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Intelligence Studies, Academia and Professionalization
Get PDFIntelligence studies has grown tremendously as an academic 5
discipline in recent years. At key international conferences in the field, such as the Intelligence Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA) annual convention, there is not only a broad range of topics under discussion, but attendance by a good mix of academics and practitioners. In many ways, this reflects the broadening and deepening of security actors in the post-Cold War world. But this depth and breadth poses interesting challenges for the discipline: Should it be an interdisciplinary field of study or a more defined and
prescribed discipline? Perhaps more importantly, is intelligence studies an adjunct to the intelligence sector or a critical commentator on it? This article seeks to address these questions, arguing for a broad, interdisciplinary approach that combines critical education about intelligence with equipping prospec-
tive policymakers with professional skills
COMBATING THE BRIBERY OF FOREIGN PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND THE 'ART OF PERSUASION'. THE CASE OF ALSTOM AND THE ENERGY SECTOR
Get PDFThis article explores some of the developing strategies designed to tackle the supply side of transnational corruption through the “Art of Persuasion” i.e. how to “persuade” commercial organisations, no matter how powerful, to commit to good governance and integrity in their
business. In doing so, it uses Alstom SA as a case
study. The article is divided into three parts. Part 1 explores some of “persuasive” techniques designed to combat the bribery of foreign public officials and to enhance corporate good governance and integrity. Part 2
explores some of the lessons and challenges from the Alstom case whilst Part 3 contains a Conclusion which re-visits the “Art of Persuasion”
Needles in Haystacks: Law, Capability, Ethics and Proportionality in Big-Data Intelligence Gathering
Get PDFEdward Snowden’s revelations in 2013 about the nature and scale of data-gathering in the two intelligence agencies, the NSA in the US and its UK sister agency, GCHQ, added a new dimension to a debate already underway about the transformation of intelligence-gathering in a Big Data age. There is no doubt that Snowden’s revelations provided the bow-wave of a fundamentally critical and anti-state stance on the intelligence questions in hand. Such a critical stance is reflected in much of the academic literature about Big Data. In this chapter, such concerns are critically appraised
Coercion and compulsion - re-imagining crimes and defences
Get PDFThe language of coercion and compulsion entered the criminal law in 2015, with a new offence of “controlling and coercive behavior” and a new defence of “compulsion.” Section 76 of the Serious Crime Act 2015 (SCA), introduces the offence of “controlling and coercive behaviour” in an intimate or family relationship recognising the context, circumstances and tactics of domestic violence. Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA), recognises the element of “compulsion” in the commission of a criminal offence and provides a duress like defence for those who caught in trafficking and slavery commit criminal offences. In both instances the offence and defence will be very limited, “coercion” because matters of proof and an overly complex provision will make implementation difficult, and “compulsion” because of an attitude towards involuntarism, an overly narrow understanding of reasonable alternatives and a statutory limitation placed on the offences to which the defence can apply. Training and education are required for all statutory agencies and the judges and legal representatives with regard to the role of “coercion” in an intimate or family relationship, and with regard to the part played by a range of circumstances including impoverishment, destitution and juju witchcraft that makes trafficked victims so susceptible to slavery and “compulsion” to commit crimes
Safe to Surf? Cyberbullying, Online Risks and Parental Mediation: A Comparison Between Adolescent Reports and Parent Perceptions in the United Kingdom and South Africa
Get PDFInformation and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have altered our social environments and young people in particular have immersed themselves in the digital age. Despite countless benefits, younger ICT users are also being exposed to various online risks including contact with strangers, harmful content, sending or receiving sexual images or comments (i.e. ‘sexting’), cyberaggression and cyberbullying. Parents are often unaware of the online spaces their children inhabit and struggle to implement effective mediation strategies. The study explored (i) online risks (contact, content and conduct risks), (ii) cyberaggression and cyberbullying, and (iii) parental mediation among adolescents (aged 12-18 years) and parents in the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa (SA), representing a developed and developing country context respectively. The study was a mixed methods design and included initial focus group interviews with adolescents, parents and teachers to inform the subsequent quantitative data collection, which consisted of a cross-sectional survey design with a total of 1350 adolescent and parent participants. A follow-up longitudinal survey was conducted with a subset of the adolescent participants to assess their online behaviours and experiences one year later.
Key analyses included comparisons between adolescents in the two countries, adolescent gender and age trends, as well as comparing adolescent reports of their online behaviours and parent perceptions of those behaviours. Findings revealed that adolescents in SA were not unlike their counterparts in a more developed context in relation to access and use of ICTs and, while online risk behaviours were high in both countries, SA adolescents engaged in more online risks than UK adolescents. For example, adolescents in SA were twice as likely to engage in sexting behaviours and, while they were equally likely to talk to and meet online strangers in person as UK adolescents, they were more likely to have established romantic relationships with individuals met online. There was no difference in content risk exposure, which was exceptionally high in both contexts compared to previous research. Online risk behaviours increased with age of adolescents. Most adolescents experienced at least one form of cyberaggression, but UK adolescents were more likely to report that they had ever been cyberbullied (43%) compared to SA adolescents (34%). No difference was found at follow-up, where one in four adolescents in both countries experienced cyberbullying in the past year. Females in SA experienced more cyberaggression and cyberbullying than males, but no gender differences were found in the UK. Online victimisation and perpetration were linked and many adolescents reported witnessing cyberbullying often while online. Experiences were associated with serious emotional effects. Higher parental mediation was reported by females and younger adolescents. Parents were found to consistently underestimate online risk behaviours as well as online victimisation and perpetration experienced by their children. They also overestimated mediation strategies in the home.
The study highlights the generational gap between adolescents and parents in terms of knowledge and use of ICTs and discusses the implications of this and the importance of including parents in online safety efforts. School mediation was higher in the UK and adolescents were twice as likely to have had online safety discussions or workshops at school in the past year compared to adolescents in SA. Moreover, key law and policy differences, particularly in relation to implementation, monitoring and accountability of policies, indicate different priorities placed on the issue between the two countries. The study also found a link between cyberbullying and traditional forms of bullying, arguing that cyberbullying should form part of broader anti-bullying and school safety strategies given the potentially serious psychological, emotional and behavioural effects, as well as its impact on the school climate. The issue of online safety should be given higher priority and approaches need to be strengthened in both countries, but especially in SA. The study highlights the importance of a holistic approach towards online safety, including government policy and campaigns, strengthening external support services through law enforcement and various organisations, school policy and support, parental education and involvement, as well as adolescents themselves
Some Thoughts on Judicial Integrity, Corruption and Accountability in Small Commonwealth African States
Get PDFThis article addresses some of the key challenges that judges in small states face in seeking to maintain judicial independence and uphold judicial integrity. It explores their appropriate reaction to public criticism of judgments, including the extent to which judges themselves and/or members of their family should use the media to respond to such criticism. The article then considers the appropriate response of judges to media allegations of judicial corruption and impropriety and argues, in particular, against the retention of the criminal offence of scandalising the court. A highly publicised dispute between two senior judges in Lesotho then highlights the importance of judges respecting the Values of ‘Integrity’ and ‘Propriety’ enshrined in the Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct
ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSIONS IN AFRICA: TIME FOR A CHANGE OF DIRECTION
No full textAnti-corruption agencies (ACCs) in Africa have been called 'frolics in failure'. Whilst the UN Convention Against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption do not require the introduction of stand-alone agencies, many African states have adopted the Hong Kong model derived from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). The article examines why the ICAC model has failed in African states and argues that there is a need to re-examine the mandate of ACCs. New approaches are suggested based a comparison of the Kenya Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the ACC in Zambia. It is argued that ACCs need to develop and/or focus on playing a good governance/integrity and oversight role with a view to supporting public officials. This includes overseeing the effectiveness of good governance constitutional safeguards
A Redundancy Detection Algorithm for Fuzzy Stochastic Multi-Objective Linear Fractional Programming Problems
Get PDFThe computational complexity of linear and nonlinear programming problems depends on the number of objective functions and constraints involved and solving a large problem often becomes a difficult task. Redundancy detection and elimination provides a suitable tool for reducing this complexity and simplifying a linear or nonlinear programming problem while maintaining the essential properties of the original system. Although a large number of redundancy detection methods have been proposed to simplify linear and nonlinear stochastic programming problems, very little research has been developed for fuzzy stochastic (FS) fractional programming problems. We propose an algorithm that allows to simultaneously detect both redundant objective function(s) and redundant constraint(s) in FS multi-objective linear fractional programming problems. More precisely, our algorithm reduces the number of linear fuzzy fractional objective functions by transforming them in probabilistic-possibilistic constraints characterized by predetermined confidence levels. We present two numerical examples to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm and exhibit its efficacy
The Grounded Expertise Components Approach in the Novel Area of Cryptic Crossword Solving
No full textThis paper presents a relatively unexplored area of expertise research which focuses on the solving of British-style cryptic crossword puzzles. Unlike its American “straight-definition” counterparts, which are primarily semantically-cued retrieval tasks, the British cryptic crossword is an exercise in code-cracking detection work. Solvers learn to ignore the superficial “surface reading” of the clue, which is phrased to be deliberately misleading, and look instead for a grammatical set of coded instructions which, if executed precisely, will lead to the correct (and only) answer. Sample clues are set out to illustrate the task requirements and demands. Hypothesized aptitudes for the field might include high fluid intelligence, skill at quasi-algebraic puzzles, pattern matching, visuospatial manipulation, divergent thinking and breaking frame abilities. These skills are additional to the crystallized knowledge and word-retrieval demands which are also a feature of American crossword puzzles. The authors present results from an exploratory survey intended to identify the characteristics of the cryptic crossword solving population, and outline the impact of these results on the direction of their subsequent research. Survey results were strongly supportive of a number of hypothesized skill-sets and guided the selection of appropriate test content and research paradigms which formed the basis of an extensive research program to be reported elsewhere. The paper concludes by arguing the case for a more grounded approach to expertise studies, termed the Grounded Expertise Components Approach. In this, the design and scope of the empirical program flows from a detailed and objectively-based characterization of the research population at the very onset of the program
Putative histidine kinase inhibitors with antibacterial effect against multi-drug resistant clinical isolates identified by in vitro and in silico screens
No full textNovel antibacterials are urgently needed to address the growing problem of bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics. Two-component systems (TCS) are widely used by bacteria to regulate gene expression in response to various environmental stimuli and physiological stress and have been previously proposed as promising antibacterial targets. TCS consist of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) and an effector response regulator. The HK component contains a highly conserved ATP-binding site that is considered to be a promising target for broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs. Here, we describe the identification of putative HK autophosphorylation inhibitors following two independent experimental approaches: in vitro fragment-based screen via differential scanning fluorimetry and in silico structure-based screening, each followed up by the exploration of analogue compounds as identified by ligand-based similarity searches. Nine of the tested compounds showed antibacterial effect against multi-drug resistant clinical isolates of bacterial pathogens and include three novel scaffolds, which have not been explored so far in other antibacterial compounds. Overall, putative HK autophosphorylation inhibitors were found that together provide a promising starting point for further optimization as antibacterials