MetaFilter posts tagged with conflict and war

"they did not know or expect that the evidence would point to Tehran."

the man of twists and turns — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 13:06:28 -0800

A Trail of Bullet Casings Leads From Africa’s Wars Back to Iran. Iran’s Cartridges & Their Quiet Distribution to Brutal Regimes and Many Wars. "Conflict Armament Research identifies and tracks conventional weapons in contemporary armed conflicts. Established in 2011, it was created in response to the growing need for informed, on-the-ground reporting on weapons proliferation in modern wars and insurgencies. " The "Small Arms Survey is an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland." Skirting The Law: Sudan's Post-CPA Arms Flows (PDF) Iran's Ammunition And Metallurgy Industries Group.

'You actually have to really build a collaborative relationship with the people on the ground if you want to have any hope of understanding what’s going on.'

the man of twists and turns — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:12:46 -0800

"Let’s Map Who Owes The Local Warlord Money": Meet An Urban Planner For Cities That Don't Yet Exist (via Small Wars Journal). David Kilcullen writes in 'The City as a System: Future Conflict and Urban Resilience' (via Abu Muqawama, CNAS)

In this model, the coastal city is the center of a larger system, with rural factors in the city’s hinterland—including environmental degradation, poor rural infrastructure, and rural conflict—prompting rapid urbanization. This creates ad hoc peri-urban settlements where slums and shantytowns displace land formerly used to provide food and other services to the city, and cover the rainfall catchment area for the city’s water supply. The city’s growth puts its infrastructure under stress, so that both the old urban core and the new peri-urban areas experience weak governance, crime, urban poverty, unemployment and conflict. Shortages of food, fuel, electricity and water exacerbate these problems. In turn, the city’s connectedness allows its population to tap into licit and illicit activities offshore, and to connect with global networks, including diaspora populations, an interaction that affects both local and international conflict dynamics.

Forbes interviewed Kilcullen: 'Most of our work focuses on applying design thinking to help government and private sector clients find innovative ways to stabilize conflict-affected and poverty-afflicted environments.' The New Yorker profiled him in 2006, saying “After 9/11, when a lot of people were saying, ‘The problem is Islam,’ I was thinking, It’s something deeper than that. It’s about human social networks and the way that they operate.” Kilcullen spoke at Columbia University: The Future Of Conflict, and Everything Else (Youtube)

"He is no longer his own person."

zarq — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:32:52 -0800

The Checkpoint. An essay which looks inside the conflicted mind of an Israeli soldier, stationed at a West Bank checkpoint. By Oded Na'aman, currently a student in the Philosophy PhD program at Harvard University, who served in the Israeli Defense Forces from November 2000 to October 2003. Mr. Na'aman is also a member of Breaking the Silence, a website that gathers and publishes anonymous testimonials from IDF soldiers -- combat veterans -- about their experiences and the realities of life in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

The last word on warfare

latkes — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:42:57 -0800

A short conversation on the cultural and biological origins of war.

Borders. Security. Refugees. Jerusalem.

zarq — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:37:51 -0800

The Atlantic is in the middle of a four-part special report on the Israel / Palestinian peace process, called "Is Peace Possible?" which features multimedia presentations on and analyses of what they believe are the four core issues of the conflict: Borders, Security, Refugees, and Jerusalem. (The latter two will be released on Monday, November 7 and 14th, respectively) The report was put together in collaboration with the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace. To Weigh In: The Project's Twitter Feed Additional reading / Associated materials: (The "Video" pages contain links to further reading that give both the Palestinian and Israeli perspectives.) Borders Video (and additional links) / Transcript * How to Connect the West Bank and the Gaza Strip * Difficult Truths on Borders Security * Video (And Additional Links) / Transcript * The Most Contentious Settlements in the West Bank. Also: The Baker Institute's Getting to the Territorial Endgame of an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Settlement and Imagining the Border: Options for Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Territorial Issue a 2011 Washington Institute for Near East Policy report by David Makovsky The magazine mentions their long history of covering the conflict. Other coverage: Newsweek has excerpts from former secretary of state Condoleeza Rice's new memoir. Atlantic: What Condi Rice's Memoir Gets Wrong (and Right) on Israel-Palestine

The shot that nearly killed me.

smoke — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:11:42 -0800

In pictures: the life of a war photographer (There are some graphic images in here; not for the squeamish, though for most would be SFW for most workplaces).

A Stateless People

gman — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:37:36 -0800

The CBC has launched an interactive web documentary with tonnes of videos that takes users inside Shatila refugee camp (pop. 12,000) in Beirut, where Palestinians have now lived for more than 60 years.

War and Conflict Across the Globe

marxchivist — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:10:43 -0800

Conflict History: a Timeline of War and Conflict Across the Globe You can browse the timeline to find information about wars from a long time ago up to the present. A map shows the conflicts spread across the globe. You can search for specific wars: we got your War of Jenkins' Ear and your Battle of Gqokli Hill.

Defense firms lure retired generals

kliuless — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:49:09 -0800

From the Pentagon to the private sector - In large numbers, and with few rules, retiring generals are taking lucrative defense-firm jobs BONUS Meet General Warbucks - Warfare and corporate welfare What Ike Got Right - Why his warning against the military-industrial complex still matters Eisenhower's 'Military-Industrial Complex' Evolution - Documents released by the National Archives shed new light on the genesis of the phrase "military-industrial complex"

Cursed By Gold

gman — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 17:40:27 -0800

Georgina Cranston travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to photograph the women who work deep inside some of the country's disused gold mines. After I watched the Guardian video, I did a quick search and found a somewhat recent 60 Minutes piece on gold mining in the DRC, if you're interested.

All you need is love

kliuless — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:42:22 -0800

Mass wedding for former Tamil fighters Fifty-three couples of former Tamil Tiger rebels were married Sunday ... at a rehabilitation camp near the northern town of Vavuniya. Reminds me how the PLO retired Black September: "Arafat ordered Abu Iyad 'to turn Black September off'. My host, who was one of Abu Iyad's most trusted deputies, was charged with devising a solution. For months both men thought of various ways to solve the Black September problem, discussing and debating what they could possibly do, short of killing all these young men, to stop them from committing further acts of terror. Finally they hit upon an idea. Why not simply marry them off?"

Planet War

netbros — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:53:47 -0800

From the bloody civil wars in Africa to the rag-tag insurgencies in Southeast Asia, 33 conflicts are raging around the world today, and it’s often innocent civilians who suffer the most. Each photo and summary has deep back story links.

Strange Medicine

reenum — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:04:54 -0800

Radovan Karadzic was a war criminal who was able to escape prosecution for his war crimes during the genocide in Bosnia. In a particularly strange twist, Karadzic assumed the name Dragan Dabic and rose in the ranks of the alternative healing community in Belgrade. “Across from Dabic’s apartment in New Belgrade, there lived a woman who worked at Interpol,” Vekaric of the I.C.T.Y. told me. “Every morning this woman switched on her computer and there was a picture of Radovan Karadzic and Osama bin Laden. And each morning she would say good morning to Dragan Dabic.” She never suspected who her neighbor was."

Violence, death, mud, insanity.

markkraft — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:43:26 -0800

Photos from the war. A slideshow of photos taken by German soldier Werner Wiehe... vermisst in Russland, 1944. (While viewing the slideshow, might I suggest playing some appropriate musical accompaniment, arranged in sequential order?!)

"I started the movement with the firm resolve that I will never be caught alive by the enemy. That has spread down the ranks."

shoebox — Tue, 19 May 2009 16:56:16 -0800

Velupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive and ruthless leader (timeline, short bio) of the violent separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been reportedly killed in battle by the Sri Lankan Army (self-loading video) (Previously) So far, most news organizations are reporting this as fact (guardian obituary) and calling a definite end to the war, but the LTTE are denying all claims as to the death of their leader and state that this is simply government propaganda to dissuade their movement. Sri Lanka has been subject to a heavy media blockade since hostilities resumed in December 2005 in the ongoing conflict. Whether or not the claims are true, the army has completely surrounded and routed the Tigers from their strongholds in Northern Sri Lanka and the Prime Minister has declared victory. It is unclear what will happen from now as many in the Tamil minority are wary of the government. However, one thing is clear: This is a definite turning point in the history of this young, post-colonial nation torn apart by civil war and internal strife for decades.

LTTE Is No Excuse For Killing Vanni Civilians

chunking express — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:35:10 -0800

"A young mother is injured and her three month old baby killed by shell fragments as she breastfeeds the child in the government declared no fire zone. Parents hide their children in roughly dug bunkers to escape LTTE press gangs who comb the no-fire zone for conscripts. A woman loses her husband to sniper fire and the toddler he was carrying too drowns when they attempt to wade across a lagoon to escape the no-fire zone. A father is shot in the head by LTTE members as he attempted to flee with his family." - The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) discuss the situation in Vanni, Sri Lanka, in their 47th information bulletin.

Tigers beat

Artw — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:07:22 -0800

Is this end for the Tamil Tigers? The Sri Lankan army have captured Elephant Pass, the latest in a string of victories against the guerrilla outfit. The army has pledged to avoid civilian casualties (which have caused India and other countries to intervene in the past) but there are still concerns with reports of artillery strikes on civilian centers in Tharmapuram [graphic], and serious human rights concerns. Though the military battle may be all but over the country is sure to face armed political struggle for some time.

Први светски рат

tellurian — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:06:22 -0800

Prvi svetski rat - Gritty and poignant Serbian postcards from the First World War. Just one of the seriously interesting (e.g. check out the collection of 78s) holdings at the Digital National Library of Serbia.

Modern Warfare in Kenya...

cadastral — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:25:21 -0800

Very recently the Kalenjin and Kisii peoples of Kenya's Olmelil valley began skirmishing over land disputes. Over 20 people have died so far. This type of inter-tribal unrest is nothing new in Eastern Africa. What makes this particular conflict most jarring to western eyes is that it's being fought with bows and arrows (Time Magazine Slideshow, a forum post with many large images inline, [coral cache of same]). You get the feeling that somewhere in Fresno, California Gary Brechter might be pretty wound-up at the moment...

The Gaza Bombshell

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:33:25 -0800

Vanity Fair has obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the U.S. and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, to provoke a Palestinian civil war.

Make faces, not war

elgilito — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:56:39 -0800

The Face2face project. JR, an "undercover photographer", and Marco, a technology consultant, had 41 people - israelis and palestinians - mugging for the camera and plastered the huge, unavoidable pictures on both sides of the Israeli West Bank barrier, pair by pair : one israeli, one palestinian, both having similar jobs and posing in a similar fashion (+an imam, a rabbi and a christian priest). See also the trailer (YT, other videos available on the main site).

The next thirty years of war

Happy Dave — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:10:13 -0800

The British Ministry of Defence has been thinking about the future , and 2037 looks like it'll be a doozy. Others have been thinking about it too, and they believe they'll be mainly hot, sweaty, dirty and confusing. Of course, if you're the Canadian military, you get a science fiction author to write your future for you.

Bendito Machine

icosahedral — Sat, 27 May 2006 10:39:06 -0800

Bendito Machine - An excellent animated short exploring societal conflict. [flash]

In the Congo, In the Congo

ZenMasterThis — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 06:08:38 -0800

In Congo, 1,000 die per day: Why isn't it a media story? "A media story is currently developing around the Congo - focusing, paradoxically, on how the conflict is not a media story." A journalist's-eye view of a story approaching the tipping-point towards widespread media coverage.

Amazing Atlas

blahblahblah — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 22:45:14 -0800

Matthew White's Historical Atlas of the 20th Century. One of those amazing internet reference sites created by some guy (okay, Matthew White). Lots of fascinating, incredibly researched stuff: complete lists of all manmade megadeaths in the 20th century, the 100 most important works of art of the 20th century, maps showing changes in the types of government by decade, comments on Wikipedia, and much more. Also, some fun stuff, like what the US would look like if every secessionist movement succeeded. Previously posted in 2001, but much updated and worth a second look