to curb jihadist cross-border operations. The deployment of UK troops underscores the still strong commitment of Western governments to improving the security situation in the Sahel.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 441-458
Author(s):  
Zelin Tong ◽  
Tingting Li ◽  
Wenting Feng ◽  
Yuanyuan Zhou ◽  
Ling Zhou

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of cross-border charitable activities on host- and home-country consumers based on the social identity theory. Design/methodology/approach Through an extensive literature review and two experimental designs, this study establishes the research framework and hypothesises the relationships between the constructs. Findings National power moderates the impact of cross-border charitable activities on host- and home-country consumers. In particular, compared to countries with high national power, countries with low national power undertaking cross-border charitable activities will receive more positive reactions from the host-country consumers, and, conversely, more negative reactions from the home-country consumers. Research limitations/implications From the consumer perspective, this study finds that brand cross-border charitable activities have different influences on consumers in different countries because of an identity transformation mechanism that exists between the “insiders” and the “outsiders”, which is different from the assumptions of western theories. Practical implications The findings provide insights for undertaking brand cross-border charitable activities. Originality/value Previous studies, which are based on social identity categorisation, assume that cross-border charitable activities have a more positive impact on home-country consumers than host-country consumers. However, this study adopts the research paradigm of social identity relationisation and draws an opposite conclusion, which not only expands the theory of local intergroup interaction, but also clarifies how brand cross-border charitable activities influence Chinese consumers.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Carril-Caccia

PurposeThe present article analyses the effects of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBM&As) on targets' total factor productivity (TFP), employment, wages and intangible-asset investment. The author investigates whether the impact of CBM&As differs depending on the origin of the investing multinational (MNE). The author distinguishes between CBM&As from European countries, other developed countries and emerging countries.Design/methodology/approachThe author makes use of a unique firm-level data set of foreign direct investment in the French manufacturing sector. The authors applies propensity score matching and difference in differences to estimate the effect of CBM&As.FindingsThe results show that the consequences of CBM&As differ strongly depending on the origin. CBM&As from European MNEs have a positive impact on TFP, wages and intangible-asset investment, and those from emerging countries seem to increase wages and intangible-asset investments. In contrast, CBM&As that originate from MNEs from other developed countries do not have a significant effect.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the growing literature on the effects of foreign direct investment that highlights the relevance of accounting for the MNEs' origin. In particular, it is the first to address the impact of emerging-country MNEs' CBM&As in Europe.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard John Lowe

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need for predictive intelligence to support anti-money laundering programs in the financial sector. Design/methodology/approach The methodology adopted herein consists of a literature review on the use of intelligence in anti-money laundering, the sources of intelligence and information used in the financial sector, supported by experience gained from investigating and prosecuting money laundering cases, and the assistance provided to financial services companies. Findings Banks and other regulated services are required to meet international standards to deny services to criminals and terrorists, identify suspicious activity and report to the authorities. Regulated businesses have large operations which check customers against sources that confirm their identity or against lists of proscribed or suspected offenders at an individual or national level. Their controls tend to look backwards when other organisations that rely on intelligence, such as the military, value predictive, forward-looking intelligence. The penalties that banks and others face for failure in their controls are increasingly severe, as looking backwards and not forwards reduces the extent to which the controls meet their purpose of reducing the impact of organized crime and terrorism. Originality/value This paper serves as a useful guide to alert and educate anti-money laundering professionals, law enforcement and policy makers of the importance of predictive intelligence in countering organized crime and terrorism. It also considers whether lessons in intelligence handling from other areas can inform a debate on how intelligence can be developed to counter money laundering.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 577-591
Author(s):  
Vighneswara Swamy

Purpose The significant economic weight of the Eurozone in the globe caused the contagion of the Eurozone debt crisis on the emerging markets. The Eurozone debt crisis caused the sudden plummeting of the cross-border bank credit (BC) to India causing a significant impact on bank lending in India. Essentially, the purpose of this study is to find an answer to the question: Did the decline in cross-border cross-credit from Eurozone had an impact on domestic BC in India? Design/methodology/approach Using the data for the period from 2000 to 2013 sourced from Bank for International Settlements international banking statistics consolidated data sets, the novel specification of the study captures the impact of Eurozone cross-border credit on India by developing two regression frameworks that capture the pre-Euro debt crisis period scenario and post-Euro debt crisis period scenario. Findings The results offer a very interesting analogy of the behavior of BC and cross-border credit during the pre and post-Eurozone crisis scenarios of analysis. During the pre-Eurozone crisis period, cross-border credit displayed a significant negative relationship with BC indicating that cross-border credit to the Indian firms indirectly benefitted the banks by creating increased demand for domestic BC. The post-Eurozone crisis period witnessed a nexus between cross-border credit and BC during the pre-Eurozone crisis period, which gradually disappeared largely because of the onset of the Eurozone crisis. Originality/value This study is a first of its kind in investigating the impact of the Eurozone crisis on an emerging economy like India. This study supports the hypothesis of the existence of the transmission of financial shocks through the balance sheets of international banks. The findings conform to the policy concerns of most of the emerging economies that international banks transmit financial shocks from their home countries. The implication for India and other emerging economies is that international credit growth deserves careful monitoring.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-357
Author(s):  
Mona Farid Badran

Purpose The purpose of this study is to quantify the impact of laws and regulations that govern the cross-border flow of data on the economies of five selected African countries, namely, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya and Mauritius. Moreover, this study addresses the state of cloud computing in Africa. Finally, policy recommendations are provided in this respect. Design/methodology/approach To reach accurate finding the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) data was used, and then the computable general equilibrium (CGE) was computed to estimate the total cost on the economy. Using the three data regulations linkages indexes (DRLs), the increased administrative cost effect was analyzed on five to six major economic sectors in the target countries. This was followed by estimating the loss in sector-wide total factor productivity (TFP) (for the five to six shortlisted sectors). Using this data, the computable general equilibrium model (CGE) was computed, in order to estimate the economy-wide impact. Based on these findings, a set of recommendations were offered to the policy maker, reflecting the obtained results and conclusions and their implications on drafting data-related policies. Findings The obtained data indexes reveal that Mauritius is the country with the most laws and regulations governing the cross border flow of data, followed by South Africa Egypt to a lesser extent and finally Morocco and Kenya both showing an obvious lack of data regulations. The small value of the estimated elasticity of the selected countries compared to the value of the estimated elasticity in the EU-0.347 shows that the impact of data localization is less in the selected African countries than in the other set of EU countries examined in the research paper. This is because the former has smaller economies with fewer linkages to the global economy and are less reliant on sectors that are heavy users of data. Thus, the overall impact of data localization was not as profound on TFP as is the case in advanced economies. This research paper arrives at the conclusion that fighting the trend of data localization is crucial. In fact, data localization hinders the necessary and essential role of global trade in realizing economic development. Specifically, this is evident in the increase in production costs as reflected in the increase of the prices of goods, which would lead to a decline in incomes. Originality/value Global studies looked at the impact of data localization on the EU, as well as China, India, Korea and Vietnam, providing some data on Asia Pacific. However, no study has ever been conducted on the Middle East and Africa. This study aims to fill this gap. The approach of this study is to capture the extent of data localization mandates encoded in the laws of each of the selected five African countries showing how these mandates govern their cross-border data flow and, in turn, affect their economies. Furthermore, the policy recommendations section of this research paper makes a contribution to the existing literature.


Subject Civilian-military relationship. Significance In an apparently unprecedented and coordinated governmental move, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in parliament reportedly warned the military of growing international isolation faced by Pakistan due to its failure to suppress cross-border militant groups operating out of Pakistan. That the serious concern was shared publicly at a time when India-Pakistan tensions are rising is unusually bold for Pakistan's politicians. Such warnings have been given previously, reportedly by former President Asif Ali Zardari's government (2008-13), but always in private. Impacts Kashmir's 'jihadi infrastructure' will not be dismantled any time soon. Beijing and Washington are united in pressuring Pakistan's military to avoid escalation with India. Pakistan military's Afghan policy is unlikely to be amended.


Subject The impact of the failed July coup on civilian-military relations. Significance The psychological impacts of the attempted coup across political life cannot be understated; it has far-reaching implications for the political, bureaucratic and even ideological structures of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). In the aftermath of the attempted putsch, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is more determined than ever to alter the civilian-military machinery of government in Turkey radically. Impacts The purge and radical reforms will bring into question the TSK's operational and strategic reliability for Western partners. A permanently weakened TSK would ease the way for constitutional reforms strengthening Erdogan's grip on the state. It will take years to rebuild the confidence and prestige the military has lost among broad swathes of Turkish society. Any criticism of the TSK reforms, domestically or from abroad, will meet the authorities' fierce condemnation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document