War Of Ideas Research Articles

Girls at War, Girls in War: Three Female African Child Soldier Narratives

In echoing Obioma Nnaemeka’s fluid understanding of the war front and her insistence on the need to expand the notion of war as armed conflict to incorporate the idea of war as a figure of violence against humanity and human dignity, this article examines witness narratives by and about former female African child soldiers in Uganda and Eritrea. A critical reading of China Keitetsi’s Child Soldier (2002), Senait Mehari’s Heart of Fire (2006), and Evelyn Amony’s I Am Evelyn Amony (2015) reveals that the girl child is continually in/at war, regardless of whether she is at home or on the battlefield. Adopting Judith Butler’s strand of precarity and her notion of framing, the article teases out the nodes of African female livelihood in the militarised patriarchal cultures related in the memoirs, emphasising how the female African child soldier’s body occupies, inhabits, and lives through spaces of combat and domestic violence. The study also examines the feminist critique of otherness and aggressiveness towards those whose lives are considered less grievable and the authors’ agentive paradigm in their writing.

Emotional and Moralizing Staffage of War. On the Commodification of War in Conditions of Capitalist Accumulation

The aim of this article is to explain the war against the background of the dissemination of the commodity economy in the conditions of global capitalism, where using capitalist expansion and political promotion of the idea of war – especially the idea of militarism – which results in gaining markets for the arms sector. A sector in which military technology is treated as an innovative and profitable commodity. The author will also discuss how capitalist countries use non-economic methods of operation to generate surplus value within their own economies. This means a political situation in which warfare – including the use of physical violence and armed combat during conflicts – is an area of search for profit, which is achieved under the aegis of emotional and moralizing staffage.

War in the Bible and in Qur'an: A Comparative Study

The “founding texts” of each civilization shape the meaning of important issues for the lives of individuals and entire human communities. Such texts include the “holy books” of the Old and New Testaments and the Qur’an, called the “threelaws” or “rules of life”. Each of these “rules of life” outlines a certain idea of war, which is one of the basic human experiences. A short comparative study shows the different emphases. The Old Testament shows Israel’s historical wars in which God becomes involved. The New Testament does not deal with the issue of war at all in the military sense, but shifts the emphasis to spiritual warfare. The Quran devotes a lot of space to war, especially religious war, without referring to the specific history of the nation, but points to the rules that a devout Muslim should follow during a conflict, including armed conflict.

The Doctrinal Status of Just War in the Contemporary Teaching of the Catholic Magisterium

This article examines the doctrinal status of just war in the contemporary teaching of the Catholic magisterium. Some passages from Pope Francis’s 2020 encyclical Fratelli tutti, On Fraternity and Social Friendship appear to exclude the just war idea from the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. To gauge whether this is so, the article establishes a baseline comparison to the seminal teaching of Thomas Aquinas on peace and just war. Both St. Thomas and Pope Francis proceed from the assumption that “war” designates a sinful violation of peace. They appear to differ, however, on the question whether a positive meaning should be ascribed to the Roman term bellum justum. To understand if this divergence is purely verbal or involves a substantive disagreement, I consider why Pope Francis’s predecessors have (since the mid-twentieth century) abstained from employing the expression “just war” in their official documents. Finally, Pope Francis’s emphatic statement that St. Augustine ‘forged a concept of “just war” that we no longer uphold in our own day’ is interpreted in light of the passage from his Epistle 229 to Darius that Francis references in Fratelli tutti.

Thucydides and the British reaction to the French Revolution

ABSTRACT The ancient Athenian historian Thucydides’ account of the civil and interstate wars of classical Greece proved particularly illuminating for British commentators writing at the time of the French Revolution (1789–99). However, despite a growing scholarly interest in Thucydides’ Nachleben in historical and political thought, little has been said on this period of his reception. This paper aims to address that gap. It suggests that, while Thucydides remained something of a minority interest, a curious mix of historians, journalists and political commentators turned to his History to explore the possibility that it might illuminate contemporary events. They were particularly interested in Thucydides’ account of the stasis on Corcyra (modern Corfu), and its role in spreading instability, civil strife and war throughout Greece. These commentators used Thucydides to think through the similarities and differences between ancient and modern iterations of political violence and sometimes appropriated his language to existing political vocabularies and categories of thought. This resulted in innovative interpretations of Thucydides’ text that emphasized the affinities between stasis in Antiquity with the idea of civil war, sedition, political instability and decline and fall in the contemporary world. It also led to the emergence of nuanced ideas of the lessons and warnings that could be drawn from Greek history as presented by Thucydides and how they could be applied to the turbulent politics of the 1790s.

From Plastic Surgery to National Identity.

British surgical photographer Percy Hennell (1911-1987) worked alongside the ‘world famous … father of modern plastic surgery’[1] Harold Delf Gilles (1882-1960) to capture pioneering reconstruction facial surgery in 1941-42. The two toured America and Canada during this time helping to bolster ‘the status of Britain at war at a time when, initially, America was still teetering between neutrality and entering the conflict.’[2]
 The works shown here further dissect Hennell’s photographs by juxtaposing a number of his subjects into new painted images. This piecing together of images in paint hints at the now common use of plastic surgery in modern society. It marks the shift away from reconstruction and reassimilation towards vanity and the meddling in our ‘own physical attributes in a desire to sculpt a vision of perfect beauty.’[3]
 Manipulation through image connects painting to surgical operations, these works also draw on ideas of image, beauty, state propaganda and war. A direct reference to Eisenstein’s film “Battleship Potemkin” can be found in the glasses of one particular subject.
 
 [1] Christine Slobogin, “Full Article: ‘Something Useful in a National Sense’: Percy Hennell’s Surgical and Nationalist Colour Photography, 1940-1948,” Taylor and Francis online, November 8, 2022, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14714787.2022.2094458.
 [2]Slobogin, 2022.
 [3] Madder139 Gallery. “Philip Gurrey.” Madder139 press release, May 15, 2008. www.madder139.com.

The War of Ideas: Institutions and Global Media Bias

The War of Ideas: Institutions and Global Media Bias

East-West Identity Unmasks the Mistaken Ideology of American War on Iraq: A Critical Analysis of Baghdadi Bath and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

The study aspired to investigate the human trauma of a society in wartime and thereafter. It focuses on literature that seeks to reflect life as it should be. However, literary works here deal with catastrophic dramas that depict Iraqis who generally suffer from the negative repercussions of the American Crisis and the extreme underdevelopment and poverty at that time. In this paper, the audience faces the disaster in two dramatic works: Baghdadi Bath (2005) by Jawad al-Asadi and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (2012) by Rajiv Joseph. They are a good example that depicts the nightmare experienced by all Iraqis during the war. Speaking about the disaster of war, we guess that the disaster may have human roots. The disaster of war on Iraq, in particular, is taken for analysis. The researchers try to denote the nature of man at the time of the disaster. The paper explores the relations between the ideas of war and the world we face and refers to Baghdad’s brutal past and its confused present. It also inspects the real reasons behind the war and records the human condition in the consequences of the American invasion of Iraq. To narrow the field of investigation, the researchers have chosen disaster at war, especially the American war on Iraq in 2003, and its results for the study. The paper steps down war and violence and assures peace for people depending on different perspectives.

Obrazy władców i szlachty polskiej w prozie historycznej Romana Iwanyczuka

The topic of the article is the image of Polish kings and nobility in Roman Iwanyczuk’s historical prose. The analysis was conducted on the basis of three works written at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s. They are only a fragment of the rich literary heritage ofthe famous Ukrainian novelist. Ciemnoczerwone wino (Черлене вино) takes the reader to the 15th century, to Galicia‑Volhynia, which was threatened with polonization. Manuskrypt z ulicy Ruskiej (Манускрипт з вулиці Руської) shows the origin of the idea of the liberation war, the future Chmielnicki Uprising, in Lviv at the turn of the 16th and 18th century. The novel Woda z kamienia (Вода з каменю) presents the beginnings of the Ukrainian national revival in Galicia and the history of the Ruthenian Trinity, with its leader Markian Szaszkewicz. The cyclicality and connections between novels, gives Iwanyczuk’s work spatiotemporal continuity, which encompasses, above all, historical events and figures. The analyzed works present a clearly negative image of the representatives of Polish society, which results from the stereotypical approach to the perception of a Pole in the 20th century Ukrainian literature. Polish rulers and nobility are portrayed through the prism of Polish‑Ukrainian relations at socio‑political, religious and ideological level.

Iliados komentaras kaip priešprieša karui. Simone Weil ir graikai

The article focuses on some of Simone Weil’s philosophical writings against war, which she published in the context of the Second World War. Her translations and commentaries on Greek myths, philosophy, and poetry were at the core of her political thought and action. One of the main purposes of this article is to study Weil’s idea of the Trojan war as paradigmatic in human history. The philosopher’s interest in ancient authors was determined by her philosophical, pedagogical, as well as social activities. Weil’s translations and commentaries on Homer’s Iliad were deeply influenced by her reflexions on the origins of Hitlerism. Weil’s philosophical gloss on the Iliad was based on a radical cultural and political confrontation between Greek philosophy, which she associated with spirituality, and ideology of violence, which she attributed to Roman imperialism. Within the broader context of Weil’s philosophy, the article focuses on the key concepts that the philosopher introduced in her commentaries on the Iliad, such as hero, misfortune, thing, and force. Weil’s philosophy seems to be very timely in wartime because it underscores the demand for a pure inner and courageous view of war by philosophers – just like Homer’s view of the Trojan war.

Economic and Ideological Reasons for the Use by the Third Reich of Forced Labor of “Eastern Workers”

The analytical part of this work consists in a special emphasis on the relationship and interdependence of ideological “justification” and economic “expediency” in the exploitation of forced labor by Ostarbeiters. The article notes the consonance of the ideas about the special status of the German worker and total mobilization put forward by the leaders of the Third Reich with the subsequent software and practical actions of the National Socialists in Germany on the issue of labor exploitation of millions of civilians and prisoners of war of countries — military opponents. These actions were not just aimed at reducing pressure on the German worker and maintaining a high level of production, but were accompanied by the imposition of ethnic myths and alien values on foreign workers, moreover, by “cleansing” territories from people during the retreat and destruction through back-breaking and often senseless labor of “racially — inferior” categories. An analysis of the views of modern researchers of the problem showed that rationalistic interpretations of the actions of the Nazi authorities in relation to foreign labor, especially “Eastern workers”, dominate. The ideas of war and domination, the priority of Germany and its interests, formulated by the leaders of the NSDAP, became dominant in the ideology and politics of the Third Reich, where the forced labor of citizens of the occupied states became an integral element.

How Holy War became Unholy

Abstract The Livonian war in the second half of the 16th century was understood by its participants within the Christian Providentialist discourse and was seen primarily through the optics of Christian ethics (the idea of sin and its punishment, the idea of ‘God’s penalty’ which every person has to pay as a potential sinner by undergoing pain and trials, the idea of retribution and reward for feats and sins, etc.). Since the war coincided with the aggravation of religious confrontations in the region (Catholics vs Protestants, the Orthodox vs Catholics and Protestants amongst themselves), there were attempts to turn the conflict into something bigger than a war over territories and political ambitions. But the idea of a religious war failed. For Europeans, the religious factor in the Livonian conflict had very little symbolic expression. No cults of Livonian saints, martyrs for the faith, etc. emerged. For the Orthodox Church a number of significant religious and propagandistic actions were organized at the beginning of the war (‘the Narva miracle,’ creation of hagiographic monuments, etc.) that glorified the victory of the Orthodox Cross and Russian arms. However, as the conflict developed, the significance of these actions faded and was reduced to local memory objects. The defense of Pskov from King Stephen Bathory in 1581 was the most resonant and significant event. Its image was embodied in many objects of both local and all-Russian historical memory, which retain their importance to the present day.

Aggression (crime against peace) in international public and criminal law

In the last two centuries, the world and humanity have changed more than ever. The rapid development of technology, but also socio-humanistic and political thought has led to a completely different perception of the world by people. The desire to spread influence, aided by technological development, has pushed the great powers into the bloodiest armed conflicts the world has ever seen. After the end of the First and Second World Wars, it proved necessary not only to sanction the leaders of the idea of aggressive war, but also to sanction the insult to the independence of countries through the armed attack. In this regard, the international community has approached a more detailed definition of the concept of aggression and crimes against peace (crime of aggression) and the establishment of appropriate mechanisms with the aim of preventing armed conflicts, stopping them and promoting peaceful settlement of international disputes. It is this idea that is the subject of the text that follows. The author wants to make his modest contribution to legal science in terms of analysis of the concept of aggression in international law (primarily in international public law), but also the definition and elements of (international) crime – crime against peace (aggression) in international criminal law. In addition to explaining and clarifying the content of the concept of aggression, the author will analyze this international crime contained in international documents, present the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in relation to aggression, and explain the position and role of the United Nations in preventing armed conflict and peace. Finally, a critical analysis of all the above, the author will present the advantages and disadvantages of mechanisms for preventing armed conflict and punishing perpetrators of international crimes against peace through the prism of the amendment to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

The Idea of War in Russian Political Thought after 1991

As time passed, in Russian political thought after the collapse of the Soviet Union, militarism or even an apology for war came to the fore. The aim of the study was to detect the most important models of this trend, taking into account the timeline of the Crimean events in 2014, and to attempt to explain its background in the absence of significant military threats to Russia from the international environment. Four main models of post-Soviet militarism have been distinguished: a) the rational model, pointing to the effects of military action in the modern world; b) the dualistic model of a clash between the traditionalist Russian civilization and the corrupt and expansionist West; c) the fatalistic concept of war as an inevitable aspect of the maturation of societies; d/the revivalist model, where war is treated as a device of social mobilization.

‘Dying Was Never a Preference’ – Post-War Ethical Discourse (PWED): Casualty Aversion and the War Legitimizing Projects

ABSTRACT Modern case studies are presented to show how the idea of war in Western societies is legitimized through an ethical script by which war and warfare result in few losses to both sides. A Post-War Ethical Discourse model is used to describe the prevalent postwar condition of casualty aversion, by which modern leaderships attempt to convince the public of the need to justify the idea of military empowerment and to legitimize the idea of war, through technological revolutions and doctrines aimed at assuring that the next war will be more precise and more ethical, distancing soldiers from the battle field and thereby resulting in less casualties to both sides. The paper illustrates this condition by analyzing events that took place after World War 1, World War 2 and the Vietnam War, as well as an Israeli case study.

Wat doet de spirituele strijd in de Bekentenissen van het vlees?

Spirituality and struggle in Foucault. The role of spiritual combat In the first two chapters of Confessions of the Flesh the Christian notion of spiritual combat is presented by Foucault as a double paradoxical self-practice of Christian mortification and pastoral power. It is both, constant negative fight against one-self, and never-ending internal war against the temptations of the soul. This rather negative idea of spiritual combat is contrasted with Foucault’s rather positive ideas of war, fight, power, resistance, revolt and spirituality, and ‘the circle of struggle and truth’. It is argued that spiritual combat is used by Foucault both as an extension of his theory of (self-)discipline and as stepping stone to his presentation of the (late) Stoic ascetism of self-care and truth struggle.

The problem with accidental war

Many theories of international conflict are based on the premise that war can occur by accident. The basic idea of accidental war is that crisis situations can spiral out of control, leading to the outbreak of a war despite no one having decided to go to war. Although World War I is often claimed to be the prime example of such an accidental war, modern research suggests that it began as a result of deliberate choices, not by accident. Nonetheless, accidental war continues to be used as an important building block in many theories, including theories of deterrence, bargaining, and the spiral model. In this article, I examine the validity of the assumption that wars can begin by accident, as well as the implications that the lack of accidental wars has for international relations theory.

Garden Hunter

Garden Hunter

The Appearance of the Idea of War in the Contexts of Establishment and Beauty in the Divan of the Bosnian Aladdin Sâbit

Among the literati and scientists, the view is found that classical Turkish poetry prefers a separate literary expression, where literature when removed from society, reality, and sociality is at a certain level indifferent to the issues of society. Being involved with life will lead a poet to the reality of society and humanity, and the relevant art must have knowledge about signifiers to be noticed by the poet’s addressee.Metaphorical structures will increase the meaning of a text while evaluating literary texts. This article has come across depictions of war in their literal and figurative meanings in classical Turkish poetry and draws attention herein to the ethnosymbolist approach. The focus of Turkish classical poetry appears to be determinable as the metaphor of war. Based on this, metaphors in classical literature such as the image of a lover’s gaze as an arrow or her hair as a bow string are not meaningless. The flamboyant elements that a nation has stated have emerged in literature in its own language.The poets imply that the army is not in war for fighting but to clean the blood of the enemy with cupping or to shave their hair for free. For the poet, war is the natural healing that saves the corrupted world, and based on this idea, war is based on eliminating and correcting evil. This article will examine the couplets about war in the Divan of the Bosnian Alaaddin Sâbit, a 17th-century poet, in terms of embellishment and concretization.

Nature at War: American Environments and World War II

Nature at War: American Environments and World War II