Insights Vol. 2, No. 3: Media Specialist's Corner: Books and Online Articles

Media Specialist's Corner

Bass, Gary Jonathan. Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals
Reviews the politics of prosecuting war crimes by tribunal and the tribunal trials that the author believes had negative repercussions, from Waterloo (1815) to the tribunal instituted at the Hague (1993).

Cortright, David, and George Lopez, Eds. The Sanctions Decade: Assessing UN Strategies in the 1990s
An overview of the issues involved in using sanctions for diplomacy; the criteria for evaluating the political, economic and humanitarian impact of sanctions; and case studies of eleven sanctioned countries (Iraq, Yugoslavia, Haiti, Libya, Sudan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Liberia and Rwanda).

Daniel, Donald S. F.; Bradd C. Hayes; and Chantal de Jonge Oudraat.
Coercive Inducement and the Containment of International Crisis
Describes the principles of coercive inducement, a form of coercive diplomacy suggested by Kofi Annan, former undersecretary general for peacekeeping of the United Nations, and four UN operations in which it was relevant.

Gibson, John S. Dictionary of International Human Rights Law
A comprehensive guide to human rights law; includes background and perspectives.

Haass, Richard N. N. Intervention: The Use of American Military Force in the Post Cold War World
Brief historical overview of the debate about military intervention and discussion of concepts such as deterrence, punitive attacks, nation building, and indirect intervention; includes twelve case studies with analysis of the policy choices in each.

Hayner, Priscilla B. Unspeakable Truths: Confronting State Terror and Atrocity
Explores twenty truth and reconciliation commissions established around the world, with special attention given to South Africa, El Salvador, Argentina, Chile, and Guatemala.

Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism
First chapter provides a comprehensive historical and political examination of terrorism by the director of the RAND Corporation's terrorism research unit.

Kaldor, Mary. New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in the Global Era
Describes factors responsible for a new type of war in the post-Cold War era, including organized crime and human rights violations, that call for international peacekeeping reconceptualized as law enforcement, and the implications for political and civil institutions and economic and social relations.

Kegley, Charles W., and Gregory A. Raymond. How Nations Make Peace
Uses case studies from antiquity to the Persian Gulf War to detail the effects of peace agreements on societies and the types of agreements that will prevent future conflict.

Pillar, Paul R. Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy
Former deputy chief of the Counterterrorist Center of the CIA outlines components of terrorism, counterterrorism efforts, U.S. counterterrorism policy, and the effectiveness of U.S. policy overseas.

Rejda, George E. Principles of Risk Management and Insurance.
Explains the fundamentals of risk management and related insurance coverage.

Rubin, Harvey W. Dictionary of Insurance Terms.
Pocket-sized dictionary with definitions of key terms used in life, health, property, casualty, and other types of insurance.

Shawcross, William. Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords, and the World of Endless Conflict
A first-hand account of the human toll of civil wars and conflict across the world and the strengths and weaknesses of international peacekeeping and aid efforts.

Tuck, Richard. The Rights of War and Peace
The first historical account of the formative years of theories on international law and international relations, from antiquity through the seventeenth century.

Van Evera, Stephen. Causes of War: Power and Roots of Conflict
Describes conditions that increase wars, all but one of which rarely exist today, and argues that policy makers' erroneous misconceptions about these conditions are responsible for modern wars. Reviews the World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the 1967 Mideast War as test cases for this theory.

U.S. Government Staff. 21st Century Complete Guide to the CIA and NSA-History, Operations, Reports.
Comprehensive guide includes CIA and NSA foreign policy, cryptology, defense, and history documents.

Vaughan, Emmett J. J., et al. Fundamentals of Risk and Insurance.
Consumer-oriented summary of the pervasive nature of pure risk on the individual and society, illustrating the way in which insurance can be used to deal with problems posed by such risk.

Articles

September 11 Terrorist Attacks
ACLU. USA PATRIOT Act Boosts Government Powers While Cutting Back on Traditional Checks and Balances: An ACLU Legislative Analysis.
A critique of the USA PATRIOT Act arguing that it weakens individual liberties.

BBC News. What Is Terrorism?
Discusses proposed European Union legislation that was designed to expedite and enhance measures against terrorism among its fifteen member states.

Bork, Robert H. "Having Their Day in (A Military) Court." National Review 53.24 (December 17, 2001): 18-19.
Critiques three options for trying September 11 terrorists: federal courts, international tribunals, and military tribunals.

Curry, Avery. "Military Tribunals in America: A Controversial Tool with a Storied Past." U.S. News and World Report 131.24 (December 10, 2001): 52-53.
Briefly reviews cases involving military tribunals from the Civil War to World Wars I and II.

Demmer, Valerie L. "Civil Liberties and Homeland Security." The Humanist 62.1 (January/February 2002): 7-9.
Describes provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Eland, Ivan. Does U.S. Intervention Overseas Breed Terrorism? The Historical Record.
Empirical study showing connection between U.S. involvement in international situations and terrorism.

Fuge, Christine. As the Workers Compensation World Turns.
Explores how the repercussions of the September 11 terrorist attacks continue to affect the workers compensation system and its marketplace.

Gibson, Jack P., et al. Attack on America: The Insurance Coverage Issues. Part One: War Risk Exclusions.
Demonstrates why most nonstandard war risk exclusions would not operate to deny coverage under property and casualty insurance policies for claims arising from the September 11 terrorist attacks.

---. Attack on America: The Insurance Coverage Issues. Part Two: General Coverage Provisions.
Examines policy provisions other than those presented in Attack on America: The Insurance Coverage Issues. Part One: War Risk Exclusions, or, in the case of workers compensation insurance, regulations that will define the extent to which coverage applies under many types of insurance.

Halperin, Morton H. "Stockade Justice: Why We Don't Need Military Tribunals." American Prospect 12.22 (December 17, 2001): 13-14.
Argues against military tribunals on due-process grounds.

Hoffman, Stanley. Why Don't They Like Us?
Considers U.S. hegemony in a global era witnessing the "collapse of the barrier between domestic and foreign affairs in the state system."

Neikirk, William. Poll Blames U.S. Policy for Sept. 11 Attack.
Provides detailed results of a 2001 survey of 275 political, media, cultural, business, and government leaders from twenty-four countries.

Pillar, Paul R. Terrorism Goes Global: Extremist Groups Extend Their Reach Worldwide.
Discusses the factors involved in expansion of worldwide terrorism and suggests initiatives for cooperative, transnational counterterrorism efforts.

Risk & Insurance. July Choice Story: Terrorism Insurance: Where's the Coverage?
An in-depth look at what commercial insurers are offering to fill the need for terrorism insurance.

Zengerle, Jason. "Infinite Justice: Can Courts Try Terrorists?" The New Republic 225.21 (November 19, 2001): 17-20.
Argues in favor of military tribunals to try terrorists.

General Resources
Crossette, Barbara. "Washington Is Criticized for Growing Reluctance to Sign Treaties." The New York Times, 4 April 2002, at A5.
Describes a report from the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and the Lawyer's Committee on Nuclear Policy stating that U.S. disregard for a range of international treaties is interfering with the ability of other countries to strengthen the international rule of law.

Dieter, Richard C. International Perspectives on the Death Penalty: A Costly Isolation for the U.S.
Suggests that the U.S. failure to abolish the death penalty is pushing the nation apart from its allies and will result in costly losses.

Garrett, Stephen A. "The Promise of Universal Jurisdiction." America 186. (January 7-14, 2002): 15-16.
Describes the emergence in international law of the concept of "universal jurisdiction" over crimes against humanity.

Hoffman, Bruce. "A Nasty Business." Atlantic Monthly 289.1 (January 2002): 49-52.
Reviews the challenge and moral ambiguity of counterterrorism intelligence work by looking at the Battle of Algiers (1957), Sri Lanka, and Northern Ireland.

Hoffman, Marci. Researching U.S. Treaties and Agreements.
Online bibliographic essay about researching U.S. treaties and agreements, with links to resources.

Johnson, James H. Swift and Terrible: A Military Tribunal Rushed to Convict After Lincoln's Murder
Special feature on the trial of the alleged conspirators in President Lincoln's assassination.

Kaldor, Mary. "Wanted: Global Politics." The Nation, 5 November 2001.
Discusses the emergence of global politics in the post-Cold War era and the rise of new types of global violence.

Posner, Richard A. "Security v. Civil Liberties." Atlantic Monthly 288.5 (December 2001).
Argues that public policy prioritizing liberty over security is grounded in mistaken assumptions about the law and the lessons of history.

Robbins, Carla Anne; David S. Cloud; and Hugh Pope. "Violence in Mideast Is Testing the Limits of U.S. War on Terror: The Issue of How to Classify Palestinian Suicide Raids Puts Mr. Bush in a Bind." The Wall Street Journal, 2 April 2002, at A1.
Discusses the problem of determining who is and isn't a "terrorist" in the context of escalating violence in Israel.

Films

All Quiet on the Western Front
Analyzes Erich Maria Remarque's bestseller through scholarly commentary, film clips, readings, reenactments, and archival materials; also discusses the birth of total war, the physiological and mental effects of modern warfare, and the postwar rise of Nazism.

America at War
Traces America's involvement in warfare from Pearl Harbor to the Persian Gulf.

Beyond Hate
Bill Moyers examines the roots of hate and ways of moving beyond hate through interviews with world leaders, human rights activists, Arabs and Israelis, high-school students, gangs, and an American white supremacist group.

The Changing Face of War
Traces the evolution of war during the twentieth century.

The Day After
Depicts the frightening events leading up to and following a nuclear attack waged on a midwestern town.

The Day After Trinity
Interviews of scientists and other key individuals involved in the creation of the first atomic bomb offer insights into the Manhattan Project and its director, nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who later became one of the bigger opponents of nuclear war. Shows footage of the New Mexico A-bomb tests and the aftermath of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.

The Day the Earth Stood Still
A visitor from outer space comes to Washington, D.C., bringing a pointed message of peace to the world.

The Day the Guns Fell Silent: The End of World War I
Documents the events of the final day of World War I and explores the social and political impacts of the war on Great Britain.

The Effects of War
Focuses on the effects of war on civilian populations, especially refugees and those who lost their families and communities. World War II, the Nazi atrocities, the significance of the Nuremberg Trials, and the Vietnam War are among topics discussed.

Ethnic Identity, Regional Conflict, and Peacekeeping Initiatives
Examines twentieth-century conflicts, their causes, peacekeeping efforts to end/prevent them, and the history and purpose of the United Nations.

Half Lives: History of the Nuclear Age
Explores the history of the nuclear age as seen through the eyes of dozens of Manhattan Project participants.

Healing the Wounds: Making Peace a Priority
Explores the complexities of promoting forgiveness on a mass scale in places such as Ireland and the Middle East.

Hiroshima: The Legacy
Documents the destruction of the first atomic bomb dropped on an enemy target, President Truman's reasons for dropping the bomb, and why, years later, he maintained that it was his only true option.

A Leap of Faith
Profiles a school in Belfast that integrates both Catholic and Protestant children, suggesting that peace is not only possible but also inevitable; also provides a history of the Northern Ireland conflict.

The Legacy of Nuremberg
Explores some of the ethical and moral issues that arose when prosecuting World War II war criminals; contemporary experiences of war crimes committed in Bosnia and the reconciliation process in South Africa also discussed.

The Legacy of Vietnam: Learning the Lessons of War
Discusses the ongoing influence of the Vietnam War from both American and Vietnamese perspectives, with an emphasis on the war's long-term impact on the U.S. military, the news media, American protest movements, and the Vietnamese.

The Life of Edward Teller
Provides an explanation by Dr. Edward Teller, the Hungarian-born American nuclear physicist involved in creating the atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb, about why he believed that the hydrogen bomb was the only way of securing world peace.

One Day in September
Director: Kevin MacDonald
Academy Award-winning documentary about the events surrounding the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games by an extremist Palestinian group. VHS.

Paths to Power: An Educator's Guide to the Century
Twelve-part series includes retrospectives on World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.

Stopping the Money: An Economic Approach to Counterterrorism
Analyzes President Bush's efforts to freeze terrorist organizations' assets.

Stories My Country Told Me: The Meaning of Nationhood
Explores the concept of nationhood and its relevance in a global world.

Terrorism: Aims and Objectives
Three-part series explores why and how people turn to terrorism and the moral and legal dilemmas that terrorism poses to democracies.

We the People: Democracy and the UN
Explores recent UN failures to maintain and enforce peace in the world, the debate over how to reform the United Nations, and the significance any changes would have on the quest for a more democratic world order.