Smart and secure borders through automated border control systems in the EU? The views of political stakeholders in the Member States

The European Commission launched the “Smart Borders” policy process in 2011 to enhance border security in the European Union (EU) using technologisation and harmonisation. This includes the use of automated border control (ABC) systems. The Member States crucially shape the process, weighing security technologies and costs, privacy and rights, and further institutional choices. We examine the views of political stakeholders in four Member States by conducting a systematic empirical and comparative study unprecedented in the existing, political-theory-inspired research. In our Q methodological experiments, political stakeholders in Finland, Romania, Spain and the UK rank-ordered a sample of statements on Smart Borders, ABC and harmonisation. The factor analysis of the results yielded three main views: the first criticising ABC as a security technology, the second welcoming the security gains of automation and the third opposing harmonised border control. While impeding harmonisation, the results offer a consensus facilitating common policy.     

The Governance of the Chaotic International Security

After the Cold War ended,former traditional security threats withered while non-traditional ones sprouted.More recently as both traditional and non-traditional security threats bloom,concern spreads over whether international security governance can be effective.Worse still,major Western countries' zeal for global governance has cooled,while they turn from being advocates of global governance to obstacles,making the future dimmer.     

Security in the name of human rights: the discursive legitimation strategies of the war on terror in France

This article aims to question the discourse on “the war on terror” developed by the French President in the wake of the two terrorist attacks that occurred in France in 2015. Drawing from critical discourse analysis, it explores the discursive legitimation strategies deployed by President Hollande to legitimate France’s securitarian response to the two attacks. It reveals how the defence of human rights served as an overall justificatory framework, through rationalisation, appeals to authority, and moralisation. It argues that Hollande implemented a discursive manipulation of reality to shield his actions from criticisms of illiberalism, all the while reframing the notion of human rights, undermining it and paving the way for an authoritarian-driven executive.     

Land reforms and voluntary resettlement: household participation and attrition rates in Malawi

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the factors influencing household participation in and withdrawal from a World Bank-funded voluntary resettlement scheme moving 15,000 low-income farming households within and across rural districts in Malawi. Using a survey of 203 beneficiary households, focus groups and in-depth interviews, we identify a lack of access to land and conflict over land in the area of origin as salient participation factors in resettlement, while withdrawal factors include lower access to infrastructure and poor soil quality in resettlement areas. We also highlight limited prior awareness of actual conditions in resettlement areas, low and biased participation in the decision to move, a greater desire for formal land titles due to loss of customary entitlement as a result of resettlement, and widespread ambiguity and confusion over titles for resettled plots. In this context, we point to a pattern of ‘negative resettlement’, in which households remain resettled despite major grievances, for lack of an alternative option, contrasting with ‘positive resettlement’, where households remain by choice. We suggest that intra-district resettlement is more likely to be successful than inter-district resettlement when there is a risk of informed consent deficiency. These findings point to the relative failures of this particular resettlement scheme, and suggest possible improvements for land redistribution schemes from agro-industrial projects to poor households.     

Grabbing back: essays against the global land grab

ABSTRACT

Extensive research, mainly undertaken by nutrition scientists and economists, indicates that the presence of a home garden is positively associated with improved household nutrition in rural households of the global South. However, this literature is relatively silent on the contexts that influence home garden uptake. This is problematic given rapidly changing social and economic landscapes, which reshape the place and scope for home gardens within households’ livelihood and food provisioning arrangements. Original research from Myanmar reported here reveals that emergent socio-economic contexts for rural households are posing heightened challenges for home gardens to contribute to food and nutrition security.     

Food security or commercial business? Gulf State investments in Australian agriculture

Worldwide investments in agricultural land have gained much attention in recent years, resulting in renewed awareness of land as being a scarce and finite resource. This paper investigates a case of South-to-North land deals, namely investments from the Arab Gulf targeting agricultural land in Australia. For the Arab Gulf States that highly depend on external food supplies, investment abroad is one strategy to guarantee future food security. At the same time, leading Australian political and economic representatives have been eager to attract investments from the Gulf. Increasing foreign investment in Australian land has, however, provoked a vivid public debate in Australia. Concepts of foreign direct investment and its role are currently renegotiated on the federal level with regard to Australia's own food security, the ‘national interest’ and the redefinition of ‘Australian agricultural land’. While these concerns also play out on the local level, investments have to be seen within the wider context of Australian ruralities. The paper reveals how food security and commercial and financial interests intersect and become blurred within current transformations of the global agri-food system.     

试论娱乐服务场所公安机关治安管理的机制建设——以沐浴行业治安管理为例

入世以后,我国娱乐服务场所在扩大就业、提高人们生活质量、方便群众需求等方面发挥了积极的作用。但由于法律法规不完善、场所自管意识不强、治安主体关系模糊等原因,导致场所管理秩序混乱,持续发展乏力。以沐浴行业为个案,分析沐浴行业公安机关治安机制中存在的问题,探讨构建符合时代要求的娱乐服务场所治安管理工作的新机制。     

公安交通行政许可中的主要问题与对策探析

公安交通行政许可是公安交通安全管理的一项重要工作。目前,公安交通行政许可工作中存在许可项目不清、行政越权、滥用职权或不作为现象突出、程序违法、不履行监督检查义务、效率及服务水平低下等诸多问题。因此,公安机关交通管理部门必须切实树立依法许可理念,改进管理方式,提高服务效能,使公安交通行政许可走上法治化轨道。     

浅析计算机犯罪取证与反取证

计算机犯罪取证主要围绕证据的获取和证据的分析。主要过程包括保护和勘查现场、获取物理数据、分析数据、追踪源头、提交结果等。计算机反取证就是删除或者隐藏入侵证据,使取证工作无效。反取证技术主要有数据擦除、数据隐藏等,数据擦除是最有效的反取证方法。从取证与反取证两方面分析计算机犯罪的特征,研究反取证技术的根源,可有效地保护国家信息网络安全,打击犯罪。