Following the watershed attacks of 9/11, governments have found themselves confronted, not only with a need to implement protective policies against attacks, but also respond to the, often inflated and media-propelled, collective will and fear of the population. In formulating an effective counter-terrorist strategy, the construction of a universal definition of terrorism is needed. The subjectivity of the term, however, ensures that this is, by no means, an easy undertaking.
Social control, which is essential to all social relations, is at the center of international relations. Calculation of self-interest best explains actors’ underlying incentives, and thus their willingness to comply with rules.
Humanitarian NGO’s are suffering from a deficient civil-military cooperation approach caused by the enormous engagement of the military in relief operations.
The development of air power in the realm of the military emerged almost at the same time as aviation itself due to the accelerating features of the First World War. With air power’s inception, it became possible to make strategic strikes against the enemy’s centre of gravity without the necessity of making contact in a traditional land or sea war.
The October Revolution of 1917 saw the overthrow of Kerensky’s Provisional Government and laid the foundations for the world’s first Communist state; the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Seizing power through the revolution were the Bolsheviks, a faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, led by Vladimir Lenin. Paving the way for the Great Purges of Stalinist Russia, the Bolshevik’s solidified their power over Russia byutilising an efficient mechanism of state terror; the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, known simply as the ‘Cheka’.
The strong will ultimately capitalise on advantages to maximize their interests, disregarding the limited counter-strategies available to the weak.
The demobilisation of combatants during or after conflict is a crucial step towards achieving sustainable peace. This essay draws on the case of Colombia to illustrate the difficulties that this task poses.
Developing countries do not systematically use “cross-retaliation” in the WTO, since the economic incentives do not benefit them and preceding cases have shown to be unsuccessful.
The media plays a central role in the calculus and framing of political violence and is put into position where it can magnify or minimize these kinds of acts.
Analysing the record of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq since 2003 has often been an exercise in reconciling seemingly contradictory interpretations and dynamics. The key point on which such interpretations implicitly or explicitly diverge is on the role of the state in Iraqi history, particularly its strength and weakness in the exercise of political authority.
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