In 1945, most of us believed that genocide could never happen again. What happened to Jews and Roma (Gypsies) made such a strong impression on us that we believed that the time was definitively past when people murdered each other simply because they belonged to different races or followed different religions or philosophies of life.
But then it did happen again… Gravestones at the Potočari genocide memorial near Srebrenica. Photo Michael Bueker. CC BY-SA 3.0
On 22 December I reported in this blog on an article by political science professor Øyvind Østerud 18 December in the leading Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten that attacked Steven Pinker and ‘large parts of peace research’ for using ‘relative numbers’, i.e. numbers weighted by population, to assess long-term trends in the severity of war. In my brief response to Østerud, published in the print version of Aftenposten on 28 December, I pointed out that both absolute and relative numbers of battle-related deaths have declined after World War II. I also argued that although criticizing established truths is an important part of the research process, skepticism alone does not advance science. (I posted a longer version in the comment field to Østerud’s article as well as on this blog.) Østerud responded on 2 January and acknowledged that ‘absolute numbers belong to the same breath as relative numbers’. In a further rejoinder published on 3 January I queried Østerud on the nature of the column in which he published his original article. This column is dedicated to exposing ‘incompetent research, poor popularization, political proposals without a knowledge base, and sheer fraud’. Which of these four deadly sins were committed by Steven Pinker and assorted peace researchers? This question remains unanswered.
Tuesday 20 January According to the SPLM/A, its forces are still fighting the SPLM/A (IO) in Lakes state. At least 11 civilians were killed and three wounded in an attack on Kworijik near Juba in Central Equatoria State. The attack was allegedly carried out by neighboring Mundari raiders. Wednesday 21 January The South Sudan government… Read more »
Boko Haram’s influence and cruelty is still increasing. On the 3rd of January the Islamist group first attacked Baga, situated at the riverside of Lake Chad in the north of the State of Borno. They then came back several days later and demolished the entire city and its surrounding villages. The attack reportedly caused more than 2000 victims, although the numbers are not verifiable. The Nigerian army considers it as the most deadly attack since the beginning of the Islamist insurrection in 2009, so fare causing more than 13 000 causalities.
Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos, specialist on Nigeria, and PRIO Global Fellow, analyses the multiplication and intensification of the Islamist group’s deadly attacks at the outset of this year in this interview by Jean-Louis le Touzet.
Boko Haram. Photo: Africa – News and Analysis
An attack on Saturday 10 January particularly affected the population in Maiduguri; a bomb attached to a 10-year old girl killed at least 19 people. Specialist on Nigeria and researcher at the Development Research Institute, Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos, discusses the central state´s incapacity to contain the attacks in the North-East and to protect its own population, just as the presidential elections are to take place in mid-February in the most populated country in Africa.Read More
I stood trial with Owen Wilkes in the Oslo City Court in May 1981 and then in the Norwegian Supreme Court in February 1982. While I have gained access to my (illegally assembled) secret police records up to 1977, I have been refused access to the (presumably more interesting) records for the period 1977-82 – despite the fact that there is no longer any reasonable justification for classifying them. Photo: Arne Pedersen, Dagbladet
As one author summed up the new women’s movement of the 1970s, ‘What was personal became political’.3 This was also the case for me. I had long been interested in security policy and intelligence matters, but not particularly concerned with political or other kinds of surveillance. I thought – perhaps somewhat naively – that a person who is not involved in any kind of subversive activity does not have much to lose by being subjected to a limited amount of surveillance. As regards closed-circuit television cameras in public places, this is still my basic position.
Tuesday 13 January Al Jazeera: Inside Story ‘China’s motive in South Sudan’ (video). President Salva Kiir reshuffled the Finance Ministry, replacing Finance Minister Aggrey Tisa Sabuni with David Deng Athorbei. 8 killed, 2 injured in Lakes state revenge attack in Cueibet county. President Salva Kiir warned against attempts to delay the elections and democratic process… Read more »
East Africa has become the latest hotspot for oil-and-gas discoveries, but the reserves are located in countries characterized by weak state institutions and social unrest.
The Algerian military increased security at the In Aménas plant following the terror attack.
Photo: Uncredited/AP via NRK.no
A number of African countries – several of them with significant Norwegian assistance – are on the threshold of becoming major producers of oil and gas. Does this mean that Norwegian companies are contributing to increase the risk of civil war in these countries?Read More
Last Thursday (as it happens, right before the terror alert), a brainstorming session on Arctic matters was organized by the EU Institute for Security Studies, and I am glad to be a part of this undertaking. Juha Jokela from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs is in charge of this project, and the output is… Read more »
The level of conflict in Jerusalem is now so high that more and more people are talking of a “Third Intifada” – a new popular uprising by Palestinians against the Israeli occupation – that would be centred in Jerusalem. In fact, there is little to suggest that a Third Intifada is imminent, but it does seem likely that there will be an increase in violence and unrest in Jerusalem in the future. In this article I will attempt to explain why.
Right-wing Israelis have been making renewed demands for Jews to be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount, which is also the site of the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
Why do satirists and critics of religion have to be so provocative? Why must they publish images that they know to be offensive to some people’s beliefs and traditions – and that brutal extremists may use as a pretext for terrorist acts?
Illustrator Lucille Clerc, via Twitter (@LucilleClerc)
That such questions are asked is understandable. But for many reasons they must be answered with a solid defence of the freedom of expression.
In the wake of the terrorist acts in Paris, let us take a moment to remind ourselves of some of the most important reasons why this is so:Read More