The threat posed to the fragile security environment of post-conflict zones by criminal and terrorist groups have been a serious concern of peacebuilding for the last two decades. Through...Show moreThe threat posed to the fragile security environment of post-conflict zones by criminal and terrorist groups have been a serious concern of peacebuilding for the last two decades. Through technological advancement and globalization, academia has started to put more emphasis on the possibility of convergence between these groups. The convergence threat has been particularly salient throughout the Afghan peace process. As the stage of a destructive and enduring conflict, and a peace mission that has been ongoing for more than a decade, Afghanistan has been the perfect host of crime and terror groups, the biggest example of which is the Taliban. Using the “Crime-Terror Continuum Theory” of Makarenko (2004), this research assesses how crime-terror groups have been affecting the success and failure of the Afghan post-conflict transitions to peace. The processes of demobilization, disarmament and reintegration (DDR) and security sector reform (SSR) are taken as the focal point of post-conflict transitions. The crime-terror continuum in practice is analyzed through a case study of the Taliban in Afghanistan. By conducting a content analysis of various official UN documents, NATO statements, articles by the Afghan Analysts Network and think-tank reports from the Afghan Institute of Strategic Studies, the study finds that the gradual evolution of the Taliban into a hybrid/convergent crime-terror organization has undermined the effectivity of the Afghan peace process, especially with regards to the reintegration phase.Show less
Climate-conflict literature has been growing intensively in the last decade. With a focus on African and Middle Eastern countries, various types of climate variables try to explain divergent...Show moreClimate-conflict literature has been growing intensively in the last decade. With a focus on African and Middle Eastern countries, various types of climate variables try to explain divergent natures of conflict. Many different mechanisms were shown as linking the two together. This study aimed to contribute to the literature by investigating the role of economic dependence on the agricultural sector in the relationship between social unrest and changing patterns of temperature and precipitation. It was asked, thus, to what extent does the economic structure of a country mediate the link between climate and social unrest, in the African continent? The large-N statistical analysis was conducted, including all the African countries, with a population of at least a million. Specifically, a negative binomial regression was run for the years from 1990 to 2007. The key finding suggested that the bigger the percentage of agricultural production in GDP is, the more the country is likely to suffer from temperature rise induced social unrest. This suggests that, because of climate change, economic reliance on the agricultural sector is dangerous for the political stability and even security in Africa. It calls for the importance of using planned adaptation techniques and educating the society on climate change and its effects.Show less
