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Post-conflict reconstruction and police reform are located in the security-development nexus where global and state power moves towards individuals. In recent years, there has been an increased investment by the EU and the UN to contribute to police reform in post conflict societies. This article offers a conceptual map for the analysis of power across contexts through police reform interventions in post conflict societies. It draws on various theories of power to explain the conceptual-contextual gap. This map facilitates the observation of the police as a technology of power and as a projector of power in post conflict societies. ‘Unintended-empowerment’ through power projection is introduced to explain how police as an organisation and policing as a practice are often undermined. The article concludes with an outline to assist the analysis of the conceptual-contextual gap in police reform interventions and outcomes in post conflict societies through power optics.

Climate change and other environmental problems are frequently attributed to social problems and a lack of collective action. The national environmental law was amended in Uganda, and a new environmental tax clause was added to cut down on emissions from old cars and other sources. Studies show that every day, some 50,000 vehicles enter the city, most of them are taxis. These vehicles, which are largely reconditioned or used, have poor fuel efficiency, and emit a lot of exhaust fumes into the air, contributing significantly to the poor air quality in different cities of the country. Effective policy implementation requires a detailed understanding of the operators’ perception of pollution and environmental concerns to reduce emissions. This is essential for the efficient implementation of the tax policy and the enactment of new policies in the future to safeguard the environment and reduce pollution. In this sense, this study aims to contribute to the understanding of taxi operators’ perceptions of the environmental levies on reconditioned vehicles as a measure to curb emissions in Uganda, using Kampala as a case study. First, the review of academic literature was conducted to comprehend the relationship between environmental levy and taxi operators. Secondly, one focus group discussion (FGD), Ten (10) key informants, and one hundred (100) interview questionnaires were distributed to taxi operators in Kampala city, to gather field data for the analysis of their perception. And in this case, 69% of the taxi operators surveyed felt that reconditioned vehicles pollute the environment; and 76% of respondents (Taxi operators) attribute vehicle pollution to the release of dangerous gasses. In fact, most taxi operators (95%) are aware of the damage of pollution from reconditioned vehicles or automobiles. However, 62% of the taxi operators oppose a fee on the environmental levy, and other 59% respondents oppose a ban on reconditioned vehicles as emission-controlling measures. They also highlighted two main reasons why the Kampala taxi operators (sector) do not consider purchasing new vehicles; one was the high prices and two was poor roads/high maintenance. Reducing taxes on new vehicles for it will give a choice to those who can afford to pay willingly, and renovating road in the city to enhance mass transit systems like BRT and light rail are necessary if the city is to reduce emissions from the use of reconditioned taxis.

Spreading information through media to project an identity of a rival country that could damage its reputation is one of the simplest ways to gain influence, and this technique has been used by both the U.S. and Russia repeatedly. The 2013/2014 conflict in Ukraine involved both Russian and American interests and presented both of these countries with an opportunity to construct a negative identity of the Other. This research used discourse analysis on RT (Russia) and Voice of America (also VoA, U.S.) articles to understand how/which identities are being constructed of the Other (RT on the U.S. and VoA on Russia respectively) in an effort to gain more influence in the region. RT and VoA constructed narratives that painted the Other negatively, portraying them as the ‘evil’ side of the conflict, as opposed to the ‘good’ Self. These efforts proved to have notable similarities in how both channels created the negative identity of the Other. The Russia and the U.S. alike created an unfavourable identity of the Other in attempts to gain influence in the region in which the countries had military, economic and diplomatic interests. This study provides insight into the propaganda efforts made by the U.S. and Russia towards each other using international state-funded channels. M-IR

‘Follow- up procedures of Congolese gender-based violence victims resettled in Norway’ investigated the process of acquiring medical and psychological care for the resettlement refugees during the resettlement process. The primary data is collected through qualitative interviews with professionals of various backgrounds in the field, and the research is further supported by secondary data. The thesis will argue that although the medical and psychological care is available to the resettlement refugees, the current system of acquiring such help might be an hinderance for care, which limits the women from participation and integration in the host community. The concepts of gender, intercultural communication and psychological care of trauma is essential to understand the consequences of gender-based violence and its impact on the resettlement process in a host country. M-DS

The thesis aims to identify the particularities of Norwegian policy concerning migration from Ethiopia in an effort to assess how Norwegian identity is reflected in Norwegian migration policy. The findings are based on a case study on Norwegian migration policy in Ethiopia, which consists of interviews with informants who work with Norwegian policy on migration in the region. The thesis presents an image of Norwegian policy as centred around multilateral efforts, developed in the wake of the European migrant crisis. The paper seeks to demonstrate that Norwegian policy is an expression of the regime of goodness and Norway’s role as a country that works to do good. M-IR

The role of human intelligence (HUMINT) in fighting terrorism with specific focus on Boko Haram war with the Federal Nigeria is the core of this thesis. It delves into how HUMINT was deployed in the fight, the strengths and deficits of these strategies and lessons that emerge in their use. Boko Haram, the terrorist organisation that registered its lethality on the global scene of terrorist organisations attracted a good measure of scholarly attention. Much is done on their mode of attacks, their growth, their religious and social significance, what they stand for, what they could do and the tactical strategies the security adopts to contain, deter and defeat them. There is yet to be a keen attention on the use of human intelligence in fighting the war. The study discovered the use of local assets or spies in the dearth of trained intelligence officers knowing how long it takes to train an efficient intelligence asset. In-depth interviews with past and present intelligence officers and the engagement of experts in security from academia brought a new dimension of locating local assets at the estimated setting of terrorist targets to access asymmetric information for policy could be a new way human intelligence could add on to existing strategies. This is because intelligence assets are mostly constrained by language and in the case of Boko Haram Kanore, culture, geography in very localised conditions. Situations of this nature could reduce an asset to a strategic liability, vulnerable to capture by the enemy and its concomitant compromise of tactical operations. M-IR

A country’s internal political stability allows the scenario where a state can develop its economy and relations with other states. However, this desired internal stability often goes hand in hand with a high level of desired security state citizens. The international community evaluates states according to their level of security threat to global terrorism, largely by Daesh and Al Qaeda. In previous years the international community evaluated states’ ability to cope with security threats to a country’s independence. In addition to states’ interest to outwardly exercise influence for their own self-interest, it is very relevant to analyse how states gain UN support to intervene in another state (i.e. Iraq in 1990 and 2003, or more pertinently, Afghanistan in 2001). Furthermore, the way the international community uses security threats to exercise influence in another country is a factor that impacts on a country’s stability and state building. Therefore, the impact of security threats to justify an international community intervention in another country is not only a general aspect to study in international relations, but a factor that has historically influenced Afghanistan. Thus, the influence of security threats from the international community, on Afghanistan’s state building is a relevant case to study for international relations and is the topic of this thesis. In order to evaluate the international community’s influence over Afghanistan’s internal stability, I identified the impact of security threats on Afghan governance and economic and social development as two areas that affect Afghanistan’s state building. M-IR