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Vprašanja o razmerjih med obrambno politiko, obrambno strategijo in obrambnim načrtovanjem, ki so od razmeroma predvidljivih v času hladne vojne prerasla v vse bolj kompleksna, poudarjajo potrebo po razumevanju logične urejenosti procesov, hierarhičnosti, medsebojne povezanosti in cikličnosti - razmerij, ki določajo urejenost, hkrati pa tudi medsebojno odvisnost in omejevanje obrambne politike, obrambne strategije in obrambnega načrtovanja. Z doktorsko disertacijo smo na eni strani opozorili na pomen celovitega proučevanja kompleksnosti razmerij oziroma medsebojne odvisnosti obrambne politike, obrambne strategije in obrambnega načrtovanja tako v teoriji kot tudi v praksi, na drugi pa pokazali, da na ta razmerja v manjši meri vplivajo zunanji in v večji meri notranji dejavniki. Z razvitjem teoretičnega modela smo na primeru malih držav opredelili in analizirali tako vpliv mednarodnega varnostnega okolja, Nata in EU na nacionalne obrambne politike, kot tudi notranje specifičnosti v procesih oblikovanja obrambne politike, obrambne strategije in obrambnega načrtovanja ter akterjev, ki sodelujejo v teh procesih. Zunanje in notranje dejavnike smo preverjali s pomočjo primerjalne analize kvalitativnih in kvantitativnih podatkov treh malih držav članic Nata in EU, Estonije, Slovaške in Slovenije v obdobju od 1991 do 2020. Rezultati raziskave so v primerjavi s predhodnimi raziskavami, ki večinoma temeljijo na usmerjenosti pristopov le na posamezni dejavnik ali posamezno področje v razmerju, pokazali, da uporabnost teoretičnega modela za male države članice Nata in EU, temelječega na celovitem pristopu, predstavlja pomemben prispevek k razvoju obramboslovne znanosti tako v doseganju teoretičnih kot prakseoloških ciljev pri snovanju metodološkega in pojasnjevalnega okvira za proučevanje obrambnih politik, obrambnih strategij in obrambnega načrtovanja kot njihovih medsebojnih razmerij v državi in med državami. The questions about the relations among defence policy, defence strategy and defence planning, which have grown from relatively predictable during the Cold War to increasingly complex, underline the need to understand the logical organisation of processes, hierarchy, interconnectedness and cyclicality - the relations that determine the orderliness, as well as the interdependence and constraints, of defence policy, defence strategy and defence planning. The doctoral thesis has, on the one hand, highlighted the importance of a comprehensive study of the complexity of the relations or interdependencies among defence policy, defence strategy and defence planning, both in theory and in practice, and, on the other hand, has shown that these relationss are influenced to a lesser extent by external factors and to a greater extent by internal factors. By developing a theoretical model, using the example of small countries, we identified and analysed the impact of the international security environment, the influence of NATO and the EU on national defence policies, as well as the internal specificities of the processes of formulation of defence policy, defence strategy and defence planning, and the actors involved in these processes. External and internal factors were examined through a comparative analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from three small NATO and EU member states, Estonia, Slovakia and Slovenia, over the period from 1991 to 2020. Compared to previous research, which is mostly based on focusing approaches only on a single factor or a single area in a relations, the results of the study showed that the applicability of the theoretical model to small NATO and EU member states, based on a holistic approach, constitute an important contribution to the development of defence science in achieving both theoretical and praxeological objectives in designing a methodological and explanatory framework for the study of defence policies, defence strategies and defence planning and their interrelationships within a country and between countries.

Male otočne države predstavljaju jedinstvene sustave specifične po svojim geografskim i gospodarskim karakteristikama. Nemogućnost jasnog definiranja malih zemalja dopušta širok prostor za manevar prilikom istraživanja, no na razini međunarodnih organizacija ne dolazi do velikih odstupanja u klasifikaciji iako koriste različite parametre. Osim specifičnog geografskog položaja i udaljenosti od tržišta, male otočne države su specifične po svojim prirodnim resursima na kojima grade gospodarstvo. Upravo ti resursi su u velikom broju slučajeva oskudni te se ekonomije ovih država većinom baziraju na poljoprivredi i turizmu, a samo mali broj država ima razvijenu neku drugu industriju. Usmjerenost na turizam zemljama bez značajnijih alternativnih resursa daje mogućnost brzog ekonomskog napretka i razvoja premda takav razvoj treba vrlo dobro planirati u skladu s postulatima održivog razvoja kako negativni učinci turizma ne bi premašili pozitivne socio-ekonomske utjecaje. Male otočne države su same po sebi turistički atraktivne te imaju bogatu prirodnu osnovu. Razvojem turizma može doći do značajnih oštećenja u okolišu i porasta osjetljivosti ovih zemalja na vanjske utjecaje, klimatske promjene, ali i ekonomske šokove. Ukoliko se razvojem turizma naruši osnovni turistički resurs – prirodna osnova nastaju nepovratne štete za cijelu zemlju. Small island countries represent unique systems special by their geographical and economical features. Inability to define small countries creates a broad area when it comes to research coverage. Even so, when comparing data published by international organizations, differences are small to none. Besides their specific geographical position and distance from the markets, small island states are special for their rich natural resources that present a base for economic development. Precisely these resources are very scarce in many countries so countries base their economies on agriculture and tourism. There are just a few countries that have some other industry as dominant. Tourism orientation gives these states an opportunity for rapid economical growth and development even though that same development should be planned by sustainable development principles for the positive economic impacts to overcome the negative environmental impacts. Small island countries are touristically attractive by themselves and have a very rich natural attraction basis. By developing tourism, significant environmental damages may occur are the countries' sensibility to exterior impacts may grow. If the natural basis as the main touristic resource is destroyed by developing tourism, irreversible damages may occur.

Summary Managing the complexity that characterizes health systems requires sophisticated performance assessment information to support the decision‐making processes of healthcare stakeholders at various levels. Accordingly, in the past few decades, many countries have designed and implemented health system performance assessment (HSPA) programmes. Literature and practice agree on the key features that performance measurement in health should have, namely, multidimensionality, evidence‐based data collection, systematic benchmarking of results, shared design, transparent disclosure, and timeliness. Nevertheless, the specific characteristics of different countries may pose challenges in the implementation of such programmes. In the case of small countries, many of these challenges are common and related to their inherent characteristics, eg, small populations, small volumes of activity for certain treatments, and lack of benchmarks. Through the development of the case study of Latvia, this paper aims at discussing the challenges and opportunities for assessing health system performance in a small country. As a result, for each of the performance measurement features identified by the literature, the authors discuss the issues emerging when adopting them in Latvia and set out the potential solutions that have been designed during the development of the case study.

Background: Diabetes is a global epidemic affecting every country. Small countries, however, face distinctive challenges related to their health system governance and their ability to implement effective health systems’ reforms. The aim of this research was to perform a comparative assessment of existing diabetes management practices at the population level and explore governmental-related policy for Cyprus, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malta and Montenegro. This is the first time that such an evidence-based review study has been performed in the field of diabetes. The overall purpose was to set the agenda for health policy and inform strategic actions for small countries that can benefit from dealing with the diabetes epidemic at a country level. Methods: We collected data and synthesized the evidence on dealing with diabetes for each of the five small European countries according to the (1) epidemiology of diabetes and other related metabolic abnormalities, (2) burden of diabetes status and (3) diabetes registers and national plans. We collected data by contacting Ministry representatives and other bodies in each state, and by searching through publicly available information from the respective Ministry of Health website on strategies and policies. Results: Diabetes rates were highest in Cyprus and Malta. National diabetes registers are present in Cyprus and Montenegro, while national diabetes plans and diabetes-specific strategies have been established in Cyprus, Malta and Montenegro. These three countries also offer a free holistic healthcare service to their diabetes population. Conclusions: Multistakeholder, national diabetes plans and public health strategies are important means to provide direction on diabetes management and health service provision at the population level. However, political support is not always present, as seen for Iceland. The absence of evidence-based strategies, lack of funding for conducting regular health examination surveys, omission of monitoring practices and capacity scarcity are among the greatest challenges faced by small countries to effectively measure health outcomes. Nevertheless, we identified means of how these can be overcome. For example, the creation of public interdisciplinary repositories enables easily accessible data that can be used for health policy and strategic planning. Health policy-makers, funders and practitioners can consider the use of regular health examination surveys and other tools to effectively manage diabetes at the population level., peer-reviewed

IntroductionThis presentation discusses a grounded methodology study of older adult services in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and eight other similar jurisdictions for the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI). The aims of the study were to:• inform inclusive service provision by the NCBI for older adults (people over sixty-five years of age) and significantly older adults (people over eighty years of age)• examine why some older adults and significantly older adults in RoI do not fully engage with NCBI’s services• examine the effects of NCBI’s services on health and well-being, particularly mental health• inform the NCBI’s referral process of people with low or no visionMethodologyThe study was conducted in three phases, each of which was designed to guide the development of training and policy development at the NCBI. These three phases were:• Phase One – A survey of demographic information from the Irish Census, NCBI and academic literature to identify vulnerable populations, and the geographical concentrations and distributions of older adults and significantly older adults.• Phase Two – A survey of services by agencies (governmental and non-governmental) in jurisdictions that were found to bear a similarity to the RoI (these jurisdictions included countries, states, provinces, etc.). Similarity was judged on a group of variables and cultural and political similarity.• Phase Three - A survey of academic literature on the nature, needs and effectiveness of older adult services, with special reference to jurisdictions with similar state systems of social services. This literature was identified through a search of academic databases, in either academic libraries or Web based academic databases - documents published within the last five years were prioritised during the search of academic literature.Data AnalysisThe data analysis in the study was conducted using a model of inclusive capital as an instrument to determine the nature of support.DiscussionThe study has two main findings:• First, there needs to be further foci on physical and mental health, multiple impairments, significantly older adult’s social needs and end-of-life care in policy development.• Second, services need to emphasise practical issues of independent living and re-education, developing joined-up services such as transport and well-being, and joining-up similar services across related agencies - e.g. services related to hearing loss and dementia.ConclusionThe study concludes that NCBI and other smaller jurisdictions’ services have the advantage that they are closer to their clients and are one-stop-shops for older and significantly older adults.

The evaluation of quality of care is a complex task that, over the last decades, has been performed using the Donabedian model as its main conceptual framework. Small countries are an ideal setting in which to make innovative, empirical evaluations of the quality of care. In this research, we discussed the challenges and opportunities of assessing hospital performance in Latvia, a small country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. The study outcomes were 30-day acute myocardial infarction mortality and 30-day ischaemic stroke mortality. We described how indicator specifications, risk-adjustment, data reliability assessment and graphical representations were tailored to the geographic and institutional context of Latvia. By looking at the impact of structural characteristics on hospital performance, we found that cath labs and large caseloads were significantly associated with lower mortality. This approach allows decision-makers at different governance levels to design and implement actions aimed at improving the quality of care. At the health system level, it may help policy-makers adopt proper strategies to tackle poor outcomes; at the hospital level, it may help managers intervene on structural determinants of performance. Because small countries face some relevant issues that have implications for health care, these analyses might be relevant also for larger countries to improve the design of their health-care services.

In spite of an ever-growing supply of metals, actors have long feared metal shortages. This thesis – departing from an understanding that metals scarcity is not an objective geological fact, but an experience, a fear of a shortage – explores why business and state actors have experienced metals as scarce and how they coped with scarcity from 1870 to 2015. The underlying reasons for scarcity experiences originated in high prices, a lack of substitutes, domestic unavailability, limited infrastructure and increased demand. In the view of businesses and the state, a shortage of metals could hinder successful industrialization. Defining metals as scarce was a first step in their attempts to ensure access through exploration, recycling, substitution, and trade agreements. This dissertation presents five case studies which provide insights into three selected aspects of metals scarcity that have been overlooked in previous studies. First, while small countries experienced and coped with metals scarcity in a similar way to large nations, they were more vulnerable because of their dependence on transnational flows controlled by larger countries. Yet if they remained neutral in international conflicts, they could enjoy other opportunities to import resources than their larger rivals. Second, industries experienced metals scarcity before World War I; with the onset of the Second Industrial Revolution, at the very latest, new technologies were often dependent on metals which had never before been used commercially – there were not yet any extraction systems in place. However, once these metals began to circulate, state actors became aware of the international traffic and began to classify certain metals as critical. Thirdly, technological change has affected – and been affected by – metals scarcity. If a metal was scarce, manufacturers were likely to embark on a different path to production. Inversely, sometimes new technologies were able to alleviate perceptions of scarcity. QC 20171206

A structural gravity model is used to estimate barriers to services trade across many sectors, countries, and time. Since the disaggregated output data needed to infer border barriers flexibly are often missing for services, this paper derives a novel methodology for projecting output data. The empirical implementation sheds light on the role of institutions, geography, size, and digital infrastructure as determinants of border barriers. The paper finds that border barriers have generally fallen over time, but there are differences across sectors and countries. Notably, border effects for the smallest economies have remained stable, giving rise to a divergent pattern across countries.

Tese de doutoramento em Economia, apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra O objetivo central desta tese consiste em verificar se a reduzida dimensão do país representa uma barreira significativa no processo do crescimento económico. De uma forma global, foram realizadas análises descritivas e empíricas do impacto de algumas variáveis económicas e ambientais, na taxa de crescimento do PIB per capita dos países pequenos em comparação com os países grandes, e foi estudado o processo de crescimento económico de um país pequeno e insular, Cabo Verde. Para responder à questão de partida, primeiro, recorreu-se à revisão da literatura, teórica e empírica, dos efeitos da dimensão do país no crescimento económico e, posteriormente, foram efetuadas análises descritivas de algumas variáveis económicas no grupo de países pequenos e de países grandes, o que ajudou na definição das linhas orientadoras da investigação empírica. Com recurso à técnica estatística das análises de clusters e aos indicadores população e área, foram definidos os grupos de países pequenos e de países grandes. Conciliando a fórmula genérica do modelo de crescimento económico (que engloba o modelo de Solow aumentado e acrescido de outras variáveis determinantes do crescimento) com o estimador system-GMM, foi analisado empiricamente, no período 1970-2010, o impacto das variáveis de interesse Investimento Direto Estrangeiro, Abertura Comercial, Instituições Políticas, Sociais e Económicas, Geografia, Coesão Social e Vulnerabilidade Ambiental na taxa de crescimento do PIB per capita de países pequenos e de países grandes. A investigação foi, também, direcionada para identificar empiricamente os canais de transmissão (capital humano, capital físico e produtividade) das variáveis de interesse na taxa de crescimento do PIB per capita e o contributo destas variáveis na taxa de convergência entre os países de cada grupo. Os resultados encontrados indicam um certo equilíbrio entre o número de variáveis de interesse, cujo impacto é significativamente diferente, e aquelas cujo efeito é essencialmente igual, no crescimento económico dos países pequenos e dos países grandes. A produtividade foi identificada como o principal canal de transmissão das variáveis de interesse na taxa de crescimento do PIB per capita nos dois grupos de países. Os resultados evidenciam uma taxa de convergência β superior nos países pequenos, mas a diferença entre os coeficientes não é significativa. No geral, concluiu-se que os vários condicionantes associados à reduzida dimensão, apesar de influenciarem o impacto de alguns fatores no PIB per capita, não constituem um handicap ao crescimento económico, comparativamente aos países grandes. Adicionalmente, foi realizado o Growth Diagnostic da economia cabo-verdiana, com recurso ao modelo desenvolvido por Hausmann, Rodrik e Velasco (2005). Desta análise foram identificados vários fatores que têm dificultado os investimentos/crescimento económico em Cabo Verde, como a fraca intermediação financeira, deficientes infraestruturas, altos custos nas ligações entre as ilhas, ineficiente fornecimento de energia elétrica e desvios entre as necessidades de capital humano e as áreas de formação do ensino secundário e terciário. Assim, as políticas do Governo devem ser direcionadas no sentido de ultrapassar estas barreiras. The purpose of this thesis is to verify if a small country size is a significant constraint on economic growth process. Overall, a descriptive and empirical analysis of the impact of some economic and environmental variables on the growth rate of GDP per capita in small and large countries was conducted, and the process of economic growth of a small island country, Cape Verde, was studied. To answer the main question, a survey of the theoretical and empirical literature on the effects of country size on economic growth was conducted and, subsequently, a descriptive analysis of some economic variables in the group of small and large countries was made, which helped in defining the guidelines for the empirical research. The groups of small states and large states were defined using the statistical technique cluster analysis and the variables population and area. The empirical analysis was conducted reconciling the generic formula of the economic growth model (which includes the augmented Solow model and additional variables) with the system-GMM estimator. The impact of the variables of interest Foreign Direct Investment, External Trade, Political, Social and Economic Institutions, Geography, Social Cohesion and Environmental Vulnerability on the growth rate of GDP per capita in small and large states was analyzed empirically for the period 1970-2010. The research was also directed to identify the transmission channels (human capital, physical capital and productivity) through which the variables of interest affect the growth rate of GDP per capita, and the contribution of these variables to the convergence rate between the countries of each group. The results indicate a balance between the number of variables of interest whose impact on economic growth in small and large countries is significantly different, and those whose effects are essentially the same in both groups of countries. Productivity (TFP) was identified as the main transmission channel through which the variables of interest affects the growth rate of GDP per capita in the two groups of countries. The results indicated a higher β convergence rate in small states, but the difference between the coefficients is not statistically significant. The overall conclusion was that small country size influences the impact of some factors on the growth rate of GDP per capita, but it is not a handicap for economic growth relative to large country size. Additionally, a Growth Diagnostic of the Cape Verdean economy was undertaken using the model developed by Hausmann, Rodrik and Velasco (2005). Several factors that having hindered investment/growth in Cape Verde were identified, such as weak financial intermediation, poor infrastructure, high costs of travel (boats and planes) across islands, inefficient supply of electricity and deviations between the human capital needs and the areas of formation (manly secondary and tertiary schools). Thus, the Government's policies should be directed towards overcoming these constraints. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

Background: To advance human biomonitoring (HBM) for policy support in Europe, a harmonized approach was developed (COPHES project, FP7 2009- 2012) and evaluated in 17 countries (DEMOCOPHES project, Life+, 2010-2012). Cyprus (CY) and Luxembourg (LU) tested the hypothesis that the COPHES European Protocol is applicable to small countries.Materials and methods: In 2011-12, the European Protocol was adopted and tested by CY and LU for the harmonized biomonitoring of 60 children and their mothers for cadmium, phthalates and cotinine in urine and for mercury in scalp hair in two sampling areas (urban, rural). Results: Both small countries achieved the preset goals for recruitment, sample collection and analysis, which allowed for the first time the assessment of children’s and mothers’ exposures to the selected chemicals in comparison with other countries. Capacity building was accomplished and communication actions were particularly effective, with both countries taking advantage of their small size to access participants, policy makers, other stakeholders and the press. Time constrains and requirements for capacity building were limiting factors. Conclusion: The COPHES European Protocol for HBM surveys is attainable in small countries. The following elements are fundamental in the design of a harmonized European HBM program, from the perspective of small countries: (a) consultation with and active involvement of the implementing countries, (b) flexibility for national decisions, while not compromising harmonization, (c) elaboration of standardized methods, procedures and documents (d) quality assurance mechanisms, (e) means of training and support.

The Central America region is a small market. The region contains around 43 million inhabitants (0.6 percent of total world population) who generate around 0.25 percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). While the region has successfully embarked on a regional integration agenda and has strong commercial links with the US, extra-regional trade-mainly with large fast-growing emerging economies-remains a challenge. Export performance is analyzed along three dimensions that, together, give a fairly comprehensive picture of competitiveness: 1) the composition, orientation and growth of the export basket; 2) the degree of export diversification across products and markets; and 3) the level of sophistication and quality of their main exports. This analysis allows exports dynamics at the different margins of trade (intensive, extensive, and quality) to be evaluated and individual countries' to be benchmarked with peers in the Central American region. The results of this report allow policy makers to identify key areas to explore in the overall discussion of export competitiveness in the Central American region. This paper relates to the literature on challenges and opportunities that trade liberalization can bring to the Central American region. Much of the recent literature focuses on the role of the free trade agreement negotiated by Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, with the US.

This evaluation assesses the performance of the Community Officer (CO) project, a trial community policing mechanism initiated by the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) in late 2009, with assistance from the Participating Police Force (PPF) of the Regional Assistance to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Current interest in community policing in Solomon Islands is occurring in the larger context of the rebuilding and reform of the RSIPF that has been taking place with the assistance of RAMSI. The Solomon Islands Government (SIG) and RSIPF are committed to introducing a viable form of community policing across the country.

Ireland has consistently supported workforce development (WfD) as a key element of economic development. This study has been commissioned by the World Bank to test a new instrument, within its Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER)-WfD project, which provides an opportunity to benchmark this support and identify progress made over two decades from 1980-2000. This was a period of rapid expansion of Ireland's economy and major reform in WfD policies. The findings will assist other countries in identifying measures which have been effective in progressing aspects of workforce development within a framework of national human capital development and may also contribute to on-going policy dialogue on workforce development in Ireland. The tool is based on an analytical framework that identifies three functional dimensions of WfD policies and institutions: strategic framework, which refers to the praxis of advocacy, partnership, and coordination in relation to the objective of aligning WfD in critical areas to priorities for national development; system oversight, which refers to the arrangements governing funding, quality assurance and learning pathways that shape the incentives and information signals affecting the choices of individuals, employers, training providers and other stakeholders; and service delivery, which refers to the diversity, organization and management of training provision, both state and non-state, that deliver results on the ground by enabling individuals to acquire market-and job-relevant skills. These three dimensions constitute a closed policy-making loop and, when taken together, allow for analysis of the functioning of a WfD system as a whole. This report focuses specifically on policies in the area of WfD.

This brief paper summarizes results from an analysis of the World Development Report (WDR) homicide dataset (February 24, 2010), which is based primarily on estimates from the United Nations Office against Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with some changes or additions from national sources and the World Health organization (WHO). Although homicide rates appear to be the most reliable cross-national measure of crime, the best estimates have are still probably much less reliable than parallel measures have for presence and scale of civil conflict involving organized armed groups. This is so for two main reasons. First, the data are collected and reported by country agencies (police, usually), and procedures, definitions, and competence can vary greatly across countries and over time within them. Looking at the time series for particular countries suggests in many cases that large changes must be due to changed procedures or data collection policies, rather than changes in actual homicide rates. Second, there is a great deal of missing data.