Tag: International relations

Ukraine’s war of attrition draws parallels to World War I

By Ishaan Tharoorwith Sammy Westfall The brutal war raging in Ukraine is a profoundly 21st-century conflict. Drones buzz around its battlefields. Hypersonic missiles plunge into unsuspecting targets. Satellites disperse the fog of war. Algorithms generated by artificial intelligence help guide artillery. Footage captured on mobile phones proliferates on social media, giving the conflict an almost visceral,… Read More Ukraine’s war of attrition draws parallels to World War I

Dilip

Perpetual wars and the ‘greatest fighting force in human history’

William Astore I still remember how, soon after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush boasted that this country had “the greatest force for human liberation the world has ever known.” I also remember how, in a pep talk given to U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2010, President Barack Obama declared them “the finest fighting force that the world has… Read More Perpetual wars and the ‘greatest fighting force in human history’

Dilip

The Niger crisis shows France’s quasi-empire in Africa is finally crumbling

France has retained a quasi-empire in Africa by stealth, and it is under threat like never before. Nabila Ramdani Retreats from crumbling empires are inevitably characterised by hastily arranged evacuations. Panicked civilians make their way to rickety airport terminals, in the hope of an emergency flight out of the chaos. This was the postcolonial scene… Read More The Niger crisis shows France’s quasi-empire in Africa is finally crumbling

Dilip

A brief neocolonial history of the five UN Security Council permanent members

John P. Ruehl One of the underlying principles of the UN Charter is the protection of the sovereign rights of states. Yet since 1945, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Soviet Union/Russia, France, UK, U.S., and China) have consistently used military force to undermine this notion. And while acts of seizing territory… Read More A brief neocolonial history of the five UN Security Council permanent members

Dilip

Christopher Nolan: strong parallels between Oppenheimer and scientists worried about AI

The Oppenheimer director, Christopher Nolan, has highlighted the difficulties of applying nuclear weapons-style regulation to artificial intelligence, as he warned that the United Nations had become a “very diminished” force. Nolan told the Guardian J Robert Oppenheimer’s call for international control of nuclear weapons had “sort of come true”, but there had nonetheless been extensive proliferation of… Read More Christopher Nolan: strong parallels between Oppenheimer and scientists worried about AI

Dilip

Ntina Tzouvala, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law

Reviewed by Aziz Rana Ntina Tzouvala, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law (CUP, 2021) At the heart of the post-World War II international order was a legitimating narrative premised on the idea that the world system was no longer imperial; it had now become a community of equal states. This meant that international law established… Read More Ntina Tzouvala, Capitalism as Civilisation: A History of International Law

Dilip

An Open Letter to the world on the Bangladesh crisis of 1971

First posted Tuesday, April 09, 2013 Letter from Members of the CPI (ML) Explanatory Note 1./ This is an open letter I wrote in December 1971, as a Naxalite cadre (among many) who experienced the political crisis accompanying the disintegration of Pakistan in 1970-71. It was anonymous, and I was the sole author. So the phrases ‘letter from… Read More An Open Letter to the world on the Bangladesh crisis of 1971

Dilip