Comprehending the Complexity of Countries: The Way Ahead [Hardcover]

This book argues for computer-aided collaborative country research based on the science of complex and dynamic systems. It provides an in-depth discussion of systems and computer science, concluding that proper understanding of a country is only possible if a genuinely interdisciplinary and truly international approach is taken; one that is based on complexity science and supported by computer science. Country studies should be carefully designed and collaboratively carried out, and a new generation of country students should pay more attention to the fast growing potential of digitized and electronically connected libraries. In this frenzied age of globalization, foreign policy makers may  to the benefit of a better world  profit from the radically new country studies pleaded for in the book. Its author emphasizes that reductionism and holism are not antagonistic but complementary, arguing that parts are always parts of a whole and a whole has always parts.

Introduction.- 1 The enduring confusion.- 2 Theories and models.- 3 The concept of country.- 4 Cities and countries.- 5 Scientific feasibility of collaborative country studies.- 6 Countries consist of both spontaneous and man-made systems.- 7 Technical feasibility of collaborative country studies.- 8 Implications of higher education: Connect the dots!.- 9 Reductionism or Holism?.- 10 General Conclusions.- Summary and Suggestion.Hans Kuijper has a Masters in Sinology (H?nxu?) from Leiden University and in economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam. After three years working at the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, he joined the Ministry of Economic Affairs, in The Hague, where he became responsible for doing research and reporting on the political, social and economic developments in East Asian countries. Seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was appointed as Commercial Attach? at the Netherlands Embassy in Singapore, where  besides other pre-occl“¤