Taking Sides In Peacekeeping: Impartiality And The Future Of The United Nations

United Nations peacekeeping has undergone radical transformation in the new millennium. \u27Taking Sides in Peacekeeping\u27 explores this transformation and its implications, in what is the first conceptual and empirical study of impartiality in UN peacekeeping. The book challenges dominant scholarly approaches that conceive of norms as linear and static, conceptualizing impartiality as a \u27composite\u27 norm, one that is not free-standing but an aggregate of other principles-each of which can change and is open to contestation. Drawing on a large body of primary evidence, it uses the composite norm to trace the evolution of impartiality, and to illuminate the macro-level politics surrounding its institutionalization at the UN, as well as the micro-level politics surrounding its implementation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, site of the largest and costliest peacekeeping mission in UN history. This book reveals that, despite a veneer of consensus, impartiality is in fact highly contested. As the collection of principles it refers to has expanded to include human rights and civilian protection, deep disagreements have arisen over what keeping peace impartially actually means. Beyond the semantics, the book shows how this contestation, together with the varying expectations and incentives created by the norm, has resulted in perverse and unintended consequences that have politicized peacekeeping and, in some cases, effectively converted UN forces into one warring party among many. The author assesses the implications of this radical transformation for the future of peacekeeping and for the UN\u27s role as guarantor of international peace and security

Generating cryptographic initialization vectors from SSD wear metrics

Data encryption on storage devices is achieved by the application of a suitable cipher mode. Many commonly used cipher modes require an initialization vector (IV). An IV is not secret, yet it must not be reused with the same encryption key in order to preserve confidentiality. A storage device can generate and store a unique IV alongside each encrypted block; however, this capability is not commonly available in mass market implementations. Instead, encrypted storage devices commonly use cipher modes that don’t require an IV, e.g., XTS. However, these have well-known vulnerabilities. This disclosure presents techniques that deterministically derive IVs for block encryption such that they are not stored, yet preserve the property of never being reused

Generalized Expectancy and Athletic Performance

Rotter\u27s (1966} locus of control concept has been used to validate the belief that athletics builds character. Internality is defined as the belief that reinforcement follows or is contingent upon one\u27s own behavior. Externality is the belief that reinforcement is controlled by forces outside oneself, and independent of one\u27s own actions. Previous authors have suggested that athletic participation fosters the development of an internal locus of control. Results have been inconclusive. The goal of this study was to investigate the range of scores on the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale among female professional golfers. It was hypothesized that locus of control would be predictive of level of performance. Level of performance was operationalized by a performance scale including each player\u27s average earnings per event and average strokes per round for the 1986 season through the month of July. Forty-eight members of the Ladies Professional Golf Association\u27s tournament division participated in the study. The mean age of participants was 28.32 years. The mean number of years on the professional tour was five. The mean average earnings per event was $1865.72, and the mean average score per round was 74.76. Locus of control was found to have a null relationship with golf performance. The importance of mental strategies and performance evidenced a slight, but nonsignificant relationship. No relationship was noted between the importance of mental strategies and locus of control. Explanations for a null relationship between golf performance and locus of control include the potential need for sport-specific measures of locus of control, and a perhaps, ill conceived relationship between high performance (or achievement) and internality. The relationship of locus of control and performance may more closely resemble the theological paradigm which suggests that a belief in a sovereign God requires a balance between internal and external control since one must balance God\u27s sovereignty with personal responsibility. It may be that a balanced locus of control is more indicative of a realistic mental perspective which recognizes the reality of personal responsibility versus unpredictable external factors in athletic performance

A SMASHing approach for developing staff and student digital capabilities within a community of practice

SMASH is a student-led partnership which considers how social media could be used to enhance learning and teaching. Mentored by their tutor, members of the team identified three key areas where social media may be utilised: within learning activities, as a means of organising learning and as a way of showcasing learning. The three strands of this framework have provided a focus to develop a range of resources and the foundation for a digital toolkit. This case study reflects upon not just the outputs developed thus far, but also on the experience, the learning gained and the sense of belonging and identify as a result of being part of this community of practice

An Investigation of the key factors and processes that underlie the contemporary display of biological collections in British museums.

Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), museums are experiencing a longawaited redisplay renaissance in the early 21 st century. The thesis, prompted by the observed renaissance, explores and examines the factors and processes involved in the redevelopment of biological displays in British museums. Using a qualitative, grounded theory methodology and analytic process, the research focuses on three case study museums; Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, the Great North Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter. Informed by preliminary research, the main study employs the semi-structured interview method to collect primary data from key project team members. To triangulate findings from the interviews, and develop an overarching theory, complementary primary and secondary data was also collected in the form of project reports, meeting minutes, photographs, etc. The findings demonstrate that 'accepting change' in the museum is key to the redisplay of biological collections. The single most important change in these redevelopments has been the approach to the redisplay process; namely the shift from the curator-driven model to the team approach. This has, singlehandedly, transformed the key elements of the process; decision-making and communication, whilst introducing the important element, teamwork. By applying a team approach, powers of decision making are shared across team members and work progresses more rapidly. It also ensures that the final gallery incorporates the educational, design, conservation and curatorial aspects. The driving factors were also uncovered in the course of the research. Categorised as internal and external factors, some were more influential than others; the collections and project team members (internal) and the audience and funders (external) proved particularly influential in early stages of the three projects. The findings from this research contribute to the limited museological research into contemporary biological redisplays. It debates the shifting paradigms and new display processes in British museums, but future research could develop the grounded theory to investigate and test gallery redisplays worldwide

Synthesis and analysis of precise spaceborne laser ranging systems, volume 1

Measurement accuracy goals of 2 cm rms range estimation error and 0.003 cm/sec rms range rate estimation error, with no more than 1 cm (range) static bias error are requirements for laser measurement systems to be used in planned space-based earth physics investigations. Constraints and parameters were defined for links between a high altitude, transmit/receive satellite (HATRS), and one of three targets: a low altitude target satellite, passive (LATS), and active low altitude target, and a ground-based target, as well as with operations with a primary transmit/receive terminal intended to be carried as a shuttle payload, in conjunction with the Spacelab program

Close Cousins In Protection: The Evolution Of Two Norms

The Protection of Civilians (PoC) in peacekeeping and the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) populations from atrocity crimes are two norms that emerged at the turn of the new millennium with the aim of protecting vulnerable peoples from mass violence and/or systematic and widespread violations of human rights. To date, most scholars have analysed the discourses over the status, strength and robustness of both norms separately. And yet, the distinction between the two has at times been exceptionally fine. In this article, we analyse the constitutive relationship between PoC and R2P, and the impact of discursive and behavioural contestation on their joint evolution within the UN system and state practice over three phases (1999–2005; 2006–10; 2011–18). In so doing, we contribute to the International Relations literature on norms by illuminating ideational interplay in the dynamics of norm evolution and contestation. More specifically, we illustrate how actors may seek to strengthen support for one norm, or dimension of a norm, by contrasting it or linking it with another. Our analysis also reveals that while the two norms of R2P and PoC were initially debated and implemented through different institutional paths and policy frameworks, discursive and behavioural contestation has in more recent years brought them closer together in one important respect. The meaning ascribed to both norms—by representatives of states and institutions such as the United Nations—has become more state-centric, with an emphasis on building and strengthening the capacity of national authorities to protect populations. This meaning contrasts with the more cosmopolitan origins of R2P and PoC, and arguably limits possibilities for the external enforcement of both norms through any form of international authority that stands above or outside sovereign states. This article forms part of the special section of the May 2019 issue of International Affairs on ‘The dynamics of dissent’, guest-edited by Anette Stimmer and Lea Wisken