Priorities for International Co-operation with Libya: A Development Perspective

This article provides a development co-operation perspective on the challenges facing Libya during its post-Qadhafi transition. Four key areas for international co-operation are outlined: peace, reconciliation and justice; governance and public administration; economic diversification; and migration. While concrete initiatives in all of these areas depend on Libya’s domestic security situation, they need to be part of a long-term, holistic strategy for one of the most fragile and conflict-affected countries in North Africa. Assuming that Libya’s domestic power-brokers decide that a modern, prosperous country is what they want, patient and committed international support can help turn Libya into a success story.     

The undoing of a unique relationship? Peace and security in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership

ABSTRACT

When the European Union (EU) and South Africa acceded to a strategic partnership, they expanded into new areas of partnership. One of these areas was peace and security, which is the focus of this article. The article argues that, although there appears to be a shared understanding of what security means, the strategic partnership has not been utilised significantly to further this understanding in practice. This is largely due to the EU's preferences for a continental, multilateral approach over the bilateralism of a strategic partnership. At the same time, South Africa sees its strategic partnership with the EU as being outside of its broader commitment to regional security. As a result the peace and security element of the strategic partnership has not been leveraged effectively despite several entry points for action. The article thus concludes that both the EU and South Africa need to re-think the current arrangement.     

2021年版《俄罗斯国家安全战略》及中俄安全合作

2021年版《俄罗斯国家安全战略》公布了当前俄罗斯安全战略的主要目标、国家安全面临的主要威胁、国家安全的未来规划。《2021年安全战略》与之前的2009年版、2015年版相比有较大改变,体现了俄罗斯政府对国内外新形势与国家安全风险和挑战的准确把握。该安全战略呈现出涵盖面广、“综合性”强、“战略内倾”突出、“去西方化”明显等特征。自俄罗斯独立后,中俄两国就开始了安全合作,双方在政治、军事与国防、经济和能源、文化信息与科技以及地区反恐和全球战略稳定等领域的安全合作不断深化,合作呈现出安全理念和安全战略理论上共通性强、在国家和地区及全球安全领域实践中配合默契、双方安全合作方式与途径差异明显、地区安全战略和全球安全理念存在国家利益差别等特征。今后双方将在理论创新、实践深化、区域与全球层面加强配合、推动全球安全秩序更合理及推动构建安全命运共同体方面继续深化合作。     

The character and value of vernacular security: the case of South West Cameroon

ABSTRACT

This article reports the findings of field research into the vernacular understanding of security in South West Cameroon. It was found that security significantly contested; it is both objective and subjective; it is communal, whilst at the same time requiring individual l responsibility of personal security; it favours certainty and stability; it draws on a multiplicity of providers, and it goes beyond traditional conceptualisations. The findings make it clear that there are wide divergences between the typical state and donor driven security reform programmes, and people’s perceived security needs. The definition of security is challenged by popular understandings. In addition, though not rejecting the need for state security, it is evident that many more actors are engaged in security provision and personal safety than state actors, and that these actors need to be accounted for in reform programmes. Conclusion draw out advantages of the vernacular approach in security reform programmes.     

Ghana's foreign policy and transnational security challenges in West Africa

This article focuses on Ghana's security culture as reflected in its foreign policy, and how it has influenced the way the country addresses transnational security challenges in the Economic Community of West African State subregion. In this sense, the article explores some of the linkages between national and subregional security cultures in West Africa and how effectively they have complemented each other in providing a holistic response to the transnational security challenges facing Ghana. The article argues that despite the existence of different subregional conventions and protocols made possible by an emerging subregional security culture, Ghana's strategies for addressing transnational security threats have not gone much beyond the rhetoric of addressing the problems. In reality, transnational criminal activities have not only intensified but have become more challenging. Several factors contribute to this including corrupt leadership and institutional practices, security lapses and lack of interagency coordination, and inadequate resources for addressing the problem. The article calls for adequately equipping the law enforcement agencies and the implementation of relevant laws to facilitate effective responses to transnational security challenges for Ghana and other countries in West Africa.     

Sino-Mongolian relations and Mongolia's non-traditional security

The following article examines the effect China has on Mongolia's non-traditional security. Using the Copenhagen School's approach to non-traditional security, the article argues that Mongolia's economic dependence on China coupled with weak political security have allowed China to develop structural power over Mongolia's domestic institutions. This structural power also negatively affects Mongolia's societal and environmental security. Chinese structural power, therefore, has a net negative effect on Mongolia's domestic non-traditional security, despite Chinese policies that seek to maintain good relations with Mongolia. This suggests that China is not in complete control of its relations with Mongolia and that its use of economic ties to drive relations with Mongolia contains elements that ultimately undermine its position and Mongolia's security.     

An age of uncertainty: Building a post-cold war U.S. security strategy for east and Southeast Asia

The contours of the future U.S. security policy in the Asia-Pacific is a vexed question both in research literature and among American elites. There is no conformity either in threat perceptions or concrete methods of security policy. However, the region is recognized by all competitive groups as a critical area for U.S. national interests presently and in the foreseeable future. This article explores the major security challenges that America faces in the region; including China-Taiwan and other local conflicts, conventional arms race and nuclear proliferation, generational transition and nontraditional threats. The article reviews Clinton administration policy in the region and explains the nature of the U.S. domestic debate on the Asia-Pacific.     

Energy cooperation problems in Northeast Asia: Unfolding the reality

It is a truism that Northeast Asian states could benefit very much if they were to cooperate in the energy security realm. However, to many, especially economists, their behaviour to this common sense solution has been bewildering: there has been simply no progress towards this end and it still remains a puzzle, even to many energy specialists. This article attempts to answer a simple question: Why do the Northeast Asian states, namely China, Japan, Korea, and Russia, not cooperate? For its analysis, the author of the article relies on content analysis of recently released official governmental long-term energy policy and strategy documents of these states, and notes that cooperation for energy security reasons at the regional level is conspicuously absent, which possibly implies a lack of desire and willingness to do so amongst themselves. The article, however, deliberately omits from its study Korea, simply because no such long-term energy policy exists today. It attributes the major cause to the strong propensity by energy specialists to interchangeably use the concepts of ‘energy cooperation’ and ‘energy security’ in their analysis.     

Private Security in Guatemala: Pathway to Its Proliferation

It has become common to explain the proliferation of private security services as causally determined by crime rates and institutional weakness. This article on the contrary argues that other explanatory factors need to be emphasised, especially for post‐war societies: institutional trajectories and political processes. The article first presents the present situation of commercial and non‐commercial private security services in Guatemala (private security companies as well as security neighbourhood committees). Against this background it reconstructs mechanisms and critical junctures through which the Guatemalan state had sourced out policing functions to the private sector during the war and traces the reinforcement of these mechanisms in post‐war society. It argues that the proliferation of private security services is an outcome of the reinforcing of an institutional pattern of public security displacement to the private sphere. The continuity of self‐defence and vigilante organisations thereby emerges as a stronger explanatory factor of the proliferation of private security services in post‐war societies than their self‐explained authorisation through high crime rates.     

从双边主义到多边主义:东盟安全合作模式的转变

东盟框架内的多边主义一直是东盟安全战略的禁区,所以双边主义成为东盟主要的安全合作方式,但在冷战结束以后,东盟内部以及与外部多边合作的趋势越来越明显.本文利用多边主义和安全共同体的理论对此进行了分析.从目前来看,尽管东盟大多数国家认为双边安全合作仍然是主流,但安全领域的多边合作已经开始在东盟地区实施,并取得了实质性的进展和效果;而且随着东盟提出建立"安全共同体",多边主义将会在安全合作方面发挥越来越重要的作用.     

The security culture of the ECOWAS: origins,development and the challenge of child trafficking

This article explores the relationship between the security culture of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and how it has responded to transnational challenges in West Africa. To do so, it provides an overview of how the ideas, norms and principles that constitute the embryonic security culture of ECOWAS have evolved historically. Against this backdrop the article focuses on how the regional organisation has dealt with a specific contemporary security challenge: child trafficking. The concluding part of the article seeks to explain ECOWAS's collective action on child trafficking with reference to the region's different threat perceptions and security priorities. This article argues that although the decisions and policies of ECOWAS on child trafficking are influenced by certain shared ideas, norms and principles, a breakdown of collective political will and continuing differences on the key security referents and appropriate approaches to the security of individuals have led ECOWAS member states to fail in effectively addressing this particular transnational security challenge.     

日本能源安全的体制保障对中国能源管理体制改革的启示

20世纪能源危机时期,日本制定了健全的能源安全保障体制和运行机制。同样,能源安全对我国的可持续发展及国家安全具有战略意义。通过对日本能源安全保障体制以及中国能源管理体制变革的追述和分析,试图为中国能源管理体制改革提供可行性的建议。     

Public perception of energy security in Lithuania: between material interest and energy independence

The issue of the energy security in social sciences research area is mostly prevalent in political sciences. The sociological research of the issues of energy is rather scarce. The reasons of the lack of concern about sociology of energy security could be related to the specific geopolitical context of post-Soviet states. The energy policy of new democratic post-Soviet states are pressed to reconstruct the entire energy system of former Soviet Union. This is not only technological or political, but maybe, first of all, social issue directly related to the consumption of users of gas and electricity and their prices. The societies and different social groups become an important social actors in the stressful energy policy. There is a lack of attention not only to social determinants of perception of energy security but also a lack of deeper analysis of public opinion in Lithuania. This article aims to improve our understanding of the Lithuanian public perception of energy security. This article focuses on two aspects: (a) An analysis of public opinion on the most important aspects of energy security and the social factors influencing them. The hypothesis is that public perception of energy security is related to value orientations. (b) An analysis of how public opinion on energy policy executed by the government and confidence in the government are intertwined with the concept of energy security.     

俄罗斯国家数据安全治理的机制建设

随着信息时代的到来,数据安全成为世界各国共同关注的问题。俄罗斯政府也给予该问题高度重视。普京总统曾多次强调数据保护在推进俄罗斯经济社会数字化进程中的重要性。俄罗斯国家数据安全治理制度体现在四个重要方面:信息安全贯穿俄罗斯国家数据安全治理始终,个人数据安全突出俄罗斯国家数据安全治理特点,网络数据安全凸显网络安全与国家安全的密切关系,人工智能数据安全则是俄罗斯国家数据安全治理发展新方向。俄罗斯数据安全治理机构的权责分为三个层次:俄联邦总统(总统办公厅和国务委员会)、联邦会议、宪法法院为第一层,俄罗斯联邦中央政府及其分支部门为第二层,俄罗斯联邦地方政府及其分支部门为第三层。在相关制度的保障下,俄罗斯为保障数据安全治理从提升数据安全防御策略、打造数据安全人才培养体系、加强该领域国际合作等层面实施了一系列举措。未来一段时间,俄罗斯国家数据安全将重点聚焦于人工智能数据安全的发展。     

Pursuing Post-democratisation: The Resilience of Politics by Public Security in Contemporary South Korea

This article analyses the disputed election of President Park Geun-hye and her administration’s confrontation of left-nationalist politicians and other social movements during her first year in office. We argue that the Park administration’s policies resonate with contemporary discussions of “post-democratisation,” a process whereby social rights are increasingly subordinated to market logics and state power insulated from popular challenges. Under the conservative governments of Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, this process has been animated by a mode of confrontation known in South Korea as “politics by public security.” This politics targets social conflict and political dissent as threats to national security and has involved both illegal interventions by state institutions – such as the 2012 electoral interference by state agencies including the National Intelligence Service – and a cultural politics that affirms but revises the narrative of Korean democratisation by obfuscating the nature of the democracy movement and by attempting to restore the honour of conservative forces associated with former dictatorships. In order to better understand this conjuncture, we explore its origin within a tacit alliance between both former public security prosecutors-cum-conservative politicians and a movement of conservative intellectuals known as the New Right.     

The politics of security reform in post-2011 Tunisia: assessing the role of exogenous shocks,domestic policy entrepreneurs and external actors

Abstract

In post—2011 Tunisia, the reform of the security sector has proceeded haphazardly, hindering security efficiency and lowering the overall effectiveness in countering threats. Since 2015, the combination of three factors — external shocks, international actors' pressures and domestic configurations of political power — have paved the way for a progressive overhaul of the efficiency of security agencies. Following the 2015 terrorist attacks, that destabilized the political system and risked derailing the trajectory of democratic consolidation, European powers exerted pressure to improve efficiency in the security sector. Lastly, these push factors needed an enabling condition, a strong presidency of the republic, to make the changes happen. The measures adopted reflect a technical and supposedly depoliticized view of reforms, in line with a broader post‐interventionist trend in Security Assistance. Based on process-tracing, the analysis of primary documents and several in‐depth interviews carried out between 2015 and 2017, the article illustrates the workings of the policy process in the security arena. It sheds light on the conditions that made possible the adoption of reforms, the role external actors played in pushing for change and in creating a new multilateral mechanism, the G7+, which produced an unintended set of domestic consequences.     

Governing the Safety and Security of the Malacca Strait: The Nippon Foundation between States and Industry

ABSTRACT

Despite long-standing sovereignty sensitivities, the Malacca and Singapore Straits have been the site of co-operative governance and regime building. Of note is the 2007 Co-operative Mechanism of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, characterised as a milestone achievement in regional co-operation towards improved safety and security in the Straits. Yet, well before the Co-operative Mechanism were also earlier instances of co-operation dating to the 1970s – specifically between the Straits’ littoral states under a tripartite framework and Japanese actors through the Malacca Strait Council. In addition to providing a template for the Co-operative Mechanism, these arrangements offer alternative models of governance and regime building that challenge conventional characterisations of “regional governance” – what it looks like, as well as its driving actors. This article considers the significance of these early efforts, with attention to the ways that the region’s developmental context bears on the actors, structures and processes of governance in Southeast Asia. Not only does this historical process of co-operation give expression to alternative governing arrangements composed of mixed actors and obligations, but an unconventional governance agent – the Nippon Foundation – has played an especially defining role in bringing actors to the table and substantiating the co-operative process.     

GENERAL

This article seeks to evaluate the impact of India and China on world energy markets by setting their future energy demands, principally for coal and oil, in the context of their domestic supply potential. After examining their approach to energy efficiency, the author concentrates on their energy diplomacy and the way in which they have sought to enhance their security of supply by targeting exporting countries, often those with a somewhat fraught relationship with the west. He concludes that it is in their interest to further strengthen their co-operation and avoid competition which simply drives up the price they pay for oil.     

Short term interests,long term perspectives: Balancing South Africa's peace and security approach in the EU–SA Strategic Partnership

ABSTRACT

South Africa’s peace and security outlook in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership has been guided by the content and substance of the founding document, which incorporates an interdependent approach to development. For South Africa, engagement in the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership is framed by its historical background, its identity and the content of its foreign policy. South Africa's foreign policy in particular adopts an integrated approach to securing the state within its surrounding regional and continental geography. This article reviews South Africa's approach to peace and security, in the context of the strategic partnership. The article argues that, overall, South Africa's definition of peace and security is compatible with that of the EU; however, Pretoria's vision of how it provides peace and security has naturally changed in line with the varying international circumstances in which it has found itself. While this has proved difficult at times to reconcile, peace and security collaboration in the strategic partnership has managed to remain intact.     

Energy and security in the Gulf of Guinea: a Nigerian perspective

This article explores the full ramifications of the evolving strategic environment in the Gulf of Guinea. It argues that the ‘new scramble’ or ‘oil rush’ in the region since its emergence as a critical energy repository and a strategic supplier to the global oil markets has elicited multiple lines of interest represented by both state and non-state actors. By delving into Nigeria's oil-rich context, this paper explores the fierce competition for influence ushered in by these developments, the contested notion of ‘security’ and ‘sovereignty’, and the emergent patterns of contestations as the Nigerian state mediates between global and local forces in its oil complex. Finally, it brings into bold relief the complexities of the intensified struggle for access to the region's vast energy resources — the current global economic downturn notwithstanding — and the challenge it poses to the region, and particularly to Nigeria, the dominant player in the region.