Hi Everyone,
Sorry I haven't posted in nearly a month. I had malaria and was under treatment for a week. Hope that's a good enough excuse :).
Some news stories that caught my eye today:
The Sources of Soviet Iranian Conduct
by KARIM SADJADPOUR. George Kennan, Henry Kissinger, Winston Churchill...still the standard in our foreign policy? Should containment be the plan for Iran? How will that work? An interesting piece, either way.
China's leaders meet to plan economic future China's next 5 year plan? Also, China discusses the rich-poor divide--a critical issue!
Another China story: China yuan warning ahead of US currency report
Hope you enjoy!
Alena
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iraq. Show all posts
Friday, October 15, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Terror and Trauma: What are the effects?
Dear Readers,
I highly recommend reading Why does terrorism fascinate me? Because of the terror in my past. by Jessica Stern in its entirety.
It's an extremely powerful piece, where this expert on terrorism examines the trauma effect of her rape as a child and how that lead to her being emotionally numb enough to examine terrorism. She has an important moment of self-realization, that her childhood experience is something she must examine and understand, otherwise she will suffer from numbness and disconnectedness to the terror part of terrorism.
She also begins to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and adult violence and terrorism. Her rapist had been abused by a priest as a boy, and his own trauma led to a lifetime of destroying the lives of others.
She links that to potential childhood trauma among extremists and wonders at what young experience terrorists or other violent people may have had that lead to their current existence.
I think it is extremely important to examine the human explanations, and to bravely examine our own lives, much like this author. I think we also greatly underestimate the fact that in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, we're dealing with people who have led traumatized existences, and therefore they will behave in ways we don't expect. Iraqis have lived through 3 wars in their lifetimes. Afghanistan has lived under war and the Taliban. Poverty does not necessarily mean crime, but extreme poverty can lead to a difficulty in developing healthy emotional responses.
Some choice quotes:
"I wasn't aware that I was afraid. After a series of traumas, one can lose the capacity to feel fear appropriately."
"She (the psychologist) suggested that I might have post-traumatic stress disorder. I did not believe it."
"I felt compelled to answer questions I had spent my professional life asking about terrorists: What happened to the boy who grew up to become my rapist? Was there anything in his life story that might explain, at least in part, why he would want or need to hurt us? What happened to him afterward?"
"Is there a link between possible abuse and alienation and vulnerability to terrorist recruitment? Could terrorism sometimes reflect a kind of perverse post-traumatic evolution?"
A very interesting and powerful article. I recommend reading it. I would like to hear your thoughts.
Best,
Alena
I highly recommend reading Why does terrorism fascinate me? Because of the terror in my past. by Jessica Stern in its entirety.
It's an extremely powerful piece, where this expert on terrorism examines the trauma effect of her rape as a child and how that lead to her being emotionally numb enough to examine terrorism. She has an important moment of self-realization, that her childhood experience is something she must examine and understand, otherwise she will suffer from numbness and disconnectedness to the terror part of terrorism.
She also begins to examine the relationship between childhood trauma and adult violence and terrorism. Her rapist had been abused by a priest as a boy, and his own trauma led to a lifetime of destroying the lives of others.
She links that to potential childhood trauma among extremists and wonders at what young experience terrorists or other violent people may have had that lead to their current existence.
I think it is extremely important to examine the human explanations, and to bravely examine our own lives, much like this author. I think we also greatly underestimate the fact that in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, we're dealing with people who have led traumatized existences, and therefore they will behave in ways we don't expect. Iraqis have lived through 3 wars in their lifetimes. Afghanistan has lived under war and the Taliban. Poverty does not necessarily mean crime, but extreme poverty can lead to a difficulty in developing healthy emotional responses.
Some choice quotes:
"I wasn't aware that I was afraid. After a series of traumas, one can lose the capacity to feel fear appropriately."
"She (the psychologist) suggested that I might have post-traumatic stress disorder. I did not believe it."
"I felt compelled to answer questions I had spent my professional life asking about terrorists: What happened to the boy who grew up to become my rapist? Was there anything in his life story that might explain, at least in part, why he would want or need to hurt us? What happened to him afterward?"
"Is there a link between possible abuse and alienation and vulnerability to terrorist recruitment? Could terrorism sometimes reflect a kind of perverse post-traumatic evolution?"
A very interesting and powerful article. I recommend reading it. I would like to hear your thoughts.
Best,
Alena
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
A Good Idea for the Middle East
Dear Readers,
Despite the sarcastic ending, How to end the blockade of Gaza by Stephen Walt brings up an interesting and plausible solution to the current crisis about the aid blockade put up by Israel against access to the Palestinian Territories.
Dr. Stephen Walt suggests that the US kills two birds with one stone--improve its reputation in the Middle East, ease suffering AND help the Israelis (okay, so that is three birds). The suggestion is that the US use the Navy to end the blockade by bringing aid...and therefore making sure that there are no weapons or possible threats in the aid ships (Israel has expressed concerned that weapons will be given to the Palestinians--which is their reason for having the blockade).
Nice quote:
"All it takes is an administration that is willing to take bold action to correct a situation that is both a humanitarian outrage and a simmering threat to regional peace."
I left out the sarcastic ending--but you're welcome to go see it yourself.
Best,
Alena
Thanks to iraqthemodel.blogspot.com for passing this article to me.
Despite the sarcastic ending, How to end the blockade of Gaza by Stephen Walt brings up an interesting and plausible solution to the current crisis about the aid blockade put up by Israel against access to the Palestinian Territories.
Dr. Stephen Walt suggests that the US kills two birds with one stone--improve its reputation in the Middle East, ease suffering AND help the Israelis (okay, so that is three birds). The suggestion is that the US use the Navy to end the blockade by bringing aid...and therefore making sure that there are no weapons or possible threats in the aid ships (Israel has expressed concerned that weapons will be given to the Palestinians--which is their reason for having the blockade).
Nice quote:
"All it takes is an administration that is willing to take bold action to correct a situation that is both a humanitarian outrage and a simmering threat to regional peace."
I left out the sarcastic ending--but you're welcome to go see it yourself.
Best,
Alena
Thanks to iraqthemodel.blogspot.com for passing this article to me.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Leave your trauma at home!
The other thing I've been wanting to discuss is PTSD and war trauma. I was reading a series of articles in the Foreign Service Journal from 2008. Civilians, soldiers, and most directly, regular citizens in situations of war experience shock, trauma and loss.
In conversations with military friends, they admitted to something of a double-standard. Yes, the military encourages those with problems, but as commanders, they'd be nervous about soldiers who have problems and might not be in top shape. The Foreign Service Journal described similar double standards and experiences where they were encouraged to keep a 'stiff upper lip' about their issues.
I'm not a therapist, psychologist or even well read on this subject, but I am very frustrated with US institutional and social treatment of war trauma. Also, this trauma extends to the host population. One of the reasons the Afghan and Iraqi people speak a different language than their American counterparts is that they've lived in three decades of war, sanctions and extremely difficult life-conditions. Counter that with refugees, IDPS, and multiple-tour soldiers and you have many groups of people, whom, if not engaged properly, their issues will spill over into greater problems. A great example of this is the relationship between soldiers, chemical dependency and homelessness.
The only real advice I can give is to ask people about their experiences, help them talk about things--because as we've seen in numerous situations, such as the shooting at Fort Hood, and the recent young Nigerian man in Detroit, mental fears, trauma and instability can be dangerous.
If you have thoughts, I'd love to hear them!
In conversations with military friends, they admitted to something of a double-standard. Yes, the military encourages those with problems, but as commanders, they'd be nervous about soldiers who have problems and might not be in top shape. The Foreign Service Journal described similar double standards and experiences where they were encouraged to keep a 'stiff upper lip' about their issues.
I'm not a therapist, psychologist or even well read on this subject, but I am very frustrated with US institutional and social treatment of war trauma. Also, this trauma extends to the host population. One of the reasons the Afghan and Iraqi people speak a different language than their American counterparts is that they've lived in three decades of war, sanctions and extremely difficult life-conditions. Counter that with refugees, IDPS, and multiple-tour soldiers and you have many groups of people, whom, if not engaged properly, their issues will spill over into greater problems. A great example of this is the relationship between soldiers, chemical dependency and homelessness.
The only real advice I can give is to ask people about their experiences, help them talk about things--because as we've seen in numerous situations, such as the shooting at Fort Hood, and the recent young Nigerian man in Detroit, mental fears, trauma and instability can be dangerous.
If you have thoughts, I'd love to hear them!
Send in the drones! Happy 2010!
Well, I was advised to write a new years blog, and here it is:
First, some issues I've been wanting to tackle, at least initially. I'm assuming most of you read the articles showing that AQ and insurgents in both Iraq and Afghanistan have tapped our unmanned spy drones that we use to spy on them. DoD has known about this weakness for a decade, but did nothing about it because they 'assumed adversaries would not be able to exploit it.' Wrong, obviously. But what is worse, is the assumption.
The 'enemy' is smart. Terrorists are smart. Criminals are smart. Sure, one side of terrorist groups and criminal organizations is just the 'grunts' and may not have a lot of sophisticated training, but assuming your enemy is not as smart as yourself is...less than smart. Terrorists have proven over and over that they are adaptive and proactive. In fact, we're almost always at a disadvantage, because the government is big, slow, bad at sharing information and so we are always reactive.
I'm going to continue in another blog post, just to keep things simple.
Best,
Alena
First, some issues I've been wanting to tackle, at least initially. I'm assuming most of you read the articles showing that AQ and insurgents in both Iraq and Afghanistan have tapped our unmanned spy drones that we use to spy on them. DoD has known about this weakness for a decade, but did nothing about it because they 'assumed adversaries would not be able to exploit it.' Wrong, obviously. But what is worse, is the assumption.
The 'enemy' is smart. Terrorists are smart. Criminals are smart. Sure, one side of terrorist groups and criminal organizations is just the 'grunts' and may not have a lot of sophisticated training, but assuming your enemy is not as smart as yourself is...less than smart. Terrorists have proven over and over that they are adaptive and proactive. In fact, we're almost always at a disadvantage, because the government is big, slow, bad at sharing information and so we are always reactive.
I'm going to continue in another blog post, just to keep things simple.
Best,
Alena
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