The Bomb: Nuclear Weapons in their Historical, Strategic and Ethical Context

This book examines to what extent the invention and first use of nuclear weapons was a turning point in the history of warfare and strategy(to what extent was it a mere continuation or perfection of air power strategy? Were the casualty numbers really unprecedented?), the ethics of war (was this form of war against civilians unprecedented?), and it asks whether it was an expression of total war or did it create total war

Victory, peace, and justice : the neglected trinity

The assumption that the most important aim of war is to create a better peace than existed before the war, i.e. a peace with justice, was self-evident for writers prior to Clausewitz. This does not mean that princes saw this as their priority, but theoreticians did. This changed dramatically with the Napoleonic Wars: Clausewitz initiated an era where writers on strategy paid no heed to what would come after military victory, now seen as the be-all and end-all of war. Terrible consequences flowed from this, and a series of ephemeral victories leading to new wars. It was only around the Second World War, to some in itself the consequence of this obsession with victory and not with peace, that it began to dawn on writers that peace, not military victory must be the ultimate aim to be kept in sight.

National experiences with insurgencies and counterinsurgencies: are there “National styles”?

There are clearly identifiable patterns in the way in which insurgents operate in certain geographic areas and cultures, and in which states deal with them. These have been stressed by writing about national "ways of war", strategic culture, or national styles. Nevertheless, there have been important ruptures and changes in some of these, so that for Britain, for example, three successive phases corresponding to patterns can be identified. For France, two pronounced rivaling traditions coincided over two centuries. Algerians by contrast changed fundamentally in their fighting style with the different political ideologies they were following. Palestinian insurgency against Israel is also marked by change in approach. Russia and China possibly show the longest continuity in their handling of insurgencies.

Gueules cassées: the men behind the masks

Facially wounded soldiers of the First World War were, despite progress in plastic surgery, a particularly uncomfortable presence in war and post-war societies. Their self-perception and relationships with others are indicative of political, social, and emotional issues. Their treatment was not on a par with that of other veterans. In some instances, masks and attachments were used to cover the damaged features. They protected both the victim and the onlooker (i.e. society). This article analyses the practical and symbolic functions of masks in France and Great Britain. Drawing upon both artistic representations and historical documents, I argue that ultimately, what is perceived as an alien object is not the mask but the face behind it, and therewith the uncomfortable memory of the war itself.

Profits, malversations, restitutions. Les bénéfices des financiers durant la guerre de la Ligue d’Augsbourg et la taxe de Chamillart

Profit, embezzlement, restitution. The role of the traitants in the Nine Years War and Chamillart’s tax on financial benefits The aim of this article is to revisit the question of the financiers in Old Regime France. It starts with an analysis of the discourses about the financiers under the Absolute monarchy that underlines the complexity of their relationship with the government and the public. It then reviews the secondary literature and highlights the existence of competing historical interpretations (functional, political, utilitarian), which raise the question of their overall capacity to account for the role and impact of the financiers at different times. On this ground, the article focuses on a specific group of financiers, the so-called traitants d’affaires extraordinaires, during the Nine Years War. Further to a description of the specific role and scope of the activities of the various financiers responsible for helping the monarchy to raise the funds it needed to pay for its peace and wartime expenditure, the article examines the conditions and profits granted by the king in his contracts with the traitants whose services were hired for the purpose of selling royal offices in the public and advancing the revenue to the Treasury. It also explores the contractual arrangements of the companies established by the financiers to manage their operations as well as the rights and the responsibilities of their various stakeholders. These bases being laid, the article relies on the administrative correspondence relating to the traités during the Nine Years War to address a range of issues, in particular the extent to which these contracts, and other control procedures, were robust enough to deter fraud. The accounts of two traitants’ companies offer an opportunity to analyse and compare the structure of their income and expenditure (including the volume and cost of the promissory notes sold in the public to finance their payments to the Treasury), to explore the strategies of the contractors, to calculate their net profits and further discuss the problem of embezzlement. The article ends with the study of the context and debates which led to the introduction by finance minister Michel Chamillart, in 1700, of a shortfall tax on the financial profits of the gens d’affaires or traitants, the method used to determine its rate (50 % of the net benefits), its distribution among the various stakeholders (including the bailleurs de fonds or backers), and the related procedures. In total, the article argues that the relationship between the monarchy, society and the financiers under the Ancien Regime was not static and, therefore, suggests that the broad question of control and fraud must be examined against changing circumstances. With regard specifically to the Nine Years War, the article concludes that within the constraints of the Absolute monarchy, contractors offered valuable services by raising capital for the benefit of a king who ruled over a country which, at the time, was by far the wealthiest in Europe, and where ministers failed to foresee long wars of attrition and whose financial strategy was limited by the very existence of privilege. Overall, the traités were too costly to be a viable system of war financing. In these conditions, the substantial fortunes made by a handful of very successful traitants suffice to explain that the government easily gave in to public criticism against the wealth of the financiers and felt compelled, when peace resumed, to cancel the advantageous conditions offered in the treaties by taxing financial profits.

Definitioner av våld i överlevandes berättelser efter kriget i Bosnien

Definitions of violence in stories of survivors from the Bosnian war Previous research on violence during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina presents a one-sided picture of the phenomenon ”war violence.” Researchers have emphasized the importance of narratives but they have not focused on stories about war violence, nor have they analyzed the stories of war violence being a product of interpersonal interaction. This article tries to fill this knowledge gap by analyzing the narratives told by survivors of the war in northwestern Bosnia in the 1990s. The aim is to analyze how the survivors describe violence during the war, and also to analyze those discursive patterns that contribute in constructing the category ”war violence.” The construction of the category ”war violence” is made visible in the empirical material when the interviewees talk about (1) a new social order in the society, (2) human suffering, (3) sexual violence, and (4) human slaughter. All interviewees define war violence as morally reprehensible. In narratives on the phenomena ”war violence” a picture emerges which shows a disruption of the social order existing in the pre-war society. The violence practiced during the war is portrayed as organized and ritualized and this creates a picture that the violence practice became a norm in the society, rather than the exception. Narratives retelling violent situations, perpetrators of violence and subjected to violence do not only exist as a mental construction. The stories live their lives after the war, and thus have real consequences for individuals and society.

‘Moving on’ : Violence, wellbeing and questions about violence in antenatal care encounters. A qualitative study with Somali-born refugees in Sweden

Background Somali-born women constitute one of the largest groups of childbearing refugee women in Sweden after more than two decades of political violence in Somalia. In Sweden, these women encounter antenatal care that includes routine questions about violence being asked. The aim of the study was to explore how Somali-born women understand and relate to violence and wellbeing during their migration transition and their views on being approached with questions about violence in Swedish antenatal care. Method Qualitative interviews (22) with Somali-born women (17) living in Sweden were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. Findings A balancing actbetween keeping private life private and the new welfare system was identified, where the midwife's questions about violence were met with hesitance. The midwife was, however, considered a resource for access to support services in the new society. A focus on pragmatic strategies to move on in life, rather than dwelling on potential experiences of violence and related traumas, was prominent. Social networks, spiritual faith and motherhood were crucial for regaining coherence in the aftermath of war. Dialogue and mutual adjustments were identified as strategies used to overcome power tensions in intimate relationships undergoing transition. Conclusions If confidentiality and links between violence and health are explained and clarified during the care encounter, screening for violence can be more beneficial in relation to Somali-born women. The focus on “moving on” and rationality indicates strength and access to alternative resources, but needs to be balanced against risks for hidden needs in care encounters. A care environment with continuity of care and trustful relationships enhances possibilities for the midwife to balance these dual perspectives and identify potential needs. Collaborations between Somali communities, maternity care and social service providers can contribute with support to families in transition and bridge gaps to formal social and care services.

Perspective: LaGuardia Community College Newsletter [1974]

A newsletter published periodically to keep the faculty, students, staff, and community informed about the activities taking place on the campus of LaGuardia Community College Cover article: SEVEN DISTINGUISHED GUESTS TO ATTEND SYMPOSIUM ON LAGUARDIA & ETHNIC VOTE. Other entries: BHE ADOPTS TENURE GUIDELINES AND IMPLEMENTATION STEPS; OVERFLOW AUDIENCE ATTENDS POST VISIONS OF WAR SYMPOSIUM; LAGUARDIA FLYERS SEEK FIRST BASKETBALL WIN; DIVISION OF CONTINUING EDUCATION BEGINS 3RD YEAR WITH WINTER PROGRAM; TYPING FOR HANDICAPPED PROGRAM SEEKS ADDITIONAL STUDENTS.

Espelhos partidos : leituras e releituras da lenda heróica dos atridas

O trabalho foi desenvolvido analisando-se a lenda heróica da família dos Atridas, através da trilogia grega Orestéia, de Ésquilo, relacionando-a com Les mouches, de Sartre, e com Électre, de Giraudoux, comparando-as também com as duas Electra, a de Sófocles e a de Eurípides, partindo da análise do “texto como produtividade”, segundo Roland Barthes, que trabalha a reescritura do texto realizada pelo leitor. Os textos escolhidos foram produzidos e encenados em momentos de guerra ou de sua iminência e, através do estudo dos ordenamentos jurídicos vigentes em cada época, foi possível comprovar que, na Atenas do século V, ocorre a construção do conceito de responsabilidade individual, superando-se a imposição da punição aos familiares e à descendência do criminoso, enquanto que na França ocupada pelo exército nazista ocorre o inverso: a responsabilidade pelos assassinatos cometidos pela Resistência é atribuída a toda a comunidade. Confrontamos as relações de poder engendradas e expostas nos textos, refletindo as que estavam ocorrendo no contexto histórico-político, concluindo que a tragédia grega se inseriu como mediadora da realidade político-social da polis, ao contrário das releituras francesas, que tinham uma inserção periférica na sociedade francesa de 1937 a 1944. É em busca de um sentimento de continuidade e de transcendência que ocorre o retorno às tragédias gregas e às suas releituras, visto que narram lendas heróicas que relembram, mesmo ao homem do século XXI, sua mortalidade e sua incapacidade de prever os desdobramentos de suas ações.