Soft Threats To National Security

This book explores the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) phenomenon – its impact and implications for Israel and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as the inextricable linkage between its anti-Israeli/anti-Zionist propaganda and antisemitism, unraveled from yet unknown perspectives. The edited volume offers groundbreaking research: While Israeli public diplomacy focused on security, Palestinian diplomacy focused on a fabricated history. The book analyzes the old Russian anti-Zionist propaganda and its application by the BDS. The public space of BDS activity projects a humane façade, yet the covert part harbors antisemitic and violent supporters including terror groups and Iran. Western universities turned into incubators of pro-Palestinian groups that portray Israel as the source of evil. The academic boycott of Israel worked to isolate and stigmatize Jewish scholars in America because of a presumed Jewish occupation of the American academe. Western "liberals" wish to build bridges with the Muslim world, unable to overcome differences on democracy, secularism, women’s rights, etc., they focus on what they agree: animosity towards Israel. So has the UN; the ICC; Bedouin advocacy; and Human Rights Watch. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal Israel Affairs.

A new in-depth assessment of ‘soft security’ threats in Europe and Eurasia. These threats are now posed by many kinds of trafficking and are being responded to with a range of methods. Experts from around the world are brought together to provide a detailed analysis of the various aspects of trafficking, covering illegal migrants, the black market weapons trade, sex trafficking and drugs. They consider the nature of this threat facing society and the effectiveness of national and international attempts to eradicate it. An assessment of EU responses to ‘soft security’ and a case study of US Homeland Security deliver the latest developments in this key area. Is the concept of ‘soft security’ useful to analysts and policy-makers? Will they be able to manage these sources of insecurity successfully in the future? This work provides likely trends and projections to resolve these pressing questions. This book is a Special Issue of the leading journal European Security.

This handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of the contemporary theory, practice and themes in the study of national security. Part 1: Theories examines how national security has been conceptualised and formulated within the disciplines international relations, security studies and public policy. Part 2: Actors shifts the focus of the volume from these disciplinary concerns to consideration of how core actors in international affairs have conceptualised and practiced national security over time. Part 3: Issues then provides in-depth analysis of how individual security issues have been incorporated into prevailing scholarly and policy paradigms on national security. While security now seems an all-encompassing phenomenon, one general proposition still holds: national interests and the nation-state remain central to unlocking security puzzles. As normative values intersect with raw power; as new threats meet old ones; and as new actors challenge established elites, making sense out of the complex milieu of security theories, actors, and issues is a crucial task - and is the main accomplishment of this book.

A new in-depth assessment of 'soft security' threats in Europe and Eurasia. These threats are now posed by many kinds of trafficking and are being responded to with a range of methods. Experts from around the world are brought together to provide a detailed analysis of the various aspects of trafficking, covering illegal migrants, the black market weapons trade, sex trafficking and drugs. They consider the nature of this threat facing society and the effectiveness of national and international attempts to eradicate it. An assessment of EU responses to 'soft security' and a case study of US Homeland Security deliver the latest developments in this key area. Is the concept of 'soft security' useful to analysts and policy-makers? Will they be able to manage these sources of insecurity successfully in the future? This work provides likely trends and projections to resolve these pressing questions. This book is a Special Issue of the leading journal European Security.

This textbook examines non-traditional forms of security and expands the notion of security to include non-state actors and non-human actors. Proposing an expansive view of non-traditional forms of security that go beyond traditionally recognized issues of threats to state and national territory, this new textbook rests on the following premises: traditional state-centered threats, such as nuclear proliferation and espionage, remain a concern; old and new threats combine and create interlocking puzzles—a feature of wicked problems and wicked messes; because of the global erosion of borders, new developments of unconventional insecurity interact in ways that frustrate traditional conceptual definitions, conceptual maps, and national policies; unconventional security challenges which have traditionally been seen as "low politics" or "soft" issues are now being recognized as "hard security" challenges in the twenty-first century; many of the so-called "new" threats detailed here are in fact very old: diseases, gender violence, food insecurity, under-development, and crime are all traditional security threats, but deeply modified today by globalization. The chapters offer local and global examples and engage with various theoretical approaches to help readers see the bigger picture. Solutions are also suggested to these problems. Each chapter contains discussion questions to help readers understand the key points and facilitate class discussion. This book will be of great interest to students of international security studies, human security, global politics, and international relations.

"This book addresses various security threats, and the reciprocal use of force they engender, through a constructivist lens: one that assumes the ideas in the heads of policy makers, and their particular interpretations of "facts," to be part of a highly subjective process. After analyzing and explaining the key threats and the vehicles in which they become manifest-- war, armed intervention, insurgency, countering insurgency and terrorism, and intelligence--the book examines the projection of force and elements of force maximization, in chapters on civil-military relations, a diverse military of citizen volunteers, and organization and budget. And it traces how the role of the US dollar, as a globally accepted currency, gives a particular advantage to US business and banking interests, and to the US government, when it comes to financing the costs of global diplomatic, military, and other operations. Taking into account these threats and opportunities, Paul Viotti identifies a number of strategies and policies for the US that are central to the maintaining of peace and security over the next few decades"--Provided by publisher.

National secuirty strategy is a vast subject involving a daunting array of interrelated subelements woven in intricate, sometimes vague, and ever-changing patterns. Its processes are often irregular and confusing and are always based on difficult decisions laden with serious risks. In short, it is a subject understood by few and confusing to most. It is, at the same time, a subject of overwhelming importance to the fate of the United States and civilization itself. Col. Dennis M. Drew and Dr. Donald M. Snow have done a considerable service by drawing together many of the diverse threads of national security strategy into a coherent whole. They consider political and military strategy elements as part of a larger decisionmaking process influenced by economic, technological, cultural, and historical factors. I know of no other recent volume that addresses the entire national security milieu in such a logical manner and yet also manages to address current concerns so thoroughly. It is equally remarkable that they have addressed so many contentious problems in such an evenhanded manner. Although the title suggests that this is an introductory volume - and it is - I am convinced that experienced practitioners in the field of national security strategy would benefit greatly from a close examination of this excellent book. Sidney J. Wise Colonel, United States Air Force Commander, Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education