The analytical framework of water and armed conflict: a focus on the 2006 Summer War between Israel and Lebanon

This paper develops an analytical framework to investigate the relationship between water and armed conflict, and applies it to the ‘Summer War’ of 2006 between Israel and Lebanon (Hezbollah). The framework broadens and deepens existing classifications by assessing the impact of acts of war as indiscriminate or targeted, and evaluating them in terms of international norms and law, in particular International Humanitarian Law (IHL). In the case at hand, the relationship is characterised by extensive damage in Lebanon to drinking water infrastructure and resources. This is seen as a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of IHL, while the partial destruction of more than 50 public water towers compromises water rights and national development goals. The absence of pre-war environmental baselines makes it difficult to gauge the impact on water resources, suggesting a role for those with first-hand knowledge of the hostilities to develop a more effective response before, during, and after armed conflict

The New Face of Terrorism in Turkey: Actor Unknown Political Murders

In this study, we have analyzed the temporal and spatial trends in actor unknown political murders in Turkey. A total of 1852 cases, defined as actor unknown political murders, occurred in Turkey between 1975 and 2006, with the peak years being 1980 and 1994. Three different time frames could be defined: 1975-1993, 1994-1999, and 2000-2006. During the first period, cases were common all over Turkey, but during the second and third periods, they were more frequent in metropolitan areas and in the southeast. Incidents occurring during the first period could be attributed to the struggle between right- and left-wing supporters, while most murders occurring during the second and third periods seem to have been related to Kurdish separatism. Although the most crucial factor in preventing actor unknown political murders is a politically stable atmosphere, forensics can also play an important role. Turkey needs to improve its forensic services to bring them in line with international standards, namely the Minnesota Protocol

Domestic Violence Against Women of Japanese Descent in Los Angeles

Using a more inclusive, culturally responsive measure, this population-based study of women of Japanese descent contrasts two methods of estimating prevalence of domestic violence. Eighty percent of respondents reported experiencing a male partner's violence during their lifetimes—a conventional estimation. A new method took into account the respondent's perceptions about the partner's acts—whether she considered her partner's behavior abusive and placed it within the context of an abusive relationship—and yielded the lifetime prevalence of 61%. Attention to culturally based manifestations of domestic violence and the respondent's perceptions provide additional dimensions of data grounded in women's subjective experiences.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68598/2/10.1177_10778019922181536.pd