May 19th, 2011

Jason Armagost: A pilot and soldier read from their work

As part of the ongoing Ethics and War series, Jason Armagost, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force, and Brian Turner, who served for seven years in the U.S. army, read recently from their works of prose and poetry. CISAC affiliate Richard Rhodes moderated a discussion afterward.

• » The Shadows of Bombs: A soldier and pilot read from their work
  

February 24th, 2011

Drell Lecture: The Moral Wounds of War

Nancy Sherman, author of the acclaimed book The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers, discussed the moral weight of warfare at CISAC's annual Drell Lecture on February 22. Audio & Video transcripts available
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January 31st, 2011

Civilians 'suffer first, last and in the middle' during wartime, Stanford scholar says

On January 20, the Program on Human Rights at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law in partnership with the McCoy Center for Ethics in Society hosted "Civilians in War Zones" as part of the ongoing Ethics and War Series. The panel discussion featured presentations by Richard Goldstone, Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Peter Berkowitz of the Hoover Institute and Professor James Campbell from the Department of History at Stanford. Audio transcript available
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January 27th, 2011

Ethics and War: How Writers Think About Conflict

In reflections on war there are feelings of incomprehension and anger. There is also valor and pride. But most of all, there is silence. Author Tim O’Brien has devoted his career to breaking the speech barrier. In 1979, he received critical acclaim with his first book, Going after Cacciato, which confronted the atrocities of the Vietnam War. In 2005, O’Brien’s eighth novel, The Things They Carried was named by the New York Times as one of the twenty best books of the last quarter-century. On Jan. 24, he was invited by the Stanford Humanities Center to discuss the relationship between writing and war at the annual Raymond Fred West Memorial Lecture. With frank honesty, he conversed with fellow veteran, the author Tobias Wolff, on his experiences in Vietnam. The event was the latest in the year-long Ethics and War series, cosponsored by the Center for International Security and Cooperation. Read more »

Ethics and War: Why So Many Civilians Are Dying

There are more laws and international treaties designed to protect human rights in conflict zones than ever before. Yet civilians continue to pay the ultimate price, with women and children frequently caught in the crossfire. At the beginning of the 20th century, there was one civilian casualty for every eight or nine military casualties, said Richard Goldstone, the South African jurist who played a key role in helping his country overcome apartheid, served as the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals on Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, and became a household name in 2009 for his controversial fact-finding mission after an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. During World War II, the ratio increased to 1-to-1. Today, after what was, Goldstone said, a "very bloody century," every combatant casualty is matched by nine civilian deaths. What explains this? Goldstone joined Stanford historian James Campbell and Peter Berkowitz, a political scientist, to grapple with this paradox as part of Stanford's Ethics and War Series, co-sponsored by the Center for International Security and Cooperation. Audio transcript available
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January 24th, 2011

The impact of war on civilians

Today's world abounds in international courts, laws, and tribunals, yet war is becoming more brutal, more transnational, with mounting civilian casualties. Helen Stacy, FSI senior fellow and Stanford scholar in international and comparative law, notes that "civilians, often women and children, who played no role in the conflict – these are the people who suffer first, last, and in the middle." Stacy recently moderated a panel on Civilians in War Zones, that included Richard Goldstone, former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, history Professor James Campbell, and Peter Berkowitz, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, as part of this year's Ethics and War series.

• » Civilians in War Zones
  

December 7th, 2010

The ethics of the draft

Who should fight? It is no idle question in an era in which thousands of U.S. troops are fighting and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq to protect Americans back home. In fact, the answer has profound consequences for the way policymakers make decisions about how these wars are waged. On Dec. 2, scholars from Stanford, the University of Chicago, and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University examined this issue as part of the Ethics and War series, co-sponsored by the Center for International Security and Cooperation. Their conclusion: there is a wide and troubling divide between the 2.4 million Americans who volunteer to serve in the military and the many millions more who choose not to. Audio & Video transcripts available flyer available
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