Location(Hybrid): Room 345, Arthur Chilton seminar room, Armory | Zoom Webinar
The Program in Arms Control & Domestic and International Security (ACDIS) in collaboration with theCenter for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES), Sandia National Laboratory and SSG (ACDIS Security Studies Group) are organizing a new weekly series to shed new light on security and U.S. foreign policy issues related to the Middle East.
1. April 5th: Dr. Janice Jayes, Professor of History, Illinois State University, Normal - "Impact of violence on the population in Yemen"
It is easy to see how the Yemeni people have been invisible victims of the Ukraine War. Shifts in global attention and humanitarian priorities have had disastrous consequences for Yemen over the past year. This is, however, yet another example of putting the West at the center of World History and reducing the rest of the world to the role of supporting cast and perennial understudies. In this lecture we will shift focus and think about how the Yemen has been a critical space to reshape the way in which warfare is waged in the 21st c., in the process reshaping conflict in such distant theaters as the Ukraine.
2. April 12th: Lesley M Wexler, Professor of Law, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - "Challenge of enforcing the laws of war"
This talk introduces laws of war principles and governing laws as well as compliance mechanisms. Using recent and current conflicts in the Middle East, this talk will explore the laws of war’s failures and successes in curbing abuses of civilians. It will discuss the potential and limitations of domestic and international criminal enforcement. It will also look at front end legal review, sanctions, interoperability limitations, and shadow laws of war commitments for non-state actors.
Zoom recording: Click here
3. April 19th: Andrew Wyatt Nelson, Senior Member of Technical Staff, Center for Global Security and Cooperation - "Chemical Security: What Is It and Why Does It Matter for Arms Control?"
Andrew Nelson is a Senior Member of the Technical Staff in the Global Chemical and Biological Security (GCBS) program at Sandia National Laboratories. Currently, he works to promote world peace though practical and innovative solutions that help secure hazardous chemicals and biological agents. This includes frequent travel throughout the world to collaborate with scientists in all stages of their careers. He currently serves as a Resource Person for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a Guest Editor for a Special Issue on Chemical Security in the American Chemical Society Journal of Chemical Education, and as an advisor to several US Government agencies.
Zoom recording: Click here
4. April 26th: Colleen Murphy, Professor of Law, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - "Ethical foundations of laws of war"
Just war theory offers ethical guidance on how and why war should be fought. It provides criteria to distinguish just from unjust wars. International humanitarian law offers guidance on legal and illegal conduct in war, and the crime of aggression defines when the resort to war is illegal. Just war theory and international law overlap in their content, which my presentation highlights. However, they are not identical, and I also point out differences in evaluating war ethically versus legally.
Zoom recording: Click here
