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1. Slaying Cyber Dragons: Competing Academic Approaches to Cyber Security

Author:
Hans-Inge Langø
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper seeks to categorize the various approaches,here referred to as schools of thought, to cyber security and identify the sources of their disagreements. Much of the academic and policy debate has revolved around the “revolutionist” and “traditionalist” schools of thought, with debates over cyberwar and the efficacy of strategic information warfare. However, none of the schools offer a systematic approach to understanding the strategic utility of cyberspace. This paper identifies a third, less known approach that is best described as “environmentalist.” The “environmentalist” school's approach to cyber power and analysis of cyberspace as a distinct environment or system offers the best way forward for the field.
Topic:
Security, Crime, Science and Technology, and Communications

2. The limits of compulsory cyber power: Assessing ecological potential and restraints in the digital domain

Author:
Hans-Inge Langø
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Hostile actors in cyberspace are considered one of the fastest growing threats to states. Much has been written on the subject, but the available literature remains parochial, lacking a unifying understanding of the environment. This paper proposes a systematic approach to understanding the political utility of cyberspace, specifically the character of compulsory cyber power.
Topic:
Security, Crime, Political Economy, Science and Technology, Communications, and Governance

3. Integration, Security and Associated Non-members

Author:
Pernille Rieker
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This article analyses the relationship between EU security, integration and associated members, using insights from security studies and the literature on Europeanization. While much recent literature emphasizes either the EU's insignificance as a security actor or its importance as a normative and global actor, I investigate its role as a security actor in its own region, arguing that the EU is primarily a regional security actor. I make two general claims: (1) it is the development of common rules and values in various policy areas that constitutes the basis for the EU as a security actor; (2) it is the successful projection of these rules and values beyond EU borders that will determine the impact of the EU as a security actor. The aim is therefore to show how the EU promotes security and stability through the externalization of rules and values through various processes, association agreements and neighbourhood policies.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Europe

4. Socioeconomic and Ecological Consequences of Biofuel Development in India

Author:
M.S. Umesh Babu and Sunil Nautiyal
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper provides an overview on biofuel production and its pros and cons in India and elsewhere. The paper also discusses the major issue of whether biofuels are an alternative to fossil fuels or are a competitive for food production. It examines benefits for the rural poor by providing additional income, employment, land value, etc., and the circumstances of the biofuels market and its inputs for GDP growth in India. However, of late, biofuels and their production have failed to address challenges like supply of water and food security, for the growing population in India as well as many other developing countries in the world. This paper highlighted these issues in detail particularly disadvantages of biofuel production.
Topic:
Security, Environment, Oil, Water, and Food
Political Geography:
India

5. The trade-off between Innovation and Defence Industrial Policy

Author:
Fulvio Castellacci, Martin Blom, and Arne Martin Fevolden
Publication Date:
05-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The paper investigates the trade-off between innovation and defence industrial policy. It presents an agent-based simulation model calibrated for the Norwegian defence industry that compares different policy scenarios and examines the effects of a pending EU market liberalization process. The paper points to two main results. (1) It finds that a pure scenario where national authorities focus on, and provide support exclusively for, either a) international competitiveness or b) national defence and security objectives, is more Pareto efficient than a corresponding mixed strategy where policy makers simultaneously pursue both international competitiveness and defence and security objectives. (2) Under the conditions of the new EU liberalization regime, it finds that a stronger and more visible trade-off will emerge between international competitiveness and national defence and security objectives. Policy makers will have to choose which to prioritise, and set a clear agenda focusing on one of the two objectives.international competitiveness or b) national defence and security objectives, is more Pareto efficient than a corresponding mixed strategy where policy makers simultaneously pursue both international competitiveness and defence and security objectives. (2) Under the conditions of the new EU liberalization regime, it finds that a stronger and more visible trade-off will emerge between international competitiveness and national defence and security objectives. Policy makers will have to choose which to prioritise, and set a clear agenda focusing on one of the two objectives.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
Europe

6. Mission-Wide Strategies for the Protection of Civilians

Author:
Cedric De Coning, Andreas Øien Stensland, and Walter Lotze
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The protection of civilians (PoC) has received increasing levels of attention in United Nations (UN) mandated peacekeeping operations over the course of the past decade. Since 1999, eleven UN peacekeeping operations have been provided with increasingly robust protection of civilians mandates, and the UN System has over the past years focussed increasing levels of attention on the protection of civilians, not only in peacekeeping operations, but indeed across the range of activities undertaken by the UN in support of conflict management, resolution and transformation efforts. Although the wording of the clauses that address the protection of civilians in UN Security Council resolutions has been quite similar to date, the ways in which different missions have implemented these mandates have varied. Because missions operate within differing contexts, each mission is required to develop a unique strategy through which to achieve the common principles and aims of protecting civilians in conflict situations according to the unique setting in which it operates.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Human Rights, United Nations, and Peacekeeping

7. The Protection of Aid Workers Principled Protection and Humanitarian Security in Darfur

Author:
Karoline R. Eckroth
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The changing nature of armed conflict has resulted in increased need to safeguard civilians, including humanitarian personnel, which is reflected in the emerging protection of civilians agenda. This report considers to what extent the issues raised in the recently updated OCHA Aide Memoire reflect the security needs of aid workers on the ground, by examining the case of Darfur
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, Genocide, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:
United Nations

8. Innovations in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration policy and research: Reflections on the last decade

Author:
Robert Muggah
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This literature review offers a general overview of policy-related and theoretical innovations in disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) over the past decade. Drawing on an extensive review of academic and prescriptive contributions, it teases out key trends in the character and shape of DDR activities. If detects a shift from minimalist (security-first) interventions preoccupied with military and police priorities to maximalist (development-oriented) activities in the present era. It also notes a progressive professionalisation and standardization of DDR practice within the multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental communities. Moreover, the review observes a shift in the focus of research on DDR. Early in the decade, scholars were preoccupied with the process and practice of DDR as a spatially, temporally and socially bounded activity. Whilst establishing useful conceptual parameters, these researchers seldom considered more fundamental issues of causality and correlation, actor agency or intervention outcomes. Meanwhile, the latest wave of scholars are investing in comparative case studies, statistical assessments drawing on large-n samples and more experimental approaches to test counter-factuals. Focusing on a wider case selection these researchers are also exploring new sectoral horizons such as the relationships between DDR and combatant agency, peace agreements, transitional justice, security sector reform, and state-building more generally.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, and Peace Studies

9. Protecting Civilians and Protecting Ideas: Institutional Challenges to the Protection of Civilians

Author:
Benjamin de Carvalho and Jon Harald Sande Lie
Publication Date:
07-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
Although the Protection of Civilians (PoC) today is largely embedded in the UN system as a whole, there are a number of issues still critical to address at the institutional level for the PoC to inform a shared culture of protection effectively. These include addressing the extent to which preparations for civilian protection are an integral component of mission planning, and whether protection activities are part of the mission's mandate per se or a mere part of its many tasks. Also of key concern is the extent to which operational capacity is achieved and designed to enhance protection.
Topic:
Security, Civil Society, Human Rights, and United Nations

10. Police Corruption, Crime and Crime Reporting: A Simultaneous Equations Approach

Author:
Omar Azfar and Tugrul Gurgur
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
We study the causal relationship between police corruption, crime and crime reporting, using data from the International Crime Victimization Survey. Using a simultaneous equations approach we find a number of intuitive relationships, which are statistically significant. The clearest of these is that crime reporting reduces police corruption.
Topic:
Security, Crime, Economics, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Africa