13. Conventional Power and Contemporary Warfare

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Ferris
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Urban Warfare

This chapter examines how — and the extent to which — conventional military power influences the contemporary world, whether by fighting wars or by backing policy in peace. It first reviews the history of how power affects warfare before discussing the emergence of new world orders in 1945, 1989, and 2001, noting that since 1945, the power of conventional force has been limited by weapons of mass destruction and guerrilla warfare. It then considers how conventional forces function in areas ranging from distant strike to urban warfare, and compares their role to that of other forms of force such as WMDs and terrorism. It also analyses the conventional strength of states in the world, along with trends in its development and distribution.

14. Conventional Power and Contemporary Warfare

2018 ◽  
pp. 238-254
Author(s):  
John Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
New World ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Military Power ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
China And India ◽  
Revolution In Military Affairs ◽  
Urban Warfare

This chapter examines how conventional power shapes warfare in the contemporary world. It considers the present and emerging state of conventional military power, how conventional forces function in areas such as distant strike and urban warfare, and how their role differs from that of other forms of force, including terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The chapter first provides a historical background to demonstrate the important role played by conventional power in war before discussing the rise of new world orders in 1945, 1989 and 2001. It then describes states possessing power and hyperpower, along with the revolution in military affairs and how developing countries may trump it through various strategies. It also shows how the distribution of conventional power is changing, noting that Western countries are in decline and new world powers are emerging, especially China and India.

The Social Space of Terror: Towards a Civil Interpretation of Total War

1987 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Hewitt
Keyword(s):  
Social Space ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Total War ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
Urban Places ◽  
Second World

In the paper I seek to interpret modern warfare from the perspective of civil society and its geography. I emphasize the predicament of civilians who are subject to direct and deliberate armed assaults. Particular attention is given to enforced uprooting or removals of population, and to annihilation of urban places with weapons of mass destruction. Two case histories are explored, both taken from the last months of the Second World War. They are, the expulsion of German civilians from Eastern Europe, and the firebombing of Japanese cities, especially Tokyo. Damages and casualties are detailed. However, the main concern is to establish the composition, plight, and responses of civilian populations, and this includes their relation to national war efforts. It is concluded that the vast majority, because of gender, age, health, occupation, and class, were essentially marginal to, and little involved in, the war efforts of their respective states. This contrasts sharply with the assumptions or rhetoric of the theory of ‘total war’, and the practice of targetting civilians and nonmilitary areas. It is suggested that the majority of home populations remain civilians in the fullest sense of the term, even in wartime. From this it follows that assaults upon them by military forces are primarily strategies of terror, and that the ‘social space’ attacked is essentially civilian. Such uprootings and mass destruction of human settlements have, however, become an ever larger part of the war strategies, and the history of warfare, of most powers since 1945.

The Cambridge History of America and the World

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Power ◽  
American Empire ◽  
Global Power ◽  
Cultural Terms ◽  
The World ◽  
Fourth Volume ◽  
History Of

The fourth volume of The Cambridge History of America and the World examines the heights of American global power in the mid-twentieth century and how challenges from at home and abroad altered the United States and its role in the world. The second half of the twentieth century marked the pinnacle of American global power in economic, political, and cultural terms, but even as it reached such heights, the United States quickly faced new challenges to its power, originating both domestically and internationally. Highlighting cutting-edge ideas from scholars from all over the world, this volume anatomizes American power as well as the counters and alternatives to 'the American empire.' Topics include US economic and military power, American culture overseas, human rights and humanitarianism, third-world internationalism, immigration, communications technology, and the Anthropocene.

scholarly journals «Peaceful Atom» – from the XXth to the XXI century: from the weapons of mass destruction to the driver of the massive progress

2012 ◽  
pp. 132-142
Author(s):  
M. V. Zharkikh
Keyword(s):  
Energy Supply ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Atomic Energy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Energy Field ◽  
The World ◽  
Main Factors

The article is dedicated to the progress-analysis of the development of one of the most promising fields of economy and industry of Russia as well as many other states of the world – the atomic energy sector. Its evolution and competitive advantages before the other sources of energy supply are attended in brief. Special attention is devoted to international cooperation in the atomic energy field, incentivized at the beginning of the XXI century. Dynamics of this cooperation has shown that atomic energy can and, most probably, in the nearest future, will become one of the main factors of an advanced socioeconomic development of most of the states.

Richard William Southern 1912–2001

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Murray
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Practical Action ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
Deep Thought ◽  
Life Work ◽  
Made In ◽  
Do So

People with a logical turn of mind say that the history of the world can be summarised in a sentence. A précis of mediaval historian Richard William Southern's work made in that spirit would identify two characteristics, one housed inside the other, and both quite apart from the question of its quality as a work of art. The first is his sympathy for a particular kind of medieval churchman, a kind who combined deep thought about faith with practical action. This characteristic fits inside another, touching Southern's historical vision as a whole. Its genesis is traceable to those few seconds in his teens when he ‘quarrelled’ with his father about the Renaissance. The intuition that moved him to do so became a historical fides quaerens intellectum. Reflection on Southern's life work leaves us with an example of the service an historian can perform for his contemporary world, as a truer self-perception seeps into the common consciousness by way of a lifetime of teaching and writing, spreading out through the world (all Southern's books were translated into one or more foreign language).

Use of New ICTs as “Liberation” or “Repression” Technologies in Social Movements

2013 ◽  
pp. 257-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandie L. Martin ◽  
Anthony A. Olorunnisola
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Security Measures ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
State Repression ◽  
Critical Questions ◽  
Combined Use ◽  
The World

Participants in varying but recent citizen-led social movements in Kenya, Iran, Tunisia, and Egypt have found new voices by employing new ICTs. In some cases, new ICTs were used to mobilize citizens to join and/or to encourage use of violence against other ethnicities. In nearly all cases, the combined use of new ICTs kept the world informed of developments as ensuing protests progressed. In most cases, the use of new ICTs as alternative media motivated international actors’ intervention in averting or resolving ensuing crises. Foregoing engagements have also induced state actions such as appropriation of Internet and mobile phone SMS for counter-protest message dissemination and/or termination of citizens’ access. Against the background of the sociology and politics of social movements and a focus on the protests in Kenya and Egypt, this chapter broaches critical questions about recent social movements and processes: to what extent have the uses of new ICTs served as alternative platforms for positive citizens’ communication? When is use of new ICTs convertible into “weapons of mass destruction”? When does state repression or take-over of ICTs constitute security measures, and when is such action censorship? In the process, the chapter appraises the roles of local and international third parties to the engagement while underscoring conceptual definitions whose usage in studies of this kind should be conscientiously employed. Authors offer suggestions for future investigations.

Mapping a Global Phenomenon

2019 ◽  
pp. 39-86
Author(s):  
Janny H.C. Leung
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Sociopolitical Development ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Detailed History ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Global Data

Having explored how official multilingualism has emerged as a product of historical and sociopolitical development, this chapter moves on to survey the extent of the phenomenon in the contemporary world. The data set offers a panoramic view of jurisdictions around the world that are officially bilingual or multilingual. Although there is not enough room to provide a detailed history of any particular jurisdiction, the chapter annotates the data and makes a number of generalized observations. The global data provide a sense of scale that speaks for itself and allow one to observe patterns and trends that help make sense of the phenomenon. Although linguistic demographics and the ideology of linguistic nationalism have a role to play, they are insufficient to explain the data. Official multilingualism is largely a post-colonial legacy, but there is also an emergent trend that official language policy responds to market forces under late capitalism.

scholarly journals (A211) Nanosciences and CBRN Threats: Considerations about the Potential Risk of Illicit Use of Nanosystems

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S1) ◽  
pp. s58-s58 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rossodivita ◽  
M. Guidotti ◽  
M. Ranghieri
Keyword(s):  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Scientific Discovery ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Conventional Weapons ◽  
Warfare Agents ◽  
History Of ◽  
Illicit Use ◽  
And Control

In the history of humankind, any new scientific discovery has shown the risk of a “dual use” for peaceful purposes or for warfare. In regard to non-conventional weapons, the recent exponential development of nanosciences and nanotechnology can provide efficient tools for counteracting these threats, by improving the detection, protection, and decontamination capabilities in the field of CBRN defence. Nevertheless, these disciplines also may offer novel, uncontrolled means of mass destruction, leading to the synthesis of new, intentionally toxic systems. Furthermore, several points of concern are linked to the new concepts of “nanotoxicology” and “nanopathology: If a multidisciplinary approach is needed to study nanosciences and nanotechnologies, a multidisciplinary approach also is needed to have a strict control on potential illegal uses of nanosystems. Experts active in various fields, such as academic, industrial, military, and health protection institutions, must work cooperatively to constantly follow the state of the art, note which kind of critical emerging technologies may lead to illicit uses, and control the diffusion of hazardous nanosystems that may be potential precursors of weapons of mass destruction, and cooperate with CBRN emergency prevention organizations in order to plan suitable countermeasures. This presentation will cover some examples of nanosystems applied to defense from non-conventional warfare agents and answer questions regarding potential misuses of basic nanoscience and nanotechnology findings.

Muse

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-50
Author(s):  
barbara koenen
Keyword(s):  
War On Terror ◽  
Pomegranate Juice ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
Religious Symbol ◽  
Fertile Crescent ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ancient Times

Muse is a personal investigation into the historical and contemporary correlations between pomegranates and hand grenades by the author, an artist based in the Midwest. The essay begins with her reminiscences of witnessing a red-stained feast of the “exotic” pomegranate that was hosted by a friend of Armenian descent; then it chronicles the fruit’s historical associations as a fertility and religious symbol in many cultures since ancient times and its cultivation, beginning in the Fertile Crescent and extending across Asia and into Europe and North America. Upon her realization that hand grenades are named after pomegranates, the author describes physical comparisons between the bomb and the fruit, provides a brief history of grenades and grenadiers, and then muses on the contemporaneous marketing campaigns for the War on Terror that paved the way for the 2003 United States invasion into Iraq, and for POM Wonderful beverages that “defy death” as an “Antioxidant Superpower™.” As the hyperbolic claims of both marketing campaigns were later debunked—Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction and pomegranate juice does not cure cancer—the essay concludes by noting a recent, modest investment by the US government into the cultivation and exporting of pomegranates in Afghanistan as a hopeful sign.

scholarly journals We are all Americans

2003 ◽  
Vol 02 (02) ◽  
pp. F02
Author(s):  
Giancarlo Sturloni ◽  
Paola Coppola
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
English Language ◽  
Weapons Of Mass Destruction ◽  
September 11Th ◽  
Mass Destruction ◽  
The World ◽  
American Society

"Weapons of mass destruction" is the word of the year 2002, at least according to the American Dialect Society, an association which has been studying the English language in North America for more than one century and which yearly chooses the word having more relevance to American society and information. The word of the year 2001 was "Nine eleven", and the passing of the baton was very significant. September 11th has actually marked an extraordinary media watershed in the debate on the dangerousness of weapons of mass destruction. The bioterrorist threat, for instance, seems to have gained ground in newspaper pages and in programme schedules - and therefore in people's houses - together with anthrax letters terrorising America. However, though this lethal powder has remained confined beyond the Atlantic, fear has rapidly spread throughout the world, including Italy. (Taken from the book "Armageddon Supermarket" - Sironi Editore)

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