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Books > Business & Economics > Industry & industrial studies > Service industries > Security services
In February of 2011, Libyan citizens rebelled against Muammar Qaddafi and quickly unseated him. The speed of the regime's collapse confounded many observers, and the ensuing civil war showed Foreign Policy's index of failed states to be deeply flawed-FP had, in 2010, identified 110 states as being more likely than Libya to descend into chaos. They were spectacularly wrong, but this points to a larger error in conventional foreign policy wisdom: failed, or weak and unstable, states are not anomalies but are instead in the majority. More states resemble Libya than Sweden. Why are most states weak and unstable? Taking as his launching point Charles Tilly's famous dictum that 'war made the state, and the state made war,' Arjun Chowdhury argues that the problem lies in our mistaken equation of democracy and economic power with stability. But major wars are the true source of stability: only the existential crisis that such wars produced could lead citizens to willingly sacrifice the resources that allowed the state to build the capacity it needed for survival. Developing states in the postcolonial era never experienced the demands major interstate war placed on European states, and hence citizens in those nations have been unwilling to sacrifice the resources that would build state capacity. For example, India and Mexico are established democracies with large economies. Despite their indices of stability, both countries are far from stable: there is an active Maoist insurgency in almost a quarter of India's districts, and Mexico is plagued by violence, drug trafficking, and high levels of corruption in local government. Nor are either effective at collecting revenue. As a consequence, they do not have the tax base necessary to perform the most fundamental tasks of modern states: controlling organized violence in a given territory and providing basic services to citizens. By this standard, the majority of states in the world-about two thirds-are weak states. Chowdury maintains that an accurate evaluation of international security requires a normative shift : the language of weakness and failure belies the fact that strong states are exceptions. Chowdhury believes that dismantling this norm is crucial, as it encourages developing states to pursue state-building via war, which is an extremely costly approach-in terms of human lives and capital. Moreover, in our era, such an approach is destined to fail because the total wars of the past are highly unlikely to occur today. Just as importantly, the non-state alternatives on offer are not viable alternatives. For better or worse, we will continue to live in a state-dominated world where most states are weak. Counterintuitive and sweeping in its coverage, The Myth of International Order demands that we fundamentally rethink foundational concepts of international politics like political stability and state failure.
A most timely publication in view of current concerns about snooping. Thomas Mathiesen describes how the major databases of Europe have become interlinked and accessible to diverse organizations and third States; meaning that, largely unchallenged, a 'Surveillance Monster' now threatens rights, freedoms, democracy and the Rule of Law. As information is logged on citizens' every move, data flows across borders via systems soon to be under central, global or even non-State control. Secret plans happen behind closed doors and 'systems func tionaries' become defensive of their own role. Goals expand and entire processes are shrouded in mystery. Alongside the integration of automated systems sits a weakening of State ties as the Prum Treaty and Schengen Convention lead to systems lacking transparency, restraint or Parliamentary scrutiny. As Mathiesen explains, the intention may have been fighting terrorism or organized crime, but the means have become disproportionate, unaccountable, over-expensive and lacking in results which ordinary vigilance and sound intelligence in communities should provide.
The deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Libya, on 11 September 2012, along with attacks on U.S. embassies in Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen, have drawn renewed attention to the challenges facing U.S. diplomats abroad, as well as to the difficulty in balancing concerns for their security against the outreach required of their mission. Congress plays a key role in shaping the response to these challenges, such as by providing resources for diplomatic security and examining security breaches overseas. The inability to provide perfect security, especially against the evident threat of mob violence, has focused particular scrutiny on the deployment of diplomatic personnel in high-threat environments. This book provides background information on the authorities, regulations, and procedures in place at the Department of State regarding diplomatic security with additional discussion on embassy security funding trends.
According to Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10 (HSPD-10): Biodefense for the 21st Century, a national bioawareness capability providing early warning, detection, or recognition of a biological weapon attack is an essential component of biodefense. To contribute to this national capability, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operates the BioWatch program, which uses routine laboratory testing designed to detect an aerosolised biological attack for five specific biological agents considered high risk for use as biological weapons. The BioWatch program is a federally-managed, locally operated system with collectors deployed primarily in outdoor locations in more than 30 major metropolitan areas. This book provides an overview of the BioWatch Generation-3 Acquisition program with a focus on meeting mission needs for effective biosurveillance.
In seeking to evaluate the efficacy of post-9/11 homeland security
expenses--which have risen by more than a trillion dollars, not
including war costs--the common query has been, "Are we safer?"
This, however, is the wrong question. Of course we are "safer"--the
posting of a single security guard at one building's entrance
enhances safety. The correct question is, "Are any gains in
security worth the funds expended?"
Conventional wisdom holds that weak and failing states are the source of the world's most pressing security threats. After all, the 9/11 attacks originated in an impoverished, war-ravaged country, and transnational crime appears to flourish in weakly governed states. However, our assumptions about the threats posed by failing states are based on anecdotal arguments, not on a systematic analysis of the connections between state failure and transnational security threats. Analyzing terrorism, transnational crime, WMDs, pandemic diseases, and energy insecurity, Stewart Patrick shows that while some global threats do emerge in fragile states, most of their weaknesses create misery only for their own citizenry. Moreover, many threats originate farther up the chain, in wealthier and more stable countries like Russia and Venezuela. Weak Links will force policymakers to rethink what they assume about state failure and transnational insecurity.
Video surveillance, public records, fingerprints, hidden microphones, RFID chips: in contemporary societies the intrusive techniques of surveillance used in daily life have increased dramatically. The "war against terror" has only exacerbated this trend, creating a world that is closer than one might have imagined to that envisaged by George Orwell in 1984.How have we reached this situation? Why have democratic societies accepted that their rights and freedoms should be taken away, a little at a time, by increasingly sophisticated mechanisms of surveillance?From the anthropometry of the 19th Century to the Patriot Act, through an analysis of military theory and the Echelon Project, Armand Mattelart constructs a genealogy of this new power of control and examines its globalising dynamic. This book provides an essential wake-up call at a time when democratic societies are becoming less and less vigilant against the dangers of proliferating systems of surveillance.
Roy Snell has been in what he calls "close protection" for more than 16 years, guarding international royalty and celebrities including Madonna, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Bruce Willis, Tom Jones, and Frank Sinatra. A former SAS sniper and heavyweight boxing champion, Roy is Britain's ultimate bodyguard. Roy was trained at the Regency College in Herefordshire, where the royal protection squad is drilled. He started out in security at showcases for the big bands of the 1980s--Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Aha, Kajagoogoo, and at a Wham! gig, he protected George Michael from a man with a baseball bat. A "Category A" bodyguard--a level that takes two years of training to reach--Roy is qualified to look after top level celebrity clients, from film stars to athletes, singers to royalty. Roy is also a skilled marksman trained in the use of the 9mm Bereta sub-machine gun and the 38 Snubnose--the standard issue weapon for the FBI.
"It will be very important, building on the goodwill which the Turkish military possess in society, to develop an informed security community consisting of members of parliament, academicians, journalists underpinning of security policy. I trust that this reference book will provide them with most useful support"-Dr. W. F. van Eekelen, former minister of defence, the Netherlands.
'This book will change the way you think about today's new media technologies' - Daniel J. Solove, author of ""The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age"". Whether you're purchasing groceries with your Safeway 'club card' or casting a vote on ""American Idol"", those data are being collected. From Amazon to iTunes, smart phones to GPS devices, Google to TiVo - all of these products and services give us an expansive sense of choice, access, and participation. Mark Andrejevic shows, however, that these continuously evolving new technologies have also been employed as modes of surveillance and control, most disturbingly exemplified by revelations about the NSA's secret monitoring of our phone calls, e-mails, and internet searches. Many contend that our proliferating interactive media empower individuals and democratize society. But, Andrejevic asks, at what cost? In ""iSpy"", he reveals that these and other highly advertised benefits are accompanied by hidden risks and potential threats that we all tend to ignore. His book, providing the first sustained critique of a concept that has been a talking point for twenty years, debunks the false promises of the digital revolution still touted by the popular media while seeking to rehabilitate, rather than simply write off, the potentially democratic uses of interactive media. Andrejevic opens up the world of digital rights management and the data trail each of us leaves - data about our locations, preferences, or life events that are already put to use in various economic, political, and social contexts. He notes that, while citizens are becoming increasingly transparent to private and public monitoring agencies, they themselves are unable to access the information gathered about them - or know whether it's even correct. (The watchmen, it seems, don't want to be watched.) He also considers the appropriation of consumer marketing for political campaigns in targeting voters and examines the implications of the Internet for the so-called War on Terror. In ""iSpy"", Andrejevic poses real challenges for our digital future. Amazingly detailed, compellingly readable, it warns that we need to temper our enthusiasm for these technologies with a better understanding of the threats they pose - to be able to distinguish between interactivity as centralized control and as collaborative participation.
The March 2006 furor over a Dubai firms attempt to purchase the company managing some U.S. ports illustrates the difficult homeland security challenges that exist at the nexus of privately owned critical assets as well as global interdependence. Unfortunately, nearly five years after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., federal efforts to enlist the private sector in bolstering homeland security remain largely stillborn. Neglected Defense offers a thoughtful and tightly reasoned analysis of why that is so. It presents a way forward for strengthening cooperation between the private sector and government on homeland security. The report begins by laying out the policy dilemma in detail. It offers a recent history of the security role of the private sector, and highlights specific problems that have kept public-private security partnerships from maturing. It concludes with a series of recommendationsfor Congress, the Bush administration, and the private sectorto better secure the homeland.
Since the terrorist attacks of September 2001, surveillance has been put forward as the essential tool for the aEURO"war on terror,aEURO(t) with new technologies and policies offering police and military operatives enhanced opportunities for monitoring suspect populations. The last few years have also seen the publicaEURO(t)s consumer tastes become increasingly codified, with aEURO"data minesaEURO(t) of demographic information such as postal codes and purchasing records. Additionally, surveillance has become a form of entertainment, with aEURO"realityaEURO(t) shows becoming the dominant genre on network and cable television.In The New Politics of Surveillance and Visibility, editors Kevin D. Haggerty and Richard V. Ericson bring together leading experts to analyse how society is organized through surveillance systems, technologies, and practices. They demonstrate how the new political uses of surveillance make visible that which was previously unknown, blur the boundaries between public and private, rewrite the norms of privacy, create new forms of inclusion and exclusion, and alter processes of democratic accountability. This collection challenges conventional wisdom and advances new theoretical approaches through a series of studies of surveillance in policing, the military, commercial enterprises, mass media, and health sciences.
The Security Handbook, Second Edition is a user-friendly guide for
security officers and guards, covering everything from introductory
information to advanced topics. Whether looking for entry into the
profession or development within the security industry, this book
offers the practical information, training, and need-to-know
techniques for the realization of professional goals.
Internal loss is one of the most costly forms of loss. Embezzlement
is one of the least detected and prosecuted forms of internal
theft. Preventing Corporate Embezzlement is a professional
reference that offers solutions. Managers, auditors and others
charged with protecting assets must achieve a heightened awareness
of embezzlement. They need to recognize and understand the
opportunities, methods, and varieties of embezzlement, as well as
establish internal controls that will prevent and detect
embezzlement.
This book begins by laying out a history of espionage that clearly
shows that when a new technology or technique becomes available to
the information gatherers in public and private sectors, they can
quickly be adopted for Netspionage use. It then moves on to
describe how the Internet and associated technologies have already
revolutionized the collection and analysis of competitive
information. The convergence of dependency on networked and
exploitation tools (often propagated by "hackers," "cyberpunks,"
and even intelligence agencies) has already resulted in several
incidents that foreshadow the perilous future. Close study of these
incidents demonstrates how difficult yet how important it is to
confront the challenges of "netspionage" and its less intrusive
cousins. The authors present a set of the known incidents and then
outline protective measures that will reduce the potential and
consequences of netspionage.
This is a truly unique collection of 39 articles written by
authorities or based on authoritative research. It goes beyond
locks, lighting, and alarms to offer provocative viewpoints on a
variety of security topics. The book looks beyond everyday applications and routines to an
understanding of the social significance of careers in security. It
will be of interest to practitioners in all sectors as well as
students at all levels.
With half of all new businesses failing in the first two years,
every aspect of good business planning must be considered, but loss
prevention is very often overlooked. Most small business owners
grapple with the day to day challenges of sales and marketing,
never realizing that the shadow of shrinkage is expanding daily,
waiting to reveal itself in the annual inventory results. Ravaged
by theft and paperwork losses, the already tight profit margin can
shrink into oblivion. Loss Prevention and the Small Business opens
the eyes of the reader to the reality of shrinkage in all its
guises including shoplifting, fraud, and embezzlement. Armed with
this awareness, the security specialist or owner/manager can
utilize the many strategies to both inhibit losses and aggressively
pursue those persons and processes that cause losses.
By covering the essential tips and techniques for investigators,
Investigations: 150 Things You Should Know becomes a useful
reference. By further covering the legal guidelines that
investigators must follow, it becomes indispensable. Through
anecdotes, case studies, and documented procedures the authors of
this book have amassed the most complete collection of
investigative information available.
Premises Security: A Guide for Attorneys and Security Professionals
guides the security professional through the ins and outs of
premises security liability. Premises security litigation claims
represent a serious financial threat to owners and occupiers of
property. This book provides an overview of risk assessment
techniques, identification of reasonable security measures, legal
issues and litigation strategies.
The idea of espionage has always carried a certain mystique, having
grown its roots in the political and national defense spheres.
Today, espionage must be taken seriously in the business arena as
well. Having company secrets stolen by competitors is costly and
can be lethal. Counterespionage for American Business is a how-to
manual for security professionals that teaches secret methods
counterespionage experts have been using for years to protect
business information
This paper presents a brief introduction to the tenants of the Banjul Charter, procedures and areas of divergence. It examines the rationale behind keeping the proceedings of relevant bodies confidential. It critically analyses the achievements of some African states in implementing human rights and their relationships with the OAU, and provides a view of what future role the AU might play in the protection process. Finally it assesses the chances for effective implementation of the treaty under the African system. The author argues that in accordance with UN policies regional protection of human rights should improve, and supplement the international protection provided by the UN; and that both levels of protection will therefore be strengthened. |
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