SOCI SOCIAL PROBLEMS in the 21st Century
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4/18/2012 1 SOCI 201 SOCIAL PROBLEMS in the 21 st Century Professor Kurt Reymers, Ph.D. SPRING 2012 War and Terrorism 1a. War is, by its very nature, a social problem. It has deep roots in the history and origins of society. In fact, society itself emerged as a defense system, with the necessity of keeping unwanted intruders into hominid territory off of each others backs, so to speak. War and Terrorism 1b. One Definition of War: “War is an armed contest between two independent political units, by means of organized military force, in pursuit of tribal or national policy.” - from anthropologist Branislaw Malinowski
Transcript of SOCI SOCIAL PROBLEMS in the 21st Century
4/18/2012
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SOCI 201
SOCIAL PROBLEMS in the 21st Century
Professor Kurt Reymers, Ph.D.
SPRING 2012
War and Terrorism
1a. War is, by its very nature, a social problem. It has deep roots in the history and origins of society.
In fact, society itself emerged as a defense system, with the necessity of keeping unwanted intruders into hominid territory off of each others backs, so to speak.
War and Terrorism
1b. One Definition of War:
“War is an armed contest between two independent political units, by means of organized military force, in pursuit of tribal or national policy.” - from anthropologist Branislaw Malinowski
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1c. Our society is driven by war.
The interstate highway system, the space program, nuclear energy, GPS and the Internet are all projects that were originally directly related to war efforts.
The “military-industrial complex” we have today in the U.S. (see p. 544
text) is a direct result of the Cold War.
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2a. The Cold War WAR BALANCES POWER
i. During the Cold War (1945-1989),
alliances and enemies were clear, conflict existed on a global level, and people lived in a MAD world. Mutual Assured Destruction kept the balance of power in the world and maintained a general, if not anxiety–filled, state of peace.
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War and Terrorism ii. Weapons Legacy of the Cold War
According to the Natural
Resources Defense Council, the U.S. currently maintains about 10,000 nuclear warheads in various states of readiness.
It's believed that under the
START III treaty, that number will be reduced to 2,500. Russia's plans are
not known. Russia's nuclear stockpile also numbers 10,000 weapons. This included
operational forces, non-deployed warheads waiting to be dismantled, and weapons in reserve.
LINKS: The Bush “Nukular” Policy
Bunker Busters; Domenici Smackdown!
It’s time to wake up! Doomsday Clock
War and Terrorism iii. Effects of Nuclear Weapons
The damage done during a nuclear blast is enough to create a living hell on earth. The real damage goes beyond the physical, however: it is social and psychological.
The authors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki observe that the real damage involves “the collapse of society itself. The essence of the atomic destruction lies in the totality of its impact on man and society.” Society becomes unrecognizable after a blast.
BlastMap 1 ; BlastMap 2; Clouded History; Nagasaki; Blast
Effects Calculator; Radiation; Sagan’s Nuclear Winter - anim
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2b. The Cold War ended in 1989. For 12 years there was no identifiable enemy of the sole remaining superpower – the U.S. An imbalance of power existed throughout the 1990s (and continues today – see p.547, text).
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2c. The Clash of Civilizations
In 1993, Harvard’s Samuel Huntington predicted this state of affairs:
“It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflict in this new world [the post-Cold War era] will not be
primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural… The clash of civilizations will dominate global
politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.”
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2c. The ideological “power vacuum”
theory was dramatically altered by Al Qaeda’s 9/11 attack and the response of Bush Administration on Sept. 20, 2001 when a new war was declared and a new enemy clarified: terrorism in general, and Arab terrorism (Al Qaeda) particularly.
Al Qaeda has attacked the U.S. repeatedly, offshore and on, prompting global retaliation (and global terrorism) in the 9/11 case. But that violence has begotten only violence in return.
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2d. Yet the old threats still exist!
9/11 Terrorists WMDs Iraq:
Because of their destructive power, the nuclear non-proliferation treaty ensures strict controls on nuclear weapons.
Under the guise of upholding this treaty banning WMD’s
from “rogue nations”, the Bush administration declared war on Iraq in March 2003 (after getting Congressional
approval for such an act in November 2002, just over a year after the 9/11 attacks and at a time when the country was vulnerable to warmongering).
By May 2003 it was clear there were no WMDs programs in Iraq.
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2e. Iraq, WMDs and Preventive War i. To get into Iraq, (was the media complicit?)
ii. the Bush administration “misinterpreted” intelligence that “proved” Hussein’s regime sought to possess WMD’s and could possibly deliver these weapons to terrorists (see Wilson/Plame scandal; NPR commentary).
iii. Thus, Iraq supposedly represented a threat to the balance of power in the world.
iv. This threat was dealt with using military means,
taking the form of preventive war.
v. This has become known as the “Bush Doctrine.” U.N. law strictly forbids such practices. They are a slippery slope.
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2f. How is the U.S. re-writing the rules of warfare due to terrorism? The Bush Doctrine International agreement (United Nations rules) has been willingly breached by an
attack on Iraq. See The Nation, v276n9, 3/10/2003, p.20.
Article 2-Section 4 and Article 51 prohibit recourse to international force by states except in circumstances of self-defense, which itself is restricted to “armed attack,” and then only until the Security Council has had the chance to review the claim.
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3.a. The Costs of War – Human Costs
In the 20th century, it is estimated that 180 million people have been killed in one atrocity or another -- a far larger total than for any other century in human history.
There have been 165 wars or tyrannies in the 20th Century (with more than 6,000 killed in any given case). “Of course, all these numbers are subject to a wide margin of error and a rancorous debate. Wars are messy, and tens of thousands of people can easily disappear without a trace. The worst atrocities take place in the dark, unseen and unrecorded. Estimated death tolls can therefore vary wildly, spanning several orders of magnitude at once. It's not at all unusual to have an upper estimate be two, maybe three, times the lower estimate.”
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3.a.i. Human costs of war in Iraq There have been 4,802 coalition deaths (mostly
American) as of April 17, 2012, according to this CNN count.
Iraqi Civilian death toll: 6,000+ according to U.S. military
600,000+ (according to New Scientist / 2)
see also www.iraqbodycount.org
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3.b. The Cost of War - Fiscal
i. Economic Costs – (see p 558 text)
The Iraq war has cost the United
States a total of $800 billion to date.
What might the money be spent on if it weren’t going to pay for Iraq?
see www.costofwar.com
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5d. COSTS OF WAR - Fiscal
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5d. COSTS OF WAR - Fiscal
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5d. COSTS OF WAR - Fiscal
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5d. COSTS OF WAR - Fiscal
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3.c. Civil Rights Costs of War
- The USA Patriot Act
- Secret prisons/torture
- Freedom vs. Security – A False Choice?
- Must we lose personal liberties in order to
gain safety? How willing are we to do so?
What’s the problem with this?
