Reflectii

Le 10 octobre, Catholic Answers a publié une vidéo de Trent Horn qui posait la question «Qu’y a-t-il de mal dans le déni de l’Holocauste et pourquoi les chrétiens devraient rejeter cette forme malveillante de pseudo-histoire ?»1

Selon Trent Horn, «le négationnisme est moralement répréhensible».2

Hugh Smith is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He is the author of On Clausewitz: A Study of Military and Political Ideas, (Palgrave Macmillan: 2005).

However, Clausewitz offers a notion of grand strategy not in his theory of war but in his theory of the state.

As the affairs of states continue to evolve into a complex web of interdependence, cooperation, and competition, pressure mounts on states to effectively employ the tools of statecraft to attain their political objects. The contention of this essay is that Carl von Clausewitz implicitly defined grand strategy in his magnum opus, On War, as the sum of the tools of statecraft. Consequently, states should use this definition of grand strategy accommodated to present political conditions.

I. Introduction

From 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, the Israeli army carried out a military intervention in the Gaza Strip, the so-called Operation ‘Cast Lead’. During this period of time, Gaza was bombed from the sky and the sea and, in the second phase of the offensive, was invaded by land. Eventually, Palestinian casualties amounted approximately to more than 1400, most of them civilians. On the other hand, 13 Israeli citizens were killed, 10 soldiers and 3 civilians. 1 Operation ‘Cast Lead’ was judged as “the most violent, the most brutal and the bloodiest offensive against Palestinian civilians and their property since the beginning of Israeli occupation in 1967”. 2 The pattern of widespread destruction was clearly testified by the way the first attacks were carried out: the air bombing took place during rush hour, when the streets of Gaza were crowded with people. 3 On top of that, the suffering of the civilian population appears to be a distinctive feature of the Israel’s military activities throughout the entire operation. 4 These events constitute the background to the present thesis.

Key points

• Alliances are usually temporary arrangements among states to counter—or “balance” against—a specific common threat. The United States’ Cold War alliances, by contrast, have become seemingly permanent.
• States tend to balance power when they face a major threat. Bandwagoning, by contrast, is a particularly poor option for states with the capability to put up a fight. When threatened, states tend to join forces in alliances rather than surrender their national survival to the whims of a more powerful aggressor.
• Alliances, however, entail costs and risks. These include the dangers of being drawn into war through entanglement and entrapment, the deleterious effect on deterrence by allies that neglect their defense by “free-riding,” and the moral hazard produced by enabling allies to act like “reckless drivers.”
• Over time, the United States has shifted from a deep skepticism of “entangling alliances” to a global network of security dependents that are treated as an end in themselves, rather than a means to an end. This posture has left the United States overextended, while encouraging allies to neglect their own capabilities and preparedness.
• The United States can and should significantly reduce its alliance commitments, particularly in Europe and the Middle East, where threats to the U.S. are remote and local powers can balance adversaries. In Asia, the United States should act as a backstop to the regional balance of power rather than a vanguard.

The coalition must decide how harsh is too harsh when it comes to refugee policies.

Discontent with the German government’s harsh rhetoric on migration is increasing as remaining pro-refugee lawmakers resort to the Council of Europe, open letters, and resignations to recentre the debate on human rights.

The Italian technocrat also warned that member states’ refusal to relinquish control of their domestic banking sectors risks exacerbating Europe’s financial subservience vis-à-vis the US.

The United States’ ownership of European citizens’ banking data and domination of global payment systems mean that the European Union is increasingly becoming a “financial colony” of the US, former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said on Wednesday (2 October).

As the face of crime continues to evolve in an age of rapid digital innovation, how must the UK’s law enforcement agencies adapt in order to respond effectively?

Last month the National Crime Agency (NCA) published its National Strategic Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). It highlights each of the threats the Agency is focused on tackling, from firearms and drugs to child sexual abuse, modern slavery, human trafficking and economic crime. For the first time ever, the top headline this year is not about criminal behaviour; rather, it is about how much more vulnerable we all are to becoming victims. Changes in organised crime are being driven, more than anything else, by our routine dependence – in our personal and working lives – on online services. Indeed, the majority of crime now occurs online or is enabled by online resources. We have all become more vulnerable to organised crime as a result of living more of our lives online.

What are the Pandora Papers? What’s an offshore service provider? And why should anyone care?

1. What are the Pandora Papers?
2. I’ve heard of the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers. How do the Pandora Papers compare?
3. What is “offshore,” and why should I care?
4. What is a corporate service provider? Who are the service providers in the data?
5. Who appears in the Pandora Papers data?
6. What are offshore companies used for? Are they always bad?
7. What is a “politically exposed person?”
8. What can we do about all this? Are there any prospects for reforming the offshore system?

At a moment the West – especially the US and UK – are still mulling whether to allow Ukraine forces to attack Russian territory using NATO-provided long-range missiles, President Vladimir Putin has just issued a hugely significant statement regarding his country’s nuclear doctrine.