South American Defense Council: What it Means for Regional Security?

The South American Defense Council (CSD), created in March 2009 as a military coordinating body of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) demonstrates a growing trend among Latin American countries to approach matters of regional security independent of the United States. The CSD also indicates a maturation of democratic civil military relations in a region once dominated by authoritarian military regimes. The CSD aims to facilitate the exchange of information about regional defense policies, promote collaboration for disaster relief, and promote civil-military engagement. In less than a year it is hardly a tested entity, but the presence of 12 South American states coming together around security policy marks an important moment in the evolution of civil-military relations in the region. Brazil has taken on an important leadership role in the CSD, acting as a leader in recent regional peacekeeping efforts. As a geopolitical move, Brazil also sees a benefit in promoting good relationships with all countries of South america, given its common border with nine of them. Although the United States is not a member of the CSD, the organization\u27s agenda of infromation exchange of defense policies, military cooperation, and capacity building, including disaster assistance and preparedness provide opportunities for greater collaboration. The CSD is not part of the Inter-American System created after the Second World War. It is unclear how its work will coincide with the OAS Committee on Hemispheric Security or its Secretariat for Multidimensional Security. The U.S. should view the CSD as a mechanism to promote joint initiatives that encourage democratic governance in the region

¿Podrá salvar la reforma a la ONU? Oportunidades para la creación de un organismo multilateral eficaz para el siglo XXI

Se ha escrito profusamente sobre el tema de la reforma de la ONU. Este artículo intenta ampliar la documentación al respecto situando el proceso de dicha reforma en el contexto de los acontecimientos actuales. En concreto, se pregunta si el modo en el que la ONU abordó la guerra en Irak era un indicio de la incapacidad futura de negociar con EEUU en el foro mundial, o si el episodio simplemente se reduce a una situación excepcional que no implica necesariamente que el Consejo de Seguridad sea ineficaz. Aunque no me ocuparé de los detalles específicos de las acciones de la ONU con respecto a Irak, sí que debatiré de qué modo la agenda de la actual reforma ha estado dominada por la división creada por la falta de acción por parte del Consejo de Seguridad a la hora de sancionar una guerra. También examino de qué modo los actuales planes de reforma pueden dar lugar bien a una institución revigorizada, bien a una cuyo papel se limite a aquellas situaciones que EEUU y sus aliados consideren que está preparada para abordar

Taiwan-China Balancing Act in Latin America

This ARI reviews the current state of the Taiwan-China relationship in light of the current challenges Taiwan faces in keeping its Latin American allies loyal. More opportunities for shifting alliances now exist, especially given the current global economic meltdown which has had an impact on both China and Taiwan’s ability to sustain its assistance to many Latin American states. Taiwan-China relations in Latin America are at a crossroads. This paper starts with an overview of Taipei’s struggle to ensure the support of its Latin American allies, in face of a fast growing and increasingly appealing Beijing. It then focuses on two case studies, St Lucia and Costa Rica, which have recently switched allegiance. St. Lucia has flipped back and forth; while Costa Rica ended a 63-year relationship with Taiwan in June 2007 and recognised the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Whether other countries follow suit is unclear. However, the risk of a domino effect favouring Beijing is real, as underscored by recent developments in Panama, Haiti, Nicaragua and Paraguay. It seems that economic concerns are shaping Latin American governments’ reactions to Taiwan and China’s struggle for sovereignty. As the PRC’s trade and investment pull increases and Taiwan’s declines, it seems that Taipei is set to lose one of its last strongholds

A face democrática: a falência da assistência ao desenvolvimento e as reformas na área de segurança

This article discusses how the reform of the defense section is essential for completing the transition processes of political regimes dominated by military to democratic regimes. The reform of the defense section is defended as a condition to establish a good governability, guaranteeing the bases not just for the political development, but mainly for the economic and social, of countries that have faced the violence of conflicts and/or política/regimes of force.Neste artigo, discute-se como a reforma do setor de defesa é es­sencial para completar os processos de transição de regimes políticos domi­nados por militares para regimes democráticos. Além disso, defende que a reforma desse setor é condição para estabelecer a boa governabilidade, garantindo as bases para o desenvolvimento não apenas político, mas princi­palmente econômico e social de países que enfrentaram a violência de confli­tos e/ou regimes políticos de força

An insight into the deep web; why it matters for addiction psychiatry?

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Laura Orsolini, Duccio Papanti, John Corkery, and Fabrizio Schifano, 'An insight into the deep web: why it matters for addition psychiatry?', which has been published in final form at doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.2573. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.ABSTRACT Objective. Nowadays, the web is rapidly spreading, playing a significant role in the marketing/sale/distribution of ‘quasi’ legal drugs, hence facilitating continuous changes in drug scenarios. The easily renewable and anarchic online drug-market is gradually transforming indeed the drug-market itself, from a ‘street’ to a ‘virtual’ one, with customers being able to shop with a relative anonymity in a 24-hour marketplace. The hidden ‘deep web’ is facilitating this phenomenon. The paper aims at providing an overview to Mental Health’s and Addiction’s professionals on current knowledge about pro-drug activities on the deep web. Methods: A non-participant netnographic qualitative study of a list of pro-drug websites (blogs, fora, drug marketplaces) located into the surface web, was here carried out. A systematic Internet search was conducted on Duckduckgo® and Google® whilst including the following keywords: “drugs”/“legal highs”/“Novel Psychoactive Substances”/“NPS” combined with the word “deep web”. Results: Four themes (e.g. ‘How to access into the deepweb’; ‘Darknet and the online drug trading sites’; ‘Grams-search engine for the deep web’; and, ‘Cryptocurrencies’) and 14 categories were here generated and properly discussed. Conclusions: The present paper represents a complete/systematical guideline about the deep web, specifically focusing on practical information on online drug marketplaces, useful for Addiction’s professionals.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Livelihoods, conflict and aid programming: Is the evidence base good enough?

In conflict-affected situations, aid-funded livelihood interventions are often tasked with a dual imperative: to generate material welfare benefits and to contribute to peacebuilding outcomes. There may be some logic to such a transformative agenda, but does the reality square with the rhetoric? Through a review of the effectiveness of a range of livelihood promotion interventions—from job creation to microfinance—this paper finds that high quality empirical evidence is hard to come by in conflict-affected situations. Many evaluations appear to conflate outputs with impacts and numerous studies fail to include adequate information on their methodologies and datasets, making it difficult to appraise the reliability of their conclusions. Given the primary purpose of this literature—to provide policy guidance on effective ways to promote livelihoods— this silence is particularly concerning. As such, there is a strong case to be made for a restrained and nuanced handling of such interventions in conflict-affected settings.Department for International Development - PO511

The Be/X-ray transient 4U 0115+63/V635 Cas I. A consistent model

We present photometry and high SNR spectroscopy in the classification region of V635 Cas, the optical counterpart to the transient X-ray pulsator 4U 0115+63, taken at a time when the circumstellar envelope had disappeared. V635 Cas is classified as a B0.2Ve star at a distance of 7-8 kpc. We use the physical parameters derived from these observations and the orbit derived from X-ray observations to elaborate a model of the system based on the theory of decretion discs around Be stars. We show that the disc surrounding the Be star must be truncated by the tidal/resonant interaction with the neutron star and cannot be in a steady state. This explains many of the observed properties of 4U 0115+63. In particular, because of this effect, under normal circumstances, the neutron star cannot accrete from the disc, which explains the lack of regular Type I outbursts from the source.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, uses aa.cls. To appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics Main Journa

The Be/X-ray transient 4U 0115+63/V635 Cassiopeiae. III. Quasi-cyclic variability

4u 0115+63 is one of the most active and best studied Be/X-ray transients. Previous studies of 4u0115+63 have led to the suggestion that it undergoes relatively fast quasi-cyclic activity. However, due to the lack of good coverage of the observations, the variability time scales are uncertain. Our objective is to investigate the long-term behaviour of 4u 0115+63 to confirm its quasi-cyclic nature and to explain its correlated optical/IR and X-ray variability. We have performed optical/IR photometric observations and optical spectroscopic observations of 4u 0115+63 over the last decade with unprecedented coverage. We have focused on the Halpha line variability and the long-term changes of the photometric magnitudes and colours and investigated these changes in correlation with the X-ray activity of the source. results The optical and infrared emission is characterised by cyclic changes with a period of ~ 5 years. This long-term variability is attributed to the state of the circumstellar disc around the Be star companion. Each cycle involves a low state when the disc is very weak or absent and the associated low amplitude variability is orbitally modulated and a high state when a perturbed disc precesses, giving rise to fast and large amplitude photometric changes. X-ray outbursts in 4u 0115+63 come in pairs, i.e., two in every cycle. However, sometimes the second outburst is missing. Our results can be explained within the framework of the decretion disc model. The neutron star acts as the perturbing body, truncating and distorting the disc. The first outburst would occur before the disc is strongly perturbed. The second outburst leads to the dispersal of the disc and marks the end of the perturbed phase.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, Tables 2 and 3 in electronic form onl