Killing Civilians: Method, Madness and Morality in War. Hugo Slim - Couverture souple

Slim, Hugo

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1850659141 ISBN 13 : 9781850659143

Editeur : C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 2008

Synopsis

When civilians suffer in war, it is often a deliberate act. Massacres, rape, displacement, famine, and disease are the strategic decisions of political and military leaders who make civilians their targets in order to gain the upper hand in battle. Yet there still exists the precious and fragile belief-ingrained in modern international law-that unarmed and innocent people should be protected in war, even if, in practice, the principle of civil immunity is often ignored or rejected.

Hoping to rectify this injustice, Hugo Slim uses detailed historical and contemporary examples to reveal the many ways civilians suffer in war. A leading commentator on international humanitarian action and the protection of civilians in war, Slim analyzes the anti-civilian ideologies that encourage and perpetuate suffering and exposes the exploitation of moral ambiguity that is used to sanction extreme hostility. At what point does killing civilians become part of winning a war? Why are some methods of killing used while others are avoided?

Bolstering his claims with hard fact, Slim argues that civilian casualties are not only morally reprehensible but also bad military science. His book is a clarion call for action and a passionate defense of civil immunity, a concept that is more urgent and necessary today than ever before.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Hugo Slim is one of the world's leading commentators on international humanitarian action and the protection of civilians in war. He is a powerful communicator and much in demand as a public lecturer and an adviser to many of the world's largest humanitarian agencies.A British citizen, born in 1961, Hugo worked for several years as a frontline humanitarian worker in the Horn of Africa, the Palestinian Territories and Bangladesh for Save the Children UK and the United Nations throughout the 1980s. He then co-founded an award-winning humanitarian Masters programme at Oxford Brookes University which he led for ten years between 1994-2004.Hugo is currently Chief Scholar at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, a respected Swiss conflict resolution organization that mediates in civil wars and provides high-level political and humanitarian advice on peace processes. Hugo leads HD Centre's work on the protection of civilians in war and has overseen the publication and dissemination of three leading manuals on the subject since 2004.Educated in Theology at Oxford University, Hugo received his PhD in humanitarian ethics from Oxford Brookes University. Between 1998 and 2004, he was on the Council of Oxfam GB and an International Adviser to the British Red Cross. While an academic he also acted as a consultant and trainer to several of the world's leading humanitarian agencies, including: The International Committee of the Red Cross; the United Nations; World Vision; Save the Children; Norwegian Church Aid and OXFAM.Hugo is one of the most original and widely read of all humanitarian scholars. He is particularly valued for his accessible style, his humour and his clarity. In a relatively short academic career, he has published more than 35 journal papers, 12 book chapters and numerous consultancy reports for operational humanitarian agencies. In 2005, he published Protection: A Guide for Humanitarian Agencies (ALNAP and OXFAM). This is the first professional guide to civilian protection for aid agencies and has sold over 4000 copies worldwide. A core text for all agency training, it has been translated into Spanish and Arabic. Killing Civilians is the result of three years work which has included research visits to war zones in Liberia, Northern Uganda, Israel and Palestine. The Canadian Government and HD Centre funded this work and are also intent on supporting lecture tours and wider dissemination of the book. Hugo is married to the British writer and journalist, Rebecca Abrams, and has two children. He is the grandson of one of Britain's most famous Second World War generals, Field Marshal Bill Slim, whose XIV Army defeated the Japanese in Burma.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2008
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1850659141
• ISBN 13: 9781850659143
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 300
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Easy Access System Europe Oü, 16879218; gpsr.requests@easproject.com; ; Mustamäe tee 50, 10621, Tallinn, Estonia; Tallinn; 10621; Estonie