Tag Archives: War / Weapons

With wars still raging in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, we return to an earlier interview on the origins of war. When and how did war begin?

While some have argued it evolved in early human behavior within forging bands societies, our guests say, that’s not true. Forger bands did not wage war. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

Douglas P. Fry is Professor and Chair of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the author of Beyond War, The Human Potential for Peace, and Nurturing Our Humanity, co-authored with Riane Eisler.
Robert L. Kelley is Professor of Anthropology at University of Wyoming. He is the author of The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers, The Foraging Spectrum, and The Fifth Beginning: What Six Million Years of Human History Can Tell us About Our Future.

We continue this conversation by exploring how war and violent conflict might be resolved. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Douglas P. Fry is Professor and Chair of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the author of Beyond War, The Human Potential for Peace, and Nurturing Our Humanity, co-authored with Riane Eisler.
Mari Fitzduff, Professor of International program of coexistence and conflict at Brandeis University. She is the author of The Psychology of Resolving Global Conflicts: From War to Peace
Douglas Noll is a lawyer and a mediator of peacemaking. Author of Peacemaking: Practicing at the Intersection of Law and Human Conflict.

Websites mentioned : University of North Calorina Greensboro studies of Peaceful Societies and an example of building a Peaceful society organization.

This recording was produced Nov. 2013.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations ; Building opposition to anti-science propaganda – March 30, 2025

April 1, 2025 host

The Russian invasion and war in Ukraine is now over three years old. The new Trump Administration is trying to negotiate a cease fire and peace in the war. Why has an agreement been so elusive? [ dur: 20mins. ]

Robert English is Associate Professor of International Relations and Co-Director of the Central European Studies Program at the University of Southern California (USC). He is the author of Russia and the Idea of the West.

anti-science propaganda has driven ignorance-fueled decisions that are driving us to ecological collapse. What are the costs of the spread of this mal-information? Who is spreading it? For what end? And how can it be overcome? [ dur: 38mins. ]

Eve Darian-Smith is the professor of Global Studies, Law, Anthropology, and Criminology Law & Society, at University of California Irvine. She is the author of Global Burning – Rising Antidemocracy and the Climate Crisis.
Stuart McNaughton is the professor of Faculty of Arts and Education at The University of Auckland in NZ.

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Scholars’ Circle – Cyber killing of targeted individuals; Assassinations and Targeted Killings in the eyes of international laws – September 29, 2024

September 30, 2024 host

Israel used devices loaded onto personal communications devices like pagers to launch attacks against the Lebanese group Hezbollah. The bombs detonated throughout Lebanon, and killed several Hezbollah members while wounding countless others. What was Israel’s motivation in using such an unorthodox approach to attack its adversaries? Is it acceptable to use these devices under international humanitarian and human rights law? And what does this attack indicate for the future of conflict between Israel and Lebanon, in particular with Hezbollah. [ dur:27mins. ]

Brandon Valeriano is Assistant Professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. He is the co-author of Cyber Strategy: The Evolving Character of Cyber Power and Coercion and Cyber War versus Cyber Realities: Cyber Conflict in the International System.

In recent weeks Israel has targeted attacks on several leaders of HAMAS, in a variety of states. These targeted assassinations are part of its war against the organization. In 2020, the US assassinated Qassem Souleimani, a leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and also a protected member of the state. While defenders of the attacks cite these as part of an ongoing Global War on Terror, critics cite these assassinations as violations of international law. We will explore when states assassinate the leaders of other states or organizations representing states and populations. [ dur: 31mins. ]

John B. Quigly is a Professor of Law Emeritus at Ohio State University. He is the author of Palestine Is a State: A Horse with Black and White Stripes Is a Zebra and The International Diplomacy of Israel’s Founders: Deception at the United Nations In the Quest for Palestine.
Mary Ellen O’Connell is the Robert and Marion Short Professor of Law and Professor of International Peace Studies—Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of The Art of Law in the International Community, co-author of Self-Defence Against Non-State Actors and author of Assassination is always unlawful – Regardless of who is Killed and on whose Orders (in the Conversation)..

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Scholars’ Circle – Unleashing of Cyber-attacks that kill ; Green washing techniques we should know – September 22, 2024

September 23, 2024 host

Cyber operations and cyber threats have become a greater fear in world politics and everyday life. But just how much of a threat are they? And how have they changed the way nations interact and conduct diplomacy? Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 26mins. ]

Brandon Valeriano is Assistant Professor at the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University.
He is the co-author of Cyber Strategy: The Evolving Character of Cyber Power and Coercion and Cyber War versus Cyber Realities: Cyber Conflict in the International System.

Then, greenwashing culture. How journalism, the entertainment industry and museums impact our environment. Hosted by Maria Armoudian. [ dur: 30mins. ]

Toby Miller is Distinguished Professor of the Graduate Division at the University of California, Riverside and Director of the Institute for Media and Creative Industries at Loughborough University London. He is the author and editor of over 40 books. His numerous publications include, Greenwashing Culture, Greenwashing Sports, The Routledge Companion to Global Cultural Policy (co-editor), and The Sage Companion to Television Studies (co-editor).

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Scholars’ Circle – Right of Self-Determination ; Civil War politics examined- September 1, 2024

September 1, 2024 host

Kamala Harris declared that the Palestinians must live in dignity, security and self determination. But what is the right of self determination? How has it been practiced legally and practically throughout history? And does self determination mean independence? [dur: 30mins.]

Hurst Hannum is Professor of International Law Emeritus at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is the author of, Autonomy, Sovereignty, and Self-Determination: The Accommodation of Conflicting Rights, Rethinking self-determination and Rescuing Human Rights: A Radically Moderate Approach.

While the US Civil War ended slavery, it didn’t end the political issues that caused the war. What exactly happened in the immediate aftermath of the war?

Book Cover of Civil War by Other Means has an red X on the title of the book

The political divide in the US from the Civil War persists today. We discuss the history of the period and its impact on contemporary politics with Jeremi Suri author of the book Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight For Democracy . [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the co-author of “Problems with President Records are Not Just About Trump” with Kenneth Osgood. He is also the author of The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office. He is the host of the podcast This is Democracy.

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Scholars’ Circle – Reforming Supreme Court of United States ; How proxy wars are dominating international relations – August 18, 2024

August 18, 2024 host

With the upcoming election Democrats have proposal to reform Supreme Court with term limits, ethics oversight and many more. Our panel look at how and why people are concerned over the influence peddling related to recent decisions. Hosted by Maria Armoudian. [ dur: 35mins. ]

Erwin Chemerinsky is the Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. His many publications include, most recently, Presumed Guilty: How the Supreme Court Empowered the Police and Subverted Civil Rights, and The Religion Clauses: The Case for Separating Church and State (with Howard Gillman).
Andrew Koppelman is John Paul Stevens Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. He is the author of The Increasingly Dangerous Variants of the “Most-Favored-Nation” Theory of Religious Liberty and The Supreme Court and the new religious aristocracy in the Hill.

Why do states choose to use third parties to intervene in other nation’s civil wars and political conflicts? On today’s show we interview Andrew Mumford on the legality, efficacy, and implications of the waging of proxy warfare. Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 21 mins. ].

This interview was recorded in February 2020.

Andrew Mumford is Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at The University of Nottingham, UK. He is the author about Proxy Warfare Counterinsurgency Wars and the Anglo-American Alliance.

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Scholars’ Circle – Private Military Corporations and State responsibilities – July 14, 2024

July 14, 2024 host

Private Military Corporations have become a growing element of the warfighting landscape. States have historically had a monopoly on the use of military force. But private corporations challenge this monopoly. How much do they increase the lethality and likelihood of war? How much can private corporations be regulated? And what are the challenges to regulation? We explore the political, military, legal, and socioeconomic implications of private military corporations. [ dur: 58mins. ]

Ori Swed is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Texas Tech University. He is the editor of The Sociology of Privatized Security with Thomas Crosby. He is the author of “The Afghanistan War’s Legacy: The Reimagining of the Outsourcing of War and Security” and “No Accounting for Bad Contracting: Private Military and Security Contracts and Ineffective Regulation in Conflict Areas“
Sorcha MacLeod is an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen and member of the United Nations Working Group on the use of Mercenaries. She is the author of Certifying Private Security Companies: Effectively Ensuring the Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights?, Defining private security accountability and Regulating human rights in the context of outsourcing military logistics and armed security.
Christopher Kinsey is Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London. He is the author of International Law and the Control of Mercenaries and Private Military Companies, Turning war into business: Private security companies and commercial opportunism and the book Corporate Soldiers and International Security: The Rise of Private Military Companies
Anna Leander is Professor and Chair of the International Relations and Political Science Department at the Geneva Graduate Institute. She is the author of The Power to Construct International Security: On the Significance of Private Military Companies and Militarization matters: rhetorical resonances and market militarism. She is co-editor of Handbook of Private Military-Security Companies with Rita Abrahamsen.

This interview was recorded in July 2023.

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Scholars’ Circle – Armenias have taken legal action against Azerbaijan claiming genocide and numerous violations of international law – May 12, 2024

May 14, 2024 host

Since 2020, Azerbaijan has attacked the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh, or Artsakh, and in September 2023 ethnically cleansed them from their historic homeland.

Armenia has taken legal action against Azerbaijan claiming numerous violations of international law. What legal actions have been taken at both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. What are the causes of action and what might the consequences and impacts of these legal actions be?

Armenia is under intense pressure to negotiate a permanent peace with Azerbaijan. How could this normalize and legitimize Azerbaijan’s aggression? And what does it signal to aggressors internationally about the likelihood of punishment for this aggression? [ dur: 58mins. ]

Tamara Voskanian is a cofounder of the Center for Truth and Justice (CFTJ), a nonprofit organization that documents atrocities and uses the evidence to bring perpetrators to justice. Last month Tamara represented CFTJ at the UN Committee Against Torture.
Talin Hitik is an international human rights advocate focused on seeking accountability for war crimes and human rights violations. She also has worked as a legal officer at the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the Permanent Court of Arbitration and has served at the Ministry of Justice of Armenia, managing the European Court of Human Rights litigation department. She was a professor of international human rights and humanitarian law at American University of Armenia and Yerevan State University and most recently, was an Academic Affiliate at the University of Michigan Law School.
Steve Swerdlow, esq. is Associate Professor of the Practice of Human Rights in the Department of Political and International Relations at the University of Southern California. He writes extensively as a human rights monitor for Human Right Watch in both the Central Asian region and in the Caucuses.

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Scholars’ Circle – Origins of War and Resolving violent conflicts – April 28, 2024

April 28, 2024 host

With wars still raging in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, we return to an earlier interview on the origins of war. When and how did war begin?

While some have argued it evolved in early human behavior within forging bands societies, our guests say, that’s not true. Forger bands did not wage war. [ dur: 30 mins. ]

Douglas P. Fry is Professor and Chair of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the author of Beyond War, The Human Potential for Peace, and Nurturing Our Humanity, co-authored with Riane Eisler.
Robert L. Kelley is Professor of Anthropology at University of Wyoming. He is the author of The Lifeways of Hunter-Gatherers, The Foraging Spectrum, and The Fifth Beginning: What Six Million Years of Human History Can Tell us About Our Future.

We continue this conversation by exploring how war and violent conflict might be resolved. [ dur: 28 mins. ]

Douglas P. Fry is Professor and Chair of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is the author of Beyond War, The Human Potential for Peace, and Nurturing Our Humanity, co-authored with Riane Eisler.
Mari Fitzduff, Professor of International program of coexistence and conflict, Brandeis University; Author of The Psychology of Resolving Global Conflicts: From War to Peace
Douglas Noll, lawyer, mediator peacemaking. Author of Peacemaking: Practicing at the Intersection of Law and Human Conflict

Websites mentioned : University of North Calorina Greensboro studies of Peaceful Societies and an example of building a Peaceful society organization.

This recording was produced Nov. 2013.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Determining genocide and other human rights violations of the law ; Dark side of democracy – April 21, 2024

April 22, 2024 host

April is Genocide Awareness month. Two of the worst genocides in history, the Hutu killing of Tutsis in Rwanda and the Ottoman genocide against Armenians, began in April. We explore genocide with two specific questions: Who internationally makes a determination that violence and atrocities are in fact genocide? And what if anything changes when there is a finding that atrocities are genocide?

We explore whether a legal approach is the best way to determine whether political violence and atrocities are genocide or is a political or social approach more effective. And does discourse on genocide crowd out discussions of other crimes, such as war crimes? We draw insights from history and contemporary issues. [ dur: 42mins. ]

Keith David Watenpaugh is Professor and Director of Human Rights Studies at the University of California at Davis. He is the author of Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Arab Middle Class and the award-winning Bread from Stones: The Middle East and the Making of Modern Humanitarianism. He is a recipient of Human Rights Educator USA award for implementing Article 26 Backpack for Refugees.
Mark Drumbl is Professor at Washington and Lee University, School of Law, and Director of the University’s Transnational Law Institute. He is the author of Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law , Reimagining Child Soldiers in International Law and Policy and he is the co-editor of Sights, Sounds and Sensibilities of Atrocity Prosecution with Caroline Fournet.

When does democracy have a dark side? Our guest says that majorities can and do oppress minorities in the name of majoritarian democracy. [ dur: 16mins. ]

Michael Mann is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at UCLA. He is the author of the four volume The Sources of Social Power, Fascists and The Dark Side of Democracy: Explaining Ethnic Cleansing.

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The Scholars' Circle Interviews

Tag Archives: War / Weapons

Scholars’ Circle – Origins of war and ways to resolve socially violent tendencies – April 13, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations ; Building opposition to anti-science propaganda – March 30, 2025

Scholars’ Circle – Cyber killing of targeted individuals; Assassinations and Targeted Killings in the eyes of international laws – September 29, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Unleashing of Cyber-attacks that kill ; Green washing techniques we should know – September 22, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Right of Self-Determination ; Civil War politics examined- September 1, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Reforming Supreme Court of United States ; How proxy wars are dominating international relations – August 18, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Armenias have taken legal action against Azerbaijan claiming genocide and numerous violations of international law – May 12, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Origins of War and Resolving violent conflicts – April 28, 2024

Scholars’ Circle – Determining genocide and other human rights violations of the law ; Dark side of democracy – April 21, 2024

By Maria Armoudian