Archive for March, 2011Page 2
Our Universal Capacity For Peace
Are women more peaceful than men? My inner feminist wants to scream, “NO!” I have an internal knee jerk reaction every time this question is asked, because I worry about the effect the answer, “yes,” has on women. I think it locks them in gender roles and does not allow them to explore their full […]
Who is more peaceful?
Are women more peaceful than men? After thinking of many different ways to respond to this question, it still, like many other questions in this field, seems empirically unanswerable. It can be proved one way, critiqued, proved over, critiqued again, and the cycle continues. Great for debate, but highly unlikely to ever be agreed upon […]
What is Just War?
Just War Theory is defined by two sets of criteria; the right to go to war and the right conduct within war. The right to go to war is defined by having just cause, comparative justice, legitimate authority, the right intention, a probability of success, as a last resort and proportionality. In layman’s terms, war […]
The Dalai Lama to Give Up his Role as Leader of the Tibetan Government in Exile
The move, notes one observer, is intended to strengthen the government-in-exile’s democratic process. The link is here.
Middle East Map – test your knowledge
Drag the country’s name onto the map. There is no score or time limit. See how well you do! We should know this map, where so much is going on right now! Link is here (first click on the blog heading above).
Spending on a “Just” War
In my opinion one of the best arguments for pacifism is the economic opportunity cost of war. There are so many different opportunities missed by the United States because of the huge portion of national budget dedicated to defense. In 2010 the U.S. budgeted to spend around 700 billion dollars on the military. Estimates on the amount of additional spending it would cost […]
A Role for the U.N. in Libya
For those of you who, like myself until recently, have not had time lately to check the news, there is currently a revolution in Libya against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the military dictator who has held power there for the past forty-one years. The Libyan revolution brings up some difficult questions of peace studies: where should […]
Both sides have a point.
Ideally I would love to say that pacifism is the answer to all the worlds problems. I would love to say, that conflicts could be resolved without violence. But in some situations, pacifism may not be the answer. I believe the human race is still has a lot to learn and someday pacifistic ideals will be practiced by all. But for now I […]
Is it possible to define a just war?
Just War: A military action that is justified as being permissible for legal or moral reasons; also called just war theory, just war tradition. (Dictionary.com) The Just War theory definition provides me with some very interesting thought. Within this theory, it states that there needs to be a moral reason, or a person must have […]
Is it ever “Just” War?
I’ve grown up hearing about the consequences of war. S**t happens, apparently, and we’re supposed to accept it as part of the package. Concepts like “collateral damage” come up a lot whenever war gets discussed, and they get blown off. I’m not satisfied with that, though. I think casual acceptance, especially on a societal scale, […]