The Future of Preventive Wars: The Case of Iraq

Eight years have past since the devastating September 11 attacks, and the USA has engaged in two wars in the name of uprooting global ‘terrorism’ and providing security to American citizens. The Bush administration bequeathed a legacy of two ongoing wars and growing threats emerging from ‘terrorist’ acts. This article analyses the future of the preventive war doctrine, formulated by the Bush administration, under international law. The article thus explores whether the preventive war doctrine has the potential to set a customary precedence, or whether it merely constitutes a breach of international law.

On being a good nurse: reflections on the past and preparing for the future

On being a good nurse: reflections on the past and preparing for the future. The objectives of this paper include reflecting on the attributes of the ‘good’ nurse in the past, outlining thematically the essential attributes (virtues) required by the ‘good’ nurse today and presenting an original four- point framework for ethics in practice. While there is no doubt that nurses in the past were highly professional, the culture within which they practiced tended to stifle the emergence of autonomy, assertiveness, advocacy and accountability. An original table of contemporary attributes, which is congruent with a neo Aristotelian virtue ethical approach, is arranged in themes of Intellectual and Practical Attributes, Dispositional Attributes and Moral Attributes. A framework for professional practice, the ‘Four As’ is then extrapolated from these themes. These four key professional attributes, autonomy, advocacy, accountability and assertiveness, along with the virtues listed in the themes, exemplify the ‘good’ nurse and are identified as the linchpins of modern professional ethics and good conduct.

Researching Vulnerability: What about the Researcher?

Abstract Purpose – The aim of this paper is to explore researcher vulnerability and identify the ways in which research with vulnerable consumers can impact on consumer researchers. Design/methodology/approach – Provides a review of research literature aiming to raise awareness of researcher vulnerability. Findings – Researchers working in the domain of vulnerable consumers need to be aware that feelings of vulnerability may be reflected back to the researcher. Originality/value – Methodological concerns surrounding the research of vulnerable consumers tend to focus on the welfare of respondents; researcher vulnerability has been largely neglected within the consumer research literature. Historically, problems arising in the research process have tended to be disguised so as not to elicit negative feedback. This paper creates an awareness of such aspects of unthought-of ethical and methodological problems.