By Anne Marie Buzato

The use of private security companies (PSCs) to perform services that are traditionally associated with the state presents a challenge to regulatory and oversight frameworks. Analyzing developments leading to the International Code of Conduct for Security Providers (ICOC) and the ICOC Association, this paper argues that a multistakeholder approach to develop standards adapted for the private sector and which creates governance and oversight mechanisms fills some of the governance gaps found in traditional regulatory approaches.

London: Ubiquity Press, 2015. 51p.

Edited By David Ehrhardt, David Oladimeji Alao, M. Sani Umar

Exploring the contentious landscape of Nigeria’s escalating violence, this book describes the changing roles of traditional authorities in combatting contemporary security challenges. Set against a backdrop of widespread security threats – including insurgency, land disputes, communal violence, regional independence movements, and widespread criminal activities – perhaps more than ever before, Nigeria’s conventional security infrastructure seems ill-equipped for the job. This book offers a fresh, empirical analysis of the roles of traditional authorities – including kings, Ezes, Obas, and Emirs – who are often hailed as potent alternatives to the state in security governance. It complicates the assumption that these traditional leaders, by virtue of their customary legitimacy and popular roots, are singularly effective in preventing and managing violence. Instead, in exploring their creative adaptation to governance roles after a dramatic postcolonial downturn, this book argues that traditional leaders can augment, but not substitute, the state in addressing insecurity. This book’s in-depth analysis will be of interest to researchers and policy makers across African and security studies, political science, anthropology, and development.

London; New York: Routledge, 2024. 313p.

May Contain Markup

By Murray Clark Havens, Carl Leiden & Karl M. Schmitt

Nature of Assassination: The book explores the definition, scope, andstate of knowledge on political assassinations, emphasizing their impact on political systems.

Case Studies: It includes detailed case studies of notable assassinations,such as Martin Luther King Jr., Henrik Verwoerd, and Patrice Lumumba,analyzing the assassins, conspiracies, and impacts.

Impact Analysis: The authors discuss the varying impacts of assassinations, from negligible to destructive, on political systems,personnel, and policies.

Research Challenges: The book highlights the difficulties in studying assassinations, including data collection and interpretation, and calls for further research in this area.

Prentice-Hall, 1970, 174 pages