Destabilization: the threat to the “Global Village”

WRITTEN BY Jonathan Lucas

In the last years, academic enquiry and political actions have progressively focused their attention on risk management, particularly the evaluation of risks and vulnerabilities. Destabilizing factors, often associated with rapid urbanization, the extensive and often abusive exploitation of natural resources and advances in technologies, have improved human conditions while contributing to unpredictable vulnerabilities. For example, the benefits of the Internet have been mitigated by the operations of cyber criminals. In the “global village”, the digital age has further enhanced the interdependence and interconnectivity between communities and countries.

Are “drugs” the consequence of economic and political destabilizing factors?

WRITTEN BY Doris Buddenberg

Every society and culture has the stimulants and intoxicants it deserves, needs and tolerates. Since hallowed antiquity, alcohol has been THE intoxicant for the western culture. Alcohol is so much part of the culture that few can imagine life without it. Aside from stating this fact, can the link between drugs and culture be developed further? Some examples might help to clarify the concepts and categories that would allow a closer look at the interdependence between drugs and culture.

Corruption undermines health care systems: a human rights issue

WRITTEN BY By Dr. Margot I. Witvliet

Human Rights and Corruption The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was established in 1948. It is one of the most impressive historical documents to date because it was agreed upon by nearly all countries around the world and it does not pertain to the norms of one nation. The UDHR states that all people have the right to security. Corruption is a destabilizing factor that violates a person’s human right to security. In both high-income and low-income parts of the world rampant corruption in society is a problem and it is a violation of human rights. It compromises not only a country’s economic system, but also its health care system.

When citizens start destabilizing the power of mafia

WRITTEN BY By Renato Accorinti and Federico Alagna

The impact of the mafia on our societies is complex and multidimensional: it affects our politics, our economy, our culture, our development and our opportunities. In other terms, it affects our society as a whole. The reason is that the mafia is something more than mere organised crime. Sociologist Umberto Santino has identified the characteristics of the mafia stricto sensu as “crime, accumulation, power, cultural code, consent.” (1)Additionally, the definition itself of the mafia-type association in the Italian criminal code stresses the condition of intimidation, subjugation and “omertà” (conspiracy of silence) that must exist in order for a mafia-type association to be considered such.(2)

The value of natural capital: a risk or an opportunity?

WRITTEN BY By Franca Roiatti

What is the value of a forest? And that of a river? The answer depends on whom you ask: indigenous people who depend on the forest and consider trees and water streams to be sacred surely have a totally different idea than the manager of a timber company.

Illicit trafficking of precious metals and its destabilizing factors in systems of affected countries

WRITTEN BY By Peter H. Bishop

Illicit trafficking in precious metals(1)is an integral part of a growing international trend, of which the continued existence depends on organised crime, corruption and developmental inequalities. The problem of illicit trafficking in precious metals entails organised criminal groups exploiting loopholes in national and international legislation as well as gaps in the trade monitoring procedures.

Environmental crime and instability: the role of criminal networks in the trafficking and illegal dumping of hazardous waste

WRITTEN BY By Valentina Baiamonte and Elise Vermeersch

Amongst environmental crimes, trafficking and illegal dumping of waste has become a significant source of revenue, attracting growing interest of unscrupulous brokers as well as criminal networks. This crime poses not only a serious threat to the environment and human health, but has also become one of the causes for social and economic instability.

Contemporary racism across Europe

WRITTEN BY By Veronika Bajt

Developments in a number of countries worldwide show that the power of racist ideas remains strong, even forging movements and political parties that can result in deadly consequences. Various daily manifestations of racist hate speech and discrimination are a reminder of the persisting importance of this phenomenon as a social and political issue in the contemporary global environment, for racism remains a vibrant influence on current social and political movements, even on state policies.

Explaining violence and social disorganization in Ciudad Juarez

WRITTEN BY By Robert Muggah and Carlos Vilalta

Destabilizing factors in urban settings The most visible manifestations of urban violence encompass physical and psychological harm against persons – from homicide to other forms of victimization. For more than a century social scientists have also studied the ways in which violence reconfigures social and spatial relations and triggers cycles of insecurity and fear that span generations.

Destabilizing the future: the Lebanese Diaspora

WRITTEN BY By Erik Chiniara

A country with no youth is a country with no future It is hard to delimit the percentage of Lebanese emigration every year. We do not know exactly how many people leave Lebanon. The political sensitivities of the country preclude efforts to collect reliable data on the number of emigrants.

Albinism in Africa: Interview with Stéphane Ebongue Koube

WRITTEN BY By Hana Abul Husn and Marina Mazzini

How do you define albinism in Africa? Apart from the scientific definition that connects it to rarity, melanin and skin tissue, in Africa one must include prejudices in the definition of albinism. There are many prejudices. For example, people believe that albinos are immortal, have the ability to see at night, that parts of their body are useful for magical potions. So it is one thing to be an albino and another still to be an albino in Africa due to these types of prejudices.

The death penalty: a child rights issue and a public health issue

WRITTEN BY By Helen Kearney

"I'd never thought about any of these people having a family (…) it was like they were hatched and grew up in isolation (…) Now I wish people could understand that everyone who is executed had a mother and a father, maybe brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, friends, whatever, and that each one of these people have been hurt and impacted by the execution." Irene Cartwright, whose son was executed in 2005, in Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights Reports, Creating More Victims, 2006

Webcam child sex tourism: stopping the growing number of predators

WRITTEN BY By Raffaele K Salinari

Among many others the Webcam Child Sex Tourism (WCST) is one of the emerging crimes against children and represents a violation of the United Nations Conventions on child rights. WCST is illegal in most countries. Some have laws prohibiting adults from conversing with minors about sex.

The last stop

WRITTEN BY By Prableen Kaur

Violent extremism is the last stop in a long process. It is the most visible type of extremism and it creates deep and painful traces in many people’s lives. With hindsight we ask ourselves over and over what we could have done differently. It is not necessarily wrong if we do it to learn, but if we do it to undo what cannot be undone, our starting point is wrong. We do not have time to regret. We have time to act and we must do that all the time, because violent extremism is about people’s lives.

China’s commitment to the United Nations Convention against Corruption

WRITTEN BY By Giovanni Nicotera

In its 2012 survey covering 178 countries, Transparency International ranked China at 3.5 in what is called the Corruption Perception Index, the 80th country, together with Serbia and Trinidad and Tobago. To see things from another point of view, China was the fourth-lowest ranking of G20 nations with only Argentina, India, Indonesia and Russia scoring lower.

Rethinking security governance: a new security architecture

WRITTEN BY By Francesco Marelli

Security risks are a constant for any human society. Human beings and human societies have always strived to create an order that secures their lives, jobs, properties and the future of their children. The risks that prevented the achievement of this goal have mostly been similar throughout history and include wars, famine, economic crisis, climate change, natural disasters, technological catastrophes, terrorism, and crime. These risks have remained to be a reality even in modern times, but today they have become more difficult to address. In present times, they have become more unpredictable and operate in an unprecedented manner often blurring our ability to foresee them and take adequate preventive measures.

Tackling cyber crime and cyber terrorism through a methodological approach

WRITTEN BY By Babak Akhgar & Andrew Staniforth

All Western governments are now searching for ways in which to ensure their cyber national security. To maximise the vast economic and social opportunities that cyberspace has to offer, the British government has transformed its approach to cyber security, setting out a new vision towards 2015 in its cyber strategy: The UK Cyber Security Strategy: protecting and promoting the UK in a digital world. The new strategy now serves to increase all Law Enforcement Agency cyber-related efforts that contribute to its four primary strategic objectives shown in Figure 1.