| 1. |
- Alvinius, Aida, 1979-
(författare)
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Bridging Boundaries in the Borderland of Bureaucracies : Individual Impact on Organisational Adaption to Demanding Situations in Civil and Military Contexts
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to reach a deeper understanding of how boundary spanners are bridging boundaries between uniformed bureaucratic organisations and their environment, characterised by demanding conditions.The main part of this thesis is based upon empirical data gathered through 71 interviews with Swedish civil and military informants from several uniformed organisations. Four articles have been included in this thesis in order to address the overarching aim.The results show that boundary spanners are crucial to the adaption of uniformed organisations to demanding conditions. A number of aspects that are included in the process of organisational adaption have been identified. One of the tasks is to balance between structuring and improvisation where much is at stake. The other task is to create confidence among the involved actors and contribute in different ways to create a sense of symmetry between partners. Finally, the third task for boundary spanners is to recognise improvised roles such as spontaneous links in order to maintain stressful conditions and bridge a gap in the bureaucratic organisation. The present thesis contributes to sociological theory of emotions, disaster management and military studies through a common denominator, namely the demanding context. Taken together, the findings increase awareness of how organisations act towards their environments and how individuals, especially boundary spanners, adapt the organisation to its environment. For leaders and managers, it is important to make decisions, provide mandates and authorisation, as well as invest confidence in boundary spanners. The hierarchical chain may remain in existence, but it can be made shorter and more transparent through this kind of knowledge.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Andersson, Kent, 1967-
(författare)
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On the Military Utility of Spectral Design in Signature Management : a Systems Approach
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is an ongoing duel between military sensor development and developments in signature management. The last decade, with warfare characterized by joint expeditionary operations and asymmetry, has favored sensors. However, on account of the worsening security situation in Europe, there is now also an increasing interest in efforts to increase survivability of own military platforms. Spectral design is one of several promising technologies with extensive research potentially suitable for Low Observable platforms. It involves creating desired spectral optical responses from surfaces, in this case reducing contrast to background, by choosing suitable materials and structures. The challenge to a military decision-maker, faced with inherent uncertainties concerning the future and with limited resources, is how to choose among alternative capabilities, technologies or equipment. Correspondingly, on account of the system character of the signature attribute, researchers in technologies for signature management has difficulties communicating relevant basis for these decisions. The scope of this thesis is therefore to find and analyze patterns in decision situations involving technology or technical systems for military use, and the purpose is to propose conceptual and methodological contributions to support future decisionmaking. The technology focus is on spectral design and the application in focus is signature management of Low Observable military platforms. The research objective is addressed from a military system and capability centric perspective using methods from several disciplines in the military sciences domain. The result is synthesized from four separate studies: 1) on spectral design using systematic review of literature, 2) on military utility using a concept formation method, 3) on modeling for how to operationalize a link between spectral design and measures of military utility using methods of military operations research, and, 4) on cases of systems engineering of military Low Observable platform designs. In summary, the result of the work presented in this thesis is a compilation of related work in military sciences, systems engineering and material optics into a framework to support effective decision-making in relevant contexts. The major contribution to theory is a proposed concept called Military Utility, capturing how to communicate the utility of technical systems, or technology, in a military context. It is a compound measure of Military Effectiveness, Military Suitability and Affordability. Other contributions can be expected to support decision-making in practice; - the so-called Ladder-model is a template for how to quantitatively operationalize the military effectiveness dimension of Military Utility regarding the use of spectral design; - an applied Ladder-model is demonstrated, useful for analyzing the military utility of spectral designs in Low Observable attack aircraft; - a probabilistic framework for survivability assessments is adopted into a methodology for doing the analysis, and lastly; - a generic workflow is identified, from relevant development programs, including decision-situations that can benefit from the adopted methodology.
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| 4. |
- Andrén, Rasmus
(författare)
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Anxiety and (In)Security in Times of Calamity : The 2014 flood and the Kashmir conflict
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Environmental calamities and disasters are increasingly found to affect political stability and conflicts. Despite a plethora of research across a range of disciplines, however, explanations remain elusive. The theoretical shortcomings of prior research coalesce into an overarching problem concerning how to conceptualize disasters as influencing conflicts through the disruptions they impose on identities. I argue that how identities intermingle with the disaster-conflict nexus can be further advanced by drawing on ontological security studies (OSS). By investigating the disastrous flood in the Kashmir valley in 2014, and its role in the brewing unrest that climaxed in 2016 amid separatist conflict, I argue that disasters influence conflicts through processes of securitizing and desecuritizing an ontologically secure Self. That is to say, that the search for stable and coherent identities following disasters can mitigate and reinforce conflicts. Nested within this argument are three core contributions. First, I address the multifaceted dynamics by which the Self and identities are unsettled and challenged, or affirmed and reified amid disasters and conflict, to show how we can read disasters as disruptive amid already ongoing crises. Second, I theorize how the search for stable and ontologically secure identities can engender securitization and desecuritization of subjectivity at the same time, exacerbating and mitigating different dynamics in a conflict. Third, in doing so, the dissertation suggests that future research on disasters, and environmental challenges more broadly, should be less concerned with a binary understanding of their impact on conflicts and more concerned about their multidimensional relations.
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| 5. |
- Avila-Zuñiga-Nordfjeld, Adriana, 1977-
(författare)
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Building a national maritime security policy
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The issue of port security raised concerns at the highest levels after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 against the United States. Security threats against ports and vessels acquired a new perspective and in 2002 the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, introducing Chapter XI-2 - Special measures to enhance maritime security. This set of regulations enshrines the International Ship and Port Facilities Security Code (ISPS Code), which entered into force on 1 July 2004.This Code establishes a set of measures to enhance the security of ships and port facilities. It encompasses two parts. Part A establishes the mandatory provisions, the non-mandatory (“recommended”) and part B provides guidelines about how to comply with the obligatory requirements of part A. Together with a critical analysis of the national legislation about the enactment of the ISPS Code into national law, this dissertation examines the level of implementation and compliance of this instrument in Mexico with special focus on port security. This dissertation also provides a transparent incident-reporting instrument developed and tested through this research effort in Mexico for reporting of port and maritime security incidents.This tool joins three primary port/maritime security functions: a) Reporting of port and maritime security incidents; b) Classification and investigation of serious security incidents that require reassessments of the Port Security Assessments, (PSA), Port Facility Security Assessments (PFSA), and amendments to Port Security Plans (PSP) and Port Facility Security Plans (PFSP) and finally; c) Collection of evidence material related to the security incident.This instrument, combined with statistics, provides nations with crucial information, about threats, needs and challenges for allocation of economic, material and human resources. It also provides essential information material to set up strategies for the development of a National Maritime Security Policy. Its flexibility and adaptability makes possible its implementation at any State of the world.The results of this analysis reflect the conflictive cooperation between the Secretaría de Marina (SEMAR) and the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes, (SCT). This, together with the ambiguities and contradictions of the National Maritime Regime, even though the extensive reforms of 2016 limits the exercise of authority of SEMAR and the operation of the CUMAR(s), the organ responsible for implementation and compliance of the ISPS Code, at all ports across the country. This doctoral dissertation comprises six introductory chapters, which are referred to as the kappa and five annexed papers. It aims to contribute to the maritime realm within the area of maritime security, with special focus on port security through the following general objectives: • Elaborate a critical analysis of the current port security situation of Mexico, with special focus on implementation and compliance of the ISPS Code, including the state of the art and harmonization of international legislation with national law; • Identify the most relevant security threats to port facilities in Mexico, including oil terminals and offshore installations; • Develop an analytical instrument for security incidents-reporting & incident investigation, to strengthen the continual evolution of PSA/PFSA and PSP/PFSP and useful for setting up the strategies of a national maritime security policy with possibility for implementation worldwide.The approach adopted in this study is mainly based on qualitative methods, combined with action research and a limited use of statistics. The research objectives call for classical documental analyses examining the elements of relevant international legislation against its implementation into national legislation in the referred nation-state. The methods were selected on their usefulness and efficacy for analysis of law and policy. Action Research was used for implementation test and improvement of the reporting incident instrument, which can also be used for setting up the strategies for the development of a National Maritime Security Policy. Action Research is recommended when it is intended to improve understanding, develop his/others learning and influence other’s learning, taking action for social improvement.The findings related to serious deficiencies in the implementation and compliance of the ISPS Code in Mexico, concerning reporting of security incidents and its re- evaluation with the PFSA and respective amendments to PFSP, the poor exercise of authority from the representatives of SEMAR at the CUMARs in respect of fulfilling its obligations and responsibilities concerning port and maritime security; and the identification of necessary legal amendments to national law, as well as the remarkable improvement in reporting security incidents after the implementation of the “transparent security-incident-reporting tool”, that enables port/maritime security incident investigation and can serve to identify the problem areas; contributing to set up the strategies for the development of a national maritime security policy, together with the instrument itself, are some of the most relevant contributions of this dissertation.
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| 6. |
- Bang, Martin
(författare)
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Military intelligence analysis : institutional influence
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Intelligence is vital for the outcome of battles. As long as humans wage war, there will be a need for decision support to military and civilian leaders regarding adversaries or potential adversaries. However, the production of intelligence is neither easy nor without pitfalls. There is a need to better understand the predicaments of intelligence analysis.Intelligence is bureaucratically produced as well as socially constructed and created in a distinct cultural context. The ‘institution’ captures these three aspects of influence. Therefore, with a particular focus on military intelligence, this thesis aims to deepen the understanding regarding institutional influence on intelligence assessments. The literature regarding intelligence has grown steadily over the last three decades. However, theories and frameworks aimed to understand the phenomenon are still sparse. This is even more true for literature regarding contemporary military intelligence. This thesis intends to contribute to bridging these research gaps. This is done by studying the Swedish military intelligence institution from several different perspectives: its rules-in-use, shared beliefs, and the incoming stimuli primarily related to conducting threat assessments.More precisely the thesis investigates the use of quantitative methods, doctrines (i.e. the formal rules), and shared beliefs connected to epistemological assumptions and threat assessments. The main contribution of this thesis is that it establishes and describes a casual link between a military intelligence institution and an assessment, by drawing upon rulesin-use and belief systems and their effect on the mental model and consequently the perception of the situation connected to a cognitive bias, and thereby its effect on a given assessment. The thesis makes an effort to render intelligence studies more generalizable, by way of adopting the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The metatheoretical language of the IAD is a promising avenue for explaining and describing the institutional influence on intelligence assessments.
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| 7. |
- Bjarnesen, Mariam
(författare)
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From Perpetrator to Protector? : Post-War Rebel Networks as Informal Security Providers in Liberia
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The dismantling of rebel structures at the end of civil war is often considered to be one of the most important aspects of a successful transition to peace. Combatants are expected to lay down their weapons, but also to abandon their wartime networks. Yet, peace agreements and subsequent Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) processes do not automatically, or necessarily, destroy rebel networks. In Liberia such structures have lingered since the war came to an end in 2003 and networks of ex-combatants are still active, though maintained and mobilised for new purposes.The security political situation in Liberia, with weak formal security institutions and a history of predatory behaviour, has created an environment where informal initiatives for security and protection are called upon. In such an environment informal security groups have a natural platform. Based on original interview material and findings from fieldwork this thesis examines how post-war rebel networks are organised and operate in the informal security arena, while describing the rationale behind these lingering features of war. By doing so this thesis sheds light on how the adaptive capacity of former rebel soldiers is utilised by various Liberian actors, and the risks, but also possible positive outcomes, of such a development.This dissertation follows individuals, former rebel commanders in particular, in post-war rebel networks from the time of war to 2013. We will see them, and ex-combatants around them, mobilised as ‘recycled’ warriors in times of regional wars and crisis, as vigilantes and informal security providers for economic and political purposes. Yet, we will also meet them when there are no specific event ex-combatants could be mobilised to fully examine the relevance of post-war rebel networks and ex-combatant identity in contemporary Liberia. In the conclusions basic underlying aims and purposes with the processes of demobilisation and reintegration are challenged. And as this thesis finds, one might even argue that these ex-combatants have succeeded in reintegrating themselves due to, not despite, the fact that they have not been demobilised.
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| 8. |
- Bondesson, Sara, 1981-
(författare)
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Vulnerability and Power : Social Justice Organizing in Rockaway, New York City, after Hurricane Sandy
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This is a study about disasters, vulnerability and power. With regards to social justice organizing a particular research problem guides the work, specifically that emancipatory projects are often initiated and steered by privileged actors who do not belong to the marginalized communities they wish to strengthen, yet the work is based on the belief that empowerment requires self-organizing from within. Through an ethnographic field study of social justice organizing in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in Rockaway, New York City, the thesis explores whether and how vulnerable groups were empowered within the Occupy Sandy network. It is a process study that traces outside activists attempts at empowering storm-affected residents over time, from the immediate relief phase to long-term organizing in the recovery phase. The activists aimed to put to practice three organizing ideals: inclusion, flexibility and horizontality, based on a belief that doing so would enhance empowerment. The analysis demonstrates that collaboration functioned better in the relief phase than in the long-term recovery phase. The same organizing ideals that seem to have created an empowering milieu for storm-affected residents in the relief phase became troublesome when relief turned to long-term recovery. The relief phase saw storm-affected people step up and take on leadership roles, whereas empowerment in the recovery phase was conditional on alignment with outside activists’ agendas. Internal tensions, conflicts and resistance from residents toward the outside organizers marked the recovery phase. It seems that length of collaborative projects is not the only factor for developing trust but so is complexity. The more complex the activities over which partners are to collaborate the less easy it is. Based on this we could further theorize that the more complex the work is the more challenging it is for privileged groups to give away control. The internal struggles of the organization partially explain the failures to influence an urban planning process that the organization attempted to impact, which connects the micro-processes with broader change processes toward transformation of vulnerability.
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| 9. |
- Brenner, Björn
(författare)
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ISLAMIST GOVERNANCE HAMAS STYLE: Readings from the Palestinian experiment in Islamic democracy
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study investigates how the Palestinian Islamists in Hamas came to govern following their success in the 2006 parliamentary elections. The study poses the overarching research question: How can Hamas's governance in the Gaza Strip between 2006 and 2012 be characterised and understood? Hamas has attracted particular research interest, partly due to its seemingly contradictory conduct, and partly due to the fact that this was the first case of Islamists in the Arab world to ascend to power by democratic means. On the one hand, Hamas has led an armed struggle against Israel. On the other hand, Hamas has participated in electoral processes in a peaceful and democratic fashion. As a result of this, the case of Hamas relates to two scholarly debates in particular - the nature of Islamism and the nature of Hamas. There is also a strong extra-scientific relevance to the study, as Hamas remains a powerful force in the Israeli-Palestinian arena. How Hamas is dealt with will have repercussions on when and in what shape the pending Palestinian state will materialise. The study addresses the research question by focusing on how the new government perceived and reacted to three key challenges to its exercise of power: relating to the political system and the main opposition party; countering violent radicalisation and local splinter groups; and re-establishing societal order and reforming the legal system. The study finds that the Hamas government lacked the necessary organisation, knowledge and experience to carry out its duties. It also finds that the government perceived itself to be subjected to an imminent threat of being overthrown. The study shows that while the Hamas government was far from fulfilling the democratic promises it had set out in its reform programme, it did not proceed to change the political system into any Islamic theocracy governed by sharia. As the analysis concludes, Hamas's governance could be characterised neither as singularly authoritarian and Islamic, nor as merely democratic and secular. Rather, Islamist governance Hamas style has been a blurred combination of all these traits together, firmly guided by a far-reaching ideological pragmatism and a continuously perceived necessity for further power consolidation.
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| 10. |
- Britz, Malena, 1972-
(författare)
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The Europeanization of Defence Industry Policy
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Drawing from both European integration theory and new institutional organisation theory, this study investigates the Europeanization of the defence industry policy area from 1989-2001, with a special focus on developments in Sweden. Among other things, the study shows how a European defence industry market has begun to emerge as an industrially-led but politically-sanctioned process, made possible through a re-structuring of the defence industry at the same time as European rules have been created in order to facilitate the common production of defence equipment. Increased integration of this policy area has been possible because of a change of the dominant norms, where the defence industry has more and more come to be seen as an issue of economy than before. It also shows how the issue of the supply of defence equipment emerged as a political issue in Sweden in the mid-1990s and that there was a slight change in the view of how security can be obtained: not only through self-sufficiency in defence equipment production but also through collaboration. The relationships between the actors in the traditional “Swedish model” changed, as some actors developed in a more European context than others; and where actor identities could no longer be taken for granted. The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration has undergone several re-organisations in the time period studied, partially as a consequence of a Europeanization of the policy area, but more as a consequence of a more general trend of “marketisation” of the state administration. This trend, which was not unique to Sweden, appears to have worked as a mediating factor, enabling the increased integration of the policy area. This also implies a very close connection between European integration and Europeanization, where Europeanization in this case has enabled a more formal integration process.
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