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Technology has always been one of the decisive factors, by which the outcome of conflict or war ought to be influenced without any doubt. But with Information-Communication Technology (ICT) appearance it seems the revolutionary changes began concerning conflict perception, the organisation of actors waging a war and (spatial) spheres where conflicts are taking place. The case of last Iraqi war should confirm this thesis. The main purpose of my research paper is therefore to prove that ICT has really multidimensional impacts regarding recent conflicts and wars and these impacts should be analysed with interdisciplinary approach in any case.

So my research paper based especially on strategic (defence) studies as well as on communication and sociological theory guidelines, what actually ensures a real interdisciplinary approach. Within these three basic theoretical approaches the concepts such as propaganda, perception management and information operations/warfare as well as asymmetric warfare, have also been used.

Regarding research limitations and future work to do, my proposal is focusing towards information theory and informatics science, which should also be incorporated in modern conflict analysis. Without very good knowledge of how Internet is working and what are its technical possibilities there is no change, virtual part of recent conflicts is being treated properly.

Practical implications of the paper are visible especially in the proposal (model) how recent conflicts should be treated and understood and this is not important just for strategists and intelligence personal but also for journalists, academics etc. And practical implications as well as methodology approach based on the interdisciplinary has also added the main value and originality of the paper. It must be clear that the way how reality is constructed through the ICT (what is actually the point of constructivism theory) has tremendous importance also within conflict and strategic studies.

The purpose of this paper is to review the most recent AUVSI unmanned vehicle show, with emphasis on the new robot innovations and applications on display.

In‐depth interviews with exhibitors of unmanned vehicles.

Unmanned vehicles are being coming more autonomous and addressing an ever‐increase range of applications in military, law enforcement, and commercial applications such as agriculture, fishing and rescue operations.

Customers will have to begin thinking of unmanned vehicle robots and able body helpers in all kinds of applications.

The paper presents a review of the latest innovations that one might have seen if they had been on the exhibition floor at the Las Vegas unmanned show.

The theory and practice of emergency management and homeland security continues to evolve. Specifically, public safety professionals must adopt an all-hazards approach to managing disasters and emergencies, and the creation of a safe and resilient nation is not solely the responsibility of the public safety community. Rather, it is the responsibility of the whole community. Using the Boston Marathon Bombing of 2015 as a case study, this chapter examines the extent to which law enforcement officers have embraced Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s concept of creating a culture of preparedness. In doing so, it reviews after-action reports from the incident to identify areas contributing to creating this culture as well as potential gaps and lessons learned. This chapter concludes with a set of recommendations for building and sustaining a culture of preparedness moving forward.

With the proliferation of terrorist/extremist websites on the World Wide Web, it has become progressively more crucial to detect and analyze the content on these websites. Accordingly, the volume of previous research focused on identifying the techniques and activities of terrorist/extremist groups, as revealed by their sites on the so-called dark web, has also grown.

This study presents a review of the techniques used to detect and process the content of terrorist/extremist sites on the dark web. Forty of the most relevant data sources were examined, and various techniques were identified among them.

Based on this review, it was found that methods of feature selection and feature extraction can be used as topic modeling with content analysis and text clustering.

At the end of the review, present the current state-of-the- art and certain open issues associated with Arabic dark Web content analysis.

A new concept solution for improving blast survivability of the light tactical military vehicles is proposed and critically assessed using computational engineering methods and tools.

The solution is inspired by the principle of operation of the rocket-engine nozzles, in general and the so called “pulse detonation” rocket engines, in particular, and is an extension of the recently introduced so-called “blast chimney” concept (essentially a vertical channel connecting the bottom and the roof and passing through the cabin of a light tactical vehicle). Relative to the blast-chimney concept, the new solution offers benefits since it does not compromise the cabin space or the ability of the vehicle occupants to scout the environment and, is not expected to, degrade the vehicle’s structural durability/reliability. The proposed concept utilizes side vent channels attached to the V-shaped vehicle underbody whose geometry is optimized with respect to the attainment of the maximum downward thrust on the vehicle. In the course of the channel design optimization, analytical and computational analyses of supersonic flow (analogous to the one often used in the case of the pulse detonation engine) are employed.

The preliminary results obtained reveal the beneficial effects of the side channels in reducing the blast momentum, although the extent of these effects is quite small (2-4 per cent).

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first exploration of the side-vent-channels concept for mitigating the effect of buried-mine explosion on a light tactical vehicle.

In recent years, particularly since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there has been a noticeable increase in the quantity and types of arms for sale in the international market. A variety of organisations, other than nation states, throughout the world provides a ready and willing market for this commodity. Once in the hands of such groups, the weapons are put to the only use that they have, although the reasons for their use vary. Perhaps the three most easily defined types of such non‐nation state groups are the terrorist, the guerrilla and the criminal. While the motives of each are reasonably well defined, the boundary between, in particular, the terrorist and the criminal groups is increasingly difficult to determine.

The purpose of this paper is to carry out a design-optimization analysis of the recently proposed side-vent-channel concept/solution for mitigation of the blast loads resulting from a shallow-buried mine detonated underneath a light tactical vehicle. Within this concept/solution, side-vent-channels attached to the V-shaped vehicle underbody are used to promote venting of ejected soil and supersonically expanding gaseous detonation products. This effect generates a downward thrust on the targeted vehicle, helping the vehicle survive mine-detonation-induced impulse loading.

The utility and the blast-mitigation capacity of this concept are investigated computationally using coupled finite-element/discrete-particle computational methods and tools. To maximize the blast-mitigation capacity of the solution (as defined by a tradeoff between the maximum reductions in the detonation-induced total momentum transferred to, and the acceleration acquired by, the target vehicle), the geometry and size of the side-vent-channel solution are optimized.

It is found that by optimizing the shape and size of the side-vent-channels, their ability to mitigate blast can be improved, but the overall blast-mitigation potential of the side-vent-channel solution remains relatively modest.

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first attempt to combine the finite-element/discrete-particle analysis with optimization in order to refine the side-vent-channel blast-mitigation concept.

Purpose – This chapter examines the role of the media, guns, and violence in the social construction of masculinity in today's mediatized American culture.

Methodology – The chapter draws on critical theory and cultural studies to address crises of masculinity and school shootings. It applies and further develops Guy Debord's (1970) theory on spectacle in the contexts of contemporary violent media spectacles.

Findings – In the chapter it is argued that school shooters, and other indiscriminate gun killers, share male rage and attempts to resolve crises of masculinity through violent behavior; exhibit a fetishism of guns or weapons; and resolve their crises through violence orchestrated as a media spectacle. This demands growing awareness of mediatization of American gun culture, and calls for a need for more developed understanding of media pedagogy as a means to create cultural skills of media literacy, as well as arguing for more rational gun control and mental health care.

Originality/value of paper – The chapter contributes to the contemporary debate on mediatization of violence by discussing it within critical theory and cultural studies. The theoretical framework is applied to analysis of a range of different empirical cases ranging from school shootings to the Colorado movie theater massacre at the first night of the latest Batman movie in the summer of 2012.

The recently proposed concept solution for improving blast-survivability of the light tactical military vehicles is critically assessed using combined finite-element/discrete-particle computational methods and tools. The purpose of this paper is to propose a concept that involves the use of side-vent-channels attached to the V-shaped vehicle underbody. Since the solution does not connect the bottom and the roof or pass through the cabin of a light tactical vehicle, this solution is not expected to: first, reduce the available cabin space; second, interfere with the vehicle occupants’ ability to scout the surroundings; and third, compromise the vehicle’s off-road structural durability/reliability. Furthermore, the concept solution attempts to exploit ideas and principles of operation of the so-called “pulse detonation” rocket engines in order to create a downward thrust on the targeted vehicle.

To maximize the downward thrust effects and minimize the extent of vehicle upward movement, standard engineering-optimization methods and tools are employed for the design of side-vent-channels.

The results obtained confirmed the beneficial effects of the side-vent-channels in reducing the blast momentum, although the extent of these effects is relatively small (3-4 percent).

To the authors’ knowledge, the present work is the first public-domain report of the side-vent-channel blast-mitigation concept.