The New Western Way of War: Risk-Transfer War and Its Crisis in IraqIn this seminal new work, Martin Shaw, a leading expert on the sociology of war, argues that the new Western way of war is in crisis. He charts the development of a new warfare, after Vietnam, through the Falklands, the Gulf, Kosovo and Afghanistan. He argues that in the Iraq (mis)adventure (of which he provides a detailed analysis) and the War on Terror, the US has consistently flouted the key rules that enabled Western states to fight these earlier wars successfully. The results are not only political failure and a disaster in Iraq, but also a loss of credibility for the very idea of Western warfare. For Shaw, the new way of war focuses on containing risks to the lives of Western soldiers in order to minimise political and electoral risk to governments. Risk is transferred to innocent civilians, whose killing is explained away as 'accidental'. Yet the idea of managing risk is fundamentally at odds with the brutal, unpredictable nature of war. Ultimately, attempts to manage, govern and rule over the risks of war produce greater risks for those in power. The New Western Way of War is a moral and political statement as well as a major contribution to sociology and international relations. It will make compelling reading not only for students and scholars of these disciplines, but for anyone concerned about Western political and military power, and the future for global justice. |
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The New Western Way of War: Risk-Transfer War and its Crisis in Iraq Martin Shaw No preview available - 2005 |
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action Afghanistan aftermath al-Qaeda Albanian allies American armed actors armed movements attacks Baghdad Blair bombing British Bush campaign chapter civilian casualties civilian deaths civilian populations civilian victims coalition Cold Cold War Conetta conflict counter-insurgency crisis death toll democratic destruction developed electoral enemy combatants ethnic Falklands Falklands War Falklands-Malvinas War fight fought Genocide global surveillance guerrilla Gulf Gulf War humanitarian Ibid idea increasingly industrialized total warfare international law involved Iraq Iraq War Iraqi journalists Kaldor killed Kosovo Kosovo War Kurdish large numbers leaders life-risks major combat Martin Shaw massacres media management military intervention minimize mode of warfare modern NATO non-Western nuclear numbers political and diplomatic precision refugees regime regional risk economy Risk Society risk-transfer Saddam Serbian social strategic Taliban targets Terror terrorist threat tion total war troops Vietnam violence War on Terror warfighting weapons West Western governments Western military Western warfare Western wars zones