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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Other warfare & defence issues
A challenging examination of Japanese war crimes during World War II offers a fresh perspective on the Pacific War-and a better understanding of reasons for the wartime use of extreme mass violence. The 1937 Rape of Nanjing has become a symbol of Japanese violence during the Second World War, but it was not the only event during which the Japanese used extreme force. This thought-provoking book analyzes Japan's actions during the war, without blaming Japan, helping readers understand what led to those eruptions. In fact, the author specifically disputes the idea that the forms of extreme violence used in the Pacific War were particularly Japanese. The volume starts by examining the Rape of Nanjing, then goes on to address Japan's acts of individual and collective violence throughout the conflict. Unlike other works on the subject, it combines historical, sociological, and psychological perspectives on violence with a specific study of the Japanese army, seeking to define the reasons for the use of extreme violence in each particular case. Both a historical survey and an explanation of Japanese warfare, the book scrutinizes incidents of violence perpetrated by the Japanese vis-a-vis theories that explore the use of violence as part of human nature. In doing so, it provides far-reaching insights into the use of collective violence and torture in war overall, as well as motivations for committing atrocities. Finally, the author discusses current political implications stemming from Japan's continued refusal to acknowledge its war-time actions as war crimes. Covers the full expanse of Japanese war crimes during the Second World War from 1937 to 1945 Examines the social and political reasons for an increase in the severity of the violence the Japanese used against women and foreign soldiers during the war Explains how political relations between the United States and Japan were responsible for increased violence against American soldiers Discusses hotly contested issues surrounding the denial of war crimes by the Japanese and the resulting impact on regional and international relations Serves to stimulate discussion about the evaluation of mass violence and genocide
Throughout the twenty-first century, genocide denial has evolved and adapted with new strategies to augment and complement established modes of denial. In addition to outright negation, denial of genocide encompasses a range of techniques, including disputes over numbers, contestation of legal definitions, blaming the victim, and various modes of intimidation, such as threats of legal action. Arguably the most effective strategy has been denial through the purposeful creation of misinformation. Denial of Genocides in the Twenty-First Century brings together leading scholars from across disciplines to add to the body of genocide scholarship that is challenged by denialist literature. By concentrating on factors such as the role of communications and news media, global and national social networks, the weaponization of information by authoritarian regimes and political parties, court cases in the United States and Europe, freedom of speech, and postmodernist thought, this volume discusses how genocide denial is becoming a fact of daily life in the twenty-first century.
'This book, containing untold suffering by children caught in the midst of extreme social violence, gives voice to their unthinkable, unspeakable experience and makes this into a telling psychoanalytic story. It is a story of how the developing minds of these children grapple with the memories the experiences of genocide create and the triumphs and debilities which the struggle can leave in its wake. Kaplan listens with her psychoanalytic 'third' ear but, remarkably, also gives scientific consideration to what she is hearing and follows through her sophisticated theoretical analysis with a grounded theory-based qualitative study.' - Peter Fonagy
Dr. David Hamburg's groundbreaking book, "Preventing Genocide: Practical Steps toward Early Detection and Effective Action," approaches the problem of mass violence from three perspectives.The first part of the book examines the root causes of genocide, using illustrative case histories from the 19th century to the present to identify recurrent elements and patterns in genocides as they develop. A basic theme is that clear warnings always appear long before a genocide erupts, and that there are practical ways to prevent its outbreak before mass violence occurs. The second part of the book describes pillars of operational and structural prevention: elements in society that have strong long-term potential for preventing mass violence of all kinds. These pillars, if adequately constructed and sustained, greatly reduce the risk of genocide, war, and other atrocities. The third part considers what various organizations and institutions have done and can do to build and maintain the pillars. It concludes that international repositories of knowledge and skill in prevention are essential, to identify warning signals and to prepare and propose appropriate responses before a genocide begins. For this purpose it recommends the establishment of international centers of genocide and outlines their tasks.It is a unique book, highly interdisciplinary and international in scope, continuously linking research with active policy making. Work on the book has already stimulated significant movement in the United Nations and the European Union-the author of the book was appointed in 2006 to chair two distinguished international committees on genocide prevention-one reporting to Kofi Annan at the UN, theother to Javier Solana at the EU. Reactions to the book from those who have reviewed its draft chapters have been highly positive. They have come from both policy makers and scholars including Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Javier Solana, Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, and Jan Eliasson as well as Professors Larry Diamond, John Stremlau, Herant Katchadourian, Sidney Drell, and, up to his death last year, Alexander George, who was originally involved as co-author of the book.
This book examines the relationship between total war, state-organized genocide, and the emergence of modern identity. The Holocaust, Bartov argues, can only be understood within the context of the century's predilection to apply systematic and destructive methods to resolve conflicts over identity.
Over the last twenty years the world has witnessed four major genocides. There was the genocide in Iraq (1988), in Rwanda (1994), in Srebrenica (1995), and in Darfur (2003 and continuing). Most observers agree there is an urgent need to assess the international community's efforts to prevent genocide and to intervene (once a genocide is under way) in an effective and timely manner. This volume, the latest in a widely respected series on the subject of genocide, provides an overview of a host of issues germane to this task. The book begins with a cogent discussion of the issues of prevention and intervention during the Cold War years. The second chapter discusses the abject failures and moderate (though, in some cases, highly controversial) successes at prevention and intervention carried out in the 1990s and early 2000s. Further chapters examine latest efforts to develop an effective genocide early warning system and examine the complexity of and barriers to prevention. The pros and cons of sanctions and the problems of enforcement and evaluation their effectiveness are then discussed. Conflicts between state sovereignty and the protection of threatened populations are examined both in historical context and by incorporating the latest thinking. Later chapters treat the issue of intervention; why and how it has met with only limited success. Concentrating on Rwanda and Srebrenica, chapter 8 discusses various peace operations that were abject failures and those that were moderately successful. The concept of an anti-genocide regime is examined in terms of progress in developing such a regime as well as what the international community must do in order to implement it. Chapters discuss key issues related to post-genocidal periods, those that need to be addressed in order to establish stability in a wounded land and populace as well as to prevent future genocides. The final chapter asks whether bringing perpetrators to justice has any impact in breaking impunity, ensuring deterrence, and bringing about reconciliation. The contributors to the volume are all noted scholars, some of whom specialize in the study of genocide, and others who specialize in such areas as early warning, peacekeeping, and sanctions.
This book introduces a new and original sociological conceptualization of compromise after conflict and is based on six-years of study amongst victims of conflict in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Sri Lanka, with case studies from Sierra Leone and Colombia. A sociological approach to compromise is contrasted with approaches in Moral and Political Philosophy and is evaluated for its theoretical utility and empirical robustness with in-depth interview data from victims of conflicts around the globe. The individual chapters are written to illustrate, evaluate and test the conceptualization using the victim data, and an afterword reflects on the new empirical agenda in victim research opened up by a sociological approach to compromise. This volume is part of a larger series of works from a programme advancing a sociological approach to peace processes with a view to seeing how orthodox approaches within International Relations and Political Science are illuminated by the application of the sociological imagination.
A timely primer on the conflict between the United States and Iran by scholars of Middle Eastern politics who advocate diplomacy and de-escalation. The United States and Iran seem to be permanently locked in a dangerous cycle of brinkmanship and violence. Both countries have staged cyber attacks and recently shot down one another's aircraft. Why do both countries seem intent on escalation? Why did the U.S. abandon the nuclear deal (which, according to the UN, was working)? Where can Washington and Tehran find common ground? To address these questions and the political and historical forces at play, David Barsamian presents the perspectives of Iran scholars Ervand Abrahamian, Noam Chomsky, Nader Hashemi, Azadeh Moaveni, and Trita Parsi. A follow-up to the previously published Targeting Iran, this timely book continues to affirm the goodwill between Iranian and American people, even as their respective governments clash on the international stage. Praise for ReTargeting Iran: "In a Q&A format about the continued demonization of Iran by the U.S., [David] Barsamian gets at the key to the deterioration of the relationship between the two nations. ... [T]he discussion is astute and relevant."-Kirkus Reviews "A necessary and timely education on one of the most politically fraught and historically significant relationships of our time. I devoured these smart, insightful interviews with five important Iran scholars, about the struggle between two countries that have both been our home."-Dina Nayeri, author of The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You "This little book contains more wisdom about Iran than exists in the White House, Congress, the State Department, and the Pentagon combined. Anyone who wants to understand the world's most misunderstood country will find no better source."-Stephen Kinzer, Author of All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror "Many journalists and academics have written books about Iran. But ReTargeting Iran fills an important gap, a book sharply critical of U.S. policy and the Iranian government. David Barsamian provides timely interviews with major analysts that sets the record straight. It's a highly accessible read and a great introduction to the U.S.-Iran conflict."-Reese Erlich, author of The Iran Agenda Today: The Real Story Inside Iran and What's Wrong with U.S. Policy. "ReTargeting Iran is a facts-only objective account of where America has gone wrong, stupidly wrong-yet again-in its foreign policy, dominated by a mythical belief that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program. All one needs to know about the threat is this: as of mid-2020, the United States had no less than thirty-five military bases, manned by 65,000 soldiers, ready go to war in the nations immediately surrounding our feared adversary."-Seymour M. Hersh, author of Reporter: A Memoir
This innovative text provides a much-needed critical introduction to terrorism. Cutting-edge research on contemporary issues is combined with new insights into long-debated issues such as the definition of terrorism, the nature of the terrorist threat and counter-terrorism strategies. Showing that the methods we adopt as well as the material we study are vital for a clear understanding of the subject, this text goes beyond traditional IR approaches to rethink popular beliefs and assumptions about terrorism. Taking a genuinely global and integrated approach, this book is an ideal entry into the study of terrorism. In the years since 9/11, terrorism has been transformed into an issue of global significance. Terrorism and the war on terror has affected virtually every aspect of modern life, and a precise understanding of terrorism is now more important - and contentious - than ever. This text examines the origins, perceptions of, and responses to, terrorism and counter-terrorism in the contemporary world. It takes into account recent developments on the world stage as well as within - and in response to - critical terrorism studies. This text is the ultimate companion for students studying terrorism as part of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree. It guides students step-by-step to have a deeper understanding of terrorism and a more nuanced approach to their studies.
'I am three years old and will have to grow up with the hostility of
others. I am already an outlaw in my own country, an outlaw in the
world. I am three years old, and I don't yet know that I am stateless.'
This highly original work provides a thought-provoking and valuable resource for researchers and academics with an interest in genocide, criminology, international organizations, and law and society. In her book, Caroline Fournet examines the law relating to genocide and explores the apparent failure of society to provide an adequate response to incidences of mass atrocity. The work casts a legal perspective on this social phenomenon to show that genocide fails to be appropriately remembered due to inherent defects in the law of genocide itself. The book thus connects the social response to the legal theory and practice, and trials in particular. Fournet's study illustrates the shortcomings of the Genocide Convention as a means of preventing and punishing genocide as well as its consequent failure to ensure the memory of this heinous crime.
The persecution of the Yezidis, a religious community originating in Upper Mesopotamia, has been ongoing since at least the 10th century. On 3 August 2014, Islamic State attacked the Yezidi community in Sinjar, Kurdistan. Thousands were enslaved or killed in this genocide, and 100,000 people fled to Mount Sinjar, permanently exiled from their homes. Here, Thomas Schmidinger talks to the Yezidis in Iraq who tell the history of their people, why the genocide happened and how it affects their lives today. This is the first full account of these events, as told by the Yezidis in their own words, to be published in English. The failure of the Kurdistan Peshmerga of the PDK in Iraq to protect the Yezidis is explored, as is the crucial support given by the Syrian-Kurdish YPG. This multi-faceted and important history brings the fight and trauma of the Yezidis back into focus, calling for the world to remember their struggle.
A Palestinian activist jailed at sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers illuminates the daily struggles of life under occupation in this moving, deeply personal memoir. “What would you do if you grew up seeing your home repeatedly raided? Your parents arrested? Your mother shot? Your uncle killed? Try, for just a moment, to imagine that this was your life. How would you want the world to react?” Ahed Tamimi is a world-renowned Palestinian activist, born and raised in the small West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, which became a center of the resistance to Israeli occupation when an illegal, Jewish-only settlement blocked off its community spring. Tamimi came of age participating in nonviolent demonstrations against this action and the occupation at large. Her global renown reached an apex in December 2017, when, at sixteen years old, she was filmed slapping an Israeli soldier who refused to leave her front yard. The video went viral, and Tamimi was arrested. But this is not just a story of activism or imprisonment. It is the human-scale story of an occupation that has riveted the world and shaped global politics, from a girl who grew up in the middle of it . Tamimi’s father was born in 1967, the year that Israel began its occupation of the West Bank and he grew up immersed in the resistance movement. One of Tamimi’s earliest memories is visiting him in prison, poking her toddler fingers through the fence to touch his hand. She herself would spend her seventeenth birthday behind bars. Living through this greatest test and heightened attacks on her village, Tamimi felt her resolve only deepen, in tension with her attempts to live the normal life of a daughter, sibling, friend, and student. An essential addition to an important conversation, They Called Me a Lioness shows us what is at stake in this struggle and offers a fresh vision for resistance. With their unflinching, riveting storytelling, Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri shine a light on the humanity not just in occupied Palestine but also in the unsung lives of people struggling for freedom around the world.
In Conquest and Redemption, Gregg J. Rickman explains how the Nazis stole the possessions of their Jewish victims and obtained the cooperation of institutions across Europe in these crimes of convenience. He also describes how those institutions are being brought to justice, sixty years later, for their retention of their ill-gotten gains. Rickman not only explains how the robbery was accomplished, tracked, stalled, and then finally reversed, but also clearly shows the ways in which robbery was inextricably connected to the murder of the Jews. The Nazis took everything from Jews--their families, their possessions, and even their names. As with the murder of Jews, the Nazis' robbery was an organized, institutionalized effort. Jews were isolated, robbed, and left homeless, regarded as parasites in the Nazis' eyes, and thus fair game. In short, the organized robbery of the Jews facilitated their slaughter. How did the German people come to believe that it was permissible to isolate, outlaw, rob, and murder Jews? A partial explanation can be found in the Nazis' creation of a virtual religion of German nationalism and homogeneity that delegitimized Jews as a people and as individuals. This belief system was expressed through a complex structure of religious rules, practices, and institutions. While Nazi ideology was the guiding principle, how that ideology was formed and how it was applied is important to understand if one is to fully grasp the Holocaust. Rickman painstakingly describes the structural composition and motivation for the plundering of Jewish assets. The Holocaust will always remain a memory of unequalled pain and suffering, but, as Rickman shows, the return of stolen goods to their survivors is a partial victory for the long aggrieved. Conquest and Redemption will be of interest to students and scholars in the history of the Holocaust and its aftermath.
This book is devoted to the issue of nationalism in the latest Polish history and presents the subject on the basis of an enormous amount of source files left by the Polish United Workers Party. The work is a substantial input into the knowledge on People's Poland which shows with precision how the Polish communists used nationalistic arguments to legitimize and validate the system of power introduced by them. The author researches the fascinating source material with the help of a new and innovative concept.
It is August 1945 and World War II is over. Japan has surrendered. As the Western world rejoices, deep in the jungles of British North Borneo the small number of remaining Australian and British prisoners of war are massacred. Of the 2434 prisoners incarcerated by the Japanese at the Sandakan POW camp, only six, all escapees have survived. The POW's sent from Singapore in 1942-43 to work on airfield construction, endured frequent beatings, and were subjected to other, more diabolical punishment. Sustained only by an inadequate and ever diminishing rice ration and with little medical attention, many died of malnutrition, maltreatment and disease. Lynette Silver, through painstaking research and interviews with survivors, as well as a study of Japanese records, has pieced together a detailed and highly readable account of the lives and ultimate fate of Sandakan's POW's. She tells a totally gripping and horrifying tale, not only of the prisoners, but the reasons why they, and their story, became World War II's most deadly secret.
The bestselling story of Britain's most courageous and most famous flyer, the Second World War hero Sir Douglas Bader. In 1931, at the age of 21, Douglas Bader was the golden boy of the RAF. Excelling in everything he did he represented the Royal Air Force in aerobatics displays, played rugby for Harlequins, and was tipped to be the next England fly half. But one afternoon in December all his ambitions came to an abrupt end when he crashed his plane doing a particularly difficult and illegal aerobatic trick. His injuries were so bad that surgeons were forced to amputate both his legs to save his life. Douglas Bader did not fly again until the outbreak of the Second World War, when his undoubted skill in the air was enough to convince a desperate air force to give him his own squadron. The rest of his story is the stuff of legend. Flying Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain he led his squadron to kill after kill, keeping them all going with his unstoppable banter. Shot down in occupied France, his German captors had to confiscate his tin legs in order to stop him trying to escape. Bader faced it all, disability, leadership and capture, with the same charm, charisma and determination that was an inspiration to all around him.
Genocide at the Millennium is the fifth volume in the acclaimed series Genocide: A Critical Bibliographical Review. This latest volume's focus is both the genocidal activity that has taken place over the past fourteen years (including that in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia) as well as a critique of the international community's response to genocide and potential genocidal situations (including those of the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations). Genocide at the Millennium is divided into ten chapters. The opening chapter treats the Yugoslav genocide, discussing the causes of the conflict, the violence that ensued, the reaction of the international community, and the ramifications that are still being felt in that part of the world today. Chapter 2 provides a detailed and thought-provoking examination of the causes, results and ramifications of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Chapter 3 examines the conflict in Kosovo and the events surrounding the controversial intervention by NATO. Chapter 4 discusses the remarkable efforts and successes that various non-governmental agencies have had in addressing a wide variety of issues related to genocide. Chapter 5 examines the United Nations' efforts to address the issue of genocide at the turn of the century. The role of individual states confronting issues and cases of genocide is analyzed in chapter 6. Chapter 7 gives a solid overview of the evolution of international law as it pertains to the crime of genocide and how and why major changes in such law have begun to take place in the 1990s and early 2000s. The international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia are considered in chapters 8 and 9. The concluding chapter provides an extremely detailed and highly informative overview of key aspects of the International Criminal Court. In keeping with the multidisciplinary approach of previous volumes in the series, each of the essays and accompanying annotated bibliographies have been written by experts in their fields, many of whom have worked for many years wrestling the thorny, and often horrific, issues germane to the issue of genocide.
China's mistreatment of its Uyghur minority has drawn international condemnation and sanctions. The repression gripping Xinjiang is also hugely costly to China in Renminbi, personnel, and stifled economic productivity. Despite this, the Chinese Communist Party persists in its policies. Why? Drawing on extensive original data, Potter and Wang demonstrate insecurities about the stability of the regime and its claim to legitimacy motivate Chinese policies. These perceived threats to core interests drive the ferocity of the official response to Uyghur nationalism. The result is harsh repression, sophisticated media control, and selective international military cooperation. China's growing economic and military power means that the country's policies in Xinjiang and Central Asia have global implications. Zero Tolerance sheds light on this problem, informing policymakers, scholars, and students about an emerging global hotspot destined to play a central role in international politics in years to come.
An epic true story of treachery, revenge and courage The Indian Mutiny is a real page-turner, an epic story with surprising modern parallels. Fomer army officer-turned-TV scriptwriter, Julian Spilsbury is the ideal author to take us back to the desperate summer of 1857 when thousands of Indian soldiers mutinied. They murdered their officers, hunted down the women and children and burned and slaughtered their way to Delhi. The tiny British garrison at Lucknow held out against all odds; the one at Cawnpore surrendered only to be betrayed and massacred. Modern Indian accounts call this 'the first war of liberation', but as Julian Spilsbury reveals, 80 per cent of the so-called 'British' forces were from the sub-continent. Sikhs, Gurkhas and Afghans fought alongside small numbers of British soldiers. Together, they faced terrible odds and won. In the process they created a new army that would play a vital role in the Allied forces in both World Wars. Julian Spilsbury weaves the story together from some of the most vivid eyewitness accounts ever written. From the women and children hiding from blood-crazed mobs, to the epic battles that decided the campaign, to the grisly revenge exacted by the British forces, this is a gripping recreation of the greatest crisis of Empire.
The first international history of the emergence of economic sanctions during the interwar period and the legacy of this development  A Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2022  “Valuable . . . offers many lessons for Western policy makers today.”—Paul Kennedy, Wall Street Journal  “The lessons are sobering.”—The Economist  Economic sanctions dominate the landscape of world politics today. First developed in the early twentieth century as a way of exploiting the flows of globalization to defend liberal internationalism, their appeal is that they function as an alternative to war. This view, however, ignores the dark paradox at their core: designed to prevent war, economic sanctions are modeled on devastating techniques of warfare.  Tracing the use of economic sanctions from the blockades of World War I to the policing of colonial empires and the interwar confrontation with fascism, Nicholas Mulder uses extensive archival research in a political, economic, legal, and military history that reveals how a coercive wartime tool was adopted as an instrument of peacekeeping by the League of Nations. This timely study casts an overdue light on why sanctions are widely considered a form of war, and why their unintended consequences are so tremendous.
In this up-to-date, succinct, and highly readable volume, Alan E. Steinweis presents a new synthesis of the origins, development, and downfall of Nazi Germany. After tracing the intellectual and cultural origins of Nazi ideology, the book recounts the rise and eventual victory of the Nazi movement against the background of the struggling Weimar Republic. The book details the rapid transformation of Germany into a dictatorship, focusing on the interplay of Nazi violence and the readiness of Germans to accommodate themselves to the new regime. Steinweis chronicles Nazi efforts to transform German society into a so-called People's Community, imbued with hyper-nationalism, an authoritarian spirit, Nazi racial doctrine, and antisemitism. The result was less a People's Community than what Steinweis calls a People's Dictatorship - a repressive regime that acted brutally toward the targets of its persecution, its internal opponents, and its foreign enemies even as it enjoyed support across much of German society.
Spotlights the challenges faced by our increasing cadre of military women when their service ends and they become civilians. Combining research with narrative, this book exposes common threads of lived experience and reviews the latest data on military women and their healthy reintegration into civilian society. Female veterans share their stories of seeking to be seen in a culture where they don't quite fit and their struggles to find community and friendship. Some fought during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as the first women in combat in American history. How and where, for example, does a female combat Marine find her tribe once she leaves the service? Through the stories of these courageous yet entirely human women, readers learn about the experiences of a new and often forgotten generation of veterans; about the challenges surrounding family and career choices that millions of American women face; and ultimately, about sacrifice, resiliency, loss, and love. This book will inform readers with an interest in female veterans and women's health and mental health issues, as well as researchers, students, and professionals working in fields encompassing women's psychology, health, and social work.
The Armistice of Mudros was signed on 30 October 1918 and on the morning of 13 November 1918, a mighty fleet of battleships from Britain, France, Italy and Greece sailed to Istanbul, and dropped anchor without encountering resistance. This day marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire, a dissolution that would bring great suffering and chaos, but also new opportunities for all Ottomans, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. Drawing upon a previously untouched collection of Armenian and Ottoman Turkish primary sources, Ari Sekeryan considers these understudied post-war years. Examining the Armenian community as they emerged from the aftermath of war and genocide, Sekeryan outlines their shifting political position and the strategies they used to survive this turbulent period. By focusing on the Ottoman Armistice (1918-1923), Sekeryan illuminates an oft-neglected period in history, and develops a new case study for understanding the political reactions of ethnic groups to the fall of empires and nation-states. |
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