Countering Hybrid Eco-threats to Global Security Under International Law: The Need for an Comprehensive Legal Approach

Threats to environmental security (‘eco-threats’) face not only shortcomings of environmental protection during hostilities under the Law of Armed Conflict. Considering the new ‘Hybrid Threat’ concept, which had recently been discussed by NATO, the authors recognise from the perspective of International Law the need for adopting a comprehensive legal approach towards such threats. The International Environmental Law, the International Humanitarian Law and the Customary International Law show some shortcomings to tackle the new challenge. In the focus is the rule of law, in particular the principle of proportionality, which can play a role when countering such threats and legal rules can have a positive effect on the international community’s ability to act.     

The spectacle of politics: Wendy Davis,abortion, and pink shoes in the Texas ‘fillybuster’

Despite important inroads, women’s marginalization in the public sphere is still very real. From a feminist theoretical perspective, and informed by Guy Debord’s conceptualization of the society of spectacle, this study examines local and national newspaper coverage of Wendy Davis’s filibuster to block an abortion-restricting bill in the Texas State legislature in 2013. Qualitative and quantitative assessments show that gender was particularly encoded and marked in the mediated discourse, with reports focusing on Davis’ personal life and giving her celebrity status. The filibuster became a political spectacle that reified dominant gender values and norms.     

Bankrupting Terrorism: The Role of US Anti-terrorism Litigation in the Prevention of Terrorism and Other Hybrid Threats: A Legal Assessment and Outlook

Global terrorist networks are dependent on receiving financial support from a variety of sources, including individuals, charities and corporations. Also known as terrorist financing, the potential of terrorism finance to resemble a global threat has been recognised and also its closeness to other international crimes such as money laundering and organized crime. As a result, possible responses have to constitute co-ordinated, multi-lateral and multi faceted actions under the umbrella of a wide range of international stakeholders such as the United Nations Security Council and the Financial Action Task Force. Combating terrorism requires a ??holistic?? approach which allows for a mix of possible responses. Besides ??kinetic?? security operations (such as targeted killings) and the adoption of criminal prosecution measures another possible response could be the use of US styled transnational civil litigation by victims of terrorism against both, terrorist groups and their sponsors. Corporations, both profit and non profit, such as banks and other legal entities, as well as individuals, are often complicit in international terrorism in a role of aiders and abettors by providing financial assistance to the perpetrators (cf. UN Al-Qaida Sanctions List: The List established and maintained by the 1267 Committee with respect to individuals, groups, undertakings and other entities associated with Al-Qaida). Such collusion in acts of terrorism gains additional importance against the background of so called ??Hybrid Threats??, NATO??s new concept of identifying and countering new threats arising from multi-level threat scenarios. This article discusses the potential impact of US terrorism lawsuits for the global fight against terrorism.     

Expression of adhesion molecules in skin wounds: diagnostic value in legal medicine

The adhesion molecules identified in recent years can help improve the diagnosis of the wound age, especially of injuries with a short survival time. This is also indicative of the vitality of the wounds. The material investigated in the study originated from 465 skin wounds. The samples were taken from human autopsy material, during the surgical treatment of wounds (excision) of patients and from experimental incised wounds of mice. To judge the age of skin wounds the endothelial adhesion molecules were detected in paraffin sections after autoclaving and using the ABC technique. Human skin wounds: strong positive staining was observed of ICAM-1 1.5 h at the earliest and 3.5 days at the latest, for the P-selectin 3 min at the earliest and 7 h at the latest, for the E-selectin 1 h at the earliest and 17 days at the latest and for VCAM-1 3 h at the earliest and 3.5 days at the latest after the time of injury. The L-selectin was expressed constitutively. Mice skin wounds: strong positive immunohistochemical reactions were found as a rule earlier than in human skin wounds. The detection of an increased expression of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and P- and E-selectins can improve the wound age assessment in injuries with short survival times.     

Partisan bias in inflation expectations

Public Choice - We examine partisan bias in inflation expectations. Our dataset includes inflation expectations of the New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations over the period June 2013...     

The Influence of Preburial Insect Access on the Decomposition Rate

Abstract: This study compared total body score (TBS) in buried remains (35 cm depth) with and without insect access prior to burial. Sixty rabbit carcasses were exhumed at 50 accumulated degree day (ADD) intervals. Weight loss, TBS, intra‐abdominal decomposition, carcass/soil interface temperature, and below‐carcass soil pH were recorded and analyzed. Results showed significant differences (p << 0.001) in decomposition rates between carcasses with and without insect access prior to burial. An approximately 30% enhanced decomposition rate with insects was observed. TBS was the most valid tool in postmortem interval (PMI) estimation. All other variables showed only weak relationships to decomposition stages, adding little value to PMI estimation. Although progress in estimating the PMI for surface remains has been made, no previous studies have accomplished this for buried remains. This study builds a framework to which further comparable studies can contribute, to produce predictive models for PMI estimation in buried human remains.     

Just War and Military Morale: A Brief Reflection on the Correlation Between the Legality of War and the Moral Repercussions for Members of US and UK Forces Arising from the Questionable Legality of the Campaign Iraqi Freedom of March 2003

Liverpool Law Review - Does it matter to a member of the military whether the military campaign in which he is taking part is lawful or not? Despite the observation that the crime of aggression...     

Exclusion Despite Nominal Inclusion: A Critical Analysis of Participatory Development Programmes in Post-War Colombia

Citizen participation takes centre stage in Colombia's 2016 peace agreement. Its practical implementation, however, has proven difficult. This case study examines targets and tactics of exclusion in participatory development programmes established under the peace accords. Drawing on qualitative data generated between 2021 and 2022 in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, this article argues that exclusion affects societal (sub-)groups, organisations and communities as a whole and involves a large array of implicit-elusive, direct-explicit and coercive mechanisms. This matters for implementing inclusive peacebuilding more generally.     

(Trans)regionalism and South–South cooperation: Afrasia instead of Eurafrique?

The paper engages critically with the increasing importance of South–South cooperation and the shift from African–European to African–Asian interaction. It argues that South–South cooperation is too often framed in a spatial logics of regional integration and transregional cooperation and thus reproduces spatial understandings that are characteristic for African–European relations but misplaced in the context of African–Asian relations. Moreover, it analyses perceptions about the difference of European and Asian cooperation partners amongst political and societal elites in Kenya and Tanzania, arguing that instead of a shift from African–European to Afrasian spaces of interaction, the two mutually coexist and fulfil complementary functions.