Nowadays, there is a continuous and significant change of the international security environment. More and more complex and diversified types of threats are present and the regional security and ...safety are in danger. The technological evolution from the last decade produced what security experts call the Revolution in Military Affairs. At the same time, it also allowed opponents to use a wide range and diversified means of action. The use of technology offers advantages and disadvantages on both sides. In this regard, it is everyone’s responsibility to identify possible threats or vulnerabilities. It is also everyone’s responsibility to prevent, limit or eliminate the negative impact. Proper establishment of an appropiate security culture, and, at the same time an effective security education, in accordance with the existing threats, are essential for the state, in its effort of creating and maintaining a stable and secure environment for its citizens. Starting from the research hypothesis that there appear to be new threats in the contemporary security environment, I have developed three directions on which I focused my research effort. I intended to use a deductive approach and I aimed to identify the positive aspects that can be maintained, but also other measures and actions that can be integrated into security education so that the individual as part of the state, to achieve the appropriate level of security. For this I have applied multiple research methods specific to the security field, such as the theoretical analysis, comparative analysis, observation, longitudinal method, and also the case study.
The Japanese public has been assumed to possess a deeply ingrained aversion toward the acquisition of nuclear weapons. We employ a survey experiment to ascertain whether this aversion is ...unconditional or may erode in the face of hypothetical deterioration in Japan's security situation, and in particular a hypothetical withdrawal of the US security-nuclear umbrella, increased North Korean nuclear weapons testing activities, and movement by South Korea toward the attainment of a nuclear arsenal. We find that the Japanese nuclear aversion may come under stress in the face of such developments. Additionally, we find that the elasticity of Japanese attitudes with respect to the nuclear option in the face of external security deterioration may be associated with an important individual-level demographic characteristic, namely, gender.
Security is a complex, multi-dimensional approach context. In broad terms, it represents the ability to protect its citizens. The sole holder of the legitimate right to use intra-state and ...inter-state force is obliged through the consequence and expression of its sovereignty to protect and guarantee its citizens’ rights and freedoms and ensure the conditions for the exercise of their rights and freedoms. After the dissolution of the communist political and military bloc, security develops as a global concept that tends to include traditional political and military dimensions, new dimensions, such as economic, energy or security, individual rights, and freedoms. This study addresses Romania’s security policy, its evolution after 1990 and until now. The paper aims to highlight Romania’s position as a territory and its role in the regional context regarding security. Its statute as a NATO and E.U. member, and strategic partner of the United States, determined a permanent update of its security policy and proposed objectives, correlated with those of the entities to which it belongs. From the point of view of security policy, Romania has an important geostrategic role and can stand out as a regional leader due to the threats it could be subjected to. The study will highlight that its security policy provides many benefits for the country’s citizens and its institutions.
There is a large interest in biofuels in India as a substitute to petroleum-based fuels, with a purpose of enhancing energy security and promoting rural development. India has announced an ambitious ...target of substituting 20% of fossil fuel consumption by biodiesel and bioethanol by 2017. India has announced a national biofuel policy and launched a large program to promote biofuel production, particularly on wastelands: its implications need to be studied intensively considering the fact that India is a large developing country with high population density and large rural population depending upon land for their livelihood. Another factor is that Indian economy is experiencing high growth rate, which may lead to enhanced demand for food, livestock products, timber, paper, etc., with implications for land use. Studies have shown that area under agriculture and forest has nearly stabilized over the past 2–3 decades. This paper presents an assessment of the implications of projected large-scale biofuel production on land available for food production, water, biodiversity, rural development and GHG emissions. The assessment will be largely focused on first generation biofuel crops, since the Indian program is currently dominated by these crops. Technological and policy options required for promoting sustainable biofuel production will be discussed.
Since the 1960s many democracies and prosperous authoritarian states have abolished national military service but in recent years that trend has been reversed in several European states - owing ...primarily to the changing security environment - and, more surprisingly, in Arabia. Three Gulf Cooperation Council states, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates recently introduced conscription for their armed forces. Although this development may be explained in part by emerging external security challenges, this paper argues that the primary explanatory factors are intraneous: socioeconomic reasons, military-strategic motives, and political considerations. The article contends that the most important objective of the Gulf governments that introduced conscription is nation-building, that is, to deepen the relationship between citizens and the state.
With its nuclear provocations and missile launches, North Korea has been viewed as a major impediment to building a cooperative security order in East Asia. What is puzzling, however, is that it is ...North Korea that has sparked a range of regional initiatives from South Korean governments. What is the role of North Korea in South Korea's search for a new regional order in East Asia? Does the nature of inter-Korean relations affect the types of regionalism sought by South Korean governments? To address these questions, I examine the scope and priorities of the regional initiatives led by the four South Korean presidents in the past two decades. I argue that the nature of inter-Korean relations and the foreign policy orientation of South Korean leaders in power explain the different types of regionalism pursued by South Korean governments.
The purpose of this article is to eliminate methodological discrepancies in the definition of the problem of “hybrid” use of force and the possibility of using this construct when interfering in the ...internal affairs of states. In any conflict situation, the behavior of states in moving towards their national goals can be explained through how they do combine and synchronize (as it is often defined at the present time — «hybrid») the use of means of compellence and coercion available to them. In general, conceptually «hybrid war» can be described as “the synchronized use of multiple instruments of national power, specially selected to obtain mutually reinforcing effects on specific vulnerabilities across the entire spectrum of social processes. The substance of the modern security environment has led to an increase in the number of areas of conflict of interests of actors, the complexity and dynamism of conflicts, and the unpredictability of their outcomes. The formation of the practice of attribution of international responsibility, and the development of the international institutions supporting it, took place gradually and, ultimately, led to such a development of the international security environment, which made an appeal to «hybridity» to promote national interests in the process of political competition of social groups or individuals with divergent interests for power inevitable. The problem of terminology is one of the main obstacles to a clear understanding of the operation of the «hybridity» construct in political competition. The active use of the definition «hybrid» by propaganda in combination with the terms «war», «threats», «hostilities in the gray zone», «operations», «tactics», «competition does not turn into a state of war» political discourse, since these terms are almost never linked to the definition of the desired state of international relations by the state leadership. And if we are talking about the outcome of the collision of interests of actors in competition or conflict, then this desired result is «historically» defined by the term «victory». Thus, the definition of the substance of «victory» is a necessary initial point to onset analyzing the possibilities of turning to any of the instruments of national power in a «hybrid» confrontation.
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