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32. Mauritania and Newly Emerging Economies in Africa Turkey and China
- Author:
- Fouad Farhaoui
- Publication Date:
- 01-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Strategic Research Organization (USAK)
- Abstract:
- Pre and post-independence policies have yielded volatile problems for African States. North African states, in particular, have seen disintegration between their Arab, Berber, and Black ethnic groups.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Development, Economics, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Africa, China, Turkey, and Arabia
33. Next Steps in Syria
- Author:
- Judith S. Yaphe
- Publication Date:
- 12-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- Nearly 3 years since the start of the Syrian civil war, no clear winner is in sight. Assassinations and defections of civilian and military loyalists close to President Bashar al-Asad, rebel success in parts of Aleppo and other key towns, and the spread of violence to Damascus itself suggest that the regime is losing ground to its opposition. The tenacity of government forces in retaking territory lost to rebel factions, such as the key town of Qusayr, and attacks on Turkish and Lebanese military targets indicate, however, that the regime can win because of superior military equipment, especially airpower and missiles, and help from Iran and Hizballah. No one is prepared to confidently predict when the regime will collapse or if its opponents can win.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Security
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Middle East, Arabia, Lebanon, and Syria
34. Inherent Governmental Functions and Areas of Further Security Privatization in the Czech Republic
- Author:
- Oldřich Bureš
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- This study analyzes the limits and further areas of possible privatization of security in the Czech Republic in the context of a growing number of private security companies (PSCs). With reference to the recent foreign studies of security privatization and interviews conducted with the owners and/or managers of PSCs operating in the Czech Republic, this study shows that the process of security privatization is not taking place somewhere outside the structures of the Czech state because the very (in)activity of its components in providing security, along with the understandable efforts of PSCs to maximize their profits by offering new services, or extending the range of the existing ones, represents one of its key determinants. By outlining possible further areas as well as limits of security privatization in the Czech Republic, this study has the ambition to be the basis for not only an academic, but also a political debate about the ways of ensuring the safety of the citizens of the Czech Republic in the foreseeable future.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Europe, Iran, Middle East, Asia, France, and Arabia
35. The role of French private military companies in the security privatization sector: Specific features of the French approach and a comparison with Anglo-Saxon private military companies
- Author:
- Zdeněk Ludvík
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- The realm of privatization of security and the consequent existence of private military companies is an important constitutive element of security with regard to international relations. This phenomenon is most strongly developed in the Anglo-Saxon world. However, in the case of the French Republic, we can observe significant developmental and functional disparities. This paper examines externalization processes in the context of the French approach to the legitimacy, legality and territoriality of the privatization of security functions of the state and explains the different causes of their development. It discusses the main aspects of externalization, defines the typical activities of French private military companies, describes their strengths and weaknesses and outlines the problems and possible solutions that lie before the French, which cannot be ignored in the future. Finally, this paper describes the most important French private military companies and their characteristics.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, NATO, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Europe, Iran, Middle East, Asia, France, and Arabia
36. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and Its Relevance for the Global Security
- Author:
- Daša Adašková and Tomáš Ludík
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is one of important international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament measures. One of its pillars is the verification mechanism that has been built as an international system of nuclear testing detection to enable the control of observance of the obligations anchored in the CTBT. Despite the great relevance to the global non-proliferation and disarmament efforts, the CTBT is still not in force. The main aim of the article is to summarize the importance of the CTBT and its entry into force not only from the international relations perspective but also from the perspective of the technical implementation of the monitoring system.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, International Law, United Nations, and International Affairs
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, China, Iran, Middle East, India, Asia, France, and Arabia
37. Security Cooperation in SADC: SADC on the Way to Security Community?
- Author:
- Linda Piknerová
- Publication Date:
- 06-2013
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- This text aims to analyze security cooperation in the Southern African Development Community. The article is based on two theoretical approaches, the first one is a concept of security community, the second one is a human security. Both theories have become widely accepted in the early 1990s because of their ability to cover wider international changes. The Southern African Development Community is seen as a regional integration plan which aspires to become a security community in Karl Deutsch's sense. Beside the both mentioned theories, the text deals with the history of security cooperation in the south of Africa and its changes. The main discussed question is wheher the SADC could be understood as a newly emerging security community.
- Topic:
- Security, NATO, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, Africa, Iran, Middle East, Asia, France, and Arabia
38. Whither the Old Order?: The Regional Implications of the Syria Crisis
- Author:
- Karim Emile Bitar
- Publication Date:
- 02-2013
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Writing in September 2011, Hussein Agha and Robert Malley pointed out that the Arab awakening was "a tale of three battles rolled into one: people against regimes; people against people and regimes against other regimes." Nowhere is this more evident than in Syria where all three dimensions are forcefully present, simultaneously making Syria arguably the most complex of all Arab revolutions. The Syrian revolution started in March 2011 as an inevitable, spontaneous, legitimate and overwhelmingly non-violent movement, much akin to the Arab Spring revolutions that had taken place in Tunisia and Egypt. While the underlying political, economic and demographic causes of the Syrian uprising were quite similar to those which triggered the earlier revolutions, the regime's brutal reaction, Syria's geostrategic positioning and its sectarian heterogeneity, as well as the political agendas of regional and international powers led the revolution to morph into a bloody civil war.
- Topic:
- Security, Demographics, Economics, Human Rights, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and Tunisia
39. The Myth or Reality of US Energy Independence
- Author:
- Anthony H. Cordesman
- Publication Date:
- 01-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Abstract:
- US “independence” from energy imports has been a key source of political dispute ever since the October War in 1973 and the Arab oil embargo that followed. Much of this debate has ignored or misstated the nature of the data available on what the US options are, as well as the uncertainties involved in making any long range projections.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Energy Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Oil
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, and Arabia
40. Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age
- Author:
- Shanthi Kalathil
- Publication Date:
- 02-2013
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
- Abstract:
- From Wikileaks to the aftermath of the Arab Spring, policymakers have been confronted with the thorny ramifications of ubiquitous global information flows. Two key phenomena have emerged as the new hallmarks of international relations: heightened transparency and increased volatility. They require a refocusing of the lens through which we view international affairs, and present both challenges and opportunities for state and non-state actors. These themes and more are explored in a new collection of essays, Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age, edited by Shanthi Kalathil. Featuring contributions on issues ranging from cybersecurity to diplomacy and fragile states, the book points toward a foreign policy strategy of resilience, credibility and adaptability for harnessing opportunities in the information age.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Development, Diplomacy, Globalization, Post Colonialism, and Political Activism
- Political Geography:
- Arabia