Human Trafficking Human Security And The Balkans

In the aftermath of four Yugoslav wars, ongoing efforts at reconstruction in South Eastern Europe have devoted relatively limited attention to dimensions of human security that enhance protections for the region's most vulnerable populations in their daily lives. It is in this context that South Eastern Europe, and especially the Western Balkan region, has emerged as a nexus point in human trafficking. Human Trafficking, Human Security, and the Balkans brings together leading scholars, NGO representatives, and government officials to analyze and offer solutions to this challenge. The contributors explore the economic dynamics of human trafficking in an era of globalization, which has greatly facilitated not only the flow of goods and services but also the trade in human beings. They also examine the effectiveness of international and transnational policies and practice, the impact of peacekeeping forces, and the emergence of national and regional action plans in the Western Balkans and, more broadly, in South Eastern Europe. Finally, they consider the nature and ramifications of the gap between human security rhetoric and institutional policy steps against human trafficking.

This volume investigates the role of the transnational terrorist and criminal organizations in the peace-building processes, with a particular focus on the Western Balkan region. Conducted within the framework of human security analysis, the research focuses on the security of the human being.

Human trafficking, and the related problems of organised crime and prostitution, has become a serious problem for post-Soviet countries since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Human trafficking has a major impact on the countries of origin, the destination countries and the countries of transit, and is a concern for those studying population and migration, economics, politics, international relations and security studies. This book examines human trafficking from post-Soviet countries, exploring the full extent of the problem and discussing countermeasures, both local and at the global level, and considering the problem in all its aspects. It focuses in particular on the experiences of the Baltic Sea region, setting out the nature of organised crime and the full range of threats against society.

The past decades have seen enormous changes in our perceptions of 'security', the causes of insecurity and the measures adopted to address them. Threats of terrorism and the impacts of globalisation and mass migration have shaped our identities, politics and world views. This volume of essays analyses these shifts in thinking and, in particular, critically engages with the concept of 'human security' from legal, international relations and human rights perspectives. Contributors consider the special circumstances of non-citizens, such as refugees, migrants, and displaced and stateless persons, and assess whether, conceptually and practically, 'human security' helps to address the multiple challenges they face.

This book defines the relationship between gender and international security, analyzing and critiquing international security theory and practice from a gendered perspective. Gender issues have an important place in the international security landscape, but have been neglected both in the theory and practice of international security. The passage and implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (on Security Council operations), the integration of gender concerns into peacekeeping, the management of refugees, post-conflict disarmament and reintegration and protection for non-combatants in times of war shows the increasing importance of gender sensitivity for actors on all fronts in global security. This book aims to improve the quality and quantity of conversations between feminist security studies and security studies more generally, in order to demonstrate the importance of gender analysis to the study of international security, and to expand the feminist research program in Security Studies. The chapters included in this book not only challenge the assumed irrelevance of gender, they argue that gender is not a subsection of security studies to be compartmentalized or briefly considered as a side issue. Rather, the contributors argue that gender is conceptually, empirically, and normatively essential to studying international security. They do so by critiquing and reconstructing key concepts of and theories in international security, by looking for the increasingly complex roles women play as security actors, and by looking at various contemporary security issues through gendered lenses. Together, these chapters make the case that accurate, rigorous, and ethical scholarship of international security cannot be produced without taking account of women’s presence in or the gendering of world politics. This book will be of interest to all students of critical security studies, gender studies and International Relations in general. Laura Sjoberg is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida. She has a Phd in International Relations and Gender Studies from the University of Southern California and is the author of Gender, Justice, and the Wars in Iraq (2006) and, with Caron Gentry, Mothers, Monsters, Whores: Women's Violence in Global Politics (2007)

Human trafficking is a multi-faceted crime. It suffers from definitional and implementation problems. One facet, the focus of this book, is the transnational nature of much of the crime, and the need for practitioners to operate across borders to combat it. Europe has taken a distinctive approach to cross border law enforcement and judicial cooperation, which could be used as a model in other areas of the world. This publication examines these problems from a Council of Europe and European Union perspective, including the now post-Brexit UK. The UK has adopted a distinctive approach to legislating and operationalising its trafficking in human beings (THB) legal frameworks, also legislating for “slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour”, resulting in distinctive results in internal UK law enforcement. It is argued here that this approach and the results should inform THB legislative and operational developments more widely. Further action in legal and operational frameworks is, however, clearly needed and the book advocates the adoption of a human security “freedom from fear” approach. Ultimately, the interaction of different legal frameworks, and different jurisdictions requires transnational practitioners to adopt a constructivist approach, as was adopted for the development of the internal EU area of freedom, security and justice. The book will be of interest to academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of transnational law, migration law, criminology and international relations.

A Human Security Doctrine for Europe explores the actual needs of individual people in conflict areas, rather than using a conventional institutional or geo-political perspectives. This new volume proposes that Europe should develop a new kind of human security capability that involves the military, the police and civilians all working together to enforce law rather than to fight wars. It argues that threats such as weapons of mass destruction or terrorism can only be countered if we address the insecurity of people in all parts of the world. Many people in the world lead intolerably insecure lives. In large parts of Africa, the Balkans, Central Asia and the Middle East, men and women live in daily fear of violent attacks, kidnapping, rape, extortion, robbery or trafficking. The existence of large military apparatuses does not create security; indeed, as in Iraq, the use of regular military forces may only make things worse. This stimulating study includes: two chapters setting out the changed global context and proposing new approaches to security five regional studies on the Balkans, the Great Lakes Region, the Middle East, the South Caucasus and West-Africa four studies on different aspects of EU security policy, including the legal setting, the role of women, operational principles and the role of the new member states four operational studies on capabilities, resources and institutional embedding Written by a diverse team of international experts, this book will of be of strong interest to students and researchers of security studies, peace studies, human rights and international relations.