Virtual warfare? Using drones in Afghanistan to ‘spot’ IEDs
It seems that the main weapon used by the Taliban against NATO forces in Afghanistan is the IED - hardly a day goes by without a news report about a British soldier being killed or wounded by such a device. In response the western forces using drones in Afghanistan to provide intelligence and firepower. They use sophisticated cameras to spot suspicious activity and attack the Taliban as they plant the IEDs.
All this highlights the differing tactics used by the opposing sides and the lengths that NATO forces go to avoid casualties. The idea of British personnel piloting drones from a portacabin in their base and using machinery rather than manpower to carry out operations fits into the idea of ‘virtual warfare’. This concept is part of the debate about the ‘revolution in military affairs’, ‘new wars’ and the James Der Derian book ‘Virtuous War: Mapping the Military-Industrial-Media-Entertainment Network’.
What Next for Pakistan?
Dr Farzana Shaikh, Associate Fellow at Chatham House gives an excellent summary of the current situation in Pakistan. The three minute clip covers the key problems that the Zardari adminstration is currently facing.
Global Issues: Using a webquest to teach Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations
After going through the theory of Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations theory using a webquest to allow students to decide for themselves how credible his thesis is can be useful. By using links to various news stories a group can both arrive at a judgement and also get to grips with a few case studies in modern conflicts that they might otherwise be unaware of. The list does not contain links to summaries of the Iraq War and Afghanistan - which will be tackled in a more direct focus later.
The next part of the jigsaw is to look at the various criticisms that have been levelled at Huntington and to ask how valid these are.
For an extension on this more able students might be encouraged to read Huntington’s original article and his riposte to his critics.
Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations - Quiz
Many thanks to Andy Lawrence for producing this revision quiz on Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations:
Launch quiz on Huntington’s Clash of Civilisations
Generation Jihad: Peter Taylor’s new documentary, BBC 2 tonight, 9pm
Peter Taylor’s new offering, this time investigating the terrorist threat from young British Muslim extremists radicalised on the internet, is on tonight at 9pm. Further details on the programme can be found here
Getting students to introduce Global Issues (4D) to themselves
It is always good to start a new module with an overview of topics that are going to be studied. Even better to get students to introduce themselves to the subject matter and work out what key issues they’ll be tackling. Using a simple map of Afghanistan and Pakistan (along with some carefully placed questions) allowed a group to essentially extract from their own knowledge the nature of the course.
The conversation started with the war (‘New wars’, insurgency, the clash of cultures and the role of religion, differing views of human rights), navigated its way to terrorism (both in the region and domestically), managed to venture into WMDs (the starting point being the situation in Pakistan) and looked at possible solutions to the problem (poverty & development, nation building, international financial mechanisms etc). We didn’t quite manage to work environmental issues into the mix but three out of four wasn’t bad.
Peter Taylor’s ‘Age of Terror’
Peter Taylor’s documentary ‘Attack on the West’ is a hugely useful resource for the Terrorism topic in the Global Issues course. The entire Age of Terror series is relevant but, in the interests of time, the episode detailing the truck bombing on the US Embassy in Nairobi is possibly the most useful. It does contain some pretty graphic images but does provide some real insight into the pre-9/11 nature, methods and outlook of Bin Laden’s war on the west. The other programmes feature the story of the Entebbe hostage drama, a huge cache of arms being sent to the IRA by Colonel Gaddafi, a 1994 Islamist plot to fly a hijacked Air France jet into buildings in Paris and the attack on a school in Breslan.
As an accompaniment the BBC’s Age of Terror webpages are similarly excellent. In addition Peter Taylor’s more recent investigations into Al-Qaeda (‘The New Al-Qaeda: jihad.com’ ‘Investigating al-Qaeda’ ) are summarised on the BBC website. I can’t find these programmes themselves online - it would be great if anyone could flag up where they can be found.
Understanding the Global Environmental Crisis
UC Berkeley’s ‘Conversations With History’ provides an excellent opportunity for higher level students to gain an in-depth insight into some of the issues under the spotlight in the Global Issues course. This one, an interview with Professor John Harte, doesn’t really get going for about twenty minutes but is worth persevering with.
Global Issues: India backs embattled climate chief Pachauri
India has firmly backed climate change chief Rajendra Pachauri - who has been under attack over recent scientific errors - at UN-led talks in Delhi. See more here
British forces fighting ‘new’ wars with new tactics ?
A couple of useful articles published in recent days give students evidence on the extent to which the British Army is adapting to fighting in different kinds of conflicts.
The BBC report on Operation Moshtarak mentions that the Army are conducting ‘shaping operations’ in that they warn the local population of the impending offensive and work with tribal elders in order to win ‘hearts and minds’. By doing so, of course, the British lose the element of surprise but, it is hoped, some Taliban will see the writing on the wall and lay down their weapons. That is the theory.
The Daily Telegraph published an article yesterday on the ‘toxic cocktail’ of state-sponsored terrorists, extremist groups and criminal ganags that will form new enemies in the decades to come. The publication of the MOD’s assessment of future conflict now opens up the debate about what our armed forces shoudl look like and the role they should play in the future.
The Decade of Terror - Reuters Pictures of the Decade
A stunning online slideshow here from Reuters tells the story of a decade of global terror and violence. Many of the images are hard-hitting. All are thought-provoking. An amazing resource to use as stimulus material for Politics units covering global issues.
Launch Reuters Images of the Decade
Global Issues - Afghanistan Interactive Timeline
A super interactive timeline from the Washington Post brings up bang up to date on the history of the war in Afghanistan.
Anarchism - Auction House Starter Activity
Many thanks to Andy Lawrence for putting together this Auction House starter activity / quiz on Anarchism…
read more...»Terrorism - Analysis from the Economist
It seems that terrorists are getting younger, according to an interesting piece of analysis from the Economist. A good graphic here too for use in lessons.
Global Corruption - Interactive Guide
The 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index has this interesting interactive graphic which attempts to paint a picture of the varying nature of political and other corruption around the globe…
read more...»Copenhagen Countdown: Richard Black reports
Ricahrd Black, the BBC News website’s environment correspondent, regularly writes on the political moves surrounding the approach of the UN Climate summit. Essential reading for all those studying Global Political Issues. Take a look here
Nuclear Warheads - Who Has Them - and How Many?
A neat pdf download from the Times which illustrates the current portfolios of nuclear warheads around the world.
Iran , UN and multi-polarity
If World Order is now settling into Multi-polarity, as some commentators are predicting, then are we facing a period of brinksmanship of the worst realist kind; for as Professor Waltz claims, “multi-polarity creates instability between states”. And no longer do states simply seek power through military superiority, the new name of the game is survival, in a world rapidly becoming conscious of the importance of scarce resources, such as water, grain, arable land, minerals as well as energy products.
read more...»China unmoved on Iran sanctions
Political scientists use a number of tools to ascertain key issues as well as make predictions about developments on the world stage. In the light of China’s reluctance to pursue sanctions against Iran for its nuclear development program, we learn a great deal about the World Order.
read more...»Global Politics: Conversations with History
The Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley has put together a series of interviews with prominent thinkers on a whole range of international issues. Recommended viewing for Global Politics students.
Whither support for war on terror?
There’s a fine piece of writing by Tim Garton Ash in Thursday’s Guardian on how the war on the faltering economy has put thoughts about the so called war on terror to the back of many peoples’ minds.
“The first thing I see every time I come to New York is something that is not there. That soaring absence of the twin towers on the skyline of Manhattan remains this city’s most haunting presence. A landmark of air. But the shadow cast by the absent twin towers is no longer the defining feature of world politics in the way that the shadow cast by the Berlin Wall was for nearly 30 years. Most people don’t any more feel that we live in a “war on terror” in the way that we did feel that we lived in a cold war. Not across the world. Not in America. Not even in New York.”
More conflict in the pipeline?
According to a feature in the T2 section of today’s Times, key to understanding the conflict in the caucuses is the existence of 155 miles of pipeline snaking through Georgia. The authors argue that the conflict between Russia and its neighbour is not solely due to oil (true also of America’s invasion or Iraq, remember), but the geo-political relationships in the region are heavily influenced by black gold
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