Inter-organizational cooperation within national counterterrorism communities has improved since 9/11, yet some disturbing difficulties have also been reported. This article explores the strengths and weaknesses of inter-organizational cooperation, the potential opportunities for improvement and the threats in the case of weak cooperation using a sample of 100 counterterrorism experts. The results of a quantitative SWOT analysis reflect a deep division between the strengths and weaknesses of inter-organizational cooperation that strongly affects the extent to which emerging opportunities to improve it are being undertaken. The paper proposes a three-dimensional strategy to improve cooperation that focuses on interactive, procedural and analytical measures
COBISS.SI-ID: 32034653
The article deals with basic elements of the changing nature of contemporary security in the context of globalisation processes and fundamental changes in the security environment following the Cold War (1989/90). Within this framework, it reconsiders the response of theory and practice to the fundamental shift in traditional state behaviour from national to global security and finally to human security. Globalisation as a security challenge is dealt with through two basic approaches: (1) the neoliberal that especially stresses the role of states as key actors in the international community; and (2) the liberal-constructivist whose central elements are the relative decline of state power and the rise of the role of global social values. The article departs from the genesis of the security concept, it then deals with some new elements of the content of contemporary security and deliberates on issues of global security. It continues with human security and its origins, especially some theoretical and practical dimensions of the concept of human security. At the end, the article summarises the challenges and dilemmas of contemporary security and offers concluding remarks.
COBISS.SI-ID: 30587485
The disruption of any critical infrastructural sector has the potential to create significant direct consequences and cross-sectoral effects in a short period of time. In this article, we suggest a consequence-, time- and interdependency-based risk assessment approach that seeks to identify which direct consequences and intersectoral effects are likely to emerge in what time frame. We argue that critical infrastructures with the capacity to cause the greatest societal consequences and strongest intersectoral negative effects in the shortest time represent the most risky infrastructures. Such a direct risk assessment was further improved by a network-based risk calculation that takes not only first-order effects into account, but also then-order intersectoral cascading effects. Applying this model to 17 infrastructural subsectors in Slovenia shows that the network transfer of effects among critical infrastructures can considerably and unpredictably change their initially calculated risk. The riskiest subsectors at the maximal level of network effects turned out to be those on which other subsectors heavily directly and indirectly depend: electricity, ICT, road transport and financial instruments. Risk management in the critical infrastructure protection field and related defence in depth should focus its limited resources on those infrastructures with the biggest network-based risk.
COBISS.SI-ID: 32107101
Among the indicators of transformation of the defence policy is participation in activities ensuring the international peace and security; e.g. deployments to peace operations. Slovenia is actively participating in peace operations over the past 17 years, however we have lately measured decline of the public support for peace operations. There are several reasons for such opinion, yet the data shows that the level of risk plays an important role. The acceptance of risk in a certain society is ultimately tested when de facto or merely potential military death casualties are raised. Several dimensions influencing the acceptability of risk have already been analyzed, although only three are examined in this article, namely, the historicopolitical, sociodemographic, and cultural. The Slovenian public opinion survey persistently shows strong risk aversion among Slovenians and the article's purpose is therefore to (1) establish how can the strong risk aversion be explained by the selected dimensions; and (2) identify what part of the population is most risk-aversive. To that end, over twenty years of Slovenian public poll data are analyzed using a triangulation of statistical methods, revealing a cultural pattern of safety bubble versus risk awareness. As the risk aversion model reveals, Slovenian society represents a safety bubble, with strong risk aversion and a very narrow selection of activities worth making sacrifices for. Death casualties are rarely accepted, even if incurred in support of ideals society strongly appreciates, like humanitarian causes.
COBISS.SI-ID: 31879005
This article offers a general overview of civilian crisis management in the EU, its mechanisms and instruments, the nature of civil-military cooperation (coordination), and an overview of civilian crisis management missions. Particular attention will be paid to the EULEX Mission in Kosovo as a case-study of how participating civilian experts judge both the mission itself and the mission preparations (i.e. selection and training of personnel, mission strategy, mission related activities, the problems identified etc.). The article will argue that seemingly trivial operational details, such as personnel selection, the quality of pre-deployment training and advance preparation are important factors which, if not properly coordinated, could jeopardise EU goals in the field of crisis management. The author also presumes that unregulated civil-military cooperation and coordination can lead to the failure of crisis management operations.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3158216