The past decade has seen increasing international recognition of civic space as a cornerstone of functioning democracies, alongside efforts to promote and protect it. Countries that foster civic space are better placed to reap the many benefits of higher levels of citizen engagement, strengthened transparency and accountability, and empowered citizens and civil society. In the longer term, a vibrant civic space can help to improve government effectiveness and responsiveness, contribute to more citizen-centred policies, and boost social cohesion.
Countering Terrorist and Criminal Financing provides an up-to-date overview and critical analysis of terrorism financing, focusing on tactics and practical measures directed at preventing money laundering and countering the flow of terrorism funding. In doing so, the book details some of the major doctrines, outlining policies of states and key regional and global partnerships in Europe, Asia, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa. Chapters bring together a diverse range of expert scholars and practitioners who specialise in theoretical principles, utilising empirical research and an analysis of the cross-national networks and cross-group collaborations that underpin the illicit activities that fund such groups. The book serves as the most current and comprehensive resource in the area of countering the financing of terrorism and organised crime—incorporating regional and group-specific approaches, challenges, and consequences. This focus encompasses legal measures, social policies, and military operations and security force responses by states and non-state actors to assemble the most up-to-date counter-terrorist financing information into a single volume.
In an increasing number of countries around the globe, representing all regime types, in all regions, with all levels of economic and military strength, civil society’s autonomy from the state, its defining feature, is diminishing. While a variety of tools are used to restrict civil society organizations’ (CSOs) independence from the state, an increasingly popular and dangerously effective vehicle for accomplishing this goal is the law. Through the passage of legislation that imposes new restrictions on the ability of CSOs to operate free from excessive government scrutiny and control, governmental actors are gaining greater control over the non-governmental sector and in ways that benefit from the veneer of legality. Perplexingly, such laws are not only appearing in countries where they might be expected – Azerbaijan, Burundi, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Zimbabwe, and countries throughout the Middle East. Indeed, they are increasingly appearing in democratic states too, including strong, fully consolidated democratic states with historically strong and independent civil society sectors: Canada, India, New Zealand, Spain, Israel, Hungary, Poland, and the US, to name just a few. Restrictive CSO laws, which are unsurprising in authoritarian-leaning states, are uniquely puzzling in the context of democratic ones, which have been the primary defenders, funders, and champions of a robust and independent civil society. This book explores this concerning and intriguing phenomenon by documenting its full scope and spread within the world’s strongest democratic states and attempting to explain its occurrence. Using a combination of mixed methods – theory, process tracing, interviews, and statistical analysis – this timely analysis helps to shed light on a global phenomenon that seems to be fueling the democratic backsliding visible in an increasing number of democracies throughout the world. This exploration, which bridges comparative and international law, international relations, democratic theory, and state-civil society relations, attempts to make sense of this global contagion, the closing space phenomenon, which threatens to undermine one of cornerstones of any democracy – a free and independent civil society – in the years and decades ahead.
This book dives into the achievements, opportunities, risks and dangers of ICT in the rural Global South, and takes a look at the likely future. Drawing on years of experience across 45 counties, as well as extensive original academic research, Willem van Eekelen situates the evolving role of ICT in wider development patterns in the Global South. He discusses the effects of ICT on agriculture, trade, financial flows, resource management and governmental performance. He then considers the associated risks of financial insecurity, online gambling, exclusion, misinformation and the effects of ICT on people’s freedom. The book concludes with six recommendations to maximise the usefulness of rural ICT investments and minimise the risk of them causing harm. This engaging and authoritative account of ICT and rural development will help students, academics, governmental policymakers, donors and investors wishing to support socio-economic development in the Global South.
"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.
Nonprofit Financing and the Combatting of Terrorism Financing is part of the World Bank World Bank Working Paper series. These papers are published to communicate the results of the Bank's ongoing research and to stimulate public discussion. One of the ways in which terrorist organizations raise and transfer funds is by using nonprofit organizations (NPOs); however NPOs are also an important way to deal with the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism. In trying to address one problem---terrorism financing---it is important not to diminish the important work of NPOs. This paper discusses the threat and how to address it without tainting the entire NPO sector and concludes that it is inefficient and counterproductive to devise an entirely new regulatory framework. The ultimate objective is to enhance the transparency of the NPO sector---the people in charge of NPOs, NPO funding sources, and how funds are spent. The NPO sector has a stake in being clean and being regarded as such by others, thus NPOs are indispensible partners in drawing up regulatory policies, including self-regulatory policies. World Bank Working Papers are available individually or on standing order. The World Bank Working Paper series is also available online through the World Bank e-library (www.worldbank.org/elibrary).
Security concerns increasingly influence foreign aid: how Western countries give aid, to whom and why. With contributions from experts in the field, this book examines the impact of security issues on six of the world's largest aid donors, as well as on key crosscutting issues such as gender equality and climate change.
One of the ways in which terrorist organisations raise and transfer funds, is by using non-profit organisations (NPOs). Ever since the adoption of the Special Recommendation VIII on the abuse of NPOs for Terrorism Financing purposes by the FATF in 2001, countries have struggled to find a proper way to address this potential terrorism financing risk. In many important ways however, the work of NPOs deal with the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, so it is essential that in trying to address one aspect of the terrorist threat terrorism financing- we do not inadvertently diminish the impact of other ways of tackling the issue. This article argues that in discussing the threat and how to address it, policy-makers need to be specific, not tainting the whole sector with the same brush. Virtually all governments already interact with the NPO sector and those avenues should be used for dealing with this issue- it is inefficient and ultimately counterproductive to devise an entirely new regulatory framework. The ultimate objective is to enhance the transparency of the sector- the people in charge of NPOs, their sources of funds and particularly the way those funds are spent. That aim serves a much wider purpose than just countering terrorism financing and touches on many aspects of civil society good governance that the sector itself and others have been debating for a long time. When devising public policy on this issue the contribution of the NPO sector to fighting terrorism be recognized and used to its full advantage. Moreover the sector s own stake in being clean ? and being so regarded by others should be acknowledged, thus making them an indispensable partner in drawing up such policies. For the same reason, self-regulation should be considered.
The manual seeks to provide guidance on international legal instruments against FTF activities and techniques for digital investigation and evidence collection, especially concerning global financial transactions and social media activity. While it is tailored for judicial training institutes in South-Eastern Europe, it can be utilized in any jurisdiction seeking resources to address the FTF threat.
