Through my diplomatic training, I have noticed that I am beginning to position myself more strongly on issues I care about. Recently, I have taken great interest in militarism and armed conflict - not that I support it, but on how to eliminate war and the violence women face by male combatants. In researching my dissertation of the topic of 'Women versus Militarism', I came across an interesting book that supported very strongly the ideas I would like to bring forth in international diplomacy when I finally reach that point in my career. Here are a few thoughts I would like to share with you which I would like to strengthen in diplomacy and international relations - and I fully welcome any comments in support or argument of these points.
1. Holding no official position does not relieve one of responsibility. Being a non-combatant does not make one innocent, nor does ignorance, especially not deliberate ignorance. “Conscious avoidance” or “deliberate ignorance” is a legal term which diminishes or negates a claim of innocence. Ignorance about one’s military does not make a citizen innocent.
2. Governmental secrecy does not absolve a citizen. Citizens who accept the necessity for government secrecy are complicit. In time of war, operational secrets are permissible. However, citizens should insist that every member of Congress have access to every government file, and that no file be kept secret longer than ten years. Withholding information from citizens subverts democracy. Lying to them is criminal.
3. If we can participate in choosing our government, we are accountable for the nature of our military and where and how it is deployed.
4. Military personnel kill on behalf of citizens. Citizens should be ashamed that the military is killing in their name.
5. In many developed countries military technology has created such impunity for its users that the moral question, “What is worth dying for?” has been replaced with “What is worth killing for”?
6. A military that “outsources” is a military which makes war profitable. Contracts let without standard procedures because of an “emergency” are not only enriching but a likely source of corruption.
7. In democracies, the military is sent to war by civilian officials who are charged with protecting the citizenry. The role of “protector” leads officials to authorise actions they might not take even in self-defence. The problem is that those charged with protection know that they cannot guarantee it.
8. Security means safety and well-being. It attaches to people not necessarily to the states, or to corporations, or religious or other institutions. Importantly, even “opponents” need to be and feel secure.
9. A crucial tool in diplomacy and warfare is to be able to think as the person one is dealing with thinks.
10. “Terrorism” has been used to justify pre-emption but terrorism is not special. It is experienced everywhere, including in democracies like England, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Spain. “Terrorism” is not necessarily more heinous than the random killing of non-combatants as “collateral damage”. Both involve the killing of non-participating civilians.
11.Instead of focusing on war’s cost and its horror, attention should be given to whether or not the outcome of a conflict fulfils its stated purpose.
12. The stationing of any country’s troops abroad should be prohibited unless they are part of a United Nations sanctioned force.
13. Article VI of the 1968 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty calls for nuclear disarmament. Even, if the US were to destroy 9000 of its existing nuclear weapons, it would still have enough left to destroy civilization. The goal of non-proliferation should be expanded to include the goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons just as they treaty says.
14. “Gender” does not just mean the biological sex. In practice, a policy of “gender mainstreaming” involves bringing females into an institution.
15. The government is said to have a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. If men have a near monopoly on force, what can we learn from how women manage in a culture where they are, essentially, unilaterally disarmed?
16. When women focus on issues like rape in war, a military tactic, their energy and thoughts are diverted from the larger issues, which replacing strategies which select force as a legitimate means to achieving a goal. The goal should not be to make war more humane but to eliminate it.
17. Enforcement of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which requires women's presence at all peace negotiations would serve as a useful reminder that women are participants in every conflict and have a stake in every conflict's resolution.
17. Enforcement of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which requires women's presence at all peace negotiations would serve as a useful reminder that women are participants in every conflict and have a stake in every conflict's resolution.
*Stiehem, Judith Hicks. "These on the military, security, war and women", in Sjoberg, Laura, ed., Gender and International Security: Feminist Perspectives. London, New York: Routledge, 2010. pp 17-23
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