Search

International trade fuels economic growth by increasing employment, production and the provision of a wider variety of goods and services at lower prices. However, two unprecedented recent crises are significantly affecting global trade: the US–China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper assesses the impact of the US–China trade war on Commonwealth members' trade, the effect of the trade war on Commonwealth members' supply chain trade, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Commonwealth members' trade.

© RCN Publishing Company Limited 2021. Background The initial interaction between an older person and a nurse, and how the older person interprets this interaction, is important and sometimes overlooked. Evidence suggests that the way healthcare workers speak to older people can negatively affect older people's well-being. Aim To interview community-dwelling older people aged =65 years who had recently held a conversation with a healthcare worker and to understand the meanings older people attributed to these conversations. Method Ten community-dwelling older people were recruited and interviewed. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Qualitative analysis was informed by narrative methods. Findings Participants freely and readily interpreted their conversations with healthcare workers in terms of the values and attitudes conveyed. Their preferences for forms of address ranged from formal to informal. They were sensitive to a range of contextual factors shaping the use of language. While they were generally tolerant of forms of address that did not match their personal preferences, some inferred disrespect from the unthinking use of first names and some resented assumptions being made based on age. Conclusion Nurses are encouraged to be skilful and sensitive when speaking to older people. It is advisable to follow older people's preferences regarding forms of address, as these are important markers of dignity and respect.

This parliamentary submission outlines a number of strategic recommendations in the area of supply chain resilience, labour-market adjustment and environmental policy for teh Australian Government as it prepares for recovery from the economic downturn inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic and reiterates the need for Australia to support constructive engagement in the region to resist protectionism and uphold a rules-based multilateral trading system.

This policy brief is a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth Inquiry into whether there is a need for Australia to diversify its trade markets and foreign investment profile. The views, ideas, and recommendations presented in this report represent those of the authors only. We gratefully acknowledge the data support provided by Dr Dessie Ambaw.

The role of the state and market-distorting state intervention in the global economy have come increasingly to the fore in recent times, in large part as reaction to China’s rise to becoming the second largest world economy, and a direct competitor with developed economies across many sectors. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and industrial subsides have played an important part in China’s development, a fact that has become increasingly contentious in developed country capitals. The Trilateral Trade Ministerial Cooperation (Trilateral Cooperation) comprised of the US, EU and Japan has laid out an agenda for World Trade Organization (WTO) reform targeting SOEs and industrial subsidies. China has separately laid out its own reform agenda that includes removing agriculture subsidies entitlements in developed economies. In many ways both reform agendas are pulling in opposite directions, indicative of growing geo-economic tensions between these leading economic powers. This policy brief outlines the two opposing reform agendas and proposes a process for getting to a realistic landing zone for reforms.

Economic globalization has increasingly affected countries across the world, through participation in global value chains (GVCs) and helping to lift over one billion human beings out of extreme poverty since 1990. However, there are still too many people living in poverty, even in rich countries, and so concerns over exclusion of certain groups from the gains of economic globalization are rising internationally. Using the concept of inclusiveness based on Amartya Sen’s capability approach, we find that G20 countries perform better than non-G20 countries. We then review how economic theory contributes to understanding the causes of (missing) inclusiveness by reviewing the literature pertaining to five drivers: growth, technology, structural change, trade, and political economy. Overall, domestic policies tailored to specific national circumstances are the main instruments for promoting inclusiveness. The danger is that in pursuing these domestic policies, states may undermine international arrangements constituting the liberal economic order. We argue that the liberal economic order generates insufficient global governance because there is always a fraction of countries opposing global policy coordination as they believe it harms them, and that this group of countries is increasing propelled by the surge of populism. This dynamic implies that global governance focus will increasingly shift to “coalitions of the willing”, rendering multilateralism an increasingly challenging, and a la carte, proposition.

Peter Kidson was certainly among the most influential medieval architectural historians of his generation in the English-speaking world, as is vividly demonstrated by the impressive array of leadin...

A paper was published in 2003 discussing the ethics of nurses participating in executions by inserting the intravenous line for lethal injections and providing care until death. This paper was circulated on an international email list of senior nurses and academics to engender discussion. From that discussion, several people agreed to contribute to a paper expressing their own thoughts and feelings about the ethics of nurses participating in executions in countries where capital punishment is legal. While a range of opinions were presented, these opinions fell into two main themes. The first of these included reflections on the philosophical obligations of nurses as caregivers who support those in times of great need, including condemned prisoners at the end of life. The second theme encompassed the notion that no nurse ever should participate in the active taking of life, in line with the codes of ethics of various nursing organisations. This range of opinions suggests the complexity of this issue and the need for further public discussion.

The imposition of import tariffs as a means of protecting local industry is hotly contested. On the one hand such tariffs may help to protect local industries whose international counterparts are guilty of dumping and receiving financial assistance from their own governments. On the other hand, tariffs may serve to buttress uncompetitive local industries and actually serve to harm the poor by reducing competition, thereby allowing local companies to increase their prices. Into this mix is thrown the reciprocity of international trade agreements and the impact that imposing tariffs might have on these agreements. This debate was nowhere more evident than in the decision in 2013 by South Africa to increase import tariffs on certain categories of chicken meat. The case in this chapter examines the dilemmas and debate.

This paper reviews the range of publications on the late-12th-century rebuilding of the east end after the fire of 1174 that have appeared since the last conference in 1979. The focus is on the range of historical approaches that have been explored in interpreting this seminal work and the changes in art-historical interests that are exemplified in this quite extensive literature. Building on significant progress in archaeological analysis and elucidation of the evidence of changes of design during construction, the building history has been more securely linked to the promotion of the cult of Thomas Becket and the changing historical circumstances in which the rebuilding was undertaken. More emphasis has been given to the range of media and materials employed, resulting in a broader appreciation of their role in the architectural and liturgical setting of the shrine and a greater understanding the of the associations and connotations of specific features and of the inherent symbolism of aspects of the architecture for late-12th-century audiences. The architecture has been set more securely within the specific cultural milieu of the Benedictine community and within the broader cultural context of 12th-century Europe.

Work integrated learning is an umbrella term that refers to the opportunities provided to university students to integrate knowledge of theory and practice as part of their degree program. As the role of students in higher education is evolving, we sought to develop our understanding of the role of students in the work integrated learning (WIL) space through exploring current literature on student voice. In this paper, we consider what has been reported about WIL in relation to student voice, how it has been represented, and how this has influenced practice. We undertook a systematic literature review for two different disciplines, one which represented an example of a professionally accredited undergraduate degree program (teacher education), and the other an example of a program with no professional accreditation (geographical sciences). The teacher education literature demonstrated more clearly the use of student voice to inform WIL within curriculum design. However, the geographical sciences literature did include examples of student voice being incorporated within the design of collaborative community-based forms of WIL. A role for students as researchers, who lead research and initiate curriculum change into WIL, was noticeably absent in both disciplinary sets of literature. The lack of evidence of the inclusion of students in the design, conduct, and analysis of WIL provides an invitation for SoTL scholars to redefine the role of students in this space.

Current China–Africa relations have been statically framed: China invests in the continent and exports resources extracted by its state-owned enterprises and fuelled by aid flows, while simultaneously undercutting African industry through cheap exports. We frame this debate, then explore how the framework could adjust in response to changing economic realities in China, centered on the “rebalancing” of the growth model toward domestic consumption. We argue that a new wave of private sector-led, low-cost manufacturers may find its way to selected African shores, in the process transforming those economies and the way in which China interacts with them, both for the better.

We develop a methodology based on two important criteria - sensitivity in delivery time and value-to-weight ratio – to classify air cargo products. The classification is applied to evaluate the trade integration in Southern Africa since air cargo is a valuable option to overcome trade barriers associated with poor land transport infrastructure and corruption. We find that South Africa’s exports to industrialized countries consist of precious products such as diamonds and gold. These products tend to be transported in the hand baggage of a security personnel as they leave the loading weight of an average airplane almost unaffected. When correcting African trade for these ‘invisible outliers’ in the loading freight, we find that African trade integration including Southern Africa is based upon a comparatively higher share of air cargo relevant products than Southern Africa’s trade with industrialized and emerging economies. A more liberal market for air cargo services can reduce transport costs and will allow the continent to integrate even further.

The authors discuss ways in which nurses speak to older people. Research shows that the words nurses use can have a powerful effect on the wellbeing of older people. An experimental project developed at the University of Hull is described in which creative writing techniques were used to increase nursing students' and staff's sensitivity to the importance of language in care. The project enabled participants to co-create a body of work that was subsequently displayed in the faculty reception, and it showed how trusting relationships could be developed between participants. The authors are working to extend the project by finding ways to embed creative writing in the undergraduate nursing curriculum.

The India, Brazil and South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA) established in 2003 brings together three like-minded, democratic, market economies of multi-cultural and multi-ethnic character, sharing a broadly similar economic, political and development situation. At the time of its formation IBSA was widely regarded as representing a novel form of South-South cooperation, transcending older models rooted in the logic of North-South confrontation in the post-colonial, Cold War world. However, now, as the respective countries prepare for their tenth anniversary summit in India, the forum seems to face a growing sense of irrelevance, perhaps even an existential crisis. There has been a proliferation of other forums—notably BRICS and the G20—which means that IBSA needs to differentiate itself if it is to endure. This paper suggests a common vision for IBSA, based on the concept of international liberalism, implying an open international market, well-regulated capital markets and tailored domestic policies such as...

There is growing comment in both academic and popular writing about the shape and content of funerals today, with general agreement that we are seeing marked changes with a growing trend towards secularisation and personalisation. Despite this, there is as yet relatively little systematic research on the topic. This article reports on a study funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK into spirituality in contemporary funerals. This qualitative study centred around case studies of 46 funerals in the north of England and gathered data from observations of funeral arrangement meetings as well as the funeral and semi-structured interviews with bereaved families and funeral professionals. The way both sets of participants engaged with the funeral and its constituent elements in an active process of meaning-seeking, meaning-creating and meaning-taking was closely aligned with contemporary understandings of humanistic spirituality. There was, however, little evidence of adherence to formal r...

The concept of spirituality is increasingly used as a way of thinking about dimensions of health care and the experiences of health and illness.

The countries comprising the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) are currently not very integrated into global value chains (GVCs), potentially missing out on important development opportunities. Accordingly, we explore high level options for promoting their integration. Given East Asia’s spectacular success with integrating into GVCs, we first assess the probability that SACU can copy their flying geese pattern. That was initiated by Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) investing in successive East Asian countries thereby becoming the lead geese, to be joined subsequently by MNCs from other countries. We argue that the conditions for pursuing a flying geese approach are difficult to replicate in SACU. Therefore, we proffer and explore the proposition that South Africa could serve as the gateway for harnessing MNC geese flying from third countries into the SACU region, in time propelling regional development through knowledge and investment spillovers, and serving as a conduit into GVCs. However, there may be substantial obstacles to deepening this integration potential. Other African gateways are emerging as alternatives to South Africa. And some SACU governments would prefer to build regional value chains (RVCs) rather than prioritize GVC integration. We argue that RVCs are complements to GVCs. SACU countries, excluding South Africa, may not attract many world leading MNCs since their markets are small, but could attract smaller regional players from South Africa or elsewhere. Thus building RVCs in the short run could assist with integration into GVCs in the longer run. Overall, this requires harnessing South African and MNC geese to the South African gateway, in a mutually complementary strategy.

Mega-Regional trade negotiations, specifically the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), have the potential to transform global trade relations, if successfully concluded. They would forge new market access conditions and trading rules amongst the major developed economies in sub-Saharan African space, our core focus. This would redound in the World Trade Organization, to shape global trade rules for the future. If they fail then the decline of western, especially U.S. but also EU, trade leadership will be hastened, benefiting China in particular but also, over time, the BRICs economies. That would give smaller developing countries greater leverage in pursuing their trade relations but with relatively uncertain consequences in a new, multipolar trading system. In this light, our interest is in how African countries are responding to the Mega-Regionals. Are they consciously forming strategic responses in anticipation of potentially being shut out of potential new trade and investment circuits? If so, what is the nature and direction of those responses? If not, why not? And what may the consequences for their trade relations be?

The authors argue that South Africa's role as an economic gateway for various African countries primarily depends on geography, that is, on naturally given and man-made structures in geographical space. Hence, they first examine South Africa's location and physio-geographical conditions in Southern Africa in order to show important factors that affect the scope of the South African gateway. Second, they shed light on regional transport infrastructure, revealing how South Africa interlinks its neighbouring countries globally. Thirdly, regional economic interaction is analysed with regard to structural features of South Africa's economy that make it prone to being a gateway. The authors recognise that the impact of all these factors is influenced by strategic decisions taken by politicians and businesspeople. The outlook of the paper therefore addresses policies of the South African government that are often problematic for the country's gateway role. Potential challengers and their competitive advantages a...

Aims To describe the current ‘state of the art’ in relation to spiritual assessment, focusing on quantitative, qualitative and generic approaches; to explore the professional implications of spiritual assessment; and to make practical recommendations to managers seeking to promote spiritual assessment in their places of work. Method The paper integrates aspects of a recent systematic review of quantitative approaches to measuring spirituality and a recent meta-synthesis of qualitative research into client perspectives of spiritual needs in health and the principles of generic assessment, before drawing on the wider literature to discuss a number of professional implications and making recommendations to nurse managers. Implications for nursing management The issues to emerge from this paper are (1) that spiritual assessment is an increasingly important issue for nursing practice, (2) that the range of reliable and valid quantitative instruments for use in clinical practice is limited, (3) that there is overlap in the domains and categories of spirituality identified by quantitative and qualitative researchers, and (4) that nurse managers seeking to introduce spiritual assessment will do so in the context of a professional debate about the relevance of spirituality to contemporary practice.

Support for regional economic integration in Africa runs high amongst the continent's international development partners and African elites. However, its expression in European forms of economic integration is not appropriate to regional capacities and in some cases may do more harm than good. This lacuna is exacerbated by technical and theoretical analyses rooted either in economics or international relations literature. This article sets out to reconceptualise the foundations of African economic integration by reviewing key debates within each literature and comparing the results across disciplinary boundaries. Overall, it is concluded that a much more limited approach is required, one that prioritises trade facilitation and regulatory cooperation in areas related primarily to the conduct of business; underpinned by a security regime emphasizing the good governance agenda at the domestic level. Care should be taken to design the ensuing schemes in such a way as to avoid contributing to major implementat...

South Africa is a privileged member of various global governance clubs. This status is based on its relative economic weight in sub-Saharan Africa and its legacy of ‘soft power’ derived from the peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy. However, those foundations are waning in the face of the African National Congress (ANC) government's growing ambivalence towards democratic norms and the relatively rapid growth and development taking place in sub-Saharan Africa. The ANC government's own policy choices, particularly its emphasis on state-driven economic policy, and the internecine power struggles racking the party have set the country's economic policy adrift. Thus investor confidence has been undermined at a time of global economic crisis. Taken together, these trends suggest South Africa's days as the African representative of choice are numbered. Ironically, this development may portend reversal of current trends, by concentrating the ANC leadership's collective mind on what really needs to be done to restore growth, and international confidence, in the country.

Summary This paper reviews the UK evidence in relation to support for disabled student nurses from admission to qualification. The review was undertaken with a view to informing the provision of more effective support for disabled student nurses both within university and clinical practice, focusing on students with learning difficulties, mental health problems and unseen disabilities such as diabetes as these are the most commonly reported categories of disability in the Nursing and Midwifery Admissions System (NMAS). Evidence is available that highlights barriers for disabled students and provides recommendations for support strategies; however, few papers actually discuss how effective these strategies are once in place. This review therefore recommends further research that considers how effective and appropriate adjustments in university and clinical settings are for disabled student nurses.

Scand J Caring Sci; 2011; 25; 828–833 Cross-cultural Validation of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 (PedsQL™) generic core scale into Arabic Language Background: A range of scales is available to measure health-related quality of life. Recently, established quality of life scales have been translated for use in a wide range of Western and non-Western cultures. One of the most widely used health-related quality of life scales for use with children is the PedsQL™ 4.0. In this paper, we describe the process of translating this scale into Arabic and establishing its reliability and validity. Aim: This paper has three aims: first, to explain the process of translating the PedsQL™ (4.0) self- and proxy-reports for the ages 8–12 and 13–18, from English into Arabic; second, to assess the reliability of the new Arabic version of the scale and third, to assess its validity. Method: The scale was translated from English to Arabic and back-translated to ensure accuracy. The Arabic version was administered to healthy children and those with cancer and a range of chronic illnesses in Jordan. Statistical methods were used to test the psychometric properties (reliability and validity) of the Arabic version of the PedsQL™ (4.0) and its ability to discriminate between children in the above groups. Results: Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for child self- and parent proxy-reports exceeded 0.7 for the total scores, health summary scores and psychological health summary scores. Testing for discriminant validity showed that the healthy (control) group had a higher health-related quality of life than children and young people with cancer and chronic illness. The children with chronic illnesses had the lowest scores for physical, emotional and school functioning. Conclusion: Initial testing of the Arabic version of the PedsQL™ (4.0) suggests that the scale has satisfactory psychometric properties.

The recent financial and economic crisis, and the resurgence in the popularity of emerging markets has raised fears in these economies of a resumption in capital flight or a sudden stop of capital inflows. The latter, in particular, is intensively discussed in South Africa. We try to evaluate this danger by focusing on the sustainability of South Africa’s current account deficit during the recent past, and on longterm economic policy developments in the country. We argue that the macroeconomic as well as the relevant microeconomic policy variables do not suggest a sudden stop. However, to lower this risk further, the microeconomic environment has to be improved considerably in the future. This includes mainly reforms in the areas of infrastructure, competition and trade policy.

Staff in care homes must be aware of how they greet and converse with older residents. Through training and discussion with colleagues, managers can help promote positive interactions and eliminate condescending and careless language, says Peter Draper

Summary Background There is a professional requirement for student nurses to achieve competence in the delivery of spiritual care. However, there is no research exploring students nurses perceptions of being educated in these matters. Aim This paper explores the ethical basis of teaching student nurses about the concepts of spirituality and spiritual care by reporting the findings from the first year of a 3 year investigation. Design An exploratory longitudinal design was used to obtain student nurses perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care as they progressed through a 3 year programme. Method A questionnaire incorporating the Spirituality and Spiritual Care Rating Scale was distributed to 176 pre-registration nursing students undertaking either the Advanced Diploma or Bachelor of Science degree programmes. Results A response rate of 76.7% was obtained. Findings reveal that the majority of student nurses perceived spirituality to be a universal phenomenon of a type that can be associated with existentialism. Some students were very uncertain and apprehensive about being instructed in spiritual matters. Conclusion A cohort of student nurses held similar understandings of spirituality to those presented in the nursing literature. However the results also suggest an overwhelming majority felt it was wrong for spirituality to imply that some people are better than others and most were uncertain whether spirituality was related to good and evil. Relevance to nurse education The investigation reveals that there are a number of ethical concerns surrounding the teaching of spirituality to student nurses that need to be resolved.

Student nurses spend one half of their educational programme in the clinical area. The success of an educationally sound clinical placement is crucial to forming a professional nursing identity that will encompass the seen and 'unseen' aspects of the nurses' role. The aim of this study was to explore the clinical nursing environment through the perceptions of first year student nurses. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from 12 student nurses who each had four weeks clinical experience, representing 21 wards and five hospitals. Results suggest that these student nurses were disillusioned with the reality of clinical nursing and that their expectations of nursing were not realised. They perceived that paperwork, completing tasks and meeting targets were dominant features of nursing work at the expense of patient contact and communication. A majority indicated that nursing was not as caring as they expected and vowed to hold on to their personal values of caring about patients and forming communicative, interpersonal relationships with them.

Gothique : le qualificatif utilise pour designer l’art qui s’etendit en Europe du xiie au debut du xvie siecle a longtemps cristallise bien des enjeux nationaux. Mais pour la seconde moitie du xxe siecle, s’interroger sur cet aspect de l’historiographie ne revient pas a chercher les facteurs de permanence signalant une certaine forme de continuite avec le demi-siecle precedent marque par les crispations nationalistes. C’est plutot envisager de maniere depassionnee certaines specificites des a...

This review summarizes research into the phenomenon of patronizing speech addressed to older people by doctors, nurses, health professionals and other carers. Patronizing speech is defined and illustrated and its negative impact on the dignity and well-being of older people described. Key empirical and theoretical perspectives of patronizing speech are reviewed. Different aspects of the practice are examined and practical recommendations made for how it can be recognized and avoided. The beneficial effects of training and education of health professionals are discussed.