Global journal of Business and Integral Security

Equal at the Table, Unequal in Influence: Why Consensus Is So Difficult at the WTO

Nkechinyere Emerald Onyeomachi Agulanna — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The World Trade Organization places consensus at the heart of decision-making, giving Members formally equal standing regardless of economic weight. Yet equal participation rights do not necessarily create equal influence. Negotiating effectively requires expertise, information, personnel, institutional memory, diplomatic networks and the capacity to follow complex negotiations simultaneously. Drawing on the 2003 Cancún Ministerial Conference, the Cotton Four initiative, Uganda’s participation experience and smaller negotiating configurations, this Research Opinion explores the gap between formal equality and practical influence. It argues that power within the WTO cannot be reduced to a simple divide between large and small economies: less-resourced Members can exercise significant agency, particularly through coalitions. The deeper question is what enables a formal voice to become meaningful influence.
Keywords: World Trade Organization; consensus; power asymmetry; trade negotiations; diplomatic capacity; developing countries

Integral Security in Strategic Management: Design and Validation of the 'Arjun' Ecosystem for Corporate and Financial Resilience

Mohamad Raoof Pajoohesh — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

As the velocity of digital finance accelerates, modern enterprises confront a critical paradox: highspeed digital infrastructure actively amplifies human cognitive biases, while the opacity of generalpurpose AI triggers severe algorithmic anxiety among executives. To address this dual vulnerability, this study adopts a Design Science Research DSR methodology, empirically validated through a mixed-methods analysis of 74 industry leaders, to engineer the 'ARJUN' Strategic Management Ecosystem. Functioning as a comprehensive ‘Digital Fortress,’ ARJUN transcends traditional ERP systems by orchestrating three interdependent layers: a cognitive-executive framework utilizing PyPlutchik affective filters to neutralize heuristic errors; a Financial Intelligence Hub driven by Deep Learning LSTM state-space models for macro-aware quantitative trading; and an Institutional-grade Zero-Trust Architecture ZTA operating on compartmentalized cryptographic silos. The empirical findings reveal that substituting opaque ‘black-box’ models with transparent, Agile-based algorithmic workflows successfully transforms executive fear into verifiable trust. This research provides corporate leadership with a mathematically validated blueprint to bridge the gap between highfrequency automated execution and absolute digital sovereignty, ensuring resilient strategic governance in volatile markets.
Keywords: Strategic Management, Zero-Trust Architecture, Agentic AI, Algorithmic Anxiety, Financial Intelligence, Design Science Research.

The Role of Inclusive Nationalism in Post-Conflict State-Building: Insights from Rwanda

Justice Ntwali — Mon, 28 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the synergistic relationship between inclusive nationalism and comprehensive development in stabilising developing states, with Rwanda as a case study. It explores how, following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda strategically fused civic identity-building efforts with targeted socio-economic development programs to foster stability, national cohesion and peace. By promoting a shared national identity and prioritising broad-based development initiatives, Rwanda has managed to avoid the fragmentation and instability that continue to plague many post-conflict societies. The study contrasts Rwanda’s experience with neighbouring fragile states to highlight the critical role of inclusive governance and effective development strategies in post-conflict reconstruction. It further considers the influence of external actors, such as international donors and regional organisations, on shaping state-building trajectories. The article concludes by proposing that inclusive nationalism, when cultivated alongside comprehensive development, can serve as a powerful catalyst for durable peace, resilience, and sustainable growth in fragile contexts.
Keywords: Nationalism, development, fragile states, Rwanda, Great Lakes Region, peacebuilding

A Structured Review Of Internet Domain Research: Registration, Market, Security, And Law

Peter Wilfahrt — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This structured review synthesises the current state of research on Internet domain names across five clusters: market structure and growth, registration behaviour, DNS abuse and cybersecurity, trademark law and cybersquatting, and domain valuation in the secondary market. It draws on registry statistics (Verisign and DNIB), ICANN research (INFERMAL), independent measurement studies (Interisle Consulting Group), WIPO case statistics, the European Commission's DNS abuse study, and peer-reviewed work, most of it published between 2011 and 2026. The global base reached 401.6 million registered domain names in mid-2026 and grew by 8.1% year on year, with new generic top-level domains expanding at more than 30% a year. Abuse grows faster than the market: 19.5 million unique domains were used in malware, phishing or spam attacks in 2025, more than twice the 2024 figure, and at least 10% of all domains newly registered in gTLDs in 2025 were later blocklisted. The evidence, most of it correlational, points to price as the main driver of abuse. Phishing domains cost on average USD 4.71 at registration against USD 8.62 for benign domains, and each one-dollar reduction in price is associated with an estimated 49% increase in malicious registrations. The review documents the legal instruments available to brand owners (UDRP, URS, ACPA, NIS2 Article 28), the economics of the domain aftermarket, and the implications of the ICANN 2026 gTLD round, which closed with more than 1,600 applications. It identifies four research gaps: the cost of domain abuse for small and medium-sized enterprises, econometric evidence on registrar pricing and abuse, the security of blockchain-based namespaces, and the causal effect of registrant verification under NIS2.

NEUTRALITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE: ADAPTING SWISS GOVERNANCE MODELS TO SECURE PAKISTAN’S CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AGAINST GLOBAL CORPORATE HEGEMONY

Umar Iqbal Butt — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pakistan legally owns its most consequential national assets yet does not operationally control them. The SCADA systems governing the Reko Diq mining complex and the national energy grid are managed by foreign entities under foreign jurisdictions, a condition this article terms Digital Suzerainty. Using a comparative case study, the article benchmarks Pakistan’s critical infrastructure governance against Switzerland’s National Cyber Strategy. Three findings emerge. First, Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act lacks data residency mandates, sovereign key management and vendor liability frameworks. Second, both Reko Diq and the CPEC energy grid exhibit dependency configurations associated with state-sponsored operational freeze attacks. Third, the proposed Pakistan Sovereign Stack offers a phased, technically specific blueprint for Strategic Decoupling that is reproducible across resource-dependent Global South economies.
Keywords: Digital Sovereignty, Critical Infrastructure, Pakistan, Switzerland, CPEC, Pakistan Sovereign Stack.

Cybercrime As A Systemic Business Risk

Peter Wilfahrt — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper presents a systematic meta-analysis of major empirical cybercrime studies published between 2020 and 2026. Drawing on evidence from the FBI IC3, Verizon DBIR, IBM Cost of a Data Breach, Bitkom Wirtschaftsschutz, and ENISA Threat Landscape reports, it examines the economic scale of cybercrime, dominant attack vectors, and the persistent gap between organizational exposure and preparedness. Applying Routine Activity Theory, Organizational Resilience Theory, and Institutional Theory, the paper explains why mid-market organizations remain disproportionately vulnerable despite widely available risk information. Key findings include global cybercrime damages reaching USD 9.5 to 12 trillion in 2024, ransomware present in 44% of all confirmed breaches, and German business losses totaling EUR 202.4 billion in 2025. The paper proposes a Risk-Tiered Cyber Resilience Framework (RTCRF) translating empirical evidence into proportionate security investment guidance for mid-market organizations.

Behavioural Threats To SME Webshops Under EU Law

Peter Wilfahrt — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Underground identity markets occupy one end of the cybercrime supply chain. At the other end, in sectors far removed from dark web forums, small webshop operators face a structurally related problem: customers who exploit contractual constructs, liberal return policies, and EU consumer law to systematically extract value without breaking any laws. This paper looks at that threat and argues that it follows the same economic logic as technical cybercrime. Drawing on Routine Activity Theory and Situation Awareness Theory, it develops a seven-type taxonomy of behavioural threats to EU-based SME webshops, constructs a cost impact model calibrated to micro-business scale, and maps the legal and operational countermeasures available under Directive 2011/83/EU and evolving ECJ jurisprudence. Behavioural threats work differently from technical threats, need a different analytical framework, and hardly appear in the research and guidance that European SME operators rely on today. A small number of abusive customers, often as few as two to five per hundred, can eliminate the net margin of an entire customer segment. Cheap improvements in guardianship reduce this exposure considerably.

“FROM DR. MEDICUS RATIONALIS TO BRAND RESONANCE: A FRAMEWORK FOR EMOTIONAL BRANDING IN PHARMACEUTICAL MARKETING

Alexandros Athanasiou — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In pharmaceutical marketing, data has long been the core essence of brand communication. The industry’s default assumption, what this paper terms “Dr. Medicus Rationalis”, presumes that healthcare professionals are purely rational decision-makers influenced primarily by clinical evidence. The assumption that prescribing decisions are solely rational, based on factual information, is challenged by contemporary research.
This research aspires to have significant implications for pharmaceutical companies by highlighting the significant impact that emotions can have on physicians' prescribing choices and offer practical recommendations to pharmaceutical companies on how to adapt their marketing strategies in a way that can resonate more effectively at an emotional level with the healthcare providers. The framework consists of 30 practical applications and was developed through a mixed multi-method doctoral research approach. The findings suggest that incorporating emotional elements into pharmaceutical marketing, presents considerable opportunities to reinforce brand differentiation.
Keywords: Emotional branding, Pharmaceutical marketing, Brand Resonance, Prescriber decision-making.

WHY ANCILLARIES SHOULD DRIVE PRICING STRATEGY: A PRACTITIONER’S VIEW

Rahaman Sheriff — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Airlines have been lately earning a large share of revenue from ancillaries (Bags, seats, bundles, and loyalty add-ons). This commentary argues that the pricing teams should start treating ancillaries as first class pricing inputs to optimize the total passenger yield, instead of optimizing fares in isolation. This paper covers industry evidence and a live pricing experiment, with three practical recommendations, which is making expected ancillary value visibly in pricing decisions, test ancillary offers with small A/B experiments and keeping bundles simple and transparent for customers. Short, actionable steps are provided so commercial teams can start capturing ancillary value without major systems overhaul.
Keywords: Ancillaries; airline pricing; revenue management; dynamic pricing; experimentation; offer retailing; customer experience

Enabling Sustainable AI

Frank Soans, Anna Provodnikova, Bojan Kostandinovic — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Deep tech and the world of AI have been rapidly changing the market share and is one of the most focused industries. While opportunities are great, the pit falls maybe likewise. One key element in avoiding pit falls is the need to develop AI with a sustainable approach or building Sustainable AI. AI is dependent on human intelligence and would undergo similar learning cycles to that of humans such as learning, unlearning, and new learning as part of its machine learning ability. This cycle would
ensure it is relevant based on new data and information that is made available, discovered or generated, be it by humans, nature, industry or by AI itself. It would also need an active supply chain, one that is sustainable to ensure appropriate learning and refresh to ensure the improvement continues. The processes applied from design to decline would be key in creating Sustainable AI. To ensure this process is viable and sustainable, principles like design thinking and systems thinking maybe critical right from
the design process, through the steps carried out in the AI build and its continued maintenance to ensure a more humane and wholistic development of AI. This design approach needs to be profitable, inclusive and circular to ensure stakeholder objectives, human social factors, economic requirements and environmental impacts are addressed.
Keywords: Sustainability, AI, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, environmental, societal, economy, design, Sustainable AI.