War Studies

Priestly Power and Probity on the Battlefield: Examining the Politico-Religious Origins of the Just War Doctrine

by David Drissel

The Vietnamization of the Long War on Terror: An Ongoing Lesson in International Humanitarian Law Noncompliance

by Lesley Wexler

Boston University International Law Journal, Forthcoming

This essay rejects the conventional wisdom that post Vietnam military reforms adequately addressed the problem of U.S.... more This essay rejects the conventional wisdom that post Vietnam military reforms adequately addressed the problem of U.S. noncompliance with international humanitarian law. Just as My Lai and Son Thang defines the nadir of America’s counterinsurgency in Vietnam, and the trio of Haditha, Abu Ghraib, and Operation Iron Triangle evoke our worst behavior in Iraq, the recent events of the 5th Stryker “kill team” brigade may come to symbolize our greatest failings in Afghanistan. The premeditated and deliberate killing of Afghani civilians reveals an indifference to human life that is utterly inconsistent with the premises of International Humanitarian Law and the deeply held values of the American military. In this short piece, I examine the Stryker kill team’s behavior to help build the knowledge and insight necessary to develop further reforms for military practices during the long war on terror.

The essay situates the 5th Stryker brigade’s troubling behavior within the military’s recent shift to counterinsurgency and highlights the suboptimal compliance conditions likely to bedevil the U.S. military during the long war on terror. Though the U.S. military successfully restructured its goals and reformed its behavior after Vietnam, at least three notable similarities remain. In particular, the military still: (a) abandons effective sorting strategies to exclude high risk soldiers when the demand for troops rises; (b) lacks adequate safeguards against leadership failures that allow a culture of disrespect for human life to fester; and lastly (c) faces only weak checks on its behavior as the result of domestic pressure. In identifying these factors, this essay seeks to help the military and other actors better target efforts to improve international humanitarian law compliance.

Internacionalismo y revolución: Las intervenciones del ICAIC en la historia de las independencias

by Santiago Juan-Navarro

Published in 1808-1810. Cine y guerras de independencia. Ed. Jorge Nieto Ferrando. Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, 2011. 

http://www.abadaeditores.com/libro.php?l=296

1-2-3-4 Feminists Don't Want Another War by Carol P. Christ

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.
more War is a feminist issue for many reasons, most importantly because war is always war against women.

Patriarchy, war, rape as the “spoils” of war, and the taking of women and children as slaves in the wake of war arose together.  Recent blogs on Feminism and Religion have addressed the war on women—from the rape culture, to Humane Vitae, to the Catholic Church’s and other church’s  attempts to remove birth control from health care, to the tolerance of sexist hate speech in the culture at large. While the issue of Rush Limbaugh calling Sandra Fluke a slut is being focused on in the press, the drums of war are being sounded again in the Middle East:  the US is considering bombing Iran or supporting Israel if it decides to do so.  Feminists must stand together against war and the harm it does to women, children, and all living things.

New Media Texts of WWII: Kenneth Burke’s Intersection with Computer Culture

by Jason C. Thompson

Magic for a People Trained in Pragmatism: Kenneth Burke, Mein Kampf, and the Early 9/11 Oratory of George W. Bush

by Jason C. Thompson

As the War Machine Keeps Turning: Just War Theory, Pacifism, and the War on Terror

by Jacob Held

Draft of a chapter in the upcoming: Black Sabbath and Phlosophy, edited by William Irwin (Wiley-Blackwell). This book is going to be wonderful. Check it out.

Using Black Sabbath's iconic anti-war anthem, "War Pigs" I discuss and explain traditional war theory and... more Using Black Sabbath's iconic anti-war anthem, "War Pigs" I discuss and explain traditional war theory and pacifism. I conclude by applying traditional just war theory to the "war on terror" and argue that pacifism is the only morally sound response to terrorism.

Title The Causes, Character and Conduct of Armed Conflict, and the Effects on Civilian Populations, 1990-2010

by Olivier Schmitt

"Co-autored with Theo Farrell". UNHCR Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, n°26, April 2012

The Complex Duality of Representing War in Visual Arts

by Hugo Joly-Morin

Domestic Politics and Prospect Theory in International Conflict: Explaining Japan’s War Decision in the 1904 Russo-Japanese War

by Steven B Rothman

Asia Pacific World 2(2) pp 66-84

This project explains the Japanese decision for war against Russia in 1904 by applying theories of war involving the... more This project explains the Japanese decision for war against Russia in 1904 by applying theories of war involving the democratic process, the domestic and government interests, and prospect theory. The project demonstrates the limits of psychological variables to analyze or explain international decisions due to the political complexity and domestic and global context of decision-making. In particular, the project uses economic framing to proxy a gains domain and security frames to proxy the losses domain. Risk sensitivities and preference ordering of the domestic interests (military and common business persons) are consistent with prospect theory, while the political connections between domestic constituents and decision-makers provide an intervening influence on the decision for war. The result suggests careful use of prospect theory and the importance of factors in addition to psychological ones when applied to international politics.

Public War, Private Conscience: The Ethics of Political Violence???By Andrew Fiala

by Eric Rovie

Hegel, Dünya Tarihi ve Özgürlük Mücadelesi Olarak Uluslararası İlişkiler

by Uluslararası İlişkiler

Faruk Yalvaç, "Hegel, Dünya Tarihi ve Özgürlük Mücadelesi Olarak Uluslararası İlişkiler", Uluslararası İlişkiler, Cilt 6, Sayı 21(Bahar), 2009

Bu yazı Hegel’in genel tarih felsefesi çerçevesinde uluslararası ilişkiler kuramını değerlendirmek amacını... more Bu yazı Hegel’in genel tarih felsefesi çerçevesinde uluslararası ilişkiler kuramını değerlendirmek amacını gütmektedir. Hegel, tarihi, insanların ve belli ulus ve kültürleri temsil eden devletlerin birbirlerini karşılıklı olarak tanımaları için verdikleri bir özgürlük mücadelesi olarak tanımlamıştır. Hegel’in uluslararası ilişkiler kuramı da onun özgürlük mücadelesi olarak gördüğü tarih felsefesinin içine yerleştirilmelidir. Hegel’de devletlerin birbirini tanıması esası üzerine kurulmuş ve devletlerin hem bağımsız ve özgür kaldıkları, hem de bir arada yaşamalarını mümkün kılan bir uluslararası ilişkiler kuramı vardır. Bu nedenle çağdaş toplumların özgürlük mücadelelerini modern ulus devletin sınırları içerisinde tamamlayıp tarihin sona erdiğini ileri sürmek yanlış olur. Ancak Hegel’in felsefesi uyarınca devletlerarası ilişkilerdeki özgürlük mücadelesinin gelecekte ne şekil alacağını bilmek olası değildir zira “bir felsefenin çağdaş dünyayı aşabileceğini hayal etmek, bir kimsenin Rodos’u sıçrayıp aşabileceğini sanmak kadar saçmadır”.

Potential Lives, Impossible Deaths: Afghanistan, Civilian Casualties and the Politics of Intelligibility

by Thomas Gregory

The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan has increased dramatically in recent years as the International... more The number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan has increased dramatically in recent years as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has tried to put down the Taliban insurgency. Reports of civilian casualties are, however, frequently dismissed as being examples of Taliban propaganda or blamed on the actions of enemy fighters, while the tragic loss of civilians is rarely marked or even acknowledged within the dominant frames of war. At first glance, the fact that civilians are so easily expendable appears to be at odds with the humanitarian intentions underpinning the war. However, I argue that the rhetoric of humanitarianism operates to preclude Afghans from appearing as recognizable human beings, foreclosing the possibility that they possess a life worthy of protection. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler, I will trace the ways in which Afghans have been reduced to the status of absolute victims, denied the very essence of their humanity and therefore a publically grievable death. By effectively constructing them as the living-dead, existing in a state of abeyance, Afghans have been exposed to a deathly logic in which their lives are expendable in the quest to make them liveable once again.

Agamemnon on the Battlefield of Leipzig. Wilhelm von Humboldt on Ancient Fighting, Modern Heroes, and "Bildung" through War

by Felix Saure

In: Elisabeth Krimmer und Patricia Anne Simpson (Eds.): Enlightened War. German Theories and Cultures of Warfare from Frederick the Great to Clausewitz. Rochester/NY: Camden House 2011 (= Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture). p. 75-102.

Naef. P. (In press). 1991-2011: Traces iconographiques des «Guerres Balkaniques». Essais en anthropologie visuelle. TSANTSA – Revue de la Société Suisse d’Ethnologie, Vol. 17

by Patrick Naef

La région des Balkans a connu des conflits armés violents dans les années quatre-vingt-dix et près de vingt ans après,... more La région des Balkans a connu des conflits armés violents dans les années quatre-vingt-dix et près de vingt ans après, les traces de la guerre sont encore visibles. Si les immeubles en ruines, les mines antipersonnelles, les impacts de balles et de mortiers disparaissent progressivement suivant un processus de reconstruction, certaines traces sont encore présentes, conservées volontairement ou laissées à l’abandon. De plus, certaines pratiques - muséales, artistiques, ou commerciales - participent à la mise en mémoire de ces guerres, par la production de graffitis, la vente de souvenirs ou encore la réalisation de divers projets artistiques. Cette contribution vise à exposer certaines représentations iconographiques de ces conflits, par l’exploration d’objets contemporains à ces guerres ou par la présentation d’éléments produits a posteriori. Les «roses de Sarajevo» (photo 1) - des impacts de mortiers remplis de peinture rouge et repérables dans différents endroits de la capitale bosnienne – peuvent déjà illustrer une forme de patrimonialisation et de mise en mémoire de la guerre.

Paradigm Shift: China's Rise and the Limits of Realism

by Daryl Morini

Published in 'Security Challenges', Vol. 7, No. 1 (Autumn 2011): 91-112.

The Australian strategic debate about the rise of China is heating up. In the hallways of power, as in the lecture... more The Australian strategic debate about the rise of China is heating up. In the hallways of power, as in the lecture rooms of reason, the possibility of a future Sino-American war is no longer considered outrageous or alarmist. It is accepted as a distinct possibility, if not an increasingly likely one. One of Australia‟s most prominent thinkers on the matter, Hugh White, argued in his widely-acclaimed essay, Power Shift, that the US response to China‟s rise is a choice between competing against Beijing and risking war, withdrawing from the western Pacific, or sharing power with China in a geopolitical Concert of Power. However, the structural realist assumptions underpinning Power Shift are open to debate, as is the policy prescription that an exclusive Concert of Asia would best serve regional peace and stability in the decades ahead. Australian and regional policy-makers ought to question the limits of realism as the theoretical grounds of defence contingency planning for a potential war between the United States and China, lest they forget the national instrument which can and frequently has averted war: diplomacy.

Exchange of Sacrifices: Symbolizing an Unpopular War in Post-Soviet Russia.

by Serguei Alex. Oushakine (Сергей Ушакин)

In: Fighting Words and Images: Representing War across the Disciplines. Ed. by Elena V. Baraban, Stephan Jaeger, and Adam Muller. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2012, pp. 185-208.

A Study on the Inter-Relation between Armed Conflict and Natural Resources and its Implications for Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding

by Andrea Edoardo Varisco

Published in Journal of Peace, Conflict and Development, Issue 15, March 2010, pp. 38-58

The article investigates the inter-relation between armed conflict and natural resources and its implications for... more The article investigates the inter-relation between armed conflict and natural resources and its implications for conflict resolution and peacebuilding. The first part discusses and clarifies the nexus between natural resources and armed conflict, arguing that the former have a strong link with the latter only when natural resources have particular natural and geographical
characteristics and when a country experiences peculiar political, societal and economic situations. The article shows how this inter-relation is various and diverse, at the point that even scholars who studied it have sometimes disagreed on their researches. The second part analyses the implications for conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Since changing the natural
and geographical characteristic of natural resources is almost impossible, the article argues that conflict resolution and peacebuilding policies should be aimed to reduce those political,
societal, and economic situations that, if inter-related with the presence of natural resources in a country, can affect armed conflicts. The analysis discusses how the presence of natural
resources should be addressed during the resolution of a conflict and should be considered during the post-conflict peacebuilding phase. Finally, it tries to identify how international actors can have an effective role in conflict resolution and peacebuilding when natural resources are at stake.

Ba’thist Syria and War: Understanding the Role of War Mobilisation in the Making of its Contemporary Institutions

by Philippe Dufort

To understand the current Syrian regime answer to internal pressure it is necessary to consider its historical... more To understand the current Syrian regime answer to internal pressure it is necessary to consider its historical relation to war preparation and its role for the construction of the Syrian nation. The following analysis of Ba’thist Syria under al-Asad (elder) traces the relation of institutional evolution and war experience considering both the political economy of the state and its legitimacy. This period corresponds with the growth of the state’s economic role from the access of the Ba’th party to power up to the end of the 70s. It will concludes by presenting the challenge posed to the regime by the fiscal crisis of the 1980s.

Workshop IRSEM 2012 : "Guerre, mémoire, identité"

by gregory cattaneo

Comme le workshop « Penser la violence », qui s’est tenu le 9 février dernier, ce workshop devrait aboutir à une publication chez un éditeur privé.

Ce workshop proposé ici explore les thèmes de la guerre, de la mémoire et de l’identité. Il a été initialement proposé... more Ce workshop proposé ici explore les thèmes de la guerre, de la mémoire et de l’identité. Il a été initialement proposé par Grégory Cattaneo, doctorant allocataire de l’IRSEM.
Associer ces trois notions à un même projet doit permettre aux jeunes chercheurs de l’IRSEM de présenter leurs recherches et d’échanger leurs approches dans un cadre pluridisciplinaire.
La guerre peut s’avérer être un terreau propice lorsqu’on l’approche à travers le prisme de la mémoire et de l’identité (deux questionnements récents en sciences humaines et sociales). En effet, si la guerre peut être instrumentalisée afin de créer ou bien d’exalter une identité, qui restera vivante à travers un travail de mémoire collective ; le sentiment identitaire et la mémoire, quant à eux, peuvent être instrumentalisés à des fins belliqueuses.

A travers ce workshop, il s’agira d’articuler ces notions de manière à produire un questionnement large et susceptible d’intéresser le plus grand nombre. Les jeunes chercheurs de l’IRSEM, ayant un attrait pour ces notions, peuvent réfléchir à un sujet  en connexion avec au moins deux de ces notions. Par exemple, le sentiment d’appartenance à un groupe à travers une identité commune ; la mémoire comme acte de résistance ou de célébration ; le concept de « mémoricide » ou la non-reconnaissance de la mémoire d’une communauté, etc.