Informationen zum Autor Martin Shaw , Professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex Klappentext In 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. Zusammenfassung * Develops a major new theory of modern warfare! based around the idea that risks in modern war are placed on civilians rather than the military. * Written by a leading sociologist of war! the book includes analyses of recent conflicts such as the two Iraq wars! Vietnam! Afghanistan! Kosovo and the Falklands. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of Tables Acknowledgements Introduction Chapter 1. The New Western Way of War from Vietnam to Iraq Chapter 2. Theories of the New Western Way of War: A Western way of war Chapter 3. The Global Surveillance Mode of Warfare Chapter 4. Rules of Risk-Transfer War Chapter 5. Iraq: Risk Economy of a War Chapter 6. A Way of War in Crisis Postscript Notes References and Bibliography Index ...

Autorentext

Martin Shaw, Professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex

Klappentext

In 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.

Zusammenfassung

• Develops a major new theory of modern warfare, based around the idea that risks in modern war are placed on civilians rather than the military. * Written by a leading sociologist of war, the book includes analyses of recent conflicts such as the two Iraq wars, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Falklands.

Inhalt

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. The New Western Way of War from Vietnam to Iraq

Chapter 2. Theories of the New Western Way of War: A Western way of war

Chapter 3. The Global Surveillance Mode of Warfare

Chapter 4. Rules of Risk-Transfer War

Chapter 5. Iraq: Risk Economy of a War

Chapter 6. A Way of War in Crisis

Postscript

Notes

References and Bibliography

Index