1,721,241 research outputs found
Statistical mechanics of socio-economic systems with heterogeneous agents
Full text linkWe review the statistical mechanics approach to the study of the emerging collective behavior of systems of heterogeneous interacting agents. The general framework is presented through examples is such contexts as ecosystem dynamics and traffic modeling. We then focus on the analysis of the optimal properties of large random resource-allocation problems and on Minority Games and related models of speculative trading in financial markets, discussing a number of extensions including multi-asset models, Majority Games and models with asymmetric information. Finally, we summarize the main conclusions and outline the major open problems and limitations of the approach
Arctic Security: A Global Challenge
Full text linkArctic security is a main security challenge—a global one, not only a regional one—not only for the Arctic countries, but for the whole international community, first of all Europe. With the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China expanding their role in the area, and the difficulty of finding an undisputed governance on maritime routes and economic exploitation of resources, there is the risk of militarization of the Arctic. After briefly summarizing current and future challenges in the Arctic, this article analyzes the limits due to a deficit of suitable instruments to maintain security in the region, especially in relation to the role of international intergovernmental organizations, and it suggests some remedies to overcome these deficiencies.Paper presented at the 7th Lisbon International Arctic Conference and Workshop, held at the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas (ISCSP), Universidade de Lisboa (School of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lisbon, ISCSP-ULisboa), on December 13, 2019. The author gratefully acknowledges the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, for supporting this work through grant SFRH/BD/136170/2018
The Role of the Armed Forces in Homeland Security
Full text linkThis poster addresses the employment of the Armed Forces in homeland security tasks. Unconventional conflicts – hybrid, asymmetric, and transnational conflicts which involve state and non-state actors such as insurgents or terrorist organizations – are among the trend topics of defense and security. Since jihadist terrorism broke out in in Europe, security has become a main concern, occupying the front pages of newspapers and the agendas of governments. Therefore, the debate on the employment of the Armed Forces in homeland security tasks became central.
The primary responsibility for protecting life and property and maintaining law and order in the civilian community is vested in police forces; supplementary responsibility is vested by statute in specific agencies other than the Ministry of Defense. Military forces may be used to support law enforcement agencies. In emergency situations, the Parliament may authorize the use of the military as a police force on home soil.
Police departments are much larger in major metropolitan areas and much smaller than the average in rural areas, but in catastrophic attacks that affect large areas in several states simultaneously, there will not be enough police officers to do what has to be done. Since lateral reinforcement is not feasible when all adjacent areas are involved, the only source of augmentation for local departments will be from the Armed Forces.
Subsidiary operations of the Amy in support to civil authorities – e.g. military aid in the event of a catastrophe – are one of the ordinary duties of the Army, whose main mission is to ensure security and defense of the territory. Although the readiness of use for the defense of the territory is reduced, the maintenance and development of this important primary mission is to guard the long-term, in anticipation of events imponderables in the military and security policy.
In Western liberal-democracies the executive power is limited in the use of the military in domestic security operations because of legal norms. Police is in charge of internal security, with the Army acting as ‘reinforcing force’ only in conjunction with the first. Subsidiary operations of the Army in the field of homeland security have increased over the past few years and in many countries is currently underway a political debate to evaluate the allocation of the Army direct powers in policing. It is a political decision, which must take into account both the changing environment in which the Armed Forces operate and the threat of international terrorism manifested in disruptive manner at the beginning of the new millennium. Legislative and cultural obstacles should be overcome to achieve this goal.Poster Ref. XI-APS-87872 exposed in the Security, Defense and Armed Forces thematic section of the XI Portuguese Congress of Sociology, March 29-31, 2021, Lisbon, Portugal, organized by the Portuguese Association of Sociology (APS), the School of Sociology and Public Policy (ESPP) at ISCTE–Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) and the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon (ICS-ULisboa). The abstract in published in p. 286-287 of the Book of Abstract and the poster is included in the gallery of posters of the minute book. The author gratefully acknowledges the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, for supporting this poster through grant SFRH/BD/136170/2018
COVID-19 Infodemic: Fake News, Real Censorship. Information and Freedom of Expression in Time of Coronavirus
Full text linkThis paper aims to shed light on the right to information and the freedom of the media in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. Infection disease outbreaks are invariably characterized by myths and rumors, boosted by social media accounts, that media often pick up and circulate. On the grounds of protecting public health, some Member States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe imposed strict rules on the dissemination of “fake news”. Lacking a legal definition of this term leaves room for arbitrary and broad interpretations. Emergency legislation adopted under the pretext of combating misinformation and disinformationand to protect public health restrict the freedom of expression and information. This essay review of the outbreak communication principles established by the World Health Organization and checks the compliance of emergency measures against fundamental human rights.Paper available at http://www.aracneeditrice.it/index.php/estratto.html?item=10.4399/97888255402468&isbn=9788825540246. Journal issue available from http://www.aracneeditrice.it/index.php/pubblicazione.html?item=9788825540246. ISBN: 978-88-255-4024-6 / ISSN: 2499-6394. The author gratefully acknowledges the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, for supporting this work through grant SFRH/BD/136170/2018
The Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms at the Origins of the European Integration Process
Full text linkThis paper aims to trace the origins of the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the European integration process. It is a transcontinental journey that connects the French and the American revolution under the achievements and the principles of the Enlightenment. It is the history of contemporary Europe, from the French Revolution to the tragedy of World War II. In the process of European integration the institutions overlap, and find in the Council of Europe, an institution larger than the European Union, the moment in which these rights are codified. These principles, which are the basis of European values, have been embodied in the European Convention on Human Rights, one of the most advanced instruments on the protection of fundamental human rights.Paper presented at the international conference "Diritti e dignità della persona. Agli albori del processo di integrazione europea: dalla CECA ai Trattati di Roma", held at the University Niccolò Cusano, in Rome, on 5 April 2017, with the patronage of the Vicariate of Rome-Pastorale Universitaria
The Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Collapse of the USSR and the End of Cold War. A Chain of Surprises 'Too Big' to Be Predicted
Full text linkThe fall of the Berlin Wall, on the night of 9 November 1989, marked the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Distinguished scholars of the realist school have developed different theories on the root causes and predictability of the end of the Cold War and have sought to find whether the end of the conflict between the Western and the Eastern bloc was predictable, and under which terms it could be settled.Political Reflection, Vol. 7, No. 1 - Issue 26 (January-February-March 2021). The author gratefully acknowledges the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, for supporting this work through grant SFRH/BD/136170/2018
Brazil: the Carambole Strategy of a Rising Power (Brasil: a Estratégia 'Carambola' de um Poder Ascendente)
Full text linkThis paper analyzes the multilateral Brazilian foreign policy, making the country a regional pivot in Latin America, a leading nation among developing countries, and an emerging world power. Without the status of nuclear power, Brazil establishes asymmetrical alliances to earn a place in a reformed UN Security Council, but must contend the seat with accredited competitors, such as India, as well a strategic partner, and counteract some riotous neighbors, as Mexico and Argentina. Meanwhile, through the establishment and the membership in several international organizations and multilateral mechanisms, Brasília developes a worldwide policy, maneuvering between new and old alliances, and playing a 'winning and losing carambole game'. Will the chrysalis turn into a butterfly?
Resumo
Este trabalho analisa a política estrangeira multilateral do Brasil, fazendo o país um pivô regional na América Latina, una nação liderante entre os países em desenvolvimento e uma potência mundial emergente. Sem o estado de potência nuclear, o Brasil estabelece alianças estratégicas para ganhar um lugar num Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas reformado, mas tem que competir por este lugar com concorrentes acreditados, tal como a Índia, assim como um parceiro estratégico, e para contrapor-se à alguns vizinhos tumultuosos, tal como o México e a Argentina. Enquanto isso, através do estabelecimento e da afiliação a muitas organizações internacionais e mecanismos multilaterais, Brasília desenvolve uma política mundial, manobrando entre alianças novas e antigas, e jogando carambola com possibilidade de conseguir o perder. A crisálida vai virar borboleta?Universitas: Relações Internacionais, Volume 12, No. 2 (July/Dec. 2014) .
ISSN 1807-2135 - ISSN Online 1982-0720. http://www.publicacaoesacademicas.uniceub.b
Il Sistema di informazioni del Portogallo: dal sistema dualistico di sicurezza al concetto monistico di sicurezza nazionale
Full text linkITALIAN - Le minacce transnazionali sorte dopo l’11 settembre 2001, impongono agli Stati di rivedere l’organizzazione e la politica di sicurezza. La difficile congiuntura economica e finanziaria, sopravvenuta nel 2008, obbliga i governi a tagli di bilancio, nell’ottica di maggiori risparmi ed efficienze di sistema, attraverso l’uso di strutture e mezzi comuni, e il coordinamento delle forze e dei servizi di sicurezza. Il dibattito sulla militarizzazione della sicurezza, mentre da un lato preoccupa il potere politico e la società civile, sembra essere l’unica risposta in grado di prevenire, e eventualmente intervenire efficacemente, in caso di attacchi e minacce globali. Si tratta di passare da una visione dualistica di sicurezza interna e difesa nazionale, a una visione monistica di national security. Il Portogallo, dopo la difficile fase seguita alla Rivoluzione dei garofani del 25 aprile 1974, che ha posto fine al regime dell’Estado Novo, ha aspettato 10 anni prima di mettere mano all’organizzazione della sicurezza interna, a causa degli abusi perpetrati dalla PIDE/DGS, e questa attesa ha permesso una serie di attentati terroristici tra il 1979 e il 1983. Già nel 1982, i militari sono stati esclusi dalla vita politica del paese, tramite leggi di riforma costituzionale. Alla luce del mutato quadro internazionale, e delle nuove minacce, le Forze Armate chiedono, in vista dell’approvazione dell’8° Revisione costituzionale, che vengano rimossi i paletti che ne impediscono l’utilizzo in caso di crisi, sottraendole altresì alla subordinazione al potere civile.
ENGLISH - Transnational threats that arose after 9/11 require states to review their security policy. The difficult economic situation and financial obliges governments to to budget cuts, in order to achieve higher savings and efficiencies of system through the use of common facilities and resources, and coordination of forces and security services. The debate over the militarization of security, while on the one hand worries political power and civil society, seems to be the only response able to prevent, and if necessary intervene efficiently in the event of attacks and global threats. The issue is the transition from a dualistic view of internal security and national defense, to a monistic view of national security. After the difficult period that followed the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, which ended the Estado Novo regime, Portugal waited 10 years before reviewing the organization of internal security, because of the abuses committed by PIDE/DGS, and this waiting led to a series of terrorist attacks between 1979 and 1983. Already in 1982, the military were excluded from political life of the country by laws of constitutional reform. In the light of the changed international situation, and of the new threats, the Armed Forces are asking, on the occasion of the 8th Constitutional Review, to remove the barriers which prevent their use in the event of crisis, subtracting the military from the subordination to the civil power.English title: "The Portuguese Intelligence System: From the Security Dual System to the Monistic Concept of National Security".
Available online in html format:
http://storiaefuturo.eu/il-sistema-di-informazioni-del-portogallo-dal-sistema-dualistico-di-sicurezza-al-concetto-monistico-di-sicurezza-nazionale
The War on Cyberterrorism
Full text linkThis article addresses the problem of international lawenforcement within the War on Cyberterrorism. Hybrid conflicts have replaced the traditional ones, and new threats have emerged in cyberspace, whichhas become a virtual battlefield. Cyber threats - cybercrimes, cyberterrorism, cyberwarfare - are a major concern for Western governments, especially for the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The international community has begun to consider cyberattacksas a form of terrorism, to which the same measures apply. Because the term "terrorism" is ambiguous and legaly undefined, there is no consensus on a definition of the derivative term "cyberterrorism", which is left to the unilateral interpretations of states.Pretending to consider the cyberspace domain astraditional domains,and claiming to apply IHLfor the sole purpose of lawfully using armed forces in contrast to cyberterrorism is a stretch.This paper addresses the question of whether or not current laws of war and international humanitarian law apply to cyber domain, and gives some recommendations on how to tackle this issue.Marco Marsili (2019), The War on Cyberterrorism, Democracy and Security, 15:2, 172-199, doi.org/10.1080/17419166.2018.1496826.
Published online: 17 Jul 2018. 50 limited free access digital copies through https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/kqqCMFnEtWJxAD8ZJEhY/ful
The press: Fourth power or counter-power?
Full text linkThe freedom of the press –or the freedom of expression –traces its roots in the enlightenment period. Oftenpresented as the "fourth power" – sometimes as "counter-power" –free press is considered a feature of liberal-democracies, and a fundamental human right.This brief article explores the validity of these definitions and the role of the press in democratic societies characterized by governments constrained by checks and balances. Most of this paper draws on my previously published works.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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