The language of neofeudal corporatism and the war on Iraq

In this paper we argue that the term “capitalism” is no longer useful for understanding the current system of political economic relations in which we live. Rather, we argue that the system can be more usefully characterised as neofeudal corporatism. Using examples drawn from a 300,000 word corpus of public utterances by three political leaders from the “coalition of the willing”— George W. Bush, Tony Blair, and John Howard—we show some defining characteristics of this relatively new system and how they are manifest in political language about the invasion of Iraq.

The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend... The Dynamics of Self-Defense Forces in Irregular War: The Case of the Sons of Iraq

This article assesses the effect that leveraging civilian defense force militias has on the dynamics of violence in civil war. We argue that the delegation of security and combat roles to local civilians shifts the primary targets of insurgent violence toward civilians, in an attempt to deter future defections, and re-establish control over the local population. This argument is assessed through an analysis of the Sunni Awakening and ancillary Sons of Iraq paramilitary program. The results suggest that at least in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq, the utilization of the civilian population in counterinsurgent roles had significant implications for the targets of insurgent violence.

The War in Iraq: the illusion of international law? Where to now?

Examines the legality of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq. Relevance of the international law framework; Advantages and danger of humanitarian intervention principle; Implications of the war for the future of international law.

The Legacy of Iraq: from the 2003 War to the ‘Islamic State’

In March 2003, a US-led ‘Coalition of the Willing’ launched a pre-emptive intervention against Iraq. The nine long years of military occupation that followed saw an ambitious project to turn Iraq into a liberal democracy, underpinned by free-market capitalism and constituted by a citizen body free to live in peace and prosperity. However, the Iraq war did not go to plan and the coalition were forced to withdraw all combat troops at the end of 2011, having failed to deliver on their promise of a democratic, peaceful and prosperous Iraq. The Legacy of Iraq: From the 2003 War to the ‘Islamic State’ seeks to not only reflect on this abject failure but to put forth the argument that key decisions and errors of judgment on the part of the coalition and the Iraqi political elite set in train a sequence of events that have had devastating consequences for Iraq, for the region and for the world. Today, as the nation faces perhaps its greatest challenge in the wake of the devastating advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and another US-led coalition undertakes renewed military action in Iraq, understanding the complex and difficult legacies of the 2003 war could not be more urgent. To ignore the legacies of the Iraq war and to deny their connection to contemporary events means that vital lessons will be ignored and the same mistakes will be made.

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.

Cultural destruction and identity politics : targeting the history of Iraq

Since its inception in 1921, a number of successive regimes have sought to politicize Iraq‟s cultural history in order to develop national identity and foster social cohesion across this rich and complex nation. Foremost among these were the Baath party, particularly under the rule of Saddam Hussein, who used much of the nation‟s Oil wealth to undergo an extensive nation-building campaign. However, identity in Iraq is far from monolithic and various factions have long resisted the state sanctioned version of “Iraqi” identity and asserted alternative histories and narratives to underpin their own identity politics. With the invasion of Iraq by Coalition forces in 2003, however, came an unprecedented era of cultural destruction. Following the devastation of the battle phase of the war, there were further attacks on Iraq‟s cultural heritage including everything from the carefully choreographed removal of the giant bronze statue of Saddam in Firdos square, through to military bases set up at sensitive archaeological sites such as the ancient city of Babylon. In addition, Iraqi civilians targeted the cultural history of their nation with wanton looting and arson, as well as systematic attacks on sites of archaeological or ethno-religious significance. More recently, the Shia and Kurdish dominated Iraqi Government have organised the “Committee for Removing Symbols of the Saddam Era” and drew up plans to purge the state of its Sunni dominated past.

This paper argues that the unprecedented scale and magnitude of the destruction of Iraq‟s cultural history has played a part in eroding the various intersecting and overlapping versions of identity politics in Iraq. In turn, this has provided fertile ground for terrorists and sectarians to plant the seeds of their own narrow and deadly ideologies. This has brought about the rise of ethno-religious based violence and seen a series of bloody and protracted conflicts emerge between previously peaceful and compatible factions. In this way, Iraq serves as a powerful case study in furthering academic discussion on the complex inter-relationships between cultural and historical destruction and identity politics, sectarianism, violence and democracy.

Ethics and intervention: The 'humanitarian exception' and the problem of abuse in the case of Iraq

This article investigates the ethics of intervention and explores the decision to invade Iraq. It begins by arguing that while positive international law provides an important framework for understanding and debating the legitimacy of war, it does not cover the full spectrum of moral reasoning on issues of war and peace. To that end, after briefly discussing the two primary legal justifications for war (implied UN authorization and pre-emptive self-defence), and finding them wanting, it asks whether there is a moral 'humanitarian exceptions to this rule grounded in the 'just war' tradition. The article argues that two aspects of the broad tradition could be used to make a humanitarian case for war: the 'holy war' tradition and classical just war thinking based on natural law. The former it finds problematic, while the latter it argues provides a moral space to justify the use of force to halt gross breaches of natural law. Although such an approach may provide a moral justification for war, it also opens the door to abuse. It was this very problem that legal positivism from Vattel onwards was designed to address. As a result, the article argues that natural law and legal positivist arguments should be understood as complementary sets of ideas whose sometimes competing claims must be balanced in relation to particular cases. Therefore, although natural law may open a space for justifying the invasion of Iraq on humanitarian terms, legal positivism strictly limits that right. Ignoring this latter fact, as happened in the Iraq case, opens the door to abuse.

'The war of Canudos: a Euclidean interpretation.' [Guerra de Canudos: uma leitura euclidiana]

The publication of the book The interior, in 1902, would change the course of thinking about the War of Canudos, who for many years, had been known simply as' the history of Euclid. President Getulio Vargas became interested in the backwoods bloodbath after reading the book avenger-Euclidean. Liked the work he visited the place of occurrence of war promising enjoy the river poured-Barris with the construction of the weir Cocorobo. Euclides da Cunha lived and produced his work in a time of great change in thought, politics and technology. Despite having worked in the press throughout his life, was best known as an engineer, for having exercised the office during the reconstruction of the bridge, in Sao Jose do Rio Pardo. This article aims to illuminate the event of war in light of the Euclidean work. We will examine the trajectory of Euclides da Cunha in journalism. Your learning process to execute the office newsreader and war correspondent, the newspaper O Estado de S. Paul, as well as their reports and work-monument the hinterlands. Resumo: A publicação da obra Os sertões, em 1902, mudaria os rumos do pensamento sobre a Guerra de Canudos, que, por muitos anos, ficara conhecida, simplesmente, como ‘história de Euclides’. O presidente Getúlio Vargas interessou-se pela hecatombe sertaneja após ter lido o livro-vingador euclidiano. Gostou tanto da obra que visitou o lugar de acontecimento da guerra prometendo aproveitar as águas do rio Vaza-Barris com a construção do açude de Cocorobó. Euclides da Cunha viveu e produziu a sua obra em um momento de grandes transformações no pensamento, na política e na tecnologia. Apesar de ter atuado na imprensa ao longo de toda a sua vida, ficou mais conhecido como engenheiro, por ter exercido o ofício, durante a reconstrução da ponte, em São José do Rio Pardo. O presente artigo visa iluminar o acontecimento da guerra à luz da obra euclidiana. Examinaremos a trajetória de Euclides da Cunha no jornalismo. O seu processo de aprendizagem para exercer o ofício de noticiarista e correspondente de guerra, pelo jornal O Estado de S. Paulo, bem como, as suas reportagens e obra-monumento Os sertões.

Architecture as media and the war of presence

This essay is a critique of the discourse concerned with a so coiled Crisis of Representation. It examines the role of representational media (text and drawing) in the formation of the notion of an architectural ‘work’ and argues that there is no necessary privilege to any ordering of modes of representation rather particular orderings uncover specific agendas.