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The field of conflict resolution has evolved dramatically during the relatively short duration of the discipline’s existence. Each generation of scholars has struggled with the major puzzles of their era, providing theories and solutions that meet the needs of the time, only to be pushed forward by new insights and, at times, totally upended by a changing world. This introductory course text explores the genealogy of the field of conflict resolution by examining three different epochs of the field, each one tied to the historical context and events of the day. In each of these epochs, scholars and practitioners worked to understand and address the conflicts that the world was facing, at that time.

This book provides a framework that students will carry with them far into their careers, enriching their contributions and strengthening their voices. Rather than a didactic approach to the field, students will develop their critical analytical skills through an inductive inquiry. Students will broaden their vocabulary, grapple with argumentation, and develop critical reading skills.

London, 1953. Harry Towers is a recently retired, and even more recently widowed, British intelligence officer. After a night spent drinking away his sorrows, he is awakened by a phone call with chilling news. His estranged son Sean has gone missing in Tehran after writing a damning article about the involvement of government officials in the opium trade. Harry springs to action, eager to reunite with his son and atone for past wrongs.

From British journalist and bestselling author, Tom Bradby, Yesterday’s Spy is a brilliantly plotted historical espionage novel about a father searching for his disappeared son against the backdrop of the 1953 coup in Tehran.

Five data breaches that occurred in the back half of 2022 impacted at least 1 million people, according to the latest statistics by the the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

As iTnews reported yesterday, a freedom of information request resulted in some OAIC breach data becoming public ahead of the report’s release.

A nationally interoperable ecosystem of digital identity credentials has taken a quiet but significant step forward after a key meeting of state and federal data and digital ministers finally agreed to a “nationally coordinated approach” to avoid a costly repeat of the electronic version of incompatible rail gauges.

According to a communique issued by the Data and Digital Ministers Meeting held in Melbourne on Friday, a “nationally coordinated approach giving Australians access and control over the use of digital IDs, and making it easy for citizens to deal with government” is now a common goal and has been deemed “vital to success” to harmonising standards and credentials.

The public sector union has levelled complaints at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) this month, alleging that many diverse candidates who’d been given a conditional offer into the graduate program were then denied due to delays in security vetting. This reportedly lead to the rejection of around a quarter of the applicants.

Candidates wanting to work in the public service are required to undergo security vetting if they are to handle classified information. The ABC reports there’s anecdotal evidence this process takes longer for Australians who are born overseas or have family overseas, because of extra checks to ensure such candidates won’t be influenced by foreign governments. The union claims such delays are leading to many diverse candidates missing out on government jobs.

The RCMP says it wasn’t able to run a criminal investigation into allegations of foreign interference in the 2021 election because intelligence reports don’t always translate into evidence — something that has been a long-standing source of tension in the national security world.

On Thursday Michael Duheme, a deputy commissioner of the RCMP, fielded questions from MPs about why there are no active RCMP investigations underway into the last election.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered more than 1,000 companies to curtail their operations in the world’s 11th biggest economy, revealing an imperative for global firms to bolster their ability to anticipate geopolitical risk and build resilience.

In-house government legal services in federal agencies should be headed by an independent lawyer from the Attorney General’s department, according to a wide-ranging report to the robo-debt royal commission by former senior bureaucrat, ANU honorary professor Andrew Podger.

Professor Podger criticised the poor record-keeping, in particular among lawyers, and called for an end to the provision of draft legal advice. He was particularly critical of the way personal notebooks had been destroyed, with little legal guidance on how long officials should retain them or their diaries.

Last week, a Chinese surveillance balloon floating over the United States set off a political firestorm in Washington. It also offered a glimpse into the secret world of intelligence gathering, where countries are racing to harness new technologies that will help them gain a competitive edge. But these same new technologies are making spycraft, especially the collection of human intelligence, far more challenging.

To adapt to these changes, Amy Zegart, a Stanford professor and the author of the book “Spies, Lies, and Algorithms,” believes the U.S. government should overhaul the way the intelligence community is organized.