British security policy and the Sunningdale Agreement: the consequences of using force to combat terrorism in a liberal democracy1

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Relevant Today ◽  
Conservative Government ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Military

This chapter assesses the nine specific clauses in the Sunningdale Agreement that dealt with the implications for security policy in Northern Ireland. It analyses the consequences that these clauses had in Britain’s war against terrorism, especially as the Conservative government sought to shift the operational focus away from military-led counter-insurgency to a law enforcement-led counter-terrorism strategy. Although the policy of ‘police primacy’ did not emerge as Britain’s preferred option for tackling terrorism until 1975-76, this chapter argues that the seeds were sown by the British Government’s approach to the Sunningdale Agreement and the urgency by which it sought a cross-border arrangement with the Republic of Ireland that would enhance the security forces’ powers of pursuit, arrest and extradition. Indeed, the chapter asks whether the Conservative Party’s return to power in 1979 finally heralded a renewed vision for ‘police primacy’ in a more systematic way than that enacted by the Labour Government between 1974 and 1979. The chapter also highlights the theme of democratic control over the military instrument that would remain constant right up to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 and beyond. Indeed, it makes the case - pace Evelegh (1978) and Neumann (2003) – that the British government’s use of the military instrument as an option of last resort is fundamental to our understanding of Britain’s long war on Irish terrorism. This is relevant today, of course, particularly as Britain faces another (albeit much less sustained) armed challenge from dissident republicans. In conclusion, the chapter reflects on how liberal democracies more broadly have responded to the challenge posed by terrorism.

Democratic control over the armed forces in the legal order of the member states of the Council of Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 1(23) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
Jakub Robel
Keyword(s):  
Security Policy ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
International Terrorism ◽  
General Interest ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Member States ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
The Military

The control of the military is an indispensable element of a democratic government. Author of the article says that the degree and type of such control will vary considerably according to the system of government, historical traditions and also cultural values. The democratic control over the armed forces has two dimensions, which both enhance and promote confidence – building and peace. The domestic dimension implies the primacy of the civilian general interest of the principles of a democracy over the military. The international dimension prohibits in general the threat or use of force against a State. The democratic control of the armed forces is a complex matter. The author has focused in particular on aspects related to the armed forces: ‘traditional’ issues such as military expenditure or military budget and appointment of top commanders and issues which correspond to the change in the role of the armed forces, both at national and international level. Indeed, since the end of the cold war, armed forces have undeniably undergone a profound shift in both the range and focus of their role. This refocusing of defence and security policy in many Council of Europe member States has led to more national participation in international peace missions. Likewise, the changing nature of the threats posed to national security and in particular the rise of international terrorism has resulted in the re-emergence of an international role of the army in many European states, which requires a specific control of the conditions by which a state uses the army in domestic issues.

The collapse of power-sharing

No Solution ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.C. Aveyard
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
The Political ◽  
Labour Government ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Secretary Of State ◽  
Industrial Disputes

This chapter considers the initial three months of the Labour government, incorporating both the political and security situation. During this time the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Merlyn Rees, and the Northern Ireland Office made changes to security policy. Many of these showed continuity with the previous administration but some reflected the differing attitude of the Labour frontbench while in opposition. Most prominent was the suggestion that the police should play a greater role in security efforts. In May the UWC strike led to the collapse of the power-sharing executive and this is considered in great detail. It is argued that previous accounts have placed insufficient emphasis on the political context and the parameters within which the security forces could operate. The practical difficulties involved in strike-breaking are large and the loyalist strike should be placed in the broader, British context of difficulties experienced in handling industrial disputes in Great Britain.

scholarly journals The budget control in the function of the civil and democratic control of the armed forces in the Republic of Serbia

Vojno delo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 103-120
Author(s):  
Milena Knežević ◽  
Srboljub Nikolić ◽  
Aleksandar Neševski
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The State ◽  
External Control ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Democratic Control ◽  
Military Expenditures ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Military

One of the important indicators of democratization of each society is the constitutional and legal definition of the role of the military and the possibility of its control. The civil and democratic control of the Serbian Armed Forces primarily includes control of the use and development of the Serbian Armed Forces, internal and external control of the expenditures for the military needs, monitoring and informing the public about the state of preparations of the Armed Forces, providing free access to information of public importance and defining responsibilities for performing the military duties in accordance with the law. The instrument for financing the military expenditures in the Republic of Serbia is the state budget. During the drafting of the Law on Budget, the costs for the military needs are planned for the budget year and the following two years. Having in mind that the Law on Budget is passed by the highest legislative body - the National Assembly, the main principle of the democratic control of the military expenditure planning is provided. However, the budget execution implies the control over the use of the budget funds, whereby the Law on Budget System provides for several levels of control, organized as internal and external control. The internal control of the military expenditures, expressed in the budget of the Republic of Serbia, is carried out by the financial service bodies of the units and institutions of the Serbian Armed Forces, the Accounting Centre of the Budget and Finance Sector of the Ministry of Defence, the Defence Inspectorate, the Military Security Agency, the Criminal Investigation Group and the Internal Audit of the Ministry of Defence. The external control of the budget intended for the military needs is performed by the State Audit Institution and the Budget Inspection. The objective of the control is to determine whether the actions of the Serbian Armed Forces are in accordance with the position stipulated by the Constitution, as well as with the policy that the mentioned representative and executive authorities define in their acts.

Negotiating the Provisional IRA ceasefire

No Solution ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.C. Aveyard
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Labour Government ◽  
Constitutional Convention ◽  
Army Officers ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government ◽  
Political Scene

This chapter looks at the changes made by the Labour government to security policy and the establishment of talks with senior Provisional IRA representatives, both designed in order to secure the ceasefire. It also considers the expectations of Labour ministers and senior NIO officials going into the ceasefire. The ceasefire had great implications for security policy and the political scene. It provided the backdrop to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention, which lasted from May 1975 through to March 1976, and deeply affected the Labour government’s relationships with political parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the government of the Republic of Ireland and with senior British army officers.

Burkina Faso: Military reshuffle will not win the war

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Military Leadership ◽  
Ongoing Trial ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Military

Significance This comes as part of a general shake-up of the military leadership amid a litany of promises from Kabore and other officials that the country is revamping its counter-terrorism strategy and working to shore up morale among the security forces. Impacts Security issues may complicate plans for the scheduled May 2022 municipal elections. The poor pay and living conditions of soldiers on deployment may exacerbate human rights abuses and could lead to local mutinies. The ongoing trial for the 1987 murder of former President Thomas Sankara will help discredit many former regime figures.

Sinn Féin and the IRA

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew Whiting
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Sinn Fein ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
British Rule ◽  
Irish Republicanism ◽  
The Republic ◽  
British State ◽  
State Responses

When Sinn Féin and the IRA emerged in Northern Ireland in 1969 they used a combination of revolutionary politics and violence to an effort to overthrow British rule. Today, the IRA is in a state of ‘retirement’, violence is a tactic of the past, and Sinn Féin is a co-ruler of Northern Ireland and an ever growing political player in the Republic of Ireland. This is one of the most startling transformations of a radical violent movement into a peaceful political one in recent times. So what exactly changed within Irish republicanism, what remains the same, and, crucially, what caused these changes? Where existing studies explain the decision to end violence as the product of stalemate or strategic interplay with the British state, this book draws on a wealth of archival material and interviews to argue that moderation was a long-term process of increasing inclusion and contact with political institutions, which gradually extracted moderate concessions from republicanism. Crucially, these concessions did not necessitate republicans forsaking their long-term ethno-national goals. The book also considers the wider implications of Irish republicanism for other cases of separatist conflict, and has significance for the future study of state responses to violent separatism and of comparative peace processes.

Assassination of a Saint

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Eisenbrandt ◽  
Benjamín Cuéllar
Keyword(s):  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Death Squad ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Legal Case ◽  
Military Commanders ◽  
Witness Interviews ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Voice

In 1980, a death squad linked to business tycoons and military commanders murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero for denouncing widespread repression and poverty in El Salvador. Romero was known as the “voice of the voiceless,” and his criticism of the oligarchs who dominated the economy and the Security Forces that tortured and murdered civilians made Romero a military target. Two decades after his assassination, the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA) found one of the conspirators, Álvaro Saravia, living in California and launched a wide-ranging investigation into the death squad and its financiers. This book chronicles the life and death of the Catholic martyr, examining his actions and situating his years as archbishop in the broader context of the Salvadoran clergy’s embrace of Liberation Theology. It also analyzes, through excerpts from witness interviews and trial testimony, the mindset of the death squad members, their leader Roberto D’Aubuisson, and their wealthy backers, that propelled them to want Romero dead. The U.S. government played an important and contradictory role in developing the death squads and funding the military from which they sprang while also investigating their crimes and seeking to keep them in check. Within this complicated historical context, the book provides a first-hand account of the investigation and U.S. legal case that led to the only court verdict ever reached for Archbishop Romero’s murder.

Republic of Moldova in the Context of Regional Security Challenges in Eastern Europe

2018 ◽  
pp. 299-304
Author(s):  
Stefan Tibuleac
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Security System ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Strategic Uncertainty ◽  
European Security ◽  
Republic Of Moldova ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Impact

This article analyzes the most current security issues for the Republic of Moldova that are part of the regional security context of Eastern Europe –the region that can be considered the epicenter of international tensions through which the„geopolitical line of fracture”passes. The geographical position of the Republic of Moldova makes this state particularly sensitive to any negative trends in theregion. Growing of international tensions creates security threats and complicates economic development. From a historical point of view, Moldova has repeatedly fallen victim by the confrontation of the great powers. Therefore, the Republic of Moldova has a vital interest in preventing a new conflict in Eastern Europe. This article is based on a number of assumptions made by changes in the European security environment, such as the „shift of weight” to the East, strategic uncertainty, increasing the role of non-state actors, the situation in eastern Ukraine, etc. Based on these assumptions, this article makes an attempt to outline the potential role of the Republic of Moldova in the Eastern European security system, taking into account the desideratum for integration of the republic into the European Union. Other relevant factors will be taken into account for shaping the role of the Republic of Moldova in the European security system, namely: the security deficit; the impact of NATO and EU security policy; the rebirth of the project to create a regional defense alliance, etc. This article will largely take into account the military aspects of security. Keywords: Republic of Moldova, national security, Eastern Europe, NATO, Intermarium, defence, threats, risks, challenges

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