Schoolchildren As Propaganda Tools In The War On Terror

This book explores in what ways both sides involved in the so-called war on terror are using schoolchildren as propaganda tools while putting the children's security at grave risk. The book explores how terrorists use attacks on education to attempt to destabilize the government while the government and the international aid community use increases in school attendance as an ostensible index of largely illusory progress in the overall security situation and in development. The book challenges the notion that unoccupied civilian schools are not entitled under the law of armed conflict to a high standard of protection which prohibits their use for military purposes. Also examined are the potential violations of international law that can occur when government and education aid workers encourage and facilitate school attendance, as they do, in areas within conflict-affected states such as Afghanistan where security for education is inadequate and the risk of terror attacks on education high.

This is a comprehensive Report on every armed conflict which took place during 2012. It is the first of a new series of annual reports on armed conflicts across the globe, offering an unprecedented overview of the nature, range, and impact of these conflicts and the legal issues they create. In Part I the Report describes its criteria for the identification and classification of armed conflicts under international law, and the legal consequences that flow from this classification. It sets out a list of armed conflicts in 2012, categorising each as international, non-international, or a military occupation, with estimates of civilian and military casualties. In Part II, each of these conflicts are examined in more detail, with an overview of the belligerents, means and methods of warfare, the applicable treaties and rules, and any prosecutions for, investigations into, or robust allegations of war crimes. Part III of the Report provides detailed thematic analysis of key legal developments which arose in the context of these conflicts, allowing for a more in-depth reflection on cross-cutting questions and controversies. The topics under investigation in this Report include drone strikes, the use of explosive weapons, small arms, forced displacement of civilians, detention at Guantanamo Bay, and the enforcement of international humanitarian and criminal law in both national and international courts. The Report gives a full and accessible overview of armed conflicts in 2012. It should be the first port of call for everyone working in the field.

This book addresses the phenomenon of children as the particular targets of extreme cruelty and genocide during armed conflict. Selected International Criminal Court cases are analyzed to illustrate the ICC‘s failure to address the genocidal forcible transfer of children to armed State and/or non-State groups or forces perpetrating mass atrocities and/or genocide. An original legal interpretation of children as a protected group in the context of the genocide provision of the Rome Statute is provided. The work also examines certain examples of the various modes in which armed State and/or non-State groups or forces perpetrating mass atrocities and/or genocide appropriate children and accomplish the genocidal forcible transfer of children to the perpetrator group. It is argued that the failure to prosecute the genocidal forcible transfer of children through the ICC mechanisms (where the Court has jurisdiction and the State has failed to meet its obligations in this regard) undermines the perceived gravity of this heinous international crime within the international community. Furthermore, this ICC failure to prosecute conflicts with the interests of justice and ultimately results in an erosion of the respect for the personhood and human dignity of children.

In armed conflicts around the world, children are being killed, raped, abducted and recruited to fight at a shocking scale. In light of this continuing general failure to protect children in conflict, it is questionable whether existing international law norms and institutions provide sufficient protection and accountability. Consideration needs to be given to whether international law can do more – practically and effectively – when moral lines are crossed. That is the purpose of this book. It reviews the position of children in armed conflict by reference to the 'six grave violations' as identified by the UN Security Council. It analyses the protection offered by international humanitarian law, international criminal law and international human rights law, and also assesses the related adjudicative accountability mechanisms. The analysis concludes with a number of recommendations and proposals for reform, with a view to enhancing accountability and deterring future violations. The book has been written by a team of lawyers, headed by Shaheed Fatima QC, and has drawn on the input of an expert advisory panel comprising leading academics, policy-makers and activists. It has been written as part of the Inquiry on Protecting Children in Conflict. The Inquiry has been sponsored by Save the Children and Theirworld and chaired by former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

Teaching About the Wars breaks the curricular silence on the U.S. military engagement in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The articles and lessons in this volume explore "the realities of how we got here." Even though the United States has been at war continuously since just after 9/11, sometimes it seems that our schools have forgotten. This collection of articles and hands-on lessons shows how teachers prompt their students to think critically about big issues. Here is the best writing from Rethinking Schools magazine on war and peace in the 21st century.

The Ashgate Research Companion to Moral Panics offers a comprehensive assemblage of cutting-edge critical and theoretical perspectives on the concept of moral panic. All chapters represent original research by many of the most influential theorists and researchers now working in the area of moral panic, including Nachman Ben-Yehuda and Erich Goode, Joel Best, Chas Critcher, Mary deYoung, Alan Hunt, Toby Miller, Willem Schinkel, Kenneth Thompson, Sheldon Ungar, and Grazyna Zajdow. Chapters come from a range of disciplines, including media studies, literary studies, history, legal studies, and sociology, with significant new elaborations on the concept of moral panic (and its future), informed and powerful critiques, and detailed empirical studies from several continents. A clear and comprehensive survey of a concept that is increasingly influential in a number of disciplines as well as in popular culture, this collection of the latest research in the field addresses themes including the evolution of the moral panic concept, sex panics, media panics, moral panics over children and youth, and the future of the moral panic concept.

This volume focuses on the uses of collective memory in transatlantic relations between the United States, and Western and Central European nations in the period from the Cold War to the present day. Sitting at the intersection of international relations, history, memory studies and various "area" studies, Memory in Transatlantic Relations examines the role of memory in an international context, including the ways in which policy and decision makers utilize memory; the relationship between trauma, memory and international politics; the multiplicity of actors who shape memory; and the role of memory in the conflicts in post-Cold War Europe. Thematically organized and presenting studies centered on the U.S., Hungary, France, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the authors explore the built environment (memorials) and performances of memory (commemorations), shedding light on the ways in which memories are mobilized to frame relations between the U.S. and nations in Western and Central Europe. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences and historians with interests in memory studies, foreign policy and international relations.