The Global War on Terrorism in the Horn of Africa

Ever since Siad Barre’s regime was toppled in the beginning of the 1990’s Somalia has been without an effective central government. As a result Somalia has remained in an anarchic condition of state collapse for nearly two decades. This anarchy has often been put forward as a potential breeding ground for terrorism. As a response to this threat the United States has undertaken several policies, initiatives, and operations in the Horn of Africa generally and in Somalia specifically. In this descriptive study a twofold analysis has been undertaken. First, conditions in present day Somalia as well as Somali history have been analyzed to evaluate the potential Somalia holds as a terrorist base of operations or a recruiting- or staging area. Second, US strategies and actions have been analyzed to evaluate the adequacy of the US response to the threat Somalia poses in terms of terrorism. Material for the analyses have been derived from anthropological, political, and security studies dealing with Somalia. This material has been augmented by a wide range of news coverage, western and non-western. Certain different US policy documents from different levels have been chosen to represent US strategies for the Global War on Terrorism. Because Somali social institutions, such as the clan system, hold great weight in Somali society, Somalia is a difficult area of operations for terrorist networks. In addition the changing nature of Somali alliances and the tangled webs of conflict that characterize present day Somalia aggravate the difficulties that foreign terrorist networks would encounter in Somalia, would they choose to try to utilize it in any great extent. The US has taken potential terrorism threats in Africa and specifically Somalia very seriously. US actions in Somalia have mainly focused on apprehending or neutralizing terror suspects. Such policies, coupled with backing the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia may have actually turned out increasing Somalia’s terror potential.

Näkemyksiä terrorismin luonteen muuttumisesta

Abstract: Discussion on the changin face of terrorism in the study of terrorism

Terrorismitutkimuksen lähtökohdista ja nykytilasta

Abstract: On premises and the current state of terrorism studies

Taistelu sodan julkisuuskuvasta : Yhdysvaltojen mediastrategiat ja julkisuuden hallinnan keinot terrorisminvastaisessa sodassa

English summary: US media strategies in the war on terrorism

Ulrike Meinhofin tie terroristiksi: kaupunkisissitaktiikka poliittisen intervention välineenä

Abstract: Ulrike Meinhof's way to terrorism: the urban guerilla tactics as a means of political intervention

Terrorismin syistä ja seurauksista : pohdintoja terrorismin toimintalogiikasta, vaikutuksen luonteesta ja tulkintoihin liittyvistä ongelmista

Abstract: On the causes and consequences of terrorism

Change of Electricity Distribution Industry: Drivers and Opening Business Opportunities

As a result of the recent regulatory amendments and other development trends in the electricity distribution business, the sector is currently witnessing radical restructuring that will eventually impact the business logics of the sector. This report represents upcoming changes in the electricity distribution industry and concentrates on the factors that are expected to be the most fundamental ones. Electricity network companies nowadays struggle with legislative and regulatory requirements that focus on both the operational efficiency and the reliability of electricity distribution networks. The forces that have an impact on the distribution network companies can be put into three main categories that define the transformation at a general level. Those are: (1) a requirement for a more functional marketplace for energy, (2) environmental aspects (combating climate change etc.), and (3) a strongly emphasized requirement for the security of energy supply. The first point arises from the legislators’ attempt to increase competition in electricity retail markets, the second one concerns both environmental protection and human safety issues, and the third one indicates societies’ reduced willingness to accept interruptions in electricity supply. In the future, regulation of electricity distribution business may lower the threshold for building more weather-resistant networks, which in turn means increased underground cabling. This development pattern is reinforced by tightening safety and environmental regulations that ultimately make the overhead lines expensive to build and maintain. The changes will require new approaches particularly in network planning, construction, and maintenance. The concept for planning, constructing, and maintaining cable networks is necessary because the interdependencies between network operations are strong, in other words, the nature of the operation requires a linkage to other operations.

Tutustumiskierros terrorismintutkimukseen

Kirjallisuusarvostelu

Henkilöstöresurssien organisointi suuren alusöljyvahingon torjunnassa

Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa tarkastellaan henkilöstöresurssien organisointia suuren alusöljyvahingon torjuntatilanteessa. Tavoitteena on suunnitella Suomenlahden rannikon öljyntorjunnasta vastaavien viranomaisten käyttöön optimaalinen rekrytointistrategia pahimman todennäköisen alusöljyvahingon varalle. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään myös millainen työsopimus öljyntorjuntatyöntekijöiden kanssa voidaan sopia. Näiden lisäksi etsitään vastausta siihen,kuinka työvoima saadaan pidettyä. Tämän laadullisen tutkimuksen teoreettinen osuus toteutettiin kirjallisuuskatsauksena. Tutkimuksen empiirinen aineisto kerättiin haastattelemalla yhdeksää asiantuntijaa syksyn 2009 aikana. Haastattelut olivat muodoltaan puolistrukturoituja teemahaastatteluja. Tutkimustulosten mukaan merkittävin lisätyövoiman tarve ilmenee käsin tehtävässä rantapuhdistustyössä. Etenkin puhdistustyön pitkittyessä pelastusviranomaiset tarvitsevat avukseen ulkopuolista työvoimaa. Rekrytointi suoritetaan muutamien viikkojen kuluessa öljyvahingon aiheutumisen jälkeen. Alueellinen pelastuslaitos suorittaa rekrytoinnin käyttäen tehokkaita, laajan kohderyhmän tavoittavia rekrytointiviestinnän välineitä (esim. sanomalehdet, TV ja Internet). Työntekijöiden kanssa sovitaan määräaikainen, Kunnallista virkaja työehtosopimusta noudattava työsopimus. Tärkeimpinä puhdistustyöntekijöitä motivoivina tekijöinä nähdään työn merkitys yhteiskunnalle, selkeästi määritelty, saavutettavissa oleva tavoite sekä palaute tehdystä työstä.

Ondska - individuell och kulturell projektion : filmupplevelser analyserade enligt den analytiska psykologin

Nästan dagligen tar vi del av olika typer av medierade våldshandlingar och bl.a. sådana som benämns attentat av självmordsbombare. De våldshandlingarna får även religiösa och etniska förtecken. Men vad är det som sker inom människan när hon tar del av det medierade våldet och framförallt sådant våld som är definierat som terrorism? Med grund i människors egna upplevelser, känslor och tankar lyfter den här studien av filmreception fram komplexiteten i människors tolkning av en självbombare. Filmen i fråga är Möte med ondskan av Johan Lindfors Bergman och Reza Parza. Studien baserar sig på en undersökning av vad flera olika personer i åtta olika grupper har uppfattat och upplevt filmen. De personer som har deltagit i studien har skrivit om filmen utifrån frågorna: Vad såg du? Hur uppfattade du filmen? Vad kände du när du såg filmen? Med utgångspunkt i hermeneutisk metod och symbolteori lyfts stereotypiers roll i receptionen fram. För att ytterligare belysa djupare skikt av receptionen stöder sig studien även på rollteori som kombineras med den analytiska psykologin. Här stiger arketypernas roll fram på den inre scenen. Den analytiska psykologin har följaktligen på ett väsentligt sätt bidragit till en djupare förståelse av vad som sker inom människan i en situation där våld på ett eller annat sätt presenteras för henne.

Uusien uhkakuvien luominen: tapaus 'kiinalaiset kybersoturit' : lingvistinen uhka-analyysi kyberdiskurssista

Since his inauguration, President Barack Obama has emphasized the need for a new cybersecurity policy, pledging to make it a "national security priority". This is a significant change in security discourse after an eight-year war on terror – a term Obama announced to be no longer in use. After several white papers, reports and the release of the so-called 60-day Cybersecurity Review, Obama announced the creation of a "cyber czar" position and a new military cyber command to coordinate American cyber defence and warfare. China, as an alleged cyber rival, has played an important role in the discourse that introduced the need for the new office and the proposals for changes in legislation. Research conducted before this study suggest the dominance of state-centric enemy descriptions paused briefly after 9/11, but returned soon into threat discourse. The focus on China's cyber activities fits this trend. The aim of this study is to analyze the type of modern threat scenarios through a linguistic case study on the reporting on Chinese hackers. The methodology of this threat analysis is based on the systemic functional language theory, and realizes as an analysis of action and being descriptions (verbs) used by the American authorities. The main sources of data include the Cybersecurity Act 2009, Securing Cyberspace for the 44th Presidency, and 2008 Report to Congress of the U.S. - China Economic and Security Review Commission. Contrary to the prevailing and popularized terrorism discourse, the results show the comeback of Cold War rhetoric as well as the establishment of a state-centric threat perception in cyber discourse. Cyber adversaries are referred to with descriptions of capacity, technological superiority and untrustworthiness, whereas the ‘self’ is described as vulnerable and weak. The threat of cyber attacks is compared to physical attacks on critical military and civilian infrastructure. The authorities and the media form a cycle, in which both sides quote each other and foster each other’s distrust and rhetoric. The white papers present China's cyber army as an existential threat. This leads to cyber discourse turning into a school-book example of a securitization process. The need for security demands action descriptions, which makes new rules and regulations acceptable. Cyber discourse has motives and agendas that are separate from real security discourse: the arms race of the 21st century is about unmanned war.

Venäjän informaatio-psykologinen sodankäyntitapa terrorismin torjunnassa ja viiden päivän sodassa

This study examines Russia’s Pattern of Information-Psychologic Warfare in Counter-terrorism and in the Five Day War. The first case of this comparative case study research examines an internal national security crisis, namely two of the most notorious terrorist strikes that took place firstly in The Moscow Dubrovka Theater in October 2002 and two years later in Beslan School 2004 in September. In the second case an external national security crisis, the Five Day War conducted in August 2008 between the Russian Federation and the state of Georgia will be analyzed. At the centre of this research report lays an idea: a war of information by using information as the target and as a weapon. Based on a comparative case study setting this study tries to understand how Russian pattern of information warfare manifests itself in the light of these two internal / external national security crises. Three hypotheses that guide this research report are: Russian pattern of information warfare has a long tradition which can be traced back to the Cold War era; it is possible to discern specifically Russian, partially divergent information warfare pattern; and finally by exploring the two recent internal / external national security crises, it becomes possible to sketch specifically Russian systematics. In this research report the main focus of interest is on the information-psychological dimension of the overall information warfare concept as part of the military science tradition. After such theoretical review the two empirical cases will be contextualized and chronologically introduced. Analysis will be sharpened on the parties’ actions especially from the information-psychological perspective. This will be done with the help of the developed Russia’s six action fields-model which has been divided into two main dimensions: political and military with three levels: strategic informa-tion-psychological level, and two tactical levels, namely information-technical and information-PSYOP. This creates six possible actions fields. As the empirical analysis will reveal, many of these six action fields have been used by Russia in its internal / external national security crises, which proves the study’s hypotheses: Russia has its own pattern of information psychologic warfare that is based on its historical tradition and as such it creates a base for Russian systematics.

Improving strategic decision-making with simulation based decision support systems

Combating climate change is one of the key tasks of humanity in the 21st century. One of the leading causes is carbon dioxide emissions due to usage of fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources should be used instead of relying on oil, gas, and coal. In Finland a significant amount of energy is produced using wood. The usage of wood chips is expected to increase in the future significantly, over 60 %. The aim of this research is to improve understanding over the costs of wood chip supply chains. This is conducted by utilizing simulation as the main research method. The simulation model utilizes both agent-based modelling and discrete event simulation to imitate the wood chip supply chain. This thesis concentrates on the usage of simulation based decision support systems in strategic decision-making. The simulation model is part of a decision support system, which connects the simulation model to databases but also provides a graphical user interface for the decisionmaker. The main analysis conducted with the decision support system concentrates on comparing a traditional supply chain to a supply chain utilizing specialized containers. According to the analysis, the container supply chain is able to have smaller costs than the traditional supply chain. Also, a container supply chain can be more easily scaled up due to faster emptying operations. Initially the container operations would only supply part of the fuel needs of a power plant and it would complement the current supply chain. The model can be expanded to include intermodal supply chains as due to increased demand in the future there is not enough wood chips located close to current and future power plants.

Puomiankkurin uudelleensuunnittelu ja valmistus

Tämän diplomityön tavoitteena on ollut suunnitella uusi öljyntorjunnassa käytettävä puomiankkuri. Nykyisin käytössä olevat ankkurit ovat painavia, paljon tilaa vieviä, jäykkiä rakenteeltaan ja hankalia käyttää. Työn tavoitteena on ollut suunnitella rakenne, jossa muotoilun avulla pyritään korvaamaan ankkurin painoa ja saavuttaa hyvä tunkeutuminen eri pohjalaaduissa. Ankkurin suunnitteluun kuuluu merkittävänä osana materiaalinvalintaprosessi, jonka perusteella materiaaliksi valittiin kulutusteräs. Kulutusteräksen korkea lujuus ja hyvä kulumiskestävyys mahdollistavat ohuemman materiaalin käytön rakenteessa, jonka seurauksena rakenteen painoa saatiin vähennettyä merkittävästi. Ankkurin rakenteen suunnittelussa käytettiin hyväksi nykyisiä ankkurin rakenteita, joiden pohjalta hahmoteltiin eri variaatioita ankkureista. Suunnittelutyössä käytettiin hyväksi tyypillisiä ankkurirakenteita hyvien puolien kannalta, joita pyrittiin toteuttamaan uudessa ankkuri- rakenteessa. Ankkurin suunnittelu toteutettiin järjestelmällisen suunnittelun avulla, jossa ensin laadittiin ankkurille vaatimuslista. Tämän jälkeen laadittiin ankkurille toimintorakenne ja jakaminen osatoimintoihin. Ankkurin rakenteista toteutettiin kaksi eri versiota: sisävesillä ja merialueilla käytettävät ankkurit, joille laadittiin mitoitus. Työssä suunnitellun terävän tunkeutumisosan ja optimaalisen tunkeutumiskulman avulla ankkureiden painoa saatiin huomattavasti alhaisemmaksi, jonka seurauksena ankkurille saatiin kevyempi rakenne ja materiaalikustannukset pienenivät merkittävästi. Uusien ankkurien rakenne on pienemmän koon ja painon ansiosta käyttäjäystävällisempi.