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The political landscape of Ethiopia has been replete with recurring incidents of intra-state conflicts along class, ethnic, religious, or regional lines. To stem the recurrence of such conflicts, 'ethnic federalism' was adopted as a conflict management strategy in 1991. Yet, rather than preventing conflicts, it has changed the arena in which conflicts take place. Various forms of conflicts proliferated in many parts of the country, putting ethnic federalism at the center of debates on the persistence of conflicts. Hence, the role of local non-state actors responsible for the emergence, escalation, or termination of conflicts has been glossed over. One of the determining factors for whether conflict erupts or lingers pertains to actors' motivations and strategies. Against the backdrop of this, the conflict in Wolkait, Ethiopia will be investigated by shedding light on the motivations and strategies of Fanno, one of the local non-state actors involved in the conflict under study. To this end, a critical research approach is employed within a qualitative case study design in the course of data collection and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-governmental organizations have achieved significant success in the development of international environmental law during the last decades. Their activities such as lobbying, attracting public attention and media campaigns have contributed the development of certain environmental issues. International and regional agreements provide various forms of participation and cooperation with NGOs. The author considers whether the growing influence of NGOs in the development of environmental law has consequences for the state as a subject of international law. Through their activities, NGOs had acquired certain elements of international legal personality and had entered the domain which traditionally belongs to the state. This phenomenon raises the question of the potential transformation of the concept of the international legal personality, as well as the readiness of international law for flexibility regarding this issue. The author concludes that, despite the growing importance of NGOs in the development of environmental law, the concept of international law is not ready for transformation. In overcoming this problem, states should make the best by using the role and existence of NGOs, and, in the area of environmental law, with joint efforts, continue the development of this branch of law.

When rebels and non-state actors provide services, do they have an effect on identities? The literature suggests that service provision by rebel's influence identities, which affect post-conflict reconstruction and have some policy-implications on service provision. I argue that service provision has a potential effect on sub-identities and shape the preference of how people self-identify themselves. Based on a conjoint experiment in Gaza, I explore how Hamas' governance has affected self-reported identities in the Gaza Strip after more than a decade of taking control of the Gaza Strip. The findings suggest that Hamas's governance has influenced the self-reported identities in Gaza. It suggests that individuals with higher education, higher income and believes that Hamas provides less services tends to identify themselves in nationalistic sense as 'Only Palestinian', while individuals who identify themselves more as Muslims are less educated, have less income and more believes that Hamas provides more services than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-state actors represent equal partners, viable competitors, and/or serious enemies in the current international system. Their specific position depends on how their behaviour in the system is perceived by states, international organizations, and civil society. The behaviour itself can be positive or negative. However, a closer look at the field of non-state actors will show that it is not easy to identify the good and bad guys of the system between them. It is due fact, that we are not living in a black-and-white world, or a black-and-white international system. For this reason, this study has the ambition to present a new approach to identifying bad guys, i.e., negative non-state actors, in the international system.

As the inherently weaker party in an asymmetric conflict with a state, most non-state actors tend to revert to an offsetting strategy to neutralise the adversary's advantages and exploit its vulnerabilities. To counter this strategy stronger parties might adopt a strategy defined in the article as an 'Offsetting the Offset Strategy' (OTOS). By exploring Israel's OTOS vis-à-vis Hamas during the May 2021 Gaza war, this article illustrates and analyses the nature and characteristics of this strategy. It shows that while OTOS has some significant advantages, it also entails several drawbacks that policymakers must take into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its independence, Uzbekistan has often portrayed terrorism as one of the gravest threats to its sovereignty, integrity, unity, and internal stability. Uzbekistan's authoritarian regime has been perceived endorsing and executing a series of counter-terrorism policies to exorcise this hazardous threat that includes all possible tactics for eliminating terrorism from the respective region. Unlike the state's proclamation about the increasing gravity of the terrorist threat, some international human right organizations and Central Asian experts depict an opposite picture of it. They are seen to be very critical of the state's exaggerated version of the terrorist threat and question the state's intention behind such projection. This paper makes a systematic effort to critically examine how Uzbekistan's authoritarian leaders have constructed official discourse on terrorism, taking into consideration the social, political and economic context of the region. The paper also examines the authenticity of the state's continuous projection of terrorism to be one of the gravest threats to the sovereignty and integrity of the region by incorporating and analyzing a detailed account of the terrorist acts that have taken place in Uzbekistan since 1991 to 2018. Finally, the paper also explains why the Uzbek authoritarian regime is keen to construct terrorism to be one of the most dangerous threats to the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bu çalışmada, Türkiye’nin Musul Başkonsolosluğu’nun işgal edilmesiyle tetiklenen Rehineler Krizi incelenmektedir. Bu krizde Türkiye’nin hasmı bir silahlı devlet dışı aktördür ve olay komşu Irak topraklarında gerçekleşmiştir. Irak topraklarının bir bölümünün IŞİD tarafından işgal edilmesi hem bu coğrafi alan özelinde hem de bölge genelinde devlet olgusunun temel niteliklerine bir meydan okuma yaratmıştır. Bu meydan okuma, sadece toprağı işgal edilen devletle sınırlı kalmamıştır. Türkiye ile silahlı devlet dışı aktör (IŞİD) arasında da yeni bir dış politika krizi doğurmuştur. Türkiye’nin Musul Başkonsolosluğu’nun IŞİD militanları tarafından işgal edilmesi ve kırk dokuz personelinin rehin alınması sürecinde Türkiye kriz yönetiminde farklı yöntem ve araçlar kullanarak krizi yönetmiş ve rehinelerin kurtarılmasını sağlamıştır. Türkiye, bu krizin yönetim sürecinde IŞİD'i doğrudan muhatap almak istememiş ve geleneksel diplomatik-siyasi araç ve yöntemlere başvurmaktan kaçınmıştır. Bu nedenle Türkiye, kriz sürecini Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı (MİT) aracılığıyla yönetmiştir. Bu süreçte bir ad hoc mekanizma olarak Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı’nın öne çıktığı görülmüştür. Bu çalışmada uluslararası sistem ve bölgesel alt sistemin gündeminin yaratmış olduğu baskılar, bölgedeki mekân-iktidar mücadelesi, Türkiye’deki iktidar-muhalefet ilişkisi, ülke sınırları içinde bulunan IŞİD militanlarının varlığı ve etkisi Musul Rehineler Krizi’ne ilişkin kriz yönetimi ve karar sürecinin analizinde göz önünde bulundurulmuştur.

This paper analyses the role of sectarian identity in foreign policy making by bringing sub-state sectarian actors into foreign policy studies. The paper takes Lebanon and the Syrian Civil War as a case study through a close scrutiny of the emergence and the consolidation of foreign policy orientations, preferences and behaviour of the Maronite, Sunni, Shia and Druze leaders in Lebanon. By doing so, it asks how sectarian groups behave as sub-state foreign policy actors in countries where society is divided along sectarian identities and how sectarian identities matter in terms of the definition of the self and the other and the ally and the enemy in weak states. It further questions to what extent sectarian groups can be considered as sub-state foreign policy actors with their own perceptions based on their identities. Building its main findings on various fieldworks in Lebanon conducted in 2016 and 2017, interviewing leaders of major sects; this study concludes that in the absence of a cohesive foreign policy stance in a weak state, the role of sectarian identity in defining self and other becomes central for understanding the foreign policy choices of sectarian leaders faced with an existential challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the slow policy response by governments, climate leadership by other institutions has become an essential part of maintaining policy momentum, driving innovation, and fostering social dialogue. Despite growth in carbon pricing in government and the private sector, our review suggests low, but growing, adoption of internal carbon prices (ICPs) by higher education institutions (HEIs), who may be uniquely suited to implement and refine these tools. We analyze the range of ICP tools in use by eleven U.S. HEIs and discuss tradeoffs. Our analysis identifies several reasons why proxy carbon prices may be especially well-suited to decisions (especially at the system-scale) around carbon neutrality at a wide range of institutions. Using a unique dataset covering 10 years of real-world analysis with a proxy carbon price, we analyze the interaction of ICPs with life cycle cost analysis to start to identify when and how internal carbon pricing will be most likely to shift decisions. We discuss how schools and other institutions can collaborate and experiment with these tools to help drive good climate decision-making and inform climate policy at larger scales.

In the second half of the 1990s, the label "asymmetric" conflict rose to prominence among scholars and strategists, as a term for capturing the rising challenge that violent non-state actors posed to the liberal world order. However, the concept soon became a catch-phrase for a range of disparate phenomena, and other buzzwords arose to describe the threats of concern to decision-makers. Conceptual confusion beset the field. This article dissects the notion of asymmetric conflicts, and distinguishes between asymmetries involving differences in (1) status, (2) capabilities, or (3) strategies between belligerents. It argues that "asymmetric" conflicts can take numerous forms depending on the combination of differences present, and offers a blue-print for keeping track of the meaning of this concept in the hope of bringing greater precision to future debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with the complex reality of their countries in the grip of multifaceted crises, the intellectuals in the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa are baffled. Indeed, this situation, with a wealth of lessons, ought to challenge them to reflect together on the current upheavals in their societies. Nevertheless, faced with the intricacy of current problems and their heterogeneity, these intellectuals find themselves scattered. Yet, in the past, they were bound by the same objectives. Thus, if the religious elites of the Maghreb had, during the 15th century, forged links with scholars of sub-Saharan Africa, a second wave of intellectuals succeeded them to think about the liberation of Africa and the Pan-African ideal in colonial and post-colonial contexts. However, immediately after this generation disappeared, the one that followed did not resist the disenchantment of the populations and the expansion of Arabism that influenced the formation of a generation of Maghrebin thinkers. With the bankruptcy of the socialist regimes, this hiatus heralded an era of intellectuals crumbling to the point that, with globalisation in the 21st century and the eruption of a plurality of questions, they found themselves helpless in these countries. Apart from a few attempts at building common frameworks for reflection such as those of CODESRIA or the “Esprit Panaf” pavilion at the Algiers International Book Fair, links between intellectuals from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa are rare. Opposed to this type of scholars, mainly Francophone and secularised, a second type of intellectuals, rather Islamised, sharing the same representations, dominate the different spaces of the countries concerned. This paper is an attempt to explore the historical trajectory of these two types of intellectuals and then explain why, in recent decades, such a connection has marked the future of the relationship between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa.

The author's intention is to access the impact that diasporas have on world politics. The notion “diaspora” implies a transnational migrant community, which maintains material and emotional bonds with territory of origin and simultaneously adapts to limitations and possibilities of host society. The emotional component of a community entails psychosocial complex that includes the group solidarity and certain myths about the territory of origin. Taking into account the specifics of a given community, diasporas meet in general all the requirements of a non-state actor that have been elaborated in the current studies on the world politics. In particular, a diasporas exist independently and participates in the transnational interactions. Moreover, there are several situations which enhance diaspora’s ability to interfere. These situations may include the unsatisfactory status of the given community, migrants’ desire to improve certain political or economic conditions in the territory of origin, the prerequisites for changes in the relationships between the hostland and the homeland, urgent crises in the country of origin. In addition, diasporal influence depends on demographic and geographic characteristics of the particular community. Diasporas achieve their goals on global, regional and national levels mainly by influencing state’s institutions. However, some developments have been evolved that can facilitate a substantive diasporas’ involvement in the world political processes, involvement without dependence on state’s capabilities. Elite of the community plays a crucial role in the resource management. The elite presents “the controlling centre” that forges a strategy of action and makes transactions of resources. Stability within “the controlling centre” can be named as an indicator of diaspora’s ability to manage the potential available.

Non-state actors are important participants in ocean governance. In China, with the transformation of government management functions and the goal of establishing a 'co-construction, co-governance and sharing' social governance system, more attention is being paid to the role of non-state actors in ocean governance. Non-state actors in ocean governance require legal basis for their different roles of participation in different governance areas. At present, legal basis has been provided to allow non-state actors to supervise the government's activities, cooperate with government to improve the ocean service supply ability, assist the government in its policy and decision-making, realise social self-governance, and enrich ocean governance resources. In the future, by providing detailed rules on procedural requirements of public participation, implementation of incentive measures and internationalization of non-state actors' participation, perfecting the underlying legal system of social organisations, and exploring a wider and deeper participation of non-state actors in ocean governance from the legal side, improved legal regime can be shaped to contribute to the enhanced participation of non-state actors in ocean governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author's intention is to access the impact that diasporas have on world politics. The notion “diaspora” implies a transnational migrant community, which maintains material and emotional bonds with territory of origin and simultaneously adapts to limitations and possibilities of host society. The emotional component of a community entails psychosocial complex that includes the group solidarity and certain myths about the territory of origin. Taking into account the specifics of a given community, diasporas meet in general all the requirements of a non-state actor that have been elaborated in the current studies on the world politics. In particular, a diasporas exist independently and participates in the transnational interactions. Moreover, there are several situations which enhance diaspora’s ability to interfere. These situations may include the unsatisfactory status of the given community, migrants’ desire to improve certain political or economic conditions in the territory of origin, the prerequisites for changes in the relationships between the hostland and the homeland, urgent crises in the country of origin. In addition, diasporal influence depends on demographic and geographic characteristics of the particular community. Diasporas achieve their goals on global, regional and national levels mainly by influencing state’s institutions. However, some developments have been evolved that can facilitate a substantive diasporas’ involvement in the world political processes, involvement without dependence on state’s capabilities. Elite of the community plays a crucial role in the resource management. The elite presents “the controlling centre” that forges a strategy of action and makes transactions of resources. Stability within “the controlling centre” can be named as an indicator of diaspora’s ability to manage the potential available.

The trade policy making process in Vietnam is recently more open for non-state players to participate in and influence on the policy formulation. This research aims at analyzing and evaluating the participation of Vietnamese non-state actors in the formulation of trade policies through a survey with enterprises and associations. The survey results show that the grass-root enterprises (prefer to) contact policy making office indirectly via business associations, especially VCCI since they still expect the more prompt and detailed feedback from these authorities. In addition, the methods of consultation for business community (information from the competent authorities websites, email to the authorities, conferences held by the authorities, contact with VCCI or business/industry associations) are not efficient enough to assure two-way communication.

Recent developments in the global security environment - such as the crisis in Ukraine and the terrorism resurgence - have reopened the international relations (IR) and security studies debates on the reconfiguration of the international system and the emergence of the revolutionary changes in modern warfare. This paper highlights how geostrategic competition shapes the actors' hybrid assertive conduct within the international system. We will describe how the confrontations between actors are influenced by the remodeling tendencies and manifestations in the international system and we will point out that the hybrid and diffuse actions, located at the boundary between peace and war, remain a valid option for the emerging actors to contesting the influence of the globally dominant power (aiming to legitimize the multipolar international system). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a substantial body of research has considered the role of non-state actors in establishing regulatory policies, relatively little research has focused on the influence of such actors at the implementation phase. To fill this gap in the literature, we extend the research on compliance motivations and institutional theory by exploring the role of trade associations in facilitating environmental compliance of small businesses, an area in which the problem of limited enforcement is particularly acute. Using data from dry-cleaning facilities, we investigate the ways in which a trade association contributes to improvements in environmental performance among its members. The results reveal that the trade association can promote compliance by helping its members to become familiar with regulatory requirements and to develop technical capacity to meet them. Based on the findings, we propose ways to increase the practical involvement of non-state actors to compensate for enforcement shortfalls. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenal rise of 'Islamic State' with vast area under its control, strong organizational base, huge financial resources and global recruitment, has posed severe challenges to the issue of state sovereignty, regional order and global peace. Its far-reaching ability to strike in Europe and Middle East has psycho-social and political connotations. The limited efforts to contain the IS have been met with varying successes. However, in the recent past, serious, concentrated and pointed efforts have yielded positive results, as the IS has lost territory, curtailing of supply lines and arrest of potential recruits. How this entity is going to impact the global peace and security depends on the stakeholders how they perceive and act against the IS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymmetry in warfare is not a new phenomenon. Historically, it has been observed that on various occasions there has been a marked difference in the relative military power and strategy of the warring states. However, in the post 9/11 era, it has been observed that the character and nature of war itself is changing particularly amid the wars between state and non-state actors. The usage of unconventional tools and tactics, be it guerrilla warfare or terrorism or irregular warfare or any other forms are becoming more synonymous with non-state entities. All this is leading to a composition of warfare in which a non-state actor is using asymmetric methods to target the state’s vulnerabilities to achieve disproportionate effect. This paper debates the notion of Asymmetric Warfare, the characters of actors involved and the nature of the state’s response in the 21st century.

The concept of state socialization has been fundamental to the analysis of international norm dynamics. I argue that the establishment and spread of international norms may require the socialization not only of states, but also of non-state communities: through socialization, these communities move toward establishing the shared norms that are the foundation for their influence on states. Specifically, the article highlights socialization among professionals through social influence and persuasion. The efforts against organ trafficking demonstrate these micro-processes at work within the international medical community. Building on physicians’ pursuit of status, and using persuasion and even coercion, the medical community has sought to establish professional norms that repudiate transplant commercialism and encourage ethical transplantation practices. On the basis of these norms, the medical community then urged governments to curb organ trafficking, resulting in a wave of legislative prohibitions on trading in organs. This case demonstrates that a full understanding of international norms may require us to examine socialization not just among states; the socialization of non-state actors may also play a crucial role in generating an international normative change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Somalian Piracy constitutes one of the main threats not only to international trade but to international legal system. International peace and security, the first purpose of the United Nations as stated in article 1 of its charter, are facing a new challenge coming not from a state member of United Nations but from non-state actors such as pirates. Conventional international law regulates the problem of piracy in mare liberum, but piracy in sovereign territory of the state still in non-liquet zone. This research examines whether contemporary international law presents a sufficient solution to counter piracy off the coast of Somalia. It highlights ow international community tries to fill the gap of conventional law via Security Council resolutions. This research stresses the importance that the measures undertaken by international military forces, within the framework of the United Nations to counter the Somali piracy including UN resolutions, must comply with bot the letter and the spirit of international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymmetry in warfare is not a new phenomenon. Historically, it has been observed that on various occasions there has been a marked difference in the relative military power and strategy of the warring states. However, in the post 9/11 era, it has been observed that the character and nature of war itself is changing particularly amid the wars between state and non-state actors. The usage of unconventional tools and tactics, be it guerrilla warfare or terrorism or irregular warfare or any other forms are becoming more synonymous with non-state entities. All this is leading to a composition of warfare in which a non-state actor is using asymmetric methods to target the state's vulnerabilities to achieve disproportionate effect. This paper debates the notion of Asymmetric Warfare, the characters of actors involved and the nature of the state's response in the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successive South Korean governments have made every effort to build the foundation for the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula. The Park Geun-hye administration has also emphasized the importance of laying the foundation for peaceful unification and presented it as one of four administrative priorities. However, regardless of which administration assumes office, a state-centric approach has been taken towards the issue of unification. Whoever governs in South Korea, unification diplomacy targeting the four great powers has been their foremost priority. Such a state-centric approach may perhaps be an inevitable strategy to achieve Korean unification, particularly given the history of the division of the two Koreas and international relations around the Korean Peninsula. German unification in 1990 was made possible due to the interaction and cooperation among neighboring powers in the process of the Cold War's collapse. Therefore the roles and influences of the four great powers in the process of Korean unification cannot be understated. However, Korean unification has not yet been realized despite many efforts through the state-centric approach. On the contrary, it is debatable whether the state-centric approach focusing on the great powers has made unification rather difficult due to the serious conflicts of interest among those powers regarding Korean unification. This is the paradox of unification diplomacy in building the foundation for peaceful unification on the Korean Peninsula. In this context, it becomes necessary to recognize the weaknesses of a state-centric approach in the case of Korean unification and to search for new possibilities that nonstate actors can provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The desire to defend a state against attacks by a non-state actor requires thinking about counter-attacking without violating the sovereign equality of the territorial state because targeting a non-state actor on the territory of that state may violate its sovereignty. This paper evaluates the main views on self-defense by states against non-state actors by studying the Just War Theory and argues that self-defense against a non-state actor is allowed if the counter-attack complies with the principle of sovereign equality. Sovereign equality is the prohibition of states from dominion over other states because states are equal to one another. This principle can be respected by allowing self-defense against non-state actors to occur only if the state consented to the use of force on its territory or if that state is incapable of controlling or unwilling to control the non-state actor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a model for analysing international regime formation in the environmental domain. It is argued that current approaches to understanding how regimes emerge and develop are too narrow, and fail to account for the dynamic interplay between states and markets which induce the emergence of ‘tipping points’ leading to more extensive and stringent international institutions. The article demonstrates the central role of tipping points in regime formation using the example of international climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Following a civil war and a drought, 350,000 Somalis had died by 1992. In response to a United Nations request for help, the United States sent Marines to secure the environment (UNOSOM- Operation Restore Hope). This initial effort was followed by UNOSOM II, a more ambitious UN mandate to disarm militias and reconcile political factions. This paper examines the decision-making, the effect of Conflicting Personalities, and the role of the unconscious as seen in the Non-Verbal Leak. The personality of former President Mohammed Farah Aideed is analyzed in the context of the aforementioned conflict. An explanation of the relevance (or lack of one) of the interlocutors, the negotiating styles and venues, and the negotiating objectives is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water management in the Netherlands involves reliance upon norms and values that are rooted in tradition, but responsive to the changing wishes and needs of society. The triangular relationship of 'interest-pay-say' has been a fundamental and consistently dominant principle, and to a large degree qualifies current interactions between state and non-state actors. Since the storm surge of 1953, the devastating effects of which were partly blamed on the water boards, these organizations have shown resilience by concentration, increase in scale and democratization. They were rewarded with the task of water quality management, which also made them financially self-supporting. Today, other developments threaten the water boards. Unusual floods have occurred, and are likely to occur more frequently in the near future. Non-state actors are unwilling to accept the accompanying risk of damage, but on the other hand they find it hard to spend more money on safety measures. The balancing of interests among the growing variety of tasks concerning water management is also a continuous struggle. Spatial planning is an especially topical issue, and it constitutes both an illustration and a test case for whether state and nonstate actors will successfully avoid bad practices and find good practices for settling rights, disputes and conflicts. In doing so, both parties will have to acknowledge that the sky is the limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with the complex reality of their countries in the grip of multifaceted crises, the intellectuals in the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa are baffled. Indeed, this situation, with a wealth of lessons, ought to challenge them to reflect together on the current upheavals in their societies. Nevertheless, faced with the intricacy of current problems and their heterogeneity, these intellectuals find themselves scattered. Yet, in the past, they were bound by the same objectives. Thus, if the religious elites of the Maghreb had, during the 15th century, forged links with scholars of sub-Saharan Africa, a second wave of intellectuals succeeded them to think about the liberation of Africa and the Pan-African ideal in colonial and post-colonial contexts. However, immediately after this generation disappeared, the one that followed did not resist the disenchantment of the populations and the expansion of Arabism that influenced the formation of a generation of Maghrebin thinkers. With the bankruptcy of the socialist regimes, this hiatus heralded an era of intellectuals crumbling to the point that, with globalisation in the 21st century and the eruption of a plurality of questions, they found themselves helpless in these countries. Apart from a few attempts at building common frameworks for reflection such as those of CODESRIA or the "Esprit Panaf" pavilion at the Algiers International Book Fair, links between intellectuals from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa are rare. Opposed to this type of scholars, mainly Francophone and secularised, a second type of intellectuals, rather Islamised, sharing the same representations, dominate the different spaces of the countries concerned. This paper is an attempt to explore the historical trajectory of these two types of intellectuals and then explain why, in recent decades, such a connection has marked the future of the relationship between the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]