NewsNotes - March 2007
Good thing we won the war, because the peace sure looks like a quagmire.
Molly Ivins
Oct. 7, 2003
Save the date: EPS is hosting a conference, War and Poverty, Peace and Prosperity, May 30 - June 1, 2007 at our home at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Annandale on Hudson, NY.
The conference will look at the broad range of issues that tie together economics, peace and security. It will bring together international leaders in economic thinking, as well as policy analysts, other scholars, media, and citizens with diverse perspectives to present research findings and exchange views.
See http://www.epsusa.org/events/07conf.htm for program and registration information.
The Fourth Anniversary of the Iraq War edition of the EPS Quarterly is in the mail. In this issue:
- America's Bleeding Cakewalk, by Cyrus Bina
- Don't Go into Iran, George, by Niall Ferguson
- The Battle of Iraq's Wounded, by Linda Bilmes
- Who Will Pay for this Puny Defense Budget, by Winslow Wheeler
- A statement from the Faslane nuclear submarine protest, by Richard Jolly
- The Costs of War to Occupied Countries, by John Tepper Marlin
- Falling Prices and Terrorism, by William Baumol
Call for papers: The 11th Annual Conference on Economics & Security will take place July 5 - 7, 2007 in Bristol, UK. Offers of papers are invited for a conference sponsored by Economists for Peace and Security, the Arms Production and Trade Group, the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol. The conference will have a public lecture, plenary sessions with keynote speakers, plus specialist workshop streams.
Proposed topics include:
- European Security
- Economics of the RMA
- Globalization and the Restructuring of the MIC
- Militarism and Development
- Economics of Conflict and Post-conflict Reconstruction
- Economics of the Arms Trade
- Procurement and Offsets
- Arms Races, Offsets and Alliances
- Peace Science
- Conversion and Demilitarization
- Terrorism
Offers of papers on other related topics are also welcome.
For more information on the call for papers, please see: http://carecon.org.uk/Conferences/Conf2007/Call2007.pdf
Please send a title and abstract as soon as possible and before April 30, 2007 to
Professor J. Paul Dunne
School of Economics
Bristol Business School
University of the West of England
Bristol, BS16 1QY
UK
John2.Dunne@uwe.ac.uk
To keep up with conference developments, visit: http://carecon.org.uk/Conferences/Conf2007/CONF2007.html
The Network of European Peace Scientists (NEPS) is an international association for the advancement of peace research and related studies in Europe. The principle criterion of eligibility for membership in NEPS is a mature and deep interest in the field of Peace Research. Membership is free.Numerous publications are available, as well as a regular email newsletter. Please visit http://www.prio.no/external/neps for more information.
For the past five years, NEPS has organized an annual Jan Tinbergen Peace Science Conference in Amsterdam. This year the conference will take place June 25 - 27. More information on the conference is available at http://pss.la.psu.edu/Newsletters/NEPS2007Announcement.pdf
Positive Futures Network is an independent, nonprofit organization supporting people’s active engagement in creating a just, sustainable, and compassionate world.
"Our hope lies in the fact that millions of people around the world
are creating the needed changes in their homes, communities, work places,
and nations. Powerful innovations are taking hold within agriculture,
businesses, criminal justice, schools - virtually every sector of society.
This work is barely visible in the media and the prevailing political
discourse - yet holds the promise of transforming the foundations of our
world. We spotlight the creative work occurring in the US and around the
world, and encourage everyone, young and old, and from all communities,
to be part of a powerful process of change."
They are best known for the publication YES! A Journal of Positive Futures. This award-winning quarterly magazine invites readers to be part of a global community of change makers. Each issue focuses on a theme, showing the possibilities and practical steps that can lead us all to a more positive future. In each issue you also find book reviews, practical advice for living more sustainably, the page that counts, special features, columns, and short "indicators."
Other programs include: The YES! Education Connection Program supporting educators and students in creating a more just and sustainable world; outreach to journalists and leaders; book publication; Networking retreats to bring together social change leaders from diverse movements and backgrounds; and a speakers bureau.
The IOM Constitution recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement. More information is at http://www.iom.int/jahia/page1.html
In February, IOM joined with pop singer Ricky Martin, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sánchez, the Inter American Development Bank, and UNICEF to launch a counter-trafficking information campaign, "Llama y Vive" (Call and Live). The regional campaign and the telephone hotline, which will operate in all Central American countries, were designed to alert potential victims of trafficking, protect children and youth, and provide information to the general public.
IOM and its partners expect that the new hotline and the massive media attention will translate into increased awareness on the perils of human trafficking. http://www.rickymartinfoundation.org/english/newsroom/news/2007.02.20.aspx
In a study commissioned by Mother Jones magazine, Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank, research fellows at the Center on Law and Security at the New York University School of Law, show conclusively that there is an "Iraq Effect;" the war has increased global terrorism sevenfold.
Mother Jones summary http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/03/aftermath.html
The complete study http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/03/iraq_effect_1.html
Cindy Williams, principal research scientist in the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and EPS Security Policy Working Group colleague, has some bad news: many hidden costs line the national security path.
The $625 billion Defense Department budget President Bush sent Congress this month for fiscal year 2008 (which begins this October) is significantly larger after adjusting for inflation than any US military budget since World War II.
Even more staggering is the Pentagon’s plan to spend $2.8 trillion during the five years from 2008 to 2012. Unfortunately, the most striking thing about this enormous budget is that it falls far short of the true costs of the current national security path.
Covering all the likely costs would require another $700 billion over
the five-year period. Yet admitting today to the full costs of the present
path would force the nation into a conversation the administration wishes
to avoid.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/opinion/16743282.htm?template=contentModules
/printstory.jsp
The International Institute for Sustainable Development has a report on natural resources and conflict. "The fatal blow for governments already weakened by economic downturn is increasingly environmental - from natural disaster or famine to rapid deforestation or toxic pollution - which deepens ethnic divides and sparks violence. In a series of case studies ranging from the role of land scarcity and population growth in densely populated Rwanda to the 'war' between Canada and Spain over the Atlantic fisheries, 'Conserving the Peace: Resources, Livelihoods and Security'examines how natural resource management is linked to social tension and conflict, and spells out the value of protecting the environment in addressing the roots of insecurity."
A press release which gives a good summary of the report is at http://www.iisd.org/media/2002/aug_30_2002_c.asp
The entire report may be read at http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=477
Can Soap Operas Save the World? Carol Estes, writing in Yes!
magazine, says it's not as much of a stretch as you might think.
"Have soap operas become a method of healing societies at war? In
some battle-fatigued areas, they have. Consider for a moment the pervasiveness
of narrative in our lives...'We dream in narrative, day-dream in narrative,
remember, anticipate, hope, despair, doubt, plan, revise, criticize, gossip,
learn, hate, and love by narrative.' ...And that can be a very good thing.
Through story we climb inside the skin of someone whom we might otherwise
never meet or talk to. We live their lives for a few vicarious hours,
feel their suffering, their longing, laugh or maybe cry with them. In
a world where hatred of “them” is the leading cause of death,
empathy is a powerful tool."
And that’s why career peacemaker Susan Collin Marks - executive
vice president of Search for Common Ground and a woman who learned the
importance of stories while ducking tear gas canisters and rubber bullets
in the townships of South Africa - now finds herself making radio soaps.
The Nest War, and the Next by Jack A. Smith writing in Asia Times:
"While most Americans are concentrating on extricating the US government from the debacle in Iraq, and most peace activists are simultaneously concerned that the Bush administration will launch a war against Iran, the leaders of the Pentagon are planning how to win wars 10, 20, and 50 years from now.
"The Defense Department's drawing boards are groaning under the
weight of blueprints for sustaining total military dominance of land,
sea, air and outer space throughout this century. The costs of supporting
the US government's martial propensities will be astronomical in terms
of the social programs and benefits denied American working people, not
to mention the consequences of living in a state of permanent warfare."
The Canadian Consortium on Human Security has updated and released a new Teaching Human Security Database. http://cchs.xplorex.com/?p2=modules/cchs/courses/search.jsp
The database is a comprehensive catalog of human security-related courses
currently offered at Canadian universities and colleges. The THS database
is user-friendly and readily searchable that allows visitors to browse
by University, Topic, Subject Area, Province, and Course Level. Course
information includes links to abstracts and syllabi where available.
966 courses across Canada include human security-related material. Courses
in the database cover subjects as diverse as political science, development
studies, geography, law, criminology, urban studies and conflict resolution.
Funding for the Teaching Human Security database is provided by the Human Security Program of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada.
For additional information, please contact:
Wendy McAvoy
Project Manager
Canadian Consortium on Human Security
Phone: 604-822-3844
Fax: 604-822-6966
Deadline for submission of abstracts is April 1, 2007. Complete information is at http://eaepe.org/eaepe.php?q=node/view/207
Why Can't We Talk about Peace in Public? By Matt Taibbi, RollingStone.com. Posted February 28, 2007.
America's growing economic dependence on the hi-tech defense industry is creating a culture that views peace and nonviolence as seditious concepts.
"A country that feeds itself through the manufacture of war technology is bound to view peace, nonviolence and mercy as seditious concepts. It will create policies first and then people to fit its machines, finding wars to fight and creating killers to fight them. If that's true of us, and I think it is, our troubles won't be over even if someone brings the Iraq war to an end. We'll be treating the symptom and not the disease. And the reason our elections are a sham is that the disease is never on the table."
There is much discussion these days about the size of the military budget as a percentage of the GDP. Proponents for more military spending point out that the current budget is a much lower percentage of GDP than has historically been sustainable. Therefore, the US could, and maybe even should, be spending more not less on its military.
For informative graphs and tables showing US military spending as a function of GDP and percentage of discretionary federal spending over time see: http://www.truthandpolitics.org/military-relative-size.php
A recent article by Doug Bandow states, "Those who push for ever more military outlays argue that the US devotes 'only' 4.3 percent of GDP to the military, compared to 6.2 percent during the Reagan military buildup and more during the early Cold War. Robert Caldwell of the San Diego Union-Tribune opines: "the right question is not whether the defense budget is too big but whether it's big enough.
"However, these numbers are highly deceptive. The economy is much larger today, so even a smaller percent of the GDP yields vastly higher military outlays. We are engaged in Cold War spending without a Cold War." http://antiwar.com/bandow/?articleid=10525
The CIA’s World Factbook ranks the world's leading defense spenders, using the measure of percent of GDP at https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html. The world’s leading defense spender under this new measure is Rwanda.
A completed Ph.D. is required, but candidates expecting the degree in the immediate future will also be considered. The successful candidate will have a background in macroeconomics, feminist economics and other heterodox approaches to economics, solid quantitative skills and a strong interest in policy issues.
For more information on the Gender Equality and the Economy program, please visit: http://www.levy.org/default.asp?view=research_gee
To apply, please submit letter of interest, current c.v., references, and sample papers to: Human Resources - 1707, Bard College, PO Box 5000, Annandale On Hudson, NY 12504 5000 or fax to 845 758 7826. AA/EOE
Thorstein Veblen was born on July 30, 1857. In order to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his birth, the Association For Evolutionary Economics (AFEE) and EAEPE will co-sponsor the Veblen 150 Prize Competition. Candidates for the prize are asked to submit written works on the nature of institutions, the theory of institutional evolution, the philosophical foundations of institutional and evolutionary economics, or the application of institutional or evolutionary theory to economic policy. These specialist themes reflect Veblenian concerns. The prize is 2000 GBP.
The prizes will be judged by a panel nominated jointly by AFEE and EAEPE and by the Foundation for European Economic Development (FEED). The results of this competition will be announced in about September 2007. The awards will be made at the EAEPE Conference from November 1 - 3, 2007 in Porto on Portugal.
Deadline for submission is June 30, 2007. More information about submission at http://eaepe.org/eaepe.php?q=node/view/189
The journal is aimed at non-specialist readers, including policy analysts, policy and decision makers, national and international civil servants, members of the armed forces and of peacekeeping services, the business community, members of non-governmental organizations and religious institutions, and others. Contributions are scholarly-based, but written in a general-interest style.
Issues of the journal generally are theme-based and contributions are by invitation only; however, readers are invited to write to the editors (editors@epsjournal.org.uk) with proposals for a specific contribution or theme-based symposium (2 - 4 papers). Short letters of less than 500 words commenting on the published pieces are welcome.
The first issue is based on the ECAAR Review 2003, "Conflict or Development" (http://www.epsjournal.org.uk/Vol1/No1/issue.php). Volume 1, No. 2 is entitled "Peacemaking and Peacekeeping." These two issues are available free of charge as an introduction to the journal.
Annual subscription rates for future issues are as follows:
- Standard £22/$40/E€34;
- EPS members £16/$30/E€25;
- Unwaged/Developing countries £11/$20/E€17;
- Institutional £55/$100/E€85.
Are We Safer? Five Years After the September 11th Attacks: Assessing the US Security Situation and Alternatives for Moving Forward. An Anthology of National Security Essays - September 2006, published by the Security Policy Working Group.
Pyrrhus on the Potomac: How America's Post-9/11 Wars Have Undermined US National Security. Carl Conetta, Project on Defense Alternatives http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/Pyrrhus%20On%20The%20Potomac.pdf
Terrorism or All-Hazards? Broadening Homeland Security. Anita Dancs, National Priorities Project http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/Terrorism%20Or%20All-Hazards.pdf
America's Post 9/11 Military: Can Congress Reform Our Shrinking, Aging, Less Ready, More Expensive Forces? Winslow T. Wheeler, Center for Defense Information http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/Post%209-11%20Military.pdf
Funding for Defense, Military Operations, Homeland Security, and Related Activities Since 9/11. Steven Kosiak, Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/Funding%20For%20Defense,%20Military%20Operations.pdf
National Security Budgets to Make America Safer. Cindy Williams,
MIT Security Studies Program http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/National%20Security%20Budgets%20To%20
Make%20America%20Safer.pdf
Fighting the "Good Fight:” An Alternative to Current Democratic Proposals For a New National Security Strategy. William D. Hartung, World Policy Institute, Arms Trade Resource Center http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/Fighting%20The%20Good%20Fight.pdf
Is the War on Terror “Worth it?” David Gold, New School University http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/Is%20The%20War%20On%20Terror%20Worth%20It.pdf
Special Threat: US Nuclear Weapons Policy under the Bush Doctrine. Michael D. Intriligator, Economists for Peace & Security http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/Special%20Threat.pdf
Terrorism in Context: Assessing Risks and Solutions. David Colt,
Economists for Peace & Security http://www.proteusfund.org/spwg/pdfs/Terrorism%20In%20The%20Context
%20of%20Other%20Threats.pdf
Fact Sheets: Periodically, we release these two-sided fact sheets designed to give an accessible, graphic look at one specific issue of concern to our members and constituency.
Global Arms Trade 2004 examines the world's supplies of conventional weapons and small arms. http://www.epsusa.org/publications/factsheets/globalarmstrade.pdf
Military vs. Social Spending: Warfare or Human Welfare compares US and global military spending with the costs of achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals. http://www.epsusa.org/publications/factsheets/milexMDG.pdf
Conflict or Development? This book has a regional focus on Africa, the site of most of the world's current armed conflicts. In its pages some of the leading economists of the day analyze and reflect on the relationships among military spending, domestic and foreign policy, security, and human welfare. Features include country studies, sections on business and conflict, and “Trends in World Military Expenditure.” Written in a scholarly-based, but general-interest style, with informative maps, tables, and graphs, the series is designed to inform the debate among policymakers, activists, journalists, academics, students, and citizens worldwide.
To order Conflict or Development? please email Thea Harvey (theaharvey@epsusa.org).
The Review can be a valuable tool in teaching economics, political science, and international relations courses. If you are interested in teaching this book, please contact Thea Harvey (theaharvey@epsusa.org) for a copy to review.
Data Resource webpage offers links to data sources for:
- International military expenditure and conflict indicators
- US military expenditure and capabilities
- Western Europe
- Russia
http://www.epsusa.org/network/data.htm. If you know of a data source that you feel should be added to our list, please contact our webmaster, Leilah Ward at leilahward@epsusa.org
The Nuclear Information and Resource Service is working to build new coalitions of renewable energy groups and trade associations, safe energy and environmental groups, businesses and others to redirect our nation’s energy priorities away from nuclear power and fossil fuels and towards the renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies that can cleanly and sustainably power our future and at the same time address the global climate crisis. Their website offers action opportunities such as the sustainable energy petition http://www.nirs.org/petition/index.php?r=sb; resources include fact sheets, international news, audio, video, great quotes and a photo gallery.
Check out this groovy flash video explaining how all those pro-nuclear power arguments from the 1970s are now back "in." http://www.nirs.org/nukeretro/index.htm
On January 3, the Union of Concerned Scientists released a new report documenting ExxonMobil’s use of Big Tobacco tactics to delay meaningful action on global warming. It’s time to call on the new Congress to reject ExxonMobil’s disinformation campaign. Tell your senators and representative to eliminate billions of dollars in tax breaks for major oil companies and support bills that ensure reductions in global warming pollution.
View Smoke, Mirrors, and Hot Air: How ExxonMobil uses Big Tobacco Tactics to Manufacture Uncertainty on Climate Science http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_warming/exxon_report.pdf
To write to your Congressional representatives and let them know how you feel about this issue, go to http://ucsaction.org/campaign/1_3_07_Exxon_report/iuku6gnrht33wx8?
Want to get the word out on the topic that matters most to you? With a letter to your local paper, you can help bring your message not only to your neighbors, but directly to the offices of your Members of Congress as well, where staffers and our lawmakers themselves follow opinions from home with an especially watchful eye.
The ACLU has a tool that helps write and send letters to local papers. You are given a list of media outlets in your state, tips on how to write a letter in your own words, plus, for their topics, talking points.
http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=LTE_SOTU_2007&JServSessionIdr001=3bu4
9o8t91.app20a
Anyone who would be willing to put an EPS flyer up on a departmental bulletin board or similar venue, please contact Thea Harvey at theaharvey@epsusa.org.
July 12 - 14, 2007. The 11th Annual Conference on Economics & Security will take place in Bristol, UK, sponsored by Economists for Peace and Security, the Arms Production and Trade Group, the University of the West of England and the University of Bristol. The conference will have a public lecture, plenary sessions with keynote speakers, plus specialist workshop streams.
Call for papers: http://carecon.org.uk/Conferences/Conf2007/Call2007.pdf
To keep up with conference developments, visit: http://carecon.org.uk/Conferences/Conf2007/CONF2007.html
If you have enjoyed this issue of EPS NewsNotes, or if you wish to support our mission, please consider making a donation to EPS. You can do so securely online through our website or by sending a check to:
Economists for Peace and Security
at the Levy Economics Institute
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USA
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