What is sustainability? Much has been said about the terms ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’ over the last few decades, but they have become buried under academic jargon. This book is one of the first that aims to demystify sustainability so that the layperson can understand the key issues, questions and values involved. Accessible and engaging, the book examines the ‘old’ sustainability of the past and looks to the future, considering how economic, ecological and social sustainability should be defined if we are to solve the entwined environmental, economic and social crises. It considers if meaningful sustainability is the same as a ‘sustainable development’ based on endless growth, examining the difficult but central issues of overpopulation and overconsumption that drive unsustainability. The book also explores the central role played by society’s worldview and ethics, along with humanity’s most dangerous characteristic – denial. Finally, it looks to the future, discussing the ‘appropriate’ technology needed for sustainability, and suggesting nine key solutions. This book provides a much-needed comprehensive discussion of what sustainability means for students, policy makers and all those interested in a sustainable future.

The last three decades has witnessed miraculous economic growth of China. What has accounted for its miracle? What is the nature and future of the Chinese model? Is it unique? This book presents an analytical framework to demystify China's economic growth miracle. The book suggests that interlinked and relational contracts between the agents (in particular, between the state and the business) can compensate for flawed markets to achieve high growth. This kind of relational capitalism is significant in the investment-based stage of development, when mobilization of resources to exploit the existing technologies is key for growth. The book presents a general theory of interlinked relational contract, the workhorse model of the book. The theory highlights that effective governance is a function of market extent and market completeness. The process of economic development and modernization can be looked at fruitfully from two perspectives: the markets and the institutions and their interactions. The book stresses the critical fit between the development stage and the governance for a country's economic transition and development and thus the idea of "appropriate institutions".

This is the nineteenth volume in an annual series in which leading economists provide a concise and accessible evaluation of major developments in trade and trade policy. Examines key issues pertinent to the multinational trading system, as well as regional trade arrangements and policy developments at the national level Includes chapters exploring WTO issues, and agricultural trading issues Provides up-to-date assessments of the World Trade Organization's current Trade Policy Reviews Analyses global trade policy in areas such as Australia and Sri Lanka, and includes special sections on both China and Malaysia A vital resource for researchers, analysts and policy-advisors interested in trade policy and other open economy issues

Gunnar Myrdal published his magnum opus, Asian Drama: An Inquiry into the Poverty of Nations, in 1968. He was deeply pessimistic about development prospects in Asia. The fifty years since then have witnessed a remarkable social and economic transformation in Asia - even if it has been uneven across countries and unequal between people - that would have been difficult to imagine, let alone predict at the time. Asian Transformations: An Inquiry into the Development of Nations analyses the fascinating story of economic development in Asia spanning half a century. Asian Transformations sets the stage by discussing the contribution of Gunnar Myrdal to the debate on development then and now and providing a long-term historical perspective on Asia in the world. It then uses cross-country thematic studies on governments, economic openness, agricultural transformation, industrialization, macroeconomics, poverty and inequality, education and health, employment and unemployment, institutions, and nationalisms to analyse processes of change while recognizing the diversity in paths and outcomes. Specific country studies on China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam, and sub-region studies on East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, further highlight turning points in economic performance and demonstrate factors underlying success or failure. Including in-depth studies by eminent economists and social scientists, Asian Transformations comprehensively examines the phenomenal changes that are transforming economies in Asia and shifting the balance of economic power in the world and reflects on the future prospects for this continent over the next twenty-five years. It is a cohesive and multi-disciplinary study of a rapidly changing economic landscape, and makes an important contribution to understanding the complexities and processes of development from different perspectives.

Written by one of the premier scholars on the European Union and hailed as the best undergraduate text on the subject, this book has been thoroughly revised and updated to include the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Clear and comprehensive, it "demystifies" one of the world's most important and least understood institutions. Roy H. Ginsberg contextualizes European integration through the foundation blocks of history, law, economics, and politics. He then breaks the EU down into its components so that they can be understood individually and in relation to the whole. Reconstructing the EU as a single polity, Ginsberg evaluates the EU's domestic and foreign policies and their effects on Europeans and non-Europeans alike. The author thus challenges students to see what the European Union truly represents: a unique experiment in regional cooperation and a remarkable model of conflict resolution for the world's troubled regions.

In this compelling journey into Digital Transformation (DT) tailored for Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs), this book unravels the intricacies of technological integration. Grounded in over one hundred years of extensive research by authors and the editor, real-world examples, and using the San Diego Diplomacy Council (SDDC) as a primary case study, it introduces a tailored Digital Maturity Model (DMM) for NPOs. At the heart of this transformation are three pivotal pillars: Culture, Ethics, and Security. Part I sets the stage, painting a landscape of how NPOs have intertwined with the digital realm. As technology's omnipresence surges, Chapter Two offers a panorama of DT's historical and contemporary intersections with the nonprofit sector. The subsequent chapter emphasizes the stark reality: for many NPOs, digital adaptation is no longer about relevance but survival. Part II delves into the comparative digital strategies of NPOs and their for-profit counterparts in Chapter 4, highlighting the need for tailored approaches. Chapter 5 explores the Nonprofit Digital Maturity Model (NDMM), using the San Diego Diplomacy Council as a focal point. The journey then unfolds further in Chapter 6, which casts a spotlight on the strategic execution of DT in NPOs, weaving in comprehensive analyses to dissect the forces shaping an NPO's digital trajectory. Part III dives deeper, with Chapter 7 laying the foundation of the NDMM. The subsequent chapter meticulously unpacks the NDMM, culminating in Chapter 9, which emphasizes the pillars of DT—Culture, Ethics, and Security—forming the essence of the Nonprofit DT Strategic Framework (NDTSF). This chapter also crafts a tailored roadmap for NPOs, charting a comprehensive DT course. Concluding with a forward-looking stance, Chapter 10 thrusts readers into the enthralling fusion of AI and NPOs, exploring transformative potentials and ethical concerns. Through real-world cases, it positions AI as both a potent tool and a vital dialogue for NPOs. Essentially, this book equips NPOs with tools like the NDMM and insights from successful DT narratives. It seeks to provide a practical guide for nonprofits through their DT journey, ensuring they harness technology ethically and effectively without compromising their core values.

In Western popular imagination, the Caliphate often conjures up an array of negative images, while rallies organised in support of resurrecting the Caliphate are treated with a mixture of apprehension and disdain, as if they were the first steps towards usurping democracy. Yet these images and perceptions have little to do with reality. While some Muslims may be nostalgic for the Caliphate, only very few today seek to make that dream come true. Yet the Caliphate can be evoked as a powerful rallying call and a symbol that draws on an imagined past and longing for reproducing or emulating it as an ideal Islamic polity. The Caliphate today is a contested concept among many actors in the Muslim world, Europe and beyond, the reinvention and imagining of which may appear puzzling to most of us. Demystifying the Caliphate sheds light on both the historical debates following the demise of the last Ottoman Caliphate and controversies surrounding recent calls to resurrect it, transcending alarmist agendas to answer fundamental questions about why the memory of the Caliphate lingers on among diverse Muslims. From London to the Caucasus, to Jakarta, Istanbul, and Baghdad, the contributors explore the concept of the Caliphate and the re-imagining of the Muslim ummah as a diverse multi-ethnic community.

China is historically famous for its high demographic dividend and its huge working population, and this has driven tremendous economic growth over the past few decades. However, that population has begun to shrink and the Lewis turning point whereby surplus rural population has been absorbed into manufacturing is also approaching, leading to great change in the Chinese labor market. Will this negatively affect China’s economic growth? Can the "Middle-Income Trap" be avoided? What reforms should be made on the labor supply side? This book tackles these key questions. This book is a collection of 14 papers presenting the author’s observations, analysis, and opinions of China’s long-term economic development from the demographic perspective, while analysing real economic problems from the past and including policy recommendations. It provides a critical reference for scholars and students interested in Chinese economic development and demographic perspectives on economic development.