Archive for category International Relations

Building Decision Support for Developing Nations

Ontology Programming Makes the Difference

Developing countries are increasing their reliance on technology to modernize their industries, and the health care industry is no exception. Their governments, health care ministries, and public health officials are utilizing IT solutions to improve health outcomes. International Health and Human Services (HHS) organizations such as the World Health Organization, the International Red Cross, and U.S. agencies such as USAID are assisting them by:

  • Providing resources that help them improve care by strengthening their health care-related infrastructures.
  • Providing them with expertise in the fields of medicine and disease management.
  • Utilizing technologies to drive important health care-related decisions for improving health care outcomes. Read the rest of this entry »
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Concerns Regarding the Social Responsibility of Multinational Corporations

We can, categorically, qualify all points of social responsibility as either human, economic, legal, or environmental. The human category of social responsibility would contain all issues related to individual persons and groups of people. These might be health, safety, unions, personal freedom and liberties, and human rights. Legal concerns relate to either conflicting international laws, regulations, or the political landscape. The economic category would contain issues related to currencies, monetary policy, investment, and wages. The environmental category would relate to the natural condition of the host nation and encompass environmental conservation, pollution, and the distribution and use of natural resources.

There are two fundamental problems that create the need for the human category of corporate social responsibility. First, all nations agree that there are some rights that people have. Second, there is no total consensus on what those rights are. This results in disputes over a reasonable minimum working age, a maximum number of hours of labor to be performed on a weekly basis, and minimum acceptable safety conditions at the place of employment. There are also questions about reasonable break lengths, frequency of bathroom use, and time to be dedicated to eating during the work day. There are also issues of racial and gender-based discrimination. For the multinational corporation (MNC), the matter of moving a contract overseas is no small one. While there are international guidelines on which policies should be adopted in these matters, the final responsibility for the ethical treatment of employees falls on the MNC. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Value of Diplomatic Relations

I was not surprised to hear that the US got Northern Korea off their blacklist. The one thing the country doesn’t need at the moment is more enemies. A lot of east-Asian countries were not amused by the Lehman bankruptcy. These countries are paying much of the debt of the US.

After heroic years where the individual hero could do well for some group but harm others at the same time, we may come to a new era where diplomatic relations will be revalued.

One side of diplomacy and diplomatic relations is about culture. Each country has its own style of being diplomatic:

British diplomats are not alone in maintaining a comfortable and flattering self-image. … diplomats of many other countries rest on similar conceits. An Egyptian might claim that his tradition is one of brokering the pan-Arab view, while offering a bridge between east and west (a role claimed, too, by Turkish diplomats); the Dutch are the hard-headed pragmatists of the European Union; the Singaporeans are the politically incorrect realists; and so on. No one is the bad guy. Everyone believes they are serving the Good. There is a degree of caricature here, but in that caricature lies an uncomfortable truth: that to a greater or lesser degree, diplomats are required to define themselves, to create an identity, in order to function. But for the game to be played, you need a “them”, too. Read the rest of this entry »

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