The economics of defence in France and the UK

France and the UK face similar geostrategic circumstances: both were once Great Powers and still retain their positions among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. During the Cold War both were dwarfed by the super-powers and were thus extremely sensitive about their status: what the French called their grandeur and the British called their seat at the top table. Despite their strategic similarities, they have differed in many of their defence policy choices and in particular how they balanced their strategic aspirations with their limited financial resources. Thus a comparison of British and French defence policies provides a revealing case study of military choices

PBRF on the horizon

New Zealand universities spend a great deal of time and money evaluating the research outputs of their staff in the cause of Performance Based Research Funding (PBRF). This time and money is wasted since the assumptions that lie behind this process are fatally flawed and the results are neither valid nor fair. Additionally PBRF is inconsistent with the universities’ obligations to be ‘critic and conscience’ for society and to scholarship, itself. The paper argues that no further assessments of this kind should be undertaken

Terrorism and maritime shipment of nuclear material

Opponents of the nuclear industry often claim that material in transit is vulnerable to attack by terrorist groups who might seek to take the cargo and make a bomb, or otherwise cause a radiological incident. This paper lays out a range of conceivable objectives or attack scenarios in the context of maritime transportation and examines these in the light of what is known of the relevant security arrangements. It concludes that these arrangements provide a very substantial deterrent to any attempt at diversion or sabotage and that any such attempt would have little prospect of success, beyond the immediate media impact of whatever might have occurred

The Falklands War: A moral balance sheet

In this article, traditional just war principles and the provisions of international humanitarian war are applied to the Falkland/Malvinas conflict of 1982. Arguments regarding the claims of justification made by the two parties (UK and Argentina) are examined, as are conflicting judgements in regard to the sinking of the General Belgrano and the question of proportionality in respect of the conflict as a whole

Maritime security and nuclear cargoes

Civilian nuclear operations entail the transportation of sometimes substantial quantities of radioactive material. These can range from large quantities of weakly radioactive fresh fuel for power reactors, with the corresponding removal of highly radioactive spent fuel and operational wastes, to the shipment of small quantities of radioactive isotopes (“sources”) for medical, industrial or research purposes and their subsequent disposal. In relation to the civilian nuclear fuel cycle, there may also be relatively large quantities of radioactive material produced by “back-end” activities, such as the reprocessing of spent fuel to recover plutonium and then create mixed oxide, or MOX, fuel.1 In between these extremes, there are occasional consignments of fresh and spent fuel to and from research reactors, together with the associated wastes. In many of these cases, circumstances will dictate that consignments are dispatched overland, or by air, but there are some cases where a substantial maritime component is entailed and where there will be particular security and safety concerns that arise from that. Traditionally, the focus of this concern has been on the possibility of accidents, which might result in environmental contamination or human harm, but more recently, and certainly since 11 September 2001, the locus of concern has somewhat shifted to risks that might arise from the activities of non-state armed groups, or terrorists (or even pirates). This is the focus of the present review

Nuclear power in New Zealand: Attitudes and prospects

Traditional New Zealand attitudes with regard to all things nuclear are subjected to critical scrutiny. It is argued that these may frequently lead us to take policy positions that do not best serve our national interests. In the context of continuing anxiety about future energy supplies, an unreflective refusal to even consider civilian nuclear power is an outstanding example of this. The chapter author makes a ‘modest proposal’

Globalisation, Citizenship and the War on Terror (Book Review)

The Editors of this book have put together a collection of post-modern musings by a clique of old-left academics from the University of Hull on the defects of contemporary democratic societies (like their own) and on the evils of globalisation. They also provide a spirited defence of anti-western terrorism and terrorists; a project which is substantially sustained by a transparently self-serving use of both terms. Purchase of the book is only recommended for citizens or parents who may wish to know what is being taught in departments of politics and sociology over much of the Western World

Global Zero: The new old agenda

The project of abolishing all nuclear weapons has been given fresh impetus but the old questions remain. Having regard to the manifold problems of definition and verification, is 'Global Zero' realistic in a world in which proliferation seems more likely than abolition? Is it even desirable under present and foreseeable security conditions? Familiar arguments for extended deterrence still seem to underpin security judgments about the possibility of war between the major states and the complexities of the nuclear fuel cycle continue to present a major challenge to international control

Beyond Terror: the truth about real threats to our world (Book Review)

The central thesis of the book reviewed here is that the threat of terrorism is not as great as prominent proponents of the ‘war on terror’ are apt to claim. By contrast, the ‘real threats’ (climate change, marginalisation of the world’s poor, militarisation, etc.) are neglected. This thesis, and the rather naked advocacy of left-wing activism, is subjected to scrutiny, and reasons for governments to continue to accord the security of their citizens some priority are advanced

Terrorism, protest and the law (in a maritime context)

Characterisations of terrorism in international conventions and domestic law sometimes seem to obscure the distinction between terrorism and certain kinds of protest activity, which may, in turn, be characterised as either licit or illicit. In this paper the issues are illustrated in the context of nuclear terrorism and in a maritime environment. Some observations on the concept of civil disobedience and some suggestions for a code of behaviour in the maritime context are also made