Category Archives: Volume 11, no. 2 (2016)

No one is an island: Iceland and the International Community

26/04/2016Introductory noteEEA, EFTA, EU, Iceland, NATO, UN, USAJakob Þór Kristjánsson

The University of Akureyri and Akureyri Academy held the Conference in collaboration with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The conference addressed the subject of Iceland in the International Community on a broad basis, featuring a variety of perspectives on the subject from academics, officials and NGOs. The conference was a forum for discussion on the position of Iceland in the International Community, inasmuch as the position, influence and interests of Iceland in international relations are currently and will continue to be important issues.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Health System Strengthening: Iceida’s Development Collaboration in Monkey Bay, Malawi, in 2000-2014

26/04/2016Conference proceedings (double blind peer review)Africa South of the Sahara, Costs and Cost Analysis, Fees and Charges, Global Health, Health Care, Health Services, Poverty, Primary Health Care, Program Evaluation, Quality Indicators, Quality of Health CareGeir Gunnlaugsson & Jónína Einarsdóttir

The Icelandic International Development Agency (Iceida) supported the health services in the Monkey Bay area in Mangochi district in Malawi in southern Africa in the period 2000-2011. It included construction of physical structures, logistic, training of health staff, and community health activities. One additional feature included support for the national electronic Health Monitoring Information System (HMIS) in place, with extraction and analysis of data generated by the health services in the area. In this paper, the development of the services will be analysed and discussed. Further, difficulties to find appropriate indicators to monitor health services, in Monkey Bay and elsewhere, will be presented and elaborated upon.

Twelve Years an Editor – Almost. Nordic-Mediterranean Perspectives on Iceland’s International Image

26/04/2016Conference proceedings (double blind peer review)Iceland, Italy, Mediterranean, Nordic, editingGiorgio Baruchello

Established in 2005, the scholarly venue entitled Nordicum-Mediterraneum: Icelandic E-Journal of Nordic and Mediterranean Studies has been published regularly by the University of Akureyri since 2006. Over the years, its editor and editorial collaborators have received, read, reviewed and released a number of contributions by foreign scholars, in particular Italian ones, dealing with Iceland under a broad variety of scientific and scholarly perspectives. Upon the basis of the published contributions, the conference’s discussion can be enriched by an eminently local, quintessentially academic, yet qualitatively rich account of Iceland’s image among foreign academic circles, especially Italian ones.

Little Fish, Big Pond: Icelandic Interests and Influence in Arctic Governance

26/04/2016Conference proceedings (double blind peer review)Arctic Council, Iceland, fishing, international law, maritime boundaries, shippingRachael Lorna Johnstone

The paper presents the Arctic Council and Iceland’s role within it before turning to issues that are governed outside of the Arctic Council system, in particular, Arctic fisheries and maritime boundaries. The paper explains Iceland’s approach to Arctic cooperation in light of its published policy documents and explore the tools available to Iceland to defend its interests.

The EU’s Open Arms and Small States

25/04/2016Conference proceedings (double blind peer review)EU, Iceland, NATO, US, international relationsThorvaldur Gylfason

The EU has fostered lasting peace and prosperity in Europe since World War II and welcomed formerly autocratic countries back into the European fold. The paper describes the EU as a union of primarily small European states whose parallel emphasis on efficiency and fairness, including deep respect for human rights, holds the key to Europe´s economic and social advances. While expansion fatigue has temporarily slowed the momentum of the widening of European unification, the EU can expect to benefit from welcoming more small states as members, including Albania and Iceland as well as Catalonia and Scotland should they declare independence.