Andreas Herberg‐Rothe
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199202690
- eISBN:
- 9780191707834
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199202690.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
Clausewitz draws different conclusions from his war experiences and analyses of Jena, Moscow, and Waterloo. Jena demonstrated for him the superiority of the strategies of unleashing violence, the ...
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Clausewitz draws different conclusions from his war experiences and analyses of Jena, Moscow, and Waterloo. Jena demonstrated for him the superiority of the strategies of unleashing violence, the attack and the decisive battle, and also the superiority of military power over policy. He developed from this experience an existential construction of war according to which the nation and the people should replace the state. The fundamental change in Clausewitz's thought began with Moscow. The superiority of the defence over attack, the military value of avoiding a decisive battle, and the realization of the immanent limits to what could be achieved by military action suggested a primacy of policy over the military aims. Waterloo finally demonstrated the primacy of policy and the negative side of Napoleon's strategy of unrestrained violence, which — as could now be seen — has led to self-destruction.Less
Clausewitz draws different conclusions from his war experiences and analyses of Jena, Moscow, and Waterloo. Jena demonstrated for him the superiority of the strategies of unleashing violence, the attack and the decisive battle, and also the superiority of military power over policy. He developed from this experience an existential construction of war according to which the nation and the people should replace the state. The fundamental change in Clausewitz's thought began with Moscow. The superiority of the defence over attack, the military value of avoiding a decisive battle, and the realization of the immanent limits to what could be achieved by military action suggested a primacy of policy over the military aims. Waterloo finally demonstrated the primacy of policy and the negative side of Napoleon's strategy of unrestrained violence, which — as could now be seen — has led to self-destruction.
Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199653645
- eISBN:
- 9780191742033
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653645.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter focuses on the question whether affluent liberal democracies can cope with the challenge to their survival that weapons of mass destruction, harmful climate change, and environmental ...
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This chapter focuses on the question whether affluent liberal democracies can cope with the challenge to their survival that weapons of mass destruction, harmful climate change, and environmental destruction pose. The nations of the European Union, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are affluent liberal democracies that face this challenge. A fully liberal state is a state in which every citizen has equal rights and liberties, which are as extensive as they could be consistently with all others having the same rights and liberties. In these states this equality of rights and liberties coexists with a considerable socio-economical inequality. This raises questions about the extent to which these states are just and can be called true democracies. These questions are however beyond the scope of this book.Less
This chapter focuses on the question whether affluent liberal democracies can cope with the challenge to their survival that weapons of mass destruction, harmful climate change, and environmental destruction pose. The nations of the European Union, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are affluent liberal democracies that face this challenge. A fully liberal state is a state in which every citizen has equal rights and liberties, which are as extensive as they could be consistently with all others having the same rights and liberties. In these states this equality of rights and liberties coexists with a considerable socio-economical inequality. This raises questions about the extent to which these states are just and can be called true democracies. These questions are however beyond the scope of this book.
Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199653645
- eISBN:
- 9780191742033
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653645.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy
Most of their history human beings have lived in comparatively small and close‐knit societies, with a primitive technology that allowed them to affect only their most immediate environment. Their ...
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Most of their history human beings have lived in comparatively small and close‐knit societies, with a primitive technology that allowed them to affect only their most immediate environment. Their moral psychology is therefore adpated to make them fit to live in these conditions; it is myopic, restricted to a concern about kin and people in the neighbourhood in the immediate future. But by scientific technology humans have radically changed their living conditions, while their moral psychology has remained fundamentally the same through this change, which is occurring with an accelerating speed. Human beings now live in societies with millions of citizens, and with an advanced scientific technology that enables them to exercise an influence that extends all over the world and far into the future. This is leading to increasing environmental degradation and to deleterious climate change. The advanced scientific technology has also equipped human beings with nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction, which might be used by states in wars over dwindling natural resources, or by terrorists. Liberal democracies cannot overcome these threats merely by developing novel technology. What is needed is an enhancement of the moral dispositions of their citizens, an extension of their moral concern beyond a small circle of personal acquaintances and further into the future. Otherwise, human civilization is jeopardized. It is doubtful whether this moral enhancement could be accomplished solely by means of traditional moral education. Therefore, we should explore, in addition, the prospects of moral enhancement by alternative, biomedical means.Less
Most of their history human beings have lived in comparatively small and close‐knit societies, with a primitive technology that allowed them to affect only their most immediate environment. Their moral psychology is therefore adpated to make them fit to live in these conditions; it is myopic, restricted to a concern about kin and people in the neighbourhood in the immediate future. But by scientific technology humans have radically changed their living conditions, while their moral psychology has remained fundamentally the same through this change, which is occurring with an accelerating speed. Human beings now live in societies with millions of citizens, and with an advanced scientific technology that enables them to exercise an influence that extends all over the world and far into the future. This is leading to increasing environmental degradation and to deleterious climate change. The advanced scientific technology has also equipped human beings with nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction, which might be used by states in wars over dwindling natural resources, or by terrorists. Liberal democracies cannot overcome these threats merely by developing novel technology. What is needed is an enhancement of the moral dispositions of their citizens, an extension of their moral concern beyond a small circle of personal acquaintances and further into the future. Otherwise, human civilization is jeopardized. It is doubtful whether this moral enhancement could be accomplished solely by means of traditional moral education. Therefore, we should explore, in addition, the prospects of moral enhancement by alternative, biomedical means.
Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199653645
- eISBN:
- 9780191742033
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653645.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy
The more our power to act — including our power to prevent suffering — grows because of the advance of scientific technology, the more important it becomes to see the falsity of the act-omission ...
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The more our power to act — including our power to prevent suffering — grows because of the advance of scientific technology, the more important it becomes to see the falsity of the act-omission doctrine, the doctrine that it is more difficult to justify morally causing harm than letting it occur, by omitting to prevent it. This doctrine, together with our limited altruism and incapacity to be proportionately altruistic with regard to larger groups of suffering people, explains why people in affluent nations have done so little in the last decades to mitigate global inequality. The problem of global inequality is not a main target of this book, but it is intimately connected to what is a main target, namely climate change and environmental destruction. This is because the problem of global inequality makes it more difficult to stop climate change and environmental destruction in a morally acceptable way.Less
The more our power to act — including our power to prevent suffering — grows because of the advance of scientific technology, the more important it becomes to see the falsity of the act-omission doctrine, the doctrine that it is more difficult to justify morally causing harm than letting it occur, by omitting to prevent it. This doctrine, together with our limited altruism and incapacity to be proportionately altruistic with regard to larger groups of suffering people, explains why people in affluent nations have done so little in the last decades to mitigate global inequality. The problem of global inequality is not a main target of this book, but it is intimately connected to what is a main target, namely climate change and environmental destruction. This is because the problem of global inequality makes it more difficult to stop climate change and environmental destruction in a morally acceptable way.
Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199653645
- eISBN:
- 9780191742033
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199653645.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy
Robust authoritarian governments are better placed than democratic governments to implement unpopular reforms effectively, so it might seem that they have a better chance of tackling human induced ...
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Robust authoritarian governments are better placed than democratic governments to implement unpopular reforms effectively, so it might seem that they have a better chance of tackling human induced climatic and environmental deterioration. The fact that it is easier for authoritarian governments to implement unpopular policies can perhaps be illustrated by China’s one-child policy which has enabled this nation to curb population growth more effectively than for instance India. However, history shows that the unpopular policies implemented by authoritarian regimes more often serve to consolidate the power of the ruling elite, or to enrich it, than promote the interest of societies overall. Therefore, a shift from democracy to authoritarianism is not an acceptable way to come to terms with human induced climate change and environmental destruction.Less
Robust authoritarian governments are better placed than democratic governments to implement unpopular reforms effectively, so it might seem that they have a better chance of tackling human induced climatic and environmental deterioration. The fact that it is easier for authoritarian governments to implement unpopular policies can perhaps be illustrated by China’s one-child policy which has enabled this nation to curb population growth more effectively than for instance India. However, history shows that the unpopular policies implemented by authoritarian regimes more often serve to consolidate the power of the ruling elite, or to enrich it, than promote the interest of societies overall. Therefore, a shift from democracy to authoritarianism is not an acceptable way to come to terms with human induced climate change and environmental destruction.
Elizabeth R. Napier
- Published in print:
- 1987
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198128601
- eISBN:
- 9780191671678
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198128601.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, 18th-century Literature
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts about the Gothic. It argues that the paradox of the Gothic is that the genre, despite its close connection to sentimental narrative, actually prohibits ...
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This chapter presents some concluding thoughts about the Gothic. It argues that the paradox of the Gothic is that the genre, despite its close connection to sentimental narrative, actually prohibits sentimental and dynamic judgements on the part of its readers: by exhibiting such extreme emotion in others, it denies that opportunity to its audience. The Gothic seems to gain its most characteristic effects through a complex procedure of deprivation and destruction; tantalizing its audience with emotions that it cannot fully feel, it manufactures an atmosphere approaching moral eroticism.Less
This chapter presents some concluding thoughts about the Gothic. It argues that the paradox of the Gothic is that the genre, despite its close connection to sentimental narrative, actually prohibits sentimental and dynamic judgements on the part of its readers: by exhibiting such extreme emotion in others, it denies that opportunity to its audience. The Gothic seems to gain its most characteristic effects through a complex procedure of deprivation and destruction; tantalizing its audience with emotions that it cannot fully feel, it manufactures an atmosphere approaching moral eroticism.
John P. Burke
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199217977
- eISBN:
- 9780191711541
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217977.003.0006
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines decision making in the Bush presidency by analyzing its formal organizational processes, including the structure of the advisory process, the access of advisers to the ...
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This chapter examines decision making in the Bush presidency by analyzing its formal organizational processes, including the structure of the advisory process, the access of advisers to the president, the coordination and management of the advisory process, and the president's penchant for delegation, his emphasis on loyalty, and his willingness to impose organizational discipline on top advisers. On each dimension, the process is found wanting. The administration's collegial deliberation is then considered, raising troubling questions about the president's failure to press critical questions (such as the reliability of evidence regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the premises on which the administration planned for postwar Iraq) and his tendency to focus on how to accomplish something rather than whether to accomplish it. The issues of diversity of whom Bush chose to engage and the imbalance of power and influence among the principals are also addressed.Less
This chapter examines decision making in the Bush presidency by analyzing its formal organizational processes, including the structure of the advisory process, the access of advisers to the president, the coordination and management of the advisory process, and the president's penchant for delegation, his emphasis on loyalty, and his willingness to impose organizational discipline on top advisers. On each dimension, the process is found wanting. The administration's collegial deliberation is then considered, raising troubling questions about the president's failure to press critical questions (such as the reliability of evidence regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the premises on which the administration planned for postwar Iraq) and his tendency to focus on how to accomplish something rather than whether to accomplish it. The issues of diversity of whom Bush chose to engage and the imbalance of power and influence among the principals are also addressed.
Magnus Holmén and Maureen McKelvey
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199290475
- eISBN:
- 9780191603495
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199290474.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic Systems
This chapter poses the question: How we can analyze, conceptually and empirically, whether or not certain types of change have occurred? It points out research areas to further address how, why, and ...
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This chapter poses the question: How we can analyze, conceptually and empirically, whether or not certain types of change have occurred? It points out research areas to further address how, why, and in what dimensions such transformation has occurred. It first addresses how the amount or degree of ‘change’ be conceptualized, as compared to the amount or degree of ‘not change’. Three concepts are introduced: novelty, destruction, and renewal. The chapter then explains six points about how flexibility and stability can be understood from a paradigmatic perspective on the innovating and transforming economy.Less
This chapter poses the question: How we can analyze, conceptually and empirically, whether or not certain types of change have occurred? It points out research areas to further address how, why, and in what dimensions such transformation has occurred. It first addresses how the amount or degree of ‘change’ be conceptualized, as compared to the amount or degree of ‘not change’. Three concepts are introduced: novelty, destruction, and renewal. The chapter then explains six points about how flexibility and stability can be understood from a paradigmatic perspective on the innovating and transforming economy.
Kenneth G. C. Newport
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199245741
- eISBN:
- 9780191697494
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199245741.003.0017
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
It is important to note that the combined membership of the various factions of the movement never amounted to more than 1,000 in total. Also, the Davidian and the Branch Davidian traditions existed ...
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It is important to note that the combined membership of the various factions of the movement never amounted to more than 1,000 in total. Also, the Davidian and the Branch Davidian traditions existed without anyone outside Waco knowing of their existence. Both these movements are very complex and previous literatures prove to be insufficient in providing an accurate account of the various aspects of the movements since these would require looking into their long history, and David Koresh cannot be isolated from an concrete understanding of these movements. While the evidence for who initiated the Waco fire would point to the Branch Davidians themselves, this concluding chapter summarizes how the book has focused on describing the act of apocalyptic self-destruction for new birth.Less
It is important to note that the combined membership of the various factions of the movement never amounted to more than 1,000 in total. Also, the Davidian and the Branch Davidian traditions existed without anyone outside Waco knowing of their existence. Both these movements are very complex and previous literatures prove to be insufficient in providing an accurate account of the various aspects of the movements since these would require looking into their long history, and David Koresh cannot be isolated from an concrete understanding of these movements. While the evidence for who initiated the Waco fire would point to the Branch Davidians themselves, this concluding chapter summarizes how the book has focused on describing the act of apocalyptic self-destruction for new birth.
Simon Caney
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780198293507
- eISBN:
- 9780191602337
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019829350X.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Having argued, in Ch. 2, that there are universal moral values, the next logical step is to ask what these universal moral values are; this question is pursued in Chs 3 and 4, which consider ...
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Having argued, in Ch. 2, that there are universal moral values, the next logical step is to ask what these universal moral values are; this question is pursued in Chs 3 and 4, which consider arguments for two different types of universal value and link together to provide an analysis of what universal principles of justice should apply at the global level. This chapter examines claims that there are universal principles of civil and political justice, that is, those principles that specify what rights people have to what freedoms, and argues for universal human rights to certain civil and political liberties. It is arranged in 13 sections: Section I presents an analysis of human rights, since this term plays a central and important role in a plausible account of civil and political justice; Section II puts forward a general thesis about justifications for civil and political human rights; this is followed, in Sections III–VII, by an analysis of four cosmopolitan arguments for human rights that criticizes three of them but defends the fourth; Section VIII considers an alternative non-cosmopolitan approach to defending civil and political human rights, presented by John Rawls in The Law of Peoples (1999b); the next three sections (IX–XI) of the chapter explore misgivings about civil and political human rights, including the objections that such human rights are a species of imperialism and do not accord sufficient respect to cultural practices (IX), produce homogeneity/uniformity (X), and generate egoism/individualism and destroy community (XI); Section XII considers a further objection—the realist charges that foreign policy to protect civil and political human rights is in practice selective and partial and a cloak for the pursuit of the national interest. Section XIII summarizes the overall case made for civil and political justice.Less
Having argued, in Ch. 2, that there are universal moral values, the next logical step is to ask what these universal moral values are; this question is pursued in Chs 3 and 4, which consider arguments for two different types of universal value and link together to provide an analysis of what universal principles of justice should apply at the global level. This chapter examines claims that there are universal principles of civil and political justice, that is, those principles that specify what rights people have to what freedoms, and argues for universal human rights to certain civil and political liberties. It is arranged in 13 sections: Section I presents an analysis of human rights, since this term plays a central and important role in a plausible account of civil and political justice; Section II puts forward a general thesis about justifications for civil and political human rights; this is followed, in Sections III–VII, by an analysis of four cosmopolitan arguments for human rights that criticizes three of them but defends the fourth; Section VIII considers an alternative non-cosmopolitan approach to defending civil and political human rights, presented by John Rawls in The Law of Peoples (1999b); the next three sections (IX–XI) of the chapter explore misgivings about civil and political human rights, including the objections that such human rights are a species of imperialism and do not accord sufficient respect to cultural practices (IX), produce homogeneity/uniformity (X), and generate egoism/individualism and destroy community (XI); Section XII considers a further objection—the realist charges that foreign policy to protect civil and political human rights is in practice selective and partial and a cloak for the pursuit of the national interest. Section XIII summarizes the overall case made for civil and political justice.
Richard Whitley and Steven Casper
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199205172
- eISBN:
- 9780191709555
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199205172.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
This chapter explores the mechanisms linking dominant institutions to distinctive business competences in Germany, Sweden, and the UK, and looks at the relative success of these mechanisms in some ...
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This chapter explores the mechanisms linking dominant institutions to distinctive business competences in Germany, Sweden, and the UK, and looks at the relative success of these mechanisms in some detail by focusing on the characteristics of different subsectors. Specifically, it compares how the institutional frameworks in these countries have affected strategies for dealing with two major kinds of organizational problems that firms have to manage in developing new technologies in the biotechnology and software industries. It focuses on the role of different kinds of skill formation systems and labour market institutions in encouraging the development of contrasting kinds of organizational capabilities. While the predominantly arm's length institutions in countries such as the USA or UK are conducive to the development of project-based entrepreneurial technology start-ups focusing on discontinuous radical innovations, there are other subsectors of these industries where more complex and stable organizations are effective. Success in such segments is strongly advantaged by institutional structures that encourage competence enhancing human resource strategies.Less
This chapter explores the mechanisms linking dominant institutions to distinctive business competences in Germany, Sweden, and the UK, and looks at the relative success of these mechanisms in some detail by focusing on the characteristics of different subsectors. Specifically, it compares how the institutional frameworks in these countries have affected strategies for dealing with two major kinds of organizational problems that firms have to manage in developing new technologies in the biotechnology and software industries. It focuses on the role of different kinds of skill formation systems and labour market institutions in encouraging the development of contrasting kinds of organizational capabilities. While the predominantly arm's length institutions in countries such as the USA or UK are conducive to the development of project-based entrepreneurial technology start-ups focusing on discontinuous radical innovations, there are other subsectors of these industries where more complex and stable organizations are effective. Success in such segments is strongly advantaged by institutional structures that encourage competence enhancing human resource strategies.
Jody Azzouni
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195187137
- eISBN:
- 9780199850570
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195187137.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Logic/Philosophy of Mathematics
Truth has been a central topic in philosophy. At present it's a particularly popular word to write about, if only because the many widespread positions that philosophers currently have on truth allow ...
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Truth has been a central topic in philosophy. At present it's a particularly popular word to write about, if only because the many widespread positions that philosophers currently have on truth allow so many other topics from philosophy to come clearly into range. To a large extent, any major rethinking in philosophy requires both destruction and construction. We must circumvent, undercut, and directly challenge alternatives and we must nevertheless leave enough room in our exposition to present a new view. These days there are so many species of minimalist, however, that to claim to be a minimalist isn't to be very informative about a particular position. This chapter provides an introductory note on the topic of truth from a minimalist point of view.Less
Truth has been a central topic in philosophy. At present it's a particularly popular word to write about, if only because the many widespread positions that philosophers currently have on truth allow so many other topics from philosophy to come clearly into range. To a large extent, any major rethinking in philosophy requires both destruction and construction. We must circumvent, undercut, and directly challenge alternatives and we must nevertheless leave enough room in our exposition to present a new view. These days there are so many species of minimalist, however, that to claim to be a minimalist isn't to be very informative about a particular position. This chapter provides an introductory note on the topic of truth from a minimalist point of view.
Henry Shue and David Rodin (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199233137
- eISBN:
- 9780191716270
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233137.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The dramatic declaration by US President George W. Bush that, in light of the attacks on 9/11, the United States would henceforth be engaging in ‘preemption’ against such enemies as terrorists armed ...
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The dramatic declaration by US President George W. Bush that, in light of the attacks on 9/11, the United States would henceforth be engaging in ‘preemption’ against such enemies as terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction forced a wide-open debate about justifiable uses of military force. Opponents saw the declaration as a direct challenge to the consensus, which has formed since the ratification of the Charter of the United Nations, that armed force may be used only in defence. Supporters responded that in an age of terrorism defence could only mean ‘pre-emption’. This book provides the historical, legal, political, and philosophical perspective necessary to intelligent participation in the on-going debate, which is likely to last long beyond the war in Iraq. Thorough defences and critiques of the Bush doctrine are provided by the most authoritative writers on the subject from both sides of the Atlantic. Is a nation ever justified in attacking before it has been attacked? If so, under precisely what conditions? Does the possibility of terrorists with weapons of mass destruction force us to change our traditional views about what counts as defence? This book provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the justifiability of pre-emptive or preventive military action. Its debate, accompanied by an analytic Introduction, focuses probing criticism against the most persuasive proponents of pre-emptive attack or preventive war, who then respond to these challenges and modify or extend their justifications.Less
The dramatic declaration by US President George W. Bush that, in light of the attacks on 9/11, the United States would henceforth be engaging in ‘preemption’ against such enemies as terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction forced a wide-open debate about justifiable uses of military force. Opponents saw the declaration as a direct challenge to the consensus, which has formed since the ratification of the Charter of the United Nations, that armed force may be used only in defence. Supporters responded that in an age of terrorism defence could only mean ‘pre-emption’. This book provides the historical, legal, political, and philosophical perspective necessary to intelligent participation in the on-going debate, which is likely to last long beyond the war in Iraq. Thorough defences and critiques of the Bush doctrine are provided by the most authoritative writers on the subject from both sides of the Atlantic. Is a nation ever justified in attacking before it has been attacked? If so, under precisely what conditions? Does the possibility of terrorists with weapons of mass destruction force us to change our traditional views about what counts as defence? This book provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of the justifiability of pre-emptive or preventive military action. Its debate, accompanied by an analytic Introduction, focuses probing criticism against the most persuasive proponents of pre-emptive attack or preventive war, who then respond to these challenges and modify or extend their justifications.
Susan A. Stephens
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199212989
- eISBN:
- 9780191594205
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212989.003.0015
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Alexandrian library has come to occupy a special place in the Western imagination as the first systematic attempt to collect and preserve human knowledge. That library disappeared or was ...
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The Alexandrian library has come to occupy a special place in the Western imagination as the first systematic attempt to collect and preserve human knowledge. That library disappeared or was destroyed over 1,500 years ago. In 2002 the Egyptian government erected the ‘Bibliotheca Alexandria’, intended to revive the legacy of the original library. This chapter explores the parallels between new and old libraries as political statements, how a Western foundation comes to be recast as Egyptian, and the roles that competing versions of the ancient library's destruction play in defining the new library.Less
The Alexandrian library has come to occupy a special place in the Western imagination as the first systematic attempt to collect and preserve human knowledge. That library disappeared or was destroyed over 1,500 years ago. In 2002 the Egyptian government erected the ‘Bibliotheca Alexandria’, intended to revive the legacy of the original library. This chapter explores the parallels between new and old libraries as political statements, how a Western foundation comes to be recast as Egyptian, and the roles that competing versions of the ancient library's destruction play in defining the new library.
Larry Rockwood, Ronald Stewart, and Thomas Dietz (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195309454
- eISBN:
- 9780199871261
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195309454.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This book reviews and analyzes the period (roughly from the 1950s to the present) when the “environment” became an issue as important as economic growth, or war and peace. The aim is to assess the ...
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This book reviews and analyzes the period (roughly from the 1950s to the present) when the “environment” became an issue as important as economic growth, or war and peace. The aim is to assess the current situation, and begin planning for the challenges that lie ahead. Most people are aware of both the environmental destruction taking place around the world and of the specter of climate change. The devastation of New Orleans by hurricane Katrina illustrates the potential for disaster when climate change is combined with the mismanaged environmental policy. How did we get to this point? What has been done and what can be done to avoid future environmental disasters? Thirty-two contributing authors (among them, one of the principal drafters of the National Environmental Policy Act, Chief of the African Environment Division and the World Bank, Vice President of the Center for Conservation Innovation at the World Wildlife Fund, President of the Zoological Society of London, former President of the Ecological Society of America) use their unique, authoritative perspective to review the evolution of environmental science and policy in the past half century. Less
This book reviews and analyzes the period (roughly from the 1950s to the present) when the “environment” became an issue as important as economic growth, or war and peace. The aim is to assess the current situation, and begin planning for the challenges that lie ahead. Most people are aware of both the environmental destruction taking place around the world and of the specter of climate change. The devastation of New Orleans by hurricane Katrina illustrates the potential for disaster when climate change is combined with the mismanaged environmental policy. How did we get to this point? What has been done and what can be done to avoid future environmental disasters? Thirty-two contributing authors (among them, one of the principal drafters of the National Environmental Policy Act, Chief of the African Environment Division and the World Bank, Vice President of the Center for Conservation Innovation at the World Wildlife Fund, President of the Zoological Society of London, former President of the Ecological Society of America) use their unique, authoritative perspective to review the evolution of environmental science and policy in the past half century.
David Luban
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199233137
- eISBN:
- 9780191716270
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233137.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter responds to some objections to an earlier argument that proposed a theory of preventive war. This theory sought to assimilate preventive war to self-defence, but only under restricted ...
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This chapter responds to some objections to an earlier argument that proposed a theory of preventive war. This theory sought to assimilate preventive war to self-defence, but only under restricted conditions; it argued against a general rule permitting states confronting distant or immature threats to launch preventive wars, on the ground that such a permission would license too many wars; it also argued that a more restricted principle, permitting preventive wars against rogue states where the distant threat involves weapons of mass destruction (WMD), can be justified; and also it stated that the permission to launch preventive war is nonproxyable; and finally it argued that the threat a rogue state poses must be a physical threat against the homeland of the state launching a preventive war. The chapter elaborates aspects of the theory that were obscurely stated or underdeveloped in the first go-around. It focuses on the so-called ‘rights objection’ that launching preventive war is wrong because it inflicts death and destruction on people who have done nothing to forfeit their rights against such violence.Less
This chapter responds to some objections to an earlier argument that proposed a theory of preventive war. This theory sought to assimilate preventive war to self-defence, but only under restricted conditions; it argued against a general rule permitting states confronting distant or immature threats to launch preventive wars, on the ground that such a permission would license too many wars; it also argued that a more restricted principle, permitting preventive wars against rogue states where the distant threat involves weapons of mass destruction (WMD), can be justified; and also it stated that the permission to launch preventive war is nonproxyable; and finally it argued that the threat a rogue state poses must be a physical threat against the homeland of the state launching a preventive war. The chapter elaborates aspects of the theory that were obscurely stated or underdeveloped in the first go-around. It focuses on the so-called ‘rights objection’ that launching preventive war is wrong because it inflicts death and destruction on people who have done nothing to forfeit their rights against such violence.
Gregor Thum
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691140247
- eISBN:
- 9781400839964
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691140247.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
With the stroke of a pen at the Potsdam Conference following the Allied victory in 1945, Breslau, the largest German city east of Berlin, became the Polish city of Wroclaw. Its more than 600,000 ...
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With the stroke of a pen at the Potsdam Conference following the Allied victory in 1945, Breslau, the largest German city east of Berlin, became the Polish city of Wroclaw. Its more than 600,000 inhabitants—almost all of them ethnic Germans—were expelled and replaced by Polish settlers from all parts of pre-war Poland. This book examines the long-term psychological and cultural consequences of forced migration in twentieth-century Europe through the experiences of Wroclaw's Polish inhabitants. The book tells the story of how the city's new Polish settlers found themselves in a place that was not only unfamiliar to them but outright repellent given Wroclaw's Prussian-German appearance and the enormous scope of wartime destruction. The immediate consequences were an unstable society, an extremely high crime rate, rapid dilapidation of the building stock, and economic stagnation. This changed only after the city's authorities and a new intellectual elite provided Wroclaw with a Polish founding myth and reshaped the city's appearance to fit the postwar legend that it was an age-old Polish city. The book also shows how the end of the Cold War and Poland's democratization triggered a public debate about Wroclaw's “amputated memory.” Rediscovering the German past, Wroclaw's Poles reinvented their city for the second time since World War II. The book traces the complex historical process by which Wroclaw's new inhabitants revitalized their city and made it their own.Less
With the stroke of a pen at the Potsdam Conference following the Allied victory in 1945, Breslau, the largest German city east of Berlin, became the Polish city of Wroclaw. Its more than 600,000 inhabitants—almost all of them ethnic Germans—were expelled and replaced by Polish settlers from all parts of pre-war Poland. This book examines the long-term psychological and cultural consequences of forced migration in twentieth-century Europe through the experiences of Wroclaw's Polish inhabitants. The book tells the story of how the city's new Polish settlers found themselves in a place that was not only unfamiliar to them but outright repellent given Wroclaw's Prussian-German appearance and the enormous scope of wartime destruction. The immediate consequences were an unstable society, an extremely high crime rate, rapid dilapidation of the building stock, and economic stagnation. This changed only after the city's authorities and a new intellectual elite provided Wroclaw with a Polish founding myth and reshaped the city's appearance to fit the postwar legend that it was an age-old Polish city. The book also shows how the end of the Cold War and Poland's democratization triggered a public debate about Wroclaw's “amputated memory.” Rediscovering the German past, Wroclaw's Poles reinvented their city for the second time since World War II. The book traces the complex historical process by which Wroclaw's new inhabitants revitalized their city and made it their own.
William R. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195336214
- eISBN:
- 9780199868537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336214.003.0006
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
If the purpose of bioterrorism is social and economic disruption, and the spread of fear and uncertainty across as many people as possible, for as long as possible, disruption of food and water ...
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If the purpose of bioterrorism is social and economic disruption, and the spread of fear and uncertainty across as many people as possible, for as long as possible, disruption of food and water supplies – agroterrorism - can be a major weapon. People dying of thirst or starvation is actually a rather low-probability outcome of an agroterrorism attack. The US is a major supplier of food to the world, and agricultural exports account for a sizeable portion of America's trade income – about fifty billion dollars per year. Pathogenic contamination of American food supplies, which feed a sizeable portion of the world community, could bring about economic disaster the likes of which have not been seen since the Great Depression. It would affect not just farmers and agribusinesses who grow food for export: the collateral damage stemming from interference with this sector of our nation's business would ripple through the rest of our economy like a hot knife through butter.Less
If the purpose of bioterrorism is social and economic disruption, and the spread of fear and uncertainty across as many people as possible, for as long as possible, disruption of food and water supplies – agroterrorism - can be a major weapon. People dying of thirst or starvation is actually a rather low-probability outcome of an agroterrorism attack. The US is a major supplier of food to the world, and agricultural exports account for a sizeable portion of America's trade income – about fifty billion dollars per year. Pathogenic contamination of American food supplies, which feed a sizeable portion of the world community, could bring about economic disaster the likes of which have not been seen since the Great Depression. It would affect not just farmers and agribusinesses who grow food for export: the collateral damage stemming from interference with this sector of our nation's business would ripple through the rest of our economy like a hot knife through butter.
Robert Wuthnow
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199730872
- eISBN:
- 9780199777389
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730872.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter focuses on how the 9/11 attacks merged with and animated the discussion of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). By the first anniversary of 9/11, public officials and commentators were ...
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This chapter focuses on how the 9/11 attacks merged with and animated the discussion of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). By the first anniversary of 9/11, public officials and commentators were focusing less attention on how or why the World Trade Center and Pentagon had been attacked than on the far more lethal and presumably prevalent danger posed by weapons of mass destruction. The truly terrifying danger that now faced the world, officials argued, was the likelihood that terrorists would use WMDs in order to inflict casualties on a larger scale than ever imagined. Over the next few years, concern about WMDs grew dramatically. WMDs acquired the same kind of cultural prominence as an abiding source of unease that nuclear weapons had gained during the Cold War.Less
This chapter focuses on how the 9/11 attacks merged with and animated the discussion of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). By the first anniversary of 9/11, public officials and commentators were focusing less attention on how or why the World Trade Center and Pentagon had been attacked than on the far more lethal and presumably prevalent danger posed by weapons of mass destruction. The truly terrifying danger that now faced the world, officials argued, was the likelihood that terrorists would use WMDs in order to inflict casualties on a larger scale than ever imagined. Over the next few years, concern about WMDs grew dramatically. WMDs acquired the same kind of cultural prominence as an abiding source of unease that nuclear weapons had gained during the Cold War.
Natalie Klein
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199566532
- eISBN:
- 9780191725197
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199566532.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This book examines the rights and duties of states across a broad spectrum of maritime security threats. It provides comprehensive coverage of the different dimensions of maritime security in order ...
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This book examines the rights and duties of states across a broad spectrum of maritime security threats. It provides comprehensive coverage of the different dimensions of maritime security in order to assess how responses to maritime security concerns are and should be shaping the law of the sea. The discussion canvasses passage of military vessels and military activities at sea, law enforcement activities across the different maritime zones, information sharing and intelligence gathering, as well as armed conflict and naval warfare. In doing so, this book not only addresses traditional security concerns for naval power but also examines responses to contemporary maritime security threats, such as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, piracy, drug-trafficking, environmental damage and illegal fishing. While the protection of sovereignty and national interests remain fundamental to maritime security and the law of the sea, there is increasing acceptance of a common interest that exists among states when seeking to respond to a variety of modern maritime security threats. It is argued that security interests should be given greater scope in our understanding of the law of the sea in light of the changing dynamics of exclusive and inclusive claims to ocean use. More flexibility may be required in the interpretation and application of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea if appropriate responses to ensure maritime security are to be allowed.Less
This book examines the rights and duties of states across a broad spectrum of maritime security threats. It provides comprehensive coverage of the different dimensions of maritime security in order to assess how responses to maritime security concerns are and should be shaping the law of the sea. The discussion canvasses passage of military vessels and military activities at sea, law enforcement activities across the different maritime zones, information sharing and intelligence gathering, as well as armed conflict and naval warfare. In doing so, this book not only addresses traditional security concerns for naval power but also examines responses to contemporary maritime security threats, such as terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, piracy, drug-trafficking, environmental damage and illegal fishing. While the protection of sovereignty and national interests remain fundamental to maritime security and the law of the sea, there is increasing acceptance of a common interest that exists among states when seeking to respond to a variety of modern maritime security threats. It is argued that security interests should be given greater scope in our understanding of the law of the sea in light of the changing dynamics of exclusive and inclusive claims to ocean use. More flexibility may be required in the interpretation and application of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea if appropriate responses to ensure maritime security are to be allowed.
