EUPHRATES SHIELD: AN ANALYSIS OF TURKEY’S INTERVENTION IN SYRIA

Author(s): Cătălin Alin Costea / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Starting with the civil war in Syria in 2011, its neighbors, especially Turkey,Lebanon and Jordan, faced a series of major issues that had a substantial impact on their security, domestic and foreign affairs. The growing flow of Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict, as well as the border instability generated by the conflict between the various actions on the ground, created tensions at Syria's border with these states and put pressure on the governments of Ankara, Beirut and Amman. Among these, only Turkey decided to intervene decisively by conducting a military operation in Syria to remove threats to national security. Therefore, this article aims to identify the reasons behind Turkey's decision to intervene in Syria on 24 August 2016. The working hypothesis of the article is that the occupation of more territories at the Turkish-Syrian border by the Kurdish forces (YPG)fueled Ankara's concerns about the possibility of creating a Kurdish state at the Turkey’s border. Thus, the Turkish president has approved a military intervention in Syria in order to prevent this scenario. At the same time, the article aims to analyze the costs and benefits of Turkish army following this operation.

SECURITY TRANSFORMATIONS DUE TO THE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT CHANGES. CASE STUDY: CHINESE AND RUSSIAN INFLUENCE OPERATIONS

Author(s): Gheorghe-Alexandru Gabroveanu,Corina Stan / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This study will provide the findings of an analysis of the measures taken by two of the main actors of the international stage: China and Russia against or for the Internet 2.0 era.While Russia adopted (voluntary or not) a more visible strategy using Internet for spreading ideas and messages in order to promote the Kremlin's propaganda, China has a more silent exposure of this phenomenon.One of the challenges of this study was to show if the strategy adopted by China(banning and restricting its population unlimited access to the Internet), which was chosen to protect the Chinese citizens of so-called western malign influence and propaganda, was intended to create more disinformation.

SECURITY IN THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION: BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND CONTENT IN STRATEGIC ADAPTATION

Author(s): Iulia Moise (Badaluta) / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper aims to explore how the concept of security is addressed in the information age. It argues that the information revolution is not fundamentally or primarily about technology. It is also about the content (the message per se), about information overload and malign efforts of manipulating the public opinion and the decision-making process. Therefore, this paper outlines the pervasive threat coming from the deceptive use of information for hostile purposes and makes case for the urge to consider the protection of the information space against pollution (manipulation) as a significant dimension to national security. Last but not least, this article highlights the critical role the Academia community should play in guiding the policy-making process. It pleads for a partnership between the scholars and policy-makers in order to revolution the way they address the security challenges in the information age.

AL-QAEDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA –PROFILE, HYPOTHESES AND PREDICTIONS

Author(s): Alexandru STOICA / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

AQAP, whose original purpose was to overthrow the Saudi monarchy,resulted from the merger with Yemen's Al-Qaeda, in 2009, whose stability was well anchored at national level. Since that period, which corresponds to the weakening of Al-Qaeda's terrorist projects in Pakistan, AQAP has seen an increase in its power and influence. The ability to organize international attacks, to capture Yemeni cities and regions through local groups, or to train foreign fighters, the South-Arab branch of the Al-Qaeda network gets an aura among terrorist organizations at a time when there is an increasing lack of certainty regarding the future of the parent organization.

THE STRATEGY FOR EVALUATING THE APPLICATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL AND TOXIN WEAPONS CONVENTION

Author(s): Iulia Staicu,Viorel ORDEANU,Mihail-Silviu Tudosie / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

From the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) the most dangerous are the biological weapons (BWs) that use living organisms, which after their dissemination, can get out of control and their effects could thus be devastating. As such, BWs were the first WMD sto be prohibited by means of law by the United Nations (UN) thus in 1972, at Geneva, the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) was signed.As a result, the necessity of a coherent strategy that could evaluate the application of the BTWC at a national and international level emerged and specific mechanisms of evaluating the convention’s application were created, including at UN level. Yet, because of the contradiction between, on the one hand the need for transparency and on the other hand the need for maintenance of the military secret, these evaluation methods were not efficient.As such, some states possess or could possess own BWs, creating a potential danger for the international community.In this article we aim at presenting some elements of the strategy for evaluation of the application of the BTWC.

CONCEPT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LEGAL MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN THE BIOLOGICAL AND TOXIN WEAPONS CONVENTION

Author(s): Mihail-Silviu Tudosie,Iulia Staicu,Viorel ORDEANU / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Geneva Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC 1972)provisions must be respected by all signatory countries, while non-signatory countries are required to refrain themselves from using those kind of weapons. BTWC allows signatory countries to possess and use reasonably small amounts of biological agents of war – BAW (grams) for defensive purpose of scientific research for obtaining new means of diagnosis, prevention and treatment. But living biological agents can be multiplied on demand in any amount, or toxins may be bio synthesized in any amount as specific ammunition for biological weapons.It means that the implementation of the Convention is a complex action and difficult to achieve in practice. In this situation, effective legal measures for the worldwide implementation of BTWC must be set, but concrete actions are more difficult to implement. UN, as an international body, is able, to enforce and to monitor the compliance with the Convention, being helped by other entities, such as the Security Council, the World Health Organization (WHO), etc.

ALTERNATIVE NATIONAL DEFENCE AND SECURITY STRUCTURES DURING THE COLD WAR PERIOD. CASE STUDY – ROMANIA AND THE BALKANS

Author(s): Diana Cristiana Lupu,Gligor Vaidean / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The paper presents the alternative national defence and security structures,be they considered public security organisations, official governmental paramilitary structures or militias, existing in some countries during the Cold War period, focusing on the situation in Romania and the Balkans. The presentation is contextualised, taking into account the tensions between the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states) and the Western Bloc (the United States of America and its allies), divided along ideological lines after the end of the World War II, the existence of the two main political-military alliances(the Warsaw Pact and NATO), as well as the main crises and phases in the Cold War, in general, and in the Warsaw Pact, in particular. In the mentioned context, in some countries,certain structures other than the regular military were established to provide additional defence in the event of outside attack, the emergence, organisation and role of the ones related to the Eastern Bloc, especially those in Romania and the Balkans, being presented in the paper.

THE COLD WAR GENEALOGY OF DONALD TRUMP’S CRITICISM OF NATO BURDEN-SHARING

Author(s): Alexandru MUNTEANU-LUCINESCU-CASELLA / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Since assuming office, Donald Trump turned the burden-sharing among NATO members into one of the most contentious issues of the transatlantic relations so that his stance became a relevant topic for research and debate. Given that the roots of Trump’s criticism are to be found during the final years of the Cold War when he began to widely publicized his dissatisfaction with the major financial loss for the United States that, in his view, resulted from the defence it provided to its allies around the world, framing his views in the policy towards NATO burden-sharing followed by the United States during the Cold War, which is the purpose of this paper, contributes to further the understanding of his current position on this topic. For this purpose, in the first section of the paper are highlighted and described the two approaches to the NATO burden-sharing developed at the political level in the United States from 1949 to 1989 and the importance that successive presidents of the United States attached to them during that period is considered. In the second part of the paper, these approaches are used for analysing Trump’s influential open letter from 1987 and the widely commented speech he delivered the same year at Portsmouth Rotary Club, which both addressed the financial aspects of the defence by the United States of its allies and which turned him for the first time into a potential presidential candidate. The paper concludes that Trump’s position was not out of the ordinary because it reflected the political debates on NATO burden-sharing that took place in the United States during the Cold War and that a correct understanding of it is highly relevant for his present position on this topic given that he continued to hold the essence of it after the end of the Cold War.

ALLIANCES AND PARTNERSHIPS OF THE 21st CENTURY

Author(s): Doina Muresan / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Alliances and partnerships are one of the modern world systems built by great efforts in almost three quarters of a century. However, in the last two decades, there have been difficulties in finding a consensus on the characteristics of strategic alliances adapted to new developments. If we refer to the United States, not only have they achieved a leading position using this instrument, but they are at the top of two thirds of the world’s economic activity; they also have a similar activity in terms of military expenditures. Yet, as Michael Mullen said in relation to current partnerships, we cannot continue to make an integrated version of what we have done in the past.Finding a new model for alliances and partnerships does not mean that traditional alliances,based on a set of tactics whose strategic utility has been widely demonstrated over the last century, are overcome. But it suggests the need for another dynamic, based on the new identities and new features of the context, with a fundamental role in an ever-changing, constantly changing landscape with a direct link to the new predicted dynamic of power.

THE CHANGE OF THE NEW GENERATION OF THREATS TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY

Author(s): Iulian Chifu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

National security threats and risks have evolved in ways that are putting under a question mark the very change in nature of the new generation of threats. Technology, social media, their impact on the society, as well as new instruments of hybrid nature which determine huge rifts in our democratic liberal societies are creating a new environment and new categories of threats that have never showed up before. Moreover, this type of changes have tremendous impact on the resilience of democratic societies, on the public support for spending in the security field and on the perception of the threats, including those of conventional source– military operations, espionage, subversion.

MILITARY-PATRIOTIC YOUTH EDUCATION IN TRANSNISTRIA: TROJAN HORSE, STATE BUILDING OR STATUS QUO?

Author(s): Corneliu Corman / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This article examines the understudied phenomena of military-patriotic youth education in Transnistria. In recent years, particularly following the annexation of Crimea in 2014, there has been an increase in the overall number of activities, as well as a proliferation of ways (‘modes of learning’) the ‘education’ is delivered. The number of youth being educated has also increased, and the ideological tools and concepts have evolved, with greater focus on Transnistria links to the Russki Mir (Russian World), and the identity of Transnistrians as a‘people’ (therefore capable of self-determination). From this we can conclude that funding has also increased and that this is a long-term project, with an expectation there will be a return on investment. As such, military-patriotic education activity provides a useful indirect proxy indicator of future scenarios for the region, in terms of unification, independence and the status-quo. The conclusions offer recommendations for Moldovan authorities that focus on how to mitigate against the negative aspects of military patriotic youth education in Transnistria.

THE CONCEPT OF SOCIETAL SECURITY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON ROMANIA’S NATIONAL SOCIETAL SECURITY

Author(s): Octavian Victor Mihail Dima / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Societal security refers to how certain social phenomena or processes can generate evolutions that can constitute threats to the survival of societies. The management of such social processes with high potential for insecurity requires complete and interdisciplinary analysis using the most appropriate analytical methodologies. In this context, the main objective of this article is to outline the concerns for the assessment of societal security at European level using complexity theory and identify how they can be used to analyse the societal security of Romania. To meet this objective we will analyse the data provided by the study Europe’s Societal Challenges – An analysis of global societal trends to 2030 and their impact on the EU, done by RAND Europe and, based on its results, we will identify the impact of those trends on our country.

THE SECURITY OF EUROPE: SAFEGUARDING FREEDOM IN THE CONTEXT OF CROSS-BORDER THREATS

Author(s): Ion Alexandru Manoliu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In the recent years, security, freedom, especially the social, political, economic and religious sectors, with their set of individual and group rights have been undermined by the growing international terrorism as the number of victims scaled up. The measures taken to preserve the safety of the European continent, including the use of police and military force where impacted by the need to manage relations with a determined Russia trying to impose its geostrategic importance, the pressures exerted by migration and the influx of refugees, UK’s decision to leave the EU, and the separation of European states in main and second-hand actors. With the emerging challenges of the European security and their dynamics, the paper concentrates on the future agenda of the EU states. Special attention is given to the Copenhagen School with regard to security in politics, society, economy, and religion, with the hope that all incoming measures are to fulfill the defines and safeguarding requirements of the population.

CONTESTING INTERNATIONAL NORMS REGARDING SOVEREIGNTY, SELF-DETERMINATION AND LOGIC OF CONFLICT IN THE BLACK SEA REGION. THE NEED FOR LEADERSHIP IN FRONT OF THESE THREATS

Author(s): Mihai Panait / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This article presents some considerations regarding the geopolitical and strategic importance of the Black Sea region and potential threats or risks to security, stability,prosperity and cooperation. The study tries to demonstrate the availability of some solutions for the improvement of peace and stability in this part of the world. The international norms regarding the sovereignty and the self-determination, and the logic of conflict in the Black Sea region, needs to be discussed more and have to be analysed in detail.Much has been written about the importance of the Montreux Convention (1936) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in many books, memoirs or studies, and every day around the world, people or organizations discuss the major problems after the Russian-Ukraine conflict.Political leadership could be the key point for security and prosperity in the Black Sea region,in Euro-Atlantic and Euro-Asian areas. Only together, bridges can be built over the Black Sea for present and future generations

THE FUTURE OF EUROPEAN SECURITY. MEASURING RESILIENCE

Author(s): Ştefan-Antonio DAN-ȘUTEU,Răzvan Grigoraş / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

This paper underlines some directions for measuring the resilience of European Union in the field of Security, achieved through analysis and extrapolation of several indicators released by the International Futures with Pardee Program1: (1) the state failure index (SFI),(2) the technology power (TP), (3) the threat sent to the rest of the world (TSRW) and (4) the threat received from the rest of the world (TRRW). The paper starts from the assumption that resilience represents a tool for shaping efficiency in European Security. The results of projected indexes in 2035 reveals the need for a commonly shaped resilience framework. The research shows that the increased technological development and innovation capacity will generate potential disruptive technologies with applications in the field of security and defence. Finally,the paper takes into account four Weak Signals for shaping a more mature and a more resilient Union in 2035

Jan Král, kurýr československé sekce při francouzské zpravodajské službě SDECE

Author(s): Jiří Řezníček / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

The study deals with intelligence activities of the courier Jan Král, who entered the service of the Czechoslovak section of the French intelligence service Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (External Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service) after emigrating to the West at the turn of February and March 1951. From the summer of 1951, he carried out his intelligence tasks under the code name Karel Košut. His activities comprised of construction of a network of collaborators, transporting messages and acquiring intelligence information about the military, economic and political situation in the CSR. He crossed the state border in South Bohemia in the area of Zvonková – Kyselov – Růžový Vrch (U Korandy). He was dispatched with his tasks by senior officer and exile Josef Němeček from Veselí u Přelouče to Prague, Plzeň and other places. He used Radio Free Europe for his work, through which he sent messages, primarily concerning successful crossings of borders back to West Germany. He was also involved in people smuggling of Czechoslovak citizens to the West. Král mostly operated in the Český Krumlov region, where he was born and where he created a network of collaborators consisting of some of his family and friends. They helped him primarily as liaisons in delivering messages or they provided him with shelter. Král’s arguably most important task was to place a transmitter with a suitable person. He handed it to Josef Krnínský in November 1952. It was supposed to be used during an anticipated armed conflict to send intelligence information from the rear of the communist armies. Upon returning from one of his journeys, Král touched a high voltage wire while getting over a wired barrier and died instantly.

Osobný príbeh „agenta-chodca“ Živodara Tvarožka

Author(s): Slavomír Michálek / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

The presented study looks into the personal story of Živodar Tvarožek, a son of Minister of Finance of the Slovak National Committee, Tomáš Tvarožek. Živodar Tvarožek was among the passengers on the Dakota aircraft, whose escape was prepared by former RAF members. After a short stay in Munich and Frankfurt, he returned to Slovakia as an “agent-walker” upon the suggestion of Michal Zibrín and was tasked to revive the old and open new intelligence contacts and to inform the western Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) about the development in Czechoslovakia. After a short time, he was arrested and charged with anti-Czechoslovak espionage in a political trial. The original death sentence was changed to a life sentence and later to 20 years of imprisonment. He worked in uranium mines until the amnesty. After his return to civilian life, he worked as a workman. He lives in Bratislava.

Summaries

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Odluke i stavovi vijeća sigurnosti UN-a o genocidu u Srebrenici

Author(s): Alija Kožljak / Language(s): Bosnian Publication Year: 0

The United Nations (UN), as the most representative representative of the international community, was established to ensure international peace and stability, prevent aggression or other violations of peace, and protect human rights and lives, while respecting the principle that every sovereign state is an equally important member. Therefore, the UN has both the right and the responsibility to take appropriate measures and actions against those who do not comply with international regulations in this regard, including sanctions. The genocide, committed in Srebrenica and neighboring municipalities in 1995, is the most heinous example of inhumane behavior and violations of international norms, which has unequivocally confirmed the ineffectiveness of the international community in preserving peace and preventing human suffering. However, in addition, the UN Security Council further confirmed its inconsistent action through the absence of full and adequate sanctioning of organizers and perpetrators of genocide. Of particular concern is the fact that the UN Security Council, as it did not take effective measures to prevent aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus the Srebrenica genocide, did not take appropriate decisions and positions even after the genocide, until today. Despite UN International Court of Justice rulings on genocide in and around Srebrenica, the UN Security Council has never adopted a resolution, which formally confirms this. The aim of this text is to analyze the attitude of the UN Security Council on the genocide in Srebrenica. The research is focused on the decisions, attitudes and other activities of this body during and after the commission of genocide.These influences are determined through the analysis of UN Security Council documents, other international documents as well as national documents of member states. The consequences caused by such actions are also elaborated, which have a very wide range of implications, both for the countries concerned, as well as for society and the wider international community. The concluding remarks emphasize the importance of the decisions made and the views expressed, as well as those not adopted, suggesting alternative procedures, which would possibly represent some satisfaction, but to some extent also direct the future actions of the UN Security Council.

Rezolucija 819 – Srebrenica, april 1993.

Author(s): Merisa Karović-Babić / Language(s): Bosnian Publication Year: 0

Relying on a detailed reconstruction of the “nine days of hell”, as ICTY judges characterized the period after the fall of Srebrenica, the public discourse on the Srebrenica genocide is completely dominated by July 1995 topics. However, the representation of earlier periods in historiography, which refer to very dynamic events within Srebrenica during 1992, 1993 and 1994, also occupies a significant place on the scale of research on topics related to the genocide in Srebrenica. Several important books, scientific and professional papers have been published on these issues, in which, for the most part, documents of military units surrounding and attacking Srebrenica were used as basic source material, primarily documentation of the VRS Drina Corps and the Yugoslavian Užice Army Corps. Based on the cited literature and available documents related to the events in Srebrenica from the beginning of 1993, the paper will present a synthesis of the circumstances that preceded the adoption of Resolution 819 in the United Nations Security Council. Relying mainly on the available documentation of UNPROFOR and the United Nations, the aim of this paper is to clarify what the newly appointed safe zone status has essentially brought to this area. Also, the adoption of resolutions related to safe zones was preceded by a series of discussions in the Security Council, with special reference to the question of what these zones should be called. Safe havens, protected zones, demilitarized zones and ultimately safe areas, were some of the proposals and, each of the above terms implied substantial differences in the status of these areas. In this paper, we will try to explain the essential differences between all these names, and finally, offer explanations why the Security Council opted for this name - safe areas. The paper will analyze the main shortcomings of the mentioned resolutions and other documents of the Security Council, ambiguities on the demilitarization of Srebrenica and Žepa, insufficient presence of UN forces, as well as ambiguity of UNPROFOR’s mandate in this area.