Comprehending the Complexity of Countries

Hans Kuijper has a Master’s in Sinology (Hànxué) 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 Attaché at the Netherlands Embassy in Singapore, where – besides other pre-occupations – he was involved in the forming of a Dutch consortium that would tender to dig the tunnel for, and perform the construction of, the Metro (MRT). In 1986, he became Trade Representative of The Netherlands in Taiwan, where he learned about the details, and became aware of the complexity, of the so-called Taiwan–China Problem. Retired from Civil Service in 2000, he resumed studying philosophy of the social sciences, becoming increasingly interested in the science of (complex) systems and computer science. He has written a number of critical articles on the academic study of regions and countries. 

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.