It is said that the Brexiteers have the identity side of the debate sown up. The British, or at least the English, do not feel European. We have our history as a proud, island people - they, on the Continent, have very different traditions. It is remarkable how this myth has taken root, although the English, Scots,… Continue reading The making of an open and democratic Europe: reading Brexit through E.P. Thompson
Category: war and peace
Three realities of the Isis conflict
The west must prioritise civilian wellbeing in any intervention: my new post on Policy Network There are three sectors of the conflict with Isis – the war zones of Syria-Iraq, the regional states which provide most of the backing for the wars and where most refugees are based, and western Europe where refugees now aim to come… Continue reading Three realities of the Isis conflict
Israel transfers risk from its soldiers to Gaza civilians
Citing my theory of risk-transfer war, Israeli social scientist Yagil Levy analyses in The Washington Post how - despite an increase in Israeli casualties in its 2014 attack on Gaza compared to 2008-9 - Israel transferred the risks of its campaign even more to Palestinian civilians than in the earlier conflict.
Russia-Israel: domestic politics and serious blowback
Posted on openDemocracy.net The Ukraine and Gaza crises alike demonstrate the risks of aggressive policy based on short-term calculations. Vladimir Putin and Binyamin Netanyahu's war-as-politics invites damaging long-term consequences. The slaughters in Ukraine and Gaza have one thing in common. Both result from governments authorising violence which is overwhelmingly motivated by domestic politics and appears… Continue reading Russia-Israel: domestic politics and serious blowback
Paths to change: peaceful vs violent
A new post on openDemocracy It is now two years since the "Arab spring" spread popular protest across the one world-region still overwhelmingly dominated by authoritarian rulers, and thus heralded a major new phase of the democratic upheavals that have transformed the world over recent decades. These largely peaceful mass movements achieved remarkable, if qualified,… Continue reading Paths to change: peaceful vs violent
Twenty-First Century Militarism: A Historical-Sociological Framework
I have contributed a chapter, 'Twenty-First Century Militarism: A Historical-Sociological Framework', to Militarism and International Relations: Political economy, security, theory, edited by my Sussex colleagues Anna Stavrianakis and Jan Selby, and published by Routledge in the Cass Military Studies series. The book contains 12 chapters grouped under Theorising militarism, Militarism and security, and The political economy of… Continue reading Twenty-First Century Militarism: A Historical-Sociological Framework
Libya: popular revolt, military intervention
Published on openDemocracy, 7 April 2011. This replaces an earlier draft published on this site. In mid-February 2011, the protests which began the Libyan revolution seemed to demonstrate the unstoppable progress of people power. It seemed that even Gaddafi’s kleptocratic and personalised regime - which unlike Tunisia or Egypt never allowed space for civil society… Continue reading Libya: popular revolt, military intervention
The USA’s dangerous allies
draft of new contribution to openDemocracy Many on the left think of the United States as a dangerous force in world politics, a view encouraged by the aggressive interventionism of the Bush administration. Yet the juggernaut of US military power usually moves slowly, and after the disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan, probably with some caution.… Continue reading The USA’s dangerous allies
Iraq, war and WikiLeaks: the real story
After the war logs, my latest take (on openDemocracy) on the scale of, various causes of and responsibility for civilian casualties in Iraq in the seven years since the US-UK intervention.
Britain and the Cold War exhibition
I'm featured in the 'What Lies Beneath' exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, London.
Martin Shaw 