The US’s refusal to track civilian casualties in the conflict against Islamic State represents a radical departure from established military protocol.
EPA/Sedat Suna
Lieutenant-General James L. Terry, commander of US forces in Iraq and Syria, recently admitted he had no idea how many civilians have died as a result of coalition airstrikes in the region. In a briefing…
A military covenant sounds noble, but it opens up many pitfalls in the relationship between the Australian Defence Force and public.
Andrew Mercer/Flickr
The ANZAC centenary will be full of symbols. After all, commemoration is cheaper than defence. ANZAC symbols, in particular, have an uncanny way of dismissing any doubts about defence policy and spending…
CrossFitters can be found flipping tires or hitting them with a sledgehammer, climbing ropes, and tossing medicine balls.
Shutterstock
It’s a known fact that exercise is addictive. But CrossFitters – those who take part in CrossFit’s brutal workouts and stringent diet – are infamous for their fanatical devotion to their fitness philosophy…
Soldiers face a tough time adapting after service.
Ben Birchall/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Accusations are being made that the UK government is failing to meet the very standards it set for itself when it comes to veterans. Medical experts say former military personnel are not being given the…
Ajax fighting off the Trojans.
Antiquariat Dr. Haack Leipzig
The current understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is like an academic echo of the famous song Universal Soldier. The song imagines the warrior as timeless, unchanging, universal. According…
Possibly not one for Tumblr.
UK Ministry of Defence
By now, millions of people around the world recognise the face of Alexander Sotkin. This young Russian soldier posted selfies on Instagram that appear to place him in Ukrainian territory over the past…
A field of poppies, symbolising the soldiers’ sacrifice, has been sown in Northwood, London, for the centenary of the First World War, but the civilian losses are no less worthy of remembrance.
AAP/Newzulu/Stephen Chung
Hiroshima Day is the closest we come to a day that focuses on the plight of civilians in war. The two atomic bombs dropped on Japan immediately killed over 120,000 civilians, but over the years the day…
Papua New Guinea soldiers mark Remembrance Day at the Port Moresby war memorial depicting ‘fuzzy wuzzy angel’ Raphael Oimbari leading a wounded Australian soldier to medical aid.
AAP/Lloyd Jones
As Papua New Guinea marks its Remembrance Day, July 23, in Australia the service of thousands of Papua New Guineans in the Australian military will go unnoticed. At Remembrance Park in Port Moresby, services…
There is more freedom and more reasons to smile in Burma than in the past – but will this girl and others in her generation share the spoils of the nation’s resources boom?
Dietmar Temps
Our Tropical Future: A new report on the State of the Tropics has revealed rapid changes in human and environmental health in the Earth’s tropical regions. This is the final in a four-part series about…
David Cameron visits Commonwealth soldiers’ graves in Tourgeville Military Cemetery, France.
Stefan Rousseau/PA
Speaking as part of a commemorative celebration of the importance of the Commonwealth in WW1, David Cameron had this to say about the participation of colonial troops from all over the empire: They fought…
A MQ-9 Reaper Drone has an operational cost one-fifth of the F35 Joint Strike Fighter. So should drones replace soldiers in military warfare?
US Air Force
Cost is largely absent in the key debates around the use of unmanned drones in war, even though drones are a cost-effective way of achieving national security objectives. Many of the common objections…
US army ‘deserter’ Bowe Bergdahl had deep and abiding questions about the justice of the cause he signed up for.
EPA/IntelCenter
The public debate around the recent prisoner swap that saw US Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl returned from five years’ imprisonment in Afghanistan in exchange for five senior Taliban leaders has had two main…
Even the Pentagon is issuing warnings about climate change.
Duffman/Wikimedia Commons
Warnings about the dangers of climate change are coming from some new and not so new places. Military, security and foreign policy advisors, financial marketeers, the White House – all have recently set…
Women march on Abuja demanding the rescue of 200 schoolgirls.
Deji Yake/EPA
The world is waking up to Boko Haram. More than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped from the classes last month remain missing. A car bomb in Abuja on May 1 killed at least 19 people. I live in fear of Boko Haram…
India has been the world’s largest arms importer every year since 2010, as its defence industry struggles to keep up with its international ambitions. The volume of major weapons imports more than doubled…
A 12% increase in China’s military spending may sound muscular: but as a proportion to GDP it has remained constant since 2000.
AAP/EPA/ADRIAN BRADSHAW
As the world’s second largest military power, China’s announcement of a 12% increase in its military budget has elicited grumbles from Taipei, Tokyo and Washington. But what does this increase signal regarding…
Hiding the government’s border control policy behind the word ‘operational’ makes the military their political pawns.
AAP/Scott Fisher
Recent reports that the Australian Navy has turned back two asylum seeker boats to Indonesian waters remain shrouded under a veil of secrecy. Australia remains subject to downgraded levels of co-operation…
Of all the inquiries and interventions it has taken a woman to bring deep and incisive change to the Australian Defence Force.
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has Elizabeth Broderick and her team to thank for recent progress in the war against sexism and perversion at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA). But it is military…
Chief of Army Lieutenant General David Morrison has once again vowed to tackle a seemingly systemic culture of indiscretion within the ADF.
AAP/Lukas Coch
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is again confronted by allegations of sexual humiliation and denigration of serving female members. The latest scandal involves claims that emails containing explicit…
A teddy bear bought by murdered soldier Lee Rigby for his son, Jack, sits alongside a family photograph.
PA/Dave Thompson
The brutal killing of Drummer Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich has raised serious questions about the safety of our soldiers at home, and how such violence could affect their recovery from the psychological…
Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society & School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University