The CoESPU Magazine 1-2022

Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units -Sub Iure ad Pacem tuendam Milites paro 1- 2022 The CoESPU
MAGAZINE

The online quarterly Journal of Stability Policing
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THE COESPU COMPOUND MEMORIAL

FOREWORD
Dear CoESPU Magazine Readers,

After the slowdown provoked by the pandemic, year 2022
has started with a renewed and fruitful momentum for this Center
of Excellence. Our training offer delivered during the first quarter
of the year, included the “UN Staff Officer” course, the “Counter
Improvised Explosive Devices - Chemical Biological Radiological
Nuclear Explosive” course (CIED-CBRNE) in favour of the Iraqi
security forces, the Asymmetric Threat course and the Enhanced
Comprehensive Protection of Civilians course (eCPOC), not to
mention the FPU Pre-Deployment Training carried out in Rwanda,
the European Union Twining in North Macedonia and the European Union Police and Civilian
Service Training (EUPCST) exercise which is ongoing.
Meanwhile, we have many traditional activities underway and also some news, including the
new set up we designed for the CoESPU Magazine: indeed we decided to pursue a more
selective and focused thematic planning. In this perspective, we will therefore dedicate each
quarter to a particular topic that will be treated with an interdisciplinary and multi-perspective
approach from multiple points of view. The other aspect of renovation is that, in order to faci-
litate this choice, we have established an Editorial Board that will provide technical support to
the editorial staff and to the Scientific Committee in the reviews of the articles.
Consistently with this direction, you will find several articles inspired to the topic chosen for
this quarter, namely: “IT & Cybersecurity”. In the light of this new editorial approach, it is with
pride that I present you the article by Colonel Oscar Figueroa, from the Carabineros of Chi-
le, which provides a comprehensive analysis on cybercrimes, on the criticalities in combating
them, with a particular focus on prevention.
LTC Aldo Rosa from the NATO Stability Policing Center of Excellence, has brilliantly illustrated
NATO’s point of view in combating cybercrime, introducing in particular the concept of Cy-
ber-Stability Policing.
Ms Elisa Magnanini, CoESPU intern from John Cabot University, in her article entitled: “Regu-
lating Cyberattacks: Can International Law be applied to Cyberspace?” urged international
collaboration between States to counter the ever growing dangers represented by cyberat-
tacks, highlighting the mutual gains from a more secure cyberspace.
LTC João Duque Martinho, from Eurogendfor, made a comprehensive exploration of the co-
operation between Gendarmeries and their maritime forces.
Wishing you a fruitful reading, please let my invite you all to interact with CoESPU Social
Media and to get in touch with the Magazine editorial staff to explore the chance, if you wish,
to offer written contributions to our next edition, becoming active members of our Stability
Policing Community.

BG Giovanni Pietro BARBANO
CoESPU Director

EDITORIAL TEAM

MAGAZINE EDITOR IN CHIEF:

BG. Giovanni Pietro Barbano

MANAGING EDITOR:

Maj. Lucio De Angelis

DRAFTING, COMPOSITION, GRAPHICS AND EDITING:

Maj. Lucio De Angelis
CWO Salvatore Camagna
CWO Massimiliano Dimichele
Mr. Denis Rizzotti

IMAGES AND ARTWORK SOURCES:

United Nations,
CoESPU Magazine Team

Cover picture by madartzgraphics under Pixabay licence
Other authors are indicated in single captions

PUBLISHER:

COESPU, VIA MEDICI, 87
ZIP CODE: 36100, VICENZA (ITALY)
Telephone +39 0444 932190

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE EDITORIAL BOARD

Dr. Maureen BROWN Prof. Salvatore CIMINI
BG (ret.) Giorgio CUZZELLI Col. Paolo DI PIAZZA

Prof. Andrea DE GUTTRY Prof. Paolo FORADORI
Dr. Michael DZIEDZIC (Col. ret) Col. Rebecca D. HAZELETT
Dr. Karen J. FINKEBINDER
Prof. Oreste FOPPIANI Prof. Marco LOMBARDI
Dr. Nadia GERSPACHER Prof. Sara PENNICINO
Prof. Edoardo GREPPI
Dr. David LIGHTBURN Lt. Col. Pierpaolo SINCONI
Col. Michele LIPPIELLO Lt. Col. Federico VECCI
Prof. Paolo MAGRI
Prof. Andrea MARGELLETTI
Prof. Emanuele Vittorio PARSI
Prof. Karla PINHEL RIBEIRO
Prof. Bernardo SALA
Amb. Dmitry TITOV
Prof. Gabriella VENTURINI

The CoESPU Magazine is devoted to the publication of professional concepts and issues, research
and doctrinal products developed by the Carabinieri Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units, in
collaboration with other international research Centers. The Magazine addresses topics of professio-
nal, technical, operational and juridical nature in the field of Stability Policing within Peace Opera-
tions. Based on the core values of ethics, integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity, harmo-
nically inflected and informed by the traditions of over two hundred years of Carabinieri history, the
Magazine fosters Human Rights and gender mainstreaming, while seeking to enhance current police
peacekeeping doctrine and promoting international police peacekeeping interoperability, cognizant
of Lessons Learned and best practises. The CoESPU Magazine is constantly committed to upholding
UN standards, norms, procedures and curricula, while endorsing self-sufficiency of the participating
Police Contributing Countries. Consequently, its editorial policy promotes the principles of represen-
tativeness, responsiveness, and accountability, as well as effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, and
accessibility, to provide the highest professional standards to build trust and legitimacy of beneficiary
Law Enforcement Institutions.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this journal belong to single authors and do not ne-

cessarily reflect the official policy or position of the CoESPU, the UN, The Italian Government, the
Carabinieri or other nominated Institutions. Content is copyrighted where expressly indicated,
but Material belongs to authors themselves. The Center of Excellence for Stabilities Police Units
retains full and exclusive ownership over other magazine contents and original images. Repro-
duction of any part of this magazine without express written permission is strictly prohibited.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 8
12
IT & CYBERSECURITY 16

MOVING TOWARDS A MORE CYBERSECURE EU. A BRIEF OVERVIEW 24
CYBER SPACE AS A NEW DOMAIN: A NEW CONCEPT OF PEACEKEEPING 28
INTRODUCTION TO CYBERCRIME AND BASIC PREVENTION MEASURES
30
INTERNSHIP RESEARCH RESULTS
40
CAN INTERNATIONAL LAW BE APPLIED TO CYBERSPACE? 50
56
ALUMNI 60
62
IN DEPTH

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ON POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STABILITY

STABILITY POLICING HUB

MARITIME GENDARMERIES: A POSSIBLE CONCEPTUAL APPROACH TO THEIR
ADDED VALUE
CYBER: A NEW DOMAIN FOR STABILITY POLICING?

COESPU TRAINING

EVENTS

COESPU ONSITE VISITS

“The CoESPU Magazine – the on line Quarterly Journal of Stability Policing” is a stand-alone on line publication.

Printed copies are intended for internal use and shall not be distributed.

Published on www.coespu.org

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IT & CYBERSECURITY



IT & CYBERSECURITY

MOVING TOWARDS A MORE
CYBERSECURE EU. A BRIEF OVERVIEW

Moving towards a more cyberse- On the other hand, such momen- its entirety – of the leading actions
cure EU. A brief overview tum has been at least temporarily and policies the European Union is
slowed by the parallel growth of currently undertaking against cyber
by Julian Colamedici the (many) risks connected to a hi- threats, with a specific focus on the
gher exposition to cyberattacks of relevant strategies proposed by re-
Introduction sensitive data, critical infrastructu- cently adopted Strategic Compass.
re, and primary services. Not to
In a world strained by a global mention outrights cyberwarefare. EU actions against Cyber Threa-
Aware of such challenges, as “cy- ts. A brief overview
pandemic and the resurgence of berattacks and cybercrime are in- The chief objectives of such actions
stark geopolitical confrontation creasing in number and sophistica- and policies, as reported on the of-
between great powers in competi- tion across Europe”, the European ficial website of the Council of the
tion, where the major threats to the Union (EU) has developed several European Union and the Europe-
international rules-based order, instruments and initiatives to tackle an Council, are synthetized in the
international, and national securi- cyber threats1. The result is a mul- following six areas: “enhance cy-
ty are ever more of a transnational ti-layered and complex architectu- ber resilience”; “fight cybercrime”;
nature, the paramount importance re of institutional actors, strategies, “boost cyber diplomacy”; “reinfor-
of cyberspace has eventually be- and regulations working to ensu- ce cyber defence”; “boost research
come almost self-evident. On the re a more secure access to cyber and innovation”; “protect critical
one hand, Covid-19 has osten- space and to defend EU’s critical infrastructure”2.
sibly spurred the so called “digi- infrastructure and data from cybe- To better understand the depth and
tal transition” in many aspects of rattacks and malicious actions mo- scope of the EU’s wider cyber stra-
everyday life – from the public to ved against them. In this light, the tegy, it may be now useful to look
the private sector –, encouraging aim of this article is to provide a into some of its key pillars, fol-
an unprecedently extensive use very brief overview and to outline lowing for more clarity the above-
of new technologies, digital ser- the key tenets – thus without any mentioned areas.
vices, IT devices and networks. ambition of covering the topic in a) Cyber Resilience

8

“Cyber resilience” focuses mainly tform against criminal threats (EM- number and use frequency of IT
on prevention and deterrence. PACT), which were set by a Coun- devices is rapidly growing – and
In this direction moves the 2020 cil conclusion in May 2021 for the the trend seems to be lasting.
EU Cybersecurity Strategy3, which EMPACT cycle 2022-20259. The Strategic Compass’ Per-

contains “concrete proposals for c) Cyber Diplomacy spective

deploying regulatory, investment “Cyber diplomacy”, is another in- On 21 March 2022, the Council
and policy instruments”4. The Stra- strument the EU may use to “pro- of the European Union – under the
tegy therefore marks an important mote an open, free, stable and se- French presidency – finally adop-
step on the path towards a more cure cyberspace”, a space “where ted the Strategic Compass. The
cybersecure and technologically human rights, fundamental free- document aims to provide the EU
sovereign Union. The 2019 EU Cy- doms and the rule of law are ful- with a comprehensive, consistent,
bersecurity Act5, which introduced ly respected for the social stability, and concrete strategy to make the
“an EU-wide certification scheme” economic growth, prosperity and Union more secure and effective,
making it stronger
– critical to en- THE RESULT IS A MULTI-LAYERED AND COMPLEX AR- both internally and
sure consisten-
cy, security, and CHITECTURE OF INSTITUTIONAL ACTORS, STRATE- on the interna-
GIES, AND REGULATIONS WORKING TO ENSURE A tional stage. The
uniformity within Strategic Compass
the European SECURE ACCESS TO CYBER SPACE AND TO DEFEND (from now on, SC),
ICT industry, also EU’S CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND DATA FROM provides a “sha-
in a perspective
of technological CYBERATTACKS AND MALICIOUS ACTIONS AGAINST red assessment”
independence – of the European
and “a new and THEM. strategic environ-

stronger manda- te for the EU integrity of free and democratic ment, the threats and challenges
Agency for Cybersecurity” (ENISA), societies”10.To this end, the EU has the EU faces and their implications
which provides support to “mem- developed the “cyber diplomacy for it; brings “greater coherence
ber states, EU institutions and other toolbox”11, which “includes diplo- and a common sense of purpose
stakeholders in dealing with cybe- matic cooperation and dialogue, to actions in the area of security
rattacks”6.Finally the 2016 Network preventative measures against cy- and defence that are already un-
and Information Systems (NIS) di- berattacks, and sanctions”12 – but derway”; sets out “new ways and
rective, which establishes for the also the aforementioned 2020 means” to improve the EU’s “col-
very first time legal security obli- EU Cybersecurity Strategy repre- lective ability to defend the secu-
gations for certain operators and sents a key part of this effort13. rity” of its citizens and its Union;
digital service providers7.The NIS Cybercrime is in fact rising, as the and specifies “clear targets and

directive, which is essential to gua-

rantee a truly secure digital envi-

ronment both for operators and fi-

nal users, is due to be revised and

replaced by a forthcoming NIS2,

proposed by the European Com-

mission on 16 December 2020,

as a result of a review process8.

b) Cybercrime

“Cybercrime” is also strongly ad-

dressed by the EU, which has cre-

ated a “specialised European cy-

bercrime centre” within Europol

and listed the countering of cybe-

rattacks among the priorities of the

European multidisciplinary pla-

9

IT & CYBERSECURITY

milestones to measure progress”14. Among them, as recalled above, EU Cybersecurity Strategy”, the EU
An insecure and unstable environ- cyberspace takes in fact very great aims to “develop the Union’s cyber
ment, which is defined “a bree- attention, being the word “cyber” posture by enhancing our ability
ding ground for multiple threats to mentioned at least 82 times in the to prevent cyberattacks”23. How?
European security from terrorism, whole document19. Indeed, the SC Through a wide range of actions,
violent extremism and organised expresses from the very beginning from “capacity building, capability
crime to hybrid conflicts and cy- the EU’s commitment, among the development, training, exercises,
berattacks, instrumentalisation of others, to “further develop the EU enhanced resilience” to “respon-
irregular migration, arms prolife- Cyber Defence Policy to be better ding firmly to cyberattacks against
ration and the progressive wea- prepared for and respond to cy- the Union, its Institutions and its
kening of the arms control archi- berattacks”20. This is because, as Member States using all available
tecture”15. In order to achieve the the SC highlights: “Cyberspace EU tools”24.
ambitious goals outlined by the has become a field for strategic b) Cyber Diplomacy
SC, the EU has pointed out several competition, at a time of growing Moreover, apart from the securi-
“concrete priority actions”, subdivi- dependence on digital technolo- ty perspective, the SC focuses on
ded into four main “work strands”: gies”, and the EU is “increasingly the role of “cyber diplomacy”25. In
“Act”; “Secure”; “Invest”; “Part- facing more sophisticated cybe- particular, the SC mentions “sta-
ner”16. In particular, the second rattacks”, thus making it “essen- te-sponsored malicious cyber acti-
one (“Secure”) deals with resilien- tial to maintain an open, free, vities targeting critical infrastructu-
ce and prevention of threats, focu- stable and secure cyberspace”21. re” and “ransomware attacks”26.
sing on the need to “guarantee se- a) Cybersecurity In order to counter such threa-
cure access to strategic domains” To reach a more secure cyber en- ts, the Strategic Compass defines
(namely: air, land, sea, space, cy- vironment, the document recalls three principal courses of action:
berspace), which are “increasingly also the above-mentioned 2020 “reinforce our ability to identify
contested domains”17. In this re- EU Cybersecurity Strategy, calling and analyse cyberattacks in a co-
spect, the SC expressly notes that upon “the EU institutions, agen- ordinated manner”; “strengthen
the EU needs “to best prepare for cies and bodies to adopt additio- the EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox
fast-emerging challenges”, since nal standards and rules on infor- and make full use of all its instru-
its “strategic competitors” seem to mation and cyber security, as well ments”, which includes “preventive
act with an aim “to diminish our as on the protection of EU clas- measures and sanctions on exter-
security and actively undermine sified information and sensitive nal actors”; “contribute to the EU’s
our secure access to the maritime, non-classified information”22. This Joint Cyber Unit to enhance joint
air, cyber and space domains”18. means that, “in line with the 2020 situational awareness and coope-
ration between EU Institutions and
Member States”27.
c) Cyber Defence
The EU’s Strategic Compass focu-
ses also on Cyber Defence, aiming
to “further develop the EU’s Cyber
Defence Policy to protect, detect,
defend and deter against cyberat-
tacks”. To reach this end, the EU
will need to work on “research and
innovation”, as well as on “educa-
tion and training”. This will ensure
a “ready to act” EU while increa-
sing “cooperation among the EU’s
and Member States’ cyber defence
actors and develop mechanisms
for leveraging capabilities at the

10

EU level, including in the context of get and to gain the political willin- 13 European Commission, “The EU’s Cyberse-
CSDP missions and operations”, gness to do it. Indeed “the actions curity Strategy for the Digital Decade”, 16 De-
but also strengthening coopera- detailed in this Strategic Compass cember 2020, European Commission website.
tion with “like-minded partners” are ambitious, but achievable with 14 Council of the EU, A Strategic Compass for
in the specific area (e.g. NATO, sustained political commitment”31. Security and Defence - For a European Union
which the Strategic Compass men- A commitment that the recent ap- that protects its citizens, values and interests
tions also to remind its fundamen- proval of the Strategic Compass and contributes to
tal role for the “collective security“ in itself demonstrates. But the real international peace and security, Brussels, 21
of its members and the full “com- challenge will be to make it last March 2022, p. 3 (https://data.consilium.eu-
plementarity” of the EU CSDP with enough to grow into concrete action ropa.eu/doc/document/ST-7371-2022-INIT/
it). Another important goal posed – and that remains yet to be seen. en/pdf).
by the strategic document is the 15 Ibid., p. 8.
one of a future establishment of a notes 16 Ibid., pp. 3-4.
“European infrastructure of Secu- 17 Ibid., p. 5.
rity Operations Centres”28. Inde- 1 Council of the EU and European Council, 18 Ibid., p. 21.
ed cyberspace has become critical “Cybersecurity: how the EU tackles cyber thre- 19 Ibid., pp. 1-47.
also from a defence point of view, ats”, official website of the Council of the EU 20 Ibid., p. 3.
since it is presently considered a and the European Council, last reviewed on 4 21 Ibid., p. 12.
fully-fledged domain of warfare, January 2022 (https://www.consilium.europa. 22 Ibid., p. 21.
with no less dignity than the others eu/en/policies/cybersecurity/). 23 Ibid., p. 23.
– and being probably the most di- 2 Ibid 24 Ibid.
sruptive one on the long run. On 3 European Commission, “The EU’s Cyber- 25 Ibid., p. 22.
this part, the European Defence security Strategy for the Digital Decade”, 16 26 Ibid
Agency plays a leading role, “in December 2020, European Commission web- 27 Ibid
collaboration with the EU cyber- site, last update: 8 March 2021 (https://digi- 28 Ibid., p. 23.
security agency and Europol”29. tal-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/eus-cy- 29 Council of the EU and European Council,
bersecurity-strategy-digital-decade-0). “Cybersecurity: how the EU tackles cyber thre-
Conclusions 4 Council of the EU and European Council, ats”, official website of the Council of the EU
Notwithstanding the great effor- “Cybersecurity: how the EU tackles cyber thre- and the European Council.
ts and significant steps made so ats”, official website of the Council of the EU 30 Ibid., p. 47.
far by the European Union to be- and the European Council. 31 Ibid.
come more resilient and effecti- 5 ENISA, “The EU Cybersecurity Act: a new Era PICTURES:
ve in countering cyberthreats, it is dawns on ENISA”, ENISA News, 07/06/2019 1 Image by TheDigitalArtist under Pixabay
still “collectively underequipped to (https://www.enisa.europa.eu/news/eni- Licence
counter the whole range of threats sa-news/the-eu-cybersecurity-act-a-new-era- 2 Image by pixelcreatures under Pixabay
and challenges it faces” – as the dawns-on-enisa). Licence
same Strategic Compass recogni- 6 Council of the EU and European Council, 3 Image by TheDigitalArtist under Pixabay
zes30. But that does not mean that “Cybersecurity: how the EU tackles cyber thre- Licence
the EU cannot in the near future ats”, official website of the Council of the EU
develop the necessary instruments, and the European Council. Julian Colamedici
consistency, and common strategic 7 European Commission, “NIS Directive”, Eu- Lieutenant – Italian Carabinieri
vision to reach its high objectives, ropean Commission website, last update: 24 CoESPU – Research Office
at least in this field. The complex February 2022 (https://digital-strategy.ec.eu-
geopolitical landscape and the ropa.eu/en/policies/nis-directive).
many cyberthreats posed by hostile 8 Ibid
actors, non-state groups, and even 9 European Commission, “EMPACT fighting
individual criminals require brand crime together”, European Commission web-
new tools to counter them. But to site (https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/
develop such tools, it is essential policies/law-enforcement-cooperation/ope-
to first concur over the final tar- rational-cooperation/empact-fighting-cri-
me-together_en).
10 Council of the EU and European Council,
“Cybersecurity: how the EU tackles cyber thre-
ats”, official website of the Council of the EU
and the European Council.
11 Council of the EU, Council Conclusions on a
Framework for a Joint EU Diplomatic Response
to Malicious Cyber Activities (“Cyber Diplo-
macy Toolbox”), Brussels, 19 June 2017 (ht-
tps://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/docu-
ment/ST-10474-2017-INIT/en/pdf).
12 Council of the EU and European Council,
“Cybersecurity: how the EU tackles cyber thre-
ats”, official website of the Council of the EU
and the European Council.

11

IT & CYBERSECURITY

CYBER SPACE AS A NEW DOMAIN:

A NEW CONCEPT OF PEACEKEEPING

Cyber space as a new domain the effects of the cyber activities on New cyber requirements within
calling for the need of a new the risks and opportunities for the the UN missions.
concept of Peacekeeping. security environment. New digi- The relevance of the effects in cy-
tal convergence technology could ber operations and peacekeeping
by Vincenzo Daniele Cunsolo boost these effects on operational missions requires close coopera-
& Caterina Monni environment, and equally the vul- tion between C4ISR and advanced
nerabilities. Technology is consi- cyber capabilities (state-of-the-art
How the UN definition of pea- dered as inevitable for solving this technology). For this reason con-
cekeeping should be adapted to issues, but also unforeseen about sidering cyber space in POs can-
the cyber context the outcomes, because of causing not be overlooked, as a result of
failures and harms, due to the use integrated capabilities needed for
According to the UN definition of of the cyber capabilities. The awa- action, where peace and securi-
reness of cyber tactics, techniques ty are endangered. The idea at
peacekeeping: “Peacekeeping is and procedure are enabling for the basis of cyber peacekeeping
a technique designed to preserve the effectiveness of a peace ope- is conflict prevention, mitigation
the peace, however fragile, whe- ration. Therefore a tech-enabled and post-conflict containment, gi-
re fighting has been halted, and to
assist in implementing agreemen- “TRUST IN HUMAN AND MACHINE INTERACTION IS
ts achieved by the peacemakers”1 REQUIRED, AS A CORRECT CALIBRATION BETWEEN
it should be understood that an MACHINE AUTONOMY AND HUMAN CONTROL“
action has to be explained in its
effects on any domain. It follows peacekeeping workforce should ven that cyber capabilities might
that also the purpose of the action be used to counter potential dan- challenge the issue of impartiali-
should be outlined through greater gerous effects, and effective hu- ty in peace operations, acting as
emphasis on specific capabilities, man control and ethical use in a masking device for the intere-
such as cyber one. Understanding technology are recommended. sts of the States. Different authors
the complex strategic international
framework means thinking about

12

addressed the issue and presen- for keeping them safe employing (CBZ), meaning a network that is
ted creative and viable solutions. IT assets, tests weak points and as- protected and monitored by pea-
Akatyev and James2 propose diffe- sists States to rebuilding utilities. cekeeping forces, where cyber at-
rent key roles in a specific Cyber Research by Nabeel3 suggests a di- tacks have been excluded; and the
Peacekeeping (CPK) structure, in stinct cyber unit to be formed and conduct of anomaly detection, as
line with the main goals defined integrated into UN peace opera- an operational cyber capability,
to protect civilians more effecti- tions. Emphasis will then be pla- to improve situational awareness.
vely, such as guardian, mediator, ced on cyber capabilities in order In this way the research examines
coordinator and builder, and a sy- to establish a UN cyber peacekee- first each activity that brings value
nergy between roles is required: ping force, identifying key tasks for for maintaining peace and securi-
• the guardian shall be responsi- cyber peacekeepers, among which ty, and secondly, by transferring it
ble for maintaining peace in cy- stands out the creation of a cyber into a post-cyber warfare context,
ber space and protecting civilians buffer zone, as a secure network. considers how feasible it would be.
through technical equipment and Issues about the consensus of The following table shows some
social engineering tactics, preven- major powers are raised at the po- example of which activities could
ting attacks and cleaning up severe litical level, due to security and se- be performed by cyber peaceke-
after-effects, together with a moni- crecy worries, that have hampered epers, as per Robinson’s analysis:
toring activity to support law and pe- the development of this new force. The cyber peacekeeping will be
ace enforcement and improve rea- In addition the specific nature of part of the global digital transfor-
diness for countering cyber threats. cyber domain is to be borderless, mation framework.
• the mediator acts for the purpo- along with several international Among the current strategy papers,
se of de-escalation, relying on ru- legal issues concerning the appli- the UN strategy for the digital tran-
les of conduct in the cyber domain, cability of the law of armed con- sformation of UN peacekeeping6
engaging in peaceful negotiations. flict to peace operations within the is crucial for the assessment of a
• the coordinator deals with cy- UN mandate only if the threshold new cyber workforce. The strategy
ber norms and standards of in- of armed conflict is crossed, with is based on key elements, firstly the
ternational cooperation between pending problems relating to: ope- emphasis of the UN leadership to
states and other international ac- rational mandates, best practices coordinate an effective planning
tors or organizations during pe- by the peacekeepers, rules of en- for a mandate implementation,
acetime, promoting a communi- gagement, nature of armaments, that is part of the A4P+, meaning
cation channel for international interaction with warring parties4. an oriented action to innovation,
community to jointly build surveil- The work by Robinson et al5. pre- so requiring a great commitment
lance systems, and oversee rele- sents the multi-faceted structure of to innovation. This implies new ad-
vant cyber offense capabilities. kinetic UN peacekeeping activi- visory teams in the cyber domain,
• the builder has the task of incre- ties through traditional and mul- and knowledge sharing, by crea-
asing capabilities and capacities, ti dimensional mechanisms, and ting a Cyber-Corps to enhance a
as well as research and develop- accordingly adapts cyber pea- tech-enabled peacekeeping, with
ment (R&D) in the cyber context. cekeeping activities. The focus is strict coordination both at HQs
For instance, in the case of Denial on the evolution of existing pea-
of Service (DoS) attacks against cri- cekeeping environment towards
tical infrastructure the builder acts cyber peacekeeping, highlighting
a foresight vision of how future
conflicts may and will be related
to the cyber domain, as a force
projection. Reflection upon specific
topics is notably remarkable, such
as: disarmament (both softwa-
re and hardware) of cyber wea-
pons using zero-day remotely; the
creation of a cyber buffer zone

13

IT & CYBERSECURITY

and in the field. The strategy is fo- fields, public awareness, R&D pro- acekeepers” may be defined as a
cused on 4 main goals that are: grams and professional training team of cybersecurity practitioners
driving innovation; maximizing to promote stability measures, so having specific tasks with regard to
new technology to exploit opportu- enhancing capacity building. Abo- cyber defense, such as: promoting
nities stemming from new techno- ve all the cooperation, such as in- resiliency; protecting human rights
logy but also to avoid increasing tra-state cooperation, inter-agen- online, and sensitive information;
risks; understanding threats, that cy partnerships, is fundamental to preventing terrorism in the cyber
is an accurate evaluation of new establish cyber capabilities. This re- domain; timely responding to cy-
cyber threats; and the responsible, quires a comprehensive approach, ber threats; countering vulnera-
or ethical use of new technology and leads to the desired strategic bilities stemming from technolo-
in POs, related to the concept of effects in the cyber space, dealing gy, and affecting physical world,
do-no-harm approach7, meaning with denial and deception issues in processes, and people; suppor-
to mitigate harms arising from different stages of a conflict, and ting the UN mandate through a
new digital convergence techno- also serving to protect civilians multi-stakeholder approach with
academia, and
logy (for instance
Transition into Cyber Peacekeeping global security
AI, AS’s, or unpre- Peacekeeping Activity organizations11.
The underlying
dictability of DATA). Observation, monitoring and Monitoring for actions in cyberspace. strategy con-
Capacity building is Reporting Changes in network structure. cerns the area
also required, such Human rights abuses occurring in cy- of monitoring,
as training for digi- berspace.
tal skills, data go-
response, and
vernance and re- Interposition as buffer zone Creation of cyber buffer zone
silience policy in mitigation to
defense planning, Disarmament, Demonbilisa- Disarmament of cyberweapons.
backing the
including peaceke- tion and Reintegration (DDR) Demobilisation of cyber combatants. OICT Sustai-
nable Develop-
eping intelligence, Security Sectior Reform (SSR) Reforming cyber aspects of security ment Goals,
namely an accu- sector. aiming to in-

rate information crease the awa-

for an appropriate reness of UN

action, and con-
sidering issues during surveillan- and critical infrastructures in POs9. member states for the need of a glo-
ce activities for enhancing secu- Challenges, such as data har- bal cyber security policy system12.
rity environment and promoting ms and security issues in the cy-
de-escalation, along with issues ber domain, are accelerating A cyber pro-active approach: a
due to the implementation of by new emerging technologies. new force projection to be exten-
ded globally.
advanced capabilities in POs8. The DBH program as part of a cy- Given the analogy between phy-

The cyber impact on the security ber defense regime. sical and cyber space in pea-
The need of protecting missions cekeeping action, as well as the
environment.
At NATO, EU, and UN level, com- and undertaking countermeasures interdependency between digita-
mon policies and long-term strate- to prevent escalation, led to a new lization and vulnerability, relevant
gies are required to mitigate risks concept of interdisciplinary cyber- paradoxes arise from the bound-
and exploit opportunities. The se- security under the UN OICT (Office less nature of the cyberspace, in
curity strategy in the cyber space of Information and Communica- addition to the dual-use techno-
aims to coordinate strategic action tions Technologies), as a result of logy, and the expansion of the re-
for POs and promote professional a meeting of governmental exper- sulting effects, that affect risk as-
skills, such as a new cyber unit, in- ts (UNGGE) in 2015, by adopting sessment and stability measures.
ternational shared standards and the DBH (Digital Blue Helmets) The lack of deterrence in such an
a joint recommended conduct in platform for a rapid information environment results in an ineffecti-
legal technical and organizational exchange10. The term “digital pe- ve strategy, due to the lack of ear-

14

ly warning about the cyber-attack, Peacekeeping Force: Prospects and Challen- on the International Law Applicable to Cyber
and the consequent attribution is- ges, in NUST Journal of International Peace Operations, Cambridge University Press, Cam-
sue of the act also in international and Stability, July 2019, pp. 17-27. bridge 2017.
law, so placing this type of tactic 10 Ibi, p.17 • United Nations, Charter of the United Na-
below the threshold of armed con- 11 DBH program under the UN OICT in 2016 tions, 1945, http://www.un.org/en/charter-u-
flict. Likewise the feature of high (www.un.org). nited-nations/
cost, but low entry new technolo- 12 Dorn, Walter, Cyberpeacekeeping, A New • United Nations Peacekeeping, Strategy for
gy leads to a malicious exploita- Role for the United Nations?, in Georgetown the Digital Transformation of UN Peacekee-
tion, meaning the need for deve- Journal of International Affairs, volume XVIII, ping, 15/08/2021, un.org/peacekeeping, pp.
lopment countermeasures (such number III, 2017, p. 140.. 1-33.
as anti-viral software and monito- 13 Hanes, Travis Major, Are Digital Blue Hel-
ring) and for advanced technolo- met Fires Red: How the UN needs to Think Caterina Monni
gical capabilities to face new cy- Biologically about its Cyber Capability Deve-
ber threats work out to be more lopment, JCSP 46 Solo Flight Disclaimer, Ca- CoESPU Intern
expensive than the correspon- nadian Forces College, 2019-2020. Military Analyst
ding to perpetrate harms, to hack EXTERNAL REFERENCES Venice Ca’ Foscari Challenge
into adversary’s systems, to un- • Akatyev, Nikolay, James, Joshua I., Cyber School
dermine critical infrastructures13. Peacekeeping, in International Conference on Venice Naval Staff College
Before getting to a critical mass di- Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, October
sruption, and in order to ensure a 2015, pp. 126-135. Vincenzo Daniele Cunsolo
force protection and public health, • Dorn, Walter, Cyberpeacekeeping, A New Lt. Col. – Italian Carabinieri
an advanced preparation is requi- Role for the United Nations?, in Georgetown CoESPU IT Branch
red, by developing a new task force Journal of International Affairs, volume XVIII,
in operations, including both cyber number III, 2017, pp. 138-146.
defensive and offensive operations, • European Commission, Joint Communica-
on behalf of global sustainability. tion to the European Parliament and the Coun-
Innovation should be taking cil, The EU’s Cybersecurity Strategy for the Di-
this direction, both in interna- gital Decade, Brussels, 16/12/2020, pp. 1-28.
tional law and strategic policy. • Haataja, Samuli, Autonomous Cyber Capa-
bilities and Attribution in the Law of State Re-
note sponsibility, in Liivoja, R., Våljataga, A. (Eds.),
Autonomous Cyber Capabilities under Interna-
1 United Nations Peacekeeping Operations tional Law, NATO CCDCoE Publications, 2021,
Principles and Guidelines pp. 260-290.
2 Akatyev, Nikolay, James, Joshua I., Cyber • Hanes, Travis Major, Are Digital Blue Helmet
Peacekeeping, in International Conference on Fires Red: How the UN needs to Think Biologi-
Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, October cally about its Cyber Capability Development,
2015, pp. 126-135. JCSP 46 Solo Flight Disclaimer, Canadian For-
3 Nabeel, Fahad, Cyber Peacekeeping: Cri- ces College, 2019-2020.
tical Evaluation of Digital Blue Helmets Pro- • Holland Michel, Arthur, Known Unknowns:
gram, in NUST Journal of International Peace Data Issues and Military Autonomous Systems,
and Stability, July 2020, pp. 17-27. in UNIDIR, Geneva, 2021, pp. 1-41.
4 Ibi, p.21. • Kleffner, Jann K., Dinniss, Heather Harrison,
5 Robinson, M., Jones, K., Janicke, H. & Ma- Keeping the Cyber Peace: International Legal
glaras, L., An Introduction to Cyber Peaceke- Aspects of Cyber Activities in Peace Opera-
eping, in Journal of Network and Computer tions, 89 INT’L L. STUD. 512 (2013).
Applications, Volume 114 (70-87), April 2018, • Koster, Timo Amb., Barzashka, Ivanka, Re-
pp. 1-21. vitalize NATO’s Grand Strategy, in Atlantic
6 United Nations Peacekeeping, Strategy for Council, 2020, pp. 52-55.
the Digital Transformation of UN Peacekee- • Nabeel, Fahad, Cyber Peacekeeping: Cri-
ping, 15/08/2021, un.org/peacekeeping, pp. tical Evaluation of Digital Blue Helmets Pro-
1-33. gram, in NUST Journal of International Peace
7 United Nations Peacekeeping, Strategy for and Stability, July 2020, pp. 17-27.
the Digital Transformation of UN Peacekee- • Nabeel, Fahad, Establishment of UN Cyber
ping, 15/08/2021, un.org/peacekeeping, p. Peacekeeping Force: Prospects and Challen-
6. ges, in NUST Journal of International Peace
8 Ibi, p. 10. and Stability, July 2019, pp. 17-31.
9 Nabeel, Fahad, Establishment of UN Cyber • Responsibility of States for Internationally
Wrongful Acts, 2001.
• Robinson, M., Jones, K., Janicke, H. & Ma-
glaras, L., An Introduction to Cyber Peaceke-
eping, in Journal of Network and Computer
Applications, Volume 114 (70-87), April 2018,
pp. 1-21.
• Schmitt, Michael N. (ed.), Tallinn Manual 2.0

15

IT & CYBERSECURITY

INTRODUCTION TO CYBERCRIME

AND BASIC PREVENTION MEASURES

Introduction to cybercrime and neros de Chile, a unit specialized puter technologies began in the
basic prevention measures in highly complex investigations. 1960s and 1970s, their exponen-
tial growth occurred with the crea-
by Óscar Figueroa Ulloa Cybercrime has a series of con- tion of the Internet. Thanks to this
cepts and behaviors that are of the global communication network,
INTRODUCTION utmost importance for the knowle- a communicative and interactive
dge of police officers, regardless virtual space has been organized
For two decades the world has of whether they are specialists in that functions in a way that is equi-
cybercrime or not, this publica-
been fully connected through the In- tion is aimed at police officers who
ternet, communications have been are currently trained in COESPU,
rapidly improved and techniques so that they become familiar with
have been developed to improve the basic concepts of crime in cy-
the quality of life of human beings, berspace, their respective classifi-
such as teleworking, telemedicine cations and some techniques that
or carrying out procedures online. allow the prevention of cybercri-
banks or public offices online, but me in aspects of their daily lives.
in parallel they have been used for
the creation of new crimes or the Next, we will briefly develop ge-
facilitation of crimes that already neral aspects of cybercrime,
exist, in view of this the govern- its different classifications, the
ments of the world have created complexities for its investiga-
police specialized in cybercrime, tions and some recommenda-
for the investigation of crimes or tions to prevent computer crimes.
for the prevention of these throu-
gh cyber patrols as shown in the CYBERCRIME: GENERAL ASPECTS
photograph by the OS9 of Carabi- Although the development of com-

16

valent to the physical world and tion and in a certain environ-
that has made it possible to modify ment, in cyberspace criminals
personal, social, political and eco- may be operating in different
nomic relationships throughout the parts of the world to commit
world. The use of Internet services fraud, which makes investi-
or mobile phone networks are the gations complex. about these
most common form of communi- crimes, that is why the poli-
cation for people and companies, ce of the world have develo-
becoming the fastest means of ped specialized units in the
money transactions in the world. investigation of these crimes.
It is these social and technological Regarding the definitions of
changes that we are witnessing, it cybercrime, we are going to
is also reflected in criminality, with find several concepts, some
the creation of new criminal modes of a broad nature and others
to operate in the internet network restricted, but the speciali-

ptWbtmhfaUsccbavoiooyraoanneaoniirbicnmnocrddlrtmalhiemninitpekdfaersfatotleiseehgsyetnttpfho,hscueetgsahaetfsartcuouenehccocttytcchchegrdreobfghceihte,elmofeeuootaIhtraaoornibhertesneigssgkcteoapwtewaoreInlarngnritaiannroteznceelhiepodaiosrboeetwzsehw---m.fbtaactisyoectiibpcrroosikerpnefCRCBCiertnsasotctEE,tehYYEcieafsGrbHeeorBBernueocwFAdeEEAtsulrohOntiaRRVssRshcetlmoiCCIsoaDrroROonee--.fRRLRTIIEMMSHStsmsrcfawnmrtbwdhhoeeetyileiSEEshhEcseieorsabxTosroaeepusnlseOHfOierrtsopanlerKioHtceeicexoshnaflydArfoFaepnRNaneidcnAimTnsmdtaceasahcWepwatsSONic,ehrnntepxiaAetutaidreurdogmlbHOrWroeseeRaotAeou,tuertcoEtlochErTethhgbLricfohwfeTdseiahuewEtmtcSaOheHhpmttrIcDicrweEansetehuahoEecrFbwtspeRoGrseemmyaaeRsepsitIrtbclnoThnnmnEnorlipEaaenosgTetkHedSuirrrtefprrwcHtoiercutne,anOheEiorrfesolttitpdireEOnyraahmdcotahFlUpcYothlepcpisencsreiForsomroneTreisoeoAonPmuiotfrmmMcuepeftaaOcRfoCcegrlrenouroeiiyssrEOianhtes-----rLO.,,,f ISSCNPTctib•c••cwhccWcgsEseEeruaeroCareRPChniieIai,CrrrmmrucelMeotdrElbpOkaseprynienIaiuuhiPetnringAlPnrntleiilcyFaTasgatencligOgLyhhsoaalFnlnSi,IetnnstoIbtShtaRoafhCmfgdouoeiccsmTTnenAcyythrsiicEStAdndtcyebebhayNtteiyRbethaneeeNbaevxIbdeeaSntrNmiDratlneeeoslhra-spe,mdrprcraraaotacncrfsdSpugvcratttrltoplvtitaoeweltpasayoiumcateawnpltercaeaseuaarccrsscgekectshch,aoidsylriakocniars,tkeeictbfanry,tsfnh:hif,rtysyniace:sorecise:bTcsaltysrieesdooeyahuntebthhwxtbciffnItcrfefouhoonpuahfeehpehhlaOseulenytlaodaclnEreileoccytrToctslrtcolcraiitcnpoihaonwaoecttnocmflchhhaooanoeudrngccyesryIeeees----------rr.....tt

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTER •Economic cybercrimes: Who-
CRIMES se final objective is to obtain a
Computer crimes have several patrimonial or economic benefit.
classifications, each specialist in •Social cybercrimes: It aims to
the field has given it different cha- harm a person or groups of pe-
racteristics for its classification, in ople, to attack any aspect of
the case of this publication we will their personal development.
stay with the one carried out by •Political cybercrimes: It is the cri-
Professor Miró of the Crime Cen- minal behavior that aims to attack an
ter of the Miguel Hernández Uni- ideological or government concept.

17

IT & CYBERSECURITY

MOST COMMON COMPUTER pany, without their authorization, USE OF NETWORKS WITHOUT
CRIMES such as the content of the hard AUTHORIZATION: Access without
HACKING: It is access to a com- disk, installed software, quali- the authorization of its owner to a
puter system without the authori- ty and speed of the Internet, etc. communication network, for exam-
zation of its administrator, over- •Trojans: It is a small piece of ple to Wi-Fi violated its password.
coming computer barriers or software housed inside another COMPUTER ESPIONAGE OR
firewalls, with the aim of obtai- guest file, its objective is to go SNOOPING: These are actions
ning access to the system and its unnoticed by the user and to in- carried out with different softwa-
data, to damage, acquire, de- stall itself in the system when re to intercept networks and their
lete or modify its information. the user executes the “guest” respective communications, with
MALWARE: They are malicious file, this allows spying on the the aim of obtaining important
software that have the objective actions of the computer user. data from companies or people.
of computer sabotage, to access •Keyloggers: Applications respon- PHISHING: It is another form of
different computers of people or sible for storing in a file everything cyber fraud that consists of the use
institutions, the best known form that the user enters on the key- of technical and social engineering
of this sabotage is the sending mechanisms to obtain banking in-

of malware intended to damage, board, such as passwords, visi- formation from victims, an example
control or modify a computer sy- ts to banking websites or emails. is when a victim receives an email
stem. There are different types •Ransomware: This type of malwa- supposedly from his bank asking
of malware that we detail below: re hijacks the computer or a group him to update his password, the vi-
•Virus: Programs whose main of files within the computer, preven- ctim enters a website similar to his
objective is to infect a computer sy- ting the user from having access to bank with his password, with this
stem, so that certain failures occur. the data and for its release, pay- action the criminals have access
•Worms: Obtains the email ment of ransom money is required. to his bank account by transfer-
addresses of other compu- SABOTAGE OF INSIDERS: It is a ring the money to other accoun-
ters on the network, to begin conduct carried out by a current ts, usually abroad, there are other
with, send them their copies. or former employee of a com- modalities where the criminal calls
•Spyware: It is a Software that pany, who has access to compu- by phone and It tricks the victim by
allows to collect information ter systems and takes advantage pretending to be a bank employee
about a certain user or com- of their position to damage, copy requesting the password under
or distribute company information.

18

the pretext of updating the system. without the consent of their owners. and criminal classification difficult.
IDENTITY THEFT: It is the imperso- ANONYMITY IN CYBERSPACE:
nation of identity or identity theft, COMPLEXITIES FOR YOUR RESE- The characteristics of cyberspace
of a person for the criminal use of ARCH allow the offender to be anony-
fraud or to participate in other ille- CRIMINAL REGULATIONS: The mous, showing only a virtual re-
gal activities on the internet network. laws of the countries often do not presentation of him, with fal-
MONEY LAUNDERING: Orga- adjust to the current reality of cy- se names and covert IP address.
nized crime uses cyberspace to bercrime, where the evolution is so LACK OF COLLABORATION OF
launder funds from illegal drug fast that they make its investigation THE INTERNET SERVICE COM-
trafficking and economic fraud, ac-
quiring cryptocurrencies and then
transforming them into real money.
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ON
THE INTERNET: In this crime,
child pornographic material is
disseminated, this is done by cri-
minals who hide their identi-
ty and do so from different parts
of the world, with the aim of sel-
ling said pornographic material.
INTELLECTUAL CYBERPIRACY: Di-
gital piracy encompasses all intel-
lectual material that has intellectual
property rights, such as books, fil-
ms, video games, etc., which are
marketed at low cost or free online,

19

IT & CYBERSECURITY

PANIES: Establishing who is the rest of the perpetrators of compu- becomes aware of the attack late
natural person behind the IP ad- ter crimes becomes very complex, and thinks that the police or justice
dress of a computer is extremely since the perpetrators carry out will no longer be able to identify or
complex, for this it is required their criminal activity in different arrest the perpetrator of the crime.
that the service provider com- countries, the collaboration of the
panies collaborate with the in- police and States being essential. BASIC PREVENTION MEASURES
vestigation quickly in the reque- CRIMINAL CONDUCT CAN GO The security services and espe-
sts of the police or courts of law. UNNOTICED: A computer virus cially the police are targets for
INTERNATIONALIZATION OF can go unnoticed by users, so the cyber attacks, for them it is ne-
CRIME: The identification and ar- victim is not aware of this crime or cessary that the police in general
have a culture of prevention of
these crimes with their personal
computers and their workplace.
In Chile during 2019 there was
a major attack on the police that
had a great impact on their nor-
mal activities, this occurred when
cyber criminals (hackers) viola-
ted the Chilean electoral regi-
stration system and at the same
time infiltrated the network of

Carabineros, in both cases data-
bases of people were obtained
and each database had a unique
identifier that is a Rut number (uni-
que number of personal identifi-

20

cation) of both the voters and the •Communicate in a timely man- cation of a person who is preten-
Carabineros, then a crossover of ner to the IT supervisors, about ding to be someone in the family.
databases and In this way, it was strange situations that your of- CONCLUSIONS
possible to establish who the Ca- fice computer may record. This document only intends to give
rabineros were and the addresses •Hire internet services where you a general notion of computer cri-
of each of their homes. Later, with have surveillance or where so- mes and their respective classifica-
free map servers, the addresses cial networks better control ac- tions, as well as the basic measu-
where the policemen lived were cess to users’ personal data. res that each person must have to
published, through maps that •Reduction of anonymity, for them avoid being a victim of cyber crimi-
were made public on the Internet, always in conversation with video nals, since computer crimes increa-
violating the security of the Cara- conference or chat, it is necessary singly have a more specific conno-
bineros. and their families, the In- to see people through video came- tation in the real life, an example of
formation Technology Department ras or know what their name is, not them, is that we must have friends
of the Institution, took counterme- or close ones who have been vi-
asures to download the site from interact with aliases or nick- ctims of fraud or have been witnes-
the internet network very quickly. names without being sure of ses in the news of our countries of
the person we are talking to. internet sexual harassers of minors.
That is why it is important to •Use only recognized payment That is why it is essential that, ei-
have minimum measures for sites with credit cards and if the- ther as police officers or their fami-
the prevention of computer cri- re are doubts about the payment lies, they internalize the concept of
mes, whether for the perso- portal, carry out a brief investi- cyber prevention and take protecti-
nal, family or our police forces. gation on Google, to see if the- ve measures permanently to avoid
re are claims from other peo- being a victim of these crimes.
•Train police officers on the im- ple about these payment portals. .
•Do not consume digital elements
portance of computer secu- from piracy, such as books, films or PICTURES:
video games, where their copyri- Óscar Figueroa Ulloa
rity and good practices, whi- ght licenses have been violated.
•Establish clear rules at work for Óscar Figueroa Ulloa
ch prevent this type of crime. the use of the Internet, in order to Col. – Carabineros de Chile
strengthen security measures, pre- Chair of Criminal Analysis I
•Do not connect sensitive or re- venting access to web pages of and II of the ACIPOL Academy.
online games and pornography.
served information to cyberspa- •Promote and strengthen lawful
behavior of online activities
ce, for them they could have hard •Have supervision over our mi-
nor children, regarding the
drives to store said information social network, with whom
they communicate, in the
without a network connection. face of possible cyber bullies.
•Talk to the family or work team
•Do not leave personal or desktop about these vulnerabilities in the
Internet network and the impor-
computers turned on, unless it tance of communicating any si-
tuation that is out of the ordinary.
is really necessary, reducing the •In the event of identity theft,
especially phone calls, it is neces-
time connected to the Internet. sary for families to have a code
or passwords known only to the
•Perform periodic maintenan- family, which allow the identifi-

ce and file cleaning of com-

puters that are unknown.

•Creation of closed cyberspa-

ces, through the implementation

of networks separate from nor-

mal internet connections for re-

served or sensitive information.

•Periodic change of access codes to

the systems, updating the Firewall

and operating systems, safe and

correctly updated access codes.

•Update antivirus, an-

tispyware, spam filters.

21

INTEARRNOSHUIPNREDSETAHRECWH ROESRULLDTS



INTERNSHIP RESEARCH RESULTS

CAN INTERNATIONAL LAW BE APPLIED

TO CYBERSPACE?

Regulating cyberattacks: can in- a substantive framework against tained that Russia was responsi-
ternational law be applied to Cy- cyberattacks in relation to use of ble for the attack. Russia denied
berspace? force, self-defense and principle any involvement and as of today,
Identifying relevant norms and of non-intervention. Nevertheless, no definite attribution has been
loopholes it will also leave several challen- made. The DDoS’s consequences
ges unanswered. Thus, internatio- were particularly harsh for Estonia.
by Elisa Magnanini nal cooperation should be encou- Even though the attack did not cau-
raged to reach a greater level of se any physical damage, it spread
International cyberattacks intensi- security in cyberspace and to de- loss of confidence in the national
velop an internationally accepted government and undermined na-
fied during the pandemic, but they definition of cyber-related threats. tional security2. In 2013, the Iran
emerged long before Covid-19. This would be a first step to identify authorities detected a malware vi-
In 2007, Estonia was subject to a relevant norms to contrast cyberat- rus in the national nuclear plants.
three-week-long Diffuse Denial of tacks. In addition, efforts at the re- The virus interfered with the fun-
Service Attack, while in 2013, the gional level to regulate cyberspa- ctioning of the plant, preventing
Iran authorities detected a malwa- ce, such as those done by the EU, it from working normally and en-
re virus in the national nuclear are decisive to set an example and riching the uranium. The Iranian
plants. Despite their transnatio- encourage greater cooperation. government did not disclose all
nal character, cyberattacks have the information about the conse-
not prompted an international International cyberattacks intensi- quence of the virus, which could
response. Although the Group of fied during the pandemic, but they range from a mere malfunctioning
Governmental Expert of the Uni- emerged long before Covid-191. of the plant to set back the Iranian
ted Nations, North Atlantic Treaty In 2007, Estonia was subject to a nuclear program for years3. It is
Organization and the European three-week-long Diffuse Denial of thus difficult to evaluate the gravi-
Union have attempted to affirm the Service Attack, where users were ty of the attack and a legitimate
applicability of International Law to denied access to government’s and response under International Law.
cyberspace, this has not gained in- banks’ webpages. Estonia main- Despite their transnational cha-
ternational support. If applicable,
International Law could provide

24

racter, cyberattacks have not this matter with the Tallinn Ma- tack upon a case-by-case evalua-
prompted an international and nual and its revisited version the tion of the North Atlantic Council.10
uniform response. Indeed, states Tallinn Manual 2.06. In 2009, an The EU followed the progressive
have different understandings of Independent Group of Experts in approach of NATO towards the
the threats and potentialities of cybersecurity and international law applicability of international law
the Internet, which leads to disa- gathered in Tallinn, Estonia, upon to cyberspace. The EU cyber diplo-
greement on the extent to which NATO’s invitation to reflect on nor- macy strategy issued in 2015 af-
international law should apply to ms over cyberspace. The resulting firms the applicability of internatio-
cyberspace. These divergences are non-binding and non-partisan do- nal law to the cyber domain and
best exemplified by the final repor- cument expresses the opinions of stresses the importance of state’s
ts of the two groups organized by the International Group of Experts responsible behavior. In its report,
the United Nations to discuss the as to the state of law over cyber- the Council of the European Union
made referen-
regulation of cy- DESPITE THEIR TRANSNATIONAL CHARACTER, CYBERAT- ce to the con-
berspace. On one TACKS HAVE NOT PROMPTED AN INTERNATIONAL AND clusions rea-
hand, the Open-En- UNIFORM RESPONSE. INDEED, STATES HAVE DIFFERENT ched by the
ded Working Group
(OEWG), establi- UNDERSTANDINGS OF THE THREATS AND POTENTIA- GGE, welco-
LITIES OF THE INTERNET, WHICH LEADS TO DISAGREE- ming the ap-
shed in 2019 throu- plicability of
gh the General As- MENT ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH INTERNATIONAL LAW International
sembly Resolution SHOULD APPLY TO CYBERSPACE. Law and the
73/27, did not take
any stand on the ap- plicability space7. The manual does not co- UN Charter to the cyber domain.11
of international law to cyber ope- dify new rules, nor does it express It called upon member states to
rations4. On the other hand, the opinio juris on security and Infor- respect International Law and fun-
Group of Governmental Expert mation Communications Techno- damental rights in cyberspace, to
(GGE), which has been meeting logy (ICTs). Rather, it presents a maintain that International Law is
periodically since 2004, expres- reflection on the state of law ap- applicable in cyberspace, and to
sed the opposite view. In 2019, the plicable to cyber operations invol- contribute to the achievement of
GGE reaffirmed that International ving the use of force and those that a global common understanding
Law, in particular the principles occur in the context of armed con- of how international law applies
of non-intervention, prohibition flict. Remarkably, the International to it. In addition, it underlined the
on the use of force, and peace- Group of Experts unanimously re- importance of state responsibili-
ful settlement of disputes, apply to cognized that existing International ty in ensuring the preservation of
the cyber domain. This difference Law applies to cyber operations. It a peaceful digital environment.12
in standing may be due to mem- then expanded on the topic of use The increasing consensus on the
bership of the groups. While the of force, self-defense, and princi- applicability of international law
OEWG comprised 69 delegations ple of non-intervention. Following to cyberspace brings up the que-
and several IOs and NGOs, only the International Group of Experts stion of how the legal instrumen-
25 independent experts took part and the GGE, NATO member sta- ts would respond to cyber opera-
in the GGE. Thus, the non-parti- tes as well affirmed the applica- tions. This research examines the
san nature and the limited mem- bility of international law to cyber areas of use of force, self-defen-
bership of the group led to the operations during the Wales sum- se, and principle of non-interven-
development of some consensus mit of 20148. In the Warsaw sum- tion. Use of force in cyberspace
on the applicability of Interna- mit, they stated that cyberspace is entails intrinsic challenges. Inde-
tional Law to the cyber domain5. a dominion comparable to those ed, most cyberattacks do not meet
The GGE’s report is more in- of traditional warfare;9 in the Brus- the threshold of prohibited use of
fluential than that of the OEWG, sels summit they recognized that force under article 2.4 of the UN
as both NATO and the EU based member states can invoke Article 5 Charter, which remains limited to
their conclusion on cybersecurity of the NATO Charter on collective armed attacks.13 Thus, all cybe-
on the former. NATO addressed defense in the case of a cyberat- rattacks resulting in political and

25

INTERNSHIP RESEARCH RESULTS

economic pressure would not ne services, which do not amount cyberspace, which lacks a physi-
amount to unlawful use of force to a prohibited act of aggression. cal dimension.21 These limitations
and would not violate article 2.4. Identifying armed attacks is very can be overcome when widening
To determine which cyberattacks important under international law, the understanding of sovereignty.
entrench on article 2.4 of the UN as those provide the injured state The International Court of Justice
Charter, the attack must meet the with the right of self-defense un- advanced a broader interpreta-
effect-based approach condi- der article 51 of the UN Charter. tion of sovereignty in the Nicara-
tions.14 This approach sets a gra- International law experts argue gua case. The court argued that
vity test, that is, an armed attack that self-defense would be possi- coercive interventions in a state’s
occurs when the weapon used ble in cyberspace and that should internal affairs are wrongful.22
causes destruction to life and pro- be subject to the rules governing Therefore, political and economic
perty. This approach is particu- kinetic attacks.17 Indeed, the laws pressure through cyberattacks and
larly suited to identify armed at- of armed conflict and the prin- the stealing of sensitive and finan-
tacks in cyberspace as it does not ciple of necessity, proportionali- cial data could qualify as a viola-
discriminate between the type of ty, and immediacy should be re- tion of the principle of non-inter-
attack –kinetic or cyber, but only spected in cyberspace as well. vention. Although the meaning
evaluates its effects. Consequent- However possible in theory, sel- of “coercion” is subject to inter-
ly, if a cyberattack is comparable
to a kinetic one, in that it results THE EU FOLLOWED THE PROGRESSIVE APPROACH OF
in material destructions to objects
and individuals, it raises to the le- NATO TOWARDS THE APPLICABILITY OF INTERNATIO-
vel of an armed attack.15 In order
to make the comparison possible, NAL LAW TO CYBERSPACE. THE EU CYBER DIPLOMACY
the cybersecurity expert and au-
thor of the Tallinn Manual Michael STRATEGY ISSUED IN 2015 AFFIRMS THE APPLICABILITY
Schmitt developed a series of cri-
teria that entails, among others, OF INTERNATIONAL LAW TO THE CYBER DOMAIN AND
severity, immediacy, state invol-
vement.16 Hence, the cyberattack STRESSES THE IMPORTANCE OF STATE’S RESPONSIBLE
that hit Estonia would probably not
amount to an armed attack, as it BEHAVIOR.
did not result in physical damages
but in instability and loss of trust in f-defense against cyber opera- pretation, non-intervention seems
the national government. Instead, tions is rather difficult in practice. to provide a protective umbrella
the attack against the Iranian plan- The primary condition to act in sel- against cyberattacks. It follows that
tation may amount to a violation f-defense is ascertaining state re- the Estonian cyberattack, despite
of article 2.4 if it produced consi- sponsibility. The virtual character not qualifying as an armed attack,
derable damages to the plantation of cyberspace favors anonymity could still amount to a wrongful
and the Iranian nuclear projects. and creates obstacles when trying act. It may represent a violation
As these two examples show, not to find the responsible for a cybe- of Estonia’s sovereignty, as it di-
many cyber threats meet the thre- rattack.18 In addition, not all cybe- sabled the national web pages.
shold of tangible damages, and rattacks will be considered armed International law could apply to
even when they do, the damages attacks, thus not all of them will cyberspace and could offer reme-
have to be significant. This sets a allow a response in self-defense.19 dies against unlawful cyber opera-
rather high threshold to prove that The principle of non-interven- tions. Nevertheless, it is confronted
cyberattacks constituted an ar- tion allows setting aside some of with a very modern threat that it
med attack. Indeed, cyber opera- the obstacles related to the use of originally did not foresee. Thus, it
tions tend not to result in physical force. Non-intervention is a prin- needs to be adjusted to the specific
destruction but in loss of financial ciple of Customary International characteristics of cyberspace. For
data and inability to access onli- Law and emerges as a corollary example, there should be increa-
of state sovereignty. It was reaffir- sed protection against those cybe-
med in the Declaration of friendly rattacks that do not result in phy-
relations by the General Assem- sical damages. The need to adapt
bly.20 States have primary autho- international law to cyberspace
rity over their territory, but this pre- should prompt states to first affirm
sumption seems hard to apply to the applicability of international

26

law to cyberspace and then codify note rattack.” California Law Review, 2012, p.34.
specific norms to address the shor- 16 Schmitt, Michael. Computer Network At-
tcomings of the existing framework. 1 Kreuzer, Martin. “Cyber insurance: Risks tack and the Use of Force in International
This effort should also include the and Trends 2021.” Munich RE, 11 Mar. 2021, Law: Thoughts on a Normative Framework.”
development of a common under- https://www.munichre.com/topics-online/ Institute for Information Technology Applica-
standing of cyber-related terms so en/digitalisation/cyber/cyber-insurance-ri- tions, 1999, https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/
as to favor the common applicabi- sks-and-trends-2021.html. Accessed 29 Nov. ADA471993.pdf.
lity of international law. Currently, 2021 17 Grange, Miranda. “Cyberwarfare And The
states may be profiting from unre- 2 NATO. “2007 Cyber Attacks on Estonia.” Law Of Armed Conflict.” University of Wellin-
gulated cyberspace and may not Cyber Operations, p. 53 https://stratcomcoe. gton, 2014.
be willing to cooperate to codify org/cuploads/pfiles/cyber_attacks_estonia. 18 Dinstein, Yoram. “Computer Network At-
international cybersecurity norms. pdf. tacks and Self-defense.” International Law
Therefore, the development of in- 3 “Stuxnet Worm Hits Iran Nuclear Plant Staff Studies, Vol.76.7, 2002, https://digital-com-
ternational norms may not happen Computers”. BBC News, 26 Sept. 2010, acces- mons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti-
in the next future. It is then relevant sed 4 Nov. 2021, www.bbc.com, https://www. cle=1397&context=ils.
to observe what regional actors bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-11414483. 19 Grange, Miranda. “Cyberwarfare And The
comprising a less broad number of 4 Open-Ended Working Group on develop- Law Of Armed Conflict.” University of Wellin-
states have done to address cyber ments in the field of information and telecom- gton, 2014.
threats. In this sense, the Council munications in the context of international se- 20 General Assembly. Declaration On Princi-
of the EU decision 2019/797 of- curity. Final report. 10 Mar 2021, https://front. ples Of International Law Friendly Relations
fers an interesting example.23 The un-arm.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ And Co-Operation Among States In Accordan-
Decision establishes that mem- Final-report-A-AC.290-2021-CRP.2.pdf . See ce With The Charter Of The United Nations.
ber states have to implement ap- par. 34. Principle c, https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/
propriate measures to prevent the 5 Group of Governmental Experts on Advan- files/3dda1f104.pdf.
transit through their territories of cing Responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace 21 Buchan, Russell. “Cyber Attacks: Unlawful
natural persons who committed or in the Context of International Security. Final Uses of Force or Prohibited Interventions?”
helped to commit cyberattacks. It Report. 14 Jul 2021. See p. 69. Journal of Conflict and Security Law, Vol. 17,
also binds member states to free- 6 Tallinn Manual On The International Law No. 2 (2012), pp. 211-227, Oxford Universi-
ze the funds and economic resour- Applicable To Cyber Warfare. Schmitt, Micha- ty Press, available at: https://www.jstor.org/
ces owned by natural and legal el (Editor). CUP, 2013, Accessed through SLUB stable/10.2307/26296227
persons, entities, and bodies re- online Library, ISBN: 9781107613775. 22 Nicaragua v. United states of America, par.
sponsible for cyberattacks. Whi- 7 Tallinn Manual, Introduction, pp. 1-8. 205.
le the Decision does not address 8 NATO. “Wales Summit Declaration Issued 23 Council of the European Union. Coun-
the cases in which a State com- by the Heads of State and Government Par- cil Conclusions on Cyber Diplomacy. 11 Feb.
mits or mandates a cyberattack, ticipating in the Meeting of the North Atlantic 2015, https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/
it has an effective focus on the re- Council in Wales”. NATO, par. 64, 73, http:// document/ST-6122-2015-INIT/en/pdf.
sponsibility of individuals. Thus, it www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_tex- PICTURES:
shows an example of how regional ts_112964.htm . httpseufordigital.euglobal-state-of-cybercri-
actors can regulate cyberspace. 9 NATO. “Warsaw Summit Communiqué - Is- me-legislation-webinar
Given the international character sued by the Heads of State and Government
of cyberattacks, it is necessary Participating in the Meeting of the North At- Elisa Magnanini
to foster international coopera- lantic Council in Warsaw, 8-9 July 2016”.
tion to guarantee security in cy- NATO, par. 70, http://www.nato.int/cps/en/ CoESPU Intern
berspace. States should reco- natohq/official_texts_133169.htm. John Cabot University - Internatio-
gnize the mutual gains coming 10 NATO. “Brussels Summit Communiqué Is- nal Affairs student
from a more secure cyberspace sued by the Heads of State and Government
and increase their commitment Participating in the Meeting of the North At-
towards the applicability of inter- lantic Council in Brussels 14 June 2021.”
national law to the virtual domain. NATO, par. 32, http://www.nato.int/cps/en/
natohq/news_185000.htm.
11 Council of the European Union. Coun-
cil Conclusions on Cyber Diplomacy. 11 Feb.
2015, p.6, https://data.consilium.europa.eu/
doc/document/ST-6122-2015-INIT/en/pdf
12 Council of the European Union. Coun-
cil Conclusions on Cyber Diplomacy. 11 Feb.
2015, p. 5, https://data.consilium.europa.eu/
doc/document/ST-6122-2015-INIT/en/pdf.
13 For more on the interpretation on the use
of force see art. 31 Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties, Preamble of the UN Charter,
Travaux Préparatoire of the UN Charter, The
declaration of friendly relation, the Declara-
tion on the Enhancement of the Effectiveness
of the Principle of Refraining from Threat or
Use of Force in International Relations.
14 Haathaway, Oona et al. “The Law of Cybe-
rattack.” California Law Review, 2012, p.31.
15 Haathaway, Oona et al. “The Law of Cybe-

27

ALUMNI



ALUMNI

30

DEPUTY DIRECTOR’S CORNER

Felice primavera! Spring has arrived to the CoESPU Campus, with the longer days

and beautiful sunlight, it has become an even greater pleasure to welcome our vi-
sitors to the campus. The international attendance to our courses, workshops, and
seminars has continued to grow over the last quarter, bringing in the largest and
most diverse groups in over 2 years.
As we approach the summer months, CoESPU is scheduled to host 10 in-person
international courses that include two iterations of our recently updated Training
Building Course and three iterations of our newest course addition - the United Na-
tions Core Pre-Deployment Training Materials course. The research and academic
coordinator teams have compiled your feedback from the first few iterations of the
new courses and improved the instruction methods and material to create a highly
professional adult learning environment for you to join. You can learn more about
these courses on the CoESPU website.
Please continue to share your stories and course feedback through the Alumni pro-
gram in order to strengthen our Stability Policing World. If you have not had the
opportunity to share, please send your message to [email protected].
We will share your stories in our Alumni forum both online
and in the magazine.
For our professional colleagues currently serving away
from home always remember how much we apprecia-
te your hard-work and dedication to Stability and Peace
around the world. Have a safe and successful mission,
Thank you!

Rebecca D. Hazelett

Col. - US Army MP
CoESPU Deputy Director

31

IN DEPTH

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ON
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STABILITY

The impact of environmental de- tions at the conclusion of the re- ring unprecedented challenges to
gradation on political and social cent major forums of - it will not an already fragile environment.
stability: drivers and effects of di- be containable in the short term. Climate change and its impact on
sasters We are increasingly witnessing the ecosystem result directly or in-
exceptionally violent weather con- directly in various forms of land
by Marina Bizzotto ditions, such as extreme rainfall, and territorial degradation, most
& Francesco Donella abnormal heat waves and other often located in already vulnerable
calamitous events, which impact areas. This is the result of complex
The climate on our planet has heavily on populations all over interactions within social and eco-
the world. Just in the decade co- logical systems and for that reason
always been cyclical, steadily shi- vered by the Hyogo Framework it varies depending on specific so-
fting from periods of prosperity for Action 2005 - 2015, the pre- cio-economic contexts. It consists
and lushness to times of poverty vious plan to reduce the damage of both biological and non-biolo-
and decline. However, while the caused by natural hazards the pre- gical processes: the biological pro-
drivers of climate change used to vious natural hazard damage re- ductivity, ecological integrity (which
be mainly exogenous, today the duction plan, more than 700,000 encompasses both functional and
importance of endogenous drivers people lost their lives due to di- structural attributes of ecosystems)
has grown exponentially: indeed, sasters, another 1.4 million were or the human value (which inclu-
despite the international commit- injured and 23 million lost their des any benefit that people obtain
ments to drastically reduce gre- homes; in total, more than 1.5 from the land) of a given territory
enhouse gas emissions, the impact billion people were affected by can deteriorate as the result of pro-
of human-induced climate change natural catastrophes1. Likewise, cesses triggered at scales that ran-
on the Earth is clearly visible and, the new decade has opened with ge from a single furrow (e.g. wa-
considering the commitment of the Covid-19 pandemic, huge lo- ter erosion under cultivation) to the
the most polluting countries - re- cust swarms, hurricanes and wil- landscape level variation (e.g. sa-
vealed to be beneath the expecta- dfires all over the world, trigge- linization through raising groun-

32

dwater levels under irrigation).2 As a consequence of its heavy de- possible to cultivate it, at least with
Global soils are, without any pendence on weather, climate, the normal agronomic techniques.
doubt, the main source of all life and water, agriculture is particular- Soils are the skin of the living wor-
on Earth. Agriculture, producing ly vulnerable to disasters. In fact, ld, vital but thin and fragile, and
95% of the food we eat according from small changes in the climate easily damaged. According to the
to FAO, is indeed the foundation - producing initial ripples ampli- Global Atlas of Desertification,
of civilization and an essential ele- fied by non-linear effects and va- published in 2018 by the Europe-
an Commission’s
ment for human
Joint Research
life. Today, it is
still just as im- CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ECOSYSTEM Centre, more than
portant as it was RESULT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY IN VARIOUS FORMS OF 75% of global soil
in its early days, LAND AND TERRITORIAL DEGRADATION, MOST OFTEN is already partially
10.000 years degraded. A per-
ago, when peo- LOCATED IN ALREADY VULNERABLE AREAS. centage, alrea-

ple abandoned dy extraordinarily

hunting and harvesting in order rious hazards - a series of extreme high, that could rise to 90% by 2050.
to form small communities and events can occur, which has often It is hardly possible to separate
dedicate themselves to cultiva- severe and far-reaching effects. the impacts of climate change and
tion and breeding. Society rapi- Moreover, the ancient sentiment land degradation from the effects
dly began to evolve, villages be- of respect for the resources offe- of other socioeconomic, institutio-
came towns and finally cities. red by nature has deteriorated. nal, and policy factors. In the most
A At the beginning of the new mil- Today, the influence of anthropo- vulnerable regions, characterized
lennium, 2.57 billion people worl- genic activities in the land degra- by a long narrative of conflict, po-
dwide earned their livelihoods from dation process is widely documen- verty, and persistent human rights
agriculture, hunting, fishing or fo- ted and generally accepted by the violations, land degradation and
restry. If we include all individuals scientific community. Expansion the changing and unpredictable
directly and indirectly involved of cropland, unsustainable land climate’s impact on fresh water,
in these activities, they represent management practices, including food and soil worryingly multiplies
the 42% of the world popula- overgrazing of livestock, urban the pressure on already distrau-
tion.3 Undeniably, engaging such sprawl, infrastructure development ght communities. Rural popula-
many people, the sector neces- and extractive industries, are un- tions are witnessing the erosion of
sarily assumes a critical role also doubtedly some of the main con- their resilience and the constraint
in the field of peace and stability. tributors. Growing demand for of their adaptive capacities to pre-
food water and serve their livelihoods, straining
energy is driving the ability of countries to meet
the conversion of the basic needs of their citizens.
forests, pastures The loss of vital resources, espe-
and woodlands cially water and cultivable or habi-
to cropland, and table land, triggers bloody compe-
climate change titions to gain control of the richest
is reducing crop and most fertile soil. The high rate
yields in drylands of unemployment, rapid urbani-
and, consequent- zation and environmental degra-
ly, local food and dation undermine efforts to redu-
feed production. ce poverty and to boost economic
The soil degrades development in poor countries
and loses its abili- and fragile regions, where persi-
ty to produce bio- stent inequality, political margina-
mass to the extent lization and severe governmental
that it is no longer immobility exacerbate instability

33

IN DEPTH

and conflicts. The environmental cause of such systematic and wi- This also avoided the risk of conflict

crisis consequently also becomes despread violence has ancient between tribal groups and minimi-

a social and humanitarian crisis. and deep roots, entrenched in zed the threat of disease. Farmers

Conflicts over land, water and fo- recurrent economic crises, weak, had a similar wisdom: they knew

rests are not a recent issue in hi- corrupt and immobile governan- how to leave land fallow for long

gh-risk climate regions. The tight ce, as well as the total inability periods (up to 20 years) before re-

causal link between land degra- to manage growing inequalities. cultivating it, and they had deve-

dation and violent conflict has The current situation in the Sahel loped an extraordinary number of

been examined since the early offers the perfect picture of the varieties of their traditional crops,

studies conducted in Africa. For seriousness of vicious mechani- millet and sorghum, each suited

example, land degradation, whi- sm. The soil in the Region is lar- to different seasons and situations.

ch allowed radical forces to fuel gely semi-deserted, and with only The first major stressor that plun-

ethnic rivalries, was identified as four months of rain per year, it is ged the entire area into chaos were

one of the causes of the Rwanda one of the most difficult places to the drought waves of the 1970s

crisis in 1990. At the same time, live. However, dryland popula- and 1980s, which, coupled with

according to UNEP, desertifica- tions have always possessed a si- the rapid population growth, led

tion has been a significant thre- gnificant reservoir of indigenous the countries to collapse. Certainly,

at to the security of the Sudanese knowledge that have allowed climatic variations have played a

people the in Darfur emergency.4 them to adapt to those conditions. significant role in this degradation

However, unlike the ATHNEDLOCSUSLTOIVFAVBILTEALORRESHOAUBRITCAEBSL,EESLPAENCDIA, LTLRYIGWGAETERRSspisorouctheawssdavradnacthitnagat
past the efforts to
find a peaceful re-
solution to conflicts BLOODY COMPETITIONS TO GAIN CONTROL OFrate of 30 miles
have almost com- per year. Howe-
pletely disappeared. THE RICHEST AND MOST FERTILE SOIL. ver, the primary

Crisis management systems that Between the nomads and the far- cause is man-made. The begin-

involved the interpersonal resolu- mers there was a symbiotic situa- ning of desertification can be tra-

tion of disputes, previously consi- tion: the herds in the fields used ced back to the French colonization

dered efficient, do not offer results to feed on residues of the har- of the 19th century, when the Sahel

anymore. These intense disputes vest and at the same time ferti- populations lost not only their po-

have serious consequences for lized them. In exchange for the litical independence but also con-

the economic and political secu- manure, the nomads received trol of their territory and wells.

rity of nations, causing massive millet from the farmers. With the The division of the region into dif-

migration flows from places that first rains the grass began to grow ferent countries – and the conse-

are no longer inhabitable and again and the herds moved nor- quent attempts to make the no-

changing geopolitical balances. th following the rains. When the mads sedentary - had a great

Finally, any sort of action plan se- northern frontier of the Sahel was impact on societies, reducing the

ems unrealizable due to the exa- reached, they started again the mobility and the freedom to transit

sperating inertia of the political journey towards south, while ea- through the borders for nomads.

class, incapable of taking adequa- ting the grass which had grown in At the same time - after the intro-

te measures to address the root the meantime. Upon arrival in the duction of a currency-based eco-

causes of the crisis. People’s trust in lands where they stayed during the nomy - farmers also overexploited

governments is now minimal. The dry season, the herds found ma- the land by reducing fallow time.

result has been the fragmentation ture grass that allowed them to Population growth and the expan-

of social and family ties between survive until the next rainy season. sion of plantations of products for

generations, ethnic groups, and The transited routes and the time export, usually large monocultures,

migrants and host communities, spent around each well were fixed brought about the cultivation of

which has made it more difficult by traditional rules decided by the marginal lands and the reduction

for populations to cope with and tribal chiefs, in order to avoid the of fallow time. In this way the fertili-

adapt to emerging threats. The over-exploitation of the pastures. ty of the land declined significantly,

34

the soil was more exposed to sunli- This context has created the per- ched on 22 March 2012, the col-
ght and winds, and began to lose fect conditions for the intensifica- lapse of state power in northern
its physical integrity. Rain, when it tion of religious fundamentalism Mali had allowed a secular and
happened, could no longer be ab- and the rise of armed opposition separatist Tuareg movement, the
sorbed by the soil, flowing away. groups that, promising better li- National Movement for the Libe-
Inter-ethnic conflicts over the ving conditions and continuous su- ration of Azawad (MNLA), to gain
exploitation of environmental re- stenance, are securing more and control of the main cities, resulting
sources have intensified, polarizing more recruits. Being part of armed in the secession and declaration
pastoralists and settled farmers. groups assures fighters not only a of independence of the country’s
Pastoral production systems requi- salary, but also an ideal, the pos- northern region, the Azawad. It
re large areas for livestock grazing sibility of gaining respect, impro- represents approximately eight
through migratory pastoralism in ving their life prospects and joi- hundred thousand square kilome-
order to adapt to high seasonal cli- ning communities often dominated ters of land, matching Mali’s three
mate variability and low ecosystem by already well-established eth- northern regions (Gao, Kidal and
biomass pro-
ductivity. Gra- nic, gender and age hierarchies. Timbuktu) and
zing land is The escalating conflict in Mali is il- corresponding to
being reduced lustrative of this trend: due to an- 65% of the entire
everywhere in thropogenic activity and climate Malian territory.
the drylands change, the inner Niger-Bani delta The name means
due to deser- - an ecoregion rich in wetlands of “the land where
tification, or crucial importance in the region - there is pasture”
is being con- is rapidly degrading. In a country and, culturally
verted to cro- where the population lives mainly and historically, it
pland, trigge- on agriculture, livestock and fi- has always been
ring conflicts shing, this loss has contributed to considered the
with sedentary a poverty rate of 42.7%.6 Extre- “temust n imaja-
crop produ- me weather phenomena - such as ghen”, the ter-
cers. Due to droughts and floods - are intensi- ritory of only
these proces- fying and desertification has come the Tuareg, a
ses and ethnic to threaten the entire territory. Berber ethnic
differences, Following the coup d’état laun- group descended
pastoralist from the Pho-
households have been increasin- enicians of just
gly marginalized, causing disrup- over five million people.
tion to their economic and cultu- However, the dream of an indepen-
ral structures. As a result, nomadic dent Azawad lasted less than two
pastoralists today are totally un- months. The MNLA fighters, inde-
prepared to address increasing ed, were expelled from the leader-
variability and weather/climate ship by three Islamist groups: Ansar
extremes caused by climate chan- Dine, the Movement for Oneness
ge and remain among the most and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO),
food insecure groups in the world. and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Ma-
Today 29 million people requi- ghreb (AQIM), which attempted
re humanitarian assistance in the to introduce a government based
Sahel.5 The six countries bordering on a strict interpretation of Sharia
the Sahara Desert are facing an law in the areas they controlled.
unprecedented situation of inse- The advance of the jihadists
curity, as well as a food crisis that towards the capital Bamako forced
urgently needs to be addressed. the Malian government to invoke
the military intervention of Fran-

35

IN DEPTH

ce, which succeeded in blocking in 2017 by the merger of various The satellite images captured by
the progression of the groups and Qaedist groups, and by the Islamic the WFP reveal how the conflict has
liberating some fundamental ci- State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), caused large scale abandonment of
ties that had fallen into the rebels’ which is now widespread in much villages and disrupted cultivation,
hands. Following the action of Pa- of the eastern region of the country. leading to unprecedented levels of
ris, the UN launched the MINU- Malian institutions are a long way food insecurity. This protracted cri-
SMA mission, which now counts from regaining control of the terri- sis claimed more than a thousand
15,000 Blue Helmets. Over the ye- tory, despite international support. lives last year alone, causing ap-
ars, many other foreign forces have In an attempt to protect their vil- proximately 350,000 internally di-
joined this already complicated lages, the farmers of the Do- splaced persons (IDPs) and raising
scenario, intervening in the entire gon and Bambara ethnic groups to 6 million the number of Malians
in need of humanitarian aids.7
Sahel region, which has meanwhi- - who are less willing to embra- The cartels’ violence within the
le become one of the main fronts in ce fundamentalist Islam and the- notorious Liptako-Gourma, also
the fight against fundamentalism. refore among the most afflicted known as the ‘three borders’ area,
Nowadays, non-state armed ac- groups - have formed self-defen- has destabilized large parts of nei-
tors seem impossible to contain: it ce militias made up of traditional ghboring countries; the conflict in
is estimated that 80% of Mali is di- hunters, the dozos. In their raids the Mali has, indeed, spread over
rectly or indirectly controlled by the against the jihadists, the militians the national boundaries, beco-
Group for the Support of Islam and have also targeted the Peul and ming more complex while many
Muslims (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Bozo civilian population, fuelling of the assumptions remain the
wa al-Muslimeen, JNIM), created a never-ending cycle of revenge. same: in Burkina Faso, for exam-
ple - where 80% of the 20 million
inhabitants live only by agricul-
ture and livestock - one third of
the national territory is degraded,
amounting to over 9 million hecta-
res of productive land, an area
that expands at an average of 360
thousand hectares per year. To-
day, about 45% of the population
find themselves below the poverty
line, in 183rd place according to
the human development index.8
“The land of upright people”, as
was baptized in 1984 by the ico-
nic pan-African President Thomas
Sankara, was considered a country
immune to inter-communal confli-
cts and jihadist penetration in the
Sahel until a few years ago, or at
least it did not show evident signs
of it as its neighbor Mali did. Howe-
ver, starting in 2015, violence has
begun in the northern regions,
plunging the country into instabi-
lity. The West African country is fa-
cing an aggravating security crisis
and any attempt to normalize the
situation solely through military in-

36

tervention, even if supported by fo- the Sahara, on the border betwe- four countries. Out of these, 2.5
reign powers, appears to yield no en Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Ca- million people are currently di-
results. Operation Barkhane, stron- meroon, vividly testifies to the splaced and more than 10 mil-
gly promoted by the French Gover- impacts of global climate chan- lion need assistance to meet ba-
nment, was an example of this. ge and the direct conflictual, so- sic protection and humanitarian
Moreover, the recent increased in- cial, political and economic con- needs. Communities have been
stability at Benin’s northern bor- sequences it has on the region. repeatedly targeted by the insur-
der suggests that the rebels are Until the mid-1960s, it was the six- gents, who have confiscated their
aiming to obtain an outlet to the th largest inland body of water in food resources, forcing entire po-
Ocean, in an area - the Gulf of the world, but due to long periods pulations to abandon their homes.
Guinea - already strongly af- of drought and rising temperatu- Sometimes, even the interventions
fected by criminal phenome- res - which in the region grow 1.5 of national governments have had
na. The objective is probably to times faster the global average to- the opposite effect, further com-
expand the flow of illegal traffi- day - the lake has seen its water promising the safeguarding of li-
cking, one of the main methods of resources drastically reduced, re- velihoods and the ability to survive:
sustenance of the armed groups. aching a historic minimum in the Niger is a clear example, where
Another hotspot of violent con- 1990s, shrinking by 90% overall. the army has restricted fishing and
flicts has developed all around The environmental degradation the cultivation of chili peppers, a
the lake Chad due to the ferocity and strong climatic pressures have particularly important crop in the
perpetuated by Boko Haram and reduced fish production by 60%.9 proximity of Lake Chad, becau-
others jihadist cells in Nigeria that According to the FAO, an esti- se of the suspicion that the profits
has spilled over into the bordering mated 17.4 million people live in were being used to support armed
countries. The lake, a freshwater areas affected by armed oppo- opposition groups. In other areas,
resource located in the middle of sition groups violence across the tall crops have been banned and

37

IN DEPTH

razed to the ground for fear that is not yet irreversible. Furthermore, tal Facility, World Bank, European
they could be an effective hiding agriculture, if well managed and Union), research institutes and ci-
place for paramilitary groups. In sustainable, is among the sectors vil societies. The Africa’s program
Nigeria, recently, restrictions on that are most likely to become a promises to be a compelling so-
fishing and agriculture have been tool for addressing simultaneously lution to the many pressing threa-
introduced limiting the movement problems related to climate chan- ts faced not only in the Sahel and
towards the most fertile and pro- ge, food security, employment and the Horn of Africa, but by the glo-
ductive islands of the lake; and episodes of widespread violence. bal community as a whole - par-
the panorama is made even wor- Agroforest projects, that according ticularly climate change, drought,
se by the systematic violation of to FAO are a mean for accompli- famine, conflict and migration. At
human rights due to the total de- shing more SDGs at the same time, the same time, according to FAO,
pendence on military solutions are becoming more common. Tre- the wall is a metaphor expres-
in the management of violence. es offer shadow, they protect soil sing solidarity between African
The Sahel region is emblematic from erosive winds, contain hy- countries and their supporters.
of the need to address, global- drological instability, increase soil By 2030, it aims to restore 100 mil-
ly, the interconnected challenges permeabilization, and biodiversity. lion hectares of currently degraded
of climate and security with a re- In order to improve environmen- land as well as sequester 250 mil-
silience-focused approach. A re- tal, social and economic conditions lion tons of carbon. Additionally,
port by Katharine Mach, director in the sub-Saharan belt, numerous growing a Green Wall right above
of the Stanford Environment As- reforestation projects have been the Sahara Desert does more than
sessment Facility, found that, in initiated, both locally and regio- recovering soils: this extraordi-
the coming decades, if the condi- nally; the most famous is the Great nary initiative combats poverty and
tions of scenario 4 outlined by the Green Wall initiative, the flagship hunger, builds local resilience to
IPCC were to occur due to global project of the UN Decade for Ecosy- growing temperatures, improves
warming, the risk of recurrence stem Restoration, which opened in health and well-being, creates mil-
of armed conflicts could increa- 2021 and will end in 2030. The lions of rural jobs, increases econo-
se by around 26%.10 Conflicts are dream of a barrier of trees to hold mic opportunity, and much more.
becoming more complex and in- back the advance of the desert da- Unfortunately, the hard climatic
tractable, contributing to an incre- tes back to the 1970s. In 2007, the conditions and the political situa-
ase in forced displacement, and as African Union, together with FAO, tion are making progresses dif-
these crises prolong and recur, a UNEP and UNCCD, launched it. ficult. In January 2021, a group
stubborn vicious spiral takes hold. It is a sort of corridor, about 7,800 of countries, led by the French
This approach involves planning kilometers long and 15 kilome- Government and the World Bank
climate change adaptation strate- ters wide, from Senegal to Djibou- have pledged $14 billion to rein-
gies, humanitarian and develop- ti. The area is inhabited by 228 vigorate the project. However, mo-
ment aid, as well as peacebuilding million people, slightly less than ney is not sufficient because the
and conflict prevention programs. half of the entire territory of Nor- cooperation of the local commu-
The core objective is to help coun- th Africa, the Sahel and the Horn nities is strongly needed to succe-
tries to prevent the negative effects of Africa. It is not a true “wall of ed. Actually, it is estimated that in
of climate change and minimi- trees”, as its name might sug- 2019 only 15% of the planned in-
ze their consequences by develo- gest, but a mosaic of agricultu- terventions have been completed.
ping their economy, governance, ral interventions on a local scale. Despite the complexities, an esti-
and social policies to improve Today, the initiative, which aims to mated 50,000 hectares of barren
their resilience to severe shocks. restore health and fertility to a vast land have already been recove-
However, one tool for mitigating portion of the continent through a red. The pilot projects have em-
the consequences that result from mix of sustainable soil manage- ployed approximately 12 million
environmental degradation and ment practices, involves the go- seeds from over a hundred indi-
related disasters already exist: tre- vernments of twenty-one countries, genous species - such as fodder,
es. Forest landscape restoration de- together with supranational or- desert date, Arabic gum as well
monstrates that land degradation ganizations (Global Environmen- as cashews trees - which, repre-

38

senting a source of income for the otherwise achieving the objecti- PICTURES:
most vulnerable rural communi- ve without a common path will Figure 1: Human Appropriation of Net Pri-
ties, especially women, have ensu- be an ordeal. During both the mary Productivity. Source: European Commis-
red an improvement in the quality G20 and COP26, many promi- sion’s Joint Research Centre
of life for near one million peo- ses have been made, most notably Figure 2. Source: FAO
ple in over four hundred villages. the commitment to preserve fo- Figure 3. Source: Cadre Harmonisé
A corridor over 2,500 kilometers rests, cut methane emissions and Figure 4. Source: The Great Green Wall
long was created between Mali, the economic efforts to achieve the Figure 5. Source: FAO
Niger and Burkina Faso, invol- green transition in the short term,
ving the inhabitants of 120 villa- but, very likely, it will be insufficient Francesco Donella
ges in the replanting projects. In A widespread cultural revolution
Nigeria, 20,000 jobs have been would be necessary to realize that CoESPU Intern
created, and in Sudan, some it is our duty to change that course SIOI – The Italian Society for
2,000 hectares of degraded land and share responsibilities all along International Organization
have been restored to health. Ne- the chain. Societies need to embra-
vertheless, in order to achieve ce profound socio-ecological tran- Marina Bizzotto
the goals by 2030, the pace will sformations at every level: between
have to be drastically accelerated. policy makers and stakeholders, Lt. Col. Italian Carabinieri
In 2019, during the Climate action as well as between producers and CoESPU Police for Environmental,
summit in New York, the Gene- consumers. Nature is extraordina- Forestry and Agricultural Pro-
ral Director of the FAO, Qu Don- rily resilient and, given the vital role tection Chair
gyu, announced his intention to that the environment plays - in all
expand the project to a global its nuances - on our lives, a stron-
scale. The idea, born from the ger and, more importantly, imme-
vision of Italian architect Stefa- diate effort is needed. Otherwise,
no Boeri, is to create a network the risks that once appeared distant
of interconnected urban forests over the horizon will soon set in.
by 2030, covering a total area of
500 thousand hectares in 90 cities Note
throughout the Sahel and Cen-
tral Asia and restoring 300 thou- 1 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Re-
sand hectares of natural forests. duction 2015–2030, “Hyogo Framework
The rapid expansion of cities coin- for Action: lessons learned, gaps identi-
cides with the indiscriminate de- fied and future challenges”, Annex II, Par. 4
struction of forests and green spa- 2 IPCC, “Special Report on Cli-
ces. Also, expected urbanization mate Change and Land”, 2019.
trends do not suggest any impro- 3 World Bank Open Data, 2020; FAO
vement. Unless this tendency is “Agriculture and dialogue between cul-
reversed, cities will be increasin- tures: our common heritage”, 2005
gly vulnerable to extreme weather 4 V. Percival, T. Homer-Dixon, “Environmen-
events such as sand and dust stor- tal Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The Case
ms, heat waves, record winds as of Rwanda”, 1995; UNEP, “Sudan Post-Con-
well as floods. This project could, flict Environmental Assessment”, 2007
on the contrary, enable metro- 5 World Bank Open Data, Oct 26, 2021
polises to become role players in 6 UNHCR Mali - Factsheet - January 2021
the fight against climate change. 7 UNICEF Mali Humanitarian Situation
However, these initiatives alone Report No. 2, 1 to 28th February 2021
cannot resolve the crisis. Inde- 8 UNCCD Knowledge Hub, “Burkina
ed, universal recognition of the Faso, Overview of LDN Targets”, 2020
urgency for action is essential, 9 Adelphi, “Climate-Fragili-
ty Profile: Lake Chad Basin”, 2018
10 Mach, K.J., Kraan, C.M., Ad-
ger, W.N. et al., “Climate as a risk fac-
tor for armed conflict”, Nature, 2019

39

STABILITY POLICING HUB

MARITIME GENDARMERIES:
A POSSIBLE CONCEPTUAL APPROACH

TO THEIR ADDED VALUE

Maritime Gendarmeries: a possi- the concept of Civilian Police (Ci- the GTF2 term itself. For some, it
ble conceptual approach to their vPol) defended by Sir Robert Peel.1 is understood as a Military Police
added value The concept of the Gendarmerie (MP) unit, or other type of military
is relatively unknown and often unit3 that carry out police actions
by João Duque Martinho erroneously instrumentalized for aimed at populations. For others,
policy discussions related to the in a more consensual approach,
“The Gendarmerie is a unique overall role of military and police it corresponds to a police force
organization. It is the most ef- in the nations’ security, in defining with a military nature and orga-
fective way to maintain the tran-
quility of a country, it is a hal- THE GROWING REQUEST FOR POLICE PRESENCE
f-civil half-military surveillance, AND INTERVENTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIE-
extended all over the place…” TIES AND AREAS UNDER STATE SOVEREIGNTY, EN-
COMPASSED WITH THE REDUCTION, BUT ALSO SPE-
Napoleon Bonaparte CIALIZATION OF THE ARMED FORCES, SEEMS TO
INCREASINGLY JUSTIFY THE GENDARMERIE CON-
The term Gendarmerie can be CEPT.

understood as a force, in particular the boundaries between defence nization, which performs police
the French Gendarmerie Nationale and internal security, or for de- tasks and can, exceptionally and
(GN), which inspired the creation bating modern policing models. if necessary, be employed in limi-
of many other forces of the same Moreover, there’s no consensus on ted military missions or activities.
nature, often referred to as Gen-
darmerie Type Forces (GTF), or as
a policing concept, in parallel with

40

In any case, the subjectivity of vide an unassuming contribution fluenced all of continental Europe,
the term is commonly referred to to bringing a little more clarity to largely due to the French occupa-
as the type of force per se, not to the Gendarmerie awareness and tions, but also due to the success
the policing model or to the ove- its eventual added value with a of its main force, the Gendarmerie
rarching national security archi- specific focus on their maritime Nationale, which greatly contribu-
tecture that can comprise a GTF. capabilities. In order to achieve ted to the consolidation of Napo-
Although it is possible to under- this objective, a brief approach to leon’s empire, inside and outside
stand that the discussion around the Gendarmerie concept will be of the borders of France. It is wor-
the subject is commonly wrapped presented, followed by a case stu- th mentioning that, even though
in a certain degree of institutio- dy of four countries that constitute it was a short-lasting empire, it
nal interests and subject matter the acronym FIEP6 – France, Italy, prompted state concepts, laws and
unawareness, the fact is that the Spain (España), Portugal – with institutions, like the GN, which still
majority of the worldwide coun- particular emphasis on their ma- have undeniable added value.
tries use military forces or forces ritime gendarmeries. Based on The historical background and
with military status to perform po- the preparatory conceptual fra- main impacts of the creation of the
lice tasks on national territory, as mework and complemented with GN are reasonably known and can
a structural security model or in the forces’ capacity analysis, we be easily consulted in the available
temporary support of the
CivPol. In general, to fill the will attempt to identify the added literature, therefore it will not be
security gap4 between Ci- value of the maritime gendarmerie the objective of this resumed arti-
vPol and the Armed Forces, within a national security context. cle. Thus, we shall just try to bring
countries that had a French 1.The Gendarmerie to discussion a possible identi-
influence have GTF and An- The Peace of Westphalia and the fication of the main characte-
glo-Saxon countries use con- consolidation of European sove- ristics that led to GN success:
stabulary5 or Armed Forces reign states and their borders, at a. The ethos
units to reinforce their CivPol. the end of the 17th century, made The GN was formed with the best
The accessible literature re- it somehow possible to transfer the soldiers chosen from pre-exi-
lated to gendarmeries, in external effort of state survival to sting military institutions like the
general, is not abundant, the internal consolidation of the Marechausée.7 The demanding
particularly when compa- sovereign nation and its organiza- selection criteria imposed to join
red to other policing mo- tions. In this context, it allowed for the GN, the creation of new trai-
dels generally presented by au- the beginning of the development ning schools, new uniforms and
thors from Anglo-Saxon context, of different forms of policing, which force modernization created an in-
thus with modest contributions came to reach their epilogues at the stitutional ethos of high professio-
to demystify the Gendarmerie end of the 18th and 19th centuries. nalism, translated into high stan-
concept. In this regard, it is wor- The French case is a paradigmatic dards of probity and the idea of
th mentioning that the literature and innovating example that in- personal sacrifice on behalf of fel-
review carried out did not identi- low citizens and, above all, France.
fy a single study that addressed a GN competence and effectiveness
conceptual approach to maritime was thus a natural consequence.
gendarmeries, only references to b. The hybrid nature
their capabilities were found. This In the advent of the French Revolu-
circumstance brings about extra tion, the Declaration of the Rights
difficulty and demands for an in- of Man and of the Citizen and the
novative approach to the topic but transfer of autocratic power to the
represents an additional motiva- constitutional rule of law, the use of
tion for its development and the elite soldiers with a weapon in one
contribution to both the gendarme hand and the law in the other was
and the academic communities. an innovative, efficient and effecti-
This brief article will seek to pro- ve concept, clearly demonstrated
by French history. GN versatility in

41

STABILITY POLICING HUB

ensuring law and order, pursuing nale was applied to the French-oc- European countries with GTF wit-
and arresting criminals and de- cupied territories and colonies. nessed a 30% increase in person-
serters, coercively collecting taxes, The 19th century was marked by nel whereas the Armed Forces per-
providing intelligence or supporting the expansion of the Gendarmerie sonnel suffered a 40% reduction.
army efforts was only possible due concept, naturally due to the Fren- Peacekeeping operations, bor-
to its military status combined with ch empire, but not only. Countries der control, permanent military
police functions. This circumstance like Russia, Germany, Denmark presence throughout the country,
empowered the state with a more and even Ireland developed GTF first response to national securi-
harmonious, efficient and coherent during this period. From the An- ty crises and support to civil pro-
security and defence architecture. glo-Saxon “side”, several countries tection or humanitarian assistance
c. The mobility developed constabulary forces are good examples of tasks that
GN national competencies and with a similar end-sate to the GTF. to some extents were transfer-
mobility, regardless of local or re- With peace in Europe after the se- red from the armies to the GTF.
gional political guidance or sup- cond world war and particularly In addition, the Gendarmerie
port, granted the centralized state after the “end” of the cold war, the concept also went through tran-
to enforce and preserve the per- armies saw a continuous decrease sformations. Comparing the first
ception of order and tranquillity of strength, considerably reducing GTF to themselves nowadays, we
throughout the country, even in the their resources, but also other com- are convinced that it is possible to
most remote or uncontrolled state petencies not strictly related to de- identify a shift of their dawns from
regions. Thus contributing to con- fence matters. In contrast, during the 18th century as military forces
solidating the French nation and the same period, the GTF signifi- with police functions to the current
the new republic and ensuring ho- cantly increased their capacities 21st-century police forces with mi-
mogenization of law enforcement and competencies. It is estimated litary status, although maintaining
and state policies. A similar ratio- that between 1980 and 2010 nine9 the same ethos and hybrid nature.

42

This progressive identity adjust- heritage protection or Maritime it maintains the military status and
ment kept up with a fine-tuning policing are good examples of some of its personnel or units, such
of their centre of gravity, altering countries’ contemporary securi- as the specialized gendarmeries,
the effort of their activities from ty needs that were filled by GTF. are placed for employment under
state security to citizens’ security. the MdA. It also conducts judicial
The new threats and the demand 2.Case study: France, Italy, Spain missions alongside the Armed
for specialized security response (España) and Portugal (FIEP) Forces, denominated “Provost”.
that Europe is facing, force the Next, we will try to present a brief Presently, it comprises around
countries to build new capacities GTF description of the referred 102 200 gendarmes and civilians,
that are neither typically fitting to countries, offering a factual de- reinforced by 30 000 reservists. It
civilian police nor military ones. scription of their maritime capabili- ensures the public safety and pu-
Environmental protection, Criti- ties. Unfortunately, given the natu- blic order of approximately 50%
cal infrastructure security, Cultural re and size of this article, it shall not of the French population cove-
be possible to address their overall ring 95% of the national territory.
maritime security architectures, Due to its numerous overseas de-
analysing in detail the competen- partments and territories, Fran-
cies and complementarity between ce possesses the largest Exclusive
all the national entities respon- Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world,
sible for enforcing the authority covering 10 067 471 million km2,
of flag, port and coastal states. including 345 240 km2 in Euro-
a.France pe, and a coastline of 7 330 km
The Gendarmerie Nationale11 (GN) (metropolitan France: 3 427 km).
was founded in February 1791 and The GN Maritime12 (Gendarmerie
is designated as a “Force Armée”. Maritime – GMAR) enforces the
Until 2009 it was placed under the GN overall missions and tasks,
Ministry of the Armed Forces (Mi- being the only French force with
nistère des Armées - MdA) being general police powers at sea. It
currently dependent on the Mini- is placed for employment under
stry of Interior as administrative the Navy Chief of Staff authority,
and judicial police. Nevertheless, but like the GN, it is functional-
ly dependent on other Ministers.

This GN specialized service is
responsible for the administrati-
ve and judicial police in locations
and facilities under the command
of the Navy, as well as the sites
where safety and security are en-
trusted to the Navy. It thus contri-
butes to the protection of naval
personnel, equipment and facili-

43

STABILITY POLICING HUB

ties, and is responsible for police national training centre and is Protection and the Armed Forces.
operations related to nautical ac- articulated in 3 groups, 7 com- b. Italy
cidents and incidents occurring on panies and 63 units (Investiga- The Italian GTF Arma dei Cara-
naval vessels, submarines, or nau- tion brigades, coastal surveillan- binieri14 (AdC) is a branch of the
tical means of the Armed Forces. ce brigades, maritime and port Armed Forces, founded on 13 July
Within the full extent of the French security assets). The service is ca- 1814. It is denominated as “For-
EEZ, it carries out the GN gene- pacitated with 1 157 gendarmes za Armata” and reports to the
ral police missions and contribu- with roughly 37 Coastal Patrol Ministry of Defence for its military
tes to several Maritimes systems Vessels (CPV) and several types tasks, such as the MP competen-
such as those related to moni- of Coastal Patrol Boats (CPB). cies in favour of the Army, Navy
toring and safeguarding at sea, The GN still counts with an air ser- and Air Force. As a Police Force,
rescue operations, shipwreck in- vice13 with 56 helicopters spread it reports to the Ministry of Inte-
vestigations, protected area sur- throughout 33 locations on main- rior, and as a Judiciary Police to
veillance, fishing control, port land France and overseas territo- the Ministry of Justice, maintaining
security and maritime pollution. ries, responsible for supporting the functional relations with other mi-
The GMAR organization has an GN land and sea operations, but nistries. It is the biggest European
investigation department and a also the National Police, the Civil GTF totalling around 110 000 ca-
rabiniers, that have responsibili-
ty on the whole territory and po-
pulation, shared with the Italian
civilian state police – Polizia di
Stato, in the urban centres whe-
re this police corp is also present.
Italy has the world’s 48th largest
EZZ, with an area of 536 654
km² and a coastline of 7 600 km.
The AdC Naval Service15 (Servi-
zio Navale) was created in 1957
and consists of 22 naval sites and
6 detachments, with a fleet of 170
patrol boats of various classes,
including patrol boats equipped
with sophisticated equipment for
detecting water pollution, loca-
ting missing persons and tran-

44

smitting images at a distance. activities. It also contributes to Se- The Financial Guard17 (Guardia di
It performs public order and safety arch and Rescue (SAR) operations. Finanza - GdF) denominated “cor-
tasks and contributes to surveillan- The AdC and its Naval Servi- po di polizia ad ordinamento mi-
ce activities aimed at combating ce activities are supported by litare” is another Italian GTF with
illegal immigration. The service the AdC Aircraft Group16, com- general competence in economic
extends to the recovery of archa- posed of 15 helicopter groups and financial matters, founded in
eological finds, fighting maritime and the AdC Underwater Cen- 1862 as the Customs Guard Corps
pollution and controlling tourist ter, divided into 6 centres. of the former Kingdom of Italy.
The GdF depends directly on the
Ministry of Economy and Finance.
It is organized according to a mili-
tary structure and is an integral part
of the Armed Forces as well as of
the Public Forces. Although being
a specialized GTF, it contributes to
security and public order mainte-
nance and border military defen-
ce. The GdF personnel are there-
fore entitled as Judicial police, Tax
police, and Public Security officers.
The GdF is composed of approxi-
mately 68 000 military personnel
with a countrywide organization
that is articulated with territorial
and specialized units and an ae-
ronaval structure, with more than
600 boats and ships, 85 helicop-
ters and 14 fixed-wing aircrafts.

45

STABILITY POLICING HUB

The GdF Aeronavale18 structure Another Italian GTF, composed by nistries of Defence (enlistment
is organized in a Regional Com- military staff with some police fun- of the military personnel), Cultu-
ponent, divided into 15 Aeronaval ctions at sea, is the Coast Guard19 ral Activities and Treasures (un-
Operational Departments located (CG) (Corpo delle capitanerie di derwater archaeology), Internal
along all the national coasts to porto - Guardia costiera), whi- Affairs (anti-illegal immigration),
defend the territorial sea and the ch is part of the Italian Navy but Justice, and Civil Protection.
adjacent waters, and a Projection placed under the functional de-
Component divided into three pendency of the Ministry of Sustai- c. Spain
Air-Naval Groups and an Air- nable Infrastructure and Mobility, The Guardia Civil20 (GC) is a GTF
Sea Exploration Group, equip- to which its main institutional tasks denominated “Cuerpo de Seguri-
ped with more capable means to are attributed. The Coast Guard dad del Estado” with military status
control the Mediterranean sea. counts with roughly 11 000 mi- and nationwide police competen-
The Aeronaval structure enables litary and civilian staff, with a na-
the GdF competencies at sea tional network of 300 stations,
and contributes to ensuring pu- around 600 ships, 18 helicop-
blic order and safety services and ters and 04 fixed-wing aircrafts.
control of the territorial sea and The main CG tasks are the co-
contiguous zone, fight against illi- ordination and execution of SAR
cit trafficking, and surveillance of missions, Safety of navigation, Pro-
maritime borders. In this concern, tection of the marine environment
the GdF assumes the national co- (Ministry for the Environment), Con-
ordination of operations under the trol of maritime fishery (Ministry of
aegis of the European Border and Agriculture), Maritime police and
Coast Guard Agency – Frontex. training of the maritime personnel.
Other functions involve the Mi-

46

cies, founded on 28 March 1844. of submerged historical heritage Interestingly, the GNR predeces-
It operates under the Ministry of and Irregular immigration control. sors date back to 1801 with the
the Interior for all concerning pu- It is organized in 03 Maritime creation of the Guarda Real de
blic security affairs and the Mini- Groups, 24 Provincial Maritime Polícia (GRP). Considering that this
stry of Defence regarding its mili- Services, an Underwater Activi- force was created, like the GN,
tary missions, such as the MP tasks ty Unit (UAS) with 18 Specialists with reference to the Maréchauss-
in international missions. Due to Groups in Underwater Activities ée25, it can be understood that the
its specialized competencies, it (GEAS), spread along the coastline, origins of the GNR are related to
also has a functional dependen- which are responsible for carrying the first GTF to be created outside
cy on the Ministries of Justice, Fi- out GC responsibilities in the aqua- the borders of France – the GRP.
nance, and Environment. GC has tic and underwater environment. It is also worth mentioning that
approximately 80 000 guardias The service has 1100 members following the French invasions, in
civiles who are responsible for capacitated with 3 Offshore Pa-
84% of the Spanish territory, the trol Vessels (OPV), 18 CPV, 47 CPB 1808, the Portuguese crown court
entire Spanish territorial waters, and a large number of semi-rigid went into exile to Rio de Janeiro -
and nearly 35% of the population. boats and jet skis. To fulfil its mis- Brazil and took along a GRP Com-
Spain has the 30th largest EEZ in sion at sea, the Maritime Service pany to ensure their own security.
the world divided into two non-con- counts on the support of the GC This force gave rise to the Brazilian
tiguous zones: continental Spain air service22, with 14 units spread policing model and the creation
(561 763 km²) and Canary Islands through all of the Spanish territory of the Polícia Militar in 1809, pro-
(445  910 km²), totalling 1  007 and with a capacity of 43 helicop- bably the first GTF to be created
673 km2, and a coastline of 7 879 ters and 03 fixed-wing aircrafts. outside of the European continent.
km (continental Spain: 4 830 km). Within the framework of its du- The GNR depends on the Mini-
ties, the GC hosts the National stry of the Interior for all public
The GC Maritime Service21 (Ser- Coordination Centre (NCC) of the security and public order matters
vicio Marítimo de la Guardia Civil) European Border Surveillance Sy- and on the Ministry of Defence
overall mission is to carry out all stem23 (EUROSUR), responsible for for military-related issues. Due
the functions that correspond to the control and surveillance of the to its specialized competencies, it
the CG, both in the Spanish mari- coasts and maritime areas under maintains functional relations with
time waters and in the continental Spain sovereignty or jurisdiction. the Ministries of Justice, Finan-
waters, including the underwater ce, Environment and Agriculture.
environment. Its specific duties are d. Portugal The GNR has a total staff of about
maritime crime prevention and in- The Guarda Nacional Republica- 23 000 military elements and ci-
vestigation, Fiscal actions to pre- na24 (GNR) is a GTF denominated
vent and prosecute contraband, “Força de Segurança” with military
Nature and environment conser- status and nationwide competen-
vation, Control and inspection of cies, founded on 03 May 1911.
fishing and sports boats, Protection

47

STABILITY POLICING HUB

vilians, who are responsible for the coast and territorial sea of the Maritime Detachments, each one
approximately 95% of the natio- continent and the Autonomous divided into 03 or 04 sub De-
nal territory and the territorial sea, Regions. In this context, the UCC tachments spread out along the
and nearly 54% of the population. encompasses the national re- coastline, and 01 Mobile Sur-
GNR competencies aim to ensure sponsibility for EUROSUR NCC. veillance Detachment, and it is
citizens´ security and public order It is also responsible for preven- capacitated with 766 military
in the area of responsibility, and ting and investigating tax, fiscal staff, 01 CPV and 47 CPB of dif-
the nationwide specialized com- and customs infractions and par- ferent typologies and capacities.
petencies include the responsibi- ticipating in the supervision of
lity for traffic police, fiscal police, the fishery activities. The unit also 3. The added value of Maritime
environmental police and spe- participates in international ci- Gendarmeries
cialized civil protection response. vil crisis management, peace The added value of the Gendar-
Portugal has the 20th largest and humanitarian operations, merie concept is today identical,
EEZ in the world, divided into three in the police and civil protection with contemporary adaptations,
non-contiguous sub-zones: Con- scope, as well as in internatio- to what was at the genesis of its
tinental Portugal 327 667 km2, nal police cooperation missions. creation in the late 18th century.
Azores 953 633 km2, and Madei- A force that provides balances of
ra 446 108 km2 totalling 1 727 The UCC is articulated into 05
408 km2, and a coastline of 1,793
km (continental Portugal: 832 km).

In addition to fulfilling the gene-
ral attributions of the GNR, the
Coastal Control Unit26 (Unida-
de de Controlo Costeiro - UCC)
is responsible to guarantee the
continuity of compliance with the
laws on land and in the national
maritime space up to 12 miles,
ensuring surveillance and patrol-
ling on land and sea, throughout

48

powers within the coercive me- creates the operational conditions r i e . i n t e r i e u r. g o u v. f r / n o t r e - i n s t i t u -
ans of the state, that can operate for the Maritime Gendarmeries to tion/nos-composantes/gendarme-
under the military or the civilian guarantee public security and or- ries - specialisees/gendarmerie - de -l-air.
chain of command, that fills the der, and criminal police enforce- 14 h t t p s : / / w w w . c a r a b i n i e -
security gap between the security ment. It allows for the combined ri.it/chi-siamo/oggi/organizzazione.
of citizens and the defence of the efforts of Gendarmerie capacities 15 h t t p : / / w w w . c a r a b i n i e r i . i t /
nation, supporting both efforts. both at land and sea, and the lin- chi-siamo/oggi/organizzazione/territo-
The growing request for poli- kage of maritime intelligence col- riale/il-servizio-navale-e-i-subacquei.
ce presence and interventions in lection to the judicial persecution 16 h t t p : / / w w w . c a r a b i n i e r i . i t /
contemporary societies and areas of criminal networks. The Maritime arma/curiosita/non-tutti-sanno-che/s/
under state sovereignty, encom- Gendarmeries are, in this context, servizio-aereo-dell’arma-dei-carabinieri.
passed with the reduction, but an efficient and effective tool in pro- 17 h t t p s : / / w w w . g d f . g o v .
also specialization of the Armed viding police services and security, it/chi-siamo/organizzazione.
Forces, seems to increasingly ju- supporting the defence of the state 18 h t t p s : / / w w w . g d f . g o v . i t /
stify the Gendarmerie concept. from a wide range of public secu- chi-siamo/organizzazione/specia-
It endows the state with a Civilian rity threats, for which traditional lizzazioni/comparto-aeronavale.
Police capacity which simultane- Navy capacities would be definitely 19 h t t p s : / / w w w . g u a r -
ously benefits the Armed Forces in over-powered and hyper-costly. d i a c o s t i e r a . g o v. i t / c h i - s i a m o .
maintaining valuable assets and Potential symbioses between the 20 h t t p s : / / w w w. g u a r d i a c i v i l . e s /
not diverting them from their indi- Armed Forces and GTFs due to es/institucional/Conocenos/index.html.
spensable and irreplaceable mis- their military nature, and betwe- 21 h t t p s : / / w w w. g u a r d i a c i v i l . e s /
sion – the military defence of the en Navies and Maritime Gendar- es/institucional/Conocenos/especia-
nation. In fact, the GTF hybrid na- meries, as aforedemonstrated, is lidades/ServicioMaritimo/index.html.
ture enables considerable econo- a consistent and coherent model, 22 h t t p s : / / w w w . g u a r d i a -
mic and operational gains, acting which has been gradually asserting civil.es/es/institucional/Conoce-
as a country capacity that can ba- itself and expanding in Europe. nos/especialidades/aire/index.html.
lance their nationwide resources to 23 h t t p s : / / e c . e u r o p a . e u / h o -
address support of a geographic note me-affairs/policies/schengen-bor-
or conjunctural nature to other ders-and-visa/border-crossing/eurosur_en.
national actors, military or civil, 1 h t t p s : / / l a w e n f o r c e m e n t a c t i o n - 24 https://www.gnr.pt/missao.aspx.
in the areas of Security, Defense partnership.org/peel-policing-principles/. 25 Da Costa-Cabral, Bartolomeu, 2011.
and Civil Protection. These are “tri- 2 h t t p s : / / w w w . j s t o r . o r g / Gendarmeries and the security challenges in
ple-use” forces, robust and flexi- stable/pdf/resrep05519.5.pdf. the 21st century: A Portuguese perspective.
ble, whose efficiency and opera- 3 h t t p s : / / h a c . o r g . u k / w h a t - w e - d o . 26 https://www.gnr.pt/atrib_UCC.aspx.
tional coherence can embody the 4 h t t p s : / / w w w . n s p c o e . o r g / PICTURES:
current concept of Gendarmerie. about-us/about-stability-policing/. João Duque Martinho
The perfect paradigm of coope- 5 h t t p s : / / w w w. d c a f . c h / s i t e s /
ration between the Armed Forces default/files/publications/documen- João Duque Martinho
and the GTF can be found at sea, ts/DCAF_BG_15_Gendarmeries%20 Lt. Col. Portuguese Guarda
under a common military chain of and%20constabulary-type%20police_0.pdf Nacional Republicana
command or in mutual support. 6 http://www.fiep.org/about-fiep/. EUROGENDFOR Plans and
The massive extension and the vast 7 Clive Emsley - “Gendarmes and the Policy Officer
array of threats and disruptions of State in Nineteenth-Century Europe”, 1999.
social normality that characterize 8 Derek Lutterbeck - “The Para-
the current maritime operational dox of Gendarmeries: Between Expansion,
environment demand for coherent Demilitarization and Dissolution” 2013.
and synergetic efforts of state ca- 9 Austria, Beligium, France, Germany,
pacities towards a common end Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
state. The safe and secure maritime 10 h t t p s : / / w w w . m i l i t a i r e -
environment ensured by the Navy s p e c t a t o r. n l / t h e m a / a r t i k e l / a s s e s -
sing-results-gendarmerie-type-for-
ces-peace-and-stability-operations.
11 https://www.gendarmerie.inte -
rieur.gouv.fr/notre-institution/generalites.
12 h t t p s : / / w w w. d e f e n s e . g o u v. f r /
marine/operations/forces/gendarme-
rie-maritime/la-gendarmerie-maritime.
13 h t t p s : / / w w w . g e n d a r m e -

49

STABILITY POLICING HUB

CYBER: A NEW DOMAIN
FOR STABILITY POLICING?

Cyber: a new domain for stability sic understanding of the Cyber completely supports the concept of
policing ? Threat through some key defi- a (virtual) space able to conduct a
nitions related to the actors and full spectrum of activities defined
by Aldo Rosa how they operate; how NATO is by the Alliance as cyberspace ope-
rapidly progressing to adapt to rations: actions in or through cy-
INTRODUCTION the new challenge; finally, it will berspace intended to preserve own
spark some considerations more and friendly freedom of action in
At the NATO Warsaw Summit in specifically related to Cyber from cyberspace and/or to create effects
a Stability Policing perspective. to achieve military objectives2.
July 2016, Allied Heads of State This immediately leads to a re-
and Government recognised cyber- THE CYBER THREAT FUNDAMEN- levant consideration: cyberspa-
space as a domain of operations: TALS ce is not only computers. This
it was a crucial step in recogni- First and foremost, to prevent is a full environment including
sing that NATO must defend itself any conceptual misunderstan- networks, technology, and data
as effectively as it does in the Air, ding, we should focus on some (and the people behind all of
on Land, at Sea and in the Space. basic definitions related to Cyber this should be not discounted).
It was at the same time a cru- in order to better define the thre- Once defined the operating envi-
cial step in elevating Cyber at the at and its specific environment. ronment (or, more appropriately,
same level of the traditional thre- According to the NATO glossary, the domain), the threat should
at (both conventional and nuclear) cyberspace is the global domain be identified and defined. The-
and requiring a significant shift in consisting of all interconnected re does not exist a NATO agre-
thinking about military operations. communication, information te- ed definition; however, one of
This also supported a relevant chan- chnology and other electronic sy- the most common definitions of
ge from the previous idea of batt- stems, networks and their data, Cyber Threat is any circumstan-
lefield to a more evolved and com- including those which are sepa- ce or event with the potential to
prehensive concept of battlespace. rated or independent, which pro- adversely impact organizational
This article aims to provide a ba- cess, store or transmit data1. This operations (including mission,

50