In 2009, countries have reached perilous new levels of conflict, tension and military spending characterised by nuclear proliferation, ideological warfare and pre-emptive invasions of sovereign nations. As news reports highlight an intensifying competition over natural resources, the international community is faced with a stark choice - to share resources and cooperate, or to continue on the path to further warfare.
With three conflicts now raging in the greater Middle East, the human and financial costs of war continue to rise. Local communities and taxpayers around the world are paying out in blood and money, while the arms industry reaps the profits, writes Robert Fisk.
In the aftermath of Pakistan’s devastating floods, the so-called ‘war on terror’ must be rethought. A new struggle against poverty and hunger is essential to secure a peaceful future for the people of Pakistan and the wider world, writes Mark Levine.
The existing nuclear powers resist disarmament because they believe the weapons guarantee security and power. By dispelling the myths around the nature of the bomb and its usefulness we can unblock the road to a nuclear free world, argue Barry Blechman and Alex Bollfrass.
The US Air Force
is ramping up the use of pilotless drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan, killing
unprecedented numbers of militants and
civilians alike. Is this trend leading
toward robotic warfare where human accountability is left out of the loop? By Nick
Turse.
In the midst of economic, environmental and resource crises,
the US military budget is larger than at any time during the Cold War. Current political and economic structures must be reformed in order to deprioritise the
military-industrial complex, argues Ernest Partridge.
Over the three years that governments at the UN spent discussing
a proposed Arms Trade Treaty, almost 2.1 million people have died as a result
of armed violence. Negotiations must begin immediately for a robust treaty to
be drawn up by 2012, says a report by Oxfam.
The design of the EU’s security research agenda has been
outsourced to the very corporations who will gain most from its implementation.
This strategy will encourage militarisation at the expense of human rights and
social justice, says a new report by the Transnational Institute.