Nuclear weapons: the state of play

"The present report ... describes in detail the progress - or lack of it - on the commitments and recommendations of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, the 2010 and 2012 NSS, and the rather more ambitious ICNND, as at December 2012. Its publication in early 2013 is timed to assist the deliberation of the NPT PrepCom process, and it will be followed by a further updated volume in 2015, prior to that year's NPT Review Conference. While there are some other "report card" publications in existence, or in preparation, aimed at tracking particular sets of recommendations or the performance of particular groups of states, we believe that the present volume is the most comprehensive of its kind." - page xCopyright Information: "This publication may be reproduced in full or in part if accompanied with the following citation:Ramesh Thakur and Gareth Evans, eds., Nuclear Weapons:The State of Play (Canberra: Centre for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disar

India as a global security actor

Thanks to sustained economic growth and key investments in military capabilities, India will face growing demands from within and the international community to seek and play a greater role in global security affairs. The values and interests likely to guide India’s future behavior will be a mixture of old and new, eastern and western. India’s international aspirations have an important pre-history, covered in this chapter’s first section where non-alignment, as idea and practice, is explored for its enduring significance. India’s relevance as a security actor is assessed in terms of its activities and capacity to influence developments within two security zones of major contemporary importance: Afghanistan and the Indian Ocean. Finally, a section on the constraints and challenges examines India’s ability to navigate a multi-polar world, the fallout and gains of nuclearization, the 2008 Indo-US nuclear deal, as well as ‘the weaknesses from within’ in terms of human security

Militarism: Arms and the Internationalisation of Capital

Summary Prospects for disarmament must be assessed against a trend of rising arms spending and military influence in the Third World, associated with economic and military penetration by the central countries. Technical progress and transfers of military technology increase clientage rather than placing soldiers at the forefront of the modernisation of their societies. The international arms trade connects military expansion in Third World countries with the accumulation of capital in the major arms supplying countries rather than in their own domestic economies. If military expansion bears any relationship to development it is therefore to a particular type of dependent capitalist development. Nevertheless, Third World countries can use certain inherent contradictions to disengage themselves. These include the limitations of capital intensive methods of warfare against mobilised populations; competition at the periphery between capitalist and socialist arms suppliers; and the conflict between the central countries' economic and political reasons for supplying arms to Third World countries. Resume Militarisme: Armes et internationalisation du capital Il faut évaluer les perspectives de désarmement en tenant compte de ta tendance à une augmentation du budget militaire et de l'influence militaire dans les pays due Tiers Monde, alliée à une pénétration économique et militaire des pays du centre. Les progrès techniques et les transferts de technologie militaire accroissent la clientèle au lieu de placer les soldats à la tête de la modernisation de leur société. Le commerce international d'armes associe l'expansion militaire dans les pays du Tiers Monde à l'accumulation de capital dans les grands pays fournisseurs d'armes plutôt que dans leur propre économie nationale. Si l'expansion militaire a quelque rapport avec le développement, il s'agit d'une forme particulière du développement capitaliste dépendant. Néanmoins les pays du Tiers Monde peuvent se servir de certaines contradictions inhérentes pour se dégager. Entre autres: les limites des méthodes de combat impliquant un fort investissement en matériel face à des populations mobilisées; la concurrence sur la périphérie entre les fournisseurs d'armes capitalistes et socialistes; et le conflit qui existe dans les pays du centre entre les raisons politiques et les raisons économiques que les poussent à fournir des armes aux pays du Tiers Monde. Resumen El Militarismo: Las Armas y la Internacionalización del Capital Las perspectivas de desarme deben calcularse en relación con una tendencia al aumento de gastos en armas e influencia militar en el Tercer Mundo, asociados con una penetración económica y militar por parte de los países centrales. El progreso técnico y la comunicación de tecnología militar aumentan la clientela en lugar de colocar a los soldados a la vanguardia de la modernización de sus sociedades. El comercio internacional de armas conecta la expansión militar en los países del Tercer Mundo con la acumulación de capital en los países más importantes en el suministro de armas, en lugar de hacerlo en sus propias economías nacionales. Si la expansión militar tiene alguna relación con el desarrollo, lo tiene, por lo tanto, con un tipo especial de desarrollo capitalista dependiente. No obstante, los países del Tercer Mundo pueden recurrir a determinadas contradicciones inherentes para desconectarse ellos mismos. Estas contradicciones incluyen los límites de los métodos bélicos que requieren fuertes inversiones en equipo, frente a las poblaciones movilizadas; la competencia en la periferia entre los proveedores de armas capitalistas y socialistas; y el conflicto entre los motivos políticos y económicos de los países centrales para suministrar armas a los países del Tercer Mundo

Military and Development in Bangladesh

SUMMARY This article traces the origins of the Bangladesh army back to the British East India Company's army and follows its development through the colonial period, looking at the consequences of the exclusion of Bengalis after 1857. It shows why the Bengali sections of the Pakistan army were brought to the point of revolt in the national liberation struggle of 1971, and examines the factors which inhibited the development of a people's army and people's war. The erosion of public support for the Mujib government and the 1971 takeover are discussed. It is concluded that though there were important grievances internal to the military, the economic situation was the most significant element in these events. Resume Militarisme et développement au Bangladesh Cet article attribue les origines de l'armée du Bangladesh à l'armée de la British East India Company et suit son développement au cours de la période coloniale, examinant les conséquences de l'exclusion des Bengalis, après 1857. Il démontre pourquoi les factions bengalis de l'armée pakistanaise furent au point de se révolter lors de la lutte de libération nationale de 1971, et examine les facteurs qui entravèrent le développement d'une armée populaire et d'une guerre populaire. L'érosion du soutien public pour le gouvernement Mujib et la prise de pouvoir de 1971, sont examinées. L'article conclut que, malgré l'existence de griefs considérables au sein même de l'armée, c'est à la situation économique qu'il convient d'attribuer le rôle prépondérant, dans ces événements. Resumen El militarismo y el desarrollo en Bangladesh En este artículo se investigan los orígenes del ejército de Bangladesh remontándose hasta el ejército de la Compañía británica de la India Oriental y sigue su evolución a través del período colonial, poniendo de relieve las consecuencias de la exclusión de los bengalíes después de 1857. Se indica por qué las secciones bengalíes del ejército de Pakistán casi llegaron al borde de la revuelta en la lucha de liberación nacional de 1971 y se examinan los factores que impidieron la creación de un ejército del pueblo y una guerra del pueblo. Se analizan la erosión del apoyo popular para el gobierno de Mujib y el golpe de estado de 1971. Se llega a la conclusión de que aunque existían importantes agravios internos hacia los militares, la situación económica fue el elemento más significativo de dichos acontecimientos

Jumping on the Bandwagon: Differentiation and Security Defection during Conflict

When confronted with mass uprisings, governments deploy their security forces for crowd control or repression. However, sometimes security agencies choose to side with the opposition movement. Recent work shows that “fragmentation” contributes to defection: fragmenting the security forces into parallel units leads to oversight problems and grievances among soldiers, which raises the risk of members of the security forces defecting to the opposition movement. However, I argue that the effect on defection is strongly moderated by the circumstances under which states choose to fragment their military: fragmentation for the purpose of security specialization, called “differentiation,” even decreases its risk. Employing Bayesian multilevel modeling, the findings corroborate this distinction. The study contributes to the fundamental discussion on civil–military relations, shedding light on why some conflict situations see security defections while others do not. Understanding this phenomenon is a pivotal element to explaining how conflicts develop, escalate, and end

Editorial: Disarmament and Development – the International Context

The interconnections between international economic recession, the new Cold War and militarisation in the South provide the context for the articles in the IDS Bulletin 'Disarmament and World Development: Is There a Way Forward', from October 1985. Contributors were asked to reassess four key reports on development, disarmament and security issues. All were undertaken during a period of transition in the global economy and the Cold War (1979–83). Despite differences of emphasis they all advocate an integrated global approach to world economic and military problems, the restructuring of North-South economic relationships, strengthening of detente, and reductions in the allocation of resources for military purposes. But why, then, have they had so little impact on policy and still less on the march of events? Contributors to the Bulletin were also asked to address how disarmament and development could be put back on the international agenda. For instance, is there an adequate political case for linking disarmament to development and does military spending in fact entrench underdevelopment

Reducing Asymmetries in Intergenerational Justice: Descent from Modernity or Space Industrialization?

Normally, contractual conceptions of intergenerational justice regard the responsibility held by each generation as symmetrical. This article argues that the late modern society has created an asymmetry because of its unprecendented instrumental and destructive capacity. Historically unique risks such as thermonuclear destruction, global ecological deprivation, and resource depletion all point at this asymmetry and unequal distribution of responsibility between generations. Extending one contractual device used by John Rawls in line with what Brian Barry has suggested, this article analyzes the roots of the asymmetry and presents two political strategies to end it. The first strategy resembles the traditional deep ecological programme whereas the second holds an imaginative vision of a human future in space. Both strategies seek to reduce the influence present generations exercise on the level of opportunity available to future generations. The key normative argument is that intergenerational justice requires spatial and temporal limits on political action

The private military industry and neoliberal imperialism: Mapping the terrain

Despite the international reach, and increasing global importance, of the free market provision of military and security services—which we label the Private Security Industry (PSI)—management and organization studies has yet to pay significant attention to this industry. Taking up Grey’s (2009) call for scholarship at the boundaries between security studies and organization studies and building on Banerjee’s (2008) treatment of the PSI as a key element in necrocapitalism, in this article we aim to trace the long history of the PSI and argue that it has re-emerged over the last two decades against, and as a result of, a very specific politico-economic backdrop. We then suggest that the PSI operates as a mechanism for neoliberal imperialism; demonstrate its substitution for and supplementing of the state; and count some of the costs of this privatization of war. Finally, we take seriously Hughes’s (2007) thesis of the growth of a new security-industrial complex, and of the intersecting elites who benefit from this phenomenon