Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354509
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
China's Asia-Pacific Century: Enhancing Australia's Engagement. The emerging regional economic sphere of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, encompassing close to a quarter of humankind, is fast becoming one of the world's two major powerhouses--and a potential locus for international conflict. Australia contains a very large and robust field of hundreds of modern China specialists--as many as all of Europe--but we are very spread out geographically and divided among twenty disciplines. There is a pate ....China's Asia-Pacific Century: Enhancing Australia's Engagement. The emerging regional economic sphere of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, encompassing close to a quarter of humankind, is fast becoming one of the world's two major powerhouses--and a potential locus for international conflict. Australia contains a very large and robust field of hundreds of modern China specialists--as many as all of Europe--but we are very spread out geographically and divided among twenty disciplines. There is a patent, felt need for concerted, collaborative, multi-disciplinary research and analysis, as a wide range of important potential synergies exist.Read moreRead less
Deliberative Global Governance. The worldwide movement building deliberative democracy should now address deliberative capacity in whole systems, not just micro innovations such as citizens' juries. This includes global systems such as that addressing climate change; substantial environmental benefits will result. A world populated by more effective democracies - especially in East Asia - is in Australia's national security interest. A century ago, Australia was a world leader in innovations suc ....Deliberative Global Governance. The worldwide movement building deliberative democracy should now address deliberative capacity in whole systems, not just micro innovations such as citizens' juries. This includes global systems such as that addressing climate change; substantial environmental benefits will result. A world populated by more effective democracies - especially in East Asia - is in Australia's national security interest. A century ago, Australia was a world leader in innovations such as the secret ballot and votes for women. Work on deliberative democracy can put Australia back in the forefront of democratic progress, with many associated social, political, and economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Australia's Nuclear Choices. Australia's nuclear choices will be made in the context of a challenging and fluid international strategic environment characterised in Australia's immediate region by heightened global concerns regarding such transnational dilemmas as terrorism, energy security and nuclear proliferation. This project, through exploring the nature, evolution and consequences of contemporary strategic, military and civil nuclear developments impacting on the international non-prolifer ....Australia's Nuclear Choices. Australia's nuclear choices will be made in the context of a challenging and fluid international strategic environment characterised in Australia's immediate region by heightened global concerns regarding such transnational dilemmas as terrorism, energy security and nuclear proliferation. This project, through exploring the nature, evolution and consequences of contemporary strategic, military and civil nuclear developments impacting on the international non-proliferation regime will enable Australian policy-makers to better calibrate the costs and benefits of potential policy changes across these strategic, regime and market realms of Australia's nuclear interests.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL140100154
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,616,265.00
Summary
Deliberative worlds: democracy, justice and a changing world. Deliberative worlds: democracy, justice and a changing world. In an increasingly complex world the processes of achieving fair, effective and equitable solutions to major problems are under challenge. Deliberative democratic methods, where informed citizen groups are used to make decisions, have been used in many countries to develop effective policy responses to a range of problems. This research will develop the understanding of del ....Deliberative worlds: democracy, justice and a changing world. Deliberative worlds: democracy, justice and a changing world. In an increasingly complex world the processes of achieving fair, effective and equitable solutions to major problems are under challenge. Deliberative democratic methods, where informed citizen groups are used to make decisions, have been used in many countries to develop effective policy responses to a range of problems. This research will develop the understanding of deliberative democratic processes and test their applicability and capacity to address issues such as global justice and environmental governance in settings of deep cultural difference. The knowledge gained will inform political theory and contribute to world-wide efforts to solve international policy problems.Read moreRead less
The Cartography of Peace: Security Zones, Colour Codes and Everyday Life. This project investigates the impacts of security mapping and the use of specific color-codes by United Nations peacekeeping operations when assessing risks. It will for the first time trace the origins of United Nations security mapping practices and compare key case studies: Afghanistan (green zone), Somalia (white zone), South Sudan and Kenya (blue zones) and Haiti (red and yellow zones). Expected outcomes include bette ....The Cartography of Peace: Security Zones, Colour Codes and Everyday Life. This project investigates the impacts of security mapping and the use of specific color-codes by United Nations peacekeeping operations when assessing risks. It will for the first time trace the origins of United Nations security mapping practices and compare key case studies: Afghanistan (green zone), Somalia (white zone), South Sudan and Kenya (blue zones) and Haiti (red and yellow zones). Expected outcomes include better understanding of how policy-makers assess risks on the ground, how security maps are drafted and modified across time, as well as an understanding of the meanings given to specific color-codes. The findings expect to benefit Australian and other policy makers seeking to design better security interventions.Read moreRead less
Democratization, Institutional Reform and Ethnic Politics in the Asia-Pacific. The democratisation of the Asia-Pacific has significant implications for Australia. Consolidated democracies are better able to manage internal conflicts, and less likely to pose a threat to their neighbours via arms trafficking, refugee flows, and transnational terrorism. However, the initial transitional period of democratisation can be highly fraught, and many of the new democracies of the Asia-Pacific are fragile, ....Democratization, Institutional Reform and Ethnic Politics in the Asia-Pacific. The democratisation of the Asia-Pacific has significant implications for Australia. Consolidated democracies are better able to manage internal conflicts, and less likely to pose a threat to their neighbours via arms trafficking, refugee flows, and transnational terrorism. However, the initial transitional period of democratisation can be highly fraught, and many of the new democracies of the Asia-Pacific are fragile, beset by internal cleavages and conflicts. If ways can be found to manage ethnic and other cleavages within a democratic framework, the prospects for peaceful and stable governance in the region will be significantly enhanced. This has the potential to transform the security of the region and Australia's relations with it.Read moreRead less
Crafting Authoritarian Politics. Although Russia is nominally a democracy, strong elements of authoritarianism remain dominant. This project examines how Russia has accommodated these authoritarian themes within a representative democracy and, more generally, seeks to shed new light on the process of democratization in postcommunist societies. Russia is the 8th largest country in the world by population and the 11th largest economy based on GDP; it also remains nuclear-armed. Understanding th ....Crafting Authoritarian Politics. Although Russia is nominally a democracy, strong elements of authoritarianism remain dominant. This project examines how Russia has accommodated these authoritarian themes within a representative democracy and, more generally, seeks to shed new light on the process of democratization in postcommunist societies. Russia is the 8th largest country in the world by population and the 11th largest economy based on GDP; it also remains nuclear-armed. Understanding the dynamics of democratization in Russia has implications for political stability across a large section of the world which is currently in transition from authoritarianism to democracy.Read moreRead less
Peace Building and Responsive Governance in Asia and the Pacific. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of generations of children, sets back regional economies and encourages warlords to become transnational criminals who traffic in drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across Australia's region.
Fresh insights will be obtained from the successes and failures of attempts to build peace in failing states that Australia sees as a threat to our sec ....Peace Building and Responsive Governance in Asia and the Pacific. War causes not only human suffering; it threatens the health and education of generations of children, sets back regional economies and encourages warlords to become transnational criminals who traffic in drugs, people, money laundering, guns and terror across Australia's region.
Fresh insights will be obtained from the successes and failures of attempts to build peace in failing states that Australia sees as a threat to our security. These national and regional diagnoses will enhance the quality of Australia's contribution to security and stability in our part of the globe and enhance national capacity to contribute to global peace strategies. Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354865
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
Pacific Futures Network: Security, Governance and Development in the Pacific Islands Region. The proposed research network will interweave the following strands in order to create an entirely new level and quality of diagnosis, prognosis and action in Pacific-oriented research: (a) ANU and Australian expertise and knowledge base; (b) regional expertise, especially in universities, research institutes, archives and cultural institutions; (c) digital expertise; (d) existing networking capacity and ....Pacific Futures Network: Security, Governance and Development in the Pacific Islands Region. The proposed research network will interweave the following strands in order to create an entirely new level and quality of diagnosis, prognosis and action in Pacific-oriented research: (a) ANU and Australian expertise and knowledge base; (b) regional expertise, especially in universities, research institutes, archives and cultural institutions; (c) digital expertise; (d) existing networking capacity and future potential. Thematically, it will place primary emphasis on research on conventional and human security, governance, development and other issues pertaining to the condition of the polities and economies of Australia's near Pacific neighbours, including the Melanesian states characterised as 'weak' and more recently, 'failed'.Read moreRead less
Closing the Political Legitimacy Gap: The International Monetary Fund and Tax Reform, 1965-2005. This project investigates how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can improve its poor success with tax reform programs in borrowing states. It does so by analysing the success and failure of IMF tax reform programs in 20 borrowing states with varied regional, political, and economic characteristics between 1965 and 2005. This research has national and community benefit for two reasons. First, Aust ....Closing the Political Legitimacy Gap: The International Monetary Fund and Tax Reform, 1965-2005. This project investigates how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can improve its poor success with tax reform programs in borrowing states. It does so by analysing the success and failure of IMF tax reform programs in 20 borrowing states with varied regional, political, and economic characteristics between 1965 and 2005. This research has national and community benefit for two reasons. First, Australia has a close relationship with the IMF and an obligation to assist it with issues of global political and economic concern. Second, as problems with fiscal sustainability are strongly associated with international political and economic instability, Australia must develop its knowledge base on the politics of successful tax reform.Read moreRead less