Of Questionable Legality: The Military Use of Cluster Bombs in Iraq in 2003

2004 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 143-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Hulme
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cluster Bombs ◽  
High Propensity ◽  
Chemical And Biological Weapons ◽  
The Military ◽  
New Instruments

SummaryOver the past century, the laws of armed conflict have limited or prohibited the use of a number of weapons, principally due to their cruel effects or indiscriminate nature. Among the examples are chemical and biological weapons, anti-personnel mines, and blinding laser weapons. In recent years, one of the most controversial armaments used by states has been the cluster bomb. Cluster weapons are inexpensively produced area weapons with a high propensity for failure. The source of constant condemnation since the Vietnam conflict, the legality of cluster weapons remains highly questionable. With such weapons, the question is not so much whether there is a need to create new instruments of limitation, or indeed prohibition, but whether the existing laws of armed conflict are already sufficient to address any human and environmental concerns.

scholarly journals Radical women in social work: A historical prespective from North America

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-56
Author(s):  
Therese Jennissen ◽  
Colleen Lundy
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Past Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Face ◽  
Politically Active ◽  
Very High

INTRODUCTION: Many challenges that confront social workers today are similar to problems they have faced over the past century – inequality, poverty, unemployment, militarisation and armed conflict, and the challenges of refugee resettlement, to name a few. It is instructive for contemporary social workers to revisit this history and to determine if there are lessons to inform our current struggles.METHOD: This paper explores the issues faced and strategies employed by radical, politically active social workers, most of them women. These social workers had visions of social justice and were not afraid to challenge the status quo, often at very high personal costs. The radical social workers were expressly interested in social change that centred on social justice, women’s rights, anti-racism, international peace, and they worked in close alliance and solidarity with other progressive groups.CONCLUSIONS: This article highlights the work of five radical female social workers. Radical social workers were in the minority but they were extraordinarily active and made important contributions in the face of formidable challenges.

Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Weapons

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Kühn
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
European Security ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
Chemical And Biological Weapons ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Military

This chapter discusses the military- and defence-related capabilities and policies of Western Europe’s major powers (Germany, France, United Kingdom), of the NATO alliance, the Russian Federation, and Austria in the realm of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons (weapons of mass destruction (WMD)). It focuses on the differing roles, positions, and security policy outlooks of these actors, with a special emphasis on their respective policies towards nuclear weapons. Particularly in the realm of nuclear weapons, the situation on the European continent is extremely diverse and complex, with officially recognized nuclear-weapons states, non-nuclear-weapons states under NATO’s ‘nuclear umbrella’, and staunch supporters of a world free from nuclear weapons. Highlighting converging and diverging international policy trends, the chapter concludes that European security policies on WMD continue to have a significant impact on related global security and defence matters.

Mechanical Testing of Electrotextile Cables and Connectors

2002 ◽  
Vol 736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah Slade ◽  
Patricia Wilson ◽  
Brian Farrell ◽  
Justyna Teverovsky ◽  
Douglas Thomson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Terrorism ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
Operational Environment ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Operational Strategies ◽  
Chemical And Biological Weapons ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Armed Services ◽  
The Military ◽  
Rapid Transfer

ABSTRACTToday's complex geo-political climate has forced the U.S. armed services into new operational strategies. The prevalence of international terrorism, the threat from chemical and biological weapons, and the pressure to “do more with less” has placed increasing demands on the military. This new operational environment requires highly mobile troops having enhanced decision-making capability provided through the rapid transfer and dissemination of information to each member of the squad. What is missing is the ability to process and use this information via an Intranet at the level of the individual soldier. The purpose of our work has been to develop, evaluate and implement such a wearable conductive network for the dismounted soldier.

Strategies for a better world

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-133
Author(s):  
Emiliano Gandolfi
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Social Interest ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Political Role ◽  
The Past ◽  
Team 10 ◽  
Collective Processes ◽  
Sensitisation Campaign ◽  
New Instruments

A different world is possible [1]. The work of an increasing number of architects reveals a renewed social interest and aspiration to define new instruments for coping with the issues of our cities. These architects do not subscribe to the agendas of bureaucrats, authorities and market players. Instead they listen to people's remarks, understand their problems and develop tools that stimulate people to think critically and actively about the built environment. For these activists, architecture goes beyond just designing buildings. It has to identify the needs of people and possible forms of aggregation, while stimulating processes that will enable us to live better. Groups like Team 10 and the movements of the '70s laid the bases of these practices, but unlike the past century, today every project becomes a sensitisation campaign that involves the community at the local level and that stimulates collective processes, spontaneous creativity and activism in order to incite a new political role for architecture.

scholarly journals Historians Killed for Political Reasons in Ibero-America (1920-2020)

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 13-47
Author(s):  
Antoon De Baets
Keyword(s):  
American History ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
The Past ◽  
Systemic Violence ◽  
The Military

This essay examines the Ibero-American history producers who were killed for political reasons during the past century. It presents sixty victims from eight countries. Of these, 83% were killed by state forces, 17% by non-state forces. Dictatorships had the worst scores (58% of the victims), while flawed democracies also saw considerable casualties (32%), in contrast to emergent (7%) and stable democracies (3%). Much evidence was found for the thesis that killing these history producers did not necessarily mean the erasure of their names or achievements. Out of the sixty victims, nine (15%) were killed for political reasons that were mainly or partly related to their historical works. Six of these, however, occurred under democracies, particularly flawed or emergent democracies, and not under dictatorships. This finding leads to the hypothesis that well-entrenched dictatorships, wielding ruthless power, deter and block incriminating historical research – making the killing of history producers for history-related reasons relatively rare – whereas freer conditions in flawed and emergent democracies prompt or encourage such dangerous historical research. Those investigating past systemic violence or the crimes of previous dictatorships then risk becoming targets of the military seeking to install or restore authoritarian rule.

United Nations Weapons Control Treaties

2019 ◽  
pp. 120-136
Author(s):  
Barry Kellman
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
World Order ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
Multilateral Agreements ◽  
Conventional Weapons ◽  
Chemical And Biological Weapons ◽  
Weapons Control

Weapons control was born of necessity to reduce the existential threats of weapons technologies following the last century’s world wars. In a dangerous and anarchic world, security can be enhanced by substituting multilateral agreements for unconstrained procurement, deployment, and transfer of weapons. This chapter focuses on four aspects of weapons control treaties: (1) nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, (2) eradication of chemical and biological weapons, (3) prohibition of unique inhumane weapons, and (4) restriction of the trade in conventional weapons. Cumulatively, these treaties serve to lower the risk of war, reduce war’s devastation should it begin, and curtail the enormous financial drain of procuring and stockpiling weapons. Methodologies have developed with established institutions and stipulated procedures that influence virtually every state’s military choices, significantly enhancing global security. These treaties have enabled humanity to stanch the inherent tendency of employing advancing technologies to make and use more powerful weapons. By significantly contributing to capping centuries of accelerating violence and by restraining how escalating fears of an adversary’s weapons can accelerate political friction into armed conflict, these treaties have contributed to building a more secure world order, thereby enabling diplomacy and other processes to help address more deep-rooted social conditions. It is perhaps the greatest achievement of these treaties to have fostered trust among the vast majority of states and their populations with regard to lethal weapons, enabling maturation of innumerable initiatives for promoting peace.

scholarly journals ENDANGERING OF SECURITY OF REPUBLIC OF SERBIA THROUGH NON-MILITARY THREATS

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Hatidža Beriša ◽  
Nikola Vidović ◽  
Milenko Dželetović
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Security Threats ◽  
Global Problem ◽  
The Past ◽  
Religious Extremism ◽  
The World ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Military

Nowadays, a greater number of significant dangers do not come from one or more states, but from non-state, mainly heavily controlled, entities and phenomena. By comparing security threats in the last decades of the past century and today, the problem that many countries in the world encounter today are unequivocal, that is, the dominance of the various forms of non-military threats of security at present, in relation to the military threats that dominated in the past. Non-military challenges, risks and threats are an increasing global problem and can endanger the interests and security of any country in the world, including Serbia.In accordance with contemporary events and developments, in the paper are comprehensively percived the ways of endangering the security of the Republic of Serbia by non-military forms of threats to security. The dominant forms of non-war threats to security, such as terrorism, organized crime and corruption and their ties, Albanian separatism, national and religious extremism, and natural disasters and other disasters, are heavily analyzed.

scholarly journals Investigating the adverse consequences of armed conflict on the socio-economic status of women

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Mohammad Khalid Habibi
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Socio Economic Status ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Status Of Women

Conflict is an open clash between two opposing individuals, groups, organizations, ethnics and states. In conflict times, the violence against women assumes the form of savagery, soldiers, militias, or gunmen from both sides ravage women and rape them and the law comes to a standstill and there is no punishment for crime. But the important question is why women are violated and harassed during conflict time? It is estimated that millions of people around the world have lost their lives in various wars over the past century. Although men and women go through similar experiences and traumas in the midst of these conflicts, the type of death is often different. In times of war, all men and women are forced to leave their homes and livelihoods, are injured or lose their lives and find it difficult to make a living during, and even after the conflict. But during regional wars, the fate of women is often disproportionately affected by the conflict between the groups involved, and the experience of women and children in these periods is fundamentally different from that of men.

scholarly journals Medical Experimentation Concerning Chemical and Biological Weapons for Mass Destruction

2003 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 157
Author(s):  
Erwin Deutsch
Keyword(s):  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Biological Weapons ◽  
World Conference ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Medical Experimentation ◽  
Mental Handicaps ◽  
Chemical And Biological Weapons ◽  
The Military ◽  
Second World

This article is the text of a speech originally presented at the Second World Conference on Medical Ethics at Gijon, Spain, on 2 October 2002 under the title "Medical Experimentation Concerning Chemical and Biological Weapons for Mass Destruction: Clinical Design for New Smallpox Vaccines: Ethical and Legal Aspects". Experimentation on vaccines such as smallpox is subject to the usual ethical rules such as the need for informed consent. However, the participants will not often be at risk of catching the disease but expose themselves by taking part in the experimentation. Professor Deutsch explores the implications of this, including the position of vulnerable groups such as children, those with mental handicaps, and those acting under orders such as the military, the police and fire officers.

The Militarized Arena of Medicine

2021 ◽  
pp. 49-62
Author(s):  
Abraham Fuks
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Health It ◽  
Serious Illness ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Understanding Of Illness ◽  
The Military

The predominant metaphor in the discourse of medicine is that of war and the military. American presidents of the past century have defined important social policies in terms of battles to be fought and foes to be vanquished, physicians and patients “wage war on cancer,” and cookbooks offer recipes to fight disease. These military tropes are not innocent depictions of medical care—they shape our understanding of illness, disease, and health. Patients become battlegrounds on which doctors fight disease, yet may shoulder the responsibility for “losing.” Obituaries are replete with tributes to heroic patients and valiant battles. This chapter describes different models of medical wars with varying combinations of protagonists and enemies and the effects of such metaphors on how we perceive epidemics and practice public health. It describes the social pressures that force patients to “fight to the end” and the frequent loneliness experienced by those with serious illness.

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