Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

This paper focuses on terrorist attacks carried out by so-called ‘lone wolves’ or ‘lone actors’. It provides an analytical evaluation of the basic characteristics of these attackers and discusses possible access to their identification in society. To create the profile of a ‘typical’ lone wolf, we collected information from a database of lone wolves who committed their terrorist attacks in the United States, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland, Norway and Australia from 1998 to 2016. Based on these data, it was demonstrated that lone wolves are not homogenous group, therefore, there is no one ‘typical’ lone wolf. Instead, three main groups of lone wolves were identified: 1) lone wolves with a criminal past, 2) lone wolves with a mental illness and 3) young lone wolves coming from minority groups in the country. These characteristics could be used as an auxiliary tool by state security forces during identification of potential lone wolf terrorists.

Despite the rising recognition and a growing body of literature on sustainability issues in the military, no comprehensive and systematic review on the topic has been published yet. Accordingly, the aim of this paper was to deconstruct the topic of sustainability in the military context by exploring its genesis, state-of-the-art knowledge and future prospects. Furthermore, the study addressed the question of practical importance about where sustainability in the military is ad hoc or institutionalized into management processes and procedures of organizations. The paper relied on the systematic literature review and used a bibliometric data analysis: citation network and keyword network analysis techniques were employed to select, analyse and interpret the genesis and prospects in the field.

In 2010s, the mainstream academic debate slowly but surely shifted towards European Union’s internal crisis and the possibility of its disintegration. United Kingdom applying to exit the Union in 2017 is the most recent and arguably the strongest indicator of such possibility. “Brexit” (as this process was dubbed) provides an interesting testing ground for latent European disintegration theories proposed by some political scientists. As the withdrawal negotiations have just started, one can only raise causal arguments for the future (if..., then); therefore this article employs scenario-building methodology recently established in political science with an aim to develop a set of scenarios of possible UK-EU relationship after Brexit. Four driving forces are cross-combined: (1) U.S. involvement in European security matters and bilateral relations with UK, (2) German leadership of the integrationist projects within the EU, (3) activism of the European Commission and the European Court of Justice, and (4) the stability of current minority cabinet in UK under Prime Minister May. The three scenarios that logically follow are: (1) UK as member of a nascent European security and defence union, (2) UK’s return to the EU, and (3) UK as an independent power in an “anglobal” world. Rarely, however, do any scenarios composed by political scientists ever materialize in full and a mix of all three scenarios is most likely to come to pass over the course of the next five years or so.

The article reviews standards of state policies in terms of the national security of the European Union countries. The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of the theory and practice of providing national security in the EU countries. In addition to that, the article provides for a deep analysis of the major methodological approaches in regards to establishing national security in the EU. The authors make a systematic review of the development and implementation of the EU security doctrines. The aim of this research article is to analyze the development of the idea of developing a European defense policy to find an effective way of incorporating our state into European security structures. Also, the research question may be posed as discussion on the way the national security is guaranteed in the EU countries. The novelty of the study is in the way how the past, current and future national security setup is implemented in the EU countries and what may the ways of its development. Materials and methods used in studying this problem, researches and publications of such domestic and foreign researchers were used. At the same time, processes of global and European security need constant analysis and study. The results showed that the problem of the formation of the European security and defense system that emerged shortly after the end of the Second World War prompted European countries to work more closely together, particularly in the defense sector. After the Cold War and the emergence of new challenges for stability on the continent, the EU has embarked on a path towards greater consolidation and greater awareness of own defense and security interests. Conclusion of the article is that an analysis of the approaches to the national security in the EU convincingly demonstrates that the level of security depends on many factors. The successful provision of national security strategy and approach depends on the sustainability and strength of their national economies. Only a strong economy allows successfully defending national interests in growing global competition and world economic disparities. Therefore, a country shall not only develop a national security concept, relying on world experience, but, above all, to reform its domestic and foreign policies with a view to protecting all actors.

The significant volume of bio-waste is coming from horticulture due to the treatment of perennial plantations. Horticulture wooden waste looks like a promising feedstock for the further utilization by bio-based energy sector. Moreover, using waste obtained in the result of-trees’ trimming and perforation might provide high economic and environmental impact in the energy balance of the country. Unfortunately, currently, the potential of this wooden waste is not used fully. Partly, this caused with lack of accurate data about available resource especially in the developing countries such as Ukraine. In this study, assessment of energy, economic and geographical potential of horticulture wooden waste was proposed following up to case-study of biomass potential analysis. The research was based on the case study in one region but the obtained results were scaled on the country level. Additionally, it was found that the diversity of methods of waste biomass volume assessment in horticulture depended on the farm type, since highly developed industrial farms and small households carry out gardening on the different ways.

This article present a historical background of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) evolution since 1950s to the contemporary concept which represents CSR as a process to integrate social, environmental, ethical, human rights and consumer concerns into business operations and core strategy in close corporation with multi-stakeholders of enterprise. As we enlarged the scope of our research we found an extensive panorama of theories about corporate social responsibility, an abundance of approaches, and diverse descriptions of the models. Corporate social responsibility can be called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship, social performance, or sustainable responsible business. The first part of this research paper offers a historical overview of CSR, to facilitate the account from a thematic point of view which switching-over to the CSR evolution into different concepts.

The alternative methods of dispute resolution are new field of study in Latvia. In most cases procedurial issues of these methods and their real practical application are outside any legal regulation. One of these alternative dispute resolution methods is called mediation. Person, who is responsible for the management of this process, is called mediator. The meaning of this term is known from the ancient civilization times. It is useful to understand the initial comprehension of mediation in order to sucessfully implement this process in the legal system of modern society. Nevertheless the elaboration of mediation procedure asks serious evalution of possibilites in order to completely evolve basic principles of alternative dispute resolution methods in the legal system of any country. Answering on question whether it is possible to completely realize the concept of mediation, it is necessary clearly understand, what it is and how you can use the advantages of this process in real life. Application of mediation in the Latvian criminal law obeys to the special requirements and depends on certain circumstances.

Public administration is a set of state institutions that mainly exercises the functions of the executive body (rather than legislative or judicial) in accordance with the law. Public administration includes the Cabinet of Ministers, institutions subordinate to the Cabinet of Ministers as well as other independent institutions. The aim of the research is to analyse the historical development of the Cabinet of Ministers and ministries, to emphasize the main stages of development of public administration, while highlighting the problems that existed both during the period of Latvia’s first independence as well as after the restoration of the state and seeking the best possible solutions for the further development of public administration. The study will use descriptive, dogmatic, historical, comparative and analytical research methods.

In terms of sustainable development, various forms of partnership are an important prerequisite for the development of companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Clusters are considered to be an effective form of support and innovation development for SMEs. Thus, enterprises working as a part of clusters are more efficient, flexible and resistant to external influences than large and hierarchical organizations. Clusters often arise spontaneously through the activities of local stakeholders who want to benefit from the synergy of the factors in the region, such as the existence of suppliers and customers, skilled labour force, specific resources and infrastructure. There are more than 20 clusters operating in the Slovak Republic. The majority of cluster members are SMEs. SMEs have many specificities and their engagement with clusters is influenced by various factors. For instance, many SMEs are often not sufficiently innovative or find it difficult to implement the results of their research and development into practical and successful innovation in the market. Bearing in mind the conditions of sustainable development, the authors examined the reasons why SMEs got engaged with clusters and enhanced their further development in terms of competitiveness. Moreover, the authors placed emphasis on their ability to innovate their products, technologies and/or services. Attention was also paid to the increased number of joint projects in the field of business, new market placement options and access to new information, as well as the acquisition of new partners, and employment growth in the regions in which these enterprises operate. The purpose of the paper was to identify the most relevant reasons why SMEs got engaged with clusters in terms of sustainable development. In order to achieve this purpose, an empirical study was carried out. The results were evaluated by quantitative tools of statistics (percentage, average values, standard deviation, chi-square test and Cramér’s V). The results showed that the most important reasons that made SMEs’ engage with clusters were entry to new markets and getting new partners.

Our paper focuses on the threats to the global development and sustainable economic development of a country that might include economic, political, human development, as well as sustainable development issues and problems. Sustainable economic development might serve as a tool for fostering the country’s prosperity and helping it to overcome various threats that might stem from its geolocation, economic situation, natural resources, as well as many other internal and external factors that all play their decisive roles. The paper uses a case study of the United States as an example of the country vulnerable to a plethora of threats. It analyzes the most crucial threats one by one and classifies the most notorious and impending issues stemming from these threats that might hamper the economic growth and development. In particular, we focus on the issue of energy security and the renewable energy sources (RES) that represent an important aspect in this debate and research. Our results can be used by the policymakers as well as regional development managers for improving the security strategy.