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Targeted Killing as a Tool of Counter-terrorism: The case of Al-Shabaab and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Máka, Marek ; Michálek, Luděk (advisor) ; Bureš, Oldřich (referee)
This thesis explores the topic of targeted killings and their effectiveness as a tool of counter-terrorism. The study begins with discussing the employed theory of decapitation and the legal and ethical questions the use of this method raises. The effectiveness is studied in two cases of leadership decapitations, specifically the case of Ahmed Abdi Godane, the former leader of Al-Shabaab, and Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the former leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The analysis was conducted through a combination of quantitative and qualitative approach and the timeframe has been set as two years before and two years after the decapitation. The results from the short-term perspective seem to suggest that leadership decapitation does decrease the organization's capability, with the scope of it depending on individual groups. In the medium to long-term timeframe, the results of the analysis were ambiguous as in the case of Al-Shabaab, there was no significant decrease in the capabilities of the group present due to the decapitation, however, in the case of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, there was a serious decrease occurring in all of the studied indicators. Finally, the thesis suggests that using targeted killings as part of more complex counter-terrorist operations greatly improves its...
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THE ROLES OF PRIVATE MILITARY AND SECURITY COMPANIES IN ADDRESSING MARITIME SECURITY THREATS
Bello, Maryam Tejumola ; Bureš, Oldřich (advisor) ; Foradori, Paolo (referee)
This study delves into the operational nuances, challenges, and effectiveness of Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) across three significant maritime zones: the Gulf of Guinea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Straits of Malacca. Utilising a qualitative research design, including a case study approach, the research sources information predominantly from document analysis and web-based data mining. Within these maritime domains, PMSCs face diverse challenges, from navigating sociocultural intricacies and geopolitical dynamics to contending with logistical and regulatory obstacles. The research uncovers that the operational strategies of PMSCs are profoundly shaped by each zone's historical, geographical, and socio- political landscape. For instance, the Straits of Malacca demands agility due to its bustling maritime activities, while the Gulf of Aden's expansive nature necessitates advanced technological integration and collaboration. In contrast, the Gulf of Guinea's complex socio- economic environment compels PMSCs to adopt multifaceted security approaches. The study evaluates the effectiveness of these PMSCs based on various indicators, including their rate of successful operations and adherence to international standards. A comparative lens reveals that PMSC effectiveness is intrinsically...
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Peace through Knowledge - Understanding the last decade of United Nations Peacekeeping Intelligence
Chappuis, Kelig ; Glouftsios, Georgios (advisor) ; Bureš, Oldřich (referee)
This dissertation addresses the following research question: What are the main features of contemporary intelligence processes for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations? It did so by considering two distinct elements: what happened in practice on the field, and which lessons were learned from this experience. Answers to these questions were respectively obtained by a case study on the peacekeeping intelligence of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, and a deep dive on some of the recent standardized manuals published by the Department of Peace Operations. This work has willingly adopted a purely open-source approach to the study of intelligence and has also sought to bring a novel tentative addition to peacekeeping intelligence research via the consideration of standardized guidelines. It found that contemporary PKI was still struggling with the nature of UN peacekeeping, such as cultural differences, unclear structures, lack of communication protocols and insufficient means. At the same time, it considered that the recent push towards standardized practices and procedures started by the DPO in the past years showed a marked improvement towards clarity and common references, but raised concerns on dependency with institutions such as NATO and rising militarization of...
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Market Forces and Political Power: On the Evolution of the Wagner Group
Mena Fuentes, Lucía ; Bureš, Oldřich (advisor) ; Aliyev, Huseyn (referee)
The Wagner Group has recently piqued the attention of the global press, academics, analysts, and strategic and military studies specialists. Building upon Ghiselli's theoretical framework on the study of Chinese Security Privatisation, this research explains the interplay of market dynamics and governmental power in shaping Wagner's unconventional development. Wagner's most relevant deployments abroad have accommodated the elite-set needs of Russia's public sphere through a clear alignment with the Russian foreign policy agenda. At the same time, the public debate on plaussibl regularisation of PMCs in Russia has been greatly determined by key events in Wagner's evolution. Recently, estimations of Russian control over this group have been underplayed by Prigozhin's mutiny. Amid recent developments and the War in Ukraine, the future of this Semi-State Security Actor and the country's PMSCs remain uncertain. Russia's leaders must deal with essential questions on the control of on-ground Wagner operatives amid the war in Ukraine before the legal regularisation of PMCs in the country is even conceivable.
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The role of PMSCs in boosting the erosion of state sovereignty
Cirrone, Beatrice ; Ludvík, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Bureš, Oldřich (referee)
The end of the Cold War accelerated the privatization of security and the proliferation of private military security companies (PMSCs) in conflict-ridden areas, challenging the state's role as the sole and legitimate security provider. This thesis explores whether deploying PMSCs has resulted in the erosion of state sovereignty - understood as the monopoly of violence - in a country with weak state institutions, such as Sierra Leone. To address this, the methodology employs process tracing to examine if and how the hypothesized causal mechanism unfolds under specific circumstances, resulting in a change in sovereignty status. This change is measured through three indicators: political stability, control over territory, and control over natural resources. By conducting an in-depth case study of Sierra Leone during PMSCs deployment (1991-1998) in the fight against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), this thesis reveals significant adverse impacts of PMSCs on the state sovereignty indicators. Firstly, PMSCs involvement led to an internal power redistribution, fueling competition among contractors, the army, and local militias. Secondly, while PMSCs provided short-term territorial gains, the Sierra Leonean army proved unable to maintain territorial stability, resulting in prolonged vulnerability and...
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Targeted Killing as a Counterterrorism Instrument: Evaluating Impacts on The Islamic State and Al Qaeda
Štěpán, David ; Bureš, Oldřich (advisor) ; Hynek, Nikola (referee)
This study analyzes targeted killing as a counterterrorism instrument and evaluates its impacts on the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in two separate case studies, one analyzing the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi while the other assesses the impact of the killing of Osama Bin Laden. The theory of leadership decapitation is applied in this thesis and the academic discourse on this theory is discussed. Additionally, moral and legal aspects of targeted killing are also briefly considered. The analysis combines a quantitative approach in the form of descriptive statistics of data regarding terrorist attacks with qualitative evaluation of other counterterrorism policies and political as well as societal aspects surrounding the operations. There are some general suggestions regarding leadership decapitation that are validated in this study. Various factors need to be considered when employing targeted killing in counterterrorism, such as the structure of the terrorist group as well as its age. This study presents evidence that targeted killing of high-ranking terrorist leaders is likely to increase the use of suicide bombing in the short-term period after leadership decapitation. It also points out evidence that there is no correlation between targeted killing and the decrease of casualties from terrorism....
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Russian proxy or rogue mercenary army? Situating the Wagner Group
Sutherland, Matthew Donald ; Bureš, Oldřich (advisor) ; Aliyev, Huseyn (referee)
The Wagner Group is an umbrella term referring to a network of mercenary groups, extraction companies, and political strategists linked to the Kremlin by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin. Wagner has spread throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Characterized by obscured activities and denied by the Kremlin, Wagner escapes conventional definitions of a Private Military and Security Company (PMSC) in both practice and theory. The pervasive labelling of Wagner as a "PMC" makes it difficult to effectively engage with the group at either an academic or policy level. Therefore, a scholarship situating Wagner in relation to PMSC literature would provide a platform to address Wagner across academic and political platforms. This project aims to fill that gap by situating Wagner in relation to current PMSC and mercenary literature. This will be accomplished by an extensive review of the current literature, followed by synthesizing PMSC definitions and categories that are relevant into the contemporary field. Once this has been established a comparative analysis of a variety of the Wagner Group's global activities will allow us to assess where Wagner sits amongst these definitions and categories. Addressing this gap in the literature will provide a new and effective platform for engaging with Wagner...
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Adapting the good practices of offline de-radicalisation and disengagement programmes online: A new approach to online Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism (P/CVE)
Debuire, Delphine Monique Thi-Laï ; Bureš, Oldřich (advisor) ; Kaunert, Christian (referee)
This research studies three de-radicalisation and disengagement programmes implemented in Western Europe in order to establish a list of good practices and analyse the extent to which these practices could be turned into online prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE) measures. Drawing from brochures, official reports and research about the British Healthy Identity Intervention, the German de-radicalisation programme implemented by EXIT-Deutschland, and the French Recherche et Intervention sur les Violences Extrémistes (RIVE) programme, this study establishes a list of 10 offline good practices. This research demonstrates that it is theoretically possible to adapt most of these good practices into online P/CVE measures, mainly through the use of social media and instant messaging and videocall platforms. Some of these measures have already been implemented as part of pilot studies or campaigns from civil society organisations and governments. Their encouraging results lead to think that such measures could have a positive outcome on the online prevention and countering of violent extremism.
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Elite Level Securitization of Migration and the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement
Flynn, Martin Pierce ; McDonagh, Ken (advisor) ; Bureš, Oldřich (referee)
This research project performs a discourse analysis on a corpus of speeches from Presidents of the European Commission relating to Syria from the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 to the formulation of the 2016 EU-Turkey Statement. It addresses the following research question: In what ways has the speech of the President of the European Commission contributed to the securitization of migration resulting from the Syrian civil war? Through the use of securitization theory and leadership theory, several conclusions were drawn from the results of the discourse analysis. These included identifying a range of discursive and non-discursive practices deployed by both Barroso and Juncker to contribute to the securitization of migration into the EU. In Juncker's case, he simultaneously attempted to de-securitize the issue and pushed for policies which sought to provide a long-term de-securitized solution to the phenomenon of irregular migration into the European Union. Juncker's partial success as a transformative leader in the EU's migration and asylum seeker policy shows that the habitus of the President is influential in regard to the formulation of the EU's refugee and asylum policy. The situational-institutional context can, however, prevent the President from implementing their desired policies.
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Influencing peace: The impact of ethnocentrism in United Nations peacekeeping operations
Maclean, Margot ; Butler, Eamonn (advisor) ; Bureš, Oldřich (referee)
Since the end of the Cold War, the United Nations has been working to adapt its peacekeeping missions to the changing conflict environment. However, it still faces several key challenges in its approach to its peacekeeping missions. As the UN operates within increasingly complex conflict environments, it requires greater funding, more resources, and further commitment from its member states. The UN Security Council, which controls the design and implementation of peacekeeping operations, is dominated by the P5 nations of the US, the UK, France, China, and Russia. While the UNSC's failings are often discussed, this dissertation attempts to address a gap in the literature by exploring the foundational influences on the UN within the context of ethnocentrism. The concept of ethnocentrism is fundamental to the functioning of global society, as it influences international relations and structure. The presence of ethnocentrism promotes exploitative practices and the belief in dominance over other groups. This study addresses the UN's political challenges in its capability to engage in peacekeeping operations, within an ethnocentric framework, by focusing on UN documents, independent reports, secondary literature, and analysing voting patterns, mandate structure, and financial contributions. The findings...
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