Art.39 är grindvakten som inleder kapitel VII i FN-stadgan och tröskeln vid vilken säkerhetsrådet går från att vara ett multilateralt organ till ett globalt verkställande organ. Konceptet ?threat to the peace? är det bredaste, otydligaste och viktigaste begreppet i art.39 FN-stadgan. Genom att framställa de centrala förutsättningarna för tillämpningen av art. 40-42, öppnar art.

Scientists argue that gender affects foreign policy and security policy, that ideas of gender are inconstant and that there is a lack of feminist perspectives in International Relations. The changes seen in the global security context may have challenged the way politicians and scientists understand war and its impacts, and led to increased gender awareness.Using securitization theory and feminist international relations theory, the aim is to examine how women and men are being spoken of in the Swedish foreign policy discourse regarding participation in the UN-led stabilization mission Minusma in Mali. By applying a feminist perspective on the securitization process, the intention is to increase the knowledge of whether there is gender awareness in this context.The result shows that there is limited gender awareness. There is minor consideration for the conflict?s different implications on the situation for women and men.

The Swedish security policy has changed from stressing neutrality to embrace co-operation within the EU and other organisations. New threats like terrorism, boarder-crossing criminality and natural disasters require new ways to deal with this type of problems to protect the society. Since the beginning of 21st century the high Russian economic growth has made it possible for the country to play an increasingly role as a superpower on the international political stage. In the same time the democratic development has been replaced by an autocratic rule which has obstructed the Russian- European relations. From a Swedish security policy view the Russian political development is of importance and the picture of Russian as a threat has changed from 1996 to 2008/09.

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine how the Swedish policy of neutrality has changed between the years 1990-2008. The research method used for this essay has been comparative case study, which strives to answer four research questions. Two of these questions are: Which specific occurrences have been fundamental in changing the Swedish policy of neutrality? How have the Swedish policy of neutrality and the policy of non-alignment changed between the years 1990-2008? The theoretical frame work of this study consists of Europeanization as a comprehensive theoretical perspective. In order to explain the Swedish act regarding the policy of neutrality, Logic of Consequences and Logic of appropriateness are used.

This study aims to explain the Stuxnet-attack against Iran in 2009-2010 by using the IR-theory of structural realism. By doing so the theory also faces the challenge of the impact of the information revolution on security and international relations. The structural realism that is at hand is that of Kenneth Waltz and his Theory of International Politics from 1979.The study reaches the conclusion that Waltzs focus on the structure of the international system and the distribution of capabilities applies well to the case of Stuxnet as a cyber attack. The creators of the sophisticated Stuxnet, USA and Israel, also indicates that when it comes to this certain aspect of the information revolution and IR, states seem to still be the main actor. Finally the character of one of the major features of the Stuxnet-attack; the internet, is shown to have an anarchic structure that fits well as an extension of the realist view of the international system..

Essay in Political Science, Advanced Course, by Christoffer Hagström?The Bush Administration´s view on international cooperation and internationallaw and political-theoretical traditions influence on the administration´s foreignpolicy?Supervisor: Jan OlssonThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the American foreign policy, particularly with regard tointernational cooperation and international law. The two following research-questions are used inorder to fulfil the purpose: (1) what is the Bush-administrations´s view of of the place forinternational cooperation and international law in American foreign policy?, and (2) how does theadministration´s foreign policy correspond to dominant political-theoretical thought-traditions? Thetraditions used are: liberalism, realism and neoconservatism. The sources of the study mostlyinclude literature and policy-documents.

Systems development methods mirror different organizational perspectives, and not all methods are formalised, but what they have in common is the purpose of structuring and supporting systems development processes. Which method would be the most suitable may be determined by the systems development context at hand, because every systems development context is unique. Information is a valuable asset in today?s organizations, and it needs to be protected against both internal and external security threats. In our essay we aspired to find and present suggestions as to how systems developers can include security in the very design based on formalised systems development methods to create systems that are better prepared to meet the security challenges of today.

The aim of this thesis is to clarify the affect that preferential and regional trade agreements have on the World Trade Organization (WTO), as being establisher of the international trading regime. The essay is an explanatory literature study, which strives to answer the following questions:Are regional and preferential trade agreements a threat or a complement to the WTO?Is an undermining of the MFN principle weakening the WTO?How do regional trade agreements made by the EU affect the future of the WTO?The empirical material is to be analyzed using an explanatory framework, which is based on neo-liberal instutionalism, theories on regime changes and a game theoretical approach, using prisoner?s dilemma. I will employ the EU-ACP relation, the Cotonou agreement to exemplify how an agreement of this kind can have an influence on multilateral trade. The result shows that preferential agreements do have an impact on the WTO, one that is fairly negative in scope.

Since the 9/11-attacks several nations have been confronted with a new international threat, its nature traces back to the political- and religious- radical movements of the 20th century Cold War. Ever since, various states have been under threat by terrorist organizations around the world due to mainly participating in worldwide counter-terrorist interventions created by western alliances. In Sweden, amongst other countries, the state took security-precautions that would imply total control of information throughout the territorial borders. The assigned proposition was accepted by the Swedish parliament in June 18th 2008, after this date wild spread criticism was still in effect ever since the Swedish government first publicly announced the proposition in May 8th 2007. This study emphasizes on understanding why the Swedish government chose to present this proposition to parliament, in order to complete this task the study will present the motives and the alleged threats that were the core of the proposition and its value-maximizing goal of creating a new surface for Swedish homeland security.

Container Security Initiative was launched in 2002 by the US Customs and Border Patrol in order to secure the global flow of containers destined for USA. This thesis attempts to analyze Container Security Initiative in relation to a possible future scenario made by the weapons industry where the state's global traderoutes are being subject to militarization. A development which is partly based on the threat posed by global illegal trade. The latter is discussed and defined based on current research made by Carolyn Nordstrom, Moíses Naím and theories on the cosmopolitan perspective made by Ulrich Beck. Strategy documents concerning Container Security Initiative are then analyzed in terms of discourse to try to say something about what the program indicates.

The transformation among armed forces in Europe is a consequence due to shifted security perspective and the growth of international security actors, such as NATO and the EU. Sweden has played an active role in EU to ensure its influence in forming the security policy for the organisation. Some studies mean it´s because of Sweden?s interest in strengthen EUs roll as a security actor they transformed their own armed forces to be able to take part in international operations. This transformation led to what can be called ?the Swedish defence dismantle? and some studies mean that it has led to the point where Sweden completely lacks the ability to defence themselves.The question is if the ambition to become an active member in these security organisations can explain all the decisions made throughout the Swedish defence-transformation, or if some decisions were made due to other factors?By studying the decision process leading up to the decision to locate the flight education to Malmen in Linköping this study seeks to answer why the decision was made.

Protracted social conflicts, as those in Cyprus and Northern Ireland, are based on deep rooted perceptions of identity and definitions of "the other". According to the theory of discursive conflict transformation, war is primarily a social phenomenon, which is legitimated by a discourse of identity defined in terms of exclusionist boundaries and structural ideas of the social relations in society. In order to develop positive peace, the discourse of violence has to be challenged and the discursive structures that enable war have to transform into a counterdiscourse of inclusion and individuality. For the purpose of making a critical peace analysis, I have, with the assistance of established conflict theories, analysed the basic ideas behind the the Annan Plan and the Belfast Agreement and thus been able to interpret to what extent they may foster positive peace. I argue, that in order to provide basic needs on a group basis, power sharing arrangement, based on ethnicity or religion, exacerbates division rather than ameliorating it.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the development of the use of private securitycontractors in Iraq. The reason is that there has been a considerable increase of the number ofprivate security firms operating in Iraq during the last couple of years. The legislation in thefield of private military and security is indistinct and my hypothesis is that the lack of nationaland/or international legislation can be connected to the increased globalization. To come toany conclusions about this I have chosen to make a comparative study between the two casesthe Gulf War and the War in Iraq which started in 2003. In this comparison, I ask thefollowing questions: 1) Are there any signs of anarchy in the field of private security duringthe Gulf War respectively the last War in Iraq? 2) In what way has the use of private securitycontractors changed from Case 1 to Case 2 ?According to my research, there were signs of anarchy in the field of private security bothduring the Gulf War and during the latest war in Iraq.

The new information society has revolutionised almost the entire world. But the new technique does not only bring good. That which was before only available on paper may today only be available on a computer system. This makes it possible to send data electronically. In the wrong hands that information can become a threat against the security of an individual, a company or even a nation.

Never before have so many moved so frequently as now. Mobility lies at the centre for the concern ofstates, business and technological development. Some even claim that we are witnessing a mobility turn inthe social sciences. However, as the capacity to move has increased so too has the control and surveillanceof mobility become more extensive. Since September 11, 2001 security has been the defining paradigm fora variety for actors.