Art Of War Research Articles

The Body Writes Back: The Pharmacopolitics of Cure and Care in Rabih Alameddine’s Koolaids: The Art of War

Technoscientific pharmacology involved in finding remedies for diseases has always been concerned with the activity of relevant medical support at the cellular level, working on the principles of the Cartesian treatment of the body as a machine to be tinkered upon and moulded by the power of the pharmakon. As such, the project of determining a cure for any disease ends in creating what Michael Montagne calls pharmacomythology, that is, a single story of the drug (inevitably a remedy or a poison) that concerns itself with dominant patterns only and eliminates the rest as anomalies (13). In doing so, scientific drug narratives overlook the agency of the body that has ingested the drug, something that goes beyond the dose-response relationships and places the diseased body at the crossroads of automation and autonomy. These contradictory aspects reveal themselves in their respective ways; the former allowing the artificial power of the pharmakon to ‘write’, or rather ‘rewrite/overwrite’ the body, and the latter augmenting the ability of the body to exert its own power over the institutionally organised, extraneous control of the pharmakon and ‘write back’. Rabih Alameddine’s Koolaids: The Art of War is a novel that contests the largely Western medical paradigm of AIDS care and cure with the anomalous states of the body under the regulation of technomedical knowledge and support. The diseased bodies of the various characters not only narrate against the clinical nature of should-be’s and should-not-be’s in the Western healthcare system with alternative, unscientific dimensions of healing, but also against the sensational and oversentimental rhetoric tailing the former. Bodies that are forced to heal reject the institutionalised care, and those that have lost hope from such care find solace and amelioration (if only temporary) from the non-traditional practices rooted in the non-Western cultural identity of the characters. Bodies also reject the idea that AIDS has a single, unidirectional narrative of dying and death, or that the scientific paradigm of treatment that merely depends on the transparency of a therapeutic cause-effect relationship is the only key to everyday normalcy that HIV-positive patients should aspire to. Ensconced within the recurring motifs of war against a virus and between communities, the silent war of the body against the traditions of healthcare has, according to this researcher, proven a worthy theme of study. This paper, therefore, aims to examine how Alameddine’s novel destabilises the constructed relationship between the diseased and accepted modes of treatment at the intersections of race, faith, gender, sexuality, ability and beyond to establish a dimension of healing that does not cater for the escapism of a cure but for the transformation of care itself.

The artistic image of the ukrainian folk costume in the genre portrait of ukrainian artists (Russian-ukrainian war of 2022)

Purpose of Research. The purpose of the research is to determine the reasons and nature of the evolution of the female portrait in Ukrainian painting during the period of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. Methodology. The work is based on a general scientific complex approach, which combined the methods of art history, cultural, philosophical and aesthetical. The methods of pictorial-stylistic, comparative and compositional-artistic analysis of the works were used. Scientific Novelty. The scientific novelty of the work is the first attempt to analyse the artistic image of the Ukrainian folk costume as a fundamental component of the image of a «beregyna» woman in Ukrainian painting during the war of 2022. It is proven that female images in Ukrainian folk dress has become the leading motif of patriotic painting. Conclusions. The research examines the characteristic features of the use of the artistic image of the Ukrainian national costume in female portrait painting during the period of military operations of Russia against Ukraine in 2022. It is highlighted that the complex of Ukrainian traditional clothing and its elements in artistic works is a symbol of the indomitability of the Ukrainian nation, its connection with the past and respect for folk culture. The works contain the «breathing» of the real world with its tragic events, the reflection of the psycho-emotional state of the society through female images, the combination of ancient and modern folklore, and an emphasis on national identity. A modern Ukrainian woman, dealt with the emotional direction of the work and the use of one or another element of the constume, appears as a Young Girl, Beregynya, Madonna, Warrior. So, we can state that the artistic image of the Ukrainian national costume in genre female portrait painting occupies a special place in the period of the psychological cataclysms in the Ukrainian society in 2022 and it is an effective tool to unite the Ukrainian nation and encourage the preservation of the territorial, spiritual, historical and cultural integrity of Ukraine . Keywords: female symbol, art of war, female portrait.

From the Art of Victory to the Art of Keeping Peace: The <i>Dao De Jing</i> and Early 17<sup>th</sup> Century Tokugawa Bakufu Military Strategy

Using the material of a crucial Tokugawa era normative document, the Laws for the Military Houses (Buke Shohatto) in its first edition (1615) and the Hereditary Book on the Art of War (Heihō Kadensho, 1632), composed by Yagyū Munenori (1565–1646), a prominent statesman and fencing teacher of the first three Tokugawa shoguns, this article considers the influence of the Dao De Jing on the military-political doctrine of Tokugawa bakufu of the first half of the 17th century. The analysis of these sources gives us reason to believe that the concept of government in accordance with the Dao, stated in the Dao De Jing, which permitted the use of armed force only as an extreme measure of defense, was widely discussed by the Japanese elite in the first half of the 17th century and played a significant role in determining the administrative and military policies aimed at securing peace in the country. This strategy eventually resulted in a series of measures aimed at preserving the dominance of the military-feudal class, strengthening the bakufu control over the han, quantitative and qualitative reduction of armed forces, the reduction of military education of the samurai to classes at private martial arts schools, which did not prepare the troops for large-scale action. Eventually, this significantly contributed to Japan having two and a half centuries of peace despite the formal dominance of the military.

Inking Wartime: Military Tattoos and the Temporalities of the War Experience

AbstractMilitary tattoos have recently become the latest genre of war art deployed by museums to make war tangible to their visitors. These new war objects give rise to important temporal inconsistencies: as individual soldiers relate different understandings of wartime, exhibitions mediate them monolithically, reproducing a notion of wartime as exceptional, finite, and temporary. To grasp this inconsistency, this article introduces a conceptual distinction between chronic and chronological embodied temporalities of war experience. In the four exhibitions of military tattoos under analysis, different veterans locate war's end at different junctures or moments. In these experiences, the issue of war's ending is a matter of chronology. In contrast, other veterans find war to be never-ending. In this case, war is akin to a chronic condition, whose very essence is a sense of temporal lingering that puts the idea of war's ending into question. I show that sticking to univocal understanding of wartime, exhibitions of military tattoos efface chronic and chronologically discrepant war experiences, contributing to the (re)production of a war/peace(time) binary that has been repeatedly deemed to be problematic and violent.

Tatiana Bazzichelli (ed), Whistle-blowing for Change: Exposing Systems of Power and Injustice

The book under review contains six sections, each with four or five chapters, covering issues of surveillance, control, and the art of whistle-blowing. In this review, I will focus on how the book’s argument, as exemplified in selected chapters, shifts the debate on US drone strikes and targeted killings, in order to recommend the book to the attention of the law, conflict, security and human rights community. The first section sets the tone by discussing ‘Whistleblowing: The Impact of Speaking Out’. British and American whistle-blowers in this section tell their experience of revealing national security secrets for the sake of public interest. The chapter “The Art of War, the Moral Law and the Art of Whistleblowing” authored by Brandon Bryant is of particular relevance to legal and security debates around drone targeting. Bryant is the first-ever US drone pilot whistle-blower and hence the inclusion of this chapter is a special feat, as it provides a practitioner voice challenging American targeted killing from within. Bryant skilfully takes us through a personal journey of war, ethics and morality. I personally spent some time with him in Berlin in March 2022 and discussed his chapter at length. I realized the enormous altruism he displayed by turning to whistle-blowing, after his very personal near-death experience and spiritual awakening that triggered him to speak out. Bryant went on to set the tone for many other US veterans who followed his path in drone whistle-blowing—some publicly known and others still hidden—and thus his voice is indispensable and shows why whistle-blowing is vital for transparency.

Лубок в советском плакате эпохи Гражданской войны

The author of the present article studies the implementation of the lubok in the Soviet agitprop art of the Civil War through the analysis of the posters published by the publishing office of the Political Department of the Revolutionary Military Council (Litizdat PUR). The relevance of this study is due to insufficient information and research about the creation of luboks at that time. The research is aimed at analyzing the lubok and its relation with the poster of the indicated period in the context of propaganda art. The formulation of the research problem brings forth the relevant objectives of studying the plots and forms of the lubok, the issues of its production and distribution, and its target audience. These research tasks are solved by the application of a set of methods, including the chronological approach, the typological and comparative methods, and the iconographic analysis. In the period under discussion, the line between the poster and the lubok was blurred. Comparing luboks and posters, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that since the Civil War luboks had a poster size, they are closer to the poster rather than to the lubok itself. To such pictures, the terms “lubok-style poster” or “revolutionary lubok” can be applied. Archival documents reveal the personalities of those who supervised the production of luboks and posters in the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the State Publishing House (Gosizdat) (A.A. Divilkovsky, I.M. Kasatkin, V.U. Mordvinkin, V.A. Karpinsky, V.P. Polonsky). The lubok contributed to the development of the “folk” poster type in which the ideas of the Bolsheviks took on a popular form. These lubok posters were intended principally for peasants, who often were illiterate. The author concludes that the influence of the lubok on the poster of the Civil War period can be reduced to the following: a stylized traditional form, multi-frame composition, and the usage of folklore and folk humor.

Plant and pest: The art of (cyanide) war.

Plant and pest: The art of (cyanide) war.

Throughtout History, Taking Book of Changes As The Path: Jean-Joseph-Marie Amiot’s studies on Book of Changes

As an early French Jesuit who came to China, Jean-Joseph-Marie Amiot was praised as "the last sinologist among the Jesuits who entered China". He is knowledgeable and profound, has studied Manchu and Chinese characters, and has made remarkable achievements in poetics, music, history, art of war, translation and other aspects. This article focuses on his concern for Book of Changes, he returned back to history and analysis of the characters of Book of Changes , he took studies on Book of Changes as the basis of music theory, and worte De la musique moderne des Chinois. His studies on Book of Changes not only the basis for his use of European language systems to study Chinese music, but also provided a possibility for the exchange of Chinese and Western culture

Guidi, Andrea. Books, People, and Military Thought: Machiavelli’s Art of War and the Fortune of the Militia in Sixteenth-Century Florence and Europe.

Guidi, Andrea. Books, People, and Military Thought: Machiavelli’s Art of War and the Fortune of the Militia in Sixteenth-Century Florence and Europe.

Youth, Transitional Justice and Art: Documenting War on the Streets of Sana’a, Yemen

ABSTRACT The role and impact of youth and art in war is multifaceted. In this article, presented as a dialogue, Yemeni street artist ThiYazan Al-Alawi shares his views on art, youth and justice in the midst of seven years of civil war in Yemen. His work is part documentation, part memorialization, part analysis, part therapy and part dissent. The artist first reflects on how he started, doing street art around the city, and how protest and war shaped his style and the topics he chose to cover. Al-Alawi explains how art in conflict zones addresses its audience, and how each of his own pieces has a mission. He also discusses recent collaborations with artists abroad which communicate to the outside world what is happening to him and his country. Throughout the dialogue, Al-Alawi gives advice on how the international community should support youth, and how art can be used for social dialogue and accountability. The article also includes selected photos of murals by Al-Alawi and his collaborators.

TBAD and the art of war

TBAD and the art of war

Visualizing Tanks

Abstract Rapidly changing technology transformed not only military affairs in the half century before 1914 but also the printing industry. In particular, images of all kinds became available to the public on an unprecedented scale. This allowed governments to call on artists both to propagandize the war effort and record the world-historical events. In the images they created during the Great War, official war artists did much to shape the public perceptions of such novel technologies as the tank. Especially in the robust war art programs of Britain and France, artists emphasized the blank menace of machines without evidence of human agency. Images of implacable machines rearing over blasted landscapes appeared in salons, books, magazines, newspapers, and in the new medium of film. The images sank home. During the interwar period, military mechanization incorporated tanks into armored forces that projected that same menace and invincibility on a larger scale, the very characteristics that commended tank forces to totalitarian regimes.

The Art of War

The Art of War

Sword of Sun Tzu in The Perspective of Free and Active Political

This paper explains that one of the theories in Sun Tzu's art of war can be applied in various aspects of life related to solving problems or conflicts through peace. In this paper, the theory of the “sheathed sword” as the highest skill will be juxtaposed with free and active politics related to the pattern used in world peace efforts. The principle of free and active in Sun Tzu's art of war is described as the collaboration of two reliable ways to acquire a supreme skill. This paper will also describe how Sun Tzu's art of war becomes a reference for various aspects of conflict resolution and how free and active politics sees it as an art of "war" with the highest skill.

Louis Menand, The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War

Louis Menand, The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War

Night Vision, Ghosts and Data Proxies

In 2008 visual artist Jon Cattapan was deployed to Timor-Leste as an official Australian war artist. The fact that the Australian soldiers were conducting peacekeeping activities in Timor-Leste meant Cattapan could accompany them on patrols outside military bases. While on night patrols Cattapan, like the soldiers, wore a night vision monocle. This article addresses how, in subsequent paintings, Cattapan’s saturation of night vision green paint speaks to broader issues of accelerating developments in contemporary militarised technology. Particular attention is paid to militarised technologies designed to augment or replace the capabilities of human vision. Jean Baudrillard’s ideas of the ‘violence of the global’ are used to interrogate how Cattapan’s paintings Night Patrols (Around Maliana) (2009) and Night Figures (Gleno) (2009) pose questions about current and future ramifications of perpetual war fought in physical and virtual spaces. This interrogation is conducted through close visual analyses of the two paintings.

Software Methodologies and War Strategies

Innovation is permanent in all fields of human activity. Strategy and tactics adopted by one discipline may be used to communicate through disciplines or may be transposed and adapted in other fields. The contemporary activity of software development brought to emerging different methodologies that exercise their influence to other fields and may be applied in other disciplines. On the other hand, as people showed the highest inventiveness in attacking and conquering others, the basic military notions are used across disciplines. Adapting the attacking and war strategies to different fields resulted naturally. The article will examine the trans-disciplinary communication through the Agile incremental methodology and similarities between its application in software development and adopting it in different fields. We'll analyze how to transpose to other fields Agile concepts as adding business value and getting to the business goals, conducting the work the incremental and non-incremental way, and how the basic concepts from Agile are used beyond their original creation, through other disciplines. The article also analyzes war strategies and the possibility to apply them to other disciplines, with extended references to one of the most renowned military treaties, Sun Tzu's The Art of War. We'll investigate what things as initial estimations, attack by stratagem, tactical dispositions, energy, weak points, and strong points, maneuvering, variation in tactics, the army on the march, terrain, arriving on unknown ground, concrete situations on the ground, the use of spies or the attack by fire may mean to communicate across disciplines.

Проблематика обов’язків у політико-правовій думці епохи відродження

The article is devoted to understanding the category of obligation in the political and legal thought of the Renaissance. The study analyzes the works of F. Bacon, N. Machiavelli, J. Bodin and J. Althusius. Considering the views of F. Bacon, the author concludes that Bacon’s understanding of obligations is based on the established commandment of love, which should be guided by man in his actions and deeds. Thus, Bacon, above all, speaks of obligations in the Christian sense as manifestations of love of neighbor. In “Discourses on the First decade of Titus Livius”, N. Machiavelli outlines a kind of “obligation” of the republic and the prince to refrain from insulting citizens. He also formulates the obligation that a virtuous citizen should follow – to forget about the insults caused to him out of love for the homeland. The main obligation of the prince, based on the work of the “The Prince”, is the art of war. In addition to the above, it is also the obligation of the princes to try to retain power, to win, regardless of the means they use to do so. Regarding the people, the prince has such obligations as: to reward gifted citizens, to persuade them to quietly engage in crafts and trade, to arrange their possessions, but also to engage citizens in celebrations and spectacles at the right time. The author concludes that the issue of obligations in Machiavelli is wrapped up in political goals, which are ultimately aimed at preserving, strengthening the state, cohesion of the people. In Boden’s political and legal conception, it is the category of obligation (obligation between subject and sovereign) that forms citizenship, underlies the understanding of the law (as the sovereign’s order to exercise its power), and is associated with the first attribute of sovereignty. In this case, the sovereign and the citizen are bound by mutual obligations – the sovereign provides protection of the citizens and his property, and the citizens – obeys the will of the sovereign and shows faith and obedience to authority. Views on the obligations of the German thinker J. Althusius are set out in his work “Politica”, analyzing which, the author concludes that the whole system of obligations of J. Althusius is based on God’s commandments, the commandments of love of neighbor. Regarding the sovereigns, they should take care of the soul and body of their citizens, especially in the direction of their noesis of God’s laws and their protection.

The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War

The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War

Louis Menand. The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021. Pp. 857. $35.00 (cloth).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsLouis Menand. The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021. Pp. 857. $35.00 (cloth).Susan McWilliams BarndtSusan McWilliams BarndtPomona College Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Political Thought Volume 11, Number 1Winter 2022 Published in association with the American Political Thought organized section of the American Political Science Association and the Jack Miller Center Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/717948 Views: 32Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.