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The World of Labour in Mughal India (C.1500–1750)
IRSH 56 (2011), Special Issue, pp. 245–261 doi:10.1017/S0020859011000526 r 2011 Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis The World of Labour in Mughal India (c.1500–1750) S HIREEN M OOSVI Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University E-mail: [email protected] SUMMARY: This article addresses two separate but interlinked questions relating to India in Mughal times (sixteenth to early eighteenth century). First, the terms on which labour was rendered, taking perfect market conditions as standard; and, second, the perceptions of labour held by the higher classes and the labourers themselves. As to forms of labour, one may well describe conditions as those of an imperfect market. Slave labour was restricted largely to domestic service. Rural wage rates were depressed owing to the caste system and the ‘‘village community’’ mechanism. In the city, the monopoly of resources by the ruling class necessarily depressed wages through the market mechanism itself. While theories of hierarchy were dominant, there are indications sometimes of a tolerant attitude towards manual labour and the labouring poor among the dominant classes. What seems most striking is the defiant assertion of their status in relation to God and society made on behalf of peasants and workers in northern India in certain religious cults in the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. The study of the labour history of pre-colonial India is still in its infancy. This is due partly to the fact that in many respects the evidence is scanty when compared with what is available for Europe and China in the same period. -
Pakistan-U.S. Relations
Pakistan-U.S. Relations K. Alan Kronstadt Specialist in South Asian Affairs July 1, 2009 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL33498 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Pakistan-U.S. Relations Summary A stable, democratic, prosperous Pakistan actively combating religious militancy is considered vital to U.S. interests. U.S. concerns regarding Pakistan include regional and global terrorism; Afghan stability; democratization and human rights protection; the ongoing Kashmir problem and Pakistan-India tensions; and economic development. A U.S.-Pakistan relationship marked by periods of both cooperation and discord was transformed by the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and the ensuing enlistment of Pakistan as a key ally in U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts. Top U.S. officials praise Pakistan for its ongoing cooperation, although long-held doubts exist about Islamabad’s commitment to some core U.S. interests. Pakistan is identified as a base for terrorist groups and their supporters operating in Kashmir, India, and Afghanistan. Pakistan’s army has conducted unprecedented and, until recently, largely ineffectual counterinsurgency operations in the country’s western tribal areas, where Al Qaeda operatives and pro-Taliban militants are said to enjoy “safe haven.” U.S. officials increasingly are concerned that indigenous religious extremists represent a serious threat to the stability of the Pakistani state. The United States strongly encourages maintenance of a bilateral cease-fire and a continuation of substantive dialogue between Pakistan and neighboring India, which have fought three wars since 1947. A perceived Pakistan-India nuclear arms race has been the focus of U.S. -
Russo-EU Relations: Impact of the Navalny Factor
www.rsis.edu.sg No. 049 – 19 March 2021 RSIS Commentary is a platform to provide timely and, where appropriate, policy-relevant commentary and analysis of topical and contemporary issues. The authors’ views are their own and do not represent the official position of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. These commentaries may be reproduced with prior permission from RSIS and due recognition to the author(s) and RSIS. Please email to Mr Yang Razali Kassim, Editor RSIS Commentary at [email protected]. Russo-EU Relations: Impact of the Navalny Factor By Christopher Cheang SYNOPSIS The EU announced on 2 March 2021 new sanctions against Russia over the imprisonment of Alexei Navalny, the opposition figure. This development only confirms the already tense Russo-EU relationship but will not lead to a point of no return. COMMENTARY EUROPEAN SANCTIONS which covered travel bans and asset freezes of four top Russian officials in response to the jailing of the opposition figure Alexei Navalny did not come as a surprise. The officials are Viktor Zolotov, head of Russia’s National Guard; Igor Krasnov, the prosecutor general; Alexander Kalashnikov, the Federal Penitentiary Service chief; and Alexander Bastrykin, who heads the Investigative Committee. Zolotov and Bastrykin are seen as close to President Vladimir Putin. Russia has pledged to respond to the sanctions but can be expected to calibrate its moves. Its focus in the future will be on maintaining strong links with individual European Union (EU) countries, principally Germany. EU’s importance to Russia In an interview in mid-February, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov stressed that Russia was prepared to sever its links with the EU, should the grouping impose sanctions in the wake of Navalny’s imprisonment. -
Contacts in Ukraine
IT WAS ALL [FRUMAN’S] CONTACTS IN UKRAINE During his media blitz, Lev Parnas has focused mostly on the people he needs to implicate to better his own outcome: President Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Victoria Toensing, and Joe DiGenova, along with Bill Barr who — Parnas seems to be suggesting — is protecting the others in the SDNY investigation, if not Barr himself. There’s been virtually no mention of his primary alleged co-conspirator, Igor Fruman. Indeed, in the first of two Maddow broadcasts, Fruman’s name only appears twice, when Maddow raised it. But Parnas made a single very provocative mention of Fruman in his otherwise unremarkable Anderson Cooper interview that aired last night. In discussing who he was speaking to in Ukraine, he suggested those people were all Fruman’s contacts. COOPER: You’ve been described — the position you ended up with Giuliani, you’ve described as a fixer for Giuliani in his efforts to dig up dirt on the Bidens. Is that accurate? PARNAS: I don’t know what you call a fixer. I mean, I was — COOPER: Arrange meetings, conduct meetings — PARNAS: Yes. I mean, that’s exactly what I did. I mean, I was the middleman between two worlds. Here I was, I had a partner in Igor Fruman that grew up in Ukraine, had extensive business there. And because of his businesses, he knew all kinds of people that were, you know, politicians — COOPER: He had — he had the contacts. PARNAS: It was all his contacts. I didn’t have any contacts in Ukraine. I don’t have any contacts in Ukraine. -
Report No. 2: the Instigators Are Getting Away
The Gongadze Inquiry An investigation into the failure of legal and judicial processes in the case of Gyorgy Gongadze Supported by: • The International Federation of Journalists • The Institute of Mass Information • The National Union of Journalists of the UK and Ireland • The Gongadze Foundation Report no. 2: The instigators are getting away 1 Introduction This second report on the case of Gyorgy Gongadze, commissioned by the International Federation of Journalists, the Institute of Mass Information (Kyiv), the Gongadze Foundation and the National Union of Journalists of the UK and Ireland, updates our first report published in January 2005.1 It reviews developments in the investigation of the case between January and September 2005. Our main conclusion, set out in the last section, is that the investigation of the process by which Gongadze’s murder was ordered has suffered serious setbacks. Progress has been made in bringing to trial interior ministry officers who allegedly participated in Gongadze’s kidnap, and were present when he was murdered. But the investigation’s failures with respect to the links between these direct perpetrators and those who ordered the murder are so blatant and numerous that they can most likely be explained as the result of continued political interference and resistance. Senior political figures have stated publicly that the instigators of Gongadze’s murder are known to investigators, but no details have been made public; this has left the impression that these statements were part of the “public relations management” of the investigation, which was meanwhile directing its focus away from the instigators. Our most serious concerns relate to the case of General Olexiy Pukach, who was named by the general prosecutor’s office as the ringleader of the gang that killed Gongadze. -
The Siloviki in Russian Politics
The Siloviki in Russian Politics Andrei Soldatov and Michael Rochlitz Who holds power and makes political decisions in contemporary Russia? A brief survey of available literature in any well-stocked bookshop in the US or Europe will quickly lead one to the answer: Putin and the “siloviki” (see e.g. LeVine 2009; Soldatov and Borogan 2010; Harding 2011; Felshtinsky and Pribylovsky 2012; Lucas 2012, 2014 or Dawisha 2014). Sila in Russian means force, and the siloviki are the members of Russia’s so called “force ministries”—those state agencies that are authorized to use violence to respond to threats to national security. These armed agents are often portrayed—by journalists and scholars alike—as Russia’s true rulers. A conventional wisdom has emerged about their rise to dominance, which goes roughly as follows. After taking office in 2000, Putin reconsolidated the security services and then gradually placed his former associates from the KGB and FSB in key positions across the country (Petrov 2002; Kryshtanovskaya and White 2003, 2009). Over the years, this group managed to disable almost all competing sources of power and control. United by a common identity, a shared worldview, and a deep personal loyalty to Putin, the siloviki constitute a cohesive corporation, which has entrenched itself at the heart of Russian politics. Accountable to no one but the president himself, they are the driving force behind increasingly authoritarian policies at home (Illarionov 2009; Roxburgh 2013; Kasparov 2015), an aggressive foreign policy (Lucas 2014), and high levels of state predation and corruption (Dawisha 2014). While this interpretation contains elements of truth, we argue that it provides only a partial and sometimes misleading and exaggerated picture of the siloviki’s actual role. -
ASD-Covert-Foreign-Money.Pdf
overt C Foreign Covert Money Financial loopholes exploited by AUGUST 2020 authoritarians to fund political interference in democracies AUTHORS: Josh Rudolph and Thomas Morley © 2020 The Alliance for Securing Democracy Please direct inquiries to The Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States 1700 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 T 1 202 683 2650 E [email protected] This publication can be downloaded for free at https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/covert-foreign-money/. The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the authors alone. Cover and map design: Kenny Nguyen Formatting design: Rachael Worthington Alliance for Securing Democracy The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), a bipartisan initiative housed at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, develops comprehensive strategies to deter, defend against, and raise the costs on authoritarian efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions. ASD brings together experts on disinformation, malign finance, emerging technologies, elections integrity, economic coercion, and cybersecurity, as well as regional experts, to collaborate across traditional stovepipes and develop cross-cutting frame- works. Authors Josh Rudolph Fellow for Malign Finance Thomas Morley Research Assistant Contents Executive Summary �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Introduction and Methodology �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� -
For Free Distribution
INTERNATIONAL PAGE EU AMBASSADOR TEIXEIRA PAGE IVAN MARCHUK: PAGE OPINION ON POLITICAL ON SCANDALOUS TRIALS A GREAT PAINTER INSPIRED PERSECUTION IN UKRAINE 10 AND THE ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT 16 BY HIS HOMELAND 42 № 9 (21) OCTOBER 2011 EUROPE MUST ACT NOW! www.ukrainianweek.com for free distribution featuring selected content from the economist |contents briefing focus PoLitics Europe Must The Collapse of Justice Damon Wilson Act Now! Lawyer Valentyna Telychenko on how Ukraine can The triangle talks about the cases against Yulia improve its image of Ukraine, Tymoshenko, Leonid Kuchma, Russia and the EU and Oleksiy Pukach who killed journalist Gongadze 4 6 10 David Kramer Steven Pifer Tango for Two and Freedom on official Kyiv Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira House: We running out of on how the scandalous will continue room to maneuver trials in Ukraine can affect to tell the in the international Association Agreement truth arena prospects 12 14 16 neighbours economics Time to Shove Off Greek Consequences War and Myth The Soviet Union Ratification of the The real roots of was undermined by Association Agreement Ukraine’s energy stagnation and a sense of and FTA will depend dependence go back hopelessness. Is the same on whether political to the oligarchs thing happening again? repression stops 18 22 24 investigation society You’d Rather Be Dead Tour de Ukraine Who Is Scared While pharmaceutical Ukrainians switch of Ukrainian Hackers? groups fight for the to bicycles, pushing Ukrainian market, Ukraine’s supply local authorities to cybercriminals -
THE WAZIRISTAN ACCORD Evagoras C
THE WAZIRISTAN ACCORD Evagoras C. Leventis* The Waziristan Accord between Pakistan’s government and tribal leaders in that country’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has failed not only to curb violence in the immediate region but also to restrict cross-border militant activity--including resurgent Taliban and al-Qa’ida cadres-- between Pakistan’s “tribal belt” and Afghanistan. The purpose of this article is to examine the Waziristan Accord and to indicate why agreements of this nature will continue to fail unless there is a substantial modification in Pakistan’s internal and regional policies. On September 5, 2006, in the town of eradicating the presence of foreign militants in Miranshah, on the football field of the the area.3 However, even a cursory monitoring Government Degree College, Maulana Syed of the situation since the September 2006 Nek Zaman, a member of the National agreement indicates that the former is Assembly for the North Waziristan Agency probably closer to the truth. Nevertheless, and a tribal council member, read out an describing the Waziristan Accord as an agreement between the Pakistani government “unconditional surrender” is probably too and tribal elders that has since been known as extreme a characterization, since the the Waziristan Accord. The agreement, government of Pakistan hardly surrendered witnessed by approximately 500 elders, anything but rather reaffirmed the status quo-- parliamentarians, and government officials, a state of affairs that certain segments of the was signed on behalf of the Pakistan Pakistani administration do not consider to be government by Dr. Fakhr-i-Alam, a political adverse but rather vital to Pakistan’s greater agent of North Waziristan, tribal and militia strategic interests.4 leaders from the mainly Pashtun tribes and This article is divided into two sections. -
Russia's Silence Factory
Russia’s Silence Factory: The Kremlin’s Crackdown on Free Speech and Democracy in the Run-up to the 2021 Parliamentary Elections August 2021 Contact information: International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) Rue Belliard 205, 1040 Brussels, Belgium [email protected] Contents I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 II. INTRODUCTION 6 A. AUTHORS 6 B. OBJECTIVES 6 C. SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND METHODOLOGY 6 III. THE KREMLIN’S CRACKDOWN ON FREE SPEECH AND DEMOCRACY 7 A. THE LEGAL TOOLKIT USED BY THE KREMLIN 7 B. 2021 TIMELINE OF THE CRACKDOWN ON FREE SPEECH AND DEMOCRACY 9 C. KEY TARGETS IN THE CRACKDOWN ON FREE SPEECH AND DEMOCRACY 12 i) Alexei Navalny 12 ii) Organisations and Individuals associated with Alexei Navalny 13 iii) Human Rights Lawyers 20 iv) Independent Media 22 v) Opposition politicians and pro-democracy activists 24 IV. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS TRIGGERED BY THE CRACKDOWN 27 A. FREEDOMS OF ASSOCIATION, OPINION AND EXPRESSION 27 B. FAIR TRIAL RIGHTS 29 C. ARBITRARY DETENTION 30 D. POLITICAL PERSECUTION AS A CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY 31 V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 37 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “An overdose of freedom is lethal to a state.” Vladislav Surkov, former adviser to President Putin and architect of Russia’s “managed democracy”.1 Russia is due to hold Parliamentary elections in September 2021. The ruling United Russia party is polling at 28% and is projected to lose its constitutional majority (the number of seats required to amend the Constitution).2 In a bid to silence its critics and retain control of the legislature, the Kremlin has unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on the pro-democracy movement, independent media, and anti-corruption activists. -
Produced by the Human Security Centre Lead Author
1 Human Security Centre – Written evidence (AFG0019) Produced by the Human Security Centre Lead Author: Simon Schofield, Senior Fellow, In consultation with Rohullah Yakobi, Associate Fellow 2 1 Table of Contents 2. Executive Summary .............................................................................5 3. What is the Human Security Centre?.....................................................10 4. Geopolitics and National Interests and Agendas......................................11 Islamic Republic of Pakistan ...................................................................11 Historical Context...............................................................................11 Pakistan’s Strategy.............................................................................12 Support for the Taliban .......................................................................13 Afghanistan as a terrorist training camp ................................................16 Role of military aid .............................................................................17 Economic interests .............................................................................19 Conclusion – Pakistan .........................................................................19 Islamic Republic of Iran .........................................................................20 Historical context ...............................................................................20 Iranian Strategy ................................................................................23 -
Cleaning up the Energy Sector
10 Cleaning Up the Energy Sector Victory is when we won’t buy any Russian gas. —Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk1 Ukraine’s energy sector is well endowed but extremely mismanaged. Since Ukraine’s independence, it has been the main source of top-level corruption, and its prime beneficiaries have bought the state. This long-lasting policy has undermined national security, caused unsustainable public costs, jeopardized the country’s balance of payments, led to massive waste of energy, and capped domestic production of energy. It is difficult to imagine a worse policy. In- stead, conditions should be created so that Ukraine can develop its substantial energy potential and become self-sufficient in coal and natural gas.2 The solution to these problems is no mystery and it has been elaborated in a large literature for the last two decades. To check corruption energy prices need to be unified. That means raising key prices four to five times, which will eliminate the large energy subsidies and stimulate energy saving, while also stimulating domestic production of all kinds of energy. To make this politi- cally possible, social compensation should be offered to the poorest half of the population. The energy sector suffers from many shortcomings, and most of these need to be dealt with swiftly. Otherwise, new rent-seeking interests will evolve, and soon they will become entrenched and once again impossible to defeat. The new government has a brief window of opportunity to address the most important issues. 1. “Ukraina osvoboditsya ot ‘gazovoi zavisimosti’ ot RF cherez 5 let—Yatsenyuk” [“Yatsenyuk: Ukraine Will Free Itself from Gas Dependence on Russia in 5 Years”], Ekonomichna pravda, Sep- tember 8, 2014.