RIEAS publishes the Hellenic Police Newsletter (January 2012)

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Η Aπειλή των Εμπρησμών Δασών ως Μελλοντικό Τρομοκρατικό Όπλο Μαζικής Καταστροφής

Robert Arthur Baird
United States Marine Corps
School of Advanced Warfighting
Marine Corps University
Marine Corps Combat Development Command
Quantico, Virginia, USA

Studies in Conflict &Terrorism, 29:415-428, 2006

Σχόλια: Γαλατάς Ιωάννης, Αναλυτής Ασύμμετρων Απειλών
International Advisory Board, RIEAS

Από τότε που γράφτηκε το παραπάνω άρθρο στο RIEAS πέρασαν τέσσερα χρόνια. Μεγαπυρκαγιές είχαμε πάλι το 2009 που ξεκίνησαν από τον Βαρνάβα και το Γραμματικό για να καταλήξουν στο διεθνές αεροδρόμιο Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος ενώ το 2010 μεγάλη πυρκαγιά που ξεκίνησε από τον Ωρωπό σάρωσε τον Βαρνάβα (και την μόνιμη κατοικία του γράφοντος) και έφτασε μέχρι την Εθνική Οδό και το Καπανδρίτι. Σημειώνεται ότι στην πυρκαγιά του 2009 μονάδες αντιαεροπορικών όπλων αναγκάστηκαν να μετακινήσουν, υπό τηλεοπτική κάλυψη, φορητές συστοιχίες πυραύλων σε ασφαλέστερες τοποθεσίες.....  Read more

Χάρης Οικονομόπουλος
(Πρόεδρος,  Ελληνο-Βρετανικό Εμπορικό Επιμελητήριο και του ΟμΊλου ΕΛΠΙΔΕΣ)

Copyright: http://www.intelligencesquared.com/iq2-greece-democracy

Παρακολουθείστε τις ομιλίες του κ Χάρη Οικονομόπουλου στην εκδήλωση  Debate: “Μαζί τα Φάγαμε”  (8:52 to 47:10 & 1:54:54 to 1:58:29) που οργανώθηκε από το IQ2 Intelligence.   Read more

by Dean Andromidas
(Political Analyst, based in Germany)

Copyright: Executive Intelligence Review on line

Oct 14- It is official: The brutal austerity being forced on Greece constitutes genocide. A report appearing in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet reveals that Greeks are “losing their lives” because of the cuts in health care that are being dictated by the Troika, the debt collectors of the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.... Read more

By Alexis Giannoulis
(Research Associate, RIEAS & Independent Analyst)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

Historical background

There are a number of common misconceptions when it comes to analysing and scrutinising the issue and the relevant statistics of Organised Crime (OC) in a country or region. Those are usually linked to the overall economic situation of that country or region with special attention given to indicators such as unemployment, street and serious crime rates, GDP per capita and whether the country and/or region under examination is a “failed” one, as in a failed state in terms of upholding the democratic and economic principles of a liberal democratic country. ....Read more

Ioannis Syrigos, PhD
(Interactive Media Consultant)

Copyright: www.diasporacouncil.com

Social Media remains a hot topic nowadays. It is expanding exponentially, connecting more and more people together from all over the world.  Its power to unite has the potential to bring radical changes to the current climate of economic despair facing Greece by drawing together the Greeks of Diaspora as a powerful force.

The Power of Social Media

If we try to define social media, we would say that it is a group of Internet based applications that allow users to interact and communicate using multiple forms of media (text, voice, images, videos and more). At the same time it is constantly evolving and shifting to adjust more to people’s needs and activities.  But just as social media adjusts to our needs, so too do we need to adjust to social media – it is taking the world by storm whether we are ready for it or not. 

CHENG, Yu-Chin

(Lecturer, Institute of Political Studies, Charles University in Prague
Director of European Office, Defense Technology Monthly Taiwan)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

Introduction
After collapse of Soviet Union, the communist regimes of the satellite countries in the CEECs (Central and Eastern European Countries) have been thrown away as well, and that matters both the change of political and economic systems as well as security sectors. Among the CEECs, Czech Republic is the unique case while facing political and economic revision, and so is its security service. In this article, the BIS (Counter-Intelligence Service) is the subject to study, and it is very meaningful to observe what change will come up after the new bill into enforcement in 2012.

Dr. Nikos Deniozos
(Commodore, Hellenic Coast Guard (ret.)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

 When in 2004 Greece was living the “triumph” of Olympic Games, nobody was believing, or in the worst case was less optimist, that the wave of clandestine immigrants which was grown to gigantic dimensions with increasing rate, would constitute the triggering of a series of problems creation which would converse the country in a multicultural caricature. The temporary “disappearance” of illegal immigrants crowd during the Games as it was quite natural didn’t solve the problem in question but on the contrary it was escalated. The numerous political leaderships were proved due the time, unable to perceive that the incubation of snake’s egg under the form of tolerance of the concrete situation, created not only questions concerning the destruction of social fabric as well as the social cohesion, for example the Athens down town’s ghetto establishment, but furthermore, was the cause in order to be come up matters regarding the criminality increase and security deficit as well. Of course the words of an ex minister of Public Order will be unforgettable, who via TV broadcasting, was thanking clandestine immigrants because they preferred Greece. Thus the country was been drawn in the maelstrom of the matter in question, unable to face it with, effectively.

Professor Theodore C. Kariotis
(University of Maryland System)

Copyright: Th. Kariotis C. Kariotis on line
 
For more than 30 years now, Greece has been insisting in a monotonous way that its only dispute with Turkey is of a legal nature and is related to the delimitation of the continental shelf of the Aegean Sea. But, for more than 25 years, the concept of the continental shelf has been overshadowed by the concept of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Read more

Thalia Tzanetti
(RIEAS Senior Analyst)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

Yet one more impressive terrorist attack shook Athens today. The target this time was a court building, and, although the attack claimed no victims, the damage was widespread and publicly very visible, sufficient to create the terrorising effect that the perpetrators intended and to serve as a warning of possible future terrorist capabilities.

Nikolas Stylianou
(RIEAS Research Associate – Security Analyst)
Copyright: www.rieas.gr

Since the 1974 Turkish invasion, the Republic of Cyprus has been held hostage of Turkey’s expansionary policy and aggressive behavior. For nearly four decades now, the Republic of Cyprus is trapped in an imbalance of military power distribution between the former and Turkey. Hence, Cyprus is de facto obliged to maintain a close military cooperation with Greece in order to alter the negative status quo and imbalance of power. Besides this, over the past few years Cypriot state faces incidents that come to indicate the need for modernization of its Intelligence infrastructure in order to keep up with the changing security environment on the island.

Georgios Protopapas
(Journalist and RIEAS Research Associate)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

The USA foreign policy is undoubtedly playing a predominant role in the formation of balance of power in the Balkans and the Middle East. Kosovo and Kurdistan are two most vivid examples of the USA interference in the regional security. Read more 

Aya Burweila
(RIEAS Senior Analyst)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

On October 1, 2006, on occasion of Eid Al-Adha, the leader of the Bosnia’s Islamic community, Mustafa Ceric had the following recommendations for the European Union:
   
“Europe has no choice but to begin the process of institutionalizing Islam…to integrate into European society as dedicated Muslims and good citizens of the European Union, Europe must open itself to Muslims and look beyond the fear-provoking image’ to see the ‘spiritual and cultural face of Islam.’ 

Marcus A. Templar, MA, MSc
(Instructor of Public Policy and Counter-Terrorism)

Copyright: Marcus A. Templar on line
In Business Law, the principle nemo dat quod non habet means that no one may give what one does not have; nevertheless, this principle goes a little further.  This rule stays valid regarding stolen goods, even if the bona fide purchaser does not know that the seller has no right to claim ownership of the object of the transaction.  Thus if goods are stolen, the buyer does not get ownership even if there was no indication that they were stolen.  Accordingly, the consequence of the above principle is that a person who does not own property, that is a thief, may not confer the stolen property to another person except with the true owner’s permission.  The same applies in International Law.

Some six years after a Greek anti-terrorism tribunal convicted 15 operatives of the deadly November 17 terrorist group the case is far from closed. Key questions remain unanswered while a handful of operatives and collaborators who played a vital role in identifying high value targets for one of Europe’s deadliest terrorist groups remain at large. Read more

Ioannis Michelis
(Security Analyst)

Copyright: www.rieas.gr

The opening session of the former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic's trial at the international Tribune of Hague in late October 2009, gave the international community the occasion to unearth the painful memories of the Yugoslav wars and their repercussions throughout the Balkans. Due to the geopolitical importance of the region and it having only seemingly receded into the background of international politics, the events of that period (1991-2001) have accorded tacitly the status of a landmark to geopolitical developments ranging from the Balkan region to the Middle East.

Stefania Ducci

Before discussing accountability of the Italian intelligence System, a brief introduction is necessary, detailing the recent reform of the intelligence sector, adopted with the Act dated 3 August 2007, n. 124, “Information System for the Security of the Republic and New Regulation disciplining official secret”, which replaced the preceding Act of 1977.
Read more

Konstantinos Louridas (PhD)
(Security Analyst)

Since the battle of Kosovo Polje (the Field of Blackbirds) in June 1389, where the Turkish Sultan had defeated the Serbs and their Christian allies, Ottoman conquest has interrupted the political and socio-economic progress of the Balkan states for hundreds of years and violence has ravaged the Balkans psyche with great regularity. As a result, when they emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century as independent nations, they lagged far behind the political mature and technologically advanced nations of the West. Their strict perseverance to their past and on fighting the same battles over and over again, in the name of nationalism and religion, reminded Europe of her dark history, an era that she needs to move beyond. Unable therefore to understand and to accept history’s symbolic trauma and the scale of brutality and human suffering in the region, West has euphemistically christened Balkans Peninsula ‘Europe’s powder-keg’. Read more

"He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it. There are only three ways to become rich; marry the money, invent something or steal". The current global financial crisis coupled with the perennial instability of the Balkans raises suspicions around the creation of much stronger organized crime groups that will be able to dictate their rules of the game to both local governments and international institutions. Read More.