HC 605 - The FCO's Performance and Finances in 2013-14


Book Description

The cuts imposed on the FCO since 2010 have been severe and have gone beyond just trimming fat: capacity now appears to be being damaged. If further cuts are imposed, the UK's diplomatic imprint and influence would probably reduce, and the Government would need to roll back some of its foreign policy objectives. The FCO's budget is a tiny element of Government expenditure, but the FCO makes disproportionate contribution to policy making at the highest level, including decisions on whether to commit to military action. The next Government needs to protect future FCO budgets under the next Spending Review.




Summer Budget 2015


Book Description

Print and web pdfs available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications. Known as the Red Book. Published alongside Office for Budget Responsibility's Economic & Fiscal Outlook July 2015 (Cm. 9088, ISBN 9781474122870). On title page: Return to an order of the House of Commons dated 8 July 2015. Copy of the budget report - July 2015 as laid before the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer when opening the Budget Web ISBN=9781474122740




Financial Management and Policy


Book Description

Management textbook on financial policy, financing and investment - includes theoretical and methodologycal implications. Graphs, references and statistical tables.




Principles of Tort Law


Book Description

This book does what it 'says on the tin' - stating the corpus of tort law as a body of principles. Undertaken for the first time in English tort law, this book describes the law of tort concisely, accessibly, and accurately, and with both depth and detail.




Counternarcotics


Book Description

Counternarcotics : lessons from the U.S. experience in Afghanistan.




Brexit and Beyond


Book Description

Brexit will have significant consequences for the country, for Europe, and for global order. And yet much discussion of Brexit in the UK has focused on the causes of the vote and on its consequences for the future of British politics. This volume examines the consequences of Brexit for the future of Europe and the European Union, adopting an explicitly regional and future-oriented perspective missing from many existing analyses. Drawing on the expertise of 28 leading scholars from a range of disciplines, Brexit and Beyond offers various different perspectives on the future of Europe, charting the likely effects of Brexit across a range of areas, including institutional relations, political economy, law and justice, foreign affairs, democratic governance, and the idea of Europe itself. Whilst the contributors offer divergent predictions for the future of Europe after Brexit, they share the same conviction that careful scholarly analysis is in need – now more than ever – if we are to understand what lies ahead for the EU. Praise for Brexit and Beyond 'a wide-ranging and thought-provoking tour through the vagaries of British exit, with the question of Europe’s fate never far from sight...Brexit is a wake-up call for the EU. How it responds is an open question—but respond it must. To better understand its options going forward you should turn to this book, which has also been made free online.' Prospect Magazine 'This book explores wonderfully well the bombshell of Brexit: is it a uniquely British phenomenon or part of a wider, existential crisis for the EU? As the tensions and complexities of the Brexit negotiations come to the fore, the collection of essays by leading scholars will prove a very valuable reference for their depth of analysis, their lucidity, and their outlining of future options.' - Kevin Featherstone, Head of the LSE European Institute, London School of Economics 'Brexit and Beyond is a must read. It moves the ongoing debate about what Brexit actually means to a whole new level. While many scholars to date have examined the reasons for the British decision to leave, the crucial question of what Brexit will mean for the future of the European project is often overlooked. No longer. Brexit and Beyond bundles the perspectives of leading scholars of European integration. By doing so, it provides a much needed scholarly guidepost for our understanding of the significance of Brexit, not only for the United Kingdom, but also for the future of the European continent.' - Catherine E. De Vries, Professor in the department of Government, University of Essex and Professor in the department of Political Science and Public Administration Free University Amsterdam 'Brexit and Beyond provides a fascinating (and comprehensive) analysis on the how and why the UK has found itself on the path to exiting the European Union. The talented cast of academic contributors is drawn from a wide variety of disciplines and areas of expertise and this provides a breadth and depth to the analysis of Brexit that is unrivalled. The volume also provides large amounts of expert-informed speculation on the future of both the EU and UK and which is both stimulating and anxiety-inducing.' -Professor Richard Whitman, Head of School, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Director of the Global Europe Centre, University of Kent




Reserves in the Future Force 2020


Book Description

This White Paper sets out the future relationships Defence seeks with reservists and their families, their employers and society. Under the Future Reserves 2020 programme the Government has committed an additional £1.8 billion over ten year. The route from selection, is being simplified, making it easier for reservists to get to the level of training required. There will be improved alignment of pay and benefits with regulars. Reservists' total remuneration will be increased through the provision of a paid annual leave entitlement. From April 2015, when the new Armed Forces pension scheme is introduced, reservists will accrue pension entitlements for time spent on training as well as when mobilised. Welfare support will also be delivered to regulars and reservists alike, and their families, according to the impact of military service and their need. Recruitment of Army Reserve officers and those leaving the Regular Army will be encouraged to join the Reserves through bonuses of up to £5,000. A National Relationship Management scheme will be established to strengthen relationships with employer organisations and the largest employers from both the public and private sector and there will be provision of extra financial support to small and medium sized employers. New legislation will be introduced to enable mobilisation for the full range of tasks which our Armed Forces may be asked to undertake. The Territorial Army will also be renamed the 'Army Reserve' to reflect the significant changes in its role and its integration into the Whole Force.




Shallow Clouds, Water Vapor, Circulation, and Climate Sensitivity


Book Description

This volume presents a series of overview articles arising from a workshop exploring the links among shallow clouds, water vapor, circulation, and climate sensitivity. It provides a state-of-the art synthesis of understanding about the coupling of clouds and water vapor to the large-scale circulation. The emphasis is on two phenomena, namely the self-aggregation of deep convection and interactions between low clouds and the large-scale environment, with direct links to the sensitivity of climate to radiative perturbations. Each subject is approached using simulations, observations, and synthesizing theory; particular attention is paid to opportunities offered by new remote-sensing technologies, some still prospective. The collection provides a thorough grounding in topics representing one of the World Climate Research Program’s Grand Challenges. Previously published in Surveys in Geophysics, Volume 38, Issue 6, 2017 The aritcles “Observing Convective Aggregation”, “An Observational View of Relationships Between Moisture Aggregation, Cloud, and Radiative Heating Profiles”, “Implications of Warm Rain in Shallow Cumulus and Congestus Clouds for Large-Scale Circulations”, “A Survey of Precipitation-Induced Atmospheric Cold Pools over Oceans and Their Interactions with the Larger-Scale Environment”, “Low-Cloud Feedbacks from Cloud-Controlling Factors: A Review”, “Mechanisms and Model Diversity of Trade-Wind Shallow Cumulus Cloud Feedbacks: A Review”, “Structure and Dynamical Influence of Water Vapor in the Lower Tropical Troposphere”, “Emerging Technologies and Synergies for Airborne and Space-Based Measurements of Water Vapor Profiles”, “Observational Constraints on Cloud Feedbacks: The Role of Active Satellite Sensors”, and “EUREC4A: A Field Campaign to Elucidate the Couplings Between Clouds, Convection and Circulation” are available as open access articles under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com.




Intelligent and Fuzzy Techniques for Emerging Conditions and Digital Transformation


Book Description

This book presents recent research in intelligent and fuzzy techniques. Emerging conditions such as pandemic, wars, natural disasters and various high technologies force people for significant changes in business and social life. The adoption of digital technologies to transform services or businesses, through replacing non-digital or manual processes with digital processes or replacing older digital technology with newer digital technologies through intelligent systems is the main scope of this book. It focuses on revealing the reflection of digital transformation in our business and social life under emerging conditions through intelligent and fuzzy systems. The latest intelligent and fuzzy methods and techniques on digital transformation are introduced by theory and applications. The intended readers are intelligent and fuzzy systems researchers, lecturers, M.Sc. and Ph.D. students studying digital transformation. Usage of ordinary fuzzy sets and their extensions, heuristics and metaheuristics from optimization to machine learning, from quality management to risk management makes the book an excellent source for researchers.




Mangrove Ecosystems: A Global Biogeographic Perspective


Book Description

This book presents a comprehensive overview and analysis of mangrove ecological processes, structure, and function at the local, biogeographic, and global scales and how these properties interact to provide key ecosystem services to society. The analysis is based on an international collaborative effort that focuses on regions and countries holding the largest mangrove resources and encompasses the major biogeographic and socio-economic settings of mangrove distribution. Given the economic and ecological importance of mangrove wetlands at the global scale, the chapters aim to integrate ecological and socio-economic perspectives on mangrove function and management using a system-level hierarchical analysis framework. The book explores the nexus between mangrove ecology and the capacity for ecosystem services, with an emphasis on thresholds, multiple stressors, and local conditions that determine this capacity. The interdisciplinary approach and illustrative study cases included in the book will provide valuable resources in data, information, and knowledge about the current status of one of the most productive coastal ecosystem in the world.