Browsing by Subject "militarisation"
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(2020)The Arctic environment is unique and hosts many economic opportunities. The environment is fragile and is home to many different animals, plants and indigenous people. The area has undergone periods of remilitarisation since the end of the cold war, and this is impacting local communities economically, environmentally and their social development. This research has been undertaken to assess the impact that military activity is having on these local communities. A literature review was undertaken in 3 key areas: Arctic sustainability, military sustainability and Arctic militarisation to identify relevant indicators that impact sustainable development. Sustainable development was defined using the 3 pillars from the Brundtland report, as economic, environmental and social. These indicators were collated to create a conceptual framework that was used to analyse two case study cities in the Arctic. These two cities were Fairbanks, in Alaska, and Severomorsk in Russia. These were chosen as economically and socially, they are very different, but they share the main similarity of being militarised Arctic cities. This meant the framework was tested on two different cities and in two different environments to test the validity and usefulness. The two case studies were built from reports, census information, statistical information and government reports. Although quantification was outside the scope of this research, observations were found from the data. Economically, the impact is positive. Military activity generates jobs, growth, infrastructure and military spending. The environmental impact is clearly negative. Military activity contaminates groundwater, soil, water and the local environment. The social impact is more ambiguous. Military activity helps foster community development but can impact personnel health. A discussion was undertaken on the effectiveness of the framework and improvement areas. The framework provided a good overall picture of activity but could be improved in some areas. These areas include reducing subjectivity in the construction phase, improved environmental data and time series data. The research was limited by time constraints and data availability in some impact areas.
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(2006)This thesis contributes to the development of poststructuralist feminist International Relations analyses about the US War on Terrorism. Gender is significantly involved in the justification and conduct of wars and militarism, established and supported by a particular hierarchal structure of masculinities and femininities. Hierarchal power relations prioritise the bodies and values of some, and demean, attack or conceal those of others. These are expressed in discourses of the various masculinities and femininities of the US self and its enemy Other, which are deconstructed and analysed by Foucauldian discourse analysis and theories of representation. Discourses of a male-performed 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and US rescue response endowed hegemonic masculinity on the muscular masculinity of fire fighters. This was subsequently extended to soldiers of the US military, who fought in retaliation to the humiliation of feminised US nationhood, remasculinising the US national identity. This necessitated the representation of terrorists and Muslim men as morally and sexually deviant, homosexual, woman-oppressive demons. Likewise, Muslim women were victimised as helpless sufferers to be unveiled and rescued by a macho US crusade against terrorism. On the other hand, female terrorists confused the men-lifetakers/ women-lifegivers dichotomy, and were depicted as excessively violent, hypersexual beings, who were nonetheless victims of the seductions of manipulative Muslim men. Disciplinary action was taken against Muslim men in Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, which especially in the latter case resulted in scandals that evoked public pity for the unfortunate and uncivilised detainees who endured the torture of cruel un-American men and irrational women of the US Military Police. Meanwhile, the discourses of US soldiers in Iraq are examined through their own autobiographical voices, demonstrating that the military is indeed a misogynistic boy's club. The fate of Private Jessica Lynch and the autobiographical works of soldiers also unsympathetic to the Iraqi population, continuing the Othering discourses established on 11 September. At the US home front, military mothers, both pro and anti-war, are supportive of the well being and honouring of their sons. There is a complex set of dominant discourses in continuous fluctuation sustaining the gender hierarchies that support war by privileging the bodies of some and discriminating and harming the bodies others. There is hope for change however, as the malleability of gender enables possibilities for resistance through counter discourses and female empowerment.
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