83 research outputs found
Between hierarchy and heterarchy: Post-Arab uprisings’ civil–military relations and the Arab state
No full textEvery actor who commands coercive resources plays a relevant role in the complex processes of state restructuring following regime change. The role of armies in the 2010–2011 Arab uprisings has been widely explored, but limited attention has been devoted to how different agents with coercive power have been involved in the restructuring of political order. This contribution presents the theoretical framework within which the remaining empirical contributions are situated. The central insight is that better understanding of the emerging political orders requires moving away from binary notions of hierarchy and anarchy as ordering principles and look at how, within heterarchical political orders, coercive agents behave within fluid state–society relations
Learning from others? : emulation and transformation in the Italian armed forces since 2001
No full textHow does military change take place in states that are not able to develop autonomous solutions? How does transformation occur when limited resources are available? What are the "sources of military change" for armed forces that do not possess the (cognitive and material) resources that are essential for autonomous development? In articulating an answer to these questions, this article draws from the theoretical debate on interorganizational learning and looks at the mechanisms that drive "learning from others." We argue that adaptation and organizational learning often had to look for, and then try and adapt, off-the-shelf solutions that required relatively more limited resources. Empirically, the article focuses on the Italian Armed Forces, which have rarely attracted scholarly attention, although it emerged from almost total lack of activity in the Cold War to extended deployments in the 2000s
Mapping technological innovation
No full textThe global distribution of technological innovations is changing, however past investments and innovations influence the ongoing trends in R & D and patents. The attention devoted to patents and setting international standards seems to increase, as countries are increasingly securitizing intellectual property – as shown by the case of China whose patent applications skyrocketed since 2000, overtaking the US in 2011. Regarding patents effectively granted by WIPO offices, Asia is far above other continents and Africa and Latin America are at the lower margins. North America has grown irregularly, but doubled the number of granted patents since 1990, while the number for Europe has decreased considerably, notwithstanding the vitality of some European firms. High tech export in mature economies do not show significant differences among regions. On the contrary, looking at R & D, remarkable differences among countries and regions exist. Japan and the US have maintained their leading positions, with China quickly closing the gap, and the EU countries following. Moving from these preliminary observations, this chapter aims to provide a map of technological innovation, drawing a clear representation of regional trends and their peculiarities by sectors
The transformation of Italian armed forces in comparative perspective : adapt, improvise, overcome?
No full textEuropean armed forces have undergone deep changes in the past two decades. Given the breadth of the debate and the size of transformations that took place, it is somewhat surprising that relatively few academic studies have directly dealt with changes in force structure of European militaries, and the Italian armed forces in particular. The focus of this book is the organizational dimension of the restructuring of armed forces through 3 different lenses: doctrine and strategic framework, budget and resource allocation, and force structure and deployment. The key issues addressed relate to how these factors interact in shaping transformation. Of particular interest is the theme of learning, which is how armed forces endogenize change in the short and long run. This study provides valuable insights into the extent to which armed forces manage to adapt to the emerging strategic and operational challenges they have to face and to illustrate the weight of institutional legacies, resource constraints and inter-organizational learning in shaping transformation. Focusing on the Italian case in comparative perspective and based on a large variety of military operations from airstrikes to peacekeeping and counterinsurgency, the book provides an innovative viewpoint on military transformation and significantly contributes to our understanding of contemporary security that is deeply shaped by the lessons learnt in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq and Libya.-- Introduction
-- Military transformation: the quest for coherence and adjustment
-- Force transformation: Italy in comparative perspective
-- Force deployment and field experience from Afghanistan to Libya
-- Patterns of learning and change
-- Conclusions
-- References
-- Appendix
-- Inde
The Logic of Vulnerability and Civilian Victimization
No full textWhat causes civilian victimization in conventional civil wars and in conventional wars that experience insurgencies? The authors argue that a key driver of civilian victimization is the vulnerability of the incumbent forces, specifically when the conflict’s front line is shifting. Vulnerability is a function of informational and logistical challenges: when the front line is moving, incumbents face increased informational uncertainty and unstable supply chains that augment their vulnerability. Thus, incumbents will increase the use of civilian victimization in response to a scarcity of high-quality information on the location and identity of insurgents, to limit possible information leaks, and to contain supply disruption and logistics support to adversaries. The authors support their argument using matched difference-in-differences analyses of original subnational data on Nazi-Fascist violence in World War II Italy (1943–1945) and qualitative evidence
Through military lenses : perception of security threats and jointness in the Italian air force
No full textAvailable online 18 April 2018The article explores Italian Air Force (ITAF) officers’ perceptions of military transformation and of changes in the global security environment. While several studies have addressed the challenges faced by European armed forces in the last two decades, the methods used have been rather uniform, mostly relying on in-depth case studies through qualitative interviews and analysis of strategic documents and budgets. Using data from an original, and unique, survey conducted among ITAF captains (N = 286), this article focuses on servicemen’s attitudes towards the transformations of the global security environment and the changes occurring (and needed) within the Italian Air Force. After describing the “military view” on these topics, the article provides preliminary statistical evidence on the links between individual experiences, views, and change. The research aims to contribute to the broader debate on military transformation by adding a novel dimension of analysis and providing new insights on the micro-level aspects of learning
The Patterns of Ethnic Settlement and Violence. A Local-Level Quantitative Analysis of the Bosnian War
No full textInternational audienceThe debate on the link between ethnicity and violence has been raging in the political science literature focusing on the causes and dynamics of the 'new wars' emerging after the end of the Cold War. Often, cross-country quantitative studies dismissed the importance of ethnic heterogeneity as a source of violent conflict. How the patterns of ethnic settlement within a country affect the severity of violence, though, has not yet been studied through similar techniques. In this essay, we build and analyze a dataset of major violence-related variables collected at the local level during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. What emerges is that the local distribution of the population, in terms of the number and relative size of the groups, in more than a hundred municipalities is a key factor in explaining the intensity of violence
Conflito civil e liberdade no pensamento republicano de maquiavel
No full textTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia, Florianópolis, 2015Nosso propósito é refletir as condições da liberdade partindo da teoria do conflito civil em Maquiavel. Para cumprir essa finalidade, analisamos dois segmentos sociais que se confrontam em toda cidade, os grandes e o povo (grandi e plebe), aos quais correspondem dois humores (umori) de característica heterogênea: os grandes que desejam dominar o povo e o do povo que deseja unicamente viver em liberdade. Desse natural e ineliminável conflito, Maquiavel concebe as relações sociais em dissenso, ligeiramente distanciadas da concordia ordinum. Há, com esse pressuposto, uma relativa igualdade política na dinâmica do próprio enfrentamento desses humores que, ao serem acolhidos e recriados pelas instituições republicanas, se traduzem em leis e liberdade que beneficiam o conjunto da cidade. A teoria do conflito civil, ao esboçar certa autonomia em relação ao modelo polibiano da anacyclosis, ainda muito reproduzida pela tradição do pensamento político, acaba positivando o desejo do povo - ao lado do humor dos grandes - gerando reações aristocráticas diante de um presumível republicanismo popular do autor - Francesco Guicciardini confirma essa perspectiva. O desafio está em compreender que aspectos efetivamente concorrem nesse processo que vai, desde a anulação do bom e positivo conflito civil, para um convívio determinado por relações de subordinação e servidão (vivere servo). Mobilizando alguns capítulos centrais dos Discursos sobre a primeira década de Tito Lívio e de História de Florença - mas não sem remissões pontuais a outras obras do autor que subsidiem a discussão -, mostramos que a demanda por ações extraordinárias (straordinari) em situações de repúblicas corrompidíssimas, se deve à ingerência de relações desiguais e facciosas entre os distintos segmentos. À desigualdade nessas relações, atribui-se relativa inflexão do conteúdo político dos humores em direção a aspectos e fenômenos de natureza econômica. Trata-se de mostrar, em Maquiavel, que o próprio núcleo da teoria do conflito civil é permeado por uma clivagem social e econômica que sugere uma medida mais flexível de leitura de sua própria teoria do conflito civil e da liberdade.Abstract: Our purpose is to reflect the conditions of liberty based on the theory of civil conflict in Machiavelli. To accomplish this purpose, we analyzed two social sectors which are faced in every city, the big ones and the people (grandi and plebs), that correspond to two moods (umori) of heterogeneous feature: the big ones that wish to master the people and the people who only want to live in liberty. From this natural and non-eliminable conflict, Machiavelli conceives social relations in dissent, slightly away from concordia ordinum. There is, with this assumption, a relative political equality in the dynamics of the own confrontation of these moods that, when received and recreated by republican institutions, are translated into laws and liberty that benefit the entire city. The civil conflict theory, when showing certain autonomy from the Polybian model of anacyclosis, still very reproduced by the tradition of political thought, ended up achieving the will of the people - next to the big ones mood - generating aristocratic reactions to a presumable republicanism popular of the author - Francesco Guicciardini confirms this perspective. The challenge is to understand what aspects effectively compete in this process which is, since the abolishment of good and positive civil conflict, to a coexistence determined by relations of subordination and servitude (vivere servo). Mobilizing some central chapters of Discourses on Titus Livy's first ten books [Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio] and Florentine Histories [Istorie Fiorentine] - but not without occasional references to other works of the author who subsidize the discussion - we showed that the demand for extraordinary actions (straordinari) in situations of corrupted republics, is due to the interference of unequal and unfair relations between different segments. To the inequality in these relations is attributed inflection of the political content of moods toward aspects and phenomena of an economic nature. This is to show, in Machiavelli, that the core of the civil conflict theory is permeated by a social and economic cleavage suggesting a more flexible measure of reading his own theory of civil conflict and liberty
The international politics of digital development: a multi-method analysis of ICT infrastructure and policies in Africa
No full textDigital development is sometimes portrayed as a cure to poverty, a catalyst of socio-economic development, and an all-round solution to governance challenges. While intended to reduce the dependency of developing countries, it is striking that digital development is enabled by foreign-made infrastructure and devices, paid for by foreign aid and loans, and regulated by foreign-inspired norms and policies. Will digital development then aggravate or alleviate the global structural inequalities?
This thesis examines the international politics that drive and shape digital development in Sub-Saharan Africa. It adopts Susan Strange’s concept of structural power to situate digital development in the international political economy, where the interests of foreign and domestic actors lie. The empirical chapters zoom in on the role of China and Sino-African cooperation, Afro-European relations, and the implications for the agency of African states. Using both existing and originally collected data, the thesis triangulates the data in a multi-method analysis. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis demonstrates that development aid and loans underpin the Sino-African relations in the digital sector. Multivariate regression analysis shows that developing countries in Africa are more likely to adopt ICT policies compared to other regions of the Global South—a difference that the thesis ascribes to the historical and contemporary ties between African states and Europe. The geospatial analysis of foreign infrastructure providers and inflows of aid and loan presents a novel approach to classify the “degree” of agency of African states. A case study of Rwanda and Tanzania completes the analysis by shedding light on the challenges and opportunities of regional initiatives to enhance African agency.
Overall, the thesis finds that foreign actors engage in digital development abroad to pursue their own national interests. While their efforts contribute to digital development in African states, they also perpetuate Africa’s structural dependency on foreign infrastructure and finance
The politics of mafia violence : explaining variation in mafia killings in Southern Italy (1983-2008)
No full textViolence perpetrated by organized crime nowadays represents a major threat to state stability, both because it directly challenges political institutions, targeting officials and using terrorist techniques, and because severe inter-group conflict strongly affects human security. Though it is a distinctive feature of illegal markets and a constant strategy of Mafia-like groups, the occurrence of violence is localized in time and space. The article aims to explain temporal and spatial variation in Mafia killings focusing on its political determinants, as organized crime is deeply embedded in the political system. The analysis shows that there is a clear link between the structure of the political markets and the severity of violence. In particular, the fragmentation of the political market is negatively associated with the strategy of criminal groups to exploit violence. By contrast, single-party dominance and bipartisanship lead to an increase in homicides since these organizations have few opportunities to access the political arena. Outcomes are assessed through the analysis of monthly homicides reported by police forces in Italian provinces from 1983 to 2008
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