Asian Middle Classes - Drivers of Political Change? Asia Policy Brief 2014/06, November 2014

Asia watchers have been kept exceptionally busy by recent political developments in the region. An unprecedented landslide victory in India’s general elections, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, close elections in Indonesia, a coup in Thailand – the list goes on. As unrelated as these events appear, analysts may find a missing link among a social group that is currently exploding in numbers: Asia’s middle classes. Often discussed simply in terms of its economic potential, Asia’s middle-income population is also flexing its political muscle. A closer look at its influence throughout the region in recent months seems to confirm for the field of politics what economists have known for some time: The rise of the Asian middle classes constitutes one of the most fundamental transformations of our time. The consequences remain to be seen.

Language, Identity, Politics-the Myth of Two Ukraines. Bertelsmann Policy Brief, April 2014

The narrative of two Ukraines – the existence of two separate cultural-political communities within one Ukrainian state – has accompanied the relatively short history of inde-pendent Ukraine from the very be-ginning. Articulated by Mykola Ryabchuk more than twenty years ago1 and seemingly logical and reasonable, it has become the fa-vourite narrative of many Ukrainian and international commentators and analysts. One of these Ukraines is pro-European, shares liberal democracy values, wants to join the European Union, “return to Europe” and, what is very im-portant, speaks Ukrainian. The symbolic centre of this Ukraine is Lviv. The other is nostalgic about the Soviet Union, has close rela-tions with contemporary Russia, is hostile towards the West and does not share “western” values. The language of this other Ukraine is Russian and its “capital” is Do-netsk. Taking on board this narra-tive simply means equating one’s region of residence, political views, and preferred language.

The EU Global Strategy: going beyond effective multilateralism? EPC Discussion Paper, June 2016

The ongoing consultation process on the European Union Global Strategy (EUGS) presents an occasion for the European Union (EU) to redress the European Security Strategy’s (ESS) shortcomings and update its stance on multilateralism. As rule-based multilateralism remains deeply entrenched in the Union’s DNA, the EUGS is unlikely to represent ground-breaking innovations as to how the EU should act in international affairs. The key challenge in respect of the EU’s multilateralism is twofold. The first challenge lies in setting out clear priorities for the EU’s multilateral action to be pursued collectively by the member states; and the second in determining the form of multilateralism that would best suit the promotion of the priorities concerned. In this collection of six essays, policy analysts and academics are presented with the question: Over a five year horizon, what do you think should be the focus of the EU’s multilateral agenda? The answers dwell on the EU playing a proactive role in relation to emerging powers especially China, and Latin America as a whole; furthering the EU’s soft power through ‘science diplomacy’; and EU leadership in building a global energy and climate community, and counter terrorism measures.

How mobile is tech talent? A case study of IT professionals based on data from LinkedIn. CEPS Special Report No. 140, July 2016

This study aims to provide independent and in-depth insights into how IT professionals move from one region to another within Europe and beyond. This study was carried out by Mikkel Barslund, Research Fellow, and Matthias Busse, Researcher in the Economic Policy research unit at CEPS. The work was commissioned by the business networking website LinkedIn, whose data analysts kindly provided the data used in this study, aggregated by region and in relative and anonymised terms. The authors are solely responsible for the findings and opinions expressed in this study. CEPS is an independent policy research institute in Brussels, whose mission is to produce sound policy research leading to constructive solutions to the challenges facing Europe today. The views expressed in this study are solely those of the authors and should not be attributed to CEPS or to any other institution with which they are associated or to the business networking website LinkedIn.

Essays in macroeconometrics

The knowledge of the current state of the economy is crucial for policy makers, economists and analysts. However, a key economic variable, the gross domestic product (GDP), are typically colected on a quartely basis and released with substancial delays by the national statistical agencies. The first aim of this paper is to use a dynamic factor model to forecast the current russian GDP, using a set of timely monthly information. This approach can cope with the typical data flow problems of non-synchronous releases, mixed frequency and the curse of dimensionality. Given that Russian economy is largely dependent on the commodity market, our second motivation relates to study the effects of innovations in the russian macroeconomic fundamentals on commodity price predictability. We identify these innovations through a news index which summarizes deviations of offical data releases from the expectations generated by the DFM and perform a forecasting exercise comparing the performance of different models.

Consumer orientations toward fuel efficient vehicles. Executive summary. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Passenger Vehicle Research, Washington, D.C.

Consumer orientations toward fuel efficient vehicles. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Passenger Vehicle Research, Washington, D.C.

Revision of NHTSA curriculum packages. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Strategies to increase the use of child safety seats among toddlers. Volume I. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Driver and Pedestrian Research, Washington, D.C.

Develop and test an associate degree program for traffic records analyst. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Strategies to increase the use of child safety seats: an assessment of current knowledge. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Driver and Pedestrian Research, Washington, D.C.

Effectiveness of safety belt warning and interlock systems. Final report.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Washington, D.C.

Metropolitan housewives' attitudes toward solid waste disposal.

"Contract no. 68-03-0059, program element 1D1312."

The Analyst

Mode of access: Internet.

National security, military power & the role of force in international relations : A bibliographic survey of literature.

Prepared by the research analysts of the United States Army Library at the request of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, United States Army.