Causes, Consequences, and Costs of War and Militarism
Martin Donohoe
Contemporary Wars
• 250 wars in the 20th Century
• 72 million lives lost in 20th Century wars, another 52 million through genocides
• Incidence of war rising since 1950
Epidemiology of Warfare
• Deaths in war:–17th Century = 19/million population–18th Century = 19/million population–19th Century = 11/million population–20th Century = 183/million population
• Increasing casualties to civilians–85-90% in 20th Century (vs. 10% late 19th
Century)
War Deaths, 1945-2010
War Deaths
• Korean War: 3 million• Vietnam War: 1.7 million• Iran-Iraq War: 700,000• Soviet War in Afghanistan: 1.5 million• Second Congo War: 3.8 million• Second Sudanese Civil War: 1.9 million
War Deaths (as of 5/5/13)
• First Gulf War:– 105,000 military and 110,000 civilian deaths
(almost all Iraqis)• Second Iraq War:– 4,488 U.S. soldiers; over 17,000 Iraqi military
• U.S. Afghan War:– 2220 U.S. soldiers; approximately 1,100 coalition
forces
Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
• Civilian deaths• 193,000 violent; 1 -1.5 million indirect
• Financial cost: $1.5-5 trillion (est.)• Higher estimate includes fighting,
rebuilding, veterans’ health care, economic losses, etc.
Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
• More US soldiers have committed suicide than have died in Afghan War
• Veteran health care needs massive (TBI, psychiatric disorders, etc.)– 26% of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are
uninsured and not part of the VA health care system
• Young veterans: ½ believe war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting; 60% for Iraq War
Contemporary Warfare
• 20th Century:• Chemical and biological weapons• Small arms• 90% of the 300,000 yearly deaths from
violent conflict• Land mines• 24,000 deaths/yr, tens of thousands
more disabled
Contemporary Warfare
• 20th Century:• 300,000 child soldiers• 10.5 million refugees; 27 million internally
displaced persons• Predator drones• Weaponization of space• Cyberwar
Atomic Weapons Today
• Approximately 23,360 nuclear weapons at 11 sites in 14 countries (1/2 active or operationally-deployed)
• 5,200 active U.S. warheads today (more than ½ on hair-trigger alert); 8,000 in Russia– Several thousand megatons (100,000
Hiroshimas)
Colonial Exploitation
• Christopher Columbus’ log entry upon meeting the Arawaks of the Bahamas:“They…brought us…many…things…They willingly traded everything they owned…They do not bear arms…They would make fine servants…With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”
Colonial Exploitation
• Cecil Rhodes (Rhodesia, Rhodes Scholarship, DeBeers Mining Company):“We must find new lands from which we can easily obtain raw materials and at the same time exploit the cheap slave labour that is available from the natives of the colonies. The colonies would also provide a dumping ground for the surplus goods produced in our factories.”
Exploitation leads to:
• Maldistribution of wealth and resources
• Environmental degradation
• Wars
Consequences of War
• Deaths, injuries, psychological sequelae
• Collapse of health care system (affecting those with acute and chronic illnesses)
• Famine
Consequences of War
• Environmental degradation• Refugees, migrants, internally-displaced
persons• Increasing poverty and debt
• All lead to recurrent cycles of violence
Environmental Consequences of Militarization
• U.S. Military: World’s single largest polluter–8% of global air pollution–2-11% of raw material use–Almost all high and low level
radioactive waste
Violence Against Women
• Common among U.S. servicewomen• A deployed female soldier is more likely
to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire
• Rape in war widespread, often genocidal–Some refugee camps unsafe
Violence and Rape in War
• Occurs against backdrop of ongoing societal forms of violence against women–Legal, educational, social, and political
marginalization
Status of Women
• Worldwide:–Women do 67% of the world’s work–Receive 10% of global income–Own 1% of all property
• U.S.:–Women earn 79 cents/$1 men
Poverty and Hunger
• US: 15% of residents and 22% of children live in poverty• Rates of poverty in Blacks and
Hispanics = 2X Whites• Poverty associated with worse
physical and mental health
The State of U.S. Health Care
• 49 million uninsured patients• Est. 51,000 deaths/year due to lack
of health insurance• US ranks near the bottom among
westernized nations in life expectancy and infant mortality
• Racial disparities in coverage, processes, and outcomes of care
Headline from The Onion
Uninsured Man Hopes His Symptoms Diagnosed This
Week On House
Worldwide Poverty
• 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water
• 3 billion lack adequate sanitation services
• Hunger-related causes kill as many people in 8 days as the atomic bomb killed at Hiroshima
Maldistribution of Wealth
• Top 250 billionaires worldwide worth $1 trillion, the combined income of bottom 2.5 billion people (45% of world’s population)
• U.S: Richest 1% of the population owns 40% of the country’s wealth -poorest 80% own 7%-widest gap of any industrialized nation
Overconsumption (“Affluenza”)
• U.S. = 6.3% of world’s population–Owns 50% of the world’s wealth
• U.S. responsible for:–25% of world’s energy consumption–33% of paper use–72% of hazardous waste production
Income Inequality Kills
Higher income inequality is associated with increased morbidity and mortality at all per capita income levels
Maldistribution of Wealth is Deadly
• 880,000 deaths/yr in U.S. would be averted if the country had an income gap like Western European nations, with their stronger social safety nets–BMJ 2009;339:b4471
Voltaire
“The comfort of the rich rests upon an abundance of the poor”
Hudson River, 2009
Primo Levi
“A country is considered the more civilized the more the wisdom and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak or a powerful one too powerful.”
World Military Spending (2012)($1.8 trillion in 2012; U.S. 34% of total)
U.S. Discretionary Spending (2012)
War and Peace
• World military budget– 230X what the UN spends on peacekeeping
• US:– Largest arms supplier• $66 billion in annual sales (2011) = ¾ of global market• Russia second with $5 billion in annual sales
– Profits at top 5 defense firms up 450% since 2002– Greatest debtor to U.N. (including U.N.
peacekeeping fund)
Military Spending and Jobs
• $1 billion in military spending generates 11,200 jobs– 15,1000 in consumer goods production– 16,800 in green energy development– 17,200 in health care– 26,700 in education
Skewed Priorities
• The world spends $1.7 trillion/year on military goods and services
• For 25% of this, we could:– Eliminate starvation and malnutrition– Provide shelter for all– Eliminate illiteracy– Provide clean and safe water– Prevent soil erosion
Skewed Priorities
– Prevent global warming– Stop deforestation– Aid all refugees– Retire developing nations’ debt– Provide clean, safe energy (through efficiency and
renewables)
Skewed Priorities
– Prevent acid rain– Fix the ozone hole– Stabilize world population– Provide basic universal health care and AIDS
control– Eliminate nuclear weapons and land mines
DOD Announcement(September, 2011)
“Pentagon Lacks Funding to Fix Public Schools on Military Bases”
Dwight Eisenhower
“Every gun that is made, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed”
Martin Luther King
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
Foreign Aid
• In total dollars: U.S. #1• As a % of GDP, U.S. ranks 21st among
the world’s wealthiest nations• U.S. Aid: Over 1/3 military, 1/4
economic, 1/3 for food and development• Most U.S. aid benefits U.S.
corporations
Foreign Aid
• Americans think that 24% of the federal budget goes toward foreign aid
• 0.19% of the total federal budget, vs. UN target of 0.7%
U.S. Charitable Giving
• 2.5% of income
• 2.9% at height of Great Depression
The US: Rogue Nation
• History: Native Americans, slavery, current excesses, disparities and injustices
• Co-opting Nazi and Japanese WWII scientists• Minimum 277 troop deployments by the US in its
225+ year history• Over 1,000 bases worldwide today (737 in other 69
other countries)– 54 countries helped facilitate CIA’s secret
detention, rendition, and interrogation program
The US: Rogue Nation
• Since the end of WWII, the US has bombed:–China, Korea, Indonesia, Cuba, Guatemala,
Congo, Peru, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Grenada, Libya, Panama, Afghanistan, Sudan, Yugoslavia, and Iraq
The US: Rogue Nation
• Conservative estimate = 8 million killed• US invasions/bombings often largely at behest
of corporate interests• Drone strikes on allied/other nations and on
U.S. citizens• Continued funding of the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
International Non-Cooperation/Isolationism
• Failure to sign or approve:–Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change–Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-
Personnel Land Mines–Convention on Cluster Munitions–Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty
International Non-Cooperation/Isolationism
• Failure to sign or approve:
– Convention on the Rights of the Child
– Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
– Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons
– UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons
The US: Rogue Nation
• Failure to follow World Court Decisions
• Failure to recognize International Criminal Court
Solutions• Activism (PSR, IPPNW, etc.)• Education (APHA Militarism
Education Group)• Tolerance and appreciation of
diversity• Redirect money towards social
justice and environmental preservation
• Eliminate WMDs
Solutions• Eliminate military
recruiting in public schools– APHA Resolution
• Increase/Improve foreign aid
• Create Dept. of Peace• Assist victims of war (PHR,
MSF, etc.)• Sign Treaties
Speak Up for the Disenfranchised
“The first job of a citizen is to keep your mouth open.”
- Günter Grass
Have Faith in Your Ability to Affect Change
"If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in your tent“
- African Proverb
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