Securitization and Democracy in Eurasia

Securitization and Democracy in Eurasia

Author: Anja Mihr

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 407

ISBN-13: 3031166590

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This open-access book presents cutting-edge research on securitization and democratic development in the OSCE Region. Gathering contributions by practitioners and researchers from various disciplines, it presents case studies and highlights recent activities of proactive engagement in democratic institution-building and responding to security threats from the Balkans to Central Asia. The volume is divided into three parts, the first of which focuses on security-related matters, armed conflicts, minorities, and women’s safety, as well as the roles that civil society, foreign governments, social media, and external donors play in this area. These contributions illustrate how the OSCE’s informal approach to peace, security, and securitization as norm entrepreneur is closely linked to the level of democracy among its member states. The second part presents a special section on the political implications of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), assessing the impact of this infrastructural program on the levels of democracy and/or autocracy in Eurasia. The third part consists of short chapters outlining future research and debates. The book will appeal to students and scholars of international relations, security studies, and the human rights-politics nexus. This is the 2022 instalment in a series of books released by the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. The OSCE works to promote Minority Protection, Security, Democratic Development and Human Rights, guided by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and to enhance securitization and development policies in Eurasia, Europe, Central Asia and North America. Since being founded in 1993, the OSCE and its agencies and departments have attracted a wealth of academic research in various fields and disciplines, ranging from economic development and election monitoring to enhancing global principles of human rights and securitization.


Assessing Democracy Assistance

Assessing Democracy Assistance

Author: Thomas Carothers

Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 166

ISBN-13:

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In recent years, assistance aimed at promoting democracy abroad has become a major component of U.S. foreign aid and of the U.S. government's post-Cold War policy of seeking to enlarge the international community of democratic nations. Despite its rapid growth, however, democracy assistance remains poorly understood in practice and its value is frequently questioned. This landmark study, an examination of U.S. democracy assistance efforts in Romania, is the first comprehensive analysis of the workings--and failings--of U.S. democracy assistance in one country. Based on the author's extensive field research, the study provides widely applicable answers to key questions about the value, strategies, methods, and future of such assistance.


Memory and Securitization in Contemporary Europe

Memory and Securitization in Contemporary Europe

Author: Vlad Strukov

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-01-24

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1349952699

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The volume is the first study to explore the intersection of memory and securitisation in the European context. By analysing a variety of practices ranging from film to art and new media, the book expands the existing theoretical framework of securitisation. The authors consider memory as a precondition for contemporary integration projects such as the European Union, and also showcase how memory is used to stage international conflicts. Following this memory-securitisation nexus, the European Union, and Europe more generally, emerges as an on-going cultural, political and social project. The book also examines developments outside the EU such as the conflict in Ukraine and the creation of the Eurasian Economic Union, which, the authors argues, have a profound impact on Europe. From a consideration of historical contexts such as national referenda the discussion proceeds to media and film analysis, artistic practice and more transient phenomena such as climate change.


Between Peace and Conflict in the East and the West

Between Peace and Conflict in the East and the West

Author: Anja Mihr

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-08-05

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 3030774899

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This open access book features various studies on democratization, transformation, socio-economic development, and security issues in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) geographical region and beyond. Written by experts and scholars working in the field of human dimension, security, transformation and development in Europe and Asia, particularly in post-soviet and communist countries, it examines the connectivity that the OSCE provides between the East and the West. The 2021 edition of this Compilation Series of the OSCE Academy presents studies on peace and conflict as well as political regime development in various member states of the OSCE as well as their economic, security and human rights performance and the challenges countries and society face currently. The OSCE is working in promoting Human Rights and Democratization under the notion of Human Dimension of ODIHR and is enhancing securitization and development policies in Eurasia, Europe, Central Asia and North America since 1991. 2021 marks the 30th anniversary on the tremendous efforts in promoting democracy, security and development. This compilation reviews some of these efforts in light of this anniversary, the achievements and shortcomings.


Challenges for Digital Citizenship and Ethics: Social Media, Deep Fakes, and Virtual Communities

Challenges for Digital Citizenship and Ethics: Social Media, Deep Fakes, and Virtual Communities

Author: Pucelj, Maja

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2024-10-23

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13:

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The integration of human rights, social responsibility, and technical innovation acquires significant importance in the current era of digital transformation. As technology rapidly evolves, it profoundly influences societal structures, economic systems, and individual lives. It is essential to examine the impact of digital transformation on human rights and social responsibility, and emphasize the importance of striking a balance that upholds individual rights while leveraging technological advances for the benefit of society as a whole. Challenges for Digital Citizenship and Ethics: Social Media, Deep Fakes, and Virtual Communities analyzes the implications of digitalization on human rights and social responsibility. By adopting a multidisciplinary approach, this research combines perspectives from the fields of digital ethics, information technology, law, and social sciences. It examines the impact of digital technologies on privacy and data rights, assess the strategies utilized by corporations in the digital age to uphold human rights, and explore the policy and legal frameworks required to assure the ethical adoption of technology. Covering topics such as cybercrimes, digital literacy, and societal dynamics, this book is an excellent resource for policymakers, sociologists, researchers, academicians, educators, students, and more.


Getting it Wrong

Getting it Wrong

Author: Martha Brill Olcott

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13:

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In the void left by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was created as a structure that would coordinate the foreign and security policies of member states, develop a common economic space, and provide for an orderly transition from the Soviet Union to the


Islam, Securitization, and US Foreign Policy

Islam, Securitization, and US Foreign Policy

Author: Erdoan A. Shipoli

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-05-08

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 3319711113

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This book argues that Islam has been securitized in US foreign policy, especially during the W. Bush administration when it was increasingly portrayed as the ultimate “other.” This securitization was realized through the association of Islam with unique security threats in speeches of foreign policy and national security. By analyzing the four recent US presidents’ discourses on Islam, this work sheds light on how they viewed Islam and addresses the following questions: How do we talk about Islam, its place and relationship within the context of US security? How does the language we use to describe Islam influence the way we imagine it? How is Islam constructed as a security issue?


Governing in the Shadows

Governing in the Shadows

Author: Paula Cristina Roque

Publisher: Hurst Publishers

Published: 2021-09-30

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1787387356

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This book traces three decades of securitisation in Angola. As a governing strategy during war and peacetime, it muted the aspirations of those on opposing sides, distorted the state, emboldened elites and redefined the identity of Angolans. Through this lens, Paula Cristina Roque provides an original account of Angola’s post-conflict state-building. Securitisation protected the interests of President dos Santos, the ruling MPLA party and the elites supporting the regime. Angola’s array of security forces and infrastructure provided an alternative to a fully functioning executive, at national, provincial and local levels. The intrusive way in which any form of dissent or activism was crushed allowed the presidency to control the direction and narrative of the post-war years. But the façade of democracy, development and stability hid a very different reality for the majority of Angolans, who remained poor, disenfranchised and marginalised. Roque explores the inner workings of the intelligence services, army and presidential guard, explaining the trajectory of a survivalist and fearful regime presiding over scarcities and injustices. She shows that the survival of national security and governing elites was the highest priority. The ‘shadows’ held far more power than institutions, and weakened them–widening the gap between government and governed.


Russia's Securitization of Chechnya

Russia's Securitization of Chechnya

Author: Julie Wilhelmsen

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2016-10-04

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 131728576X

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This book provides an in-depth analysis of how mobilization and legitimation for war are made possible, with a focus on Russia's conflict with Chechnya. Through which processes do leaders and their publics come to define and accept certain conflicts as difficult to engage in, and others as logical, even necessary? Drawing on a detailed study of changes in Russia’s approach to Chechnya, this book argues that ‘re-phrasing’ Chechnya as a terrorist threat in 1999 was essential to making the use of violence acceptable to the Russian public. The book refutes popular explanations that see Russian war-making as determined and grounded in a sole, authoritarian leader. Close study of the statements and texts of Duma representatives, experts and journalists before and during the war demonstrates how the Second Chechen War was made a ‘legitimate’ undertaking through the efforts of many. A post-structuralist reinterpretation of securitization theory guides and structures the book, with discourse theory and method employed as a means to uncover the social processes that make war acceptable. More generally, the book provides a framework for understanding the broad social processes that underpin legitimized war-making. This book will be of much interest to students of Russian politics, critical terrorism studies, security studies and international relations.