Ch 14 The Problem in Sociological Perspective Arms race Cold war Why is war common An instinct to fight The sociological answer societies channel aggression Sociologists and anthropologists do not look within ID: 639945
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Slide1
War, Terrorism, and the Balance of Power
Ch. 14Slide2
The Problem in Sociological Perspective
Arms race
Cold war
Why is war common?
An instinct to fight
The sociological answer: societies channel aggression
Sociologists and anthropologists do not look within
people.
Conflicts always arise among people living nearby.
What is significant are the norms that groups establish to deal with those conflicts.Slide3
War is not universal
Although hostilities, aggression, and even murder characterize all human groups,
war does not
War is just
one option
, but not all societies offer this optionSlide4
Why Do Some Groups
Choose
War?
War
An organized form of aggression that involves armed conflict between politically distinct groups and is often part of national policy
Three essential conditions of war
Cultural tradition for war
An antagonistic situation in which states confront incompatible objectives
Nations move from thinking about war to actually engaging in it.Slide5
Seven “sparks” that set off war
Get revenge
Dictate one’s will
Protect or enhance prestige
Unite rival groups
Protect or exalt the nation’s leaders
Satisfy the national aspirations of ethnic groups
Convert others to different religious and ideological beliefsSlide6
The Scope of the Problem
War in the history of the West
U.S. is one of the most aggressive nations in the world
Our growing capacity to kill
Recognize how industrialization has increased our capacity to kill
The slaughter continues
War is a common element in historySlide7
Symbolic
Interactionism
Perceptions and the arms race
United States and Soviet Union spent enormous amounts of money developing weaponry.
Without valid data each had to guess what the other intended.
Guessing game led to an arms race
Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS) buildup
U.S. officials perceived Soviet plans a certain way
Entire nuclear arms race based on symbolic interpretations of what each nation thought the other would do ―
symbols are so powerful that they can take on a life of their
own
Perceptions and the “first strike”
Like to think that we always act on facts alone
Really act on our perceptions of “facts,” or how we think things “are”
Scary to think that our lives—and those of the world—depend on correct interpretation of one another’s signalsSlide8
Functionalism
The functions of war
Extension of territory
Social integration
Social change
War stimulates developments in surgical techniques
Long-distance surgery
Economic gain
Other functions
Ideological
Vengeance or punishment
Military security
Increase credibilitySlide9
Multiple functions
No war serves a single function
Functions can change
Functions for the victors
Functions for the losers
War is highly dysfunctional for losers
Losers can also benefit from war
Japan
Functions for individuals
Soldiers and leaders
Dysfunctions of war
Defeat is war’s most well-known dysfunction
Destruction of cities
Death of troops and citizens
Fatherless or motherless children
Decline in education
Bitterness that can span generations
Victor can grow dependent on the exploitation of subjugated peoplesSlide10
Conflict Theory
Three reasons that nations go to war
Resources
Conflict theorists claim that central force in human history is struggle for control over society’s resources
Bourgeoisie
Uses resources to keep itself in power and exploit less powerful
Proletariat
The poor, the workers
Expansion of markets
A military machineSlide11
The Military Machine Today
Conflict theorists stress today’s military machine has increased the threat of war.
The military machine, the power elite, and the globalization of capitalism
Military has become a permanent institution.
Power elite—top leaders of the military, business, and politics
Today’s business leaders support a powerful military.
World of global capitalism
Protect worldwide investmentsSlide12
National Security or Homeland Security
Protection of the nation
Major goals of homeland security
U.S. Military machine is used to advance capitalism around the globe
“War is no longer an interruption of peace; in our time, peace itself has become an uneasy interlude between wars.”Slide13
Research Findings
What reduces war?
Type of religion
does not reduce
warfare
Type of government
does not reduce
warfare
Prosperity
does not reduce
warfare
Shared religion
does not reduce
warfare between nations
Common language
does not reduce
warfare
Education
does not reduce
warfare
Being “neighbors”
does not reduce
warfare
Nobel Peace Prize is typically awarded to a citizen living in a war-torn nationSlide14
The Costs of War
Takes huge toll on humanity
Material costs: money
Lost alternative purchases
For price of one aircraft carrier, could build 12,000 high schools
For price of one naval weapons plant, could build twenty-six 160-bed hospitals
For price of one jet bomber, could provide school lunches for 1 million children a year
For price of one new prototype bomber, could pay the annual salaries of 250,000 teachers
What choice is there?Slide15Slide16Slide17Slide18
Human costs: dehumanization
Characteristics of dehumanization
Increased emotional distance from others
An emphasis on following procedures
Diminished personal responsibility
Consciences become so numbed that people can dissociate killing—even torture—from their “normal self
”
Dehumanization in prolonged conflicts
Long wars come to be viewed as a struggle between good and evil
War exalts treachery, brutality, and killing
Dehumanization by the Nazis and Japanese
Dehumanization by the U.S. Military
Collateral damage:
refers to the unintentional murder of civilians during combat operations
When dehumanization fails
If a soldier was unable to disassociate his military behavior from his personal identity, he would live a guilt-ridden existence.Slide19
Human costs: deaths
War’s greatest cost:
lives lost
Total war
Instituted by Napoleon
“No-holds-barred” warfare
Human
costs: combat fatigue and PTSD
Combat stress reaction or shell shock
Term used to describe the emotional and physical reaction a soldier faces immediately after combat
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Describes the long-term emotional distress a soldier experiences after combatSlide20
The Military-Industrial Complex
The military as an economic force
Those that specialize in
armaments
have become a powerful force in the U.S. Economy.
The military–industrial complex
Military and defense industries have become a threat to Congress.
Pentagon capitalism:
interlocking relationship between Pentagon armaments and U.S. businessesSlide21
The growing capacity to inflict death
Profit and employment make it easy to forget that military industries represent loss of human life.
The explosive energy of nuclear weapons is measured in megatons.
One megaton
equals 1 million tons of TNT
A glimmer of hope
Disarmament
Act of reducing
arms/weapons
A growing danger
Availability of nuclear weapons in the hands of a single individual or a small group
Nuclear proliferation increases likelihood of nuclear weapons useSlide22
The Possibility of
Accidental
War
Computer failure
Threat of nuclear attack comes not only from dictators and terrorists
Possibility missiles will be unleashed accidentally
Human error
Obliteration of humanity
October 28,
1962
Nuclear accidents
Unintended detonation of a nuclear weapon could signal the end of human civilization.
Nuclear sabotage
U.S. Government has assured us and the world that a missile cannot be launched without proper authorization.
The significance of symbolic interaction
To gain an understanding of an event’s meaning, all symbols must be interpreted.Slide23Slide24
Biological and Chemical Warfare
Irony of warfare is that killing with bullets or bombs is considered normal, while killing with gas is deemed abnormal.
Use of biological and chemical agents
Agent orange
The production of these agents
Binary chemical weapons
Shells or bombs in which two benign chemicals are kept in separate chambers
When weapon detonated, the chemicals mix, releasing a lethal agentSlide25
The treaty with a huge flaw
United States, Russia, and other nations have signed a chemical weapons convention.
The flaw?
Biological weapons are not covered by this treaty
Continued research and production
Although major nations have begun to scale back on development of biological weapons, the possibility that terrorists will get some of these weapons still remains.Slide26
Terrorism
20 years ago, terrorism was only a theoretical topic.
Political terrorism
Involves the use of threats of war—intimidation, coercion, and violence—to achieve political objectivesSlide27
Revolutionary terrorism
First type: enemies of the state use terrorism in an attempt to overthrow the government
Causes of revolutionary terrorism
Existence of a segregated, ethnic, cultural, or religious minority
Perceptions of being deprived or oppressed
Higher-than-average unemployment or inflation
External encouragement
A historical “them”
Frustrated elites who provide leadership and justify ideological violenceSlide28
Goals of revolutionary terrorism
Publicize the group and its grievances
Demonstrate the government’s vulnerability
Force political and social change
Political theater
Terrorists often want to make public their “cause”
The Oklahoma City bombing
September 11
A sense of morality
Using neutralization techniques, terrorists appeal to a higher morality in justifying their actions.
Japanese subways―
sarinSlide29
Repressive terrorism
Waged by a government against its own citizens
The Khmer Rouge
Russia
State-sponsored terrorism
A government finances, trains, and arms terrorists
Criminal terrorism
Criminals use terrorism to attain their objectives
Often affiliated with political terrorism
Narcoterrorism
Criminal terrorism that revolves around drugsSlide30
Nuclear and biological terrorism
Nuclear terrorism
212 tons of plutonium currently missing from U.S. nuclear facilities
Safeguards remain inadequate
Because damage from nuclear attack would be unimaginably destructive, nuclear terrorists could hold major governments, including the U.S., captive
Biological terrorism
Greater threat
Components for anthrax, smallpox, and plague cheaper to obtain than nuclear weaponsSlide31
Social Policy
Political terrorism
The overarching principle in social policy:
“Don’t give in to their demands, for this encourages further terrorism.”
Giving in to terrorists’ demands only escalates terrorismSlide32
Ten basic policies
Promise anything during negotiations
Make no distinction between terrorists and their state sponsors
Use economic and political sanctions
Treat terrorists as war criminals
Discourage media coverage
Establish international extradition and prosecution agreements
Develop an international organization to combat terrorism
Offer large
rewards
Cut the funding of terrorist organizations
Infiltrate terrorist organi
zations
Application of social policies
Consistently viewing others as potential terrorists is controversial
Targeted killings
Responsible or suspected terrorists placed on “hit list” and marked for assassinationSlide33
Nuclear Warfare and the Elusive Path to Peace
Mutual deterrence
Using threats and the fear of mutual destruction to prevent the other from striking first
Mutual assured destruction (MAD)
Resulting balance of power
A strange path to peace:
a MAD oneSlide34
The Balance of power
G-8:
Association of the world’s eight most powerful nations
Sometimes called the
New World Order
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Three potential policies
Disarmament
Bilateral disarmament
Unilateral disarmament
Developing interlocking networks of mutual interest
Global economy
International law
International criminal courtSlide35
Survival as a mutual benefit
Desire for self-preservation that will prevent the nuclear annihilation of humanity
Best social policies would remove weapons of mass destruction.
Foresee no such policy eliminating these weapons, whether nuclear, biological, or chemicalSlide36
The Future of the Problem
Arms sales and war
Political terrorism
Revolutionary terrorism
Repressive terrorism
State-sponsored terrorism
Russia