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This article discusses how notions of fear, survival and war influenced nationalism in Scandinavia in the 19th century. It argues that fear of annihilation and concerns about security led to an obsession with size and capability among several leading politicians and national ideologues, making them embrace unification nationalism as a means of national security and survival. Thus, in offering empirical support for Eric Hobsbawm's theory of a threshold principle nations in the 19th century, the article also lends support to John Hutchinson's emphasis on the significance of warfare in nation‐formation. The present article shows that 19th‐century nationalism in Scandinavia in the nineteenth century had a less benign side than traditional studies suggest, as the quest for security and survival in an anarchic and dangerous world meant that war was reckoned with or even thought of as necessary. Consequently, influential contemporaries advocated other kinds of state‐formation than the current Scandinavian nation‐states, deeming unification as the best way to offer security. Yet, notions of fear, survival and war did not only apply to unification nationalism as the case of Norwegian secession nationalism shows. This suggests that, generally, 19th‐century nationalism in Scandinavia is compatible with the realist school of international relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, some of the timeliest intelligence was provided not by intelligence agencies, but by private actors. Open-source intelligence is an increasing focus in intelligence studies; however, little systematic attention has been paid to the vendors that collect, analyze, and operationalize intelligence outside of classified national security environments. This research addresses this gap through a new dataset that seeks to capture the expanding array of intelligence providers that serve the private sector. This paper examines how vendors apply intelligence tradecraft to support corporate risk mitigation, including travel security, executive protection, and geopolitical risk analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has created a vast digital drag net by scaling up its use of surveillance technology on immigrant populations. This paper asks what internal logics the DHS, as a bureaucratic entity, has utilized to legitimate the use of these intrusive technologies. To answer this question, I employ an archival approach, analyzing approximately 11,800 pages of internal documents from the DHS obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and publicly accessible documents from the DHS repository. I argue that surveillance and technology occupy a particular role in achieving the bureaucratic vision of a secure border. Modernization has operated as a central discourse in the agency's mission because improving the DHS's technological capacity is seen as essential to increasing efficiency in enforcement. As such, the DHS has aimed to maximize its enforcement power by pursuing initiatives that allow the agency to constantly access as much information as possible about any potential border violation. However, this discourse of efficiency masks how increased monitoring further reinforces a particular racialized vision of the American body politic; when deportable populations are increasingly surveilled and controlled, it reinforces their status as "other." The DHS can thus be thought of as a "race-making" bureaucracy, or a central site at which the processes of everyday bureaucracy substantiate and enforce types of racial meaning making. The discourse of efficiency renders certain subjects, primarily Latinx immigrants, the targets of surveillance and deportation, while also distancing DHS actors from the racialized consequences of their policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "The Battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood in Gaza: A Sequence of Events" addresses the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, focusing on the confrontations between Hamas and Israel. The report reviews the human casualties, attacks on medical facilities, and the deteriorating humanitarian conditions, in addition to international reactions and humanitarian initiatives. It also discusses statements from officials, such as Nabil Abu Rudeineh, who rejected the presence of any foreign forces, and Benjamin Netanyahu, who affirmed that Israel's position regarding the hostages had not changed. The article also mentions calls from the Israeli Minister of National Security for the execution of Palestinian prisoners and the use of prisoners as human shields by the Israeli army. [Extracted from the article]

This study examines the role of external actors in the crises affecting the Arab world. These interventions often exploit the fragility of Arab countries to achieve goals of hegemony and control. This research aims to clarify the relationship between internal crises and regional and international interventions and how these factors impact Arab national security. The significance of this study arises from the long history of political conflicts and the economic and social challenges faced in the region, which are not merely passing phenomena. The interventions by both central and regional powers have added complexity to these crises, making it essential to investigate their causes and potential solutions to better understand the mechanisms of such interventions. The study explores the connections between the Arab crises and three main factors: the historical issues stemming from the legacy of colonialism, the fragility of Arab states, and the lack of civil peace due to tensions and conflicts among the various components of Arab society. In conclusion, addressing, resolving, or managing the crises in the Arab world requires genuine cooperation among Arab nations without the influence of international interventions. Furthermore, most international interventions have exacerbated these crises, as seen in Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present case study examines a new form of security threat in the form of a network of "military over-interested persons" who tried to perform a mapping of Sweden's classified military infrastructure. What makes them stand out is that they seem to have had no malicious intent, unlike the more frequently studied areas of spies and other insider threats. The results indicate that an obsessive military interest and a "perfect storm" of factors—individual risk factors, a toxic social network, and the false safety of a closed military web forum—allowed the individuals to commit serious crimes. Implications for the security of military organizations and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how material legacies of the past are conceptualized as cultural and artistic objects, and in this capacity inscribed into the contemporary Estonian political debates on security, identity, and borders. One section focuses on the city of Narva where the compound of the Kreenholm factory is located. Another part looks at industrial objects in smaller towns where the Soviet material heritage is intermingled with the EU-promoted environmental agenda, including the Green Deal project and the idea of just transition. research based on the methodology of visual analysis includes two specific groups of visual artefacts that are illustrative of linkages between locations, cultural meanings and their political reverberations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though a reporting mechanism, in which employees report suspicious and/or potentially malicious coworker behavior, is thought to be important to tackling insider risk, the literature on the subject is sparse and unconvincing. Empirical evidence of the actual use and utility of this type of detection mechanism is slim. Our article explores the propensity of employees to report a coworker's concerning behavior suspected to be related to insider activity that would negatively impact an organization. This study uses an inductive approach and qualitative analysis of original interview data collected from 16 financial services organizations to explore attitudes and opinions about reporting a coworker's concerning behavior, providing lessons on countering insider threats useful across industries and national security domains. The results show that there is confusion, uncertainty, and cognitive dissonance surrounding institutional reporting mechanisms, with some participants expressing both affirmative and negative opinions about their personal likelihood of reporting. Employees do want to report concerning coworker behavior that suggests an insider threat, but not at their own expense. These results are consistent with those from other studies and sectors. Our study will assist organizations in refining their assumptions around workforce attitudes regarding the reporting of coworkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of national security concerns in states' treatment of international migration has become a prominent issue in recent years as global migration is regularly presented as a security threat to host countries. In this paper, we illuminate a number of patterns and determinants of political parties' treatment of immigration as a security matter–the securitisation of migration–through the comparative study of a new data set of parties' platforms in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States that spans seven decades. We distinguish between the salience of migration and of security in parties' platforms and explore the effect of various migration-related domestic-level factors in accounting for both phenomena. Our empirical strategy to assess the extent to which political parties have presented, promoted, and framed the security concerns associated with migration is based on textual data from parties' platforms. We report three findings. First, parties have increasingly mobilised migration in their platforms regardless of ideological or partisan commitments since the 1990s, and the number of refugees hosted by a country constitutes the primary migration-related explanatory factor for this fact. Second, we show that mainstream right-wing parties account for the increase in the securitisation of migration in parties' platforms. Finally, among migration-related domestic factors, the number of refugees has (surprisingly) a negative impact on the securitisation of migration in platforms. Overall, this paper illuminates important patterns in how parties discursively link security and migration, and investigates the determinants of this widespread phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, two influential American authors and military consultants have sought to leverage imaginative literature for the cause of national security. On the basis of concepts such as useful fiction and FICINT , a shorthand for fictional intelligence , they have sought to develop a new genre—the national security novel—which blends nonfictional research and predictive threat scenarios with the creative inventions and emotional appeal of fiction. In this article, I trace how the national security novel developed through a process of securitization, which has gradually merged the realm of literature with that of policy and military strategy, and I assess the genre's current and future impact on national and global security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of Farouk's title is considered an important part of Anglo-Egyptian rivalry. However, the existing literature neglects the issue's possible impact on third countries. The purpose of this article is to highlight if, how, and why a smaller Eastern-Mediterranean state – Greece in particular – was coerced into getting involved in the Anglo-Egyptian dispute, by being forced to decide whether to acknowledge Egypt's King as 'King of Egypt and Sudan'. Based on extensive archival research as well as the press of the time, from October 1951, when the issue emerged, to August 1952, when it ended with an Anglo-Egyptian compromise, this article sheds light on the formulation of Greece's policy, explains its final decision and, finally, traces and analyses the factors that influenced it. The study concludes by assessing Greek efforts to balance between Great Britain and Egypt, in other words, between its national security priorities within NATO and the need to protect its regional interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article outlines the New Zealand government's ambition to make the country one of the most successful advanced economies by 2040, focusing on improved health, education, and economic productivity, while tackling inequality and aiming for Net Zero emissions. Topics include New Zealand's foreign policy reset, strengthening ties with Australia, and addressing regional and global challenges like climate change and security.

The article discusses the evolution of New Zealand's relationship with Asia over the past 30 years, highlighting the region's growing economic influence and New Zealand's increasing engagement. Topics include economic growth in Asia, New Zealand's trade relationships, and the changing role of Asia in global security.

Civil-military relations and terrorism are both extensively studied subjects. Their relationship has, however, yet to be examined. We maintain that public conflict between the civilian and the military leadership in a country and declining civil control over the armed forces may often precipitate a rise in domestic terror events. Civil-military conflict and reduced civilian control can lead to agency slack by the armed forces and ineffective counterterror policies. These phenomena are also associated with policies that exclude groups in society and generate grievances, leading some to turn to terror. In zero inflated negative binomial analyses of domestic terror events and two distinct indicators of civil-military tension, we find support for our contention. Terror incidents increase both when civil-military conflict rises and when civilian control decreases. Our results add to understanding of both the domestic consequences of civil-military tension and the types of influences that impact domestic terror. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Data breaches in the government sector are severe threats to cybersecurity and illegal acts that flagrantly violate security and privacy laws. It undermines public trust in government data management. Unlike breaches in other sectors, these incidents can have far-reaching consequences and the potential to cause significant damage to governance and national security. This field has experienced rapid growth in recent years, which means an increase in urgency to address this challenge. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the scientific landscape of government data breaches. It analysed 107 articles published from 2006 to 2023 from the Scopus database. The key findings highlighted trends in scientific production, the most cited articles, country contributions, co-occurrence networks, thematic evolution, and factorial analysis. Ransomware has become one of the biggest challenges in cybersecurity, especially for governments. The use of increasingly sophisticated zero-day attack techniques makes it difficult for law enforcement to track the digital footprints of perpetrators. The regulations on data protection remain inadequate and require improvement. The existing legal framework is not strong enough to reduce data breaches in cyberspace. Therefore, to deal with cyber threats, such as ransomware, cyber risk management is essential and using cloud computing raises new challenges and opportunities in cybersecurity. These findings contribute to future research and practice as guidance for policymakers, system developers, researchers, and practitioners in improving cybersecurity protocols and shaping government regulations and policies.

This short piece introduces three articles that form a special section discussing how critical security studies might be helpful for conceptualizing new insecurities in the region of Central Europe and the Baltic states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]