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The North East Region of India, comprising Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram, is characterized by a distinctive blend of ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity. Connected to the rest of the country via the Siliguri Corridor, also known as Chicken’s Neck, this paper delves into the historical context of conflicts in the region. It assesses various contributing factors such as ethnic diversity, migration patterns, resource allocation, and political interests. Given China's proximity through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to the Siliguri Corridor, India's attention to this area becomes crucial. Furthermore, the paper evaluates the socio-economic impact of these conflicts and proposes potential strategies for conflict resolution and peace-building efforts. Specifically, it focuses on analyzing border disputes between Assam and neighboring Northeastern states, identifies primary causes of conflict, and offers actionable recommendations for resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has an empirical and a conceptual aim. The first aim is to provide additional historical depth to recent analyses of the "Balkan Route" through Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with a reconstruction of the making of a border/mobility assemblage during the first two and a half decades of that state's existence. These processes occurred under direct foreign supervision and were framed in terms of the conditionality of the "Road into Europe" specific to the European semiperiphery. The second aim concerns a prominent feature in recent studies of borders and mobility: the use of assemblage theory. I use my historical analysis to reflect on the implications of that theory's programmatic call to foreground heterogeneity and provisionality. Specifically, in tracing patterns and tensions in the bordering of BiH I call attention to the importance of actors' encounters with already-assembled hierarchical configurations, provisional but effective at the time of the encounter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents experience a host of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) challenges, with detrimental SRH and socio-economic consequences. These include early sexual debut, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, and early childbearing. Parent-adolescent communication about SRH has significant potential to reduce adolescents' risky sexual behaviors. However, communication between parents and adolescents is limited. This study explored the facilitators and barriers to parent-adolescent communication about sexual and reproductive health. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study in the border districts of Busia and Tororo in Eastern Uganda. Data collection entailed 8 Focus Group Discussions comprising of parents, adolescents (10–17 years), and 25 key informants. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated into English. Thematic analysis was conducted with the aid of NVIVO 12 software. Results: Participants acknowledged the key role parents play in communicating SRH matters; however, only a few parents engage in such discussions. Facilitators of parent-adolescent communication were: having a good parent-child relationship which makes parents approachable and motivates children to discuss issues openly, a closer bond between mothers and children which is partly attributed to gender roles and expectations eases communication, and having parents with high education making them more knowledgeable and confident when discussing SRH issues with children. However, the discussions are limited by cultural norms that treat parent-child conversations on SRH as a taboo, parents' lack of knowledge, and parents busy work schedules made them unavailable to address pertinent SRH issues. Conclusion: Parents' ability to communicate with their children is hindered by cultural barriers, busy work schedules, and a lack of knowledge. Engaging all stakeholders including parents to deconstruct sociocultural norms around adolescent SRH, developing the capacity of parents to confidently initiate and convey accurate SRH information, initiation of SRH discussions at early ages, and integrating parent-adolescent communication into parenting interventions, are potential strategies to improve SRH communication between parents and adolescents in high-risk settings such as borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research reveals frames of Russia-related border issues in the public service media of Estonia, Latvia, Finland, the US, and the state media of China, which had or have territorial disputes/conflicts with Russia. The focus of the research conducted from 1 January 2021 until 31 December 2021 (N=115 of articles on the subject) is on border issues: border treaties and territorial disputes, border security, cross-border cooperation. By using the framing analysis, I have detected similar and specific frames, dividing and uniting Russia with its neighbors and defined the frame-setters (agents). The results show that historical and present tensions regarding the border issues dividing Russia and neighboring countries may cause setting negative, dividing news frames. There is also a significant share of positive similar and specific frames on border issues acting as uniting constructs. The frame-setters include officials, politicians and other speakers of neighboring countries, rather than journalists and Russia's speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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