Penetration,Overlay, Governmentality: The Evolving Role of NATO in the Western Balkan Security Dynamics

ABSTRACT

According to the Regional Complex Security Theory (RSCT) external involvement in regional security can take either the form of penetration or overlay. We theorise governmentality as the third form of external involvement aimed to responsibilise regions in order to govern them indirectly and at a distance. We illustrate our argument in a study of NATO’s role in the Western Balkans since the dissolution of Yugoslavia. In particular, we posit that the predominant role of NATO in the region has evolved over time from penetration in the 1990s, through overlay in the early 2000s, to today’s governmentality.     

Sectarian Rebellions in Post-Transition Nigeria Compared

The Boko Haram, a radical Islamic group based in north-east Nigeria, has killed over 1,000 people since mid-2011. This article explores the historical origins and structural drivers of Boko Haram and puts them into context. It argues that the Nigerian government's coercive response to Boko Haram has perpetuated a cycle of violence and undermined endogenous sources of moderation based on cultural, institutional, and political conditions. State repression to implement a counter-terrorism strategy has radicalized the group, created incentives to find international sympathizers, and contributes to fragmentation that impedes political solutions. A comparison with rebellions in the oil producing Niger Delta helps identify some barriers to and opportunities for conflict resolution.     

Security Provision after Regime Change: Local Militias and Political Entities in Post-Qaddafi Tripoli

This paper discusses the way the newly formed political entities and the local militias engage in statebuilding practices during Libya's transitional period of 2011–12. Focusing on the encounters between these actors in the security field, it provides insight into the capacity and strategy of national actors to build state structures and to develop the political arrangements that they deem necessary. It does so by identifying the key actors involved, as well as the interactions between them and the constantly evolving relations of control, power and authority. It shows how actors in the security field engage with each other in their efforts to expand and to institutionalize networks and influence, and the competition and alignments with other security actors that are active in the transitional phase and thereafter.     

Editors’ Introduction

Abstract

The police restructuring efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina driven by the international community, using in particular the leverage of European integration, attempted to achieve a reform that would transform a very fragmented police system into a de-politicized single structure and ended in the signing of a rather weak political agreement. The main reason why the process proved to be so difficult was that police restructuring touched upon the fundamentals of a delicate ethno-political power-sharing model in a post-conflict situation. But also, the approach chosen by the international community had serious deficiencies as the international community was far from speaking with one voice, thereby limiting its leverage.     

Defeat in Iraq: The Challenges for Obama and the Region

Abstract

Though community policing is widely promoted by donors and criticized by academics, there has been little research on its practice in Africa. This essay examines one of the main elements of community policing, namely community forums, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. They were examined from the point of view of the police, Partnership Board executives and local communities. The triangulation of response provided an evaluation of their strengths and weaknesses. Positively they have improved communication between police and communities and provided intelligence, investigation, intervention, arrest and dispute resolution. Negatively they are elite dominated and most of the activities, initiatives and even finance come from the community. Despite the difficulties, the Partnership Boards are universally valued and are not seen as unwelcome foreign imports.     

我国劳动与社会保障管理的现实及展望

当前,加强与创新社会管理成为我国社会事业改革的紧迫任务。作为改善民生的核心领域,劳动保障对构建和完善我国社会管理体系具有基础性的重大意义。文章分析了当前我国劳动与礼会保障管理中存在的问题与困境,并提出新形势下劳动保障管理的创新思路与的发展方向。     

公安思想政治工作规范化发展的路径分析——对贵州省公安思想政治工作的调研与思考

加强公安思想政治工作规范化建设,可以使公安机关重视思想政治工作的价值,克服公安思想政治工作的随意性和盲目性,体现其科学性和系统性。建设路径包括:领导重视;建章立制;挖掘与整合资源;规范实施和评估程序;立功创模,典型引导;从优待警与从严治警的结合;加强公安政工队伍建设。     

公安机关对医疗单位治安保卫工作的监督

在医保体制和医疗制度改革进程中,由于医疗单位治安保卫工作的复杂性以及医疗单位本身管理不善,部分群众法律意识薄弱,引发医患关系紧张、医患磨擦增多、医疗事故难以按程序解决等社会问题,严重影响正常医疗秩序。为了切实维护医疗单位正常工作秩序,保障广大患者和医务人员的合法权益,公安机关必须加强对医疗单位治安保卫工作的监督检查。     

金融犯罪案件的特点及防范对策

近年来,金融类犯罪案件高发,新型金融犯罪案件层出不穷,严重危害金融管理秩序以及金融交易安全。文章通过对金融犯罪案件的主要特点、案发原因的分析,提出遏制和防范金融犯罪、维护金融安全的对策。     

The Perils of Bula Matari: Constraint and Power in the Colonial State

This review article argues that analyses of the food security implications of emerging powers in Africa could be strengthened through foregrounding the issue of perspective. Researchers working in this area should engage with food security opinion contests, and avoid obscuring these debates moving forward.