Parliament of United Kingdom

This paper examines how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the future of political propaganda by looking at the way that new technologies are changing political communication, misinformation, and democratic procedures. It discusses the use of AI technology, including deepfakes and chatbots and algorithmic targeting, in the dissemination of persuasive and often misleading political information. The study, based on the qualitative research design and content analysis of such case studies as the 2016 elections to the House in the U.S. and the digital propaganda strategies of China, reveals some important trends in manipulations carried out with the help of AI. The results suggest that AI facilitates the possibility of hyper-personalized, scaled, and covert propaganda, which dethrones the previous paradigm of transparency and responsibility in democratic rhetoric. The paper insists that AI is capable of enhancing misinformation, but it can also help in identifying and preventing propaganda. It ends with policy suggestions, which are centered on regulation, ethical AI creation, and digital literacy to protect democratic integrity in the era of algorithmic influence.

This paper is a research on democratic backsliding in West Africa, in which the author examines how Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has responded to the recent military coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger. Using the methodological approach of qualitative case study, the study finds the problems of governance failures, socio-economic challenges, and institutional fragility to be the main factors that cause the decline of democracy. The approaches employed by ECOWAS, which include diplomacy, sanctions, and in few cases, military intervention have produced mixed results, with partial success in The Gambia and a history of inability to stop the violence in other cases. The discussion highlights the weaknesses in the operations of ECOWAS such as weak enforcement capacity, internal divisions and political will among member states. It is suggested to strengthen institutional frameworks, improve early warning systems, increase regional cohesion, and intensify civic participation. The paper also highlights the inseparability of international relations in boosting the democratic efforts of ECOWAS. This study advances a better comprehension of the role of regionalism and democracy in West Africa and provides policy implications to decision-makers and stakeholders, who strive to promote and maintain democracy in the region.

This study investigates marine biotechnology as an emerging technology to pursue a sustainable Blue Economy with regard to the innovation that drives growth in the economy and preserves the marine biodiversity. The research questions involve: how marine biotechnology can improve sustainable practices in the Blue Economy, its economic costs, ecological, and social impact, and policy framework to scale such innovations in coast and marine resources governance practices. The study is anchored on three theoretical frameworks that are Ecological Economics, Innovation Systems Theory, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The set of frameworks can be used to obtain an insight of the equilibrium between environmental conservation and technological advancement in the marine sectors. The conclusion indicates that marine biotechnology is key in developing fresh hubs of economic activities, including drugs and sustainable aquaculture, besides alleviating environmental degradation via bioremediation and the preservation of biodiversity. Nevertheless, issues of technology constraints, gaps in regulations and ethics of bioprospecting and genetic modification still exist. As part of advancing its potential value to sustainable development, the study suggests an improvement in policy frames, increased international partnerships as well as the adoption of ethical principles in the application of marine biotechnology. This study highlights a multi-action set of measures to enhance the sustainable exploitation of the marine sources, with some hints on possible outcomes of marine biotechnology in going forward with the Blue Economy.

The present paper would explore tariffs employed by the United States and China to pursue their economic statecrafting as part of strategic decoupling. Based on realism, economic interdependence, and liberal institutionalism theories, the study examines how the two states have used trade policy as a weapon in achieving geopolitical aims especially in the Trump administration to the Biden period. The study will be devoted to Section 231 and 301 tariffs that are applied by the U.S., and counter measures of China that involve sensitive areas including agriculture, rare earth elements and high technology. The choice of case studies and empirical studies outlines how tariffs are used as an instrument of not only economic but also coercive policies, direction of resources back to the home country, and technological onshoring. The results indicate that tariffs have had a mixed level of success in meeting strategic objectives, but have contributed in great ways to breaking global supply chains, eroding the multilateral norms in the trade, and a drift toward bilateral and regional economic affiliations. It also examines the effects of having a strategic decoupling on the current global political economy since it enhances geoeconomic fragmentation and it undermines the usefulness of having the world trade organization. Finally, the paper demands that economic competition must be carried out in a fair and mutually supportive manner that will strengthen the stability of the global environment whilst protecting national interests.

The UK is currently debating legislation to allow physician-assisted suicide for competent, terminally ill adults. Though not explicit, it is likely to be delivered through the National Health Service (NHS). International evidence shows that integrating assisted suicide and euthanasia into mainstream healthcare increases uptake and rate of growth as well as broadens eligibility criteria. In this editorial, we argue that it should not be part of the NHS, since it is not a medical treatment, lacks a robust evidence base and fails to meet regulatory standards. The proposed framework for assessing decision-making capacity is unsuitable, and psychiatrists are not the right clinicians to be involved.

This article uses the case studies of two Greek clergymen, Anastasius Comnenus and Hierotheos Abbatios, to explore Anglo-Greek interactions and perceptions in early modern England. Both men visited the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the mid-seventeenth century on fund-raising trips. This article details their time in the universities and in England more widely. It focuses on the issue of charity: who gave them money and why. This approach, making extensive use of new archival material, offers a fruitful perspective on English attitudes to Greek travellers. Suspicion was balanced by philhellenism and a desire to reference the Greek Orthodox Church in confessional or ecclesiastical disputes. These were common trends in early modern Europe, but they were inflected by specific contextual concerns in England. This article also demonstrates that analysing questions of charity can help to recover insights into the decision-making and agency of the early modern Greek traveller.