European and Asian responses to the US-led ‘war on terror’

This article seeks to establish a context for the other contributions to this special issue. Using the lens of strategic culture, the article tries to explore how states from Europe and Asia have responded to the US-led ‘war on terror’. It argues that the nature of the threat from international terrorism requires states in Europe and Asia to develop a range of external and internal policy responses. Europe has been able to react to this changing strategic environment more successfully because of the pre-existing pattern of interstate cooperation as well as the organizational framework of the European Union. The United States has been more successful in imposing its counterterrorism priorities upon particular Asian states due to the absence of mature frameworks for international cooperation within the region.     

The ‘right to be forgotten’ or the ‘principle that has been remembered’

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled on questions referred by a Spanish court relating to interpretation of the Data Protection Directive and its application to search engine activities. In a controversial judgment, the CJEU found that search engines are data controllers in respect of their search results; that European data protection law applies to their processing of the data of EU citizens, even where they process the relevant data outside the EU; and that a ‘right to be forgotten’ online applies to outdated and irrelevant data in search results unless there is a public interest in the data remaining available and even where the search results link to lawfully published content.     

Terror in Ireland—and Britain's response

Abstract

Reacting to the last of four distinct terrorist cam‐paigns in Northern Ireland, the British Parliament in 1973 passed the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act, which was amended in 1974. The act marks the first time in United Kingdom statute law that terrorism is defined as the use of violence for political ends. British efforts are aimed at the development of the police to the point where the military is no longer required. Terroristic acts in Great Britain, usually connected with Northern Irish affairs, have led to the introduction of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, the powers of which are also described in this paper. The author also discusses the problem of the safeguarding of civil liberties as well as the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, drawn up by the Council of Europe.     

The EC Zoos Directive: A Lost Opportunity to Implement the Convention on Biological Diversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 requires contracting parties to take ex-situ conservation measures to protect biodiversity. This paper considers the effectiveness of the Zoos Directive in implementing this obligation within the European Union. The directive requires zoos to have an education role and at least one further conservation activity, which may be research, training, information exchange, captive breeding, or species reintroductions. However, the Convention requires parties to engage in all of these activities. EU member states have been reluctant to implement the directive. In any event, it is unlikely significantly to affect the conservation activities of the majority of zoos, as they are either already in compliance or they may comply with minimal effort. Most significantly, the directive does not specifically require zoos to participate in the captive breeding and reintroduction of endangered species, and this is arguably their most important potential (if not actual) conservation role.