* Over the Horizon Proliferation Threats.  Edited by James J. Wirtz (Prof of National Security, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA) and Peter R. Lavoy (Office of the Secretary of Defense).  Palo Alto CA: Stanford U Press, April 2012, 328p, $29.95pb.  In every decade of the nuclear era, one or two states have developed nuclear weapons despite the international community’s opposition to proliferation.  In the coming years, the breakdown of security arrangements, especially in the Middle East and Northeast Asia, could drive additional countries to seek their own nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) weapons, and missiles to deliver them.  “This will likely produce more instability, more insecure states, and further proliferation.”  Examines issues affecting a dozen or so countries’ nuclear weapons policies over the next decade; describes the domestic policy considerations and international pressures that shape such policies; and discusses factors that determine the motivations and capabilities of various states to acquire nuclear weapons.  Also considers what the world community can do to counter this process.  (SECURITY * NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

 

Useful Enemies: When Waging Wars Is More Important Than Winning Them.  David Keen (Prof of Complex Emergencies, London School of Economics).  New Haven, CT: Yale U Press, July 2012, 304p, $45 (also as e-book).  The Cold War has been succeeded by a “war on drugs” and a “war on terror,” and there are currently some 20-30 civil wars worldwide.  Investigates 1) why conflicts are so prevalent and intractable, even when one side has much greater military resources; 2) whether the “state of emergency” is more useful than peace; 3) why the efforts of aid organizations and international diplomats founder so often;  and 4) who benefits from wars.  To bring wars successfully to any end, we must understand the complex vested interests on all sides.  (WAR RECONSIDERED * SECURITY)

* Investing in Security:  A Global Assessment of Armed Violence Reduction Initiatives.  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development & UN Development Programme.  Paris: OECD, Sept 2011, 81p.  Conservative estimates indicate that at least 740,000 men, women, youth and children die each year as a result of armed violence, most of them in low- and medium-income settings. The majority of these deaths occur in situations other than war, though armed conflicts continue to generate a high incidence of casualties.  Provides information on Armed Violence Reduction and Prevention interventions and their effectiveness, maps 570 AVRP initiatives around the world (indicative of thousands that are underway), highlights promising practices, and focuses on the wide range of AVRP activities in six countries – Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Liberia, South Africa and Timor-Leste.

* Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy.  Susan N. Herman (President, American Civil Liberties Union).  NY: Oxford UP, Oct 2011, 288p, $24.95.  Blacklists and watchlists keep people grounded at airports and strand American citizens abroad, although these lists are rife with errors – errors that cannot be challenged.  A decade after 9/11, it is not yet clear whether the Patriot Act is keeping Americans safe, but it is clear that these emergency measures have the potential to ravage our lives, and have already done so to many Americans  Government databanks are full of information about every aspect of our private lives, and Herman presents unsettling cases of ordinary people caught in the government’s dragnet, demonstrating what can happen when constitutional protections against the government abuse are abandoned. 

* The Peacekeeping Economy: Using Economic Relationships to Build a More Peaceful, Prosperous, and Secure World.  Lloyd J. Dumas (Prof of Political Economy, U of Texas, Dallas).  New Haven, CT: Yale U Press, Sept 2011, 432p, $45pb.  The idea that military strength is virtually synonymous with security is deeply entrenched and widely held.  However, security is better served by building relationships that replace hostility with a sense of purpose and mutual gain.  Economic relationships can offer a far more effective, and far less costly, means of maintaining security.  Looks at the practical aspects of the transition from a military-based security arrangement to economic peacekeeping. (SECURITY * “PEACEKEEPING ECONOMY” * MILITARY VS. ECONOMIC SECURITY)

* New Battlefields/Old Laws:  Critical Debates on Asymmetric Warfare.  Edited by William C. Banks (Prof of Public Administration, Maxwell School, Syracuse U).  NY: Columbia U Press, Oct 2011, 304p, $29.50pb.  Changing patterns of global conflict are forcing a reexamination of the traditional laws of war.  The Hague Rules and the post-1949 law of armed conflict no longer account for non-state groups that wage prolonged campaigns of terrorism.  Today’s conflicts are low-intensity, asymmetrical wars fought between disparate military forces (terrorist insurgent groups, paramilitaries, child soldiers, civilians participating in hostilities, and private military firms).  Gaps in the laws of war leave modern battlefields largely unregulated, and these gaps embolden weaker, non-state combatants to exploit forbidden strategies and violate the laws of war.  Charts the evolution of the 21C battlefield, and sets forth a legal definition of new wars. (SECURITY * LAWS OF WAR OUTDATED * WARFARE LAWS OUTDATED * ASYMMETRIC WARFARE)

* Sex and World Peace.  Valerie M. Hudson (Prof of Pol Sci, Brigham Young U), Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill (Prof of Psychology, BYU), Mary Caprioli (Assoc Prof of Pol Sci, U of Minnesota Duluth), and Chad F. Emmett (political geographer, BYU).  NY: Columbia U Press, Feb 2012, 256p, $26.50.  The security of the state affects the security of women, but the systemic insecurity of women acts to unravel the security of all.  Explores the question of whether the security of women helps determine the security of states and proves that the situation of women is a vital variable in the incidence of peace and war.  Notes discrepancies between national laws protecting women and the enforcement of those laws, abnormal sex ratios favoring males, the practice of polygamy, and inequitable family law.  Emphasizes the importance of an R2PW, or state responsibility to protect women.  Also questions conventional definitions of security and democracy, and argues that “the true clash of civilizations will be one of gender, played out on the international stage.” (SECURITY * WOMEN AND WORLD SECURITY)  

** War on Drugs: Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy.  Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Chair; former President of Brazil), George P. Schultz (Honorary Chair, former US Secretary of State), and 17 others.  Global Commission, June 2011, 24p (download at www.globalcommissionondrugs.org).  “The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.”  Fifty years after initiating the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and 40 years after President Nixon launched the US war on drugs, “fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed.” Vast expenditures on criminalization and repressive measures directed at producers, traffickers, and consumers of illegal drugs have clearly failed to curtail supply or consumption.  Apparent victories in eliminating one source or trafficking organization are negated almost instantly by emergence of other sources and traffickers.  Repressive efforts directed at consumers impede public health measures.  Government spending on futile supply reduction strategies and incarceration displace more cost-effective and evidence-based investments.  Principles and proposals: 1) end the criminalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs, but who do no harm to others; 2) encourage experimentation by governments with models of legal regulation of drugs to undermine the power of organized crime and safeguard the health and security of citizens (this applies especially to cannabis); 3) offer health and treatment services to those in need, ensuring that a variety of treatment modalities are available; 4) respect the human rights of people who use drugs and abolish abusive practices carried out in the name of treatment; 5) apply much the same principles and policies stated above to people involved in the lower ends of illegal drug markets (e.g. farmers, couriers, petty sellers); incarcerating tens of millions of these people in recent decades has filled prisons and destroyed lives and families; 6) invest in activities that can prevent young people from taking drugs and prevent those who do use drugs from developing more serious problems (eschew simplistic “just say no” messages and “zero tolerance” policies); 7) focus repressive actions on violent criminal organizations in ways that undermine their power and reach; 8) begin the transformation of the global drug prohibition regime with fiscally responsible policies and strategies grounded in science, health, security, and human rights; 9) “break the taboo on debate and reform: the time for action is now.”  [NOTE: Other members of the Commission include Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary-General) and former Presidents of  Colombia and Mexico.]      (DRUGS: GLOBAL COMMISSION * SECURITY * HEALTH * PUBLIC HEALTH * CRIME HUMAN RIGHTS)

** Israeli Statecraft: National Security Challenges and Responses.  Yehezkel Dror (Prof of Pol Sci and Pub Adm Emeritus, Hebrew U of Jerusalem).  NY: Routledge, July 2011, 246p.  Former staff member at RAND and author of The Capacity to Govern: A Report to the Club of Rome (Frank Cass, 2002) defines “statecraft” as “coherent, long-term, and broadband political-security paradigms, assessments, frames of appreciation, orientations, stances, and principles.”  Chapters discuss ten world mega-trends and one “mega-invariance” (continuous conflict and bloodshed, “likely to continue and escalate”), Israel’s uniqueness and its arena in the 21C world, conflict morphology, conflict system dynamics, a new Middle East peace paradigm (“Israeli embassy in Riyadh”), a new global paradigm (Israel “dwelling in the world”) and much more.  [NOTE:  An extraordinary book of creative, critical, and wide-ranging scholarship (some 900 references), to be further explicated as GFB Book of the Month for September 2011.  Although largely concerned with Israeli policy, the chapter on mega-trends deserves wide attention.] (WORLD FUTURES * ISRAEL * STATECRAFT * SECURITY * GLOBAL MEGATRENDS)