Venus in arms

  • Home
  • About
    • Fabrizio Coticchia
    • Francesco N. Moro
  • Publications
  • Research
  • Links
  • Contacts

Political parties matter: a research agenda on interactions among elites in post-conflict democracies

15 December 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

We are pleased to recommend a new paper on political parties, power-sharing, and post-conflict societies. The manuscript (“Political parties matter: a research agenda on interactions among elites in post-conflict democracies“) has been published (gated, here) by Giampiero Cama and (our) Fabrizio Coticchia on Contemporary Politics.

Here below you’ll find the abstract:

The literature has devoted considerable attention to the understanding of state institutions and rule of law in the processes of democratization. However, despite the crucial relevance of dynamic and repeated interactions between actors and institutions in non-homogenous post-conflict societies, most research lacks systematic analyses on the role of parliaments, parties and party systems after civil wars. While several studies have examined the effects of electoral systems or veto rights after power-sharing agreements, as well as the transformation of rebel groups into political parties in post-conflict societies, the development of parties within parliaments has been largely ignored. Therefore, by combining conflict studies, institutional design perspectives and peacebuilding approaches, this paper presents a research agenda on the overlooked role played by parliament as a crucial arena for a better analysis, in the long term, of power-sharing mechanisms and state-building, post-war political framing and narratives, ethnic outbidding and party modernization strategies.

The paper is one of the results of the workshops “Conflicts and Institutions” that have been organized in recent years by the Observatory on Conflicts at the University of Genova.

Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare Tagged With: Conflicts, Genova, parties, peacebuilding, power-sharing

Call for Papers: European Initiative on Security Studies Annual Conference

25 November 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

Also this year we are pleased to highlight the European Initiative on Security Studies (EISS) Annual Conference. Here you’ll find all the details of the Call for Papers.

The European Initiative on Security Studies is a Europe-wide multidisciplinary network of scholars from over eighty universities that share the goal of consolidating security studies in Europe.

The third annual conference of the European Initiative on Security Studies will be held at Sciences Po, in Paris, on 27-28 June 2019. It is organized by the EISS board, within the framework of the French Association for the Study of War and Strategy (AEGES) and in collaboration with the Center for International Studies (CERI) of Sciences Po.

There are “open” and “closed” panels (which focus on themes decided by the EISS, see again the program of the conference)

15 January 2019 is the deadline for sending paper proposals to the panel chairs (cf. emails below) and panel proposals to the EISS (eissnetwork@gmail.com).

Among amazing panels, we point out:

Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism (Chair: Peter Neumann)

Military Interventions (Chair: Chiara Ruffa)

Defense Cooperation and Military Assistance (Chair: Adrian Hyde-Price)

Concluding Keynote Panel (Chair: Thierry Balzacq) Speakers: Stephen Brooks (Dartmouth College) & Barry Posen (MIT)

See you soon in Paris!!
Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare, Defense in Europe Tagged With: Defense, EISS, Europe, Military Transformation, Paris, Terrorism

Italian political parties and Military Operations: an Empirical Analysis on Voting Patterns

9 November 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

by Valerio Vignoli* and Fabrizio Coticchia**

Despite the recent delays, the new Italian government is called to take a decision on military deployments abroad soon. Which operations to renew? Which to initiate? Which to terminate? While we know little about how the Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) positioned on this issue, a comprehensive analysis on the voting patterns in parliament of Lega Nord and all the other major parties between 1994 and 2016 is finally available.

Our article “Italian political parties and Military Operations: an Empirical Analysis on Voting Patterns”, which has been recently published (here the link) on Government and Opposition, focuses specifically on this issue, providing the first detailed dataset on parliamentary votes on missions in Italy.

Here below the abstract of the paper:

Since the end of the bipolar era, the military activism of several Western powers has raised questions about parliamentary control, fostering growing research and analyses on the features, drivers and consequences of the different kinds of oversight exercised by legislative assemblies. Within this scholarly debate, this article focuses on the under-studied case of Italy. How did Italian parties vote on military operations abroad in the post-Cold War era? In order to answer this question, the article presents the first detailed and comprehensive set of data on parliamentary votes over the deployment of the Italian armed forces in the post-Cold War era (i.e. from the beginning of the 1990s to the recent operation against ISIL). Thanks to this extensive new empirical material, the article assesses selected arguments developed by the literature on political parties and foreign policy, paving the way for further research.

What are the main findings of the paper?

First, in line with the existing literature, the paper confirms a rather solid bipartisan consensus between centre-left (e.g., Partito Democratico) and centre right (e.g., Forza Italia) parties on military operations. In contrast, it indicates much more volatility for parties at the extremes such as Lega Nord and Rifondazione Comunista, depending on their presence in the governing coalitions. Second, and relatedly, the dynamics of government–opposition are very relevant in the case of Italy. Finally, in line with the argument of a supposed ‘instrumentality’ of voting on Italian foreign and defence policy, the findings illustrate how main opposition parties, despite an overall consensus on the missions expressed several times in the parliament, aimed to defeat the government before the assembly, exploiting divisions in the majority coalitions during ‘crucial votes’, when the government had a slim margin of support. Third,  the curvilinear model of partisan support for military operations seems to better illustrate the case of Italy than the ‘traditional left–right’ model. Finally, “the procedural features” seem to affect  the behaviour of political parties towards the MOAs. In fact, opposition parties, when confronted with a ‘package’ of several missions to refund, tend to vote in favour even though they are against one of them.

Given these findings, what to expect regarding the next votes on troops deployments abroad? A never-ending bipartisan consensus on missions? Is there a possibility to see again the instrumental use of the votes by opposition parties, even if they (e.g., PD, Forza Italia) are the most vocal supporters of military missions abroad? We should wait and see. The road to a deal between the two coalition partners, Lega Nord and Movimento 5 Stelle, is apparently still long and bumpy. For sure, the delays in the legislative debates, paradoxically confirms the limited saliency most parties attribute to the issue of military operations in the public debate.

The paper is connected to a broader research agenda that focuses on parliamentary votes and military operations (here some further details if you are interested in…)

 

 

 

Valerio Vignoli is PhD candidate at NASP. His thesis is titled:“’At the Water’s Edge?’: Italian Political Parties and Military Operations Abroad”

Fabrizio Coticchia is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Genova. 

Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare, Defense in Europe, Italian military operations abroad, Italian Strategy and Doctrine Tagged With: Italian Defense, Italy, Lega Nord, M5S, missions, Parliaments

“The brave new world of IR?” – SGRI Conference 2018

29 September 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

The annual Conference of the Italian Standing Group on International Relations (SGRI) is coming. Here you’ll find all the info on the 2018 edition (Bologna, 12-13 October).

The SGRI conference is a two-day session that brings together scholars, researchers and PhD students from Italian academia to discuss issues related to global politics, European Studies, foreign policy, regional dynamics and international theory. The 2018 Conference will be held for the second time in Bologna.

The event is sponsored by the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Bologna, within the framework of the MIUR Progetto di Eccellenza 2018-2022, and co-organized by IP Lab with the support of the School of International Studies (SIS) of the University of Trento and of the Fondazione Bruno Kessler.

This year’s topic is about technology and geopolitics.

Here you’ll find the program. And here the really interesting plenary sessions (how to study defense in Europe, a debate on latest book by Angelo Panebianco, and a lecture by Joe Grieco)

We suggest especially these two (“Venus”) panels, on Italian defense and on international interventions.

See you soon in Bologna

 

Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare, Defense in Europe, Italian military operations abroad, Italian Strategy and Doctrine Tagged With: conflict, Defense, SGRI

“Change in Security Organisations Between Internal and External Dynamics”

11 September 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

We are really pleased to shed light on an upcoming panel at the EISA (European International Studies Association Annual Conference) 12thPan-European Conference on International Relations: “A New Hope: Back to the Future of International Relations”. The conference will be held in Prague (12-15 Settembre).

The panel is titled “Change in Security Organisations Between Internal and External Dynamics“. “Our” Francesco Moro will partecipate with a paper (along with the other “VIA” Fabrizio Coticchia, and Andrea Locatelli).

Here and below the detail of the panel:

 

Session title:Change in Security Organisations Between Internal and External Dynamics

Track:S49: The Transformation of Security Institutions

Chair: Olivier Schmitt, Denmark

Discussant: Matthew Ford, United Kingdom

Rejecting Liberalism in Post-Genocide Rwanda: Failures in “Best-Practices (K. Carlson, University of Southern Denmark)

The Italian Defence Policy after the Cold War. Europeanisation, American Influence, or Strategic Adjustment? (A. Locatelli, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano; F.N. Moro, University of Bologna, F. Coticchia, University of Genoa)

From Spiritual Defense to Robust Resilience: A Genealogy of the Finnish Comprehensive Security Model (A.E. Hyvönen,  University of Tampere, and T. Juntunen).

The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Softening Authoritarianism in Repressive Post-Soviet Regimes. The Case of Kazakhstan within Regional Security Organisations (A. Marin, Collegium Civitas- Warsaw, 

The US-Japan Alliance as an Institution for Security: the Changing Rationales, Scope, and Dynamics (Y. Sato, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, and E. Atanassova-Cornelis, University of Antwerp)

 

See you in Prague

Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare, Defense in Europe, Italian military operations abroad, Italian Strategy and Doctrine Tagged With: EISA, Military Transformation

The Handbook of European Defence Policies and Armed Forces

4 July 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

We are really pleased to announce that “The Handbook of European Defence Policies and Armed Forces” (Meijer and Wyss, Oxford University Press, 2018) has been published.

Here you’ll find all the contents and details of the Handbook, which is the first geographically and thematically comprehensive presentation and analysis of the evolution of defence policies and armed forces in Europe since the end of the Cold War.

“Our”Fabrizio Coticchia wrote the chapter on Italy.

Here below the abstract:

The armed forces of Europe have undergone a dramatic transformation since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Handbook of European Defence Policies and Armed Forces provides the first comprehensive analysis of national security and defence policies, strategies, doctrines, capabilities, and military operations, as well as the alliances and partnerships of European armed forces in response to the security challenges Europe has faced since the end of the cold war. A truly cross-European comparison of the evolution of national defence policies and armed forces remains a notable blind spot in the existing literature. The Handbook of European Defence Policies and Armed Forces aims to fill this gap with fifty-one contributions on European defence and international security from around the world. The six parts focus on: country-based assessments of the evolution of the national defence policies of Europe’s major, medium, and lesser powers since the end of the cold war; the alliances and security partnerships developed by European states to cooperate in the provision of national security; the security challenges faced by European states and their armed forces, ranging from interstate through intra-state and transnational; the national security strategies and doctrines developed in response to these challenges; the military capabilities, and the underlying defence and technological industrial base, brought to bear to support national strategies and doctrines; and, finally, the national or multilateral military operations by European armed forces. The contributions to The Handbook collectively demonstrate the fruitfulness of giving analytical precedence back to the comparative study of national defence policies and armed forces across Europe.

 

Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare, Defense in Europe, Italian military operations abroad, Italian Strategy and Doctrine Tagged With: Armed Forces, Defense, Europe, Oxford

Conflicts and Institutions…

27 May 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

As already stated (here), we are pleased to announce the 3rd NASP “International Workshop on Conflicts and Institutions”, Genova, 26 June 2018.

Here you’ll find all the info on this terrific workshop, which is open to everyone.

If you are interested in conflicts and institutions you should be there! You’ll find scholars such as Fearon, Snidal, Ruggeri, Bove, Lucarelli, Moro, Costalli, and many others.

In the last two years the University of Genova hosted the leading scholars on conflicts, such as Kalyvas, Cederman, Carey, Hegre, Dorussen, Colombo, Bakke, Clayton, Daxecker, Belloni, and many others.

Here below the description of the event and the detailed agenda of the workshop:

The last two years the University of Genova organized the conference “Conflicts & Institutions: Research, Projects and Workshops”. In continuity with those events also this year we have invited leading scholars in conflicts studies, democratization, peacebuilding and international security. The main goal of the workshop is still to specify the links and the connections between the ongoing crisis and the current conflicts to examine the relation between institutions and conflicts. At the same time, the Project “Conflicts & Institutions” aims at creating a network of scholars able to elaborate common research projects and proposals. The current project has been designed and coordinated by Giampiero Cama (University of Genova), Andrea Ruggeri (University of Oxford), and Fabrizio Coticchia (University of Genova).

The workshop is co-funded by the University of Genoa, the Department of Political Science (DISPO) and by NASP (Network for Advancement of Social and Political Studies).

The conference will be held at the University of Genova (DISPO – Department of Political Science).

Agenda of the event.

26 June 2018, Aula Mazzini, 3rdFloor, Via Balbi 5, Genova

 9.00Registration

9.15Welcome address – Giampiero Cama(University of Genova)

9.30Keynote speech

Sonia Lucarelli(University of Bologna), “The EU as an actor of collective securitization? exploring the concept, testing the Case”

10.30 Keynote speech

James Fearon(Stanford University), “The arms trade, international alignments, and international conflict”

11.30Coffee Break

11.45 First Panel – Conflicts and Institutions. Chair: Fabrizio Coticchia (University of Genova)

Tine Gade(EUI) “In-group policing and the non-occurrence of civil war: Lebanon and Jordan after 2011”

Discussant:   Silvia D’Amato (University of Florence),

Gloria Gennaroand Jessica Miranda(Bocconi, Milan), “Democratization and conflict: the role of uncertainty”

Discussant: Vincenzo Bove (University of  Warwick),

Matteo Colombo(University of Milan), “Warlords on Twitter: Competing with the state among pro-government militias in Syria”

Discussant: Andrea Ruggeri (University of Oxford),

Natalia Tellidou(EUI), “Neoclassical realism and proxy wars. The cases of Syria and Yemen”.

Discussant: Stefano Costalli (University of Florence).

13.30Lunch Buffet

14.30 Second Panel – Conflicts and Institutions. Chair: Mara Morini (University of Genova)

Akisato Suzuki(EUI), “Why Citizens Let Their Leaders Engage in Armed Conflict: A Rationalist Explanation”

Discussant: James Fearon (Stanford University)

Vanessa Meier(Oxford University), “For better or worse? Third-party intervention and civilian victimisation”

Discussant: Francesco N. Moro (University of Bologna)

Francesca Cerutti(University of Milan), “Measuring the Effectiveness of Security Institutions and Tracing its Determinants:The Biological Weapons Non-Proliferation Regime”

Discussant:  Duncan Snidal (University of Oxford)

Marina Petrova(Essex University), “Water or Gasoline? Civil Society in Contentious Scenarios”

Discussant: Sonia Lucarelli (University of Bologna )

15.45 Coffee Break

16.00 Keynote speech

Duncan Snidal(University of Oxford), “The Supply of Informal International Governance with an Application to the Proliferation Security Initiative”

17.00 Concluding Remarks

Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare Tagged With: Conflicts, Fearon, institutions, Snidal

“Through military lenses”. New research on officers’ perceptions of military transformation

19 April 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

What do military officers think about force transformation? While the latter has been the object of a great deal of important research in the past decade (and more), the opinions and perceptions of servicemen have rarely been explored. To dig into what Italian Air Force officers think is the objective of latest fatigue of Fabrizio Coticchia and Francesco Moro, who, with their invaluable co-author Lorenzo Cicchi, just published an article on Defence Studies on the topic. The article, “Through military lenses. Perception of securitythreats and jointness in the Italian Air Force”, used data from an original survey conducted among ITAF captains with two major objectives. First, the article focuses on servicemen’s attitudes towards the transformations of the global security environment and the changes occurring (and needed) within the Italian Air Force. Second, the article provides preliminary statistical evidence on the links between individual experiences, views, and change. The article shows that officers’ views of technology have a significant impact on their views about military transformation. To the extent to which it is possible, enjoy!

 

Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare, Defense in Europe, Italian Strategy and Doctrine Tagged With: Aeronautica Militare Italiana, Difesa Italiana, Militari, Military perceptions, Military Transformation

Sisp Conference 2018. Call for papers (Italian military operations, Sahel, North Africa, defense, Europe, stabilisation…)

13 April 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

Several interesting panels at the next SISP (Società Italiana di Scienza Politica) Annual Conference (Torino, 6-8 September 2018).

Here you’ll find the call for papers. Deadline: May, 20th.

Within the section of “International Relations”, we are pleased to focus on the “Venus panels”. Indeed, “our” Francesco Moro and Fabrizio Coticchia are the chairs of the following 3 panels:

Panel 8.5 Assisting them at their home? Italian and European Security Policies in Sahel and North Africa

 Chair: Fabrizio Coticchia and Luca Raineri

In January 2018 Italy’s parliament approved an increased military presence in Libya and the deployment of troops in Niger and Tunisia. As stated by the Italian government, the goals of the missions were to “guarantee stability in the area”, providing security assistance and capacity building. Officially, Italy aims to support African countries mainly to “fight illegal trafficking of migrants and terrorism”. In line with the last White Paper (2015), Italian Defense started to focus on the “Enlarged Mediterranean” as a key-strategic area, relocating troops from Afghanistan and Iraq to Sahel and Northern Africa. At the same time, several diplomatic and development initiatives have been planned in the region. Also, the EU and European countries (such as France) have been extremely active in Sahel and Northern Africa, with manifold political and military efforts. By combining different methodological approaches, as well as junior and senior scholars from different fields (IR, security studies, defense and foreign policy, area experts), the panel aims to investigate the patterns of (political and military) involvement of Italy, the EU and other European countries in the region. A comparative perspective and a multi-scalar focus would allow analyzing variations across national and multilateral approaches, but also reconfigurations at local level. The panel would like to collect papers that provide new evidence on the ways through which Italy, the EU, and other European countries have addressed the “instability at the Southern borders”, especially concerning:

  • The main traits, problems, consequences, and opportunities in security-assistance approaches in the region;
  • A critical perspective on the securitization of, and responses to, “failed states”, including capacity-building, state-building and stabilization;
  • The strategic shift of the Italian foreign policy towards Sahel and Northern Africa;
  • The coordination, cooperation, and conflicts between European countries, both at EU level as well as on the ground;
  • The security-development-migration nexus in the region
  • The decision-making processes that have led to the deployment of troops;
  • Different approaches and tensions in “the fight against illegal migration and terrorism”;
  • The reconfiguration of local governance in the framework of influence competition and changing priorities of foreign assistance;
  • The ambiguous status of informal networks and non-state actors in the framework of security-assistance.

Panel 8.7  – Change and continuity in European states’ defence policies

Chairs: Fabrizio Coticchia, Andrea Locatelli, Francesco Moro

European states are usually blamed for their reluctance to invest in defence policy. This is witnessed in particular by the mere lack of resources devoted to military assets, as well as the limited weight of defence issues in public debates. However, most – if not all – European states have transformed their defences since the end of the Cold War. Moreover, European armed forces have been deployed in complex military operations abroad, modifying doctrines and tactics on the ground. Reforms have been undertaken across the continent to adapt to the contemporary security context. Examples of this include the demise of the draft, collaborative procurement, multinational exercises and other initiatives. On top of that, since the launch of the European Defence Agency, the European Union has progressively – although erratically – gathered momentum as a catalyst for further cooperation. Also NATO has played a relevant role in shaping the military transformation in Europe.

Starting from these premises, the aim of the panel is to investigate on the defence policies of European states from a comparative perspective. As a result, essays are welcome that cover one or more of these topics:

–      Empirical analyses of the defence policy of one or more European states.

  • Theoretical accounts of the evolution of one or more case studies.
  • In-depth analyses of individual defence policy initiatives and military innovation.
  • Theoretical and/or empirical investigations of the influence of the EU on one or more European States.
  • Theoretical and/or empirical investigations of the influence of NATO on one or more European States.

Panel 8.15 Stabilisation: a new framework for managing (in)security?

Chairs: Irene Costantini and Francesco N. Moro

Over the last decade, the international community has increasingly resorted to stabilisation missions as a new practice to engage in conflict-affected countries. Whether it is under a UN mandate or part of an ad-hoc coalition, stabilisation efforts are ongoing in countries such as Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and Libya. Although their implementation remains vague and confused, at the core of stabilisation there is the notion of civil and military actions aimed at mitigating crises and creating resilient societies capable of withstanding shocks. As such, stabilisation has moved away from previously dominant frameworks of intervention in conflict-affected countries, such as peacebuilding and statebuilding. Indeed, stabilisation emerged in response to the failure of previous interventions (notably, Iraq and Afghanistan) and the doubts concerning the viability and possibility of building effective states in conflict-affected and fragile countries. The panel investigates what stabilisation is and how it is working as a framework for international action in conflict-affected countries. It questions international actors’ convergent and divergent notions of stability and their operationalization through time and space. By inviting quantitative and qualitative analyses of diverse case studies, the panel aims at unravelling the components and underlying assumptions of stabilisation as well as at scrutinizing similarities and differences between cases. Furthermore, it seeks to explore whether stabilisation is based upon a novel interpretation of insecurity and whether it proposes new ways of governing it.

 

Send your papers through MySisp.

See you soon in Torino.

Share Button

Filed Under: Contemporary warfare, Defense in Europe, Italian military operations abroad, Italian Strategy and Doctrine Tagged With: European Defense, Italian Defense, Military Transformation, Sahel, SISP

Elezioni 2018: “Difesa: la convergenza dell’assenza nei programmi di partiti sempre più ‘ignoranti’”

23 February 2018 by ViA Leave a Comment

Segnaliamo con piacere l’intervista del quotidiano online L’Indro al “nostro” Fabrizio Coticchia. Il tema dell’intervista è la generalizzata assenza (o la limitata presenza) dei temi della difesa nei programmi elettorali dei partiti italiani, in vista delle prossime elezioni del 4 Marzo.

Qui il link all’intervista.

 

Share Button

Filed Under: Italian military operations abroad, Italian Strategy and Doctrine Tagged With: Difesa, Elezioni, Elezioni2018

Next Page »

Authors

Fabrizio Coticchia Profile Image I work on contemporary warfare, public opinion and military operations, Italian and European strategic culture (if there is such a thing...) More.
Francesco N. Moro Profile Image I work on organizations that change (or try to). Currently, I conduct research on armed forces in Europe and on mafias moving in “non-traditional” areas. More.

Tags cloud

Anything in here will be replaced on browsers that support the canvas element

  • Iraq
  • Afghanistan
  • Italy
  • ISIS
  • Libya
  • Difesa
  • Military Transformation
  • NATO
  • Libro Bianco
  • Italian Defense
  • ISIL
  • Syria
  • F35
  • Defense
  • Libia

Categories

  • Contemporary warfare
  • Defense in Europe
  • Italian military operations abroad
  • Italian Strategy and Doctrine
  • Pop-defense (Mos Eisley)
  • uncategorized
  • Venus in Arms
  • War by other names

Archives

Recent Posts

  • Political parties matter: a research agenda on interactions among elites in post-conflict democracies
  • Call for Papers: European Initiative on Security Studies Annual Conference
  • Italian political parties and Military Operations: an Empirical Analysis on Voting Patterns
  • “The brave new world of IR?” – SGRI Conference 2018
  • “Change in Security Organisations Between Internal and External Dynamics”

Categories

  • Contemporary warfare
  • Defense in Europe
  • Italian military operations abroad
  • Italian Strategy and Doctrine
  • Pop-defense (Mos Eisley)
  • uncategorized
  • Venus in Arms
  • War by other names

Tags

Afghanistan China Clint Eastwood Conflicts Cybersecurity Defense Difesa Drones EU F-35 F35 Foreign Fighters Foreign Policy Foreign Policy Analysis Genova Guerra Intelligence Iraq ISA ISIL ISIS Israel Italian Defense Italian foreign policy Italy Libia Libro Bianco Libya Military Transformation Missioni militari NATO Obama Pinotti Putin Renzi Russia Security SGRI SISP Star Wars Strategic narratives Syria Terrorism Ukraine crisis US defense policy

twitter

Tweets di @ViA_blog

Copyright © 2019 · eleven40 Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies