This thesis is divided into two chapters. In the first chapter, I analyze Michael Walzer's account of the moral legitimacy of states. In the second chapter, I analyze his account of the morality of killing in war. I begin the first chapter by contrasting Walzer's account of state legitimacy and humanitarian intervention with that of David Luban. Next, I develop a Rawlsian account of state legitimacy and humanitarian intervention and argue that this account is more plausible than both Walzer's and Luban's accounts. The second chapter is divided into two parts. In the first part, I argue that Walzer's account of the distinction between combatants and noncombatants is misleading because it gives the impression that all and only infantry soldiers are combatants and that all and only civilians are noncombatants. In the second part of the second chapter, I describe an account of the morality of killing in war developed by Jeff McMahan that is based on an analogy with the morality of killing in domestic society and argue that this account is more plausible than Walzer's account of the morality of killing in war. I also suggest a way that McMahan's account could be improved. / Master of Arts

Paul Fussell’s The Great War and Modern Memory (1975) has long been the dominant cultural study of Great War Literature. Because Canadian literary critics, such as Evelyn Cobley and Dagmar Novak, rely on Fussell’s text as a model when they write about Great War texts, they either eliminate a variety of interesting texts, or severely distort and misread a narrow range of texts to make them fit Fussell’s ironic, anti-war ideology. This study aims to recuperate and reevaluate a number of Canadian Great War texts by examining a wider ideological range of texts than Fussell or his followers allow. In Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War (1997), cultural historian Jonathan Vance offers a viable antithesis to Fussell in his method and conclusions. This present study, focused on eight Canadian combatant narratives written between 1917-1939, develops and expands Vance’s argument from the vantage point of literary criticism. The first chapter examines four canonical European anti-war texts, delineating their characteristic features and ideological positions. Chapter 2 shows how the extreme ends of the spectrum of literary responses to the war in Canadian combatant writing distort the truth and are equally unsatisfying. Chapter 3 examines three Canadian narratives located in the middle ground between jingoistic romances and cynical anti-war texts, focusing on their social inclusivity and balance—features which allow for a more multifaceted representation of the Great War. Chapters 4 and 5 offer close readings of two of the best Canadian combatant narratives, Will Bird’s memoir And We Go On, and Philip Child’s novel God’s Sparrows, showing not only how both texts confirm and illustrate the characteristics of more inclusive, balanced war texts, but also how they evoke and affirm the fact of historical and social continuity.

Paul Fussell’s The Great War and Modern Memory (1975) has long been the dominant cultural study of Great War Literature. Because Canadian literary critics, such as Evelyn Cobley and Dagmar Novak, rely on Fussell’s text as a model when they write about Great War texts, they either eliminate a variety of interesting texts, or severely distort and misread a narrow range of texts to make them fit Fussell’s ironic, anti-war ideology. This study aims to recuperate and reevaluate a number of Canadian Great War texts by examining a wider ideological range of texts than Fussell or his followers allow. In Death So Noble: Memory, Meaning, and the First World War (1997), cultural historian Jonathan Vance offers a viable antithesis to Fussell in his method and conclusions. This present study, focused on eight Canadian combatant narratives written between 1917-1939, develops and expands Vance’s argument from the vantage point of literary criticism. The first chapter examines four canonical European anti-war texts, delineating their characteristic features and ideological positions. Chapter 2 shows how the extreme ends of the spectrum of literary responses to the war in Canadian combatant writing distort the truth and are equally unsatisfying. Chapter 3 examines three Canadian narratives located in the middle ground between jingoistic romances and cynical anti-war texts, focusing on their social inclusivity and balance—features which allow for a more multifaceted representation of the Great War. Chapters 4 and 5 offer close readings of two of the best Canadian combatant narratives, Will Bird’s memoir And We Go On, and Philip Child’s novel God’s Sparrows, showing not only how both texts confirm and illustrate the characteristics of more inclusive, balanced war texts, but also how they evoke and affirm the fact of historical and social continuity.

No description available.

Combatant is a person, who fullfils the criteria, set out in the Geneva convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war of 12 August, 1949. Recognizing combatant status means entitlement to prisoner of war status upon capture, which provides certain guarantees, including human treatment and fair trial. Although international humanitarian law provides detailed rules for POW status, after the international armed conflict in Afghanistan there emerged a guestion how to treat persons, suspected of terrorism, as they do not seem to fit the existing definitions. US Executive defines Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, captured on Afghanistan soil, as „unlawfull enemy combatants“. They were denied the protection of international humanitarian law, but the Supreme Court of US interfered, giving an explicit recognition of habeas corpus right for Guantanamo detainees and setting up the guidelines for proper process in military commissions. Nonetheless, it also recognized the Executives right to detain enemy combatants until the cessasion of active hostilities. Enforcing the Supreme Court’s decisions, the US Executive created a system of institutions, designed to establish the status of the Guantanamo detainees. Also the rules governing activity of military commissions, established to ty those convicted of war crimes, were adjusted. Recent legislation of US establihes broad powers of the Executive, including a right to interpret the Geneva conventions and unilaterally declare the... [to full text]

This thesis describes a functional framework for developing strategic assessment at the Combatant Command level, specifically European Command. The framework establishes a functional architecture based on derived requirements and objectives according to the systems engineering process described by Dennis Buede. This thesis describes the current methodology for developing theater plans based on the national strategies established by the President, Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In addition, it provides an analysis of the system stakeholders in order to define the purpose and utility of a strategic assessment from various perspectives. Based on this analysis, the requirements and functions of the system are decomposed and arranged according to a hierarchy via Vitechs CORE 8 University Edition. Finally, the developed model is tested against a notional scenario that assesses a fictional exercise according to the derived functional model, in order to demonstrate the methodology used to relate activities to strategic goals. This thesis defines the framework for conducting strategic assessments and leveraging them to maximize the impact of U.S. activities. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

This thesis The Role of the Interpreter in Conflict Zones presents a general overview of some basic characteristics of interpreting in conflict zones. The theoretical part characterizes historical development of interpreting in conflict zones and describes the legal status of interpreters working in such an environment based on the international humanitarian law. The following section describes the use of interpreters in the Czech Army, examines the language training of the Czech soldiers and defines a summary of the past and current missions of the Czech Army. These descriptions serve as a basis for the empirical section of this thesis which analyzes responses of Czech soldiers represented in the questionnaire survey that aimed to clarify their experiences with interpreting in foreign missions of the Czech Army. The survey shows that the Czech soldiers appreciate the quality of interpreting in foreign missions and prefer to use the local civilian interpreters. Key words: interpreter, conflict zone, civilian, combatant, Czech Army.

This thesis examines the intersection between sex, gender, and armed conflict through an analysis of the female combatant experience. It combines anecdotal evidence and quantitative data from various armed conflicts within the past 50 years to reveal how sexism and gendered conceptions of war influence virtually all aspects of the experience of women and girl combatants. Recognizing sexism as a major player in the recruitment, wartime treatment, demobilization, and reintegration of women and girl combatants, it identifies disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs as intervention points where gender-aware planning and implementation can improve outcomes for female combatants in the transition to peace.

The objective of this thesis is to explore and analyze some of the major difficulties, challenges, and debates involved with the issue over which status and rights to afford to those detained in the War on Terrorism, in particular the Guantánamo detainees. Unlike conflicts of the past, the War on Terrorism is being waged against very unconventional enemies. Because of this, the Bush Administration, foreign governments, human rights groups, and both governmental and non-governmental organizations are currently engaged in a critical debate over which legal status and rights should be afforded to these enemies upon their detention. If any agreement is to be made regarding the legal status of the Guantánamo detainees, it is important to obtain a basic understanding of the issue itself as well as both sides of the debate. In order to do this, three core issues are explored. Firstly, what are President Bushs strategic reasons for refusing to grant the Guantánamo detainees prisoner of war (POW) status and what are the steps that the Administration has taken to ensure that its strategies in approaching the War on Terror are protected? Secondly, what are the counter arguments to the Bush Administrations position, who is voicing these arguments, and why? Finally, what impact does the Administrations position have on how and to what extent the War on Terror is waged? Once these questions have been explored, the thesis concludes that the Bush Administrations approach to the War on Terror has proven to be reckless. The security threat posed by terrorism should not obscure the importance of human rights. An anti-terrorism policy that ignores human rights is a gift to terrorists. It reaffirms the violent instrumentation that breeds terrorism as it undermines the public support needed to defeat it. A strong human rights policy that respects the detainees right to due process and to not be subjected to torture, cannot replace the actions of security forces, but is an essential complement. A successful anti-terrorism policy must endeavor to build strong international norms and institutions based on human rights, not provide a new rationale for avoiding and undermining them. If the Bush Administration remains on its present path, the rights of the Guantánamo detainees will continue to be violated and, as a result, threaten the rights of others who depend on the fair application of the law.

The objective of this thesis is to explore and analyze some of the major difficulties, challenges, and debates involved with the issue over which status and rights to afford to those detained in the War on Terrorism, in particular the Guantánamo detainees. Unlike conflicts of the past, the War on Terrorism is being waged against very unconventional enemies. Because of this, the Bush Administration, foreign governments, human rights groups, and both governmental and non-governmental organizations are currently engaged in a critical debate over which legal status and rights should be afforded to these enemies upon their detention. If any agreement is to be made regarding the legal status of the Guantánamo detainees, it is important to obtain a basic understanding of the issue itself as well as both sides of the debate. In order to do this, three core issues are explored. Firstly, what are President Bushs strategic reasons for refusing to grant the Guantánamo detainees prisoner of war (POW) status and what are the steps that the Administration has taken to ensure that its strategies in approaching the War on Terror are protected? Secondly, what are the counter arguments to the Bush Administrations position, who is voicing these arguments, and why? Finally, what impact does the Administrations position have on how and to what extent the War on Terror is waged? Once these questions have been explored, the thesis concludes that the Bush Administrations approach to the War on Terror has proven to be reckless. The security threat posed by terrorism should not obscure the importance of human rights. An anti-terrorism policy that ignores human rights is a gift to terrorists. It reaffirms the violent instrumentation that breeds terrorism as it undermines the public support needed to defeat it. A strong human rights policy that respects the detainees right to due process and to not be subjected to torture, cannot replace the actions of security forces, but is an essential complement. A successful anti-terrorism policy must endeavor to build strong international norms and institutions based on human rights, not provide a new rationale for avoiding and undermining them. If the Bush Administration remains on its present path, the rights of the Guantánamo detainees will continue to be violated and, as a result, threaten the rights of others who depend on the fair application of the law.