Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as an analytical tool, this paper will argue that these are g... more Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as an analytical tool, this paper will argue that these are good for reflecting on the legal, ethical and moral dilemmas inherent to US’s remote control warfare. Firstly, viewed in the context of ‘virtuous warfare’ (Der Derian, 2009), UAS mark a turn in the advent of an Information war which is redefining political violence and geography. This will lead us to explore issues of legality in US’s covert warfare. Secondly, denouncing the bio-political motives behind their use, we will question the moral permissibility of violence wielded by UAS, Moreover, the new temporalities and spacial relationships created by UAS will enable us to critique the asymmetrically of remotely controlled warfare by tackling the ethical implications raised by the ‘distant-intimacy’ phenomenon. Thirdly, we will conclude by underscoring the quixotic task of eliminating risk from war, showing how UAS have positioned the US in a paradoxical situation where virtuous wars generate riskier futures and insecure environments, at home and abroad.
This paper will use Rasmussen’s risk theory (2001) as a tool of analysis to examine issues of sec... more This paper will use Rasmussen’s risk theory (2001) as a tool of analysis to examine issues of security, authority and meaning in Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians (2004). Articulated around the tripartite concepts of ‘risk management’, ‘presence of the future’ and the ‘boomerang effect’, our interrogation will outline the powers - discursive and disciplinary - employed by the Empire and the Magistrate to frame and manage ‘risk’ personified by the uncontrollable, protean barbarians. It will concludes by showing that the quixotic quest for total control results in the collapse of all authority, agency and selfhood.
This paper will argue that Private Maritime Security Contractors (PMSCs) are creating riskier env... more This paper will argue that Private Maritime Security Contractors (PMSCs) are creating riskier environments in the Gulf of Aden. First and foremost, analysing the growth of private security as an industry (Zedner, 2011; Neocleous, 2007) will lead me to reflect on the role that risk and its management plays in the securitisation of the High Risk Area (HRA). Following this line of thought, the paper shall explore the impact of the Gulf of Aden’s securitisation, examining the legal challenges that arise with regard to PMSC activity. Emphasis will be placed on the legal vacuum and ‘soft’ regulatory framework revolving around PMSCs’ use of arms and force. The paper will further outline the limits of PMSC regulation, stipulating that loose regulation is creating conditions propitious for misconduct and abuse. Furthermore, tackling the issue of floating armouries will serve to underscore how the presence of weapons is heightening the risk of an escalation of violence. Finally, the paper will conclude with a note on one distressing drawback of risk management: the ‘boomerang effect’ (Rasmussen, 2001, p. 286). This will consequently support the conjecture that, as a business thriving off risk the private security industry is generating more risk than it is eradicating.
Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as an analytical tool, this paper will argue that these are g... more Using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) as an analytical tool, this paper will argue that these are good for reflecting on the legal, ethical and moral dilemmas inherent to US’s remote control warfare. Firstly, viewed in the context of ‘virtuous warfare’ (Der Derian, 2009), UAS mark a turn in the advent of an Information war which is redefining political violence and geography. This will lead us to explore issues of legality in US’s covert warfare. Secondly, denouncing the bio-political motives behind their use, we will question the moral permissibility of violence wielded by UAS, Moreover, the new temporalities and spacial relationships created by UAS will enable us to critique the asymmetrically of remotely controlled warfare by tackling the ethical implications raised by the ‘distant-intimacy’ phenomenon. Thirdly, we will conclude by underscoring the quixotic task of eliminating risk from war, showing how UAS have positioned the US in a paradoxical situation where virtuous wars generate riskier futures and insecure environments, at home and abroad.
This paper will use Rasmussen’s risk theory (2001) as a tool of analysis to examine issues of sec... more This paper will use Rasmussen’s risk theory (2001) as a tool of analysis to examine issues of security, authority and meaning in Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians (2004). Articulated around the tripartite concepts of ‘risk management’, ‘presence of the future’ and the ‘boomerang effect’, our interrogation will outline the powers - discursive and disciplinary - employed by the Empire and the Magistrate to frame and manage ‘risk’ personified by the uncontrollable, protean barbarians. It will concludes by showing that the quixotic quest for total control results in the collapse of all authority, agency and selfhood.
This paper will argue that Private Maritime Security Contractors (PMSCs) are creating riskier env... more This paper will argue that Private Maritime Security Contractors (PMSCs) are creating riskier environments in the Gulf of Aden. First and foremost, analysing the growth of private security as an industry (Zedner, 2011; Neocleous, 2007) will lead me to reflect on the role that risk and its management plays in the securitisation of the High Risk Area (HRA). Following this line of thought, the paper shall explore the impact of the Gulf of Aden’s securitisation, examining the legal challenges that arise with regard to PMSC activity. Emphasis will be placed on the legal vacuum and ‘soft’ regulatory framework revolving around PMSCs’ use of arms and force. The paper will further outline the limits of PMSC regulation, stipulating that loose regulation is creating conditions propitious for misconduct and abuse. Furthermore, tackling the issue of floating armouries will serve to underscore how the presence of weapons is heightening the risk of an escalation of violence. Finally, the paper will conclude with a note on one distressing drawback of risk management: the ‘boomerang effect’ (Rasmussen, 2001, p. 286). This will consequently support the conjecture that, as a business thriving off risk the private security industry is generating more risk than it is eradicating.
Uploads
Papers by Marie Poupinel
Other by Marie Poupinel