Editorial I

The present Issue offers a look at a wide range of security topics and perspec-tives. The articles focus on law enforcement training practices, security concepts in extremism prevention, effects of cryptography regulation, securitization of feminism and securitization of international environmental regimes. The themes of the contri-butions to the Issue concern current debates and regulatory developments in the law enforcement sector, the role of societal actors in the prevention and radicalization discourse as well as securitization as a concept on domestic and international levels. In this manner, the Issue captures the pulse of recent developments in the field of security studies. The the structure and police use of force provides a study of the current structure and delivery of police recruit training in Germany. The study utilizes a case-study approach by emphasizing police use of force training. The methodological foundation of the article is based on an inductive approach. The research exemplifies intriguing findings: the authors find a lack of construc-tive alignment of the training modules and learning tasks within the training set-tings. Moreover, an inefficient use of available training time with low engagement in stimulated problem-solving processes was observed. They offer concrete sugges-tions in line of the results with focus on the police curriculum designers to align the objectives, practice structure and delivery of police training with the needs of police officers in the field such as conflict resolution skills and the institutionalization of adequate education in order to appropriately plan, deliver and reflect upon training practices within the police force.

The present Issue offers a look at a wide range of security topics and perspectives. The articles focus on law enforcement training practices, security concepts in extremism prevention, effects of cryptography regulation, securitization of feminism and securitization of international environmental regimes. The themes of the contributions to the Issue concern current debates and regulatory developments in the law enforcement sector, the role of societal actors in the prevention and radicalization discourse as well as securitization as a concept on domestic and international levels. In this manner, the Issue captures the pulse of recent developments in the field of security studies.
The article by M. Stellar, S. Koerner, V. Heil, I. Klemmer, A. Abraham and J. Poolton on the structure and delivery of police use of force training provides a study of the current structure and delivery of police recruit training in Germany. The study utilizes a case-study approach by emphasizing police use of force training. The methodological foundation of the article is based on an inductive approach. The research exemplifies intriguing findings: the authors find a lack of constructive alignment of the training modules and learning tasks within the training settings. Moreover, an inefficient use of available training time with low engagement in stimulated problem-solving processes was observed. They offer concrete suggestions in line of the results with focus on the police curriculum designers to align the objectives, practice structure and delivery of police training with the needs of police officers in the field such as conflict resolution skills and the institutionalization of adequate education in order to appropriately plan, deliver and reflect upon training practices within the police force.
Heiko Berner touches upon another angle of law enforcement-oriented research, namely on the notion of safety and prevention of extremism. The study begins with an overview of recent developments of prevention trends, the securitization of the discourse and the diversification of the involved actors. Berner contrasts the trends with the needs and positions of stakeholders which in some occasions diverge from prevention work efforts of civil society actors. The article asserts that the universal primary prevention framework plays an important role. In this manner, Berner wants us to better understand the concept of security through the lens of the social work profession. The contribution of the article is discernible in the novel approach which integrates and explores interrelated concepts such as social cohesion or resilience in the discourse about extremism prevention.
The topic of law enforcement regulatory practice is also observed in the contribution by T. Riebe, P. Kühn, P. Imperatori and C. Reuter to the Journal. The authors explore the regulation of cryptography and effects on surveillance in her study. They outline that cryptography is an essential communication technology nowadays and its role is considered necessary in information security. The authors explore some problems with cryptography regulation such as practices to weaken or break encryption as part of the State security policy. The study focuses on the US practice in cryptography exports as a dual-use good in international trade. Riebe and others assert that the regulation has been watered down and outsources in bilateral agreements to Information and Communication Technology companies. The study utilizes comparative policy analysis with focus on tracing the historical development of US regulation of cryptography as a dual-use good, and surveillance technologies, and practices used since the 1990s. Riebe and others conclude that the dual-use regulation has affected the efficiency of surveillance technology, by stretching regulatory standards and practices via facilitation of proliferation of surveillance intermediaries.
E. Gardell, C. Wagnsson and C. Wallenius offer an intriguing view on the manner in which Swedish society perceives security threats, and how threat perceptions overlap with and are influenced by ideology, trust and demographics. The authors offer a detailed analysis on the perception of feminism as an emerging security threat in Sweden. The study indicates that worries over security threats are connected to an authoritarian shadow. In their study, Gardell and others identified several types of worries such as anti-immigrant, anti-feminist and anti-egalitarian opinions and low confidence in media and institutions. The findings in the study confirm previous radicalization research, while it is highlighted that a defined group opposes feminism to the extent that it is perceived as a security threat. Gardell and others conclude that such a securitization view of feminism is relevant as Sweden is perceived of as one of the equal countries in the world.
The final contribution to this issue concerns the securitization of global environmental policy. Evgenia Gordeeva analyzes the effects of securitization on international environmental policy by running four case studies: the Rio Conference, the climate change regime, the ozone depletion regime and the forest regime. The study includes securitization variables to the regime complexity by ultimately concluding that the national interest of the actors are relevant and evident in the regime implementation. Gordeeva asserts that while increasing the visibility of an issue within a given regime, securitization through diverging national interests of the States facilitates conflict between the actors involved or the actors and the regime.

Stoyan Panov
Managing Editor of the European Journal for Security Research.

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