National Cybersecurity Strategies

This chapter studies the phases to unify our national cybersecurity strategy model (NCSSM) in any nation cyber strategy that is either under development or improvement stages. This methodology consists of developing international cybersecurity strategies, alliances, and cooperation with different stakeholders at all possible levels. The research evaluated the best practices of 10 leading countries and five intergovernmental organizations in terms of developing effective cybersecurity strategies and policies. The authors also assessed a series of cybersecurity best practices that can be aligned with cyber governance and cyber law when countries wish to develop or enhance national cyber strategies. Furthermore, they propose guidelines to audit the national cyber strategies by utilizing their cybersecurity audit model (CSAM). CSAM could be considered for conducting cybersecurity audits in any nation state in pursuance of reviewing and measuring the cybersecurity assurance, maturity, and cyber readiness and to detect the needs to increase cyber awareness to defend and protect critical cyber assets.

Violence Against Women in Russia and Brazil: International and Domestic Responses

The problem of domestic violence and violence against women, despite being an age-old phenomenon, came to the fore of public debate relatively late. It entered the agenda of intergovernmental organizations in the 1990s, but became the subject of international litigation only in the 2000s and 2010s. While this belated response of the international community can be associated with the inadequate conceptualization of the problem and insufficient data, it also has to do with the ongoing public/private dichotomy that became especially pronounced in the recent years when various conservative groups increasingly question the necessity of specific laws and policies aimed at eliminating this kind of crime. In this article, I briefly trace the developments concerning women’s rights, and, particularly, domestic violence and violence against women in international law. Then, based on the analysis of international and regional court decisions, I try to see how and whether these decisions contributed to the domestic developments in the field of combatting this phenomenon in Russia and Brazil. It is also important to examine how COVID-19 pandemic impacted the narratives of violence and how the international community should respond to the challenge of protecting the most vulnerable members of the society in the conditions of health emergency.

Barriers to UN–Civil Society Collaborations: An Exploratory Study of CSOs Within the UN–ECOSOC Consultative Status Programme

In recent decades, civil society organizations (CSOs) have ostensibly attained increased access to the United Nations (UN) and other intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and, in turn, increased opportunities for collaboration with IGOs. However, in most cases, CSO access to IGOs remains limited and highly regimented. Little scholarship has been undertaken to examine barriers to effective CSO–IGO collaborations. Virtually, no empirical research has examined the degree or nature of the interaction between the UN and international civil society via the dynamic of the flagship programme designed to facilitate such collaborations—the consultative status framework. This exploratory study partially addresses the latter gap in the scholarship by undertaking a qualitative macro-scale examination of CSOs within the UN Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) consultative status programme, the primary vehicle in the UN–civil society dynamic. Specifically, the study sought to identify barriers to UN–civil society collaboration within the consultative status programme as perceived by participating CSOs. Findings of a survey sent to a random sample of 10% of CSOs holding UN–ECOSOC consultative status revealed that barriers to participation in the programme varied with some obstacles far more common than others. The degree of barriers reported by CSOs also strongly reflected the level of accreditation they held within the programme. Additionally, survey respondents offered insight as to how impediments in the collaboration could potentially be addressed.

Transnational Challenges and Twenty-First-Century Dilemmas

This chapter assesses where the region stands in the early twenty-first century, as Latin American democracies exhibit a tug of war between executive policies and strong participatory trends, with countries joining multiple yet segmented intergovernmental organizations that have failed to reach institutional integration and express a voice in unison. These tensions have never been as poignant as in the current scenario, as the region faces transnational challenges and dilemmas, exacerbated by the health pandemic and economic contraction.

Intergovernmental Organizations

This survey reviews the role of intergovernmental organizations (IO) in domestic social policy. It first describes those IOs which are most relevant for national welfare states in developed nations: the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Then it deals with the modes and means by which IOs attempt to have an impact on national welfare states. Five channels of influence are identified: resources, constraints, standards, evaluations, and ideas and information. The final section looks into the impact of IOs on national welfare states, the strategic interactions between IOs and domestic political actors (including blame shifting in the multi-level system), and uploading of national policies to the international level. The question of soft versus hard law, and the shift to soft law, as well as the democratic deficit on the level of IOs, are discussed.

Achieving Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions at the Regional Level: The Partnership Between Regional Intergovernmental Organizations and Civil Society

The root causes of conflict and violence, such as injustice, inequalities and decline in the quality of democracies, rarely emerge and remain within the national borders of a single country: they increasingly spill over into surrounding regions, compelling a regional response. Regional action on peace, justice and inclusion should cut across social, economic and political agendas and be sustained through partnerships with those most impacted by conflict and inequalities, including local communities, grassroots organizations, and Indigenous groups. Aimed at key decision-makers and key stakeholders, including government agencies, regional organizations and civil society organizations, the purpose of the Policy Brief is to contribute to the ongoing conversation around the achievement of peace, justice, and strong institutions worldwide. The aspiration is that the recommendations and information included in this analysis will complement ongoing efforts, motivate collective action, inspire decision-making and promote multisectoral engagement to achieve common goals based on successful experiences and best practices such as those outlined in this brief.

Regional intergovernmental organizations in the Global South: Emerging education policy nodes between the global and the national

Regional Intergovernmental Organizations (RIGOs) play unclear roles in education policy making and transfer. Much comparative education scholarship on the topic focuses on exploring the interplay between global and local/national actors in education policy, overlooking regional dimensions. To deepen our understanding, we analyzed the strategic plans of four RIGOs in Africa, the Arab and Islamic worlds, and Southeast Asia. Qualitative policy analysis is employed to reveal the roles RIGOs aspire to play in educational development. Of the what, how, and why dimensions of policy, this study focuses on the last two, as they reveal the rationales the RIGOs provided to justify their organizational positioning, their strategies to contribute to education policy, and their mediations with the national and the global. Our analysis has showed that RIGOs position themselves as significant actors in educational development in their respective regions, playing several complementary and sometimes conflicting roles. Analysis via institutional theory of the interplay of national, regional, and global contexts has revealed organizational isomorphism, decoupling between policy and practice, expansive structuration, otherhood engagements, and scientization and rationalization of organizational work. The RIGOs view themselves as elaborators of global models and, simultaneously, promoters of regionalism. Implications for education policy and research are identified.

USING CRITICAL GEOPOLITICAL RESEARCH TO ANALYZE AND UNDERSTAND THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE

For my research I used peer-review journals, think tank institutes, intergovernmental organizations and government agencies to gather substantial information.