Search

Begin New Search Topic International Security Content Type Special Report

101. The Kurds Have Opened Pandora’s Box

Author:
Bessma Momani
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The Kurds of Iraq have been patiently waiting for the right time to secede from the troubled state. Monday's referendum turnout was high and the result was clear: 92 per cent are overwhelmingly in favour of independence. While many Kurds felt the time was right to have a referendum on the question of independence, it is the worst time for all regional stakeholders and the Kurds may have made it more difficult for themselves to realize their national dream.
Topic:
International Security and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Iraq and Kurdistan

102. Mapping the Global Legal Landscape of Blockchain and Other Distributed Ledger Technologies

Author:
Julie Maupin
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Blockchain, tangle and other distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are pushing a broad array of previously centralized global economic activities toward decentralized market structures. Governments should tackle the new regulatory conundrums of an increasingly disintermediated global economy by focusing on DLTs’ individual use cases rather than its underlying enabling technologies. Grouping the known use cases by common characteristics reveals three broad categories of blockchain-law interfaces. For ease of reference, this paper labels these the recycle box, the dark box and the sandbox. Each raises distinct legal, regulatory and policy challenges deserving of separate analysis.
Topic:
Science and Technology and International Security
Political Geography:
Global Focus

103. The Qatar Crisis

Author:
Marc Lynch and Stephanie Dahle
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:
On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates launched a campaign against Qatar. Tensions between these Gulf Cooperation Council members were nothing new, but few anticipated the sudden escalation or the intensity of the campaign. The anti-Qatar campaign leaders then failed to achieve a rapid resolution of the crisis in their favor through a Qatari capitulation. More than four months later, the GCC remains badly divided and both sides are increasingly entrenched in their positions. To make sense of this political conflict, POMEPS is pleased to release this collection of essays by a wide range of leading scholars published in The Monkey Cage and in POMEPS Studies over the last several years. The collection is divided into four major sections: the origins and course of the current conflict; regional responses; how the Arab uprisings impacted the GCC; and background on the divisive question of Islamism and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Security
Political Geography:
Middle East

104. The Palestinian Arabs in Israel: Reconceptualizing the Past

Author:
Arik Rudnitzky
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Abstract:
Arik Rudnitzsky examines changes in the historiography of Arab society in Israel and shows how new contributions highlight the elements of resistance that prevailed among the Arab population in the years following the establishment of the state.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention and International Security
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

105. Refugees and Migration Movements in the Middle East

Author:
Marc Lynch
Publication Date:
03-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS)
Abstract:
The Middle East has experienced a dramatic flood of refugees and forced migration over the last fifteen years. The UN High Commission on Refugees reports more than 16 million refugees and 60 million displaced persons around the world today, including asylum seekers and the internally displaced. The wars in Syria and Iraq have produced the greatest share of the Middle East’s refugees in recent years, but many more have fled wars and failed states in Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Neighboring states have faced severe challenges in absorbing millions of refugees, while North African states and Turkey have emerged as key transit hubs for refugee flows into Europe.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Security, International Affairs, and Refugee Crisis
Political Geography:
Middle East

106. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Cyber Readiness at a Glance

Author:
Melissa Hathaway
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Cyber Readiness at a Glance is the ninth study in a series of country reports assessing national-level preparedness for cyber risks based on the Cyber Readiness Index (CRI) 2.0 methodology. This report provides the most in-depth analysis to date of Saudi Arabia's current cyber security posture and its efforts to strengthen the country's security and resilience in the wake of significant cyber threats to the nation.
Topic:
International Security and Cybersecurity
Political Geography:
Saudi Arabia

107. Using Public Space in Kharkiv by Protesters in 2013-2014

Author:
Denys Kutsenko
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
The space of post-Soviet city centres used by protesters was especially analysed by Ukrainian and Russian scholars after the Orange Revolution, Euromaidan and Russian anti-election protests in 2011-2012. There were also works devoted to the Tahrir Square (Cairo, Egypt)1 and Taksim Square (Istanbul, Turkey)2, which appeared after Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and wave of demonstration and civil unrest in Instanbul in 2013. After protests in Russia and Ukraine city movements like coffee urbanism or hipster urbanism became more active and ideas of new urbanism spread with new strength.
Topic:
International Relations and International Security
Political Geography:
Ukraine

108. President Putin’s Internet and “Information Warfare”

Author:
Kazimierz Wóycicki
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
The war that Russia is conducting against Ukraine today is not only related to breaking the post-World War II rules of engagement, but is also being run in a new way, which was to a certain degree unknown before. is phenomenon had been named “hybrid warfare”, initially mainly paying attention to the military aspect of the issue, symbolically represented by “little green men”. e focus of attention has been shifting to what military actions of hybrid-war are often accompanied by intense propaganda activities, with the Internet as the main tool. they are planned and carried out in Russia, possessing extensive resources in Russian literature on so-called “information warfare”.
Topic:
International Security and Cybersecurity
Political Geography:
Russia

109. The Crimean Crisis through the Perspective of Russia-NATO relations

Author:
Richat Sabitov
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Russian foreign policy and European security is continuing to receive special attention in light of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. An analysis of Russia- NATO relations is necessary to understand Moscow’s behaviour in the so-called “near abroad” – the territory of the former Soviet republics. It is, therefore, important to study Russia’s reaction to Ukrainian aspirations towards Europe and the implications it holds for the Crimean Peninsula’s status
Topic:
International Security and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Crimea

110. Iraqi security forces and popular mobilization forces

Author:
Jessa Rose Dury-Agri, Omer Kassim, and Patrick Martin
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
The liberation of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sh­am’s (ISIS) urban holdings in Iraq was necessary but not sufficient to secure America’s vital national interests. ISIS has lost neither the will nor the capability to fight, even as it withdraws into desert hideouts and sleeper cell formations in November 2017. Rather, dispersed ISIS militants have begun an insurgent campaign in northern and western Iraq as some of its foreign fighters have returned to their home countries to serve in ISIS’s external operations network.
Topic:
Islam, War, and International Security
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East