Global militarisation

The current priority of the dominant security actors is maintaining international security through the vigorous use of military force combined with the development of both nuclear and conventional weapons systems. Post-Cold War nuclear developments involve the modernisation and proliferation of nuclear systems, with an increasing risk of limited nuclear-weapons use in warfare – breaking a threshold that has held for sixty years and seriously undermining multilateral attempts at disarmament. These dangerous trends will be exacerbated by developments in national missile defence, chemical and biological weapons and a race towards the weaponisation of space.

How the Competing Security Needs of Caribbean Community Members have Crystallized Through Multilateralism and Consensual Decision-Making

Serena Joseph-Harris | Exclusively written for sustainablesecurity.org | April 2011

Issues:Competition over resources, Global militarisation, Marginalisation

In a paper exclusively written for sustainablesecurity.org, Serena Joseph-Harris (former High Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago) focuses on competition over natural resources, the role of maritime routes in the Caribbean, and the importance of multilateral approaches to finding sustainable solutions in the Caribbean.

Image source: Len@Loblolly

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Mano Dura: Gang Suppression in El Salvador

Sonja Wolf | Exclusively written for sustainablesecurity.org | March 2011

Issues:Global militarisation, Marginalisation

Case study examining how  repressive policies against gangs in El Salvador drove gangs to further violence, heightening the cycle of militarisation.

“In 2003 – eight months before the 2004 presidential elections – President Francisco Flores of the conservative ARENA party launched Plan Mano Dura (“Strong Hand”), ostensibly to dismantle the gangs and curb the number of homicides, most of which had been attributed to these groups. Backed by considerable media publicity, the measure entailed not only area sweeps and joint police-military patrols, but was also accompanied by a temporary anti-gang law that permitted the arrest of suspected gang members on the basis of their physical appearance alone. Both the nature and the timing of the initiative suggested that it had been designed to improve the ruling party’s electoral position rather than to ensure effective gang control.”

Image source: VCK xD

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Libya: lessons in controlling the arms trade

Pieter D. Wezeman | SIPRI | March 2011

Issue:Global militarisation

In the current military air strikes against Libyan forces, nations that once supported Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime are now—based on sanction by the United Nations—attacking the forces they were marketing and delivering arms to only weeks before. As the violence escalates and the international community examines how to respond to internal conflict and human rights violations, arms supply should be analysed as it implicates the international community as complicit in the violence it is now trying to end.

Image source: B.R.Q.

Article source: SIPRI

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What's the Real Mission In Libya?

Chris Mathews | Huffington Post | March 2011

Issues:Global militarisation, Marginalisation

US TV News anchor Chris Mathews, writing for ther Huffington Post, asks what is the real mission in Libya? Not the no-fly zone - that's a method. So what is the mission? How do we end this thing?

Image source: Gumpingit. 

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How Food Could Determine Libya's Future

Christopher Albon | The Atlantic | March 2011

Issues:Global militarisation, Marginalisation

As Libya's protesters-turned-rebels fight a series of hard battles with forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi, the United States -- and the much of the world -- struggles to find a meaningful response to the conflict. U.S. lawmakers have proposed such aggressive options as enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya or arming anti-Qaddafi rebels, both of which the White House has kept on the table. Critics of these plans argue that they risk involving the U.S. in another military engagement. But there's another option that the U.S. could consider, one that might give anti-Qaddafi rebels crucial help while avoiding the messy complications of direct involvement: Send food.

Image source: B. R. Q.

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The Securitisation of Aid?

Saferworld | Saferworld Briefing | March 2011

Issues:Global militarisation, Marginalisation

Poor people want to feel safe just like anyone else. Security and access to justice for poor people are development goals in their own right whether in the midst of endemic violence, such as in parts of Somalia or Afghanistan, or in more stable countries where the police and judicial services may still be inadequate, unfair or abusive. Basic security and the rule of law are also necessary for other areas of development to take root and flourish.

Image source: Demosh

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