The Politics of Gun Control and India's Internal Security
In the past two decades, security has come to be one of the most contested and debated concepts within the domain of international relations. Its state-centred contours interpreted narrowly as security of territory from external aggression, or as protection of national interests in foreign policy or as global security from the threat of nuclear holocaust, have today made way for a new security understanding that includes economic, environmental, cultural sectors and new security referents—societies, nonstate actors, individuals. This conceptual widening has been complemented at a practical level by a growing focus on conflicts and security challenges that stem from within states and which trace their roots to non-traditional sources such as drugs, terrorism, small arms, cyber war and trafficking in human beings.
India and the Arms Trade Treaty
The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) seeks to regulate the transfer of conventional arms on the principle that arms exporters and importers have a responsibility to ensure that weapons are not used in violations of international law. India wants the ATT to be limited to illicit trade. It believes that the United Nations has various mechanisms to deal with human rights violations and that this issue should not be linked to arms trade. Indian citizens have spoken against gun vio-lence. Whether it is against the guns that killed Jessica Lall in Delhi or people in the conflict zones of Manipur, Kashmir or the Maoist-affected regions, Indians are fighting against the menace of the gun culture. The ATT is a just cause and India needs to support it.
Cultural constraints on the delivery of HIV/AIDS prevention in Ireland.
HIV appeared in Ireland following an opiate epidemic in the early 1980s. Initially, however, the gay community mounted the only response to the spread of the virus while the implementation of early actions by the government was hampered by the constructions of the disease within Irish society. This paper considers the influence of the religious hierarchy in both the development of AIDS policy and in the shaping of public perceptions of the disease and those affected. A qualitative methodology is used to examine the role of such cultural constraints in an evaluation of the social context within which the prevention of HIV infection occurs. Three key issues pertinent to the policy context in Ireland are explored in depth. These are the role of the Catholic Church, the influences on health education programmes, particularly information giving, and the development of services and other interventions. These findings are discussed within the social and political contexts in which health policy is formulated.