Most individuals with radical ideologies will not evolve into violent extremists, let alone terrorists. Understanding the dynamics and various pathways into a radical ideology is nonetheless... Show moreMost individuals with radical ideologies will not evolve into violent extremists, let alone terrorists. Understanding the dynamics and various pathways into a radical ideology is nonetheless important. However, empirical research on pathways into left-wing radicalization is scarce. In this chapter, we define the concept of left-wing radicalization in relation to extremism and provide an overview of existing research on left-wing radicalization. Drawing on case studies and our own empirical research, we discuss both individual motives for participation in radical left groups and macro-level factors in the political and societal context that impact the growth or demise of radical left groups. Show less
Over the last decade, several middle powers have sought to strengthen their state capacity by digitalizing the provision of key governance services. Through public digital infrastructure, they have... Show moreOver the last decade, several middle powers have sought to strengthen their state capacity by digitalizing the provision of key governance services. Through public digital infrastructure, they have attempted to address problems of scale by fostering greater precision in domains such as healthcare, access to credit, and social security. These digital services – ‘middleware’ – have traditionally been built with the help of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): lines of code governing how data is fetched from public databases and shared or stored by public and private entities alike. Advancements in AI present a further opportunity for these states to leapfrog bottlenecks associated with human resources development by building “intelligent” bots and service providers. AI-enabled middleware too is built atop APIs relying on machine learning models to detect patterns and provide predictive responses. High degrees of standardization and centralization in the provision and upkeep of intelligent algorithms carry risks and vulnerabilities, also of a strategic nature. Malicious actors could compromise the API, and corrupt training data, thereby manipulating the AI-enabled service at the front end, to worrying consequences. This chapter surveys proposals by India, Singapore, and Brazil to build AI-enabled governance services, and details strategic risks associated with their deployment. While intelligent programs may allow middle powers to sidestep logistical and resource-based constraints, they also open new theatres of cyber conflict, inviting adversaries to disrupt or disable key engines of their economic growth. Show less
Starting in Yemen in 2011, AQAP conducted the first successful instances of prolonged al‑Qaeda governance in the cities of Jaar and Zinjibar – cities they held for over a year. Returning in 2015,... Show moreStarting in Yemen in 2011, AQAP conducted the first successful instances of prolonged al‑Qaeda governance in the cities of Jaar and Zinjibar – cities they held for over a year. Returning in 2015, the re‑seized these two cites. Most significantly, they held and administered the port city of Mukalla for over a year. Beyond this, numerous cases of small scale governance were recorded in Yemen up to 2017. This chapter describes the evolution of AQAP governance, outlining how an initially severely repressive approach which engaged hudud punishments was reigned in, in favour of a more ‘hearts and minds’‑based approach. It also highlights unique aspects of this governance that were identified as lending to its success in cases such as Mukalla, such as the use of local actors to implement government administration, as well as effective and timely provision of social welfare and public works. Finally, it examines how and why these governance campaigns came to an end. This chapter analyses the most successful cases of AQAP governance in Yemen. It also highlights the many additional and often overlooked instances of small-scale governance that were less spectacular in nature. It focuses on lessons that can be applied in a post-conflict Yemen in relation to countering non-state actors in the country. Show less
Research on organizational crisis emanates from multiple disciplines (public administration, international relations, political science, organization science, communication studies), yet basically... Show moreResearch on organizational crisis emanates from multiple disciplines (public administration, international relations, political science, organization science, communication studies), yet basically argues that three main categories of crises exist:• Crises in organizations: often tangible, immediate threats or incidents that completely upset an organization’s primary process or performance, while both cause and problems are more or less confined to the organization and those affected by its malperformance.• Crisis to the organization: a threat or damage occurs outside of the organization at hand but implicates the organization by attribution of responsibility or culpability (for causing the problems or allowing them to occur).• Crisis about the organization, or institutional crisis: even without a tangible threat or damage, in a short period of time the organization’s perceived performance deficit becomes so deeply problematic that the organization itself is subject to intense scrutiny and criticism. Previously agreed-on values and routines, the structure, and policy philosophy of the organization are no longer seen as adequate or legitimate.The three types of organizational crises tend to have not only different causes but also different implications as to the commensurate crisis response, both functionally and politically. There is no single best response to organizational crises: appropriate responses are both commensurate to the crisis type at hand and to different phases of a crisis. Still, discerning between crisis typologies opens a research agenda to provide a better understanding of the relation between the internal and external dynamics of a crisis. Show less
Smart digital infrastructures predicated on myriads of sensors distributed in the environment are often rendered as key to contemporary urban security governance to detect risky or suspicious... Show moreSmart digital infrastructures predicated on myriads of sensors distributed in the environment are often rendered as key to contemporary urban security governance to detect risky or suspicious entities before or during a criminal event takes place. At the same time, they often involve surveillance of urban environments, and thus not only criminals but also large groups of people and entities unrelated to criminal phenomena can end up under close inspection.This chapter makes its contribution on two levels. For one, it offers a theoretical framework to the research and conceptualization of the role of sensing infrastructures in urban security practices. It shows how insights from Philosophy of Technology and Science and Technology Studies can produce a nuanced understanding of the role of digital technologies in security practices, beyond standard conceptualizations of technology. Moreover, the chapter proposes a geological approach to enrich our repertoire of imagining and researching smart urban ecosystems.Secondly, the chapter contributes to a higher level of transparency of these practices by presenting the results of ethnographic research performed in a set of police organizations that employ sensing infrastructures and algorithmic profiling in their practices. The chapter draws empirically on research performed in the Dutch police, both at municipal and national levels with some additional material gathered in a constabulary in England. In these organizations, resource allocation decisions are often predicated on automated number plate recognition technology that processes data from an array of smart cameras distributed in the environment. In these ways together, the chapter highlights a set of normative issues with implications for the effectiveness and legitimacy of urban security (surveillance) practices in smart environments. Show less
This chapter explores how algorithms produce aesthetic forms and dystopian configurations across Palestinian cyber and digital spaces. Through surveillance and erasure, algorithms operate as... Show moreThis chapter explores how algorithms produce aesthetic forms and dystopian configurations across Palestinian cyber and digital spaces. Through surveillance and erasure, algorithms operate as infrastructures of (in)visibility on social media, digital maps, navigation apps, and augmented reality video-games. On the one hand, they serve the Israeli system of control by making Palestinian users and contents hyper-visible to surveillance. On the other, by imposing (self-)censorship and erasure from digital representations, they ultimately purport to delete Palestine from cyber spaces. Acting at the threshold of the (in)visible, algorithms do not only enact control and surveillance, but they also inform the creation of an aesthetics of disappearance. In this light, this chapter problematizes the normative assumption equating invisibility – in the form of masking or disconnection – to freedom and emancipation by introducing the concept of aesthetics by algorithms as new canon and form of ordering of the colonial space. Show less
This chapter examines the introduction and implementation of the pilot project Twitcident in an emergency response room setting. Twitcident is a web-based system for filtering, searching and... Show moreThis chapter examines the introduction and implementation of the pilot project Twitcident in an emergency response room setting. Twitcident is a web-based system for filtering, searching and analyzing data on real-world incidents or crises. Social media data is seen as important for emergency response opera- tions: it can be used as an ‘early warning monitoring system’ to detect social unrest, and for improving common operational pictures (COPs). This chapter shows that the expectations on the functioning of the tool were not fully met: first it was hard for the response room professionals to make sense of the data and second, the management did not develop a proper project planning. The recommendations are twofold. On the one hand, the professionals who work with Twitcident must invest in developing new information management routines. On the other hand, the response room management needs to create a much more inclusive project learning strategy. Show less
The post-crisis accountability process is a purification ritual that serves to channel public emotions and enables re-equilibration after a severe disturbance of the sociopolitical order. Crisis... Show moreThe post-crisis accountability process is a purification ritual that serves to channel public emotions and enables re-equilibration after a severe disturbance of the sociopolitical order. Crisis accountability literature can be reviewed in terms of forums, actors, and consequences. This setup allows a systematic discussion of how crises impact: the accountability process in influencing its setting (the forum); the strategies of accountees and their opponents (actors); and the resulting outcomes in terms of reputation damage, sanctions, and restoration (consequences). There is a clear distinction between formal and informal accountability forums, with the media being almost exclusively informal, and judicial forums, accident investigators, and political inquiries having formal authority over accountability assessments. Yet, through the presence of formal authorities in media reporting, and because media frames influence the work of formal authorities, the different forums intensively interact in accountability processes. Looking at accountability strategies reveals that the number of actors involved in blame games is likely rising because of increasingly networked crisis responses, and the role of actors has become more important and personal in the crisis aftermath and accountability process. The consequences and success of individual actors in influencing the accountability outcomes is shaped by both institutional settings and individual skills and strategies. A current political power position that exceeds prior mistakes is an effective shield, and denial is the least effective though most commonly used strategy. Accountability processes remain a balancing act between rebuttal and repair. Yet after major crisis, renewal is possible, and post-crisis accountability can play a crucial role therein. Show less
Lone attackers have attracted considerable attention from the media, policymakers and academics. This is partly due to the terrorist attacks Europefaced in the last couple of years executed by... Show moreLone attackers have attracted considerable attention from the media, policymakers and academics. This is partly due to the terrorist attacks Europefaced in the last couple of years executed by—seemingly—lone attackers.Academic research has explored topics like the demarcation between loneattackers and terrorist cells or networks, typologies of lone attackers, themotivation of lone attackers, and—lately—the attack patterns of lone actors.This chapter will analyse the changed understanding of lone actorviolence and discuss possible preventive approaches. Show less
