Revisiting the Public Administration Education

Political and economic developments in the 20th century affected the forms and preferences of public service delivery. In addition, the increasing demands and expectations of citizens, the development in information and communication technologies and, finally, international crises, and in particular, COVID-19 pandemic lead to differences on the idea of public administration (PA) discipline and education. South Korea has become one of the prominent countries in the field of PA with its great transformation and change in the historical process. The foremost aim of this study is to scrutinize the PA of South Korea, which has successes in many policy areas in the past 50 years, from the perspective of education and discipline development. To this end, the emergence and the development of the discipline and education of PA in South Korea will be discussed. In addition, the discipline of PA in South Korea will be examined in terms of internationalization and global engagement. Finally, policy recommendations regarding the South Korean PA education and discipline will be presented.

Responses and Impacts of COVID-19 on East Africa’s Tourism Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all economies and life support systems world-wide. Owing to the pandemic's unpredictable nature, experts and policymakers struggle to find a headway to slow infections and further economic deterioration. The purpose of this study is to assess East African Community (EAC) states’ early responses and the pandemic’s impacts on the tourism industry. Data were collected through a review of secondary data, including academic and media reports. Special attention was paid to respective policy responses during the early stages of the pandemic outbreak. Findings show that Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda employed more robust measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, whereas Tanzania and Burundi resorted to censorship and protectionism. The EAC should quickly learn from the current crisis and devise strategies to handle future shocks to the tourism-system. The states should prioritize economic diversification, retraining of the workforce, global engagement, and collaborative management.

Virtual exchange for internationalisation at home in China: staff perspectives

Despite the central role of internationalisation strategies in the agendas of universities all over the world – with BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) emerging as powerful regional stakeholders – very few studies have investigated how internationalisation is interpreted and operationalised in non-Western contexts. We offer an exploration of Internationalisation at Home (IaH) (Robson, Almeida, & Schartner, 2018) in the context of Chinese Higher Education (HE) with a focus on the perceptions of staff. This qualitative study investigates how 15 teachers and administrators understand the practice of Virtual Exchange (VE) within their institution’s IaH agenda. Findings show that participants think that VE could contribute to internationalisation and provide an inclusive way of accessing international and intercultural experiences. VE has the potential to enhance internationalisation and global engagement of Chinese HE Institutions (HEIs). At the same time, its implementation presents challenges that require careful consideration and planning. These include means for establishing partnerships with a mutual understanding of realities, unique power dynamics among learner groups, and techno-political challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare systems in Africa: a scoping review of preparedness, impact and response

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed health systems in both developed and developing nations alike. Africa has one of the weakest health systems globally, but there is limited evidence on how the region is prepared for, impacted by and responded to the pandemic.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review of PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL to search peer-reviewed articles and Google, Google Scholar and preprint sites for grey literature. The scoping review captured studies on either preparedness or impacts or responses associated with COVID-19 or covering one or more of the three topics and guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework. The extracted information was documented following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension checklist for scoping reviews. Finally, the resulting data were thematically analysed.ResultsTwenty-two eligible studies, of which 6 reported on health system preparedness, 19 described the impacts of COVID-19 on access to general and essential health services and 7 focused on responses taken by the healthcare systems were included. The main setbacks in health system preparation included lack of available health services needed for the pandemic, inadequate resources and equipment, and limited testing ability and surge capacity for COVID-19. Reduced flow of patients and missing scheduled appointments were among the most common impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Health system responses identified in this review included the availability of telephone consultations, re-purposing of available services and establishment of isolation centres, and provisions of COVID-19 guidelines in some settings.ConclusionsThe health systems in Africa were inadequately prepared for the pandemic, and its impact was substantial. Responses were slow and did not match the magnitude of the problem. Interventions that will improve and strengthen health system resilience and financing through local, national and global engagement should be prioritised.

International NGOs as intermediaries in China's ‘going out’ strategy

China's ascendancy as a global development actor has significant implications for geostrategic dynamics and international development. While the push to ‘go out’ has been seen as a major strategy of the Chinese state, the actors are increasingly diversifying, including Chinese state agencies, businesses and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). We analyse the inconspicuous but important involvement of international NGOs (INGOs) in China's globalizing strategy. Drawing on in-depth interviews, we develop an integrated framework for INGOs as intermediaries in China's ‘going out’ strategy, based on the content of intermediary support (tangible vs intangible resources) and the function of the intermediary (bridging vs initiating). These intermediary roles have implications for how INGOs navigate conflicts between their domestic work in China and their outbound efforts, INGO legitimacy as actors that promote global norms or as ambassadors of the party-state, and the extent to which they facilitate Chinese expansion and soft power or shape China's global engagement. We show how INGOs as northern actors continue to play a role in South–South Cooperation. Our findings shed light on how global civil society chooses to invest its significant material and discursive resources, and how global actors under authoritarianism internalize, resist or promote its projects.

MISSIONS AND OPERATIONS AS A TOOL FOR SHAPING THE EU’S GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT

Povzetek Evropska unija je mednarodni akter, ki prispeva k povečanju stopnje varnosti v svetu. Trenutno izvaja 11 civilnih in šest vojaških operacij ter misij s približno 5000 napotenimi pripadniki. Čeprav je z leti svoje mehanizme in instrumente, ki temeljijo na učenju na podlagi izkušenj, prilagodila, se je v zadnjem času, ki ga poglobljeno zaznamuje pandemična kriza, pozornost držav članic obrnila navznoter. Evropska unija se zato zdaj spoprijema z velikim izzivom glede opredelitve svoje varnostne vloge. Ključne besede Evropska unija, krizno upravljanje, misije, operacije, varnost, mir. Abstract The European Union is an international actor which makes a contribution to increasing the level of security in the world. It is currently carrying out 11 civilian and 6 military missions and operations, deploying approximately 5,000 personnel. Although over the years it has adapted its mechanisms and instruments based on learning by doing, in recent times, deepened by the pandemic crisis, the attention of the Member States has shifted inwards. As a result, the European Union now faces a major challenge to define its security role. Key words European Union, crisis management, missions, operations, security, peace.