On the Beach

In modern warfare, the first widely acknowledged scientific study and documented case of environmental damage during conflict was the (direct and deliberate) use of Agent Orange and other toxic chemicals by US forces, from 1961-1971, during the Vietnam War in a policy known as herbicide. The Vietnam War has been relatively well documented for the sheer horror and magnitude of the devastation to natural habitats and because it was the first war where television and global media brought vivid images and accounts into people’s homes, making the war a matter of political and public conscience This helped stir academic and scientific interest and facilitated evidence collection and documentation of environmental damages. This helpdesk report is a rapid literature review on the main environmental impacts of war and conflict, drawing primarily on academic, and peer reviewed literature and only some policy and practitioner sources, as per the request. Where current situations are discussed, such as the ongoing Ukraine war, a few blogs are referred to. Within the literature focused on the environmental impacts of conflict, common case studies include: the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) bombing of Kosovo (1999), and the conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine (2014). Interestingly there is comparatively less literature on the conflicts in Afghanistan (2001-2021), the Iraq-Iran War (1980-1988), the Gulf Wars (1991 and 2003), the Yemeni civil war (2014 – present) and the ongoing war in Syria (since 2011) despite their relatively greater severity, intensity and duration.

After the Syrian civil war, deaths of those fleeing crisis areas have tragically become a regular news item. Not new to the world, however, such crises emerge from tensions between identity and difference as codified in international politics, whereby refugees and migrants become the Other and subject to unyielding universals, such as the law or narrow concepts of what is right. Indeed, the cultural logic of “global identities” informing the current refugee and migrant crisis seems recurrent, as exemplified in the recent cases of the Tamils from Sri Lanka and the Somalis. The cultural logic of global identity is also reflected in the popular nineteenth-century novella by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Man with the Twisted Lip, in which the main character disguises himself as a professional beggar to appeal to middle class values in order to incite their guilty consciences. Drawing on Ian Baucom, Marc Shell, and Jean-Joseph Goux, this article argues that the main character’s actions reflect and embody the cultural logic of the global politico-economy in late nineteenth century London. As such, Doyle’s novella illustrates the Derridean notion of hospitality by revealing that “identity and difference are mutually constitutive” (Baker 109) and offers insightful commentary on the current refugee and migrant crisis.

This study examines the causal relationship between warming temperatures and armed conflicts in the developing world, and specifically, in Syria. The goal is to find and establish a correlation between the two factors and to understand how their complex dimensions might be influenced by the political, economic, social and environmental context in which they take place. This has been done by examining studies from Africa and the ongoing war in Syria, where resource scarcities resulting from changing weather patterns and environmental mismanagement have contributed to current political, economic and social instability. By demonstrating the increasingly prominent role climate change plays in armed conflicts, this study highlights the security challenges of political stabilization and sustainable industrialization in weak states.

The Syrian government’s violent suppression of pro-democracy protests in March 2011 sparked a civil war that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of millions. This study focuses on the emotional achievement of 357 Syrian primary and secondary school students who have moved to Türkiye and are under temporary protection. The researchers used the achievement emotion scale to collect data. They conducted a t-test, analysis of variance, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression to examine the sociodemographic factors affecting students’ achievement emotions. The results revealed that boy students experienced more negative achievement emotions than girl students, and that the longer the students have been in temporary protection, the more their positive achievement emotions have decreased. The ongoing war in Syria has dire consequences for school-age children who have been forced to flee their homes.

Social media as well as information and communication technology (ICT) play a major role in different conflicts all over the world. They have been crucial tools in the beginning of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ in Tunisia, the ongoing war in Syria, the struggle of Palestinian activists but also the Ukraine-Russia conflict. In this work, we provide the readers with an overview of current state of affairs regarding the use of ICTs in general and social media in particular in conflicts. Afterwards, we discuss how and what kind of tools and methods different actors use in their struggle. We especially focus on how actors appropriate the available tools to suit the specific conditions they find themselves in, such as risks of online surveillance, danger of prosecution of themselves or close others and varying levels of connectivity. We finally discuss the importance of an embedded perspective on the use of ICTs in conflict to understand these practices of appropriation.

Since 2011, the international media have done much to highlight the suffering of civilians in the on-going war in Syria, including through innovative forms of reporting such as VR journalism and news games. However, by the end of 2016, questions were being raised about a number of high-profile news stories, such as the use of chemical weapons, the role of the ‘White Helmets’ relief workers, and the bombing of Aleppo and other cities. Amid the claims and counter-claims of propaganda and ‘fake news’, news audiences glimpsed shifting and clashing explanatory framings of the Syrian war. A conflict that had initially been understood against the background of the ‘Arab Spring’ began to be seen as complicated by sectarian religious tensions, the rise of Islamic State, opaque factional and regional alliances, and international tensions reminiscent of the Cold War. An imperative to establish a moral framework for the story seemed to preclude more complex and searching questions about the motivations and actions of local and international actors.

The modern presidency of a Member State of the Council is one of the mechanisms of the EU’s political architecture, having existed de facto since the establishment of the first European Community. Over the decades of the EC/EU’s existence and development, the role and significance of the presidency system have evolved. Significant changes in this regard were brought about primarily by the Treaty of Lisbon, signed on 13 December 2007, amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community which finally entered into force in 2009. The Republic of Poland, which joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, has held the Presidency of the Council twice – in the second half of 2011 and the first half of 2025. Both periods coincided with significant moments in the development of European integration. Both periods also coincided with difficult times from the perspective of European (and global) politics and the challenges that the modern world had (and still has) to face. The first Polish Presidency took place amid the European financial crisis, the onset of the migration crisis in Europe, and the implementation of sweeping reforms resulting from the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. The second, however, fell during the ongoing war in Ukraine (and therefore in the immediate vicinity of Poland and the EU), the second – in many ways unpredictable – presidency of Donald Trump in the United States, and numerous threats to European security (including cybersecurity). The primary objective of this article is to analyze the evolution of the Presidency of the Council and to present the Polish experience, with particular emphasis on the implementation of the priorities and challenges faced by both Polish Presidencies in the context of changing conditions in Europe.The research material that forms the basis for this discussion primarily encompasses the sources of European Union law, which address issues falling within the scope of research at various levels, from the founding treaties, through binding acts of secondary law, and non­‑binding resolutions. The analysis also encompasses working documents of EU institutions and bodies, as well as other entities. The article also refers to scholarly literature, predominantly in Polish. The analysis of the evolution and function of the Presidency of the Council, along with the presentation of Polish experiences from 2011 and 2025, required the use of a range of research methods. In its broadest sense, this article employs historical­‑legal and comparative­‑legal approaches. It should be noted that a political science approach was also employed, allowing for an analysis of the practical operation of the discussed solutions, based on available reports and statements. Furthermore, theoretical­‑legal and formal­‑dogmatic approaches were also employed.

Cooperation with the Middle East after the Arab Spring Circumstantial Changes and Implications

From Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 to the foreign interventions in the ongoing civil wars in Syria, Yemen, and Libya today, global empires or the so-called Great Powers have long assumed the responsibility of bringing security to the Middle East. The past two centuries have witnessed their numerous military occupations to ‘liberate’, ‘secure’, and ‘educate’ local populations. Consulting fresh primary sources collected from some thirty archives in the Middle East, Russia, the United States, and Western Europe, Dangerous Gifts revisits the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century origins of these imperial security practices. It questions how it all began. Why did Great Power interventions in the Ottoman Levant tend to result in further turmoil and civil wars? Why has the region been embroiled in a paradox—an ever-increasing demand for security despite the increasing supply—ever since? It embeds this highly pertinent genealogical history into an innovative and captivating narrative around the Eastern Question, freeing the latter from the monopoly of Great Power politics, and also foregrounding the experience and agency of the Levantine actors: the gradual yet still forceful opening up of the latter’s economies to global free trade, the asymmetrical implementation of international law from their perspective, and the secondary importance attached to their threat perceptions in a world where political and economic decisions were ultimately made through the filter of global imperial interests.

ABSTRACTBrazil and Argentina are hosts to two of the largest populations of Syrian descent in Latin America. While Syrian immigrants and their descendants have usually defined their identities based on broad Arab nationalistic references, creating and affiliating themselves to Syrian-Lebanese and/or Arab institutions, the ongoing civil war in Syria has triggered an unprecedented mobilization around specifically Syrian issues. Most diasporic organizations have shown an unconditional support for the Baʽthist regime. This article aims at understanding the political mobilization of the Syrian diaspora in Argentina and Brazil, as well as unveiling how Bashar al-Asad's government has tried to build on their support.

The war in Syria is one of the most drastic Humanitarian crisis ever. The prolonged crisis has not only resulted in the destruction of the country, but also the human costs have been very high. Based on estimations by the UNHCR, 600 thousand have been killed since 2011, 6.9 million have become internally displaced inside Syria, 5.4 million have become refugees, mostly in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt (Council on Forign Relations, 2023). While some of those refugees have dangerously managed their way through the Mediterranean to Europe, the majority remains in the neighboring countries including Jordan, where it has more than 1.3 million refugees. For this reason, the impact of the on-going war is not only restricted to Syria, but also to the whole region including Jordan. The sudden influx of refugees has magnified the country's own challenges. The Syrian refugee crisis has placed financial, social, and institutional strains on Jordan as a host community. According to the UNHCR, there is an estimated of 1.3 million Syrian refugees in the country's different governorates (UNICEF, 2022). 653,292 of those were registered as Syrian refugees and asylum seekers in Jordan as of September 2023 (UNHCR, 2023). The distribution of those refugees and their concentration in the northern and central governorates have drastic impacts ;as those governorates are the location of main cities and have the highest share of population: Amman has 1.036 330 and Irbid 250. 645 (Population Hub , 2023). Consequently, the socio-economic impact of massive number of refugees are catastrophic. As for Europe, the on- going crisis cannot be separated from its 2015-2016 migrant crisis, also known as the refugee crisis, when Europe received more than 1.3 million asylum seekers applicants, from which 378,000 were Syrians, accounting for 29% of all of Europe’s asylum seekers, the highest share of any country (Pew Research Center , 2016).This crisis, along with other crises within and beyond the EU, made the EU adopts a different approach in response to its current problems, in particular, the refugee crisis. Hence, building state and societal resilience became one of its five priorities of foreign and security policy as emphasized in the European Union Global Strategy of 2016 (EUGS) (The European Union External Action Service , 2016). As for ‘resilience’ as a concept, the commission defines it as “The ability of states and societies to reform, thus withstanding and recovering from internal and external crises" (The European Union External Action Service , 2016, p. 26) .Since then, the EU directed all its efforts and funding toward ‘resilience’ building of the neighboring countries and the host of those refugees. For Jordan as a host, this is translated on the ground in response to the Syrian refugee crisis. The EU is one of the most important international donors to Jordan in response for the Syrian crisis. Since the beginning of the civil war in Syria, the EU has pledged more than 3.5 billion EUR for Jordan through different instruments including humanitarian, development and macro-financial assistance (European Commission , 2022). This dissertation aimed to find the role of the EU ‘resilience’ building in Jordan and its impact on Jordan's national security as a host and the EU's national security as a donor. The dissertation found that • First, on the theoretical level this dissertation proved, the EU’s ‘resilience’ building in Jordan is not only Maintenance, Marginal or Reflexive, rather more than one type of ‘resilience’ can be found together in Jordan. • Second, on the empirical level, considering the impact of the EU’s ‘resilience’ building, the dissertation concluded that the Jordanian’s institutions promote ‘resilience’ building in Jordan. • The third conclusion is related to the impact of the EU’s ‘resilience’ building in promoting Sustainable Developments Goals. The paper concludes that this impact differs from one sector to another .The EU’s different instruments including the EURT, EIB, and EBRD with almost 100 projects in different sectors contribute to achieve this. • Regarding the dissertation main question and the EU ‘resilience’ building role in to promoting the EU own security. The dissertation proved that the success of the EU external migration governance through ‘resilience’ building as a response to the Syrian Refugees case varies between the different country hosts. The EU-Turkey Deal plays a more successful role as a buffer zone than Jordan. While Jordan ‘resilience’ building works better than Lebanon. As for Jordan ‘resilience’ building impact on the EU, Jordan cooperative approach has enabled it to harmonize the EU efforts in line with Jordan policies so that they best support the refugees and the local communities. This in turn has been reflected on those refugees integration and the country social cohesion. Consequently, this indirectly contributes to keep those refugees closer to their home. • In term of the EU ‘resilience’ building and Jordan' security. The dissertation proved that it is one factor. The dissertation proved the EU instruments contributes to enhance ‘resilience’ capacities. The U.S role and the Jordanian people are other factors. • The author was capable to prove the connection between Buzan classification of the security sectors and the EU ‘resilience’ building capacities. These capacities, which include providing services, protection, social cohesion, the EU׳s Macro- financial assistance, and border management support, have a key role in promoting Jordan economic, political, military, societal and environmental security.

BackgroundThe ongoing Syrian civil war has led to massive population displacements, leading to the reorganization of the asylum policies of several countries. Accordingly, like other European countries, the Swiss government has recently chosen to implement a specific resettlement program. This program is characterized by the fact that the whole nuclear family is granted a work and residence permit upon arrival, and benefits from enhanced integration services. The aim of the present project is to evaluate the effects of the Swiss resettlement program, with a special focus on mental health, while adopting a family perspective.MethodsThe outcomes of 15 Syrian families taking part in this program will be compared to those of 15 Syrian families that came to Switzerland through other means (i.e., following the usual asylum procedure, which is much more stressful and time consuming). Each family member above 8 years old will be invited to participate to a 3-wave longitudinal survey concerning the resettlement process: upon arrival in the collective shelters, six and 12 months later. Questionnaires will be used for the evaluation of participants’ mental health, risk behaviors, general health, romantic relationship, parent-child relationship, family functioning, parentification, social support, and social identities related to group belongingness.DiscussionThe findings of the present project will provide longitudinal information on Syrian refugees. A comprehensive approach will be adopted by screening potential difficulties that the sample may be faced with and potential strengths that participants may rely on. Accordingly, physical and mental health, as well as the quality of family functioning, the feeling of support and of belongingness to different groups will be evaluated.We will also compare the results of families who had the chance to immigrate through the Swiss resettlement program, to the results of families that did not. This comparison will allow the elaboration of hypotheses regarding adjusted asylum policies. Furthermore, it will enhance our knowledge regarding the impact of displacement on the family system. Indeed, although the role of the family for the well-being of adults and children has been established, surprisingly few studies have adopted this focus in the asylum field.

In the aftermath of the Arab Spring in 2011, many nations in the Cradle of Civilization faced civil unrest, much of which continues today in the form of the ongoing Syrian Civil War, the conflict in Yemen, and instability in nations such as Iraq and Turkey. As a consequence, antiquities and cultural heritage in the region are currently facing a notoriously exacerbated level of risk. Despite the looting and destruction of cultural objects and monuments presenting a longstanding global and historical trend, the field of antiquities trafficking research lacks a unique and effective perspective within its current body of work and research. Likewise, criminology as a scientific field of study has largely overlooked the complex issue of looting and trafficking of cultural objects. This thesis focuses on the issue of Antiquities Trafficking Networks from a crime prevention perspective and attempts to demonstrate the effectiveness and apt nature of Crime Script Analysis and Situational Crime Prevention. This is accomplished first with a study and analysis of the wider phenomenon of Antiquities Trafficking Networks (from looting to market), followed by a specific case study of antiquities trafficked from within Syria since the beginning of the Civil War. Following these analyses, thirteen prominent Situational Crime Prevention strategies for Antiquities Trafficking Networks, and ten strategies for future conflict zones are generated by this research project. Through these strategies, Crime Script Analysis – in conjunction with Situational Crime Prevention – has proven to be a highly effective and efficient method and framework for studying this particularly difficult field. Ultimately, this thesis proposes a new crime prevention-focused methodology, to help tackle the issue of antiquities trafficking, as well as presenting one of the first prevention-specific analyses in this area. In doing so, it offers of a basic model that maps the structure and necessary elements for antiquities trafficking to occur and allows for future research projects to adapt or customize this script model to situation-specific cases of antiquities looting, transit and marketing.

Lucia Allais Designs of Destruction: The Making of Monuments in the Twentieth Century Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018, 347 pp., 8 color and 123 b/w illus. $45 (cloth), ISBN 9780226286556 In Designs of Destruction: The Making of Monuments in the Twentieth Century , Lucia Allais delves into the four tumultuous decades that preceded the signing of the World Heritage Convention in 1972. She uncovers the work of the many agents—from bureaucrats and intellectuals to lawyers and architects—who mobilized to engineer the survival of architectural monuments, setting the foundations for “the remarkable return of the monument to the world stage” (2). Allais explores how the opportunity to act architecturally was recognized and integrated into global governance during this period, when “state-sponsored and/or internationally-sanctioned techniques and practices of construction and destruction … fueled monuments' survival” (8). She situates these techniques at the fault line between modernism and historicism, and this is one of the book's greatest contributions. Focusing on a period when modern architecture achieved unparalleled international success, Allais questions the division of the twentieth century into pre- and postwar, and pro- and antimodern, locating modernists and preservationists “in a spectrum of engagements with a broad endangerment sensibility” (8). In her introduction, Allais provides a general theoretical framework for her research, situating it in relation to the relevant literature on heritage, preservation, modern architecture, and global contemporary history. Although she focuses primarily on the mid-twentieth century, she begins by emphasizing the relevance of some of her findings to recent events, such as U.S. president Barack Obama's state visit to Senegal's Maison des Esclaves in 2013 and the political use of the ruins of Palmyra by different parties during the ongoing Syrian civil war. Allais then summarizes each of the book's five chapters, which recount five episodes “when the survival …

Since 2011, the civil war in Syria has displaced millions, resulting in a major migration crisis. Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey have faced traumatic events and challenging living conditions. This examines how such experiences affect their life satisfaction. Using a quantitative research method, the study included 106 participants aged 18 to 70. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that avoidance and reexperiencing explained 21.3% of the variance in life satisfaction, making them significant predictors. Additionally, participants who lost a loved one during the war or had acquaintances exposed to violence during migration reported lower life satisfaction, with higher scores in event impact, reexperiencing, and hyperarousal. These findings highlight the need for host countries to implement policies within a rights-based framework to safeguard the mental health and social integration of individuals under temporary protection. Strengthening psychosocial support systems, such as therapy and group sessions, alongside general health screenings, is crucial to improve life satisfaction and aid in post-traumatic recovery. Future research should conduct applied intervention studies to evaluate the long-term effects of such programs. The findings of these studies could contribute to the development of targeted social work interventions, thereby helping to address the complex needs of forcibly displaced individuals.