Contemporary Threats – RegioSec https://regiosec.com Regional Security Wed, 10 Nov 2021 22:22:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.7 https://regiosec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cropped-logo512-32x32.png Contemporary Threats – RegioSec https://regiosec.com 32 32 Covid 19 and law enforcement https://regiosec.com/covid-19-and-law-enforcement/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=covid-19-and-law-enforcement https://regiosec.com/covid-19-and-law-enforcement/#respond Wed, 08 Apr 2020 19:00:42 +0000 https://regiosec.com/?p=1846

Covid 19 and law enforcement agencies during the pandemic crisis

Five biggest challenges

There is a tremendous influence between pandemic crisis of COVID 19, and law enforcement agencies. The fact that law enforcement agencies are one of the most important parts of the government after the health system, in a pandemic crisis like this in early 2020, we have to understand what are the mutual challenges of every country regarding the inner security of the state. The problem of quarantine, health self-protection, ongoing and new criminal investigations, reorganization, and civic disobedience are only some of many. The pandemic crisis is not very common, and unlikely other types of crises that law enforcement agencies deal with, this one is not short – we can say that it is a protracted crisis that can last for months. Here, we will try to identify interdependence between COVID 19 and law enforcement agencies, and 5 challenges for security and law enforcement agencies that have to be dealt with during the crisis and what is essential for them is that we have to conduct them in time – before they erupt and evolve from challenges to threats

  1. Lockdown / Quarantine

There is a big One of the least popular measures that the government can oppose but a significant number of countries have made this step, is a quarantine. One after another, countries have closed schools and universities, interdict sports and cultural events, gatherings of more than a specified number of people (depending on the country)… Many countries first imposed quarantine to people who were infected and with minor symptoms or the ones who were in contact with an infected person. That quarantine was between 14 and 28 days and for those who had no, or suffered minor symptoms, quarantine was a self-isolation. This also affected police forces, but we will come to that. Some countries, after realizing that it will be difficult to keep people in their homes, relying only on their common sense, reached out to a lockdown and curfew. 
Stay at home

This will additionally burden the law enforcement agencies that had little time to prepare and organize. Stucked with daily jobs and obligations these agencies now have to deal with controlling thousands of people in self-isolation and the whole population during the curfew. A big challenge that requires enormous effort.

2. Spreading panic/False news

Panic button

 

False news or misinformation is not a new phenomenon in the 21st century, but in a time of crisis, it can bring unrest and panic into the population, which can then result in a threat to the security. By addressing this problem we will stop, or at least reduce misinformation that leads to panic. Traditional media are not the problem – the problem rests in the social media. Social media is the place where everyone can write or share the information which we can use as a benefit but on the other had it can be an enormous problem for the public order. When some news, from a questionable source, is shared a couple of thousands of times, it gets more accepted and as adopted by readers, as the news from a recognized media company. This presents a major problem when the news is about the number of deaths, the number of infected people, deficiency of medical supplies, etc. 

The law enforcement agencies and different departments that deal with cybercrime, have to participate in finding the sources of that misinformation, especially if that misinformation can be a criminal act, and process it. Also, the government has to publish this effort and to notify the public of most of these processes, because in that way the citizens will have information about the false news, and they will be more aware of the existence of such information.

1.      3. Internet crime

Connected with previous, is internet crime. Sharing false news, and putting them in a context where people take them as truth is not a crime. At least not a big one. What we mean with this internet crime, is more like organized scams, and even pedophilia and other types of crime where predators lurk through the social networks and different forums, seeking for a victim. It is not yet proven, but we have to suspect that this kind of crime will unfortunately rise. Why? Most of the countries imposed measures like lockdown, quarantine, and curfew. These measures can raise the usage of home computers, the internet, social networks, forums, etc. If this is so than it is expected that this type of crime will also rise.

The bigger issue, if we look cybercrime, was presented by the Interpol, where they explain three very dangerous types of cybercrime in this pandemic crisis – Malicious domains, Malware, and Ransomware (read more)

Hacker

4. Guidelines for law enforcement agencies

Closed police station

The job of courageous people in law enforcement is to protect citizens from various threats and crime with prevention but also with bringing to justice of those who committed a crime. But to successfully do this, we have to know how to protect them. Men and women who are in constant contact with citizens and with each other. For that, agencies have to make a very important decision on how to protect their workers. And this is not only the equipment. Strict guidelines on how to act when in contact with an infected or suspicious person. Men and women who work in law enforcement have to keep the work even in these kinds of situations. They’re not as endangered as the ones in the health system but still – “in the first line”.

Secondly, reorganization and prioritization inside the agencies, because of two things

  • lack of people because of new assignments and prioritizing between departments (patroling, speaking with citizens and giving them directions, patrolling and checking the ones in self-isolation, etc),
  • minimizing the number of people in shifts (because of necessary social distancing regarding curtailment of infection).

Of course, this shouldn’t be done at the expense of the purview of law enforcement, and this is why it is so challenging.

5. The economic impact of a lockdown and quarantine

Many experts think that after this pandemic is over we will face another recession on a global scale, and this is not without arguments. The economy is slowing down, some companies are temporarily closed, and some are working but with reduced capacity. It would be extremely optimistic if we think that economy will exit this crisis without consequences. And, even though this is not an issue of the law enforcement agencies, if we look deeper we can predict social disturbing and unrest amid this situation. Governments are preoccupied with the current situation, but experts in law enforcement shouldn’t sit tight and wait for turmoil to come, and not only the riots but different types of misdemeanor and crime, violent and non-violent. The time after the pandemic crisis, some governments can be more challenging than the pandemic itself. For others, it will still demand commitment and expertise.

What are the biggest challenges for law enforcement will face

In the end, what can we learn from this situation?

Even though this crisis came unexpected and hit most of the countries, globally, we still have to learn from this. To get out this situation with some knowledge. First, we should never forget this situation as we did before. Governments should always keep in mind that this could happen. Law enforcement agencies, who are the foundation of security and safety of the country and its citizens have to have in mind the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and keep exercising with the knowledge from 2020. This knowledge should contain primarily from experience in reorganization and prioritization of work. This experience is valuable in every kind of crisis from time to time those agencies should train and conduct exercises and in that way stay alerted. With this valuable experience, we should be prepared to act before the challenge grows to be the threat.

In the end, we cannot forget international cooperation. Many countries were hit by the COVID-19 crisis and even though they had a similar situation, some of them experienced bigger challenges and diverse problems. With that in mind, it is essential to exchange experiences and knowledge because that is the way we will meet the next crisis a bit more prepared.

]]> https://regiosec.com/covid-19-and-law-enforcement/feed/ 0 COVID-19: Who is more responsible? Government or citizens? https://regiosec.com/covid-19-who-is-responsible-government-or-citizens/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=covid-19-who-is-responsible-government-or-citizens https://regiosec.com/covid-19-who-is-responsible-government-or-citizens/#respond Wed, 18 Mar 2020 18:54:11 +0000 https://regiosec.com/?p=1824

COVID-19: Who is more responsible? Government or citizens?

COVID-19

A new virus Covid-19 is not at our doorsteps anymore; it came into our houses and we all have to be serious and fight it together. It is a contemporary threat to the state that every one knows about today.  If we really want to blame the others, we will have plenty of time after we take a victory over this threat. We can, of course, say that China didn’t take proper measures at the beginning, but we also can say that neither Italy nor Spain did. Or any other country that has an immense problem with the virus today. But let us not. Or at least save it for better times.

The weakness of the countries, in these cases, is that they are led by politicians who, even when they want the best for the country, aren’t immune to thoughts of what impact the decisions will have on the party or the current government. If the government loses the trust of its citizens, every measure imposed by the government will be questioned, and that is the situation that has to be avoided.

We all have to be socially responsible today!

All citizens have to take measures in their micro-world. If we see our selves as responsible for our community, it will be easier for the government and state agencies to stop the spreading of the virus. Be the one who cares! Be the one who is going to change the world. Yes. The governments’ job is to protect us, but this fight is more about how every one of us can contribute to the fight. If government requests of every citizen who could be in touch with the virus, to stay at home, and 90% listens, it is not enough. That means that if 5000 people are requested to stay at home, and 4000 listens – 1000 won’t. That 1000 will get in touch with the next 5000 or more, and that is how the virus will still spread.

Most of us will probably be in contact with the virus. Some before and some later on

Some experts say that we have to expect that around 60% of people will be infected with Covid-19 at some point. If 7% of them need intensive care that is an enormous burden for any health care. Even the greatest ones. So the fight isn’t only to stop spreading the virus but to reduce the number of people who needs intensive care at every moment. To try to evenly deploy the ones who have the virus, over time. Let us all contribute to this fight! For every elderly person. For every person with a health problem that is dangerous if combined with Covid-19. For the feeling that we have contributed to the fight, and did our best to save people from our community. For the healthier surrounding; not only physical but mental as well. Let us not look for the guilty ones, but stand one next to the other and be kind and full of empathy.

Girl with the mask

In the end, who is responsible?

Comunity is everything

The responsibility is on every one of us. The government has to do its job and take measures to maintain public health, and to take care of every other aspect of its responsibility, but every one of us has the moral duty to help this fight and to commit to the community in every way we can.

After all, as Mahatma Gandhy said: „Be the change you wish to see in the world“. In these harsh times, only if every one of us does what is best for all, will make us beat this turmoil that will not be over when the virus is gone. The crisis that will probably occur after this fight is where we will see if we are matured and evolved as human beings to the level where we say we are.

 As we can see, there are many security challenges that are different than traditional threats. Although we have examples where some countires have these kind of threats on their doorsteps, we can say that most of the countries have to deal with other issues that involves contemporary security challenges. All this challenges and influence on certain countries we will try to explain and also we will strive to give answers to this threats. That is our goal.

Take care and be good – RegioSec 

]]> https://regiosec.com/covid-19-who-is-responsible-government-or-citizens/feed/ 0 Russia and the Western Balkans is getting stronger? https://regiosec.com/russia-in-the-western-balkans/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=russia-in-the-western-balkans Mon, 08 Apr 2019 18:54:00 +0000 https://regiosec.com/?p=1659

Russia in the Western Balkans: Is Russian influence getting stronger?

chess

Western Balkans. The backyard of the European Union as someone said. But if it really is a backyard of the European Union, why is it so hard for the EU to maintain its influence, and what are the reasons for strong Russian influence in this region? Why is it so hard to finally have the Balkan region without threats to some kind of conflict? In all of these possible conflicts, one party is Serbia and the other is different from time to time. Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and even Orthodox-majority Montenegro. EU is constantly trying to be the one to finally bring peace to the region but that is hardly possible because others want to be the peace-givers also, and the main problem is that Russia wouldn’t prefer the peace that is brought by the USA, NATO or EU, and vice versa, so there is a constant “diplomatic fight“ in Balkan countries. Furthermore, West wants to show that their project on the Balkan from late XX and early XXI century is still ongoing and Russia uses this conflict to justify their meddling in Ukraine, Georgia, and Crimea.

In that sense, the Balkan region is one of the „diplomatic battlefields“ where, whoever brings peace, will show the other global powers his strength. This region lost the priority over other, bigger conflicts in the world but still, no side wants to leave the region and let it „to its destiny“.

How the strife between Serbia and Kosovo helped Russia to increase the influence

The biggest issue in the Balkan now is the frozen conflict between Serbia and its seceded territory, Kosovo. At the end of the 20th century, there was a civil war that ended with peace and the UN Resolution 1244 that, in short, said that Serbian government should recall all of its security forces from Kosovo, to welcome international community and its organizations and in future to negotiate about the feasible solution. Twenty years later there is still no solution and it is hard that it will come in the near future.

In 1999. the western powers decided to bomb Yugoslavia because of the conflict in Kosovo and Metohija. It was first planned to do it under the auspices of the UN but as Russia wanted to use the veto in the Security Council, it was decided to do it under the patronage of the NATO. Was it an attempt to bring peace or just to impose influence in the region it is hard to say, but it is hard to accept that those global powers thought that Serbia will stand down and welcome the plan for independent Kosovo without any conflict. Russia then came as one of just a few powers that still considered Kosovo as a part of Serbia.

Balkan-Usa-EU-Russia

The fight between east and west in Balkan was seen clearly also in 1999. when Russian troops seized the airport in Prishtina before KFOR came to Kosovo just to show the dominance. Again, after Kosovo unilaterally declared independence (2008.), in June 2009. US vice president Joseph Biden came to Serbia and shortly after, in October the president of Russian Federation visited Serbia. And every few years, the prime minister or president of Russian Federation visits Serbia or Serbian officials go to Moscow. Not to mention the Russian economic connections over natural resources, banks and oil companies in most Balkan countries. That is a clear confirmation that the Balkan region maybe doesn’t have the highest priority in Russian interests but still is one of the regions where Russia, as well as western powers, see the opportunity to raise influence and dominance on a global scale. And Serbia is it not the only Balkan country where Russia wants to increase influence. Also, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro has economic relations with Russian federation over credits, the pipeline that should go through Serbia to Croatia, Slovenia, and the EU, and remarkably, many politicians carefully use words when speaking about Russia.

Furthermore, if the peace is the only thing that the western countries wanted, many other illogical moves were played, which literally made space for Russia to enhance its influence in Serbia with whom they share Slavic origin and Orthodox religion.

The aftereffect of unilateral decisions on a dialog

Is it hard to anticipate the consequences of supporting unilateral decisions of one side in a dialog that supposed to end the conflict and to help in the reconciliation of the people in the region? It doesn’t matter which side is that you support but when you recognize the decisions that are made outside of a dialog and without the consent of the other side, you send two messages.
The first message is to the side that made the decisions you support. That message represents aliment and encouragement for the next decisions. That side gets the message of sustenance for the future and, legitimately expects the recognition of every future unilateral declaration.
The second message is to the other side, where you send your determination of openly supporting the other party in a dialog. It is not strange that, as a consequence of that support, that side is pushed to look for the support of other powers. What should the other party expect from the dialog if unilateral decisions are almost always supported before they are even negotiated?

Serbia between the EU and Russia

The west strongly criticizes Serbian closeness with Russia but refuse to see that besides the fact that Serbia and Russia were relatively close through history, it is west that, with the moves that they take, actually helps Russia in keeping the dominance in a country that wants to become the member of EU. Moreover, during his visit to Republic of Serbia in January 2019., Putin said that Russia has many friends on the Balkans but that he sees Serbia as a strategic partner wich, with frequent bilateral meetings, shows that they are trying to keep and increase the influence and that Balkan is still very interesting for both East and West.Here we come to the paradox that a country like Serbia strives toward the EU but at the same time looking for support from Russia and China for the problem of Kosovo. It is a Gordian knot for the Balkan and South-East Europe that is hard to be solved in the near future. At least if the same tactics are used by western countries, the EU and the international community. „Apart from the energy sector and oil and gas imports, Russia’s role in the Serbian economy has been insignificant. In 2005-2013 Russia invested 598.4 million euros in Serbia, which is 4.5% of all foreign investments carried out over that period“ (Russia in Serbia – soft power and hard interests – Marta Szpala, OSW)

What is to be done to start the reconciliation?

The reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo is almost impossible. Albanians from Kosovo think that they have the right to have their own state, and Serbs are resentful on the thought that Kosovo can be an independent state. Although Serbs are a minority in Kosovo, Serbia is very much connected to that territory for it was the crib of Serbian civilization. More than 1300 monasteries and churches of which more than 150 were destroyed after 1999. so the Serbs are afraid to stay in a country on their own. Also, the rhetoric used by politicians on both sides don’t really help people feel more secure.

As well, maybe the first thing that all countries in the former Yugoslavia should do is to start talking more about themselves and less about the others. As long as we accuse others of crimes, and at the same time avoid speaking of our own, the reconciliation is as far as we can imagine.

Besides all these hard issues it seems like the western community doesn’t have a perception of the dispute between Balkan people and what is the core difficulty of reconciliation. On the other hand, there is Russia, who strongly supports Serbian arguments and say that they will recognize Kosovo only if Serbia, as a central government, recognize it first. Until then, they consider Kosovo as a Serbian territory under the Resolution 1244. It can be that Russia uses this situation because of their own interest, but nevertheless, they speak what Serbs want to hear, about international law and how everyone should comply with it. They use arguments like international law, Resolution 1244, sovereignty and territorial integrity and in the eyes of people in Serbia, it seems like they care.

shake hands

More understanding of the overall situation is needed from the international community

The German government is openly against changing borders even though they weren’t against it when it came to changing borders of Serbia in 1999. That is why the Serbs are even more impending the German arguments because in Serbian perspective it doesn’t represent an objective insight and it seems like double standards. This is also one of the reasons why it is so hard for Serbs to accept any deal.
US government, in the last year, is more opened for a final deal, and don’t have anything against any deal that is accepted by both sides in the negotiations. However, this support maybe came a little late, because the Kosovo government came with a platform for the negotiations that is unacceptable for Serbia.

More honesty from all global powers is what this region needs but it is something that is almost impossible to get, because of the geopolitical situation and the possibilities that this region provides. The possibilities for the west to keep its dominance, and possibilities for the east to regain the influence and domination they want to have.

As a result of the last 30 years of politics and interests of the Balkan countries as well as international community and global powers, we came to the point where the full reconciliation is almost impossible and that situation is a fertile ground for rising capacity in today’s geopolitics.
]]> Economic migration from Balkan countries and the consequences of this phenomenon https://regiosec.com/economic-migration-from-balkan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=economic-migration-from-balkan Tue, 12 Feb 2019 18:31:37 +0000 https://regiosec.com/?p=1554

Economic migration from Balkan countries

and the consequences of this phenomenon

Economic migration

The economic migration from Balkan to Western countries is not a new phenomenon. This, we can say anomaly, is something that is happening for a long time, but it has been multiplied since the beginning of the 1990s. Maybe Slovenia does not have a big problem with this, but it would still be a lie if we say that Slovenia is resistant to it. Other states from former Yugoslavia, along with Albania, Bulgaria and also Greece suffer great damage to the state labor market,  pension fund, and budget because of this problem. Can we be so opened to say that this could be a big security problem for these states? Well, YES! It can be a major problem and we will try to explain why.

According to statistics made from the government of the Republic of Serbia, in the year 2041. in the Republic of Serbia will live around 6.830.008 inhabitants which is 404.091 inhabitants less than in the year 2011. This problem is not only in the number of the population. The problem is more complex than that. In the same year, from the same source of the data, children younger than 15 make up to 14,4% of the population while in the year 2041. it will be 11,7% of the population. At the same time, people older than 65 (now around 17,3%) will make 25,2% in 2041. and the number of people older than 80 years will increase from 3,5% to 7,8% in the same year. These numbers mean that the economy will suffer.

To look inside the problem, first, we have to see who is migrating and why

For this migrations, we had different reasons depending on the situation. Armed conflicts in Croatia, Bosnia and at the and of the 1990s in Kosovo, made people run from war. In the 1990s more than 3.000.000 people migrated in EU countries, the USA, Australia etc. After the year 2000, the reasons are either the political environment or economic reasons but in many cases both of them. Young people don’t see the future in the system that is deeply into corruption nore they see a political figure that will change the country to better. They have lost the trust in the government and the future that they see for themselves is not primarily associated with their mother country. 

train and boy

The problem is not only the number of people that are going to seek for a better life but also, who are those people

Not everyone can get a job in Germany, Austria, Sweden… only those who are experts in the line of industry that is lacking manpower. The states that welcome those experts are growing their economy and states that these people are coming from, will suffer a great labor market problem in the future and not be able to grow their own economy. No state that has a problem with the outflow of young people can expect constant economic growth in the future.

This problem is not a problem for Serbia only. All the states in the Balkans are dealing with a similar problem. Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Greece, Romania… some of those states have a bigger problem and some not so big, but the problem is there. Some of those states are trying to deal with this problem and some are not. However, the problem exists, whether we want to admit it or not.

The big question: What to do with this „drain of brilliance“?​

The term „drain of brilliance“ represents the fact that brilliant people are migrating and looking for a better life and better opportunities. Young people with perspective, whether they are well educated or not. It is not the only problem for the country to stay without engineers, IT experts, doctors… it is problem with simpler jobs that need experience and knowledge also. The electricians, people in the construction industry, wooden industry… that kind of jobs are in demand in western countries as well.  It represents the term when smart people are leaving their country to find an opportunity for a better life. Most of these young people are educated and brilliant in their field and it is a great loss for the country to lose these people for they can be one of the pillars of a good and viable country. Most people that leave those countries are between 24 and 30 years old, although the number of people older than 30 and 40 is not negligible.

 We have to face problems because problems will not solve themselves. The biggest challenge for government is how to deal with that kind of problems and be reelected on the next elections. The measures that the government has to take to fight corruption, poverty, nepotism and other anomalies that follow non-viable state, are not as popular as politicians would like it. In Serbia, the biggest employer is public and not private sector and with that kind of structure, we come to the insolvent country. A country that cannot fill the budget and a country that spends more money than it has. With that situation, the government has to take loans and increase the external debt of the state and young people see that the future is uncertain so they want to get their careers and raise children in a more secure environment.

To answer the question „what to do to stop the decreasing of the population“, we have to know what is the source of this phenomenon

The source can be two things: bigger mortality than natality in a state and migration of the people from the state to another country. If we look it that way, the solution is a little bit complex.

Empty swing

From the year 1930. Serbia doesn’t have natality as big as it would have to be to have a simple reproduction of the population (to have the balance between natality and mortality). To deal with this problem, the government has to do many different decisions. The standard of living has to increase, health care should be better in term of conditions in hospitals, as well as without corruption. Also, the professionalism of the staff is very important but as time is passing it is less and less possible to get to a satisfying level of professionalism and to maintain it. Fantastic doctors are leaving. Nurses, professors, and other people that should be the foundation of professional health care. 

Young couples also expect some benefits for families with more than two children, which every government is promising but they don’t deliver. Every year, Serbia stays without a town of 30.000 people due to small natality, and if this tendency continues that is 300.000 people every ten years, and as we said earlier, the consequence is the older population in a country.  

The other problem is the migration of the people that are searching for a better life in a foreign country. The reason for these migrations is not only bigger salaries although it is the first thing that comes in mind. The problem is bigger than that. The organization „Serbia21“ conducted an extensive survey of people’s attitudes, in parallel with those who still live in Serbia and those who have, for a long time, already left. They came to the result that 22% of the people in Serbia want to go out. It is a devastating fact as well as the fact that around 60.000 people in a year leave Serbia (officially that number is about 35.000-40.000). On the other hand, if we look at Croatia, from entering the EU near 200.000 people left the country, which is about 5% of the population.

Those people that left and wants to leave, are smart people that could be the foundation of the fighting for the better state. According to the same survey, the motives for leaving is the standard of living (41%), better salaries (36%), a bad situation in the country (9%). Young people are disappointed because of the corruption, nepotism, health care, social care and other parts of living that they think the government should make it better.

The government that wants to solve this problem has to have the power and the will to take some effort and aim younger populations expectations. In the last decades, most political parties were promising a better life and a healthy system, but they did a little when got into power. What is that the younger generation wants and why is it hard to get to them? Those generations search for the information on the internet, social networks, forums… they come to an answer what should good state look alike and they develop their opinions in a different way than older people.
People that in the last decades went to western countries were searching for bigger salaries of course, but also for a good and healthy system. For a system that appreciates hard work and references – not nepotism and good connections. And that is where the government has to look for if they want to do better to keep young experts and people that can certainly be the future in one country. You cannot expect to make the health system better if your experienced doctors, surgeons, and nurses are leaving. The state has to give those people a chance to do great things in their own countries!
So, when we look back, can this problem be a security challenge for a country? If we look wider than traditional threats and armed conflicts as the most dangerous security challenges, migration can exemplify a major problem for a state in the future. Normal migrations in normal numbers are not dangerous, but 1% per year is an enormous number of people and is a “silent alarm” for a state to act immediately.
In the end, migrations in these numbers can be, and certainly are one of the contemporary security challenges that the state has to deal with.
]]> Special Police Forces as a part of security system in combating Organized Crime and Terrorism https://regiosec.com/special-police-forces/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=special-police-forces Sun, 13 Jan 2019 23:38:04 +0000 https://regiosec.com/?p=917

Special Police Forces as a part of security system in combating Organized Crime and Terrorism

Special Police Force

The fight of the state against terrorism and organized crime is going through various security subjects that we can divide into conventional and non-conventional. The importance of both is huge and if we want this fight to have the future we should look at them as a whole. The battle of the unconventional security subjects is not so “visible”, but it does not diminish the significance of these subjects as a part of the bigger equation.

 

Special Police Forces

Nowadays, regardless of the level of awareness about security at both, the national and international levels, the security of citizens and states itself, is threatened by organized crime and terrorism. The fight against terrorism and organized crime as a modern threat to security is increasingly moving from national to international and global level. The reason for this is the transfer of threats from local and national to regional and global networks, which is extremely well-connected primarily due to the economic factor and the enormous profits provided by modern technology.

So, what is the contribution of the police special forces as a part of the conventional subjects in the fight against terrorism and organized crime?

The spectrum of possible operations when talking about the states’ struggle against terrorism and organized crime tells us of the huge need for specialized units that would be ready for action in the short time, in different fields, from various actions of cooperation of national units through various international missions and Joint Force Task Units in endless war against terrorism and organized crime. In this sense, there is a wide range of opportunities that States provide adequately trained special units, both military, and police.

Terrorism

In the last few decades, there has been an expansion of terrorism and terrorist acts. However, terrorism is not a term that emerged in the 20th century. Although most medieval actions resemble acts of terrorism, most of them are not, but still, this is not a new phenomenon.

The second half of the XX century is the period when terrorism has become a part of everyday life and there is no man in a civilized world who has not heard of some terrorist actions. This can naturally be associated with the development of media and the flow of the information, but this is exactly what suits the rise of terrorism. It is not easy to answer the question whether terrorism has become known to the masses with the help of mass media or the development of mass media and the speed of information transfer has led to the development of terrorism. This is because the strongest weapon of terrorism is precise that their actions are well known and thus fear among the population is spread. The link between the fear and demands from terrorists is the responsibility of every state to keep its citizens safe. 

“Terrorism is organized use of violence (or threat of violence) by politically motivated perpetrators who are determined to impose their will on the authorities and citizens through fear, anxiety, and panic.” (R.Gacinovic, 1998). This is only one of many definitions of terrorism, and if we look at it in that way we can say that for terrorism we have to have violence, political motive, and fear. Their goal is to spread fear as wide as then can and to affect as many people as they can.

Organized crime

Unlike terrorism that seeks to be public and that as many people as possible get to know about the terrorist actions so the effect of panic and fear is spread, organized crime and those who deal with it, tend to remain as imperceptible as possible.

According to UNTOC (United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime) “Organized criminal group” shall mean a structured group of three or more persons, existing for a period of time and acting in concert with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes or offenses established in accordance with this Convention, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit.

 Every organized criminal group is followed by the corruption on all levels of the state. From the local authorities and police officers to the government representatives. Organized crime wouldn’t exist if there is no corruption. Corruption is needed in every aspect and part of this organizations. From distributing of the illicit goods and avoiding the prosecution to money laundering, this organizations have to have influence on government, politics, media, etc.

Special Police Forces

Special Police Forces

 As a part of the forces, involved in the fight against terrorism and organized crime, special forces are an important lever that can bring an advantage to the state. An advantage that is not often on the side of the righteous. In its fight, the state must bear in mind the safety of its citizens, while terrorist and criminal organizations do not have this burden. In many cases, especially in the fight against terrorism, great multiple victims and great fear are essential weapons of the perpetrators, while states tend to minimize these consequences.

According to Jones and Libicki (2008), the country’s anti-terrorist action involves the use of various instruments, from police, the Department of Justice, Correctional Services and military, to political and civil-civilian.

State security subjects are divided into:

  1. Conventional – which directly affect security in the country
  • The army
  • Police
  • Customs
  • Various inspections
  • Prosecution
  • Courts
  • Bodies for the enforcement of criminal sanctions
  1. Unconventional – those whose activity indirectly affects security
  • Legislative bodies
  • Bodies of executive power
  1. Others – those who in some way contribute to the realization of the security function
  • Local government
  • NGO
  • Educational institutions
  • Enterprises and other organizations

In this division of subjects that are contributing to the security of the state, we find that we can put the special police forces inside of the conventional security subjects. Both Army (Ministry of Defence) and Police (Ministry of Interior) can have Special Forces in their organizations. Those Forces can be similar in their structure but the legal framework is different, so the engagement of these Forces is depending on the situation.

There is no serious clash with terrorism and organized crime without special forces. They are the last pillar of that fight but not the least. The last blow in the fight is almost always given by this kind of forces and that is why they are a substantial part of the system.

]]> Contemporary security challenges​ https://regiosec.com/contemporary-security-challenges/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=contemporary-security-challenges Sun, 13 Jan 2019 22:16:30 +0000 https://regiosec.com/?p=820

Contemporary security challenges

mask

Security challenges in a modern world are definitely different than in history. There is no person who can say that traditional security challenges (like wars and armed conflicts) does not exist, but still, contemporary security challenges that effect most of the globe are much more diverse than before. Terrorism and transnational organized crime are the most visible threats but beside that, we have others, whose influence on the security we cannot exclude.

Climate change, poverty, media, social networks, politics, religion, health care, and many other issues. Humanity is now, more than ever, in danger and constant fear of, pollution, climate changes, overpopulation, nuclear catastrophe, etc. In that manner, we can say that every serious and responsible government have to take seriously these challenges.

Many countries, of course, in their National Security Strategy have to take seriously threats of armed conflict in any form, but if not involved in armed conflict at the time, they have to have strategies developed for different security issues depending on threats. Many security threats for countries are reliant on the region where the state is but also on the economic development, politic establishment, religion, cultural norms…

If we are talking about security challenges that are reliant on the region we can talk about many threats. We can divide those threats on natural, societal and criminal threats.

Natural threats

Contemporary security challenges earth

Natural threats are issues that are as old as the humanity, but at some point, we can see those threats as contemporary threats. How? Well, if we listen to the most of worlds scientists, we can say that in XX and XXI century, we are witnessing dangerous global warming. Constant melting of an old glaciers and snow and ice inside North and South pole are causing different species to move and their natural habitat is getting smaller. Pollution is also something that is caused by humans neglecting the nature. Pollution is causing harm on micro and macro level.

 Intoxicating the air and water and that’s creating problems on the local level but the global pollution is the bigger issue, causing the „green house effect“ and global warming. If we don’t want to go deeper and to stop with problems that are caused by humans it would still be enough to take this world to the disaster. But unfortunately, that is not the end. Massive illegal hunting and fishing, illegal logging, that are done with intention or forest fires caused not by intention but by neglecting the nature are also very big issues for countries to deal with. In next articles on this website, we will write about many of this challenges connected to pollution and climate change.

Societal threats

Societal threats are the next challenges. Traditional national security threats were always connected to security of the borders and territorial integrity. In the modern thinking, big part of the national security is societal security. This security is associated with every part of the social life of the citizens like the economy, religion, ethnicity, education, sports, politics, health care and every other aspect of living that citizens are feeling unsecured without. Security is not based only in the perspective of the state and people that lead the state.

The feeling of security, lacking of threats that are pointed on the citizens and their feeling and opinion weather they are safe or not. The security is a matter of perspective. It is not on the state to tell people that they are safe but to give the people every reason not to feel insecure. In this threats we can place problems between ethnic and religious groups, freedom of media, political situation, health care system, social media, educational system…

Contemporary security challenges - book in flames

Criminal threats

Contemporary security challenges -mony

Criminal threats some wouldn’t associate with region and in some way, they would be right. However, from the second half of the XX century, developing of Transnational Organized Crime has a big influence on the national and global security and if we look criminal threats through the prism of the globalization it is very close connected to the regions.Counterfeit goods are coming mostly from central Asia, cocaine from South America, heroin from Southwest Asia (Afghanistan) etc. Like other security challenges, this threats will also be worked on in future articles on this website, for this is what this project is developed for. Why the Organized Crime is developing that fast? One of the reasons is economic revolution in the second part of the XX century. Production and distributing all kind of goods are increasing enormously and in the same direction illicit products and market are going.

 As we can see, there are many security challenges that are different than traditional threats. Although we have examples where some countries have these kind of threats on their doorsteps, we can say that most of the countries have to deal with other issues that involves contemporary security challenges. All this challenges and influence on certain countries we will try to explain and also we will strive to give answers to this threats. That is our goal.

]]>