Encountering Chinese development in the Maldives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Heslop ◽  
Laura Jeffery
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Transportation Engineering ◽  
The Road ◽  
Local Mobility ◽  
The Us ◽  
Land Grabs ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
International Power

This chapter examines the longest and most developed road in the Maldives archipelago, a fifteen-kilometre-long link road connecting four islands of the Laamu (or Haddummati) Atoll. In the planning phase, there were tensions between those who argued that the road should connect houses to the school and the mosque and those who argued that the road should connect the harbour to the market. Such appeals, bifurcated along gender lines, reflect local mobility concerns and were tied to existing political rifts between the four islands that were intensified by the appearance of a new infrastructural asset. The built road facilitates a multitude of local encounters as people travel further and more regularly, but it is also through the road that islanders encounter the global forces of capital and construction that shape their islands. The Laamu link road was a ‘gift’ from the Chinese government, constructed by the Jiangsu Transportation Engineering Group (JTEG), and amidst local mobility concerns and inter-island politics swirl rumours and hearsay of land grabs and international power struggles between China, India, the US, and Saudi Arabia. This chapter, as well as being an ethnographic exposition of Chinese infrastructure development in a South Asian archipelago, explores the road as a social experience as it crosscuts competing visions of modernity, global connectivity, and anxiety about material change on remote coral atolls in the Indian Ocean.

At Nature's Edge

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Impacts ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
East African ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The Road ◽  
European Experience ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Long Time ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
The Many

In an epoch when environmental issues make the headlines, this is a work that goes beyond the everyday. Ecologies as diverse as the Himalayas and the Indian Ocean coast, the Negev desert and the former military bases of Vietnam, or the Namib desert and the east African savannah all have in common a long-time human presence and the many ways people have modified nature. With research in six Asian and African countries, the authors come together to ask how and why human impacts on nature have grown in scale and pace from a long pre-history. The chapters in this volume illumine specific patterns and responses across time, going beyond an overt centring of the European experience. The tapestry of life and the human reshaping of environments evoke both concern and hope, making it vital to understand when, why, and how we came to this particular turn in the road. Eschewing easy labels and questioning eurocentrism in today’s climate vocabulary, this is a volume that will stimulate rethinking among scholars and citizens alike.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Construction of a Climate Resilient City: An Empirical Study Based on the Difference in Differences Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2082
Author(s):  
Zifeng Liang
Keyword(s):  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Grey System ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact

Facing climate risks has become a common problem for mankind and a topic of great importance for the Chinese government. To thoroughly implement the overall requirements for the construction of an ecological civilization and effectively improve the capacity of cities to adapt to climate change, China launched the pilot construction of “Climate Resilient Cities” in 2017. In this paper, 16 prefecture level cities in Anhui Province of China were selected as the research objects, and the multi-level grey system evaluation method was used to measure the climate resilience of these regions. We used the difference in differences method to evaluate the effect of the pilot policy of “Climate Resilient Cities.” The pilot policies of the “Climate Resilient Cities” showed a significant contribution to the regional climate resilience, and, after isolating the impact of other factors on the regional climate resilience, the pilot policies of the “Climate Resilient Cities” increased the climate resilience of the pilot cities by four percentage points. The pilot policies of the “Climate Resilient Cities” had a significant contribution to the urban infrastructure development and ecological space optimization, as well as non-significant impacts to the urban water security, emergency management capacity-building, and science and technology innovation initiatives.

scholarly journals The Dimensions of the US-China Trade War

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Mohamad Zreik
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
The United States ◽  
Bilateral Agreements ◽  
China Trade ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Trade War

AbstractThe Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a statement Friday morning, July 6, 2018, confirming the outbreak of a trade war between the United States and China. The statement came after the United States imposed tariffs on many Chinese goods, in violation of international and bilateral agreements, and the destruction of the concept of free trade which the United States calls for following it. It is a war of opposite directions, especially the contradiction between the new Trump policy and the Chinese approach. The proof is what US Defense Secretary James Matisse announced in Singapore in early June 2018 of “the full strategy of the new United States, in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific,” where China was the “sole enemy of the United States” in China’s geostrategic region. Intentions have become publicized, and trade war between the two economic giants is turning into a reality. This paper will give an overview of the US-China scenario of trade war, then a focused analysis on the Trump’s administration economic decision regarding China, and the consequences of this decision.

Problem of Yuan Undervaluation in US-China Trade Relations

2012 ◽  
pp. 20-28
Author(s):  
A. Polivach
Keyword(s):  
Exchange Rate ◽  
National Currency ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Scientific Validity ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
China Trade ◽  
The Us ◽  
World Economic ◽  
Us Dollar ◽  
World Economic Crisis

Before the world economic crisis the Chinese government restricted the sphere of the Yuan’s circulation exceptionally by the domestic market. Basically, until that time the Yuan was not freely convertible while the Chinese foreign trade transactions were operated with the help of the US dollar. This is a sufficient reason to state that the issue of Yuan’s underestimated exchange rate has no fundamental relevance. However, the crisis forced China to substantially extend the utilization of its national currency in the international settlements. This is especially true in case of mutual settlements with the neighbor countries. So far, presumably, the issue of Yuan’s underestimated exchange rate will, at last, receive a scientific validity only when the Chinese national currency will become fully convertible and the scales of its utilization will become comparable with those of the traditional hard currencies.

US INDO-PACIFIC STRATEGY AND EURASIA

2021 ◽  
pp. 135-153
Author(s):  
Vladimir Batyuk
Keyword(s):  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Middle Kingdom ◽  
Asia Pacific Region ◽  
American President ◽  
National Security Strategy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Despite the critical attitude of the current American President towards his predecessor, the Trump administration actually continued the course of the Obama administration to turn the Asia-Pacific region into the most important priority of American foreign policy. Moreover, the US Asia-Pacific strategy was transformed under Trump into the Indo-Pacific strategy, when the Indian Ocean was added to the Asia-Pacific region in the US strategic thinking. The US Pacific command was renamed the Indo-Pacific command (May 2018), and the US Department of defense developed the Indo-Pacific strategy (published in June 2019). The Indo-Pacific strategy is an integral part of Trump’s national security strategy, according to which China, along with Russia, was declared US adversary. The American side complained about both the economic and military-political aspects of the Chinese presence in the Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, official Washington is no longer confident that it can cope with those adversaries, China and Russia, alone. Trying to implement the main provisions of the Indo-Pacific strategy, official Washington has staked not only on building up its military power in the Indo-Pacific, but also on trying to build an anti-Chinese system of alliances in this huge region. Along with such traditional American allies in the region as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore, the American side in the recent years has made active attempts to attract India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam to this system of alliances as well. These American attempts, however, can only cause serious concerns not only in Beijing, but also in Moscow, thereby contributing to the mutual rapprochement of the Russian Federation and China. Meanwhile, the Russian-Chinese tandem is able to devalue American efforts to strategically encircle China, creating a strong Eurasian rear for the Middle Kingdom.

scholarly journals Barriers to the Diffusion and Adoption of Green Buildings in Saudi Arabia

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Mosly
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Green Buildings ◽  
Government Policies ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Disasters ◽  
The Us ◽  
And Diffusion

<p>Many countries around the globe have recently pursued sustainability. The public and governments are demanding sustainability due to worldwide environmental disasters caused by pollution and man-made activities that impact the ecological system. Green buildings represent a significant component of sustainability, as their construction is intended to reduce natural resources consumption through energy and water conservation. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s richest countries, but its number of certified green buildings is notably low. In addition, all of these buildings are certified by the US Green Building Council LEED rating system and not by a national organization. It seems that numerous barriers exist, slowing the development and diffusion of green buildings in Saudi Arabia. Through a systematic qualitative research approach, this research aims to explore barriers to the diffusion and adoption of green buildings in Saudi Arabia, which will facilitate the development of green buildings in Saudi Arabia. This research concludes the identification of 14 green building barriers, with lack of skilled personal and unsupportive government policies and regulations being the most significant barriers.</p>

scholarly journals Building Tools to Support Active Curation: Lessons Learned from SEAD

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-85
Author(s):  
Dharma Akmon ◽  
Margaret Hedstrom ◽  
James D. Myers ◽  
Anna Ovchinnikova ◽  
Inna Kouper
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Opportunities To Learn ◽  
Data Repositories ◽  
Team Coordination ◽  
Data Infrastructure ◽  
Data Life Cycle ◽  
The Us ◽  
National Science ◽  
Future Data

SEAD – a project funded by the US National Science Foundation’s DataNet program – has spent the last five years designing, building, and deploying an integrated set of services to better connect scientists’ research workflows to data publication and preservation activities. Throughout the project, SEAD has promoted the concept and practice of “active curation,” which consists of capturing data and metadata early and refining it throughout the data life cycle. In promoting active curation, our team saw an opportunity to develop tools that would help scientists better manage data for their own use, improve team coordination around data, implement practices that would serve the data better over time, and seamlessly connect with data repositories to ease the burden of sharing and publishing. SEAD has worked with 30 projects, dozens of researchers, and hundreds of thousands of files, providing us with ample opportunities to learn about data and metadata, integrating with researchers’ workflows, and building tools and services for data. In this paper, we discuss the lessons we have learned and suggest how this might guide future data infrastructure development efforts.

scholarly journals Elemental Enrichment in Shallow Subsurface Red Sea Coastal Sediments, Al-Shuaiba, Saudi Arabia: Natural vs. Anthropogenic Controls

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 898
Author(s):  
Ibrahim M. Ghandour ◽  
Mohammed H. Aljahdali
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Coastal Sediments ◽  
Medieval Climate Anomaly ◽  
Climate Anomaly ◽  
Shallow Subsurface ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Core

Geochemical analysis of the 23 sediment samples collected from a short (0.6 m long) core retrieved from the coastal creek that was previously connecting the northern and southern Al-Shuaiba Lagoons, Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, was accomplished to assess the elemental enrichment levels and the natural and anthropogenic driving forces for this enrichment. Statistical analysis and upcore variation in elemental concentrations enabled subdivision of the core formally into three units, lower, middle, and upper. The enriched elements in the lower and middle units display poor to negative correlations with the enriched elements in the upper unit. The lower unit is enriched in elements (Mo, As, U, and Re) suggesting deposition under anoxic conditions, possibly related to the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The middle unit is enriched in the carbonate-related constituents (CaCO3, Ca, and Sr). The upper unit is enriched in elements that co-vary significantly with Al suggesting increased terrigenous supply associated with the construction of the road between the two lagoons. The enrichment of elements in the lower and middle units is naturally driven, whereas the enrichment of lithogenic elements in the upper unit, though of geogenic origin, is induced after the road construction.

scholarly journals ANALYZING AMERICAN VALUES IN BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI)

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (15) ◽  
pp. 1439-1447
Author(s):  
Siti Nurhasanah ◽  
Marthen Napang ◽  
Syaiful Rohman
Keyword(s):  
Manifest Destiny ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Belt And Road Initiative ◽  
Investment Bank ◽  
The Us ◽  
The World ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
Silk Route ◽  
The 19Th Century

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was initiated by Xi Jinping after being elected as the president of China in 2012. BRI connects Asia, Africa, and Europe based on shared-destiny to created trade routes integrates main centers of economic vitality. This project gave benefit for all participating countries, such as providing help for poorer regions. Even China created a financial system that supports this project, called The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and The New Development Bank (NDB). China's efforts to expand its influence in the world are similar to US efforts in the 19th century, known as Manifest Destiny. Americans believed that the US is destined to expand the territories westward approaching Pacific Ocean and spreading democracy. This effort is also highly related to their belief that the US is a City upon a Hill. There was some belief that the US becomes a great country that leads other nations in the world. The focus of this paper is two American beliefs in the context of China's effort to increasing its economic and military power in the world by reactivating the Silk route. The author uses the concept of Tianxia as City upon a Hill and Manifest Destiny in Chinese version in analyzing China's measures to increase its strength on an international level. The author will further analyze how these beliefs being adopted by Chinese government in realizing its dream of regaining the glory of managing silk-road, making it the new silk-road. Keywords: Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), New Silk Route, Manifest Destiny, City upon a Hill, Tianxia

scholarly journals Private Car O-D Flow Estimation Based on Automated Vehicle Monitoring Data: Theoretical Issues and Empirical Evidence

Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 493
Author(s):  
Antonio Comi ◽  
Alexander Rossolov ◽  
Antonio Polimeni ◽  
Agostino Nuzzolo
Keyword(s):  
Daily Activity ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Transportation Engineering ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Flow Estimation ◽  
Automated Vehicle ◽  
The Road ◽  
Vehicle Monitoring ◽  
Spatial Coverage

Data on the daily activity of private cars form the basis of many studies in the field of transportation engineering. In the past, in order to obtain such data, a large number of collection techniques based on travel diaries and driver interviews were used. Telematics applied to vehicles and to a broad range of economic activities has opened up new opportunities for transportation engineers, allowing a significant increase in the volume and detail level of data collected. One of the options for obtaining information on the daily activity of private cars now consists of processing data from automated vehicle monitoring (AVM). Therefore, in this context, and in order to explore the opportunity offered by telematics, this paper presents a methodology for obtaining origin–destination flows through basic info extracted from AVM/floating car data (FCD). Then, the benefits of such a procedure are evaluated through its implementation in a real test case, i.e., the Veneto region in northern Italy where full-day AVM/FCD data were available with about 30,000 vehicles surveyed and more than 388,000 trips identified. Then, the goodness of the proposed methodology for O-D flow estimation is validated through assignment to the road network and comparison with traffic count data. Taking into account aspects of vehicle-sampling observations, this paper also points out issues related to sample representativeness, both in terms of daily activities and spatial coverage. A preliminary descriptive analysis of the O-D flows was carried out, and the analysis of the revealed trip patterns is presented.

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