Defense and Security Studies Commons^™

Do Drones Have A Silver Lining?, David Akerson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Michael Abramowitz and Lawrence Woocher’s article, “How Genocide Became a National Security Threat,” flags an important milestone in American foreign policy, namely that mass atrocities might now be appropriately viewed as the national security threats that they are. The problem with translating this policy development into action is the next and not insignificant challenge. Aerial drones may be key to overcoming it.

Genocide Myopia: How Reframing Mass Atrocity Could Backfire, Sonia Cardenas

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The United States has long viewed genocide and mass atrocity as tragic, moral problems divorced from national interests. This may be changing under the Obama administration, with genocide and mass atrocity being reframed as problems to be solved pragmatically. Michael Abramowitz and Lawrence Woocher celebrate this “unprecedented breakthrough” in Foreign Policy, urging President Obama to follow up with specific measures: strategic military planning, interagency coordination, firm leadership, and concrete action on Darfur. Despite the promise of overcoming inaction and focusing on prevention, the new vision of genocide and mass atrocity Abramowitz and Woocher depict remains myopic. It is narrowly focused …

A Break From The Old Routine...., Todd Landman

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Abramowitz and Woocher highlight a potentially significant shift in policy discourse in international relations with respect to humanitarianism and the prevention of genocide. For many years, the United States has suffered from the twin problems of the human rights “double standard” and “Catch-22.” On the one hand, particular countries have been seen as vital by the United States for intervention on humanitarian grounds even though many believed other geostrategic interests are at stake (e.g. Kosovo in 1999) and others have not (e.g. Rwanda in 1994). On the other hand, US intervention on humanitarian grounds can be criticized as heavy-handed or …

On Genocide And The National Interest, James Pattison

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the second presidential debate, Barack Obama said, in response to a question about the crisis in Darfur, that “when genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening somewhere around the world and we stand idly by, that diminishes us. And so I do believe that we have to consider it as part of our interests, our national interests, in intervening where possible.” In a similar vein, Michael Abramowitz and Lawrence Woocher highlight how genocide is increasingly being seen as a security threat by the White House.

National Mine Action Plan For The Period 2010-2023 For Vietnam, The Socialist Republic Of Vietnam

Global CWD Repository

The outline of the National Mine Action Plan Period 2010-2025 in Vietnam. Translated in English and includes original Vietnamese text.

Eu Defence Integration And Nuclear Weapons: A Common Deterrent For Europe?, Ursula Jasper, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Nuclear weapons remain the unquestioned core of the defence postures of both France and the United Kingdom. At the same time, the European Union is progressively enhancing its Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), notably through the establishment of a European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). Yet, despite evident progress in the CFSP, whose ultimate purpose is to lead to a ‘common defence policy’, EU member-states still deal with nuclear issues on a predominantly national basis. What is the alleged purpose of European nuclear forces? How is the raison d’être of the French and British nuclear deterrents conceptualized against the …

Maturing International Cooperation To Address The Cyberspace Attack Attribution Problem, Jeff J. Mcneil

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

One of the most significant challenges to deterring attacks in cyberspace is the difficulty of identifying and attributing attacks to specific state or non-state actors. The lack of technical detection capability moves the problem into the legal realm; however, the lack of domestic and international cyberspace legislation makes the problem one of international cooperation. Past assessments have led to collective paralysis pending improved technical and legal advancements. This paper demonstrates, however, that any plausible path to meaningful defense in cyberspace must include a significant element of international cooperation and regime formation.

The analytical approach diverges from past utilitarian-based assessments to …

Border Conflict And Tibet: The Asian Giants And Their History Of Power Struggle, Evan Towt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The South Asian world is dominated by India and China, their combined populations equaling almost a full half of humankind. In 1962, the two countries clashed over their border. The main reason for the war was the contest over large areas of territory claimed by both countries. The border still has not been adequately defined. This essay examines the border dispute from its roots in history, through the 20th century and into the present. It was the goal of this work to give an unbiased account of the dispute, though the weight of evidence in favor of the Indian claim …

Annals Of Psychological Warfare: How To Induce Panic, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the phenomenon of panic in a wartime setting because of psychological warfare, as well as in other settings.

The Birds And The Bees: Sex And Personnel Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses gender identity and sexual activity as they relate to security personnel in the context of espionage.

Ddasaccident827, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

On the 16th March 2010 at [International demining organisation] task CBU 478, an uncontrolled detonation of a US M series M77 sub-munition occurred while [International demining organisation] searcher [the Victim] was conducting sub-surface instrument search.

[The Victim] sustained fragmentation injuries to his right leg in the thigh and lower leg. When he stood on an unstable rock in his clearance lane, this caused a sub-munition underneath the rock to detonate.

Based on all available evidence, the BOI team concludes that the accident occurred due to the failure of [the Victim] to carry out a sufficient check of the rocks and …

Why Terrorism? Whose Terror?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author considers terrorism as a competitor for the legally constituted authority and power of governments.

Ddasaccident733, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

On 15 March 2010 at 08:55 hrs while [the Victim] was busy in excavation of a detected signal, suddenly the accident happened. As a result the deminer got severe injuries on his face, eyes and his right hand.

Ddasaccident645, Hd-Aid

Global CWD Repository

When we arrived to the site the team leader gave us the morning safety brief and he warned us to be very alert about as we work on mine clusters, at 07:30 am I entered my site and the team leader came to direct me to make more space in the clearing area of missing mines, he told me to move to lane one later after finishing my work at the missing mine, lane one is a mixed mine area( has both types of mines M15 and M14 ) and asked me to clear M14 mines because the anti tank …

Gender Guidelines For Mine Action Programmes, Unmas

Global CWD Repository

In 2004–05, the Inter-Agency Coordination Group for Mine Action (IACG-MA) endorsed the first UN Gender Guidelines for Mine Action Programmes to enhance the integration of gender considerations into UN mine action programmes. The guidelines were developed with the assistance of the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). This effort followed the launch by DPKO in 2004 of the Gender Resource Package for Peacekeeping Operations, which identified key gender issues and provided an overview of how they could be addressed most effectively. The package, designed on the strong foundation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), recommended elaborating detailed guidelines within …

Geneva International Centre For Humanitarian Demining 2009 Annual Report, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

Annual narrative report on the work of the GICHD in 2009.

Variance, Violence, And Democracy: A Basic Microeconomic Model Of Terrorism, John A. Sautter

Journal of Strategic Security

Much of the debate surrounding contemporary studies of terrorism focuses upon transnational terrorism. However, historical and contemporary evidence suggests that domestic terrorism is a more prevalent and pressing concern. A formal microeconomic model of terrorism is utilized here to understand acts of political violence in a domestic context within the domain of democratic governance.This article builds a very basic microeconomic model of terrorist decision making to hypothesize how a democratic government might influence the sorts of strategies that terrorists use. Mathematical models have been used to explain terrorist behavior in the past. However, the bulk of inquires in this area …

Global Risk Of Nuclear Terrorism, Emily Diez, Terrance Clark, Caroline Zaw-Mon

Journal of Strategic Security

The emergence of nuclear terrorism, a threat that President Obama called "the gravest danger we face," has signaled a paradigm shift in international security. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, sensitive nuclear technologies and materials have become increasingly available. Globalization and the inadequate enforcement of treaties and export controls have allowed the proliferation of nuclear weapons materials. Today, international terrorist organizations seek to employ weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a means to influence national policies around the world. AlQaida spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith declared that in order to balance the injustices that have been inflicted on the Muslim …

Toward A New Trilateral Strategic Security Relationship: United States, Canada, And Mexico, Richard J. Kilroy, Jr., Abelardo Rodríguez Sumano, Todd S. Hataley

Journal of Strategic Security

The term "perimeter defense" has come back into vogue recently, with regard to security strategies for North America. The United States' concern primarily with the terrorist threat to its homeland subsequent to September 11, 2001 (9/11) is generating this discussion with its immediate neighbors of Mexico and Canada (and to some extent some Caribbean nations—the "third border"). The concept is simply that by pushing defenses out to the "perimeter" nations, then security will be enhanced, since the United States visions itself as more vulnerable to international terrorism than its neighbors. However, Canada and Mexico have not been very happy about …

Intelligence And Its Role In Protecting Against Terrorism, Richard J. Hughbank, Don Githens

Journal of Strategic Security

The art and science of gathering critical operational intelligence has been defined in many ways and is beyond our needs for this writing. Throughout the course of history, many wars have been fought depending heavily on various forms of intelligence. During our most recent actions in the War on Terror, intelligence analysis has played a critical role in both offensive and defensive operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. With such varying fact-finding techniques available and utilized in the defense of our country, it has become an arduous task to collect, decipher, package, prioritize, disseminate, and act upon everything that comes down …