Belief & Conflict Flashcards
1
Q
What is war?
A
- An armed conflict between two political communities
- Can be civil (American Civil War) or international (WW2)
- Widespread
- Intentional
- War is not a gang fight or a feud
2
Q
What are the two types of war?
A
Territorial Wars & Ideological Wars
3
Q
Territorial Wars
A
- Fought over; land & sea, resources (oil etc.), defending land, getting more land
- Invaded over oil (Kuwait invaded by Iran)
- Fighting to gain land (German expansion WW2)
- Pre-emptive attack (get them first)
- To protect citizens overseas
4
Q
Ideological Wars
A
- Fought over beliefs (Religious, political, national etc.)
- Threat to particular way of life
- Overcoming injustice (Removing ruler, Saddam Hussein)
- Pursuing independence (Catalonia)
- Preserving the status quo (Spain refusing Catalonian independence)
5
Q
Effects of War
A
- Escalation
- Destroys countries
6
Q
Escalation
A
- War can quickly grow, unintended consequences
- Number of people affected grows more than needed
- Weapons must be kept proportional with damage required not wanted
- Is it still possible to emerge the victor
7
Q
How does war destroy countries?
A
- Pollution caused by chemical weapons
- Land can no longer be used due to unexploded munitions
- Nuclear fallout
- Normal life is disrupted
- Roads/property is destroyed & needs to be rebuilt
8
Q
Examples of effects of war
A
- Oil Wells of Kuwait during Gulf War of 1991 ($40billion damage costs)
- Bombing of Dresden WW2 (Completely destroyed city)
- Gulf War & tanks using depleted uranium shells
- War kills people (17million WW1), psychological (PTSD)
- Political vacuum (breeding ground for extremism)
- Genocide/ethnic cleansing (Rwandan genocide, holocaust)
9
Q
The cost of war
A
- Human
- Environmental
- Economical
10
Q
Human cost of war
A
- Loss of civilian life
- Psychological damage
- Permanently disable
11
Q
Environmental cost of war
A
- Resources gone (Oil wells of Kuwait)
- Introduces radioactivity (Disfigurements in Middle East due to depleted uranium from Gulf War)
- Obliterated cities (Dresden)
12
Q
Economic cost of war
A
- Cost of rebuilding everything
- Shortages of food/supplies
- Money could have been spent elsewhere (health care or education)
- Money spent on weapons/munitions equipment
- Can also be profitable (Ship building, arms businesses etc.)
13
Q
How can a war be justifiable or be carried out justly?
A
- By following the international rules for going to war and the international rules for conducting war
14
Q
Rules for going to war
A
- You must have a just cause
- You must have the right intentions (you must know why you are going to war)
- You must have legitimate authority
- Your war must be a necessary last resort
- You must be reasonably certain of success
- Your war is only just if it minimises harm on balance
15
Q
Rules for conducting war
A
- Discriminate between civilian targets and legitimate targets
- Do not mistreat prisoners of war
- Do not use illegal weapons
- Proportionality (do not use more firepower than you need)
- Do not use tactics that are bad in themselves (Don’t hide a soldier as a medic etc.)
- Do not carry out ‘tit for tat’ attacks
16
Q
The 10 Commandments and Conflict
A
- Bible says “Thou shall not kill”
- Jesus taught “Love thy neighbour”
- Jesus taught the idea of turning the other cheek
- Matt 5:38-39 “You have heard that it was said, ‘eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps your right cheek, turn to them the other check also.”
17
Q
Types of Weapons
A
- Conventional weapons
- Unconventional weapons
18
Q
Conventional Weapons
A
- Guns
- Knives
- Tanks etc.
- Soldiers/Infantry, relatively short range, shooter can see enemy & so fairly accurate target
19
Q
Unconventional Weapons
A
- A single weapon that can create enormous damage
- Bombs
- Smart Weapons
- Nuclear weapons
- Biological weapons
- Nuclear, Biological are both weapons of mass destruction
20
Q
Biological Weapons
A
- Weapons which release agents that cause the spread of disease
- Anthrax (one of the world’s most deadly diseases), was used as weapon in 2009 when posted through mail & killed 5 people
21
Q
Nuclear Weapons
A
- Atomic or nuclear bombs, bombs which unlock the power of nuclear fission
- Nuclear weapons used in WW2 at Hiroshima & Nagasaki, around 240,000 killed by bombs (around 120,000 killed outright & rest from Injury/radiation)
- Short, medium & long term damage
22
Q
Bombs
A
- Cluster bomb, lots of small bombs split off to cover a much larger area, many land without exploding but will explode later, imprecise target area due to wideness
- Landmines, hidden, can cause severe injury without killing, unexploded make farmland unusable, No specific target, people forget where they have been placed
23
Q
Smart Weapons
A
- Laser guided missiles; Very precise, avoid civilians, can be fired from distance, no emotion required, no human connection, can’t see consequences
- Drones; No pilot, destroyed drone different from dead soldier, cheaper, operators can’t see what they are firing at, no human connection
- Computer assisted weapons, accurate, fast, no human connection, can be hacked
24
Q
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
A
- Indiscriminate in damage caused
- Can be deployed without army
- Powerful, cause vast amounts of damage & devastation
- Difficult to target
25
Arguments for WMD
- Useful to win war (threat could be enough)
- Weapons easily concealed, delivered in secret
- Deployed from great distance, no direct connection needed
- Balanced threat of WMD results in peace
- Countries have duty to protect selves and citizens
- Impossible to 'uninvent' WMD, better to attempt to keep peace through limited possession & control
26
Arguments against WMD
- Cannot lead to true peace
- Aggravate causes of war & make war more likely
- Reason for is fear & threat, morally unacceptable
- Risk of accidental fire
- Long term effects are devastating
- Are against 'ethics' and rules of war (proportionality)
- Impossible to pick definitive targets (will wipe out countless civilians)
- Other ways of forcing countries into submission
27
Strategies of War
- Modern Warfare
| - 'Classic' Warfare
28
Modern Warfare
- Combines old WW1 style tactics with new advanced tactics
| - From foot soldiers to WMDs/Cyber Warfare
29
Moral Issues with Modern Warfare
- Precision warfare vs. Indiscriminate destruction
- Detachment vs. Engagement
- Proportionality (Special case of nuclear weapons)
- Cyber warfare
30
Precision vs. indiscriminate destruction
- Precision can deliver precise attacks and avoid civilians
- Cluster bombs cover wide indiscriminate target, harder to avoid civilian targets
- Precisely guided missiles seem to be more acceptable than cluster bombs
31
Detachment vs. engagement
- Drone operators far removed from combat, lack of human connection with enemy, harder to assign responsibility
- If drone destroyed, no pilot dies, minimising casualties makes 'easier sell,' public support can hide intentions
32
Proportionality
- Not blowing things out of proportion (if someone snaps your pencil don't snap their neck)
- "Don't take a sledgehammer to crack a nut"
33
Nuclear Weapons (Proportionality)
- Do not discriminate between innocent and combatant
- No direct involvement required with enemy
- Illegal under international treaties
- Disproportionately destructive
- Can never be part of a just war
34
Cyberwarfare
- Can disable weapons-control, communication systems, electricity grid
- Enemy can no longer pursue/counter in normal way
- Enemy becomes more vulnerable
- Enemy may be forced into cease fire
- Careful use has ability to avoid casualties
35
Morality of War
- Realism (war is natural state, when war starts morality does not apply, "History is written by the winners")
- Pacifism (nothing can justify war, avoid wars to limit damage caused)
36
Realism
- War is inevitable
- Once war begins strong dominate
- No limits to weapons or tactics used
- Justice & morality not limiting factors
37
Pacifism
- We should deal with the root causes of conflict
- "Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind" - JFK
- Conditional pacifism (Bertrand Russel against WW1)
- Absolute pacifism
- Selective/nuclear pacifism
- Active pacifism
38
Religious View on Pacifism
- Faith in better future
- Faith in God's plan/power
- 'I Have Been to the Mountain Top' MLK (Moses 10 Com)
- Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who can be against us"
39
Root Causes of Conflict
- Inequality (poverty, resources)
- Prejudice & Racism (political, beliefs)
- Power (disagreement, pride)
- Ignorance
40
Terrorism
- Pursuit of political/ideological goal through violence
- Not war in traditional sense (violence often one-sided)
- Can lead to a war, escaping dictator (Syria), clear leader agenda (Bin Laden leading Al Qaeda)
- Little discrimination civilian or no, don't minimise
41
Moral Decision Making
- Culture?
- Experiences?
- Own intuition?
- God?
42
Moral Philosophy
- Is morality personal taste?
- Is morality matter of cultural conditioning?
- Is it objective or subjective?
43
Utilitarianism
- Utility>working
- Imagine life has no meaning or purpose, imagine there is no God and no heaven, what then becomes important
- Jeremy Bentham "whatever brings most pleasure to most people is good"
44
Three Key Elements of Utilitarianism
- Equality; everyone's happiness is equally important
- Hedonism; happiness or pleasure is universal
- Consequences are more important than intentions (consequentialism, can't measure intentions but can measure consequences)
