The everywhere border: Digital migration control infrastructure in the Americas

The US is building a digital border infrastructure in neighbouring countries that expands and deepens surveillance, while hiding state violence. The implications of this new infrastructure will be long-lasting and need to be integrated into strategies of resistance of migrant justice movements worldwide

Gender, feminism, and blogging in Egypt

This research is focusing on blogs in Egypt. It aims at finding out how effective blogging is in promoting equality and freedom of expression between men and women. It is trying to provide an overview of whether blogs aim to challenge the prevailing gender assumption of the society trying to achieve more liberating ways for women to exist in the world or not. The blogging trend is still on the rise, and several researches are assuring that the number of blogs and bloggers will continue to increase. Results found support for these forecasts and showed that women are actively involved in blogging. In addition, previous results in addition to this researchâ s findings prove that blogs are considered to be a way for bloggers to express themselves, especially for women

The principle of distinction and modern armed conflicts: a critical analysis of the protection regime based on the distinction between civilians and combatants under international humanitarian law

This thesis interrogates the applicability of the principle of distinction in modern armed conflicts. The distinction between combatants and civilians and between civilian objects and military objectives has become blurred as a result of the changes that have taken place in modern armed conflicts. While the principle of distinction was tailor made to regulate traditional, conventional armed conflicts, an evolution in the nature, means and methods of warfare has made the application of the principle of distinction challenging. One of the challenges that arise as a result of the changes that have taken place in modern armed conflicts include the difficulty of distinguishing civilians and civilian objects, which are entitled to protection under international humanitarian law from combatants and military objectives which are legitimate targets. This has compromised the protection that the law seeks to offer during armed conflicts since civilians and civilian objects have become constant targets. Another challenge is that the involvement of civilian persons in armed conflicts has made it difficult to determine the responsibility of these individuals as well as the states that hire them for violations of international law during armed conflicts. Furthermore, the emergence of new methods of warfare has resulted in many objects and facilities that are traditionally regarded as civilian objects becoming military objectives, thus losing their protection under international humanitarian law. This thesis will use the examples of the involvement of private military and security companies in armed conflicts as well as the emergence of drone and cyber warfare to illustrate these challenges. The study will examine the application of the principle of distinction to the growing practice of outsourcing of military services to Private Military and Security Companies. Firstly, the study will examine the status of PMSC personnel under the principle of distinction, that is whether they qualify as combatants or civilians. The study will then examine the consequences of PMSC personnel’s participation in armed conflicts. Importantly, the study will explore responsibilities of states that hire private military and security personnel, PMSC companies as well as superiors in charge of PMSC personnel for any violation of international law committed by contractors during armed conflicts. The study will also examine the application of the principle of distinction to drone and cyber warfare. The study will examine the status of drone and cyber operators under the principle of distinction as well as the applicability of the principle of distinction between civilian objects and military objectives in drone and cyber warfare. The study will discuss some of the problems that arise as result of the introduction of these new methods of warfare, which makes the application of the principle of distinction to modern armed conflicts challenging. The thesis concludes by arguing that while the principle of distinction remains an indispensable concept of international humanitarian law, it needs to be adapted for it to be applicable to modern armed conflicts. Therefore, suggestions shall be made on how the principle can be adapted to ensure that it remains relevant to modern armed conflicts

IRAN AND ISRAEL’S NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE AFTERMATH OF 2003 REGIME CHANGE IN IRAQ

Abstract Following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Iran has continued to pose a serious security threat to Israel. The US initially occupied Iraq, ultimately overthrowing Saddam Hussein’s regime, in the belief that it would be able to replace that government with a pro-American administration which would counteract the threat from Iran. Instead, the balance of power in the Gulf region was radically altered and Iran, which saw Iraq as its first line of defence against the increasing threat from Israel, sought ways to prevent the US from taking control of Iraq. This failure by the US to stabilise Iraq paved the way for Iran to expand its influence over the region and altered the ‘balance of threat’ making it an actual threat to Israeli national security. This led Iran, as part of its deterrence and forward-deployment strategy, to initiate a cold war with Israel by accelerating its nuclear programme and its support, both financial and military, of Hezbollah In order to explain any changes to Israel’s stance on security since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, this study examines that country’s national security policy since the invasion, looking at the perceived threat from Iran, in the form of its nuclear capabilities, and its forward defence strategy. This study suggests that the US was so focussed on implementing regime change in Iraq, in the belief that this would instigate the introduction of democracy to the region, that it failed to foresee the wider geopolitical implications of the power vacuum which would occur. The result was that the way was left clear for Iran to exercise its influence over the region and to alter the balance of threat against Israel. This study argues that, in order to better understand Israel’s new security status, it is essential to explore the Iranian threat, which is characterised by its development of nuclear capabilities and the forward defence structure which can be seen in Tehran’s alliance with Syria and Hezbolla

Identity theft

Recognized as one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States, identify theft has eluded customary, reactive systems of containment, due to its rapidly changing nature, the dependency upon legislative and corporate efforts and the perceptions of the law enforcement and the business industry, which minimizes its impact. The prevention strategies have been ill matched to the nature of the crimes or interceded after the crimes have been committed. In order to institute comprehensive identity theft protection, including the conviction of the criminals, a system sensitive to the changing nature of the crimes, the access a criminal has to personal identifying data and one which is proactive in nature is needed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the usefulness of the routine activity theory (RAT) in the understanding of identity theft. The interview data were analyzed to explore the perceptions of the stakeholders, their evaluation of the usefulness of the application of this theory, and to determine more effective identify theft protection. Using an ethnographic paradigm, a cross sectional representation of the stakeholders, twenty five law enforcement professionals, offenders and victims were provided with five general and five specific to each group of stakeholders (interviews) and probing (conversations) inquires to determine the current state of practice and whether their responses supported that RAT would be advantageous in the containment of this crime. The analyses of the data revealed that RAT would be useful in the understanding of identity theft, provide a framework to modify the state of practice from a retrospective analyses after a theft was committed, to preventive measures, and that no ample framework was present. Implementing RAT as a theoretical model would be more pragmatic and incorporate a more global approach to the standard of practice. The confounding conditions, such as the guardedness of the disclosed information, the limited access to archival records, the offenders available for the study, and the lack of formative studies to systematize the data indicated that additional research is needed. These include: (1) categorization of the interview data into propositions, and (2) the benefits of educational programs for governmental and law enforcement officers using RAT as proactive system in the reduction of these crimes

Virtual punishment in the making: When citizen journalism enables processes of shaming and online victimization

Film clips and still pictures captured by civilians, or citizen journalists, are increasingly used as evidence by judges or the police to prove specific accounts of events. This kind of visual data is, however, not without problems. The aim of this paper is to analyse how viewers perceived a mobile phone film clip as naturalistic data, enabling processes of shaming and eventually a ‘justice’ process on the Internet, including virtual punishment of the person filmed by the photographer. In the clip, a taxi driver records video of an agitated female customer whom he hinders from leaving the taxi. The film is then distributed on YouTube, where it attracts remarkable negative attention. However, the film clip is only one of several possible accounts of the filmed incident, as demonstrated by the police report about the incident as an alternative account showing that viewers cannot rely on the citizen journalistic film clip as objective, naturalistic data