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Category: Global

  • MIL-OSI Global: Is Nigeria in danger of a coup? What the country should do to avoid one – political analyst

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Abdul-Wasi Babatunde Moshood, Senior Lecturer Department of Political Science, Lagos State University

    African countries have had nine successful military coups since 2020. In west and central Africa, there have been at least 10 coup attempts in the same period. Those of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Gabon and Guinea were successful. A number of social, economic and political factors have been identified as responsible for the truncation of democracy in those countries.

    In this interview, The Conversation Africa asks political scientist Abdul-Wasi Babatunde Moshood, who has recently published research on preventing military coups in Nigeria, about what drives coups, whether those factors are present in Nigeria and what steps Nigeria could take to protect its democracy.

    What are the drivers of recent coups in Africa?

    One major reason is leaders who have used the idea of democracy to advance their own economic gains. The result is corruption, which has deepened the gap between the rich and the poor.

    While liberal democracy widens opportunity in developed countries, the reverse is the case in Nigeria, due largely to corruption and lack of effective leadership.

    Also, democracy in parts of Africa, including Nigeria, has not been able to advance development and make a positive impact on the people. To ringfence democracy from military intervention, it must advance development for the people.

    Another factor is the strategic importance of Africa, which has historically attracted foreign powers. With the partitioning of Africa in Berlin in 1884, European powers created spheres of influence which have continued to haunt many African countries.

    These strategic interests have continued to infiltrate politics and cause instability on the continent.

    In my recent work, I argued that foreign influence and strategic importance make coups more likely to occur in African countries including Nigeria.

    Just like coups in the post-independence era, some recent coups in west Africa have the fingerprints of foreign powers. For instance, Russia is implicated in the 2020 and 2021 coups in Mali and the Burkina Faso coup.

    The UK, the US, China and France are all interested in Africa. Since the expulsion of France from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the former colonial power has been seeking another regional haven in Nigeria. This has raised suspicion in some quarters.

    Also, colonialism left a legacy of division between a country’s people and their army. Recruitment dislocated the previous warriors and empowered new ones. The military under colonialism was perceived by civilians as protecting the interests of the colonial ruling elite.

    In the post-colonial period, the military is perceived as protecting the interests of the African ruling elite. This arrangement goes on until the military, having been exposed to politics, decides to seize power for itself. Oftentimes, citizens give legitimacy to this kind of coup because they have always seen the political elite as self serving. Military coups in Sudan and Mali are examples of this.

    Are these factors present in Nigeria today?

    The sociopolitical and economic conditions that led to coups in other countries in west Africa are present in Nigeria.

    Nigeria is still largely divided along lines of clans and religion. Insecurity is at high levels across the country. The removal of the petrol subsidy has caused economic problems.

    Commodity prices have skyrocketed. Food inflation reached 40.75% in 2024 – its highest level in 25 years.

    The colonial legacy in Nigeria is still evident in the north versus south divide that plagues the country’s politics. Bad leaders exploit the division for their own selfish gain by using marginalisation rhetoric.

    Nigeria is still strongly tied to the apron strings of the western powers. This explains why Nigeria’s presidential aspirants prefer to go to Chatham House, London to speak rather than talk to the people they intend to lead.

    Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu’s relationship with France is raising eyebrows in the country. The president recently signed new deals with France in the areas of renewable energy, transportation, agriculture and critical infrastructure. There are concerns because this is coming soon after nearly all former French allies in west Africa have broken ties with the European country.

    These factors often lead to increasing disaffection, which in turn can ignite a military takeover, as happened in Niger, Guinea and Gabon.

    How can a military comeback be prevented in Nigeria?

    Effective leadership would help reduce colonial legacies, improve democracy and mitigate foreign influence. This would foster confidence among dissimilar ethnic communities as policies towards inclusiveness and development of the country were implemented.

    Military professionalism would further specialise the military and give them focus. There should be less involvement of the military in politics.

    In peace time, the military can also be kept engaged as a service provider in agriculture, health and social work as done, for instance, in the US.

    Regional organisations like the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union should be proactive in condemning any derailment in democratic practices and values by political actors. They should not only react by imposing sanctions after a military takeover.

    Nigeria needs to think about developing a homegrown democracy as advocated by the late Claude Ake, the Nigerian political scientist.

    The process and method of democratisation should be affordable to all to participate. Democratic leaders must be scrutinised and their level of wealth ascertained before and after leaving office.

    Democratic institutions must be strengthened to prevent corrupt people from taking over offices. Democratic leaders in Nigeria and other African countries must seek indigenous solutions to their challenges.

    Abdul-Wasi Babatunde Moshood receives funding from TETFUND Institution Based Research IBR, He is a Member of Academic Staff Union of University, Network for Democracy and Development NDD, among others. He is currently the Acting Head of Department of Political Science, Lagos State University.

    – ref. Is Nigeria in danger of a coup? What the country should do to avoid one – political analyst – https://theconversation.com/is-nigeria-in-danger-of-a-coup-what-the-country-should-do-to-avoid-one-political-analyst-248281

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: 6 tips on how to run a company in turbulent times – lessons from emerging markets

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Felipe Monteiro, Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, INSEAD

    Global risks are rising, and many companies are struggling with how to adapt. The World Economic Forum’s 2025 Global Risks Report makes it clear that challenges like escalating global tensions and conflicts, climate change, economic instability and supply chain disruptions are interconnected and build on one another. And they’re here to stay.

    Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump’s tariff threats are creating more unpredictability in global trade.

    Companies – mostly medium sized and large companies – have no choice but to constantly adjust their strategies. For several companies in emerging markets, this way of thinking is second nature. Firms often operate in environments with fragile institutions, volatile currencies, unreliable infrastructure and political instability. They have become used to designing strategies with turbulence in mind.

    Instead of assuming every piece of global supply chains will fall into place as planned, and just-in-time strategies will always deliver, these companies have diversified and distributed their operations across multiple regions. They have been quick to build flexible, global supply chains, ensuring that if one part of the supply chain is disrupted, other regions can pick up the slack.

    While this may seem like common sense, many companies are still finding it difficult to reorganise and adapt to a less predictable and reliable world.

    So, how can companies look to build resilience and operate in uncertainty? By taking inspiration from those that have long navigated instability.

    Over the past 17 years of teaching global strategic management, I’ve developed and taught case studies on numerous companies in developing countries that have successfully adapted and reworked their strategies in times of uncertainty. Many of these examples – from Embraer in Brazil, to Haier in China – are featured in my book, Global Strategic Management (Fifth Edition), with more to come in the upcoming sixth edition.

    Based on these insights, I explore six key lessons companies can learn from firms in emerging markets.

    Six ways resilient firms adapt to disruption

    1. Learn, humbly, and adapt at lightning speed.

    Companies in emerging markets have always had to be more adaptable. They are fast learners and quick to pivot, starting from the understanding that things may not always go as planned. As a result, they design their operations to be resilient from the start. They anticipate disruptions rather than wait for them to happen.

    A classic example of this is M-Pesa. The mobile payments platform was first launched in Kenya in 2007. Initially it aimed to provide microloans to people without bank accounts. However, when users began using it for money transfers and bill payments, the company quickly adapted to meet this new demand. This ability to learn fast and change direction helped M-Pesa become a leader in mobile payments. It now serves as a global benchmark for success in the industry.

    Humility is essential for this kind of swift and effective adaptation. Companies that often face tough, unpredictable conditions tend to approach challenges with a humble mindset. Instead of assuming they have all the answers, they remain open to learning and adjusting.

    2. Lean on local partnerships.

    When entering unfamiliar or unpredictable markets, firms often approach operations with a transactional mindset – focusing on short-term, one-off exchanges – rather than forming deep partnerships with local stakeholders. This limits their ability to understand and deal with political or social disruptions.

    Natura & Co, the Brazilian cosmetics giant, offers helpful lessons. It has long focused on localising production and sourcing materials from nearby suppliers. Its focus is in the Amazon region, where it works with local communities to sustainably harvest raw materials like açaí (purple berries from South American palm trees) and Brazil nut oil. This approach:

    • reduces reliance on distant sources

    • increases flexibility, allowing the company to quickly adapt to regional challenges

    • builds trust which in turn stabilises supply chains and helps firms gain on-the-ground intelligence.

    3. Make room for redundant infrastructure.

    Firms often delay investments in redundant infrastructure until after a crisis exposes vulnerabilities. For instance, firms may rely on a single data centre or power grid, assuming infrastructure reliability.

    For companies like MTN Group, a telecommunications giant based in South Africa, redundancy is a necessity, not a luxury. Investing in backup power solutions and alternative communication links is essential to ensure MTN can maintain services during frequent power outages.

    In critical sectors like telecommunications and technology, parallel networks, alternative energy sources and backup systems ensure uninterrupted operations in the face of infrastructure failures, climate risks or other unforeseen disturbances.

    4. In unstable environments, build your own stability.

    In unpredictable markets, companies have to take matters into their own hands to ensure their operations run smoothly. They fill “institutional voids” common in such markets by forming diversified business groups. These provide critical support, such as internal financing, talent development and logistical infrastructure, to work around the challenges of their operating environments.

    The Tata Group, which operates across multiple industries from steel to software, is perhaps the most prominent example of this.

    Another great example is MercadoLibre, Latin America’s leading e-commerce platform, which faced the challenge of fragmented transport networks that made 24- or 48-hour deliveries near impossible. The only way to improve delivery speed was for the company to build its own logistics network. By doing so, it gained greater control over its supply chain, improved its ability to scale and greatly improved delivery reliability.

    5. Localise production, sustainably.

    Localised production reduces reliance on complex, long-distance global supply chains and helps minimise the environmental impact of transportation. When production and sourcing are local, companies are able to cut emissions and are less vulnerable to external shocks, as they are not reliant on the smooth functioning of distant suppliers or transport routes.

    Dilmah Tea took this hands-on approach by owning tea gardens, factories and packaging facilities in Sri Lanka. The company controls every step of the process, ensuring high-quality, single-origin Ceylon tea while cutting costs and emissions.

    This localised approach minimises dependence on external suppliers, protecting them from problems that can arise in global supply chains, like delays or shortages.

    6. Empower employees to be agile and responsive to change.

    Giving employees greater responsibility can make a big difference in how well a company handles unexpected changes. Chinese home appliances and electronics company Haier took this to the next level by famously transforming into an organisation of thousands of micro-enterprises, each responsible for decision-making, resource management and profit generation.

    This decentralised approach allows teams to swiftly adapt their strategies when disruptions arise. For instance, during the COVID pandemic, Haier maintained operational efficiency by enabling employees at local and product levels to make rapid, informed decisions.

    By staying close to users and gathering constant feedback, Haier’s micro-enterprises are able to anticipate potential disruptions before they become major threats and develop products and services that satisfy evolving needs.

    While it might not always be possible to completely shift power to individual teams, when people have the freedom to make decisions and take ownership of their work, they can respond quickly to new challenges and come up with creative solutions.

    Anticipation and adaptation

    The challenges that seem new and overwhelming are simply part of the daily reality for those in emerging economies. For decades, companies in these regions have been anticipating and adapting. As risks grow and intertwine, companies can learn from the resilience built by businesses in emerging markets.

    It all begins with a shift in mindset – recognising these challenges as the new reality and accelerating our own pace of learning and adaptation accordingly.

    Felipe Monteiro does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. 6 tips on how to run a company in turbulent times – lessons from emerging markets – https://theconversation.com/6-tips-on-how-to-run-a-company-in-turbulent-times-lessons-from-emerging-markets-248914

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: 6 in 10 young South Africans have no jobs. Why some still reject offers of work

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Hannah J. Dawson, Senior Lecturer, Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg

    South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. The official rate is 32%, rising to 42% when discouraged job seekers are included. Among young people aged 15 to 24, unemployment reaches a staggering 60%. While much attention has focused on youth exclusion from the labour market and their survival strategies, far less is said about their experiences in precarious jobs, or why some choose to leave low-wage employment.

    Across South Africa, young people are encouraged by the government, NGOs and society to accept unpaid internships, precarious apprenticeships and low-wage jobs on the assumption that these opportunities will lead to better employment. Those who quit or refuse low wage jobs are sometimes derided by employers as “lazy” or “choosy”.

    In 2015 and 2016 I conducted in-depth interviews and a survey with 100 young people (aged 18-35) in the settlement of Zandspruit, near Johannesburg, for my PhD (unpublished). What they told me was that the wage work available to them did not offer a pathway to a dignified life.



    Read more:
    South Africa’s youth are a generation lost under democracy – study

    Their stories challenge society to rethink the relationship between work, dignity and citizenship. Addressing youth unemployment requires more than increasing job numbers. It demands improving job quality and recognising the aspirations of those without work.

    My journal article, based on the PhD research, challenges the assumption that wage employment automatically leads to economic and social inclusion.

    Work around Zandspruit

    Established in the early 1990s as a small informal settlement, Zandspruit now houses over 50,000 residents within a two kilometre radius. Its unplanned expansion reflects its strategic location near new economic hubs, shaped by the shift from an industrial to a service-based economy.

    Most low-end service jobs in surrounding suburbs, malls and industrial hubs offer neither financial security nor routes to what the men in my study saw as respectable adulthood.

    I asked the men about their movement in and out of wage work, job experiences and work trajectories. Most had only held low-wage service jobs, which they ranked hierarchically: manual labour at the bottom, followed by hospitality and cleaning, with security and retail slightly better. Over half (57%) had never stayed in a job for more than a year. Many lasted only weeks or months.

    Short-term contracts were the leading cause of job loss (35%), followed by voluntary quitting (18%) — often due to low wages — and retrenchment (15%). While temporary contracts and retrenchments explain half of all job losses, voluntary quitting is a striking trend in a country with such high unemployment.

    To understand these departures, I interviewed 37 young people, mainly young men, who had left wage work in 2015-2016. They cited exploitative conditions, workplace racism, and financial and social pressures as key reasons. Their decisions reflect not just dissatisfaction with low wages but a deeper aspiration for dignity, social recognition and economic progress. Work, they insisted, should offer more than basic survival.

    Why young men refuse low-wage work

    All the young men I interviewed had cycled through low-paying jobs as security guards, cashiers, golf caddies, petrol attendants and call centre agents. Over half had quit because of dissatisfaction or exploitation.

    The most common reason for quitting was exploitative labour conditions. They spoke of employers bypassing minimum benefits, withholding pay and making unfair deductions. Contracts were rarely made permanent. More than just poor wages or bad working conditions, these jobs offered little prospect of social mobility. Some felt that no matter how hard they worked, they would never earn enough to improve their lives or achieve what they saw as key markers of respected manhood, like marriage, establishing a home and supporting a family.

    Eric, who had moved on from low-end jobs to run a small IT business from home, put it simply:

    When you look for a job, you don’t look for one that will drain you. You need a job that will build you so you have a future tomorrow.

    His words reflect a common view: young men do not judge jobs solely by their ability to provide a means of survival, but by whether they offer a path to stability, dignity and a better future.

    Workplace racism and mistreatment were also factors. Many young men recounted being undermined, insulted or unfairly treated by their superiors. The workplace became a direct encounter with South Africa’s racialised inequalities, where almost all low-wage workers are black and most employers and business owners are white.

    Thatho, who quit a retail job after six months, described his frustration:

    That guy [boss] is yelling at me for five days. On the sixth day I realised it’s too much. I can’t do this. I’m trying my best … It’s better if I left the company cause it’s painful when you work hard and someone says you’re not doing anything.

    Being disrespected in the workplace takes a psychological and emotional toll. For some, quitting was a way to reclaim respect and a degree of autonomy.

    Young men faced financial and social pressures, shaped by the male breadwinner ideal, to improve their own lives and support their families. This responsibility often motivated young men to take up or keep jobs, but it also led some to leave. Some quit in search of better-paying jobs. Others quit to escape the social demands tied to earning a wage.

    One young man, who struggled to send his son to a good crèche, keep his girlfriend happy and support his unemployed siblings, explained:

    Even though I’m working, I’m always left with nothing […] sometimes I feel like I’m drowning.

    The inability of low-wage jobs to meet both personal and social expectations drove some to make a living in the informal economy.

    Rethinking work and citizenship

    Wage labour, often idealised as a path to inclusion and citizenship, falls short for many South Africans. By rejecting such jobs, these young men challenge the notion that “any job is better than no job” and assert their right to economic participation on fair and dignified terms.

    Hannah J. Dawson received funding from the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and the National Research Foundation.

    – ref. 6 in 10 young South Africans have no jobs. Why some still reject offers of work – https://theconversation.com/6-in-10-young-south-africans-have-no-jobs-why-some-still-reject-offers-of-work-249052

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump threatens to disrupt the world’s critical minerals supply – but there are reasons to be positive

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jorge Valverde, PhD Fellow, Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), United Nations University

    Nickel laterite in an open pit mine. Nickel is one of the critical minerals

    There’s a chance Donald Trump’s second term as US president could have a long-term negative impact on the demand for and supply of what are known as critical minerals. These include copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and the “rare earth elements”, such as lanthanum and yttrium.

    They are vital for the green energy transition, being used in electric car batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. Trump’s decision to pull out of the UN’s Paris agreement to control global warming has led to some pessimistic perspectives on this policy’s impacts.

    If Trump’s move towards oil and gas is interpreted by the markets as permanent, the price incentive for new mining projects for critical minerals will fall, along with long-term supply. This could potentially threaten the green energy transition.

    However, there are reasons to doubt this pessimistic scenario. Contrary to this, we believe that the new US administration policy is just a temporary shock without a significant change to the world’s energy transition trajectory. Therefore, critical mineral markets will remain buoyant in the medium and long term. This position is based on three main arguments.

    1. The US holds a competitive position in critical mineral markets

    There’s a generalised perception that the US depends on importing critical minerals from other countries, such as China. This is true for a handful, but, overall, America is one of the most competitive countries in producing the minerals needed for green technology.

    Indeed, the US has a revealed comparative advantage in exporting a wide variety of minerals and, among them, the most critical ones.

    Supplies of germanium are tightly controlled by China.
    RHJPhtotos

    Therefore, it will be in the US’s interests to keep the lucrative critical mineral markets dynamic. Even if the US reduces its sustainability ambitions, slowing its demand for new clean technologies, it is likely to do it carefully, so as not to harm its own industries.

    Indeed, we expect the US to increase its interest in developing processing industries to recover some minerals from electronic waste or intermediate stages in some manufacturing processes. These include germanium and gallium, which are tightly controlled by China (their biggest producer) but which are vital for computer chips and renewable energy technology, as well as night-vision goggles.

    2. The US produces and uses only a small share of clean technologies

    China and Europe drive these markets. The US does not drive either the demand or the supply for new clean technologies. On the demand side, the US only represents 10% of world electric car sales, while China and Europe account for 66% and 20% of the market respectively.

    China represents over 43% of installed solar energy capacity.
    Wang An Qi Shutterstock

    Similarly, for the world installed solar energy capacity, China represents over 43% of the market, Europe 20%, and the US only 10%. On the supply side, the US produces around 15% of the world’s electric cars, while China represents more than 50% of the market.

    For other clean technologies, statistics are similar with a remarkable leadership of China in the production of solar panels and wind turbines.

    So the policies followed by China and Europe are likely to have a much larger impact on the energy transition than the US’s. In the likely event that these countries continue pushing forward the green transition, the cost of slowing its technological catch up for the US will be too high.

    Moreover, oil producer countries of the Middle East are heavily betting for new clean technologies, which could offset the lower appetite for green assets from the US. So regardless of what Trump’s administration will decide on this matter, its influence on the market for clean technologies will be limited.

    3. New tariffs could further increase some minerals’ criticality

    Import tariffs imposed by Trump’s first administration to promote local production damaged US exports of those industries using imported intermediate, or partly finished, goods. In other words, international trade along global value chains has modified the textbook dynamics of protectionism, and exports are hindered – and not fostered – by import protection.

    President Trump has said he plans to impose 25% new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. This could increase the criticality of some minerals for the US. For example, nickel and aluminium could become even more critical to the US economy because Canada supplies almost 40% of the nickel employed by US industry, and 70% of the aluminium.

    As a consequence, new tariffs could indeed increase the criticality of some minerals. Indeed, this was probably in some way behind the decisions to postpone the tariff increases and to only impose them on selected products.

    The energy policies of the new American administration will have ripple effects. But these are likely to be temporary and the market in critical minerals is unlikely to be affected long term. The global transition to clean energy seems safe, for now.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Trump threatens to disrupt the world’s critical minerals supply – but there are reasons to be positive – https://theconversation.com/trump-threatens-to-disrupt-the-worlds-critical-minerals-supply-but-there-are-reasons-to-be-positive-249058

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Is Donald Trump on a constitutional collision course over NATO?

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Aaron Ettinger, Associate Professor, International Relations, Carleton University

    Over the past few weeks, United States President Donald Trump has let loose a flurry of executive orders aiming to impose the MAGA agenda unilaterally.

    The legal challenges and judicial stays that have followed speak to the degree to which the limits of presidential authority are at risk in America. These limits include the making and breaking of international treaties.

    In the crosshairs is NATO, the very existence of which is threatened by Trump more than anything else.



    Read more:
    Allies or enemies? Trump’s threats against Canada and Greenland put NATO in a tough spot

    But can he sign an executive order and unilaterally denounce the North Atlantic Treaty — which forms the legal basis of NATO — or any international treaty, for that matter? The answer is uncertain, but perhaps not for long.

    Vice President J.D. Vance has stated on social media that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” suggesting that Trump won’t be checked or balanced by the judiciary or other branches of government. This sets up a high stakes battle over the limits of “legitimate” presidential authority.

    Any unilateral termination of the North Atlantic Treaty would likely end up in the U.S. Supreme Court. This question therefore is about more than just NATO. It’s about the power of the presidency to override Congress, ignore courts, terminate treaties and reshape the international order.

    How to quit an alliance

    To leave NATO, all a member needs to do is say so. Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty lays out simple instructions: give notice of denunciation to the U.S. government, which will then tell the other members. Basically, Trump can inform himself and likely post something to social media and the one-year countdown clock begins.

    But can Trump unilaterally withdraw from NATO in a way that’s constitutional? This is where things get ambiguous.

    The more appropriate question is: “Can the U.S. president unilaterally terminate an act of Congress?”

    The U.S. Constitution requires that international treaties have the “advice and consent” of “two-thirds of senators present” to become law. America’s adoption of the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 followed this process. But on treaty termination, the constitution is silent.

    This is remarkable because the U.S. has been terminating treaties since 1798. Naturally, the authority over treaty termination has been debated for just as long.

    The arguments boil down to this: if treaties are regarded as analogous to domestic law, then Trump needs the consent of two-thirds of the Senate to terminate the North Atlantic Treaty.

    If the domestic analogy is rejected or treaties are regarded as falling under the vested powers of the presidency — or as giving the president wiggle room to suspend elements of the agreement — then Trump can do what he wants.

    The Supreme Court’s stance

    Does the Supreme Court have anything to say? No, and deliberately so.

    In 1979, the court dismissed a suit brought by Sen. Barry Goldwater against President Jimmy Carter after Carter terminated a 25-year-old mutual defence treaty with Taiwan. The court dismissed the case as a non-justiciable political question.

    A similar outcome occurred in 2002 when President George W. Bush unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty with Russia. Members of Congress filed suit, but the case was dismissed by a federal court on the same grounds.

    What we have now is a practice of treaty termination that is governed by the norms of shared power over foreign policy between Congress and the presidency, exactly the kind of guardrails that Trump loves to ignore.

    So it seems that Trump could have a path to denouncing the North Atlantic Treaty. But there’s a twist.

    The Marco Rubio twist

    At the end of 2023, Congress passed the Defense Department budget that included a provision meant to forestall any unilateral withdrawal from NATO.

    Buried deep in the 974-page National Defense Authorization Act is a provision that prohibits the president from “suspending, terminating, denouncing, or withdrawing” from NATO “except with the advice and consent of 2/3 of the Senate.” That clause, spearheaded by then-senator and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is critical because of a court decision that’s nearly as old as NATO itself.

    In 1952, in the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer case, the Supreme Court clarified the parameters on executive power. It argued presidential authority on any matter is “is at its lowest ebb” when working against congressional authority.

    The Rubio clause may be the exact constitutional authority that stops Trump in his tracks. But stay tuned: this is all subject to change.

    What’s next?

    In 2025, the conditions for unilateral withdrawal seem to align perfectly for Trump: constitutional ambiguity, antiquated norms of polite governance and deferential courts.

    It might seem that Trump could denounce the North Atlantic Treaty with a few thumbstrokes, but that obscure provision in the Pentagon budget changes things. Any unilateral denunciation of NATO by Trump would set him on a collision course with Congress, and the matter would rocket toward the Supreme Court.

    So far, though, Trump hasn’t raised the spectre of termination. Instead, he has been more interested in increasing the NATO defence spending target to five per cent of GDP, up from two per cent, a requirement that would be difficult for many members to meet.

    It’s possible that including that language in the next NATO summit declaration would be enough for Trump. He’d look tough without the constitutional fight at home. Supporters of NATO, the durability of U.S. treaties and the separation of powers in America can only hope that will be enough.

    Aaron Ettinger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Is Donald Trump on a constitutional collision course over NATO? – https://theconversation.com/is-donald-trump-on-a-constitutional-collision-course-over-nato-248363

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The dangers of ‘Jekyll and Hyde leadership’: Why making amends after workplace abuse can hurt more than it helps

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By John Sumanth, James Farr Fellow & Associate Professor of Management, Wake Forest University

    Not the picture of leadership. LMPC via Getty Images

    A glance at the day’s headlines reveals a universal truth: Leadership matters.

    Whether uplifting and ethical or toxic and abusive, leaders profoundly shape our lives. And this is especially true on the job. Research consistently shows that leadership influences employees’ attitudes, behaviors and emotions, driving key organizational outcomes such as creativity, employee engagement, well-being and financial performance.

    Unfortunately, research also shows that supervisors abuse their employees far too often and then try to manage impressions to compensate for their bad behavior. But what happens when a leader tries to “make up” for past abuse by suddenly acting ethically? And do employees have to experience the abuse firsthand for it to hurt them?

    As professors who study management – and who’ve heard horror stories of employees working under mercurial bosses – we wanted to find answers. So we conducted a study, which was recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.

    Our research includes multiple samples of full-time employees in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. To begin, we surveyed 222 employees and 66 supervisors to gather insights into workplace leadership and work experiences. We focused on two contrasting leadership behaviors: ethical leadership and abusive supervision. We also conducted experiments with 400 people, presenting them with stories about managers who alternately display both ethical leadership and abusive supervision and asking them how they would respond.

    Across these studies, we found that employees who experience such oscillating leadership often end up worse off – in terms of their emotional well-being and job performance – than if they were consistently being abused. By going back and forth between abusive and ethical behaviors, leaders create greater confusion, leaving their employees emotionally exhausted.

    Instead of providing relief, acts of ethical leadership ironically serve to amplify the damage done by prior abusive behavior.

    Jekyll and Hyde leadership in practice

    As an example, consider Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple for more than a decade until his death in 2011. While Jobs was an icon to many people, he reportedly swung between toxic and positive leadership behavior while dealing with subordinates.

    For example, when Jobs’ exacting standards weren’t met, he would reportedly storm into meetings and profanely berate the team responsible for not living up to his lofty expectations. Yet, despite these outbursts, he was also described as a leader who believed in his employees’ potential, expressing unwavering confidence in their abilities and empowering them to exceed their own expectations.

    This kind of unpredictable leadership can leave workers emotionally exhausted, wondering: “Which version of my boss will show up today? Will this kindness last, or is it just a setup for another blow?” Unsurprisingly, this isn’t good for productivity.

    Employees value stability and predictability in their leaders. A supervisor who bounces between harsh criticism and warm praise creates an emotional roller coaster for the team. When employees see a supervisor as unpredictable, they experience more stress and emotional exhaustion, which hurts their job performance and willingness to share ideas.

    Interestingly, we found that workers don’t even need to be directly targeted by an abusive supervisor to be affected; employees whose immediate supervisors get the Jekyll-and-Hyde treatment from their higher-ups suffer similar consequences.

    These negative reactions occur, in part, because employees begin to doubt that their immediate supervisors are able to effectively influence higher-level leaders. In other words, the psychological toll of Jekyll-and-Hyde leaders isn’t limited to direct encounters but can also be experienced vicariously.

    How companies can banish Mr. Hyde

    The good news is that organizations can break this cycle – and workers are likely to be less stressed and more productive when they do. Here are three steps every organization can take:

    • Train leaders to manage stress without lashing out. High-pressure environments are prevalent these days, but abusive leader behavior doesn’t have to be. Providing leaders with tools like emotional intelligence training and conflict resolution skills can help leaders navigate both personal and professional challenges more constructively.

    • Address the abusive behavior directly. When abusive actions occur, ignoring them or asking the leader to “be nicer next time” isn’t enough. Structured interventions – like one-on-one coaching, counseling or formal sanctions – are essential for generating real change. Employees need to see that the organization is living up to its stated values and ideals.

    • Foster a culture of trust and accountability. Tools like 360-degree feedback reports – which involve feedback from supervisors, peers and subordinates – can help leaders gain deeper insight into their behaviors. These can be used not just for development, but also for heightened accountability. Creating a climate of psychological safety – in which employees can report concerns without fear of retaliation – is key to rebuilding trust. So is ensuring clear, consistent responses to reports of abusive supervision.

    Great leaders understand the power of trust and setting an example. Employees want leaders they can rely on, not ones who keep them guessing. So leaders should be wary about employing ethical leadership as a quick fix for past mistakes. Rather, it’s about showing up consistently, authentically, and with integrity every single day.

    For leaders at all levels, the takeaway is simple: Consistency fosters success. Organizations that prioritize stable, ethical leadership create workplaces where employees feel valued, supported and empowered to do their best work.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. The dangers of ‘Jekyll and Hyde leadership’:
    Why making amends after workplace abuse can hurt more than it helps – https://theconversation.com/the-dangers-of-jekyll-and-hyde-leadership-why-making-amends-after-workplace-abuse-can-hurt-more-than-it-helps-244622

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Investors value corporate tax responsibility – at least when the company is based somewhere with a lot of inequality, research shows

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Erica Neuman, Assistant Professor of Accounting, University of Dayton

    When corporations based in areas of above-average income inequality pay more taxes, it’s not just the public that appreciates it – investors do, too. That’s the key finding of our recent research published in the journal Accounting and the Public Interest.

    Our finding challenges traditional economic theory holding that investors see corporate taxes as a transfer of wealth from shareholders to the state. That would suggest investors value only strategies that minimize taxes. The reality isn’t so simple.

    As accounting professors at the University of Dayton, we study the intersection of corporate taxes and corporate social responsibility. We wanted to better understand how corporate taxes affect firm value and stock prices, and whether that relationship changes if a company is headquartered in an area with high income inequality.

    So we looked at financial data from over 1,500 firms over a 10-year period between 2011 and 2019, as well as the income inequality in the metro areas where they’re headquartered. For the latter point, we used the Gini coefficient, a measure of income distribution in a given place. This is a particularly useful context for looking at corporate taxes, since one of the key functions of taxation is to counter inequality.

    We found that there’s a negative relationship between corporate taxes and firm value for companies headquartered in areas of average inequality. In other words, paying more corporate taxes lowers firm value. That’s in line with previous research and traditional economic theory.

    However, we found that when local income inequality rises above the average, the relationship between corporate taxes and firm value flips. This flip suggests that some companies actually receive a financial benefit from paying corporate taxes.

    Why? We found that these companies enjoy a reputational benefit for being socially responsible taxpayers. Indeed, our results were driven by businesses that are are otherwise widely viewed as good corporate citizens. For those companies, paying taxes represents one of many socially responsible behaviors.

    Why it matters

    Our research offers evidence that investors view corporate taxes positively when they’re consistent with other socially responsible behaviors. Given that corporations have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders, this finding suggests that corporate taxes can play a role in a company’s corporate social responsibility, or CSR, efforts.

    Our findings also align with a 2023 KPMG survey of more than 300 chief tax officers that found more than half said they cared more about looking like good corporate citizens than reducing their tax burdens.

    An extensive body of research has shown that companies’ investments in CSR activities aren’t just selfless – they’re linked with improved operational and financial outcomes. There’s evidence that businesses that prioritize CSR are better able to attract quality employees; have improved corporate reputations; and are more profitable as judged by return on assets, return on equity and return on sales.

    While work on tax responsibility has lagged behind other CSR research, evidence is mounting that paying corporate taxes has positive effects. Much of this research indicates that companies that aggressively minimize tax payments and gain a reputation as “tax avoiders” face harm to their reputation – and therefore, the bottom line.

    Our study dovetails this research and identifies a specific context in which investors view corporate taxes favorably. At a time of tax reform both globally and in the U.S., and as lawmakers and pundits continue to call for greater tax transparency, companies should be aware of the role of corporate tax responsibility in their overall CSR portfolio.

    What’s next

    Corporate tax responsibility is complex and not yet well defined. Our current research examines other circumstances that lead investors to value corporate taxes, which will help companies to quantify the value of including taxes in their CSR portfolios.

    The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Investors value corporate tax responsibility – at least when the company is based somewhere with a lot of inequality, research shows – https://theconversation.com/investors-value-corporate-tax-responsibility-at-least-when-the-company-is-based-somewhere-with-a-lot-of-inequality-research-shows-225961

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: DEI programs are designed to help white people too – here’s how

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Liza Bondurant, Associate Professor of Secondary Math Education, Mississippi State University

    Many DEI programs support students with a disability, about a fifth of whom are white. simonkr/E+ via Getty Images

    While diversity, equity and inclusion may on the surface seem focused on certain groups, in fact DEI programs benefit people from all walks of life – including white people.

    President Donald Trump and other conservatives have increasingly attacked such initiatives as discriminatory based on the presumption that they benefit only students of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

    Most recently, Trump issued an executive order on Jan. 20, 2025, directing federal agencies, including the Department of Education, to eliminate support for DEI positions and projects. The order labels them “illegal and immoral discrimination” and “radical and wasteful.”

    The impact of this sweeping order has been seismic across the U.S. government, private sector and in education in particular as universities have begun eliminating or rebranding their DEI programs and the Department of Education has removed any initiative and even any document or material that referenced diversity, equity or inclusion.

    As professors of education who have studied DEI programs in higher education, we believe these attacks represent a misconception about which groups DEI higher education programs actually support. The reality is, DEI policies help a wide range of people access and succeed in college regardless of their racial or ethnic background.

    Breaking down DEI funding by race

    It’s a challenge to determine the exact percentages of federal DEI funding allocated to groups of students broken down by race and ethnicity. There is limited publicly available data.

    Broadly speaking, a large majority of people within most racial and ethnic groups receive some kind of federal funding – some of which is connected to DEI programs. That includes 81% of Black students, 74% of American Indian/Alaska Native students, 72% of Hispanic or Latino students, 70% of white students, and 66% of Asian students, according to a 2023 report from the National Center for Education Statistics based on data during the 2019-20 academic year.

    The center’s data does not indicate whether those grants were explicitly designated for DEI initiatives. For example, Pell Grants are need-based, but not explicitly DEI.

    That said, DEI initiatives encompass a broad range of programs that support various underrepresented groups, including first-generation college students and students with disabilities. They also benefit women and veterans. Each of these groups invariably includes many white students.

    University DEI programs support underrepresented students from all kinds of backgrounds, such as those who are the first in their family to attend college, about half of whom are white.
    AP Photo/Darron Cummings

    First-generation students

    At most universities, a portion of DEI funding is dedicated to programs designed to support the success of first-generation students, or students whose parents did not graduate from college.

    DEI initiatives enhance first-generation students’ academic success by addressing their unique challenges, such as financial constraints, cultural adjustments and unfamiliarity with college environments. They do this through tailored support programs, inclusive learning communities and mentorship opportunities.

    Research shows that first-generation students are likely to adopt what psychologists call performance avoidance goals – such as the fear of looking incompetent – so they play it safe and don’t try too hard, which can hinder their academic success. But DEI efforts such as faculty engagement programs and dorm communities that mix academics and social support help foster supportive environments that mitigate those challenges.

    National data shows that 56% of college students are first-generation attendees. White students represent 46% of that group, more than any other single race.

    Students with disabilities

    People with disabilities make up the largest minority group in America – and represent a growing share of college students.

    Disability access is a vital yet often overlooked component of DEI efforts, with 20.5% of undergraduate students reporting a disability. Many institutions address this through disability services, which ensure students receive such appropriate testing accommodations as extended exam times, classroom support and access to assistive technology.

    Accommodations for individuals with both sensory and physical disabilities are universally accepted and ensure access to everyone regardless of their ability. DEI initiatives, particularly those focusing on accessibility and support services, play a pivotal role in ensuring students with disabilities have equal opportunities to succeed.

    Given that disabilities affect people from every ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic background, the erasure of DEI programs that support them hurts all groups – and that includes white people, who made up 21.1% of all undergraduate students with disabilities in the 2019-20 academic year.

    We believe it is particularly critical to fund programs that include students with disabilities because, in the past, public providers did not create equitable opportunities for all.

    Before the passage of key legislation such as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, students with disabilities were often excluded from mainstream educational settings or received inadequate support. Even since those laws were enacted, enforcement has been inconsistent, and gaps in accessibility persist today.

    Women and veterans

    In addition to those two groups, DEI programs also target women and veterans.

    For women, who make up more than half of college students, they promote equity in male-dominated fields such as science, technology, engineering and math, and leadership roles in government, academia and the private sector.

    For veterans, DEI programs provide tailored resources like academic support, mental health services and career transition assistance that recognize the unique challenges some of them face in higher education.

    The GI Bill, which provides financial assistance to veterans pursuing higher education, has also gotten caught up in Trump’s DEI purge. While it wasn’t designed back in 1944 as a DEI initiative – and has often failed to ensure equitable access for Black veterans – the Department of Veterans Affairs has recently tried to provide targeted support to veterans of diverse backgrounds. Trump’s order ended those programs.

    While veterans make up only 6% of undergraduate students, the majority of them – about 60% – are white, with 16% Black, 14% Hispanic and 3% Asian.

    Close to home

    Collectively, those groups and others have benefited from the over US$1 billion in grants the Education Department has allocated to DEI programs since 2021.

    Diversity encompasses a lot more than just race, and that’s why DEI programs are intended to benefit a broad range of people who historically have been underrepresented at universities or have lacked support.

    For both of us, the end of these types of programs hits close to home. One of us is white, and one of us is Black, but we’ve both benefited from DEI initiatives aimed at first-generation college students and women.

    We also both have family members who are veterans or who have disabilities and who have received financial support and resources that made a significant difference in their ability to go to college.

    Most American families – even if they don’t realize it – can tell a similar story of how programs aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion helped them achieve the American dream.

    Trump’s order describes DEI programs as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” and says Americans deserve “a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect.”

    In our view, the orders are more likely to have the opposite effect.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. DEI programs are designed to help white people too – here’s how – https://theconversation.com/dei-programs-are-designed-to-help-white-people-too-heres-how-248989

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Traumatic brain injuries have toxic effects that last weeks after initial impact − an antioxidant material reduces this damage in mice

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Aaron Priester, Postdoctoral Fellow in Materials Science and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology

    Brain damage can release harmful chemicals such as free radicals that cause further damage. fatido/E+ via Getty Images

    Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of death and disability in the world. Blunt force trauma to the brain, often from a bad fall or traffic accident, accounts for the deaths of over 61,000 Americans each year. Over 80,000 will develop some long-term disability.

    While much of the physical brain damage occurs instantly – called the primary stage of injury – additional brain damage can result from the destructive chemical processes that arise in the body minutes to days to weeks following initial impact. Unlike the primary stage of injury, this secondary stage could potentially be prevented by targeting the molecules driving damage.

    I am a materials science engineer, and my colleagues and I are working to design treatments to neutralize the harm of secondary traumatic brain injury and reduce neurodegeneration. We designed a new material that could target and neutralize brain-damaging molecules in mice, improving their cognitive recovery and offering a potential new treatment for people.

    Biochemical fallout

    The primary stage of traumatic brain injury can severely damage and even destroy the blood-brain barrier – an interface protecting the brain by limiting what can enter it.

    Disruption of this barrier triggers damaged neurons or the immune system to release certain chemicals that result in destructive biochemical processes. One process called excitotoxicity occurs when too many calcium ions are allowed into neurons, activating enzymes that fragment DNA and damage cells, causing death. Another process, neuroinflammation, results from the activation of cells called microglia that can trigger inflammation in damaged areas of the brain.

    Traumatic brain injury can result in long-term damage.
    stockdevil/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    These secondary phase processes also produce harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species. These molecules, which include free radicals, chemically modify and deform essential proteins in cells, rendering them useless. They can also break DNA strands, leading to potentially damaging genetic mutations.

    If left unchecked, harm from this oxidative stress can have devastating consequences for long-term health and neurocognitive recovery. Researchers have linked the biochemical changes and byproducts resulting from this cascade of damaging molecules to the development of long-term neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS, among others.

    However, compounds called antioxidants can target this oxidative stress and improve long-term neurocognitive recovery by chemically interacting with reactive oxygen species in a way that can neutralize their damaging properties.

    Finding the ideal antioxidant

    My team and I studied whether an antioxidant called a thiol group could help treat traumatic brain injury.

    Thiol groups are chemical compounds that contain a sulfur atom bound to a hydrogen atom. Sulfur atoms are much larger than hydrogen atoms, which means the sulfur atom in a thiol has a strong pull on a hydrogen atom’s lone electron. This weakens the bond between the hydrogen and its electron, allowing the hydrogen to easily give up its electron to other atoms.

    As a result, thiols readily interact with many different reactive oxygen species, including the ones that damage DNA. We chose thiols not only for their antioxiant properties, but also for their ability to bind to and neutralize other brain-damaging molecules called lipid peroxidation products. These neurotoxic compounds are formed as byproducts when reactive oxygen species damage fats in the body.

    To get these thiols into the body, we incorporated them into materials called polymers. These are long chains of organic molecules made of individual units called monomers. To get the monomers to link together, a lone electron – or free radical – initiates a bond with a monomer, triggering a chain reaction. Think of this process like knocking down a series of dominoes: The push of your hand (the free radical in this instance) hits a domino (the monomer) and subsequently knocks down the rest of the dominoes to form a line (the polymer).

    Polymers are long chains of the same molecule, over and over again.

    Because thiols can inhibit this process of polymerization, we had to make a monomer with a so-called protecting group that can be chemically removed after polymerization to become our thiols. Since a-lipoic acid, a common supplement found in pharmacies, contains such a protecting thiol group, we used it to make our monomer.

    We then made a chain of these monomers with RAFT, a controlled process by which polymers can be designed to leave the body through the urine. To do this, a water-soluble co-monomer can be added into the chain, allowing the polymer to dissolve in the bloodstream.

    Finally, we treated the polymers to remove the protecting group, producing thiol polymers ready for further testing.

    Testing on TBI

    Next, we tested how well our thiol polymers neutralized reactive oxygen species.

    First, we used a technique called UV-visible spectrophotometry, which shines a laser into a cell sample containing both our polymer and brain-damaging molecules. If there are reactive oxygen species present in the sample, the light will be minimally absorbed. But if our polymer neutralizes these compounds, then the light will be heavily absorbed. Through these studies, we found that our thiol polymer neutralized reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide by as much as 50%, and other neurotoxic molecules such as acrolein by as much as 100%, thus protecting neurons from damage.

    We conducted additional tests by exposing fluorescent proteins to free radicals, finding that proteins that weren’t treated with our thiol polymers were destroyed. Proteins that were treated continued to be fluorescent, indicating that our thiol polymer neutralized the free radical and protected the protein.

    Lastly, we injected the thiol polymers into mice with traumatic brain injury. Brain scans showed that our polymer not only successfully concentrated in the damaged area of the brain but also provided immediate protection from further injury. Our thiol polymer was able to reduce reactive oxygen species in injured mice to just 3% over the normal levels found in uninjured mice. Untreated mice with traumatic brain injury had a 45% increase compared with uninjured mice.

    Future work on thiol polymers

    Our findings suggest that these thiol polymers may serve as a potential treatment for the secondary stage of traumatic brain injury. Further testing can help determine whether this material could potentially reduce the risk of long-term disability.

    We are currently developing a cheap process to incorporate thiols with tiny nanoparticles. This may help increase the number of thiols in the material while also improving its ability to circulate in the bloodstream for longer protection.

    Many additional studies in animals are needed to confirm the effectiveness of our material in treating traumatic brain injury. If our results continue to be positive, we aim to test the effectiveness of our material in people through clinical trials. We hope these treatments could improve the long-term outcomes for victims of car crashes, falls or even sport-related injuries to the brain.

    Aaron Priester received funding from the NIH.

    – ref. Traumatic brain injuries have toxic effects that last weeks after initial impact − an antioxidant material reduces this damage in mice – https://theconversation.com/traumatic-brain-injuries-have-toxic-effects-that-last-weeks-after-initial-impact-an-antioxidant-material-reduces-this-damage-in-mice-247655

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How medical treatments devised for war can quickly be implemented in US hospitals to save lives

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Vikhyat Bebarta, Professor of Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology, Pharmacology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

    Military medicine moves faster than traditional research. Tech. Sgt. Darius Sostre-Miroir/920th Rescue Wing

    For decades, military doctors faced a critical challenge: What’s the best way to safely and effectively deliver oxygen to patients in remote combat zones, rural hospitals or disaster-stricken areas?

    Oxygen tanks are heavy, costly and dangerous in combat zones. A direct hit from a missile or a bullet can turn a lifesaving resource into a deadly hazard.

    Marine Corps Gen. Ernest T. Cook once said, “Logistics is the hard part of fighting a war.” It goes beyond oxygen. For deployed U.S. troops, the supplies available during combat for treating wounded soldiers can mean the difference between life and death.

    The Department of Defense turned to us, military physicians and academic researchers in military medicine at the University of Colorado Center for COMBAT Research, to study whether the military needs to bring oxygen to the battlefield for soldiers – and, if so, how much.

    This approach to research is known as a military-civilian partnership. These partnerships aim to save lives on the battlefield. But they also save lives across the U.S. by turning military medical gains into better health care for all.

    Innovation and agility

    In the civilian world, it takes 17 years on average for a research discovery to change medical practice. One of the most well-known examples of this is the use of tranexamic acid for trauma patients. Tranexamic acid is injected to stop bleeding during surgery or after trauma. It was discovered in 1962 but not approved by the FDA until 1986. It wasn’t used for traumatic bleeding until 2012.

    The changing nature of war and threats against U.S. forces require military medicine to move faster. Injuries and infections in combat push researchers to find better ways to save lives, often faster than in civilian health care.

    Military medicine must move quickly to keep up with the pace of war.
    Contributor/Anadolu via GettyImages

    At the center, scientists work side by side with military medical teams to study, develop and test solutions tailored for the battlefield.

    Whether it’s addressing oxygen use, traumatic brain injuries, burn treatments or trauma care, these partnerships allow military and civilian researchers to translate discoveries into practice rapidly.

    Rethinking oxygen

    The immediate administration of oxygen to an injured or ill patient has long been a cornerstone of trauma and burn care. The logic seemed simple: When patients are in shock or have severe injuries, their bodies struggle to get enough oxygen, so doctors provided extra.

    Our research, and that of others, found that too much oxygen can actually be harmful. Excess oxygen triggers oxidative stress – an overload of unstable molecules called free radicals that can damage healthy cells. That can lead to more inflammation, slower healing and even organ failure.

    In short, while oxygen is essential, more isn’t always better.

    We conducted a series of military-civilian collaborative trials called Strategy to Avoid Excessive Oxygen, or SAVE-O2. We discovered that severely injured patients often require less oxygen than previously believed. In fact, little or no supplemental oxygen is needed to safely care for 95% of these patients.

    This finding challenges decades of conventional medical wisdom. It will reshape how medical professionals approach critical care in not only military settings, but civilian hospitals as well.

    Within a year of presenting our findings to military medical leaders, these insights have already influenced changes and updates to patient care guidelines, medic training and even decisions on medical equipment purchases.

    To build on our findings, we’ve launched a trial to study the use of artificial intelligence to automate oxygen delivery. This military-funded study could provide better care for wounded soldiers in remote combat zones and for injured civilians in ambulances or rural hospitals before they reach large referral and trauma centers.

    An oxygen mask that uses artificial intelligence could help medics in rural combat zones and rural U.S. hospitals.
    John Moore/GettyImages

    In rural or remote areas of the U.S., access to supplemental oxygen can be limited due to supply chain challenges, high costs and shortages. This is particularly true in small hospitals and affects first responders after a natural disaster or accident. In the intensive care units of these hospitals, using oxygen more efficiently could preserve limited oxygen supplies for patients who need it.

    Prolonged casualty care: A new frontier

    While researching oxygen needs in combat zones, we realized another pressing issue: the challenges of prolonged casualty care. During a conflict, military medics often need to treat critically injured soldiers for hours or even days before the wounded person can be evacuated.

    In a future conflict with a “near-peer” adversary such as China or Russia, the U.S. may not have the ability to evacuate wounded troops quickly. Without reliable helicopter or airplane transport, many casualties may not reach trauma care within the “golden hour.” This is the critical first 60 minutes after a severe injury, when rapid treatment is essential.

    The ongoing war in Ukraine illustrates the challenge of prolonged casualty care. In hospitals across Ukraine, doctors are increasingly having trouble treating the wounds of civilian and military patients because of rising antibiotic resistance.

    Future military conflicts in the Indo-Pacific regions will present similar challenges, including long patient transport times and concerns about wound infections due to prolonged casualty care.

    However, this challenge isn’t unique to the battlefield. Prolonged casualty care also happens in civilian crises. For example, during a natural disaster, emergency responders must manage patients without quick access to hospitals.

    Once patients are treated in the field or in disaster scenarios, providers must often sustain care with limited resources. They have to prioritize essential interventions, minimize resource use and stabilize patients for eventual transfer to higher levels of care.

    Innovation in health care thrives on collaboration. Military-civilian partnerships are one way to advance medical solutions faster and more effectively. These innovations save lives in combat, improve care and allow us to apply our 98% survival rate in war to our trauma centers, rural hospitals and disaster zones in the U.S.

    The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense (DoD), the United States Government, or any of its agencies. The appearance of external links or mention of specific commercial products does not constitute endorsement by the DoD.

    Adit Ginde receives research funding from the U.S. Department of Defense. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense (DoD), the United States Government, or any of its agencies. The appearance of external links or mention of specific commercial products does not constitute endorsement by the DoD.

    Arthur Kellermann previously served as dean of the school of medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. His views are his own and do not neccessarily represent those of the U.S. Department of Defense.

    – ref. How medical treatments devised for war can quickly be implemented in US hospitals to save lives – https://theconversation.com/how-medical-treatments-devised-for-war-can-quickly-be-implemented-in-us-hospitals-to-save-lives-247752

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Climate change is threatening Lake Ontario — lessons from the Little Ice Age show us why we need to adapt

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Daniel Macfarlane, Associate Professor of Environment and Sustainability, Western Michigan University

    Humans have always had a close connection with Lake Ontario. For centuries, this Great Lake has been a backbone of the region’s economy — relied upon for trade, food and industry. But a warming climate could dramatically change this relationship.

    This wouldn’t be the first time climate change has affected how humans use this Great Lake, as I show in my new book The Lives of Lake Ontario: An Environmental History. During the Little Ice Age, which spanned roughly the 14th to 19th centuries, Indigenous and settler societies had to adapt to the cooling Lake Ontario environment.

    As we again face a changing climate, the way our predecessors adapted during the Little Ice Age teaches us why it’s necessary we change how we use and interact with Lake Ontario today.

    The Little Ice Age

    Prior to the onset of the Little Ice Age, the Lake Ontario region was occupied exclusively by different Indigenous Peoples — including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg. These groups regularly came to Lake Ontario to hunt, harvest and trade. They were highly attuned to local climate conditions, adapting their agricultural strategies accordingly.

    But the Little Ice Age altered the climate in the region — with average temperatures about 1-2°C lower than normal. I argue in my book that the impact this period’s climate had on the environment and those living in the region helped change the course of empires in North America — both Indigenous and Euro-American.

    This cooler climate led to seasonal unpredictability. This forced the region’s various occupants to adjust their resource and food acquisition strategies. A higher frequency of summer droughts could mean failed crops — while extremely heavy snows made it harder to hunt. These factors may have contributed to the severe decline of Indigenous populations in the region.

    The origins of the fur trade — which dramatically reorganized society and altered political power in the Great Lakes region — are also at least partly attributable to the Little Ice Age. The cooler climate drove the desire for fur in Europe while also affecting the pelt thickness of North American animals.

    The climate during the Little Ice Age also influenced various military campaigns due to its effects on the region’s weather and the lake’s conditions.

    During the War of 1812, for instance, two American warships sank in a sudden summer squall north of Port Dalhousie. A lack of appreciation for the lake’s capriciousness could mean disaster — while those commanders who respected the local environment had the upper hand.

    Agriculture

    But alongside the challenges this cooling climate created, it also provided new opportunities.

    As I contend in my book, climate changes during the period encouraged the diversification of agriculture and food production — such as the cultivation of wheat strains hardy enough to survive cooler conditions. Settlers also believed the mass conversion of forests and wetlands to fields could modify the climate, making it warmer. The influx of settlers reliant on these new types of agriculture fundamentally shaped the emerging political and economic systems around Lake Ontario.

    Heavier ice cover on Lake Ontario actually made winter transportation easier in some ways.

    Temperatures during the Little Ice Age frequently caused a thick freeze in the lake’s nearshore waters. This enabled alternative forms of wintertime travel which were generally cheaper, more flexible, and more dependable than travelling by boat. Skates, sleighs and iceboats were developed for both economic and recreational needs.

    As the Little Ice Age began releasing its grip during the 19th century, Euro-Americans moved to the Lake Ontario basin in larger numbers. This climatic shift proved integral to settler expansion.

    Ice on Lake Ontario enabled cheaper forms of travel.
    (William Armstrong, Public domain/Wikimedia Commons)

    Resilient yet fragile

    The Toronto region could not have become Canada’s economic and cultural capital without the resources of Lake Ontario.

    But all this economic and political growth has come at a tremendous cost. Lake Ontario is now imperilled because of the way we’ve come to rely on it.

    In the 19th century, we cut down forests, dammed and polluted tributaries, dug canals and obliterated fish species in the region.

    In the 20th century, our impacts only expanded: overwhelming pollution, invasive species, urban sprawl, larger canals and hydroelectric dams. These human costs have led to nutrient overloads in the water from wastewater and farming runoff, impoverished biodiversity, fluctuating water levels, toxic chemicals and plastics in the lake.

    This ongoing degradation — coupled with climate change exacerbating ecological challenges and creating new ones — is further undercutting Lake Ontario’s ability to cope with our many abuses.

    A hotter lake could alter the entire food web, which could have ripple effects on local species, energy flows and biodiversity.

    The changing climate is also causing extreme fluctuations in lake levels. Recent record-high levels eroded shorelines — affecting houses and infrastructure while threatening septic systems, nuclear power stations and fuel refineries.

    Resilience

    We’re lucky that Lake Ontario is remarkably resilient. But the lake is being pushed to the brink. We have a small window to both adapt to the already changing climate and prevent it from changing further.

    Of course, the Little Ice Age involved the climate getting cooler, while today it’s getting warmer — with humanity being the primary driver for this changing climate. In the face of climate change, we too can adapt how we use and interact with the lake — just as was done in the Little Ice Age.

    But our response nowadays needs to be as much about stopping old practices as starting new ones. We need to cease contributing to global warming and other negative impacts on Lake Ontario through our unsustainable industry, flawed economic systems and overconsumption, massive pollution and reliance on fossil fuels.

    Daniel Macfarlane does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Climate change is threatening Lake Ontario — lessons from the Little Ice Age show us why we need to adapt – https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-threatening-lake-ontario-lessons-from-the-little-ice-age-show-us-why-we-need-to-adapt-246292

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Deportation fears create ripple effects across undocumented migrants, legal immigrants and entire communities

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kristina Fullerton Rico, Research Fellow, Center for Racial Justice, Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detain a person on Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

    The Trump administration’s plan to deport millions of immigrants living in the country without permission is falling far short of its initial goals in its first few weeks.

    But there has been an increase in immigration raids in multiple cities, including Los Angeles and Miami, since Trump took office.

    After Trump’s inauguration, rumors of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents roaming the streets or showing up at churches and schools have spread on social media and messaging apps, sending waves of panic in immigrant communities from coast to coast.

    When I share my research on the effects of U.S. immigration policies, I find that most people intuitively understand how being deported can upend someone’s life.

    In fact, research shows that deportation, and the risk of deportation, impacts more than just the person who is deported.

    Deporting immigrants often separates individualsfrom their families, exiles them to countries that don’t feel like home, and leaves them poor, with few job prospects.

    Immigrants who are deported also face social stigmas that lead to further isolation and mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and risk of suicide.

    An undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who plans to leave the country in February 2025 is seen at home with his son in Dover, Ohio, in January.
    Rebecca Kiger for The Washington Post via Getty Images

    A family matter

    Immigrants in the country without permission tend to belong to mixed-immigration-status families, meaning that at least one family member has legal permission to be in the country or has citizenship.

    In some cases, mixed-status families feel pressure to leave the U.S. together if one family member is deported.

    Researchers call this phenomenon “de facto deportation.” It frequently affects young, U.S.-born children whose parents are deported.

    Legal scholars argue that deporting the parents of these young U.S. citizens violates these children’s citizenship rights. Though these children are citizens, their parents’ deportations push them out of the country and away from the lives they would have had in the U.S.

    In other cases, families separate when a mother, father or other adult guardian is deported. This is especially true for immigrants who are deported to dangerous places. Families are also likely to separate if a family member requires specialized medical care for a disability or chronic illness.

    But it is not just actual deportations that cause harm.

    The fear of deportation

    Even when immigrants do not face an immediate risk of deportation, the way they live their lives is shaped by the threat of removal.

    In hostile political climates, including the current moment in the U.S., immigrants feel the risk of deportation acutely.

    Some researchers call the fear of deportation “deportability.” This feeling has a chilling effect, discouraging immigrants from the everyday activities they would otherwise do.

    So far, immigrants’ fear is likely disproportionate to the risk of deportation. But the threat looms so large that immigrants and their families have upended their lives.

    Business owners, teachers and religious leaders across the country have noticed immigrants’ glaring absence in neighborhoods that are usually bustling and now feel deserted.

    In some cases, immigrants are keeping their children home from school. Others avoid going to doctor’s appointments or delay going to the hospital.

    Hostility toward immigrants also has a chilling effect on cultural expression.

    Research shows that Latino immigrants who fear deportation or anti-immigrant prejudice feel coerced to assimilate. They avoid speaking Spanish or their Indigenous language, like Quechua or Náhuatl, in public, and may even hesitate to teach it to their own children.

    Similarly, it can feel dangerous to play music or partake in cultural traditions.

    Spillover effects

    Research has also found that the threat of deportation makes immigrants hesitant to report dangerous conditions at work. Since immigrants are overrepresented in dangerous industries, like construction and meatpacking, this can lead to a higher risk of being injured or even dying on the job.

    Because local law enforcement agencies increasingly cooperate with federal immigration authorities, immigrants may also avoid going to the police – even when they are victims of violent crimes.

    Even in cities where local law enforcement agencies refuse to work closely with ICE, the perception that they might be creates fear in immigrant communities and leads people to underutilize public programs and services.

    People who have permission to be in the country are also afraid

    The fear of immigration enforcement can also extend to a person who speaks a foreign language, is a person of color, or otherwise seems like they might be in the country without permission.

    Perhaps the most striking example of this consists of recent reports that Native American citizens living in Southwest states like Arizona have been increasingly questioned by ICE. In response, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren has advised people to carry proof of their U.S. citizenship.

    Nonwhite U.S. citizens’ fears of being deported are not unprecedented.

    In the 1950s, many U.S. citizens of Mexican ancestry were deported under President Dwight Eisenhower’s mass deportation operation. Trump credits Eisenhower’s program, officially called “Operation Wetback,” after the racist slur, for inspiring his current mass deportation plans.

    More than half a century later, the U.S. Government Accountability Office reported that between 2015 and 2020, ICE likely arrested 674 U.S. citizens, detaining 121 and deporting 70 of them.

    The entrance to a church in Chicago had a sign on its door on Feb. 10, 2025, informing ICE officials that they were not allowed to enter the building without a court order.
    Luzia Geier/picture alliance via Getty Images

    A sense of despair

    Not surprisingly, anti-immigrant policies and threats can elicit feelings of hopelessness among immigrants. The fear of deportation can lead to significant mental health problems for immigrants and their loved ones, ranging from conditions like anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder to a loss of trust in others and social isolation.

    Children experience fear and confusion about the future of their lives and that of their families.

    Hopelessness can lead to immigrants leaving the country on their own accord. This can happen because immigrants see no future for themselves in the U.S.

    Similarly, immigrants who are detained by government authorities may agree to voluntary departure orders rather than fighting to remain in the country.

    Some consequences of the fear of deportation and anti-immigrant hostility are easy to see, like when children miss school.

    Others – delaying doctor’s appointments, going hungry instead of going to the food bank, tolerating abuse instead of seeking help – are harder to observe, and their negative effects may not be evident for years.

    Kristina Fullerton Rico’s research has received funding from the Russell Sage Foundation and Sociologists for Women in Society.

    – ref. Deportation fears create ripple effects across undocumented migrants, legal immigrants and entire communities – https://theconversation.com/deportation-fears-create-ripple-effects-across-undocumented-migrants-legal-immigrants-and-entire-communities-248817

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Greenland’s rapidly melting ice and landslide-prone fjords make the oil and minerals Trump covets dangerous to extract

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Paul Bierman, Fellow of the Gund Institute for Environment, Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Vermont

    Greenland has large deposits of rare earth minerals along its coasts, but these are also geologically hazardous regions. Alex Hibbert/The Image Bank via Getty Images

    Since Donald Trump regained the presidency, he has coveted Greenland. Trump has insisted that the U.S. will control the island, currently an autonomous territory of Denmark, and if his overtures are rejected, perhaps seize Greenland by force.

    During a recent congressional hearing, senators and expert witnesses focused on Greenland’s strategic value and its natural resources: critical minerals, fossil fuels and hydropower. No one mentioned the hazards, many of them exacerbated by human-induced climate change, that those longing to possess and develop the island will inevitably encounter.

    That’s imprudent, because the Arctic’s climate is changing more rapidly than anywhere on Earth. Such rapid warming further increases the already substantial economic and personal risk for those living, working and extracting resources on Greenland, and for the rest of the planet.

    Arctic surface temperatures have been rising faster than the global average.
    Arctic Report Card 2024, NOAA Climate.gov

    I am a geoscientist who studies the environmental history of Greenland and its ice sheet, including natural hazards and climate change. That knowledge is essential for understanding the risks that military and extractive efforts face on Greenland today and in the future.

    Greenland: Land of extremes

    Greenland is unlike where most people live. The climate is frigid. For much of the year, sea ice clings to the coast, making it inaccessible.

    An ice sheet, up to 2 miles thick, covers more than 80% of the island. The population, about 56,000 people, lives along the island’s steep, rocky coastline.

    While researching my book “When the Ice is Gone,” I discovered how Greenland’s harsh climate and vast wilderness stymied past colonial endeavors. During World War II, dozens of U.S. military pilots, disoriented by thick fog and running out of fuel, crashed onto the ice sheet. An iceberg from Greenland sunk the Titanic in 1912, and 46 years later, another sunk a Danish vessel specifically designed to fend off ice, killing all 95 aboard.

    Now amplified by climate change, natural hazards make resource extraction and military endeavors in Greenland uncertain, expensive and potentially deadly.

    Rock on the move

    Greenland’s coastal landscape is prone to rockslides. The hazard arises because the coast is where people live and where rock isn’t hidden under the ice sheet. In some places, that rock contains critical minerals, such as gold, as well as other rare metals used for technology, including for circuit boards and electrical vehicle batteries.

    The unstable slopes reflect how the ice sheet eroded the deep fjords when it was larger. Now that the ice has melted, nothing buttresses the near-vertical valley walls, and so, they collapse.

    In 2017, a northwestern Greenland mountainside fell 3,000 feet into the deep waters of the fjord below. Moments later, the wave that rockfall generated (a tsunami) washed over the nearby villages of Nuugaatsiaq and Illorsuit. The water, laden with icebergs and sea ice, ripped homes from their foundations as people and sled dogs ran for their lives. By the time it was over, four people were dead and both villages lay in ruin.

    Steep fjord walls around the island are littered with the scars of past rockslides. The evidence shows that at one point in the last 10,000 years, one of those slides dropped rock sufficient to fill 3.2 million Olympic swimming pools into the water below. In 2023, another rockslide triggered a tsunami that sloshed back and forth for nine days in a Greenland fjord.

    A cellphone video captures the June 2017 tsunami wave coming ashore in northwestern Greenland.

    There’s no network of paved roads across Greenland. The only feasible way to move heavy equipment, minerals and fossil fuels would be by sea. Docks, mines and buildings within tens of feet of sea level would be vulnerable to rockslide-induced tsunamis.

    Melting ice will be deadly and expensive

    Human-induced global warming, driven by fossil fuel combustion, speeds the melting of Greenland’s ice. That melting is threatening the island’s infrastructure and the lifestyles of native people, who over millennia have adapted their transportation and food systems to the presence of snow and ice. Record floods, fed by warmth-induced melting of the ice sheet, have recently swept away bridges that stood for half a century.

    As the climate warms, permafrost – frozen rock and soil – which underlies the island, thaws. This destabilizes the landscape, weakening steep slopes and damaging critical infrastructure.

    An excavator tries to save a bridge over the Watson River at Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Part of the bridge and the machine were eventually swept away by the rushing meltwater from the Greenland Ice Sheet during a heat wave in July 2012.

    Permafrost melt is already threatening the U.S. military base on Greenland. As the ice melts and the ground settles under runways, cracks and craters form – a hazard for airplanes. Buildings tilt as their foundations settle into the softening soil, including critical radar installations that have scanned the skies for missiles and bombers since the 1950s.

    Greenland’s icebergs can threaten oil rigs. As the warming climate speeds the flow of Greenland’s glaciers, they calve more icebergs in the ocean. The problem is worse close to Greenland, but some icebergs drift toward Canada, endangering oil rigs there. Ships stand guard, ready to tow threatening icebergs away.

    An iceberg passes near an oil drilling rig in eastern Canada.
    Geoffrey Whiteway/500px Plus via Getty Images

    Greenland’s government banned drilling for fossil fuels in 2021 out of concern for the environment. Yet, Trump and his allies remain eager to see exploration resume off the island, despite exceptionally high costs, less than stellar results from initial drilling, and the ever-present risk of icebergs.

    As Greenland’s ice melts and water flows into the ocean, sea level changes, but in ways that might not be intuitive. Away from the island, sea level is rising about an inch each six years. But close to the ice sheet, it’s the land that’s rising. Gradually freed of the weight of its ice, the rock beneath Greenland, long depressed by the massive ice sheet, rebounds. That rise is rapid – more than 6 feet per century. Soon, many harbors in Greenland may become too shallow for ship traffic.

    Streams of meltwater flow over the silt-covered surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet as it melts in summer heat near Kangerlussuaq in western Greenland.
    REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    Greenland’s challenging past and future

    History clearly shows that many past military and colonial endeavors failed in Greenland because they showed little consideration of the island’s harsh climate and dynamic ice sheet.

    Changing climate drove Norse settlers out of Greenland 700 years ago. Explorers trying to cross the ice sheet lost their lives to the cold. American bases built inside the ice sheet, such as Camp Century, were quickly crushed as the encasing snow deformed.

    In the past, the American focus in Greenland was on short-term gains with little regard for the future. Abandoned U.S. military bases from World War II, scattered around the island and in need of cleanup, are one example. Forced relocation of Greenlandic Inuit communities during the Cold War is another. I believe that Trump’s demands today for American control of the island to exploit its resources are similarly shortsighted.

    Piles of rusting fuel drums sit at an abandoned U.S. base from World War II in Ikateq, in eastern Greenland.
    Posnov/Moment via Getty Images

    However, when it comes to the planet’s livability, I’ve argued that the greatest strategic and economic value of Greenland to the world is not its location or its natural resources, but its ice. That white snow and ice reflect sunlight, keeping Earth cool. And the ice sheet, perched on land, keeps water out of the ocean. As it melts, Greenland’s ice sheet will raise global sea level, up to about 23 feet when all the ice is gone.

    Climate-driven sea level rise is already flooding coastal regions around the world, including major economic centers. As that continues, estimates suggest that the damage will total trillions of dollars. Unless Greenland’s ice remains frozen, coastal inundation will force the largest migration that humanity has ever witnessed. Such changes are predicted to destabilize the global economic and strategic world order.

    These examples show that disregarding the risks of natural hazards and climate change in Greenland courts disaster, both locally and globally.

    Paul Bierman receives funding from the US National Science Foundation and the University of Vermont Gund Institute for Environment

    – ref. Greenland’s rapidly melting ice and landslide-prone fjords make the oil and minerals Trump covets dangerous to extract – https://theconversation.com/greenlands-rapidly-melting-ice-and-landslide-prone-fjords-make-the-oil-and-minerals-trump-covets-dangerous-to-extract-249985

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ecowas breakup could push up food prices and worsen hunger in west Africa

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Danielle Resnick, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

    The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) lost three of its founding members on 29 January 2025. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger comprised 16% of the bloc’s population of 424 million and 7% of its economy.

    Some commentators have labelled their departure – first announced a year ago – as “Sahelexit”. The decision to leave Ecowas was made by the three countries’ military leaders and is now poised to take effect legally. The three countries have created the Alliance of Sahel States (Alliance des États du Sahel, AES), a mutual defence and security pact formalised through the Liptako Gourma Charter in 2023.

    The decision to leave Ecowas was prompted after the military leaders launched coups against democratically elected leaders in Mali in 2021, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. The Ecowas Democracy and Governance Protocol prohibits unconstitutional changes of government. The regional body therefore imposed economic, financial and travel sanctions on each country after each coup.

    Food was exempted from the sanctions. But the resulting increase in transport times and other logistical hurdles contributed to substantial levels of food price inflation in the region. In Niger, for instance, the average market price of rice rose by 38% between July 2023, when sanctions were first imposed, and February 2024, when they were lifted.

    Remaining Ecowas countries were also badly affected. Benin’s revenues at the port of Cotonou, the main transit source for goods going into Niger, fell dramatically. The sanctions on Mali badly hurt revenue generation at the port of Dakar in neighbouring Senegal.

    All sanctions were lifted in February 2024. But the damage was done, and the three states began preparing their departure from the regional body.

    Ecowas has given these three states a transition period until July 2025 in case they backtrack and want to return. But the Alliance of Sahel States leaders have said their decision is irreversible.

    The exit from Africa’s largest political and economic union threatens to disrupt flows of goods, services and people. As a political economist who focuses on agriculture and nutrition policy in much of Africa, I worry that these developments will have serious consequences for food security in a region where almost 17 million children under five are already acutely malnourished.

    Already, the cost of a daily nutritious diet in the three Sahel alliance countries is 110% higher than the daily minimum wage in the west African region. The countries are also among the world’s hunger hotspots. In early 2025, 7.5 million of their population were classified as in crisis, emergency or famine conditions.

    The exit will also imperil regional cooperation on conflict. Insurgent attacks are moving further south of the Sahel.

    This will reduce access to safe, affordable food and deter investments in agro-processing.

    A blow to trade

    The implications of exit are most obvious for trade relations. Although the three countries will remain in the eight-member francophone West African Economic and Monetary Union, they are departing the Ecowas customs union, which includes the region’s anglophone countries. A customs union removes tariffs among its member states and establishes a common external tariff on non-member states. Members experience freer trade with each other while protecting their domestic industries from external competition. Since 2015, import tariffs for intra-Ecowas goods have been eliminated. A common external tariff is levied on imports from non-Ecowas countries.

    Leaving Ecowas means the three countries will have to adhere to the common external tariff rates for their imports into Ecowas member countries. They will also revert to using the World Trade Organisation’s Most Favored Nation rates on imports from Ecowas countries, which are higher for some categories of goods than the Ecowas tariff.

    In other words, for some goods, including agricultural products, imports will be more expensive for all countries. The three states will be further hurt by the community levy, the 0.5% tax Ecowas imposes on goods from non-Ecowas member states to fund the bloc’s budget.

    All three countries are landlocked. Leaving Ecowas means they lose access to ports like Tema in Ghana and Lagos in Nigeria. There will be implications for some of their biggest exports. For instance, almost 60% of Burkina Faso’s vegetable exports and 90% of its live animal exports go to Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.

    Ghana, along with Côte d’Ivoire and Benin, is a key export market for Niger’s onions. Niger also imports a large share of its food products from Nigeria, one of its largest trading partners in the region.

    The tariff and levies therefore could increase the cost of food for consumers in both the Alliance of Sahel States and remaining Ecowas countries.

    The withdrawal of the three countries will also affect food production through diminished access to electricity as well as wheat flour and edible oils. The trio face possible exclusion from the Ecowas West African Power Pool, which aims to increase members’ access to the regional electricity market. Burkina Faso and Niger import most of their electricity from Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

    Finally, the livelihoods of Sahelian migrants living in Ecowas countries remain uncertain. Due to the Ecowas freedom of movement protocol, more than 1.3 million Burkinabes and half a million Malians live in Côte d’Ivoire. Many of them run small, informal sector businesses to support their families back home.

    Future scenarios

    Ecowas marks its 50th anniversary in 2025. What could the future look like?

    Junta leaders are proposing various ways in which the relationship between the Alliance of Sahel States and Ecowas will proceed. For instance, they have claimed that they will maintain visa-free travel from Ecowas countries into theirs. But all 12 remaining Ecowas states would have to approve that proposal. The alliance also launched its own passport, but it’s not clear how Ecowas states will treat citizens who use it.

    Another possible scenario is that they will negotiate bilateral agreements with their major Ecowas trading partners and with other countries that offer sea access, such as Mauritania and Morocco. This scenario obviously undermines efforts to enhance regional trade integration.

    Finally, the problems surrounding the “Sahelexit” embody a larger set of tensions. These include whether political objectives should be embedded within trade arrangements — a debate also central to the possible renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act this year – and whether concerns over national sovereignty will undermine regional cooperation on increasing cross-border climate, conflict, and health threats to food security.

    Danielle Resnick receives funding from the Gates Foundation and the Open Society Foundation.

    – ref. Ecowas breakup could push up food prices and worsen hunger in west Africa – https://theconversation.com/ecowas-breakup-could-push-up-food-prices-and-worsen-hunger-in-west-africa-249195

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Police are failing to deliver a minimum standard of service, according to the UK public

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adam Crawford, Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Leeds, and Chair in Policing and Social Justice, University of York

    Eyematter/Shutterstock

    The UK government has doubled the additional funding for neighbourhood policing in England and Wales to £200 million. This is to support its commitment to putting 13,000 new police officers on the streets.

    High-profile cases and scandals have eroded trust in police in the UK. According to some metrics, it is at its lowest level in 20 years. But the key to repairing it could be through neighbourhood policing. After all, this is where most people’s interactions with police happen.

    The government clearly understands this, hence the extra funding – but how do we make sure that the new recruits are delivering a good policing service?

    My colleagues and I within the Vulnerability & Policing Futures Research Centre (University of York and University of Leeds) have recently published research that shows police are failing to meet the public’s minimum standards of service delivery.

    With Professor Ben Bradford, we developed a framework for a “minimum policing standard”. This is a list of things that members of the public, when asked, think the police should simply be able to do as a minimum standard under normal circumstances.

    We asked focus groups around the country – a total of 93 people – to identify what “good” or “effective” policing meant to them. Members of the public felt very strongly that, at minimum, police should be responsive, fair and respectful, as well as engaged and visibly present.

    Interestingly, people were more concerned with how policing is conducted, the quality of the treatment people receive, and the relationship between the police and the communities they serve, than with particular outcomes.

    The three areas that our respondents thought were most important to the minimum standard were:

    • Response: the way police respond to calls for service, follow up and address crime.

    • Behaviour and treatment: the ways officers and the police as an organisation treat individuals and communities.

    • Presence and engagement of police in neighbourhoods.

    How are the police doing?

    We then conducted a nationally representative survey of 1,484 respondents across Britain, and found that they viewed police to be failing across all three areas.

    Less than 30% of people were confident that police are open and transparent with the decisions they make, prioritise the crimes most affecting the respondents’ community, and provide adequate follow-up after a crime has been committed.

    While a majority of our respondents had confidence that police would treat people with respect, less than half thought that police were good role models, or that they built good relationships with the community or with young people. However, the public still retained significant trust in the idea of “the police” as a whole – which gives me and my colleagues hope that things can improve.

    The government’s efforts to reverse declining confidence in police focus on three aspects: internal reform, fighting crime and revitalising neighbourhood policing. Though all of these are important, our research suggests that the last is the most vital.

    Trust in police has consequences for crime too. Research shows that people are more likely to report crime and cooperate with investigations when they feel that the police are fair and respectful.

    Declining officer numbers and experience

    Between 2010 and 2018, police officer numbers declined from 143,734 to 122,405 across England and Wales, an overall loss of over 21,000 officers. Since 2019, this has increased back up to 147,746 by March 2024. But it means that we now have a police workforce that is both younger and less experienced. In March 2024, more than one in three police officers had less than five years’ service.

    The Home Office said that the additional £100 million in funding “reflects the scale of the challenges that many forces face” in building out their neighbourhood policing teams. This funding is to help them reach the aim of putting those extra 13,000 officers on the street by 2029.

    But these new recruits will again be inexperienced, and may not have developed the appropriate social, interpersonal and problem-solving skills to ensure that standards are met in all instances. This could lead to mistakes that set public confidence and trust in policing back further.

    One way to address this would be to limit the range of social problems that police are expected to respond to. Too often, the police are called upon to manage a host of social ills and vulnerable people. They are often filling gaps left by the withdrawal of other public and third sector services, such as mental health services, exacerbated by austerity.

    Yet there has been little critical assessment of what problems the state is asking the police to solve, and whether the police are really the best suited to solve them. Greater clarity about the limited role of the police would help avoid raising unrealistic expectations, and focus attention on the minimum standards that people want from local policing.

    Our research suggests that if police meet a minimum standard in their neighbourhood interactions with the public (the small things), then the public will be more likely to trust police to be fair and trustworthy when it comes to big and complex things like serious organised crime, counter-terrorism and violent offending.

    Adam Crawford receives funding from ESRC, Centre Grant number: ES/W002248/1.
    He is a member of the Police Science Council, a publicly appointed committee that is one of the Scientific Advisory Councils of the UK government, which provides independent advice to the National Police Chiefs’ Council in the UK on science, technology, analysis and research matters relevant to policing policy and operations.

    – ref. Police are failing to deliver a minimum standard of service, according to the UK public – https://theconversation.com/police-are-failing-to-deliver-a-minimum-standard-of-service-according-to-the-uk-public-249219

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s effect on critical minerals could be crucial for the future of green energy

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jorge Valverde, PhD Fellow, Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), United Nations University

    Nickel laterite in an open pit mine. Nickel is one of the critical minerals

    There’s a chance Donald Trump’s second term as US president could have a long-term negative impact on the demand for and supply of what are known as critical minerals. These include copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and the “rare earth elements”, such as lanthanum and yttrium.

    They are vital for the green energy transition, being used in electric car batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. Trump’s decision to pull out of the UN’s Paris agreement to control global warming has led to some pessimistic perspectives on this policy’s impacts.

    If Trump’s move towards oil and gas is interpreted by the markets as permanent, the price incentive for new mining projects for critical minerals will fall, along with long-term supply. This could potentially threaten the green energy transition.

    However, there are reasons to doubt this pessimistic scenario. Contrary to this, we believe that the new US administration policy is just a temporary shock without a significant change to the world’s energy transition trajectory. Therefore, critical mineral markets will remain buoyant in the medium and long term. This position is based on three main arguments.

    1. The US holds a competitive position in critical mineral markets

    There’s a generalised perception that the US depends on importing critical minerals from other countries, such as China. This is true for a handful, but, overall, America is one of the most competitive countries in producing the minerals needed for green technology.

    Indeed, the US has a revealed comparative advantage in exporting a wide variety of minerals and, among them, the most critical ones.

    Supplies of germanium are tightly controlled by China.
    RHJPhtotos

    Therefore, it will be in the US’s interests to keep the lucrative critical mineral markets dynamic. Even if the US reduces its sustainability ambitions, slowing its demand for new clean technologies, it is likely to do it carefully, so as not to harm its own industries.

    Indeed, we expect the US to increase its interest in developing processing industries to recover some minerals from electronic waste or intermediate stages in some manufacturing processes. These include germanium and gallium, which are tightly controlled by China (their biggest producer) but which are vital for computer chips and renewable energy technology, as well as night-vision goggles.

    2. The US produces and uses only a small share of clean technologies

    China and Europe drive these markets. The US does not drive either the demand or the supply for new clean technologies. On the demand side, the US only represents 10% of world electric car sales, while China and Europe account for 66% and 20% of the market respectively.

    China represents over 43% of installed solar energy capacity.
    Wang An Qi Shutterstock

    Similarly, for the world installed solar energy capacity, China represents over 43% of the market, Europe 20%, and the US only 10%. On the supply side, the US produces around 15% of the world’s electric cars, while China represents more than 50% of the market.

    For other clean technologies, statistics are similar with a remarkable leadership of China in the production of solar panels and wind turbines.

    So the policies followed by China and Europe are likely to have a much larger impact on the energy transition than the US’s. In the likely event that these countries continue pushing forward the green transition, the cost of slowing its technological catch up for the US will be too high.

    Moreover, oil producer countries of the Middle East are heavily betting for new clean technologies, which could offset the lower appetite for green assets from the US. So regardless of what Trump’s administration will decide on this matter, its influence on the market for clean technologies will be limited.

    3. New tariffs could further increase some minerals’ criticality

    Import tariffs imposed by Trump’s first administration to promote local production damaged US exports of those industries using imported intermediate, or partly finished, goods. In other words, international trade along global value chains has modified the textbook dynamics of protectionism, and exports are hindered – and not fostered – by import protection.

    President Trump plans to impose 25% new tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. This could increase the criticality of some minerals for the US. For example, nickel and aluminium could become even more critical to the US economy because Canada supplies almost 40% of the nickel employed by US industry, and 70% of the aluminium.

    As a consequence, new tariffs could indeed increase the criticality of some minerals. Indeed, this was probably in some way behind the decisions to postpone the tariff increases and to only impose them on selected products.

    The energy policies of the new American administration will have ripple effects. But these are likely to be temporary and the market in critical minerals is unlikely to be affected long term. The global transition to clean energy seems safe, for now.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Trump’s effect on critical minerals could be crucial for the future of green energy – https://theconversation.com/trumps-effect-on-critical-minerals-could-be-crucial-for-the-future-of-green-energy-249058

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How plants are able to remember stress without a brain

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jurriaan Ton, Professor of Plant Environmental Signalling, University of Sheffield

    Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock

    It may sound strange but plants can remember stress. Scientists are still learning about how plants do this without a brain. But with climate change threatening crops around the world, understanding plant stress memory could help food crops become more resilient.

    Since their colonisation of the land 500 million years ago, plants have evolved ways to defend themselves against pests and disease. One of their most fascinating abilities is to “remember” stressful encounters and use this memory to defend themselves.

    This phenomenon, called immune priming, is similar to how vaccines help humans build immunity but is based on different mechanisms.

    Many people think of plants as nice-looking greens. Essential for clean air, yes, but simple organisms. A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine. This blossoming field of science is too delightful to do it justice in one or two stories.

    This story is part of a series, Plant Curious, exploring scientific studies that challenge the way you view plantlife.

    So how do they do it without a brain?

    Plants are genetically resistant to the vast majority of potentially harmful microbes. However, a small number of microbes have evolved the ability to suppress innate immunity, enabling them to infect organisms and cause disease.

    This is why vertebrates, including humans, have evolved a mobile immune system that relies on B and T memory cells. These memory cells are activated by exposure to a disease or vaccinations, which helps us become more resistant to recurrent infections.

    Plants don’t have specialised cells to acquire immune memory. Instead, they rely on so-called “epigenetic” changes within their cells to store information about past attacks and prime their innate immune system. Once primed, plants can resist pests and diseases better – even if they were genetically susceptible to begin with.

    Research over the past ten to 15 years has shown that repeated and prolonged exposure to pests or diseases can cause long-lasting epigenetic changes to plant DNA without altering the underlying sequence of the DNA. This enables plants to stay in a primed defence state.

    Immune priming has been reported in different plants species, ranging from short-lived annuals, such as thale cress Arabidopsis thaliana that lives several weeks, to long-living tree species, such as Norway spruce that can live up to 400 years.

    Immune priming comes at a cost for the plant though, such as reduced growth. So the primed memory is reversible and dwindles over longer periods without stress. However, depending on the strength of the stress stimulus, priming can be lifelong and even be transmitted to following generations. The stronger the stress, the longer plants remember.

    Plants constantly change the activity of their genes in order to develop and adapt to their environment. Genes can be switched off over prolonged periods of time by epigenetic changes. In plants, these changes most frequently happen at transposons (also known as “jumping genes”) – pieces of DNA that can move within the genome. Transposons are usually inactive because they can cause mutations. But stress changes the epigenetic activity in the plant cell that can partially “wake them up”.

    Plants can pass on stress memories down the generations.
    boommavel/Shutterstock

    This drives the establishment and maintenance of long-lasting memory in plants.

    In plants that haven’t yet experienced stress, defence genes are mostly inactive to prevent unnecessary and costly immune activity. Lasting epigenetic changes to transposons after recovery from disease can prime defence genes for a faster and stronger activation upon recurrent stress. Although scientists are still uncovering exactly how this works, it is clear that epigenetic changes at these jumping genes play an essential role in helping plants adapt to threats.

    Soil as a memory bank

    Plants don’t only rely on internal epigenetic memory to improve their resilience against pests and diseases. They can also use their environment to store stress memory. When under attack, plants release chemicals from their roots, attracting helpful microbes that can suppress diseases. If this soil conditioning is strong enough, it can leave a long-lasting “soil legacy” that can benefit plants of the next generation. Once the soil is conditioned, these helpful microbes stay near plant roots to help the plant fight off diseases.

    In some plant species, such as maize, scientists have identified the secondary metabolites driving this external stress memory. These are specialised metabolites that are not essential for the cell’s primary metabolism. They often play a role in defence or other forms of environmental signalling, such as attracting beneficial microbes or insects.

    Some of the genes controlling these root chemicals are regulated by stress-responsive epigenetic mechanisms. This indicates that the mechanisms driving internal and external plant memory are interconnected.

    Understanding how plants store and use stress memories could revolutionise crop protection. Harnessing plants’ natural ability to cope with pests and diseases might help us reduce reliance on chemical pesticides and create crops that are better at handling environmental stresses. As we face growing challenges from human-made climate change and rising food demands, this research could offer promising tools to develop more sustainable crop protection schemes.

    Jurriaan Ton receives funding from UKRI-BBSRC (BB/W015250/1)

    – ref. How plants are able to remember stress without a brain – https://theconversation.com/how-plants-are-able-to-remember-stress-without-a-brain-246615

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Electronic muscle stimulators are supposed to boost blood flow to your legs – here’s what the evidence says

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By John Houghton, Clinical Lecturer in Vascular Surgery, University of Leicester

    vebboy/Shutterstock

    Google “improve leg circulation” and you may see sponsored ads for electronic muscle stimulators that claim to boost blood flow to your feet. But is there any evidence they work?

    Peripheral artery disease is a surprisingly common condition affecting more than one in ten people aged over 65 in the UK. Caused by narrowings and blockages in the arteries of the legs, it can lead to intermittent claudication – calf pain while walking – what the Dutch call “window-shopping legs”.

    Leg pain during walking significantly affects the everyday life of those with peripheral artery disease. It limits their ability to take part in social activities, daily tasks such as shopping and it may even impact on a person’s employment. Unsurprisingly, those with shorter pain-free walking distances report worse quality of life and major impacts on their mental wellbeing.

    Peripheral artery disease is not a benign condition. Five years from diagnosis, four in ten people will have died and another one in ten will have had a major leg amputation.

    So, the aims of treatment for peripheral artery disease are to reduce both the risk of heart attacks – the biggest cause of death – and progression to the end-stage of the disease where amputation is necessary unless surgery is performed to restore blood flow. The most important elements to optimal medical treatment are blood-thinning medications such as aspirin, cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins, and stopping smoking.

    For those with pain when walking the treatment with one of the biggest effects on walking distance and quality of life is, well… walking. The best results are seen in those who take part in a supervised exercise programme which has consistently been shown to be more cost effective than surgery for claudication. In fact, one large randomised trial demonstrated similar results from supervised exercise to stenting a blocked artery in improving walking distance and quality of life.

    Unfortunately supervised exercise therapy is only available to about half of UK peripheral artery disease patients despite it being recommended by Nice.

    What about electrical muscle stimulation?

    These devices work by using electronic impulses to cause the muscles of the calf to repeatedly contract. Usually this is by indirect stimulation through the feet using an electronic footplate, somewhat resembling a foot spa – although no water needed is used. These devices appear to be safe and well tolerated, with no adverse events reported.

    Studies have demonstrated they do indeed increase arterial blood flow in the calf, both in healthy people and in those with peripheral artery disease. However, these increases in blood flow are present only while using the device.

    A 2023 trial of 200 patients with peripheral artery disease assessed the effect of electrical muscle stimulation on walking distance. The study recruited half of the participants from centres with supervised exercise programmes and half from those without. All patients received optimal medical therapy.

    The researchers randomly allocated half of the participants to receive electrical muscle stimulation. These patients were given the device and told to use it for 30 minutes at least once a day for three months.

    After three months there was no difference in the maximum walking distance between those that did and did not receive electrical muscle stimulation.

    However, there was an improvement in walking distance in those that received electrical muscle stimulation in addition to supervised exercise therapy compared to those that received supervised exercise alone.

    Additionally, patients who received electrical muscle stimulation reported lower pain scores and better scores for the health domain in quality of life questionnaires – although they recorded no overall quality of life benefit. This demonstrates that while there may be benefit of the device on symptoms, it may only be small or experienced by a limited proportion of patients.

    Transcutaneous nerve stimulation (Tens) has also been used in people with peripheral artery disease. This uses weaker electrical impulses to stimulate nerve fibres and block the transmission of pain signals.

    A review of published studies highlighted that Tens may have some benefit in improving walking distance. The included studies were relatively small though and not all were randomised trials. This means the findings may not be just due to the effect of Tens or applicable to a wider group of patients.

    While these electrical stimulation devices show some promise, it is not clear if they are cost effective nor are they currently recommended in guidelines for treating peripheral artery disease.

    Certainly, some people with peripheral artery disease do report benefit from using these devices. But they should only be used in addition to the cornerstones of peripheral artery disease treatment: medication, stopping smoking and walking as much as possible.

    John Houghton receives funding from the George Davies Charitable Trust and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. He is the trainee representative for the Vascular Surgery Specialist Advisory Committee and is a member of the UK Labour Party.

    – ref. Electronic muscle stimulators are supposed to boost blood flow to your legs – here’s what the evidence says – https://theconversation.com/electronic-muscle-stimulators-are-supposed-to-boost-blood-flow-to-your-legs-heres-what-the-evidence-says-248340

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Brutalism: Oscar-nominated film has revived interest in a controversial architectural legacy

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gleb Redko, PhD Researcher in Punk, Brutalism & Psychogeography, School of Architecture Art & Design, University of Portsmouth

    With ten Oscar nominations, The Brutalist has reignited the debate over the legacy of brutalism. The polarising architectural style was shaped by post-war hopes for a better future. But it was also, as historian Adrian Forty argues in his book Concrete and Culture (2012), an “expression of melancholy, the work of a civilisation that had all but destroyed itself in the second world war”.

    The fictional architect at centre of The Brutalist, László Tóth, is an Austro-Hungarian modernist and concentration-camp survivor who moves to America to rebuild his life. His designs, described as “machines”, are inspired by the trauma of camps like Buchenwald and Dachau.

    Emerging from the rubble of the second world war, brutalism became an architectural response to devastation and the pressing need for urban renewal. The destruction caused by the Blitz provided architects with opportunities to design environments reflecting the ideals of the new welfare state: equality, accessibility and functionality for the collective good.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    This ethical foundation aimed to address the social needs of the post-war era, particularly in housing, education and public welfare infrastructure. Notable examples of the style include the Barbican estate and Southbank Centre in London.

    Architectural critic Reyner Banham, who coined the term brutalism in his 1966 work Brutalism: Ethic or Aesthetic, argued that the movement was more than an aesthetic choice. He championed the work of Alison and Peter Smithson, young British architects who played a crucial role in shaping brutalism through projects like Robin Hood Gardens in London’s Tower Hamlets. For Banham, brutalism was an ethical stance and a form of “radical philosophy” aiming to address the social needs of the post-war era.

    The brutalist style has, however, often been criticsed for what many perceived to be its unappealing, “ugly” aesthetic and alienating qualities. In 1988, King Charles famously compared the National Theatre in London to a nuclear plant, encapsulating the public’s mixed reactions. Similarly the situationists (a French anti-capitalist art movement) denounced brutalist housing estates as “machines for living”. They saw them as oppressive structures that stifled human connection.

    The perception of brutalism is highly dependent on context. In warmer climates like Marseille in France, the play of sunlight on raw concrete gave structures a sculptural quality. In the UK’s wet climate, however, exposed concrete weathered quickly, making buildings appear grey and neglected.

    Yet for brutalist architects, this was never just about aesthetics. They saw their designs as expressions of honesty and social progress, rejecting ornamentation in favour of raw, functional materials that symbolised a new egalitarian society. The very qualities that critics saw as oppressive were, to its proponents, what made brutalism a radical and hopeful architecture.

    Rebellion and reclamation

    Despite their ethical intentions, brutalist buildings often appeared to have an alienating impact on their residents. In his book Making Dystopia (2018), architectural historian James Stevens Curl discusses the Canada Estate in Bermondsey, London, built in 1964, where tenants expressed their disaffection for the environment through acts of vandalism.

    By the 1970s, the optimism surrounding modernist and brutalist projects had begun to collapse, both figuratively and literally. One of the most infamous moments symbolising this failure was the Ronan Point disaster in 1968. A gas explosion on the 18th floor of this newly built tower block in east London caused a partial collapse. Four people were killed and serious concerns were raised about the safety and quality of post-war high-rise housing.

    This tragedy pushed the Clash’s Joe Strummer to write one of the band’s most notable songs, London’s Burning, in 1976. In the late 1970s and 1980s, punks splattered brutalist architecture with graffiti slogans echoing situationist critiques of modern urban life.

    Some referenced punk band names or song lyrics, showing how punk didn’t just adopt the attitude of the situationists but also their language and tactics. Jamie Reid, the architect of the Sex Pistols’ aesthetic, often used images of brutalist structures as a stark backdrop to his punk visuals.

    The punk movement reinterpreted the failure of brutalism not just as an architectural problem but as a broader societal collapse, highlighting issues of alienation, neglect and the erosion of post-war utopian ideals.



    Read more:
    Jamie Reid: the defiant punk art of the man behind the Sex Pistols’ iconic imagery

    Yet, in recent years, the brutalist aesthetic has found a new audience. Online communities, such as Reddit’s 1.5 million-member r/EvilBuildings reflect on buildings and surroundings captured by community members and the impressions these structures leave. Brutalist buildings frequently top the list.

    This renewed interest highlights the complex legacy of a style that was once widely criticised but continues to captivate a broader audience beyond architects.

    Brutalism’s dual legacy, a movement intended to create community but often seen as alienating, continues to shape debates in architecture and urban planning. The controversial nature of this style is evident in the demolition of prominent structures like the Smithsons’ Robin Hood Gardens (2018), the Tricorn Centre in Portsmouth (2004), and the currently ongoing demolition of Cumbernauld town centre in central Scotland.

    These demolitions highlight both brutalism’s polarised reception and the public reassessment of its value. These spaces are more than just concrete. They are sites of memory, rebellion, and ongoing cultural significance, continuously shaping and being shaped by the society around them.

    Gleb Redko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Brutalism: Oscar-nominated film has revived interest in a controversial architectural legacy – https://theconversation.com/brutalism-oscar-nominated-film-has-revived-interest-in-a-controversial-architectural-legacy-249627

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: What is ‘double pneumonia’, the condition that’s put Pope Francis in hospital?

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Brian Oliver, Professor, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney

    Marco Iaccobucci Epp/Shutterstock

    Pope Francis has been in hospital for more than a week with what some media reports are now calling “double pneumonia”.

    The Vatican released a statement on Tuesday evening saying

    laboratory tests, chest X-rays, and the clinical condition of the Holy Father continue to present a complex picture.

    The 88-year-old Catholic leader has a long history of respiratory illness.

    So, what makes this bout of pneumonia – a severe lung infection – so “complex”? And how will it be treated?

    What is double pneumonia?

    Pneumonia is a serious infection that fills the lungs with liquid or pus and can make it difficult to breathe. People may also have chest pain, cough up green mucus and have a fever.

    “Double pneumonia” is not an official medical term. It may be being used to describe two different aspects of Pope Francis’s condition.

    1. A bilateral infection

    Pope Francis has pneumonia in both lungs. This is known as “bilateral pneumonia”.

    An infection in both lungs doesn’t necessarily mean it’s more severe, but location is important. It can make a difference which parts of the lung are affected.

    When just one part of the lung or one lung is affected, the person can continue to breathe using the other lung while their body fights the infection.

    However when both lungs are compromised, the person will be receiving very little oxygen.

    2. A polymicrobial infection

    The Vatican has also said the infection affecting Pope Francis’s lungs is “polymicrobial”.

    This means the infection is being caused by more than one kind of microorganism (or “pathogen”).

    So, the cause could be two (or more) different kinds of bacteria, or any combination of bacteria, virus and fungus. It’s vital to know what’s causing the infection to effectively treat it.

    How is it diagnosed?

    Usually, when someone presents with suspected pneumonia the hospital will sample their lungs with a sputum test or swab.

    They will often also undergo an X-ray, usually to confirm which parts of the lung are involved.

    Healthy lungs look “empty” on an X-ray, because they are filled with air. But pneumonia fills the lungs with fluid.

    This means it’s usually very easy to see where pneumonia is affecting them, because the infection shows up as solid white mass on the scan.

    Lungs infected with pneumonia will have solid white areas on an X-ray.
    Komsan Loonprom/Shutterstock

    How is it treated?

    The sputum or swab helps detect what is causing the infection and determine treatment. For example, a specific antibiotic will be used to target a certain bacterium.

    Usually this works well. But if the infection is polymicrobial, the normal treatment might not be effective.

    For example, the antibiotics may work on the bacteria. But if there’s also a virus – which can’t be treated with antibiotics – it may become the dominant pathogen driving the infection.

    As a result, the patient may initially respond well to medication and then begin deteriorating again.

    If the infection is caused by multiple bacteria, the patient might be given a broad-spectrum antibiotic rather than a single targeted drug.

    A viral infection is harder to treat, as the anti-viral drugs that are available aren’t very effective or targeted.

    In severe cases, a patient will also need to be in intensive care on a breathing machine because they can’t breathe alone. This helps make sure they receive enough oxygen while their body fights the infection.

    Who is most susceptible?

    It’s possible to recover, even from severe infections. However having pneumonia can damage the lungs, and this can make a repeat infection more likely.

    Most people will never have a severe infection from these same pathogens. They may only experience a minor cold or flu, because their immune system can adequately fight the infection.

    However, certain groups are much more vulnerable to developing a serious case of pneumonia.

    Risk factors include:

    • age: babies under two, whose immune systems are still developing, and adults over 65, who tend to have weakened immune systems

    • lung damage: previous infections can cause scarring

    • lung disease: for example, if you have emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

    • being a smoker

    • immunosuppression: if your immune system is weakened, for example by medication you take after a transplant or during cancer treatment.

    Pope Francis has a number of these risk factors. The pontiff is 88 years old and has a history of respiratory illness.

    He also had pleurisy (a condition that inflames the lungs) as a young adult. As a result, he had part of one lung removed, making him susceptible to lung infections.

    On Tuesday, the Vatican said Pope Francis remains “in good spirits” while he receives medical care and is grateful for the support he has received.

    Brian Oliver receives funding from the NHMRC, and the ARC. He is affiliated with the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, and the European Respiratory Society. He has given presentations on topics other than pneumonia at symposia organised by the pharmaceutical industry.

    Min Feng does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. What is ‘double pneumonia’, the condition that’s put Pope Francis in hospital? – https://theconversation.com/what-is-double-pneumonia-the-condition-thats-put-pope-francis-in-hospital-250256

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump wants to do a deal for Ukraine’s critical minerals. Will Zelensky give him what he wants – or will Putin?

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Alexander Korolev, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, UNSW Sydney

    The United States and Russia agreed to work on a plan to end the war in Ukraine at high-level talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Ukrainian and European representatives were pointedly not invited to take part.

    US President Donald Trump seemingly entered into these negotiations prepared to capitulate on two main points that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been seeking. Russia is opposed to Ukraine joining NATO and wants to retain Ukrainian territory captured since its invasion of Crimea in 2014.

    Such a dramatic shift in Washington’s approach to Ukraine’s sovereignty and security has undermined Western-Ukrainian unity on the acceptable parameters around ending the war.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine won’t accept a deal negotiated without them. Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton said Trump “effectively surrendered” to Putin.

    European leaders, too, are concerned after they were excluded from the Saudi talks. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said:

    This does not mean that peace can be dictated and that Ukraine must accept what is presented to it.

    Many believe Trump’s moves to splinter this trans-Atlantic front against Russia send a signal that Washington is
    abandoning its commitment to European security.

    However, there’s another important factor at play in Trump’s actions: the intensifying global competition over critical minerals. Trump wants to secure access to Ukraine’s vast reserves of these minerals, even if it means breaking with the US’ traditional allies in the European Union.

    Why are Ukraine’s minerals so valuable

    According to some reports, Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified as critical by the EU. These include:

    • lithium and cobalt, used in rechargeable battery production
    • scandium, used for aerospace industry components
    • tantalum, used for electronic equipment
    • titanium, used in the aerospace, medical, automotive and marine industries
    • nickel ore, manganese, beryllium, hafnium, magnesium, zirconium and others, used in the aerospace, defence and nuclear industries.

    China currently dominates the world’s supply chains of these minerals – it is the largest source of US imports of 26 of the 50 minerals classified as critical by the United States Geological Survey.

    This is the reason behind Trump’s suggestion last week that the US be granted 50% of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals as reimbursement for the billions of dollars in weapons and support it has provided to Kyiv since the war began.

    The problem, however, is that at least 40% of Ukraine’s minerals are currently under Russian occupation in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the country. (Other sources put this figure as high as 70%.)

    Concerned about Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Zelensky has publicly rejected the US demand for half of Ukraine’s mineral resources, because the proposal does not include security guarantees. It only vaguely referred to payment for future aid, according to reports.

    In response, the White House National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said:

    President Zelensky is being short-sighted about the excellent opportunity the Trump administration has presented the Ukraine.

    What kind of deal could be made?

    A big question ahead of any peace negotiations over Ukraine is whether commercially-minded Trump would be willing to accept a counter-proposal from Putin.

    Since Russia currently controls large swathes of mineral-rich eastern Ukraine, Putin may be willing to offer Trump an exclusive critical minerals deal in exchange for the US formally committing to not restoring Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders and not letting the country into NATO.

    Ukraine, meanwhile, may be angling for its own minerals deal with European countries in exchange for their continued support. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expressed his country’s willingness to set up joint ventures with the EU in this area:

    We could replace Russian titanium on the European market, contributing to the development of both the EU’s civilian industry and advanced military technologies.

    He also said the project of rebuilding Ukraine could be a boon for the entire bloc.

    The European Commission has recommended a policy of encouraging Ukraine to export these materials to the EU. In response, authorities in Kyiv started working out the necessary regulatory and legal measures to integrate Ukraine into the EU’s resource strategy.

    With so many powers keen to access its minerals, Ukraine is in an extremely complex and hard-to-navigate geopolitical situation.

    Zelensky’s bet on the EU, instead of the US, might be right, given the growing rift between Brussels and Washington over Ukraine’s future. But as Thucydides, the ancient Greek historian, once said, the odds may be stacked against it:

    Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.

    Alexander Korolev does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Trump wants to do a deal for Ukraine’s critical minerals. Will Zelensky give him what he wants – or will Putin? – https://theconversation.com/trump-wants-to-do-a-deal-for-ukraines-critical-minerals-will-zelensky-give-him-what-he-wants-or-will-putin-250064

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ne Zha 2: the ancient philosophies behind China’s record-breaking new animated film

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Yanyan Hong, PhD Candidate in Communication and Media Studies, University of Adelaide

    IMDB

    On the surface, Ne Zha 2: The Sea’s Fury (2025), the sequel to the 2019 Chinese blockbuster Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child, is a high-octane, action-packed and visually stunning animated spectacle, full of hilarious moments and thrilling fight scenes.

    But beneath all that, it’s something much deeper: a bold re-imagining of Chinese traditional mythology, cultural history and philosophies.

    Unlike Hollywood’s classic hero’s journey, Ne Zha 2 is rooted in Chinese thought, weaving together ideas from Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism and more.

    Through the story of a baby-faced warrior god who battles demons, it channels centuries of Chinese tradition into something refreshing, relevant and undeniably global.

    The film’s success speaks for itself. Directed by Yang Yu (aka Jiao Zi), Ne Zha 2 has shattered multiple global box office records, pulling in more than US$1 billion in China in just one week.

    It has entered the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time, and has become the highest-grossing animated film – outperforming Inside Out 2 (2024).

    But what makes Ne Zha 2 so compelling beyond its visual spectacle? At its heart, it’s an inspiring story about identity, free will, self-determination and rebellion – ideas that resonate far beyond China.

    A child hero forged in myth and philosophy

    Ne Zha is a rebellious deity in traditional Chinese folklore – a boy born with immense superpower, who defies both divine and social expectations.

    Most people who know of Ne Zha will trace his legend back to Fengshen Yanyi, or Investiture of the Gods, a Ming Dynasty novel that blends mythology with historical elements.

    Ne Zha’s true origins, however, trace back to India.

    “Ne Zha” is a shortened transliteration of the Sanskrit Nalakuvara (or Nalakūbara), an Indian mythological figure who appears in Buddhist and Hindu mythology.

    As Buddhism spread to China during the Tang Dynasty, Ne Zha evolved from an intimidating guardian deity into the rebellious, fire-wheeled warrior we know today.

    In Ne Zha 2, this “fighting spirit” against authority and hierarchy is taken even further, turning the story into a deeper philosophical exploration of morality, fate, self-worth and power.

    Good and evil – a Daoist perspective

    One of the most thought-provoking aspects of Ne Zha 2 is how it challenges the idea of good and evil.

    In Daoist philosophy, evil and good, often known as Yin and Yang, are not absolute, but are rather shifting, interconnected forces.

    Through its two protagonists: the “Demon Pill” (Ne Zha) and his noble dragon prince buddy, “Spirit Pearl” (Ao Bing), the film beautifully reflects this Daoist idea of balance and self-discovery.

    Their merging further blurs the line between hero and villain and brings to life a core concept from the 2,400-year-old text Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), written around 400 BC by Chinese philosopher Laozi (also called Lao Tzu).

    Laozi emphasises that righteousness and villainy aren’t always what they seem. “When the world knows beauty as beauty, there arises ugliness,” he says.

    Those we assume to be noble may turn out to be dark inside, while those deemed evil might be fighting for what is right.

    Ne Zha’s character in the film embodies this Daoist philosophy. Echoing the Xisheng Jing, The Scripture of Western Ascension, he declares, “My fate is up to me, not the Heaven.”

    He is the demon child who is willing to die fighting for his own destiny, proving that even the smallest, most underestimated individual can change the world.

    Beyond family bonds: rebirth of Confucianism

    In one scene, Ne Zha is struck by the “heart-piercing curse”, a brutal spell that covers his body in ten thousand thorns, causing unbearable pain and keeping him under control by targeting his heart. Ne Zha’s human mother, Lady Yin, clings to him as his thorns pierce her skin – yet she refuses to let go.

    It’s a moment of heartbreak, parental love and inner awakening. As his mother takes her final breath, in Ne Zha’s grief, his body shatters into a million pieces. And then, he is reborn.

    This is the film’s emotional climax, in which the so-called demon child awakens to “Rén” (benevolence), a core Confucian virtue.

    Confucianism teaches that true morality isn’t imposed by rules but arises naturally from within. Ne Zha doesn’t just seek revenge, he awakes to fight for those who have been oppressed, embracing his identity with unwavering resolve.

    But perhaps the most profound transformation comes from the dragon prince Ao Bing. As the last hope of his people, burdened by centuries of expectation, he finally makes a choice, not for legacy, not for his ancestors, but for himself.

    In this moment, his once-imposing father Dragon King releases his grip: “Your path is yours to forge.”

    The weight of tradition gives way to something new, reflecting a changing China where younger generations are defining their own paths.

    Wisdom of Legalism and Mohism

    Beyond Daoist and Confucian ideals, Ne Zha 2 also weaves in Legalist reform and Mohist resistance. These philosophies challenge rigid hierarchies (or in Ne Zha’s case, “divine order”) and advocate for collective justice.

    Across Ne Zha’s three major trials and the climactic celestial-demon war, a brutal truth emerges: those deemed unworthy – whether groundhogs, mystical beings, or ordinary humans – are sacrificed to uphold the elite’s rule.

    Take the small groundhogs. Dressed in patched clothes, surviving on pumpkin porridge. They’ve never harmed anyone. Yet, they are mercilessly crushed in the name of celestial balance.

    Then there’s Shiji Niangniang, or Lady Rock, a recluse who harms no one. She indulges only in her own beauty and speaks to her enchanted mirror. Yet the heavens brand her a demon, sealing her fate.

    A similar cruelty befalls the Dragon Clan and the people of Chentangguan, all caught in a war where they are mere pawns on a celestial chessboard.

    Even the last battle is not just Ne Zha’s fight, but a battlefield showing the Chinese spirit of collectivism. Dragons, shrimp soldiers, crab generals, octopus warriors, humans and millions of goblins stand side by side to rewrite destiny.

    The celestial-demon war itself plays out like a lesson in Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which states that “All warfare is based on deception.” War is about strategy, resilience and the unstoppable will to rise.

    Ne Zha carries the weight of Eastern cultural essence: Daoist balance, Confucian ethics, Mohist resistance, Legalist reform and the strategic wisdom of The Art of War. It is a truly Chinese story, igniting next year’s Oscar buzz and sparking a global awakening to Eastern culture.

    Just as Ne Zha is reborn in flames, so too does Chinese animation rise, not by breaking from its past, but by forging a bold future.

    Yanyan Hong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Ne Zha 2: the ancient philosophies behind China’s record-breaking new animated film – https://theconversation.com/ne-zha-2-the-ancient-philosophies-behind-chinas-record-breaking-new-animated-film-249850

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The beauty standard is intensifying. At what cost?

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Jordan Foster, Sociology, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, McMaster University

    Young women are engaging in increasingly intensive and expensive beauty practices and purchases, aspiring to new beauty standards. (Kevin Laminto /Unsplash), CC BY

    The internet is abuzz with talk of beauty and the lengths we’ll go to achieve it. From Lindsay Lohan’s recent transformation to Donatella Versace’s “new look”, those of us plugged in online can’t help but gab over the rise of better, less detectable and more precise plastic surgery.

    Achieved through a combination of invasive operations like face lifts and rhinoplasty as well as non-invasive procedures — like the injection of facial filler and facial neurotoxins like Botox — the contemporary beauty standard is increasingly intensive, costly and challenging to maintain. A hundred units of Botox, or its counterpart Dysport, could run clients up to $1,500 with effects diminishing in just four to six weeks.

    Although women continue to make up the majority of clients seeking invasive and non-invasive beauty interventions, the number of men undergoing plastic surgery is on the rise. So too are the number of advertisements and beauty-focused messages targeting men.

    But while appearance pressures and beauty advertising are increasingly directed at men, the imperative to be beautiful has come at significant emotional and financial costs for women — and young women especially.

    Immersed in a celebrity-saturated and visually intensive media culture, young women today face pressures to purchase beauty products and services to manage or, better yet, perfect their appearance ad nauseam.

    Lindsay Lohan poses makeup-free with her dermatologist in Dubai.
    (Dr. Radmila Lukian/Instagram)

    Social media pressures

    I study beauty and its cultural forces, especially as they apply to young people online. My findings speak to the increasingly important role that beauty plays in shaping women’s opportunities for visibility in both online media and in the real world. Young women are engaging in increasingly intensive practices as they aspire to new beauty standards.

    I recently published an investigation with Josée Johnston, a sociologist at the University of Toronto, into the ways young people grapple with contemporary beauty standards. We looked at how their practices and purchases are compelled by current beauty standards.

    For many young women, the pressure to be — or become — beautiful is top of mind. And yet the beauty standard remains elusive and painfully out of reach for most of the women and girls we spoke with. Few can afford to keep up with costly and intensive interventions to the face and body.

    Relax, sculpt, lift: High-definition make-up

    About 20 years ago, a needle or surgical knife to the face was considered a rather extreme intervention in pursuit of beauty. These procedures were often risky, permanent and sometimes poorly done. Today, neither knife nor needle are very unusual for those seeking a more perfect face and body.

    Indeed, the injection of facial neurotoxins is among the fastest growing cosmetic procedure in Canada and the United States. The Academy of Plastic Surgeons suggests that nearly 4,715,716 procedures involving Botox were performed in 2023 alone. These numbers signal a wider shift in the production and maintenance of contemporary appearance standards, and the lengths we go to achieve them.

    Alongside these figures, an ever-greater number of bodily and facial features are scrutinized. And products and services are designed to offer “high-definition” beauty in bottles, from head and toe.

    Driven partly by our increasing preoccupation with celebrity images popularized by social media platforms, even everyday cosmetics like skin creams, bronzers and lip glosses are being marketed with promises to “relax,” “sculpt” or “lift” facial features. These purchases from the beauty counter are being marketed to consumers as if they can achieve a surgical degree of perfection.



    Read more:
    Praise for Kim Kardashian’s Skims ignores her family’s relationship with body augmentation

    Priced out, excluded or in debt

    Many young women are priced out of expensive treatements.
    (Alireza Mirzabegi/Unsplash), CC BY-SA

    Many young women we spoke with described invasive facial and bodily interventions as a central component of the contemporary beauty standard. They described these interventions as compulsory, leaving many women either priced out of the beauty market or in pursuit of beauty at great personal expense.

    Celebrity women can afford to purchase facial fillers and Botox to augment their appearance, such as relaxing fine lines and plumping their features. But the young women we spoke with said interventions such as these are “unattainable” for the average person, and unsustainable in the long term.

    Signs of resistance

    Many women we spoke with insist on the importance of appearance, especially as it relates to the likelihood of their success, and the success of other women. Few of these women made the same associations with men. In fact, many “successful” men were described by our interviewees as “plain,” “unremarkable” or “ordinary.”

    The pressure to beautify through intensive and costly procedures is part and parcel of a broader cultural and economic environment centred on appearance. One that, as University of London sociologist Rosalind Gill puts it, measures a woman’s success in terms of her looks.

    However, there are small and important signs of resistance. Young women do not approach beauty and its pressures uncritically. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Many of the young women we spoke with search for spaces to resist and challenge beauty messaging as well as the cultural imperative toward facial and bodily perfection. These spaces, though few and far between, make resistance challenging but not impossible.

    Jordan Foster does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. The beauty standard is intensifying. At what cost? – https://theconversation.com/the-beauty-standard-is-intensifying-at-what-cost-244785

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Net-zero homes are touted as a solution for climate change, but they remain out of reach for most

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Ehsan Noroozinejad Farsangi, Visiting Senior Researcher, Smart Structures Research Group, University of British Columbia

    Net-zero homes play an important role in combating climate change. (Shutterstock)

    Net-zero homes use natural energy sources and are designed to use less energy and, as such, are considered important in the fight against climate change. But for the average Canadian, they’re still out of reach.

    Net-zero homes are important for tackling climate change. This includes both net-zero energy (NZE) homes, which produce as much energy as they use each year, and net-zero carbon (NZC) homes, which don’t release any carbon dioxide.

    Released in the summer of 2024, the Canada Green Buildings Strategy outlines a bold vision to transform the country’s building sector, aiming for net-zero emissions and enhanced resilience by 2050. This is a bold step forward, but transforming the sector will require sustained collaboration across all levels of government, industry and communities.

    CTV News covers the federal government’s Green Buildings Strategy.

    Net-zero homes use green energy sources and efficient designs to match the amount of energy they produce with the amount they use. They use strategies like thermal shells that use less energy, high-performance components and the addition of green energy systems.

    Net-zero homes also help Canada reach larger climate goals by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide it releases into the air.

    Purchasing and installing these technologies can be cost-prohibitive, but in the long run, homeowners both save money on power bills and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

    Those who are unable to make changes to their homes can still live in a net-zero way by buying green power or carbon offsets.

    The sustainable housing market

    Net-zero homes are becoming more popular in Canada. To speed up building processes and reduce costs, builders are trying out pre-fabricated and modular building techniques.

    In 2024, the Canadian federal government announced a $600 million package of loans and funding to help make it easier and cheaper to build homes. This funding will support innovative technologies like pre-fabricated and modular construction, robotics, 3D-printing and mass timber to build homes faster and cheaper.



    Read more:
    Canada’s housing crisis: Innovative tech must come with policy reform

    The Net Zero Council of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association has also been important in enhancing standards and practices and promoting novel approaches that cut costs while still being environmentally friendly. In doing so, CHBA drives the adoption of cheaper, environmentally friendly technologies and processes, enhancing industry standards and practices across Canada.

    While CHBA collaborates with government agencies, such as Natural Resources Canada to promote innovation and elevate industry standards. Government programs typically provide funding, technical support and policy guidance, whereas CHBA focuses on training, best practices and market development for its members.

    Government research programs through CanmetENERGY also work to improve technologies and give builders and planners the tools they need.

    There are several reasons that owning a net-zero home has not yet become widespread. These include: high initial costs, limited awareness and education, gaps in policy and regulation and market challenges including difficulties in scaling up and integrating net-zero technologies.

    Future directions

    To make net-zero homes accessible to all Canadians, a multi-faceted approach is required.

    Increased subsidies and incentives and expanding financial support for both builders and buyers can lower barriers to entry. The government of Canada’s 2030 Emission Reduction Plan includes $9.1 billion in new investments over the next eight years — adding to the $17 billion announced in 2021 — to support decarbonization efforts.

    Enhancing public awareness and developing educational campaigns highlighting the cost savings and environmental benefits of net-zero homes are both essential approaches to raising awareness and support.

    Policy reform can accelerate adoption of net-zero homes. Examples include harmonizing building codes and introducing mandatory energy efficiency standards to accelerate adoption.

    Supporting continued research into technical innovation and developing cost-effective materials and renewable energy systems will drive down costs. Investment in modern methods of construction should be prioritized to accelerate the transition toward sustainable and energy-efficient building practices.

    Partnerships between governments, private developers and non-profits can bring together resources and expertise to scale net-zero housing initiatives.

    The Sustainable Finance Action Council recommends steps to mobilize private capital to support decarbonization and climate resilience in the Canadian economy, including in the housing sector.

    Solar panels the roofs of apartment buildings in Munich, Germany.
    (Shutterstock)

    Successful international models

    Several countries have demonstrated how net-zero homes can become a reality through innovative policies, community-driven approaches and public-private partnerships:

    BedZED in the United Kingdom is the country’s first eco-village project. It uses community-focused design and renewables to significantly cut carbon footprints.

    The Passive House standard is a German housing policy that sets a global benchmark for ultra-low energy consumption, emphasizing airtight construction and heat recovery.

    California’s ambitious Zero Net Energy policies help reduce overall carbon footprints by driving cutting-edge home construction practices.

    The Net Zero Energy House (ZEH) Program in Japan encourages advanced insulation, efficient appliances and rooftop solar.

    The Netherlands is a leader in innovative, large-scale retrofitting for net-zero housing, most notably through the Energiesprong program.

    These international models highlight that success lies in integrating strong policy frameworks, advanced technology and collaborative practices. They demonstrate that with the right mix of government support, industry innovation and residents embracing green choices, net-zero living can become more widespread.

    Housing is an important part of how to address climate change. As Canada pushes to make net-zero homes more affordable, each step forward strengthens communities, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps homeowners save money.

    Dr Ehsan Noroozinejad Farsangi has secured funding to develop innovative solutions for housing and climate crises.

    T.Y. Yang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Net-zero homes are touted as a solution for climate change, but they remain out of reach for most – https://theconversation.com/net-zero-homes-are-touted-as-a-solution-for-climate-change-but-they-remain-out-of-reach-for-most-247622

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The German election explained through seven essential questions

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gabriele Abels, Jean Monnet Professor for Comparative Politics & European Integration, University of Tübingen

    Germany is holding a federal election on February 23 – a snap vote called by chancellor Olaf Scholz when his coalition government fell apart at the end of last year. Parties are running to win seats in the national parliament, or Bundestag. And with an unusual level of interest from onlookers outside the country, including the world’s richest man, The Conversation asked Gabriele Abels, the Jean Monnet professor for comparative politics and European integration at the University of Tübingen, to prime us on the basics, via seven essential questions.

    1. Who are the main parties running in this election?

    The parties standing in the federal election are, from left to right on the political spectrum: Linke (the Left), SPD (social democrats), Greens, FPD (liberals), CDU/CSU (conservatives), AfD (right-wing extremist/populist).

    There is also the Buednis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), but this party is not so easy to fit into the left-right spectrum. The BSW holds leftist positions on social policy issues but is also anti-migration and opposed to sanctions against Russia and against military support for Ukraine.

    2. When will we know the results?

    It will take several days after February 23 to confirm the final results of the election.

    Based on the exit polls we will have fairly reliable results that evening but there may still be some uncertainty. It depends on how many people vote by post (a trend which is on the rise) and on how the smaller parties fare.

    There are three such parties – Linke, FDP and BSW – hovering around a 5% vote-share in pre-election polls. This is the threshold for qualifying for any seats in parliament at all, so whether or not the three make it past 5% will have quite an effect on the overall composition of the Bundestag and the distribution of seats among the parties in parliament.

    There is an additional rule: parties winning at least three districts (basic mandate clause) qualify for the Bundestag and will get seats according to their share of party votes. The Linke is investing its hopes in this option.

    3. Who is most likely to become chancellor?

    According to all opinion polls, the conservatives (CDU/CSU) will win the election and become the biggest party in government. This means that their lead candidate Friedrich Merz will become the next chancellor.

    4. Will one party run the government?

    No party will have enough seats to form a government alone, given that the German system makes it extremely difficult to do so, by design. A coalition needs to be formed comprising parties that together hold more than 50% of the seats in the Bundestag.



    Read more:
    AfD: how Germany’s constitution was designed with the threat of extremism in mind

    Even when we have the full results, forming a new government will, most likely, take some time. Talks between parties will start immediately after the election, but it might take several months to put a government together. It depends on the numbers at play and the political arithmetic – essentially the extent to which different combinations of parties agree or disagree on various policy positions.

    During a period in the 1950s, when Konrad Adenauer was chancellor, there was an option to have a single-party government. But even he preferred a coalition. Other than that, there has always been the need to form a coalition after an election.

    Unlike the Nordic countries, we in Germany do not have a tradition of minority governments since they are considered to be too weak and unstable. Germans prefer governments which are backed by a clear majority in the Bundestag.

    5. Why does Germany have a system that makes coalitions the norm?

    It is partly political culture to prefer stable majorities and emphasise compromise. But the proportional voting system and increased political fracturing also play a part in delivering many different parties into the Bundestag.

    Until the early 1980s there were usually three parties (conservative, social democrats and liberals). Today, we have seven parties in the Bundestag. Proportional voting gives new parties more possibilities to win seats, while the 5% threshold is a barrier against excessive fragmentation.

    6. We hear a lot about the AfD – but will it be in government?

    No – at least, not this time. There is what we call a brandmauer (firewall), meaning that, so far, none of the other parties is willing to form a government with the AfD. The most likely partner would be the conservatives. Yet, their lead candidate Merz is very outspoken that cooperation with the AfD would mean selling out the conservative soul. Given that the AfD is becoming more and more radical, this is not likely to change in the near future.

    However, there is already a level of cooperation between the AfD and other parties at the local level and even in some state parliaments, especially in East German Länder (states). Often, new patterns of coalition formation are tried out in Länder parliaments and later serve as models for the federal level. The AfD is hoping this will be the case for them.

    7. How important is this election in historical context?

    I would not call this election historic on the scale of the one that just took place in the US. But this election is nevertheless important – and is perceived as important by voters in terms of the future of Germany and its economy.

    Migration and the economy are the top issues and there is a strong sense of frustration as well as a growing distrust in politics. The majority of voters are happy about the snap election given that the coalition led by Olaf Scholz was no longer efficient and there was constant in-fighting.

    However, given that this election has been called at short notice, it’s not clear that turnout will match the current strength of feeling. There has not been much time to register for a postal vote and parties have had only a brief campaign window to win over voters. Which of them will be able to mobilise their voters and also non-voters (recently between 25% and 30% of the electorate will be a crucial deciding factor. Lately the AfD has been successful in terms of mobilising non-voters and also at mobilising young voters. That said, older voters make up the majority, so a lot hangs in the balance.

    Gabriele Abels does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. The German election explained through seven essential questions – https://theconversation.com/the-german-election-explained-through-seven-essential-questions-247945

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Supersonic passenger aircraft may be returning – here’s what it means for the climate

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Kshitij Sabnis, Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering, Queen Mary University of London

    The US aerospace company Boom Supersonic recently announced it has successfully tested its latest aircraft, the XB-1. The company is developing a larger plane and aims to begin passenger flights at supersonic (faster than sound) speed within the next five years, and claims it already has orders from a handful of airlines.

    However, with ever-increasing scrutiny on the environmental consequences of flying, it is important to consider how supersonic aviation may affect the industry’s ability to meet its ambitious net zero by 2050 target.

    The latest test flight represents an important stage in the development of supersonic aircraft that minimise their characteristic “sonic boom” – the considerable noise generated as the shock waves travelling along with a supersonic aircraft pass over people on the ground.

    Boom Supersonic has carefully designing the aircraft shape to reduce this noise pollution. It did this by exploiting a phenomenon known as “Mach cutoff”, where air temperatures in the atmosphere cause shock waves to reflect upwards rather than towards the ground.

    Supersonic aircraft won’t receive certification to fly over land if they are too noisy, and overland flights are essential for their commercial viability. Indeed, failing to receive such certification limited Concorde’s routes to London-New York and Paris-New York, ultimately contributing to its demise. These recent noise improvements pave the way for Boom Supersonic to progress its larger 80-seat supersonic airliner, Overture. If all goes to plan, Overture will cruise at 1.7 times the speed of sound and could fly from London to New York in just 3.5 hours.

    Other organisations working on supersonic flight are making similar progress. US firm Spike Aerospace is developing a smaller business jet, for instance, while Nasa and defence and aerospace firm Lockheed Martin plan to begin test flying their supersonic X-59 later this year. There is every indication that planes like these are on their way back, more than two decades after Concorde last took to the skies.

    Concorde’s maiden flight back in 1969. It flew commercially between 1976 and 2003.
    Andre Cros / wiki, CC BY-SA

    Shock waves increase aerodynamic drag

    The key to understanding the environmental effects of supersonic aircraft is that, whenever its speed exceeds the speed of sound, shock waves form around the aircraft. These shock waves significantly increase the aerodynamic drag, and so more fuel needs to be burned to compensate for the drag force. Indeed, it is estimated that up to ten times more fuel needs to be burned by a supersonic aircraft compared to the equivalent subsonic airplane for every passenger mile.

    At supersonic speeds, sound itself is a drag.
    Chabacano / wiki, CC BY-SA

    The cost of this extra fuel is why typical aircraft speeds have remained pretty constant at around 85% of the speed of sound for several decades. It also leads to greater greenhouse gas emissions – as much as five to seven times more than subsonic aircraft.

    In fact, the situation may be even more stark. Supersonic aircraft tend to fly at high altitudes (Concorde flew at 60,000ft (18km) rather than the 40,000ft (12km) typical for most passenger jets) to take advantage of lower turbulence levels. This means their emissions tend to remain in the atmosphere for longer.

    Supersonic and sustainable?

    There are considerable efforts to align supersonic aircraft development with the aviation industry’s environmental ambitions. For instance, the new engines designed by Boom Supersonic are powered entirely by “sustainable aviation fuels” (Saf) which are direct replacements for traditional jet fuels that are made from renewable raw materials, often used cooking oil or crop residues. Due to its exclusive use of Saf, the Overture is advertised as having a zero-carbon footprint.

    A concept image of the Overture, the plane Boom Supersonic ultimately wants to build.
    Boom Supersonic, CC BY-SA

    In reality, the situation is more complex. Saf is often produced from edible crops and has been linked to deforestation – the total land required to power all of commercial aviation in this way is impractically immense.

    To address this longer-term problem, it is necessary to look towards alternative fuel sources. While hydrogen or electric power is being developed for regular aircraft, for now they aren’t developed enough to ensure a plane reaches supersonic speeds. Instead, one possibility is e-kerosene, a synthetic fuel generated from hydrogen and carbon dioxide using renewable electricity.

    Despite all these technological advances, a supersonic aircraft still cannot beat physics. Shock waves, and their associated drag, will still exist. So, a single supersonic aircraft will still produce considerably more carbon emissions than its subsonic counterpart.

    Beyond carbon emissions, contrails also have an effect. These are thin clouds of water vapour produced by aircraft exhausts, which can trap heat in the atmosphere the same way as greenhouse gases. These contrails are thought to have twice the impact of carbon emissions, or perhaps even more, so it is essential to take their effects into account. For now, we simply don’t know enough about contrails, especially at much higher altitudes, to definitively say how supersonic aircraft will affect the environment.

    Given the costs involved, supersonic aircraft will account for only a very small percentage of aircraft worldwide. The overall impact on the environment, in comparison to the tens of thousands of subsonic aircraft currently in operation, will be moderate.

    There is perhaps one environmental upside. The research and development activity making supersonic aviation more environmentally friendly (such as developments in fuel and propulsion technology) will likely yield technologies that transfer to subsonic aircraft too. This should help to address the much broader problem of environmental damage caused by the aviation industry as a whole.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Kshitij Sabnis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Supersonic passenger aircraft may be returning – here’s what it means for the climate – https://theconversation.com/supersonic-passenger-aircraft-may-be-returning-heres-what-it-means-for-the-climate-250116

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Minimum alcohol pricing: what we found in Wales after five years

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Katy Holloway, Professor of Criminology, University of South Wales

    Almost five years ago, a new law came into force in Wales making it illegal to sell alcohol for less than 50p per unit.

    Since its introduction, we have been evaluating the effects of minimum alcohol pricing and our findings have recently been published. These will help Welsh Government ministers decide on the future of the policy beyond its six-year trial period.

    The price of many alcoholic drinks in Welsh shops increased in March 2020. Most noticeably, large three litre bottles of strong white cider (containing 22 units of alcohol) rose from less than £5 to £11.

    The price of some beers, wines and spirits also increased, though to a lesser extent. In pubs, clubs and restaurants, the introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol made little difference, as prices were already well above the 50p per unit threshold.

    The main goal of the Public Health (Minimum Price for Alcohol) (Wales) Act 2018 is to reduce alcohol-related harm and protect the health of those regularly drinking more than the recommended 14 units per week.

    Contrary to popular belief, minimum pricing for alcohol is not a tax. This means that any extra money from higher prices goes to the retailers and producers, not to the Welsh government.

    While many people enjoy drinking alcohol without any problem, some patterns of alcohol use are associated with significant physical, mental and social harms. It costs UK society more than £27 billion a year through a combination of health, crime, workplace and social welfare costs.

    Research has shown that making alcohol less affordable can reduce consumption and hence related harms. The World Health Organization considers minimum pricing one of its “best buys” for tackling harmful alcohol use.

    While minimum alcohol pricing is in place in several countries, policies differ. In 2018, Scotland became the first country to introduce a national minimum price for all types of alcohol. Two years later, Wales followed suit.

    The Republic of Ireland introduced minimum pricing in January 2022, while Northern Ireland has been engaged in consultation on the policy for several years. There are no plans for the introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol in England.

    The policy was introduced in Wales primarily to protect hazardous and harmful drinkers, who tend to consume more low-cost, high-strength alcohol. But evaluating its effect has been complex, especially due to the COVID pandemic, which disrupted drinking habits and the availability of alcohol. Other economic factors, including the cost of living crisis, have also influenced affordability.

    What we found

    Many of the findings within the 11 reports from our Welsh evaluation have strong resonance with those elsewhere, particularly those of the final Scottish evaluation.

    Drawing from our research, we have five important findings. First, implementation in Wales has been smooth. Retailers have largely complied with the law, and enforcement has been effective.

    Second, certain cheap alcohol products have disappeared. Large bottles of strong cider, for example, are now rare. There have also been shifts in promotions and product availability.

    Third, there are indications that overall alcohol consumption in Wales has declined. While it is difficult to measure directly, purchasing data suggests a reduction.

    Fourth, concerns about unintended consequences have not materialised significantly. Predictions of a rise in home brewing, substance switching, shoplifting and cross-border purchasing have not been widely observed. While some people living near the border have bought alcohol in England, this appears to be opportunistic rather than nationwide.

    Finally, some drinkers have changed their purchasing habits. A minority have switched from cider to wine or spirits as price differences narrowed. Others, particularly those on low incomes, experienced further struggles in financially maintaining their drinking habits.

    Our recommendations

    Minimum pricing for alcohol is well supported by evidence. It is not without its critics, especially those citing continued trends in actual numbers of alcohol-related deaths. Its implementation in Wales has noticeable effects, most of which are positive.

    Based on our findings, we recommend that the Welsh Government retains minimum alcohol pricing. But we also recognise the need for some adjustments.



    Read more:
    Alcohol prescribing for severe withdrawal – what the research shows

    The 50p per unit price, set over a decade ago, should be reviewed. Our evidence suggests an increase in price is needed to maintain the policy’s effectiveness. We believe the policy needs to be accompanied by well-funded treatment and support services for people experiencing alcohol-related difficulties.

    Policymakers must also acknowledge the disproportionate effect of minimum alcohol pricing on those with the lowest incomes. But this should not be a reason to abandon it. We do not advocate for making unhealthy foods cheaper to tackle food poverty. The same principle applies to alcohol policy.

    Minimum alcohol pricing targets affordability rather than addressing all aspects of alcohol harm. It is not a silver bullet, and so should only be one component of comprehensive strategy delivery. If combined with other policy measures and social support, it has the potential to significantly contribute to reductions in alcohol-related harm in Wales.

    Katy Holloway currently receives funding from Health Care Research Wales and Welsh Government. She has previously received funding from a wide range of organisations including NIHR, Home Office, and Ministry of Justice.

    Wulf Livingston receives funding from Welsh and Scottish Governments, World Health Organisation, National Institute for Health Research, Health Boards, alcohol and drug commissioning partnerships and third sector charities. He has previously recieved funding from many of the aforementioned, and in addition ERSC, Local Authorities, Pocklington Trust, Alcohol research UK and Welsh Universities WIN Fund.

    – ref. Minimum alcohol pricing: what we found in Wales after five years – https://theconversation.com/minimum-alcohol-pricing-what-we-found-in-wales-after-five-years-248189

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Cottontail review: how a man’s journey through grief mirrors our search for peace – by an expert in death and grieving

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Chao Fang, Lecturer in Sociology, Deputy Director of the Centre for Ageing and the Life Course, University of Liverpool

    Cottontail (コットンテール), a newly released Japanese film, tells the touching and relatable story of Kenzaburo (Ken), a man in his late middle age grieving the loss of his wife, Akiko, after a long illness. To honour her dying wish, he embarks on a journey to take her ashes to the Lake District in northern England – a place deeply meaningful to her.

    It was not just the beauty of the landscape that drew her, but also its connection to Peter Rabbit, a character she had loved since childhood and where she had made cherished memories with her parents.

    What begins as a cross-continental trip with his son and family soon unfolds into a deeply personal and solitary quest for Ken. As a husband and father, he struggles to connect with his son, confronting the unspoken emotional walls that make expressing grief so profoundly challenging. Through this journey, Ken seeks not just peace for his loss but also a way to reconcile the past with the present.

    I found Cottontail a beautifully delicate film with a thought-provoking narrative. As an expert in ageing, death and dying, particularly in Japan, I also found its depiction of grief realistic.

    Like Ken, many of us may feel disbelief or denial when facing loss. Memories of our loved ones can wash over us in overwhelming waves, catching us off guard in the most unexpected moments. Whether it’s a familiar scene that evokes a flood of emotions, a conversation with a friend, or even a fleeting dream, the smallest reminders – both joyful and painful – can surface at any time.

    The root of these challenges lies in navigating a world that no longer includes our loved one. Psychiatrist Colin Parkes described bereavement as a psychosocial transition, a profound shift requiring adaptation to a new reality.

    Grief, he suggested, emerges from the breakdown of the world we take for granted, the beliefs and expectations we hold about the future and our plans. When loss occurs, this framework collapses, forcing us to relearn how to live in a world forever changed.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    Yet, grief is not simply about building a new life without the person we’ve lost.

    Over a century ago, the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud emphasised the importance of gradually detaching from the pain of loss and redirecting our emotional energy toward new relationships and pursuits. Today, in a society that often prioritises efficiency and productivity, there’s an unspoken expectation to “complete” the process of grief and quickly return to “normal”.

    But grief resists such timelines. As I’ve argued elsewhere, healing is not about moving on but learning to carry loss forward.

    This is poignantly illustrated in Cottontail: for Ken, scattering Akiko’s ashes in England is not about leaving her or the life they shared behind, but about learning to live with loss, weaving memories of her into his ongoing life.

    Cottontail trailer.

    Rewriting the book of life

    To grieve is like rewriting the book of our lives – a painstaking process of revisiting, revising, and reimagining a narrative that once felt complete. The concept of “narrative identity” captures this: not erasing the past but weaving it into a new story that continues to unfold, where love and loss coexist, shaping who we are now and who we will become.

    Rewriting life after loss is never a solitary journey – it’s shared with others. Ken’s grief is intertwined with his strained bond with his son, Toshi.

    Preoccupied with work, Ken had neglected their relationship, leaving Toshi yearning for deeper connection. Now, drowning in grief, Ken faces the challenge of reconciling his own pain while rebuilding their bond – a dilemma familiar to many experiencing loss.

    A key theme in Ken’s grief journey is the “stiff upper lip” mentality – an emotional restraint that stops him from expressing feelings or accepting support from his son. This stoic attitude, common among older men but seen across genders, ages and cultures, often comes at the cost of hidden stress.

    My research with bereaved older adults shows that suppressing emotions isolates individuals and blocks external support, making healing and connection harder.

    On his journey, Ken meets a grieving father and daughter who openly acknowledge their emotions and support each other. Their willingness to express their feelings shows the power of emotional literacy – the ability to recognise and communicate emotions.

    This highlights the importance of grief literacy not just for individuals, but for wider social networks. When people can understand and support one another’s grief, finding peace with loss becomes more attainable, and the process of rewriting life after loss becomes a collective endeavour.

    The film concludes with Ken chasing a rabbit by Lake Windermere for his granddaughter, joined by Toshi’s family. For Ken, the rabbit is not just Cottontail or a memory of Akiko – it’s a symbol of hope, a reminder that moving forward is possible, with renewed bonds and an enduring love.

    Chao Fang does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Cottontail review: how a man’s journey through grief mirrors our search for peace – by an expert in death and grieving – https://theconversation.com/cottontail-review-how-a-mans-journey-through-grief-mirrors-our-search-for-peace-by-an-expert-in-death-and-grieving-250198

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Shein could be a shot in the arm for the London Stock Exchange – but the fashion giant might not like the added scrutiny

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Isaac T. Tabner, Senior Lecturer in Finance, Director of the MSc Finance, University of Stirling

    T. Schneider/Shutterstock

    Fast fashion giant Shein’s mooted flotation on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) could be larger than any stock exchange listing seen in Europe in the last year. Coming at a time when the LSE is struggling to attract new listings, with some firms migrating to other exchanges, this could be a welcome boost. So it is perhaps unsurprising that the Chinese-founded company has been courted by the UK government, the LSE and those whose role it is to champion the City of London.

    Yet there are ongoing concerns about the controversial business model and practices of Shein, whose founder Chris Xu relocated himself and the company’s headquarters to Singapore in 2022. These were exacerbated when Shein’s lawyer struggled to tell the UK’s business and trade parliamentary committee whether the company uses cotton from China.

    Campaign group Stop Uyghur Genocide recently said it will seek a judicial review if the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), approves the LSE listing. And a “Say No to Shein” campaign has nearly 50,000 signatures on the activist website 38 Degrees. (Shein says it strictly prohibits forced labour in its supply chain globally.)

    More idealistic observers might question whether it is really a good idea for the UK to be courting such a controversial listing. The UK, after all, is a second-choice destination after Shein’s ambition to list on the US market failed – amid concerns about forced labour, among other things.

    So what are the claims against Shein? On environmental, social and governance (ESG) grounds the firm is controversial. Although Shein says it is working hard to reduce its environmental impact, its business model – supplying items cheap enough to be discarded after a single use – is at odds with a more sustainable society and thus problematic for the “E” in ESG.

    Some people add an additional “E” (for ethics) to the acronym. Concerns raised about the human and employee rights of workers in Shein’s supply chain and Shein’s reluctance to talk about them, even to a parliamentary committee, highlight both the “social” and the “ethical”. For its part, the company said last year it was actively working to improve its suppliers’ practices.

    If less than 10% of Shein’s equity is floated, which is the what company is proposing, it will still be controlled by its founders and majority shareholders as if it had remained a fully private company. An LSE listing would normally compel Shein to either comply with the UK corporate governance code, or explain why it did not. But dispersed minority investors with a combined ownership of less than 10% would have little or no say in the governance of a business that remained more than 90% owned and controlled by a few founding investors.

    Therefore, a listing of 10% or less would also raise concerns among minority investors about the “G” for governance. This is particularly true if their holding is involuntary, for example as part of an employee pension scheme. Shein said in a social impact report, however, that it has set up a sustainability committee to provide an extra layer of corporate governance.

    Shein’s lawyer struggled to answer questions on the source of its cotton.

    Given these issues, who gains and who loses from the proposed flotation? Shein itself could of course be among the winners. Common motives for a stock exchange listing are raising capital to finance new investment or giving founding shareholders an opportunity to cash out. Listing can also make mergers and acquisitions more straightforward and incentivise employees to stay with the company by offering preferential terms for buying shares.

    There is also no doubt that a listing would be presented as a positive sign that the UK is open and attractive for business. It would generate an initial windfall, and ongoing revenue for the LSE, plus substantial fees for financial and legal service providers based in the City of London.

    Downsides

    As a private company, Shein has kept details of its financial situation out of the public domain. If the LSE listing does go ahead (which is by no means certain), the company will be required to give detail on its legal and reputational risks, as well as its financial accounts.

    This will let prospective investors and others involved in the listing estimate a pricing range for the flotation. Recent headlines suggest a total equity valuation between US$50 billion and US$66 billion (£40 billion and £52 billion), yet if the listing does not go ahead it is impossible to estimate its market value with any reliability using information that is currently in the public domain.

    Shein’s apparent desire for secrecy, and its reluctance to publish detailed financial data, suggests that its founders and controlling investors may not be comfortable with the increased scrutiny that a listing will require. A 2023 report from the company, however, claimed Shein was committed to “continued progress and transparency” in terms of sustainability and its social impact.

    If credible revelations about controversial business practices such as forced labour or illegal working conditions emerge, this is likely to damage the stock price. No doubt outside investors would have plenty of incentive to scrutinise Shein’s activities – at least, more than the consumer buying a £10 dress for a night out.

    Perhaps a cautionary example can be drawn from the UK’s much smaller home-grown fast-fashion contender, Boohoo.com (now worth around £400 million after peaking at more than £5 billion in 2020). After an initial stellar performance, the firm’s stock price never recovered from reports in 2020 about workers in its UK supply chain being paid £3.50 an hour.

    An independent review published the same year found many failings in the company’s UK supply chain – Boohoo Group responded by pledging to implement the recommendations of the review in full. However, a BBC Panorama investigation indicated that it had not fulfilled its pledges. And at under 30 pence per share, its stock price is down more than 90% since the scandal first broke. (After the programme, Boohoo insisted that it had implemented “every one” of the independent review’s recommendations.)

    Shein’s listing – if it goes ahead – will open its inner workings to public scrutiny in a way that it has never experienced before. Already, people who have never engaged with fast fashion are discussing the business practices of the company.

    If awareness is the first stage of progress, such increased scrutiny can only be a good thing for those concerned about the darker side of the fast fashion industry.

    Isaac T. Tabner is a member of the following professional bodies:

    CFA Institute,
    CFA Society of the UK,
    Personal Finance Society and Chartered Insurance Institute.

    – ref. Shein could be a shot in the arm for the London Stock Exchange – but the fashion giant might not like the added scrutiny – https://theconversation.com/shein-could-be-a-shot-in-the-arm-for-the-london-stock-exchange-but-the-fashion-giant-might-not-like-the-added-scrutiny-249541

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How banks, lawyers and lobbyists in the west help post-Communist kleptocrats stay rich

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By John Heathershaw, Professor in International Relations, University of Exeter

    ‘Londongrad’ is a nickname for London that encapsulates the British capital’s popularity as a haven for wealthy Russians in the post-Soviet era. Drone Motion Stock / Shutterstock

    Kleptocracy, a term derived from the Greek for “rule by thieves”, describes a system where business success and political power are inextricably entwined. Political elites exploit their position to siphon off public wealth, entrenching their power through corruption, patronage and repression.

    However, kleptocracy is not just a system of domestic corruption. It typically involves a transnational network of political elites and so-called professional enablers who work together to extract wealth and project power.

    The ability of kleptocrats to loot state resources and evade accountability depends on an ecosystem of banks, lawyers, lobbyists, intelligence agencies and PR firms that provide the financial, legal and reputational tools to legitimise stolen wealth.

    Our new book, Indulging Kleptocracy, analyses many cases of such professional enabling in the UK for elites whose wealth originates in post-Soviet countries such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia. We uncovered examples of this activity using in-depth case studies that drew on court documents and correspondence with the enablers themselves.

    We found that, on countless occasions, British professionals have found loopholes in the rules, defeated new measures against money laundering, exploited the lack of transparency in universities and political parties and challenged the efficiency and effectiveness of the rule of law.

    UK properties worth tens of millions of pounds have been purchased for oligarchs and kleptocrats. And London corporate intelligence firms and lawyers have acted against journalists and researchers on behalf of their post-Soviet elite clients.

    Political parties, parliamentary groups and some of Britain’s top universities have even accepted donations from individuals associated with kleptocracy. In doing so, they have indulged kleptocrats much like the Catholic church once sold indulgences – offering absolution for a price.

    These services extend the wealth, status and influence of these elites into the UK and further afield. The phenomenon of “Londongrad” – a moniker to denote the British capital’s hosting of Russian and Eurasian oligarchs – is not merely about the amount of post-Soviet money laundered there. It incorporates a much wider offering of social and reputational goods, and political and security services.

    Indulging Kleptocracy was published on February 4 by Oxford University Press.
    John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec & Tom Mayne, CC BY-NC-ND

    Sustaining kleptocracy

    Professional enablers do not simply move money, and they don’t merely supply their services. They create the structures that sustain kleptocracy, embedding it into the political and economic fabric.

    The overall picture from the nine indulgences we study in our book, from “hiding money” (banking) to “silencing critics” (defamation law), is of regulators outgunned by the private sector. The professions are driven by market incentives, but their adherence to professional ethical standards is inconsistent.

    Enablers aren’t usually accessories to crimes. They may be acting downstream from grand corruption and are typically compliant with the law. But, in most cases, they appear to be either aware of who they are acting for or wilfully unwitting. They either justify their work by convoluted arguments or simply do not carry out effective due diligence on their clients.

    With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the British government introduced a large number of sanctions against Russian entities. It also passed two acts of parliament in 2022 and 2023 to counter illicit financial activity from Russia. But most enabling is not currently considered criminal and cannot easily be legislated out of existence.

    The issue of indulging in kleptocracy is indicative of a general problem of self-regulation in global financial centres, tax havens and other secrecy jurisdictions that arose with the end of empires in the second half of the 20th century.

    At that time, former British colonies like the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus were looking to broaden their economies into the services sector. This coincided with the end of the Soviet empire, when the wealthy and their capital were flying out of Russia and Eurasia.

    How to indulge no more

    Stopping the indulgence of kleptocracy requires moving beyond piecemeal reforms and treating it as the organised criminal enterprise it is. We suggest designating “kleptocratic enterprises” as organised crime and thereby implicating enablers as part of criminal networks. Across the world, there needs to be transparency from charities, universities and political parties.

    There should be more protection for investigators and whistleblowers. And governments could do more to stimulate the market in for-profit asset recovery.

    In 2020, US$740 million (£598 million) of real estate was seized in Spain from Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad. This case involved private sector expertise and followed civil society investigations.

    Without such action, the transformation to a world where kleptocratic wealth and influence sit easily within democracies will continue apace. Even the perception of a connection should be subjected to proper scrutiny: Tulip Siddiq, the UK’s Treasury minister responsible for anti-corruption, recently resigned after her family and alleged financial links to the deposed kleptocratic regime in Bangladesh were highlighted.

    These connections, which the government’s ethics watchdog found not to be in breach of the ministerial code, had been known for years before they became a story. But effective PR campaigns, clever legal arguments and complex financial structures mean that many cases of kleptocratic wealth are never exposed. It’s time to uncover what professional enablers do for kleptocrats.

    John Heathershaw receives funding from the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s Anti-Corruption Evidence programme. He is affiliated with the Illicit Finance Working Group of the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition.

    Tena Prelec receives funding from the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s Anti-Corruption Evidence programme. She is affiliated with the Illicit Finance Working Group of the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition

    Tom Mayne receives funding from the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s Anti-Corruption Evidence programme. He is affiliated with the Illicit Finance Working Group of the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition

    – ref. How banks, lawyers and lobbyists in the west help post-Communist kleptocrats stay rich – https://theconversation.com/how-banks-lawyers-and-lobbyists-in-the-west-help-post-communist-kleptocrats-stay-rich-248973

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –