Electoral reforms,entry barriers and the structure of political markets: A comparative analysis

This article investigates the impact of electoral reforms on entry barriers in political markets. The discussion starts by delineating the theoretical boundaries of various political markets, such as those for participation, parties and government. By taking a cue from industrial organisation theory, the article offers an analysis of entry barriers, both hard and soft, along with their operationalisation for empirical research. Based on this theoretical framework, a single hypothesis is investigated. It posits that the modification of the entry barriers in the market for parties leads to changes in the concentration of the popular vote for party lists. An observable implication of this relationship would be if an electoral reform that raises entry barriers led to subsequent increases in the Herfindahl index (a measure of market concentration), and vice versa. This proposition is empirically tested by a comparative analysis of a new database covering Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The analysis offers support for the following proposition: in most cases the changes in the entry barriers led to a corresponding change of concentration in the market for parties.     

Beyond faith: social marginalisation and the prevention of radicalisation among young Muslim Australians

Counterterrorism responses in Australia have mirrored trends in other nations with a focus on pre-emption, including the criminalisation of activities defined as preparatory offences. Security-based transnational approaches to combat terrorist activity and propaganda alone are ineffective. Sometimes security measures can actually damage efforts to counter the appeal and take-up of violent extremism. While such measures should be used in domestic contexts where threats are critical or imminent, robust soft power initiatives are needed. Even though governments recognise the importance of soft power approaches, public discourse and commentary frequently reproduces negative stereotypes of young Muslim people linking them, through their religion, in negative ways to radicalisation and terrorism. This article describes empirical research investigating the impact of such discourses on the lives of young Muslim Australians. It demonstrates how dominant public discourse and counter-narratives add to feelings of marginalisation, even in those who are well integrated into Australian society. It argues that such social marginalisation contributes to the conditions of possibility for radicalisation and concludes by discussing some of the ways that young Muslim Australians maintain resilience in an environment that could easily be perceived as increasingly hostile and divisive.     

Terrorizing the CPEC: managing transnational militancy in China–Pakistan relations

Despite the continuous risk posed by transnational militancy to Chinese interests in Pakistan, China and Pakistan have improved their cooperation on matters of security and economy in recent years. While transnational militancy in a state dyad is known to increase the potential for conflict, it may also spur interstate cooperation on counter-militancy operations under certain conditions. This article examines the sources of the increase in Sino-Pakistani cooperation in fighting transnational militancy. Pakistan was in the early 2000s the country where the Chinese experienced most militant attacks resulting in the cancellation of Chinese projects in Pakistan despite the dyad’s professed all-weather friendship. More than a decade later, the Chinese are back with a prospected $62 billion in investments in the China–Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC). This overarching incentive has altered the challenge of transnational militancy to their mutual relations from a mostly negative, to a more constructive one requiring costly cooperation. In a quest to secure a continuing relationship in a hazardous landscape, the state dyad is attempting to roll out a concerted security strategy involving the army, navy, paramilitary forces and private security companies. A mix of domestic policies of both states, their foreign policies and the nature of threat posed by the militants facilitates this cooperation.     

国际难民涉恐问题防控研究

近年来,中东地区的持续动荡导致难民潮汹涌不止,为恐怖分子的跨境流动提供了新的机会,这不仅不利于难民的保护,而且使反恐形势变得更加复杂,探寻能够从源头上预防和阻止恐怖分子对难民身份利用以及难民向恐怖主义转化的措施成为国际社会当前所面临的一大难题。对此,国际社会要在厘清难民潮与恐怖主义之间的关系,明确难民与恐怖分子互相转化的原因的基础上,进一步规范难民甄别机制,建立公平合理的难民责任分担机制,加强国际难民治理与反恐合作,促进庇护国内难民的社会融入,以期实现打击恐怖主义和保障难民基本权利的双赢。     

The security-prejudice nexus: “Islamist” terrorism and the structural logics of Islamophobia in the UK

ABSTRACT

A growing body of evidence documents that Islamophobia is a significant social issue in the UK. This evidence also reveals an empirical link to “Islamist” terrorism, revealing a nexus between security and the social emergence of prejudice. Drawing on critical approaches to security and applying them to the case of the UK in 2017, this article explores this nexus conceptually and empirically. To do so, it examines the discourses of various governance institutions (including the media, the political elite, and security professionals) as they respond to “Islamist” terrorist events. It argues that these governance institutions individually and collectively – and often unwittingly – stigmatised and securitised “Muslim” identity. The structural emergence (i.e., the institutionalisation) of Islamophobia in the UK, this article contends, can largely be understood through these processes. This article therefore offers an illustration of some of the logics of how prejudice is embedded in societal structures, which has normative implications for how these processes might be successfully contested.     

网络恐怖主义犯罪治理的困境与路径

网络恐怖主义犯罪以重要基础设施为袭击目标,或以网络作为恐怖主义实施的犯罪工具,肆意对国家安全和社会稳定构成破坏和威胁。因此,在总体国家安全观的大背景下,我国必须高度关注和重视网络恐怖主义犯罪日渐猖獗的势态,针对网络恐怖主义呈现出的网络化、多元化、智能化和隐蔽化的新特点,要加大防控打击力度,加强反恐情报共享,强化国际间的合作,不断完善法律法规,提升反恐技战水平,努力构筑反恐防护网,以此遏制网络恐怖主义的快速蔓延,维护国家和社会安全。     

Boko Haram,bandits and slave-raiders: identities and violence in a Central African borderland

ABSTRACT

Boko Haram is a religiously motivated insurgency with a complex history in Nigeria and origins in urban Maiduguri. Through most of its existence Boko Haram has shown an affinity for border regions: the frontier zones between Nigeria and Niger, the Mandara Mountains on the border with Cameroon, and the shorelines and islands of Lake Chad. This paper argues that this is an historically mediated process. Boko Haram as a borderland phenomenon echoes the hijra of Usman dan Fodio, but also structured forms of violence and wealth creation that have historically united elites and their followers in the region. Moreover, there are continuities between the actions and actors associated with earlier phases of border violence and processes involving Boko Haram today. This suggests that Boko Haram will not be “defeated,” but rather that the region will see a reversion to forms of border violence that were prevalent as recently as the early 2000s.     

Europol and the Policing of International Terrorism: Counter‐Terrorism in a Global Perspective

The European Police Office (Europol) is an international police organization that was formed to promote cooperation among law enforcement agencies in the European Union. Framed within the context of the Treaty of the European Union, Europol’s mandate includes all serious forms of international crime, including international terrorism. This paper offers an analysis of the organization of Europol’s counter‐terrorism operations in the context of the history and dynamics of international police cooperation. More specifically, on the basis of the bureaucratization theory of policing, Europol is reviewed to exemplify the dual forces of political control over the organization via the regulative bodies of the European Union, on the one hand, and the institutional autonomy and professional expertise of participating police agencies, on the other. The outcome of these dual forces can be expected to determine the course and outcome of counter‐terrorist policing in the European Union in years to come.     

对我国恐怖活动犯罪案件中证人保护的立法思考

恐怖活动犯罪具有极其严重的社会危害性,此类案件中证人承担了比普通刑事犯罪中的证人更大的危险和压力,作证率极低。立法必须明确恐怖活动犯罪案件中证人不做证的法律后果,不出庭作证的具体情形及证人保护的主体,证人保护的范围,同时设立对恐怖活动犯罪中证人身份信息保密制度,污点证人制度,明确证人作证应当享有的特殊权利,从多角度对证人进行保护,切实打消证人作证的顾虑。