The British armed forces have quietly turned to their traditional methods of finding “manpower” when they see themselves running short.
‘Soldiers have spoken out, protested, and revolted in almost every war in history. We need this resistance… one of the single strongest factors in bringing wars to an end.’
When military institutions intervene in debates about integration, social cohesion and now, radicalisation, they overstep their bounds.
For anyone sensitive to the pervasive signs of militarisation, there is no doubt that the centenary invites unwelcome forms of commemoration. Look at the distortions in the documented history of bloodshed in Gallipoli in 1915.
Is there any form of belonging available to (post)colonial soldiers and subjects which does not endorse an imperial patriotism?
The country’s military institutions must not be seen as deserving of special consideration. Once the ethos of public service has been smashed and discredited by neoliberal restructuring, the danger is that it will take more than an army to bring it back.
Inquests into military deaths away from the battlefield provide important opportunities for removing the carefully constructed veneer of PR that casts all soldiers as heroes.
The good news is that there is a growing network of campaigners and academics who are not just focused on preventing more wars but also on understanding the longer term effects of war on the way we live.
As the UK public are invited to celebrate the razzle-dazzle of very British pipes, drums and loud bangs on their recently-constituted Armed Forces Day, Up in Arms asks how war impacts on national culture and what this tells us about the ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK.
Up in Arms normally focuses on the figure of the soldier in order to track the militarization process. Here we visit the overlooked role of the ‘military wife’ as a key to interpreting far-reaching policy decisions.
While the Baha Mousa inquiry "may have shone a torch into a dark corner", what is now before the court is more like "a stadium in which we will switch on the floodlights".
