Civil War Termination

Civil wars typically have been terminated by a variety of means, including military victories, negotiated settlements and ceasefires, and “draws.” Three very different historical trends in the means by which civil wars have ended can be identified for the post–World War II period. A number of explanations have been developed to account for those trends, some of which focus on international factors and others on national or actor-level variables. Efforts to explain why civil wars end as they do are considered important because one of the most contested issues among political scientists who study civil wars is how “best” to end a civil war if the goal is to achieve a stable peace. Several factors have contributed to this debate, among them conflicting results produced by various studies on this topic as well as different understandings of the concepts war termination, civil war resolution, peace-building, and stable peace

Black Hawk Down and the Silences of Ridley’s Scott’s Realism

A telling moment occurs in the film Black Hawk Down (Bruckheimer & Scott, 2001) when the reliable Shawn Nelson is literally struck deaf by the gunfire of his partner. Nelson can no longer hear his fellow American soldiers, their gunfire, or the screams of his dying enemies. Prior to losing his hearing, Nelson puts in a mouth protector, explaining that on his last mission, he almost bit off his tongue. Thus, Nelson ensures that he will be able to speak of any evil he hears, but, alas, he becomes deal. Nelson\u27s predicament somewhat parallels that of the audience of Ridley Scott\u27s technically masterful film. Exposed to the depiction of an intense battle and immersed in a realistic rendering, one can hear only the immediacy of battle. Its deeper political implications have been silenced

Double elevation: Autonomous weapons and the search for an irreducible law of war

What should be the role of law in response to the spread of artificial intelligence in war? Fuelled by both public and private investment, military technology is accelerating towards increasingly autonomous weapons, as well as the merging of humans and machines. Contrary to much of the contemporary debate, this is not a paradigm change; it is the intensification of a central feature in the relationship between technology and war: Double elevation, above one's enemy and above oneself. Elevation above one's enemy aspires to spatial, moral, and civilizational distance. Elevation above oneself reflects a belief in rational improvement that sees humanity as the cause of inhumanity and de-humanization as our best chance for humanization. The distance of double elevation is served by the mechanization of judgement. To the extent that judgement is seen as reducible to algorithm, law becomes the handmaiden of mechanization. In response, neither a focus on questions of compatibility nor a call for a 'ban on killer robots' help in articulating a meaningful role for law. Instead, I argue that we should turn to a long-standing philosophical critique of artificial intelligence, which highlights not the threat of omniscience, but that of impoverished intelligence. Therefore, if there is to be a meaningful role for law in resisting double elevation, it should be law encompassing subjectivity, emotion and imagination, law irreducible to algorithm, a law of war that appreciates situated judgement in the wielding of violence for the collective

The Big Squeeze: A Social and Political History of the Controversial Mammogram

[Excerpt] The Big Squeeze: A Social and Political History of the Controversial Mammogram chronicles the often turbulent history of screening mammography since its introduction in the early 1970s. This book makes five key points. First, it shows how pivotal decisions during mammography\u27s initial roll-out made it all but inevitable that the test would never be far from controversy. Second, it describes how, at several key points in its history, the establishment of a culture of mammography screening was greatly aided by concurrent social and political forces and movements. Third, it illustrates how politics came to dominate the debate, eventually achieving primacy over science itself. Fourth, The Big Squeeze describes the collateral economy that developed around screening. As mammography was aggressively promoted in the late 1980s to early 1990s, utilization rates rapidly increased. As this occurred, the mundane mammogram became the little pink engine that could, and did, drive the growth of a vast screening-dependent secondary economy. Finally, mammography\u27s burden, overdiagnosis, is considered in the last chapter. Overdiagnosis, the screening detection of cancers that would never otherwise have come to light in the individual\u27s lifetime, is an important yet woefully underdiscussed risk of mammography. This phenomenon is more significant than that, however. Overdiagnosis helped make fighting breast cancer the most favored disease cause and mammography the most favored weapon in the fight

Green consumer markets in the fight against climate change

Climate change has become one of the greatest threats to environmental security, as attested by the growing frequency of severe flooding and storms, extreme temperatures and droughts. Accordingly, the European Union’s (EU) 6th Environment Action Programme (2010) lists tackling climate change as its first priority. A key aim of the EU has been to cut CO2 emissions, a major factor in climate change, by 8% until 2012 and 20% until 2020. The European Commission has proposed the encouragement of private consumer market for green products and services as one of several solutions to this problem. However, existing research suggests that the market share of these products has been only 3%, although 30% of individuals favour environmental and ethical goods. This article uses Public Goods Theory to explain why the contribution of the green consumer market to fighting climate change has been and possibly may remain limited without further public intervention

Politics in the American Airlines-U.S. Airways Merger and Antitrust Settlement

American Airlines was one of the airline industry’s darlings. A legacy airline, it was a household name, a massive entity, employed thousands, and commanded a fearsome presence among other industry players like unions and airport terminals. However, with ballooning costs and the red ocean airline industry’s evolution, American Airlines’ parent company, AMR, was forced into bankruptcy in November 2011. To emerge from Chapter 11, American Airlines and U.S. Airways announced plans to merge and come out a stronger, larger airline in February 2013. The Department of Justice Antitrust Division shortly thereafter filed a lawsuit opposing the merger, alleging it would have anticompetitive effects by decreasing the number of industry competitors and increasing prices. However, the lawsuit, despite having substantial reasons to move forward to trial, settled in November 2013. This Note will discuss the potential motivations behind this settlement, ultimately arguing that political considerations, which normally do not play a role in antitrust enforcement, were the driving factor

Musical Influence on Apartheid and the Civil Rights Movement

Black South Africans and African Americans not only share similar identities, but also share similar historical struggles. Apartheid and the Civil Rights Movement were two movements on two separate continents in which black South Africans and African Americans resisted against deep injustice and defied oppression. This paper sets out to demonstrate the key role that music played, through factors of globalization, in influencing mass resistance and raising global awareness. As an elemental form of creative expression, music enables many of the vital tools needed to overcome hatred and violence. Jazz and Freedom songs were two of the most influential genres, and each was integral especially to building solidarity, expressing struggles, and protesting injustice. Local and international musicians, through the use of media, also played a vital role, as they helped to raise awareness and educate the public about the inequalities faced by black South Africans and African Americans. Through the development of each aspect introduced above, it is clear that music was fundamental in the dismantling of Apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow laws in the United States