Sexual Violence and the US Military: Feminism, US Empire, and the Failure of Liberal Equality

Jean Lartéguy's 1960 novel The Centurions, which follows a group of French paratroopers through the wars in Indochina and Algeria, is one that has achieved cult status within the US military. In embracing this novel as a valuable how-to guide for counterinsurgents, those who promote The Centurions ignore the sexual violence and misogyny at the heart of the work, reflecting deeper silences over the issue of sexual violence in war. This article explores both the depictions of sexual violence in The Centurions and the silences that surround those depictions.

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Sexual Arenas, Alcohol (Ab)use, and Predatory Leadership: Facilitators of US Military Sexual Violence

Armed Forces & Society ◽

10.1177/0095327x211044526 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0095327X2110445

Author(s):

Connie Buscha

Keyword(s):

Grounded Theory ◽

Sexual Violence ◽

Women Veterans ◽

Military Women ◽

Full Inclusion ◽

Grounded Theory Study ◽

Us Military ◽

The Us ◽

Sexual Encounters ◽

Volunteer Force

Scholars argue that, historically, military women have not been considered equals to men in kinship and, therefore, have and will likely continue to experience more violence and greater fear of violence. The All-Volunteer Force (AVF) may even foster military sexual violence through sexual arenas in work-home spaces, alcohol (ab)use fueling sexual encounters between colleagues, and predatory leadership. This exploratory, grounded theory study captures insights of women veterans ( n = 20) entering service between 1964 and 2016. Full inclusion is alleged, yet military women are objectified and “othered,” targets of sex-based attention, predation, and violence. From these data, military sexual violence (MSV) characterizes the AVF. To mitigate this, a renewed commitment to the US military’s historical ideal of altruistic care is necessary to realize the full inclusion of women and reduce if not eliminate military sexual violence.

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Robot Wars: US Empire and geopolitics in the robotic age

Security Dialogue ◽

10.1177/0967010617713157 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 48 (5) ◽

pp. 451-470 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Ian GR Shaw

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Autonomous Robots ◽

Topological Spaces ◽

Central Concern ◽

Us Military ◽

The Us ◽

Proxy War ◽

Us Empire

How will the robot age transform warfare? What geopolitical futures are being imagined by the US military? This article constructs a robotic futurology to examine these crucial questions. Its central concern is how robots – driven by leaps in artificial intelligence and swarming – are rewiring the spaces and logics of US empire, warfare, and geopolitics. The article begins by building a more-than-human geopolitics to de-center the role of humans in conflict and foreground a worldly understanding of robots. The article then analyzes the idea of US empire, before speculating upon how and why robots are materializing new forms of proxy war. A three-part examination of the shifting spaces of US empire then follows: (1) Swarm Wars explores the implications of miniaturized drone swarming; (2) Roboworld investigates how robots are changing US military basing strategy and producing new topological spaces of violence; and (3) The Autogenic Battle-Site reveals how autonomous robots will produce emergent, technologically event-ful sites of security and violence – revolutionizing the battlespace. The conclusion reflects on the rise of a robotic US empire and its consequences for democracy.

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