Anthropology and Security Studies

Anthropology
and Security Studies

Fina Antn Hurtado & Giovanni Ercolani
Foreword by Luis lvarez Munrriz
Coleccin: Cultura y Sociedad
Coleccin: Cultura y Sociedad
Universidad de Murcia
Nottingham Trent University
College of William and Mary (USA)
2013
1 Edicin, 2013
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Universidad de Murcia, Servicio de Publicaciones, 2.013

De los textos sus autores
Director de la Coleccin: Luis lvarez Munrriz

Anthropology and Security Studies
Coleccin Cultura y Sociedad 1.
Coedicin: Universidad de Murcia, Nottingham Trent University

& College of William and Mary (USA).
Diseo de Portada: Colectivo EZ. Victoria_Chezner & Manu_Daz
ISBN: 978-84-16038-00-8
&RQWHQWV
FOREWORD : AN THROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO SECURITY

Luis lvarez Munrriz
PRLOGO: EN FOQUE AN TROPOLGICO D E LA SEGURID AD

Luis lvarez Munrriz
15
IN TROD UCTION : AN THROPOLOGY AN D SECURITY STUD IES

Fina Antn H urtad o and Giovanni Ercolani
25
1. CON SID ERATION S ON AN THROPOLOGY AN D CRITICAL

SECURITY STUD IES IN A GLOBALIZED CON TEXT: THE N ATO
CIVIL-MILITARY COOPERATION (CIMIC) D OCTRIN E AS AN
AN THROPOLOGICAL SPACE
Giovanni Ercolani
2. VISUAL ETHN OGRAPHIES, CON FLICT AN D SECURITY
Chris Farrand s
55
119
3. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PEACEKEEPIN G: ON E D OMAIN WHERE

POLITICAL REALISM AN D CRITICAL SECURITY THEORY WILL
MEET
153
H arvey Langholtz
4. THE REVOLUTION CON TIN UES WORLD WID E!
EMAN CIPATORY POLITICS IN AN AGE OF GLOBAL IN SECURITY
169
Danielle Moretti-Langholtz
5. AN THROPOLOGICAL METHOD S IN COUN TER-TRAFFICKIN G

ACTIVITIES: AN ALYSIS OF CRIMIN AL N ETWORKS AN D VICTIMORIEN TED APPROACH
185
Desire Pangerc
6. AN THROPOLOGY AN D CON FLICTS. TOD AYS WARS AN D
PEACE-KEEPIN G OPERATION S: WHY AN AN THROPOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE IS N EED ED
199
Marco Ram azzotti
CON CLUSION S. A N EW GRAMMAR FOR IN TERN ATION AL
RELATION S IN A N EW WORLD ORD ER
Maurizio Boni
227
THE CONTRIBUTORS
255
Forew ord : Anthrop ological Ap p roach to Secu rity
Forew ord: Anthropological Approach to Security 1

Luis lvarez Munrriz
Professor of Social Anthropology
University of Murcia(Spain)
Security is a universal aspiration of hum an beings that is present in all

tim es and in all cultures. This exhaustive contention can be und erstood and
accepted if w e reflect upon the m eaning and the role it plays in life of any
person. In essence, every hum an being w ants to live in peace, in a
sociologically and ecologically friend ly environm ent, and avoid all the
threats and risks that end anger him or her at any cost. Security is a state of
w ellbeing that enables one to exercise ones freed om to d evelop the project
of life that every hum an being seeks to put in practice.
In our society, being d efined as the risk society, security is regard ed as
the m ost precious good s. H ow ever, a consid erable part of the population
lives in greater insecurity d ue to the fear of losing the high d egree of
econom ic and social d evelopm ent, that is to say, the fear of having to
change ones lifestyle. The fall of N ew Yorks Tw in Tow ers on 9/ 11 is an
exam ple w hich can help us to und erstand the degree of im portance w hich
people place upon security. Why d id this terrorist attack take place? Could
it have been avoid ed ? What w ent w rong? These questions are im portant to
people and w e m ust ad dress them because no one could have im agined that
such a d isaster could occur in the m ost pow erful and secure country on the
planet. And it also helps us und erstan d that there are m any d isciplines and
theories about the nature and scope of security. It should not surprise us
since it is an aspiration that affects all of the areas of hum an life. But this
m ultid isciplinary treatment has transform ed the concept of secu rity into a
Prof. Fina Antn H u rtad o and Dr. Giovanni Ercolani w ou ld like to thank Ms.
Marina Miron (MA War & Contem p orary Conflict) for the translation of this
Forew ord .
1
Lu is lvarez Mu nrriz
polysem ous and am biguous term . This is precisely the reason w hy w e need
to establish w hat is m eant by security.
Thus, security is und erstood as the feeling that people have w hen they
are able to live in peace and harm ony w ith other m embers of the social
group, to w hich they belong, and enjoy the good s offered by the inhabited
territory. It is a state of w ellbeing that ad vances the achievem ent of the life
project every hum an being w ants to execute in ord er to give a true m eaning
to her or his life. In a negative sense it can be d escribed as the absence or
exclusion of any contingency, threat or d anger that could d estroy that s ense
of calmness and tranquillity. To d o this end it is necessary to avoid all those
factors that m ay generate uncertainty, uneasiness, fear or pain in people's
d aily life.
Anthropology is a know led ge that m ust inevitably ad d ress this topic
insofar as it exam ines those issues related to peoples concerns and interests.
Its contribution is im portant since it provid es a vision of the hum an being
that constitutes a solid basis for constructing a com prehensive security
m od el. A robust and prod uctive m od el consists of four key variables. Let us
exam ine each one of them separately.
1. Individual dimension: human security
Being a reference point for people hum an security is d esigned to
prevent both violent and nonviolent threats, w hich they m ay suffer. From
this perspective, the basic and fund am ental objective of security is to ensure
a life w orthy of people. Thus, it can be described as protection of
ind ivid uals from risks to their physical or psychological safety as w ell as the
d ignity and quality of life w hich all persons have the right lead . In fact, any
person by the m ere fact of being a person is an absolute value in itself. From
this follow s that ind ividuals are those w ho should prim arily be protected . If
w e ask ourselves w hat kind of properties are those that m ake us m en and
enable us to match w ith one another, the answ er is clear: w e are all individuals
and should be treated as such. The category of persons is a sphere in w hich

the universal and the personal are m erged together. On ce born, a person
finds herself in a social environm ent the culture of w hich shapes her w ays
of being, thinking and acting. But it is not the society that m akes her becom e
a person but rather the characteristic and the specific feeling of every
hum an being. All hum an beings have fund am ental rights being linked to
their existence w hich cannot be relinquished and w hich no one can d eprive
them of. Therefore, w e can assert, in accord ance w ith this principle, that
there is a num ber of rights that is positioned a bove the interests of the state.
Subsequently, the state should ad opt effective m easures of protection in
ord er to w arrant those.
There are m any aspects involved in hum an security. We have already
established that it encom passes of large num ber of d om ains such as peace,
healthy and satisfactory d iet, health and ed ucation, housing, retirem ent
protection, freed om to choose ones society m od el, respect for hum an rights,
environm ental protection, control of the biotechnological risk, non proliferation of nuclear w eapons, etc. In any case, it should be em phasized
that, in m y view , there are three basic and fund am ental d om ains. We m ust
concentrate all our efforts upon those d om ains for ad d ressing the root
causes of insecurity.
First and forem ost, it must be em phatically stated that lives of people
are sacred . It is not necessary to appeal to religious principles in ord er to
grasp that the purpose of life is life itself. By taking a persons life (that is
killing a person) one takes aw ay the m ost precious thing she has, i.e.
everything. H ence, the state m ust provid e for effective protection measures
against ind ivid ual actions that m ay threaten or take the life of any person
inhibiting its territory. Sim ilarly, the state should avoid unjust an d
som etim es illegal actions, w hich its security forces m ight com m it in a
foreign territory resulting in d eaths of m any people, at all costs. The right to
personal integrity is closely related to this primary value. This right d eals
w ith acts of violence or crim e com m itted by ind ivid uals w ho m ight
end anger not only life but also, and above all, bod ily integrity of a person.
7
In this d om ain w e m ust not only reject but also ensure the elim ination
of both prod uction and use of antipersonnel land m ines, w hich struggles
against hum an trafficking, organ trad ing, kidnapping, slave or forced
labour, etc. We m ust be aw are that violation of this right leaves people w ith
an ind elible im print, w hich inevitably generates hatred and violence. And
third ly, in d eveloped societies the right to satisfy ones basic need s is
associated w ith the right to w ork w hich its possessor can satisfy.
Econom ic globalization is prod ucing the opposite effect of w hat it w as
supposed to achieve, nam ely, to free both d eveloped (pockets of pove rty)
and und erd eveloped countries from hunger and m isery. In the latter case
poverty has been increasing by leaps and bound s, being further aggravated
by post-colonial conflicts and internal w ars w hich for a num ber of people
resulted in a w ish to escape from inhum an cond itions because they did not
find their w ay out of this situation in their ow n country. This leads to
form ation of areas of insecurity that w ill ultim ately endanger security of
both the und erd eveloped countries and the m ost d eveloped ones.
The m ajor part of security stud ies neglect this d im ension focusing
instead on national and international security. Military forces serve as a
guarantor of the territorial integrity and political sovereignty against
external aggression. The m easures for prev enting internal as w ell as
external conflicts take preced ence. H ow ever, hum an security im plies more
than just m ere absence of those conflicts. We have to be aw are that security
of hum an lives is m uch m ore fund am ental. It is so essential that failure to
ensure this type of security w ill actually endanger any other kind of
security. N ot having a guarantee for her survival for w hatever reason and
know ing she w ill d ie sooner or later a person has no d ifficulty to kill w hile
d ying. By avoiding w ar and fam ine, w h ich threaten to cause d eath to
peoples lives or even cause it in m any cases, is a contribution to increase of
our security.
2. Social dimension: public security

Tensions, struggles and use of force constitute an elem ent being
constantly present throughout the history of m ankind , both betw een
ind ivid uals and betw een nations. And sim ilarly present is the effort of the
m em bers of any social group to avoid w hat H obbes term ed as the war of all
against all. Since the emergence of the m od ern state one appeals to its
pow er to guarantee security of its citizens. It is taken for granted , how ever,
that it is the only entity w ith the pow er to legally em ploy the m onopoly on
violence. Analysis of failed states d em onstrates the correctness of this
d ecision. N ow ad ays, it is consid ered that security m ust be present in the
basic structure of any society. We agree that public institutions, alw ays
operating w ithin the fram ew ork of the rule of law , have sufficient capacity
to ensure the exercise of these rights and to efficiently respond w hen those
are violated . H istory show s that in ord er to avoid social instability people
provid ed them selves w ith d ifferent law s and trad itions, but the most
effective one of them has alw ays been the one that com es w ith the rules
established by a d em ocratically legitim ized state.
In such transfer w e lose a part of our freed om , that is to say, security in
exchange for freed om . This com plies w ith the follow ing principle: the
greater the d egree of security, the lesser the d egree of freed om . H istory
show s us that security has been used w ith great frequency for avoiding or
d elaying cultural changes and for strengthening d e facto pow ers. The m ain
challenge lies in ad equate ad justm ent of the delicate connection that must
be established in this binom ial in ord er not to put an end to the rule of law
w hich has to protect all of us. To this end w e need to establish public
security policies based upon effective and also d em ocratically consensual
legal fram ew ork. Both the pow ers and the security forces of the state must
fully ad just them selves to the aforem entioned legal fram ew ork. This w ill
allow avoiding any misuse or illegal use of pow er that citizen grant to the
state. Respect for it w ill prevent violation of the rights of people by its
agents; these could be torture, cruel, inhum an or d egrad ing treatment, or
9
situations of unlaw ful use of nonlethal force. And m ore, citizens should be
m ore concerned w ith their d em and of the legal fulfillm ent of the alread y
established security m easures, than requesting a n increase of num ber of
security m easures.
We live in a society that is highly preoccupied w ith the issue of
security. Anthropology has been observing that people are becom ing m ore
vigilant, w ary and cautious both in public and private spheres. There is a
num ber of thinkers w ho talk about obsession and henceforth the m yth of
security. It is d escribed not as fear but as anxiety referring to an
unid entifiable threat that can arise from any part of the w orld . All of us
need to be aw are of the fact that absolute security is im possible and that the
w ay to reach a fair d egree of security can be achieved by m aintenance of
trad itional custom s seeking to preserve confid ence in people. But it is
precisely the d ysfunction that exists betw een w hat w e think and w hat w e
practice in social life preventing us from reaching that id eal. Therefore, w e
m ust convince ourselves that it is precisely that m istrust w hich generates
the tension that can gradually und erm ine the security w e all d esire.
3. Symbolic dimension: cultural security
It is true that w e are entering a hyper -connected, m ultipolar and postWestern w orld .
But it is equally true that is organized and governed by the stand ard s
that created the know led ge arisen in this area of civilization. Thr ough the
so-called m ass culture it has im posed upon the rest of the societies its w ays
of thinking and living: Western man d eterm ines the M an. The rejection of
this foisting allow s us to und erstand that w e are in a situation of cultural
w ar. The sense of cultural roots and d efence of cultural id entity have
pushed the bound aries of w hat w as consid ered to be personal to become a
problem of national and international security. For exam ple, Sam uel
H untington clashed the Western civilization w ith others: Islamic
civilization, H ind u civilization, Bud dhist civilization etc. One can
10
d isagree w ith both the id eas and the proposals suggested by this political
scientist, but by no m eans can w e d eny the existence of the tension, w hich
end angers citizens security, betw een people belonging d ifferent cultures.
The feeling of belonging is a vital need of people. It is m uch m ore com plex
than the d ichotom y presented by the aforem entioned author; it is expressed
in a w ay of cultural or ethnic id entity, and is consid ered to be a value all of
us have to respect.
Presence of tensions or cultural clashes generates pressing social
problem s, w hich threaten harm ony am ong the mem bers of our increasingly
m ulticultural societies, on a national level. They affect specific political
issues such as im m igration legislation, rules of cond uct of everyd ay life, by law s of an orthod oxy and legitimization of violence and / or insurrection.
Also, on the international level the d efense of cultural id entity, w hich is
consid ered to be und er attack, is put forw ard by the populists, especially,
and taken as a fighting w eapon of their politics in the d om estic realm s as
w ell as the exterior. We are also aw are of the difficulties that the military
has had both in peace build ing m issions and in w ars, in o rd er to resolve
conflicts confronting a cultural shock (clash) they have had to overcom e
w hen interacting w ith people from d ifferent cultures.
People are not m iniature reprod uctions of their ow n society. The
experience of their relationship w ith m em bers of their social group
generates a self-conception that is resolved in a consistent sym bolization of
w hat one thinks one is and should d o. Sociocultural factors are a condicio
sine qua non, i.e. an essential condition, for their d evelopm ent. A living
culture is the one w hose m em bers d ecid e to take charge of the social process
to m ould their ow n future, nam ely, to generate a sense. They can achieve it
w hen they respect other com m unities and , w ithin the global context, w hich
overw helm s us, negotiate w ith the rest for being able to freely build their
ow n history. It is the one that, w ithout rejecting its ow n cultural identity,
d ecid es to appropriate its fate and to seek the m eaning as a com m unity
w ithin the w id e range of possibilities offered by hum an nature.
11
In this new globalized context the challenge facing us is to recognize

the intrinsic value of the contributions of the im m ense w ealth of cultures
that have shaped the cultural heritage of H um anity. Culture is a d ialogue,
an exchange of id eas and experiences, appreciation of ot her values and
trad itions, and this is w hy it w ithers and d ies in isolation. This involves
respect for the system of beliefs, values and norm s that shape the culture of
people. In any case this d oes not im ply acceptance of m oral relativism .
Cultural pluralism can be id entified neither w ith subjectivism nor w ith
relativism . There are universal principles that all cultures should
respect. This, how ever, d oes not involve forcing them upon other societies
but rather convincing their mem bers of their valid ity. This is th e only
realistic w ay to avoid a clash of civilizations and to progress tow ard s peace
and security of nations.
4. Territorial dimension: geopolitical security
Western culture supports the id ea and the conviction that w e are
m oving tow ard s the ability to finally build a global society. In this future
scenario nation -states w ill have to d isappear for various reasons. One of the
m ain reasons offered here is the obvious fact that alone they cannot d eal
w ith security threats that m ight em erge from anyw here on t he globe. The
instrum ental pow er of nation -states is really insufficient to resolve problem s
arising from globalization. Yet, the harsh reality is that states d o not cede
their pow er, and w e are w alking tow ard s an increasingly nationalized
society. We also consider the creation of international institutions, w hich
w ould be able to harm onize states interests and further stop states abuses
of pow er utilizing force on the m argin of the law s established and accepted
by m ost nations and even beyond , to be a utopia. The current w orld system
is not d em ocratic, and the d ynamics of extrem ist rhetoric cannot control
violations of the rules. Those currently existing d epend d irectly upon the
interests of d om inant states led by the pow er of the United States. A period
of uncertainty that comm enced after the d ecline, or in a w ay disappearance,
12
of the American em pire m ust be unavoid ably overcom e. In this situation a

new and subtle form of im perialism is emerging: an econom ic and political
block aiming to shape the future of the planet. It consists of the m ost
d eveloped countries of the w orld exclud ing China. The West d oes not
resign itself to losin g the pow er it has once had over other countries. Many
people regard this effort of the geopolitical union as a w ay to m aintain
Am erican pow er and at the sam e tim e to stop the rise of China.
It is plausible enough to think that one could never accom plish creating
this large netw ork of countries being united and facing China. Rather, one
can anticipate a future defined by strong states and w orld pow ers that can
be converted into the core to w hich anthropologists refer as civilization units.
Yet, it is m ore probable to anticipate a future consisting of strong and
m ighty states that connect them selves to other states w ith similar interests
and cultural trad itions. Until now w e can affirm that new arising state
entities can survive only through their com pliance in form of patronage to a
strong and pow erful state, be it a neighbouring one or a rem ote one. It is an
ind ication to suppose that there a new em pire that w ill d om inate the planet
w ill not com e into sight and , therefore, it w ill not turn itself into a
superpow er to d om inate the planet. The strongest cand id ate to assum e this
role could be China, how ever, in fact, it d oes not show any overt signs of its
w illingness to d o so. But analyzing its im m ense econom ic and military
pow er as w ell as its presence in every part of the w orld im m ediately lead s
to the question: w hat w ill be Chinas role as a superpow er that possesses
interests in all parts of the planet?
In this situation of uncertainty w hat is need ed mostly is the recognition
that w e are m oving tow ard s a polycentric w orld. Certainly, w e can praise
the id ea of an em pire that w ould guarantee the safety of the planet. But
such future d efined by im perialism remains unrealistic. What w e have to d o
is to convince ourselves that it is crucial to reach agreem ents betw een states
accord ing to the principles of equality, justice and solid arity. Perhaps this is
a utopia since none complies w ith international stand ard s interpreting them
instead accord ing to their ow n interests. But w hat m ust be avoid ed by all
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m eans is the polarization betw een the tw o superpow ers. For a long tim e
they have been fighting the battle of the so-called cyber w ar, i.e. the use of
d igital technologies to find out and , thus, to enable them to attack and
d estroy each others vital centres and those of their allies respectively. Both
pow ers are preoccupied w ith cyber-security. Thus far this only w ar is being
w aged in cyberspace, and its real im pact is very lim ited and , in ad d ition,
know n and agreed upon by them . But, in any case, w e cannot ru le out the
d anger a military confrontation if that, w hat is presently confined to the
virtual sphere only, becom es reality. And w e m ust acknow led ge it in ord er
to be able to avoid it for otherw ise the risk of nuclear threat, w hich w e have
alread y consid ered as past, w ould re-em erge. This threat is m uch more
d angerous than the non -id entifiable threat that is posed by the international
terrorism . Let us be aw are that nuclear threat w ill be present as long as
nuclear w eapons continue existing.
14
Prlogo: enfoque antropolgico de la seguridad

Luis lvarez Munrriz
Catedrtico de Antropologa Social
Universidad de Murcia (Espaa)
La segurid ad es una aspiracin universal d e los seres hum anos que est
presente en tod as las pocas y en todas las culturas. Esta taxativa afirm acin
se pued e entend er y aceptar si reflexionam os sobre el significad o y la
funcin que desem pea en la vid a d e cualquier persona. En efecto, tod o ser
hum ano d esea vivir en paz en un m edio socio-ecolgico agrad able y evitar a
tod a costa las am enazas y los riesgos que la ponen en p eligro. La seguridad
es un estad o d e bienestar que garantiza el ejercicio d e la libertad para pod er
d esarrollar el proyecto de vid a que tod o ser humano aspira a realizar.
En nuestra socied ad , d efinid a com o la sociedad d el riesgo, se valora la
segurid ad com o el bien m s preciad o. Sin em bargo una parte consid erable
d e la poblacin vive en la m ayor insegurid ad porque tem e perd er el alto
grad o d e d esarrollo econm ico y social alcanzad o, es d ecir, a tener que
cam biar su estilo d e vida. El d esastre d e las torres gem elas d e N ew York el
11 d e septiem bre es un ejem plo que nos puede servir para entend er la
im portancia que la gente otorga a la segurid ad . Por qu se com eti este
atentad o terrorista? Se pud o evitar? Qu fall? Son preguntas relevantes
que se hace la gente y que d ebem os abord ar porque nad ie pud o imaginar
que en el pas m s pod eroso y seguro d el planeta pud iera ocurrir sem ejante
catstrofe. Y tam bin nos ayud a a entend er que existan m uchas disciplinas
y m uchas teoras sobre la naturaleza y el alcance d e la segurid ad . N o
d ebera extraarnos puesto que se trata d e una aspiracin que afecta a todos
los m bitos d e la vida hum ana. Pero este tratam iento m ultid isciplinar ha
convertid o el concepto de segurid ad en un trm ino polismico y am biguo.
De ah la conveniencia de fijar qu entend em os por segurid ad .
La segurid ad se entiend e aqu com o el sentim iento que tienen las
personas d e pod er vivir en paz y arm ona con los m iembros d el grupo
15
social al que pertenecen y pod er d isfrutar d e los bienes que le ofrece el

territorio que habitan. Es un estad o d e bienestar que favorece la consecucin
d el proyecto vital que tod o ser hum ano aspira a realizar para pod er d ar un
genuino sentid o a su vid a. N egativam ente se pued e d escribir com o la
ausencia o exclusin de cualquier contingencia, am enaza o riesgo que
pued a d estruir esa sensacin d e calm a y tranquilid ad . Para ello hay que
evitar tod os aquellos factores que pued an generar incertid umbre,
intranquilid ad , mied o o d olor en la vid a cotid iana d e la gente.
La Antropologa es un saber que necesariam ente d ebe abord ar este
tem a en la m ed id a que estud ia aquellas cuestiones que preocupan e
interesan a la gente. Su contribucin es relevante puesto que proporciona
una visin d el ser hum ano que constituye una slid a base para construir un
m od elo integral d e la segurid ad . Un m od elo robusto y frtil que consta d e
cuatro variables esenciales. Veam os cad a una d e ellas por separad o.
1. D imensin individual: seguridad humana
Tiene com o punto d e referencia a las personas y est encaminada a
evitar las am enazas tanto violentas com o no violentas que pued an sufrir.
Desd e esta perspectiva el objetivo bsico y fund am ental de la segurid ad es
garantizar la vid a d igna d e las personas. Se pued e d escribir com o la
proteccin d e los ind ivid uos d e los riesgos contra su segurid ad fsica o
psicolgica as com o a la d ignid ad y calid ad de vid a a la que toda persona
tiene d erecho. En efecto, tod a persona por el mero hecho d e ser persona
constituye un valor absoluto. Son, por tanto, los individ uos los que
prim ariam ente d eben ser protegid os. Si nos preguntam os cules son
aquellas propied ad es d e clase que nos hacen ser hom bres y coincidir con los
d em s, la respuesta es clara: tod os som os personas y com o tales d ebemos
ser tratad os. La categora d e persona es el m bito en el que se d isuelve lo
universal y lo particular. Se nace y se es persona d entro d e un m ed io social
cuya cultura conform a sus m od os d e ser, pensar y actuar. Pero no es la
socied ad la qu e la convierte en persona sino que es un rasgo propio y un
sentimiento especfico d e cad a ser hum ano. Tod o ser hum ano tiene
16
d erechos fund am entales que estn ligad os a su existencia que en manera

alguna pued e ced er y de los cuales nad ie le pued e d esposeer. De acuerd o
con este principio pod em os afirm ar que existen una serie d e d erechos que
estn por encima d e los intereses d el Estad o. ste d ebe ad optar m ed id as d e
proteccin eficaces para garantizarlos.
Son m uchos los aspectos que im plica la segurid ad hum ana. H em os
aprend id o que engloba una gran cantid ad d e d om inios com o pued en ser la
paz, una alim entacin sana y suficiente, la salud y la ed ucacin, viviend a
d igna, proteccin en la vejez, libertad d e escoger el m od elo d e socied ad , el
respeto por los d erechos hum anos, la proteccin d el m ed io am biente,
control d el riesgo biotecnolgico, la no proliferacin d e arm as nucleares, etc.
De tod as m aneras conviene subrayar que, a m i m od o d e ver, existen tres
que son bsicos y fund am entales. En ellos debem os concentrar tod o s
nuestros esfuerzos para atacar las causas profund as d e la insegurid ad .
En prim er lugar hay que afirm ar taxativam ente que la vida d e las
personas es sagrad a. No es necesario apelar a principios religiosos para
entend er que el fin d e la vid a es la vid a m ism a. Si a una persona le quitan la
vid a le quitan lo m s preciad o que tien e, es d ecir, tod o. El Estad o debe
garantizar m ed id as d e proteccin eficaces frente a las acciones d e
particulares que pued an am enazar o quitar la vid a d e las personas que
habitan en su territorio. Tam bin evitar a tod a costa el uso ind ebid o y a
veces ilegal que las fuerzas d e segurid ad d el Estad o hacen en territorio
ajeno causand o la m uerte d e m uchas personas. Con este valor principial
se halla ntim am ente relacionad o el d erecho d e la integrid ad personal. Este
d erecho tiene que ver con los hechos d e violencia o d elincuencia com etidos
por particulares que pued an poner en peligro no solo la vid a sino sobre
tod o la integrid ad corporal. En este mbito d ebem os rechazar y asegurar
que se elim ine la prod uccin y uso d e minas terrestres antipersona, que se
com bata la trata d e personas, el com ercio d e rganos, el secuestro, el trabajo
esclavo o forzad o, etc. Debem os ser conscientes que la vulneracin d e este
d erecho prod uce en las personas una huella indeleble que acaba generand o
od io y violencia. Y en tercer lugar el d erecho a la satisfaccin d e las
necesid ad es bsicas que en las socied ad es d esarrollad as se id entifica con el
17
d erecho al trabajo que quien lo posee las pued e satisfacer. La globalizacin

econm ica est prod uciend o el efecto contrario al que se pretend a alcanzar:
liberar a los pases tanto d esarrollad os (bolsas d e pobreza) como
subd esarrollad os de la m iseria y el hambre. En stos ltim os est
aum entand o la pobreza a pasos agigantad os, se agrava con los conflictos
poscoloniales y guerras internas, y com o consecuencia d e ello la cantid ad d e
gente que quiere escapar d e cond iciones inhum anas porque no encuentran
una salid a a esa situacin en su propio pas. Se estn creand o zonas d e
insegurid ad que term inarn por poner en peligro la segurid ad tanto d e los
propios pases com o la de los m s d esarrollad os.
La m ayor parte d e los estud ios d e segurid ad d escuid an esta d im ensin
para centrarse en la segurid ad nacional o internacional. El pod ero m ilitar
com o garante d e la integrid ad territorial y la soberana poltica contra las
agresiones externas. Prim an las m ed id as para evitar conflictos tanto
internos com o externos. Pero la segurid ad hum ana im plica m ucho m s que
la ausencia d e los m ism os. Debem os concienciarnos que la segurid ad d e las
vid as hum anas es m ucho m s fundam ental. Tan esencial que si no se
garantiza este tipo d e segurid ad realm ente se pone en peligro cualquier otro
tipo d e segurid ad . Una persona que, por diversas causas, no tiene
garantizad a su supervivencia y sabe que tard e o tem prano va a m orir, no
tiene ninguna dificultad en m orir m atand o. Evitar la guerra y el ham bre que
ponen en peligro o causan la m uerte d e las personas, es contribuir a que
nuestra segurid ad sea mayor.
2. D imensin social: seguridad ciudadana
Las tensiones, las luchas y el uso d e la fuerza ha sid o una constante en
la historia d e la hum anid ad , tanto entre personas com o entre pueblos. Y
tam bin el esfuerzo d e los m iem bros d e cualquier grupo social para evitar
lo que H obbes d enom in la lucha d e tod os contra tod os. Desd e la aparicin
d el Estad o m od erno se apela a su pod er para garantizar la segurid ad d e los
ciud ad anos. Se da por sentad o que es el nico que t iene la fuerza para
utilizar legalm ente el monopolio d e la violencia. El anlisis d e los Estados
18
fallid os d em uestra lo acertad o d e esta d ecisin. H oy se consid era que la

segurid ad d ebe estar presente en la estructura bsica d e cualquier socied ad .
Aceptam os que las instituciones pblicas tengan la capacidad suficiente,
siem pre en el m arco d el Estad o d e Derecho, para garantizar el ejercicio d e
estos d erechos y para respond er con eficacia cuand o estos sean vulnerados.
La historia nos m uestra que para evitar la inestabilid ad social la gente se ha
d otad o d e d iversas tradiciones y leyes, pero que la m s eficaz es la que
proviene d e las norm as fijad as por un Estad o d em ocrticam ente legitimad o.
En esta cesin perd em os parte d e nuestra libertad . Segurid ad a cam bio
d e libertad . Se cum ple el siguiente principio: A m ayor grad o d e segurid ad
m enor grad o d e libertad . La historia nos m uestra que la segurid ad se ha
utilizad o con m ucha frecuencia para evitar o retrasar los cam bios culturales
y fortalecer los pod eres fcticos. El reto consiste en ajustar ad ecuad am ente
la d elicada conexin que d ebe establecerse en este binomio par a no acabar
con el Estad o d e Derecho que a tod os nos debe amparar. Para conseguirlo se
d eben establecer polticas d e segurid ad ciud ad ana basadas en un m arco
jurd ico ad ecuad o y ad em s d em ocrticam ente consensuad o. A l se d eben
ajustar plenam ente los pod eres y las fuerzas de segurid ad d el Estad o. Ello
perm itir evitar el uso abusivo o ilcito d el pod er que los ciud ad anos
otorgan al Estad o. Su respeto pod r evitar que sus agentes vulneren los
d erechos d e las personas com o pued en ser las torturas, tratos crue les,
inhum anos o d egrad antes o situaciones d e uso ilegtim o d e la fuerza no
letal. Y m s que un aum ento d e las med id as d e segurid ad d ebe ser
preocupacin d e los ciud ad anos exigir que se cum plan las legalm ente
establecid as.
Vivim os en una socied ad altam ente preocupad a por la cuestin de la
segurid ad . La Antropologa constata que las personas se estn volviend o
m s vigilantes, d esconfiad as y cautelosas tanto a nivel pblico como
privad o. Son m uchos los pensad ores que hablan d e obsesin y por ello del
m ito d e la segurid ad . Se califica no d e m ied o sino d e angustia que rem ite a
una am enaza no id entificable que pued e surgir d esd e cualquier parte del
planeta. Tod os d ebemos concienciarnos d e que la segurid ad total es
im posible y que el camino para conseguir grad os justos d e segurid ad pasa
19
por el m antenimiento d e las costum bres tradicionales que aspiraban a

m antener la confianza en las personas. Pero es la d isfuncin que existe entre
lo que pensam os y lo que practicam os en la vid a social lo que im pid e
alcanzar ese id eal. Por ello d ebem os conven cernos que es precisam ente la
d esconfianza lo que genera la tensin que pued e ir m inand o poco a poco la
segurid ad que tod os anhelam os.
3. D imensin simblica: seguridad cultural
Es cierto que estam os entrand o en un mund o hiperconectad o,
m ultipolar y post-occid ental. Pero tam bin es cierto que est configurad o y
se rige por los cnones que cre el saber surgid o en esta rea d e civilizacin.
A travs d e la d enom inad a cultura d e masas ha im puesto al resto d e las
socied ad es sus m od os de pensar y vivir: id entifica hombre occid ental con el
H om bre. El rechazo d e esta im posicin nos perm ite entend er que estem os
en una situacin d e guerra cultural. El sentim iento d e arraigo cultural y la
d efensa d e la propia id entid ad cultural han traspasad o los lm ites d e lo que
se consid eraba ntim o para convertirse en un problem a d e segurid ad
nacional e internacional. Por ejem plo: Samuel Huntington enfrenta la
civilizacin occid ental con las otras: civilizacin islmica, civilizacin
hind, civilizacin budista, etc. Se pued e estar en d esacuerd o tanto con las
id eas com o con las propuestas d e este politlogo, pero en m anera alguna se
pued e negar la existencia d e una tensin entre pueblos con culturas
d iferentes que pone en peligro la segurid ad d e los ciud ad anos. El
sentimiento d e pertenencia es una necesid ad vital d e las personas, es m ucho
m s com pleja que la d icotom a que presenta este autor, se expresa en form a
d e id entid ad cultural o tnica y se consid era un valor que tod os tienen que
respetar.
20
La presencia d e tensiones o enfrentamientos culturales genera, a nivel

nacional, problem as sociales urgentes que ponen en peligro la arm ona
entre los m iembros d e nuestras sociedad es cada vez m s m ulticulturales.
Afectan a tem as polticos concretos com o la legislacin sobre em igracin,
norm as d e cond ucta para la vid a diaria, la constitucin d e una ortod oxia, la
legitimizacin d e la violencia y/ o d e la insurreccin. A nivel internacional
tam bin se esgrim e, especialm ente por los populistas, la d efensa d e la
id entidad cultural que se consid era atacad a y la tom an com o arm a d e lucha
en su poltica tanto interior com o exterior. Tam bin se conocen las
d ificultad es que han tenid o los m ilitares, tanto en m isiones d e paz com o de
guerra, para resolver los conflictos ante el choque cultural que tienen que
superar cuand o contactan con pueblos d e culturas d iferentes.
Las personas no son reprod ucciones en m iniatura d e su propia
socied ad . La experiencia d e su relacin con los m iem bros d e su gru po social
genera una auto-concepcin que se resuelve en una simbolizacin
consistente d e lo que uno piensa que es y d ebe hacer. Los factores
socioculturales son condicin sine qua non para su d esarrollo. Una cultura
viva es aquella cuyos m iem bros d eciden tomar la s riend as d el proceso
social para configurar su propio futuro, es d ecir, generar sentid o. Lo pued en
alcanzar cuand o respetan a otras com unid ad es y, d entro d el contexto global
que nos embarga, negocia con el resto para poder construir en libertad su
propia historia. Es aquella que, sin renunciar a su propia id entid ad cultural,
d ecid e apropiarse d e su d estino y buscar el sentid o com o com unid ad d entro
d el am plio arco d e posibilid ad es que ofrece la naturaleza hum ana.
En este nuevo contexto globalizad o el reto que tenem os por d elante es
reconocer el valor intrnseco d e las contribuciones d e la inm ensa riqueza de
culturas que han id o configurand o el patrim onio cultur al d e la H um anid ad .
La cultura es d ilogo, intercam bio d e id eas y experiencias, apreciacin d e
otros valores y tradiciones y, en consecuencia, se agota y m uere en el
aislam iento. Ello supone el respeto por el sistem a d e creencias, valores y
norm as que conform an la cultura d e los pueblos. De tod as m aneras ello no
supone la aceptacin d el relativism o m oral. Pluralism o cultural no se
21
id entifica con subjetivism o o relativism o. H ay principios universales que

tod as las culturas d eben respetar. Pero ello no im plica que haya que
im ponerlos a otras socied ad es sino convencer a sus m iem bros d e su validez.
Es el nico cam ino realista para evitar el choqu e d e civilizaciones y pod er
cam inar hacia la paz y la segurid ad d e las naciones.
4. D imensin territorial: seguridad geopoltica
En la cultura occid ental persiste la id ea y la conviccin d e que estam os
cam inand o y finalm ente serem os capaces d e construir una socied ad global.
En este escenario d e futuro los Estad os-nacin tend ran que d esaparecer por
m uchas razones. Una d e las principales razones que se esgrim en es el hecho
evid ente d e que por s solos no pued en hacer frente a las am enazas contra la
segurid ad que pued en provenir d e cualquier parte d el globo. El pod er
instrum ental d e los Estad os-nacin resulta realm ente insuficiente para
solucionar los problemas que plantea la globalizacin. Pero la crud a
realid ad es que los Estados no ced en pod er y que estam os cam inand o hacia
una socied ad cad a vez m s estatalizad a. Constatam os tambin que es una
utopa la creacin d e unas instituciones internacionales que seran capaces
d e arm onizar los interese d e los Estad os y ad em s frenar los abusos del
pod er d e los Estad os que utilizan la fuerza al margen y fuera d e las leyes
establecid as y aceptad as por la m ayora d e las na ciones. El actual sistem a
m und ial no es d em ocrtico y la violacin d e las norm as no pued e controlar
la d inm ica d e los d iscursos extrem istas. Las que actualm ente existen
d epend en directam ente d e los intereses d e los Estad os pod erosos y
com and ad os por el poder d e Estad os Unid os. Tras el d eclive, en m anera
alguna d esaparicin, del im perio am ericano se abre un period o de
incertid um bre que es absolutam ente necesario superar. En esta situacin
est em ergiend o una nueva y sutil form a d e im perialism o: un bloque
econm ico y poltico que pretend e d isear el futuro d el planeta. Est
constituid o por los pases m s d esarrollad os d e la tierra con la exclusin d e
China. Occid ente no se resigna a perd er el pod er que antao tuvo sobre el
resto d e los pases. Son m uchos los que interpretan este intento d e unin
22
geopoltica com o una form a d e m antener el pod er am ericano y al mism o

tiem po d e frenar el ascenso d e China.
Es bastante plausible pensar que nunca se conseguir esta gran red de
pases unid os y enfrentad os a China. Ms bien se pued e anticipar un futuro
con Estad os fuertes o potencias m und iales que se pued en convertir en el
ncleo d e lo que los antroplogos d enom inam os unid ad es d e civilizacin.
Parece m s verosm il anticipar un futuro con Estad os fuerte y pod erosos a
los que se conectan otros Estad os con intereses y trad iciones culturales
sem ejantes. H asta ahora constatam os que las nuevas entid ad es estatales
surgid as solo pued en sobrevivir por m ed io d e la sum isin clientelista a un
Estad o fuerte y pod eroso, vecino o lejano. Es un ind icio para sup oner que
no aparecer un nuevo im perio que d om ine el planeta y que, por tanto, no
se va a convertir en un superpod er que lo d om ine. El m s firm e cand idato
para asum ir este papel pod ra ser China que d e hecho no da signos
m anifiestos d e querer asum irlo. Per o al analizar su inm enso pod er
econm ico y militar as com o su presencia en todos los rincones d el m und o
inm ed iatam ente surge la pregunta: cul va a ser el papel d e China com o
una superpotencia que tiene intereses en tod as las partes d el planeta?
En esta situacin d e incertid um bre es cuando m s se necesita el
reconocimiento d e que estam os cam inand o a un m und o policntrico. Se
pued e ensalzar la id ea d e un im perio q ue garantizara la segurid ad d el
planeta. Pero ese futuro im perial no es realista. Lo que tenem os es que
convencernos d e la necesid ad d e llegar a acuerdos entre Estad os segn los
principios d e la iguald ad , la justicia y la solid arid ad . Quizs esto sea una
utopa porque ninguno respeta las norm as internacionales sino que las
interpretan segn sus propios intereses. Pero lo que a tod a costa d ebemos
evitar es la polarizacin entre las d os grand es superpotencias. H ace
tiem po que estn librand o la batalla d e la d enom inad a ciberguerra: el uso
d e las tecnologas d igitales para conocer y as pod er atacar y d estruir los
centros vitales d el otro y d e sus d e los aliados. Am bas potencias estn
obsesionad as por la cibersegurid ad . De m om ento esta guerra solam ente se
est librand o en el ciberespacio y su im pacto real es m uy limitad o y ad ems
conocid o y consensuad o entre ellos. Pero no pod em os en m anera alguna
23
d escartar el peligro d e un enfrentamiento m ilitar si lo que por el m om ento

es solam ente virtual se convierte en real. Y d ebem os saberlo para pod er
evitarlo porque d e lo contrario volvera a aparecer el riesgo d e la am enaza
nuclear que ya d bamos por term inad a. Es una am enaza m ucho m s
peligrosa que la no id entificable que supone el terrorism o internacional.
Dm onos cuenta d e que m ientras existan arm as atm icas la am enaza
nuclear persiste.
24
Introd u ction: Anthrop ology and Secu rity Stu d ies
Know thyself
Introduction: Anthropology and Security Studies

Fina Antn Hurtado and Giovanni Ercolani 2
1. The production of know ledge and Security Studies

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and a set of equally im portant other
changes in the global system around 1989-92, w hich includ ed the
acceleration of change in China and in the Midd le East as w ell as in East West relations, there has been a transform ation of the concept of security
aw ay from a relatively fixed trad itional image. But, m uch m ore than
changes in a concept alone, there have been transform ations in social
practice and in the political and d iscursive practices w hich prod uce and
sustain id eas of security. These shifts have ranged from the everyd ay d etail
of quotid ian life to the grand narratives of conflict, w ar on terror, fear and
anxiety. They touch the m anagem ent of international institutions and civil
society as w ell as states and governm ents. They reach w ell beyond the
trad itional bound aries of acad em ic political science and acad em ic
international relations, although th ey have engaged w ith both. What this
unpred ictable and unpred icted - event revealed to us is that all those
previous authenticated reports, w hich w ere sold as know led ge d uring the
cold w ar, w ere not innocent narratives or w ord s w ithout responsibilities,
but m ost of the tim e, all the d iscourses, concepts, and id eologies based on
that narrative, w ere structures for them selves. This begs questions about the
relationships betw een w hat is und erstood as know led ge and received
w isd om , w hat everyd ay behaviour and everyd ay practices im ply, and the
The au thors w ou ld like to thank Prof. Christop her Farrand s for his constru ctive
com m ents and his ed iting contribu tion.
2
25
Fina Antn H u rtad o and Giovanni Ercolani
narratives, d iscourses, language and id eologies of security. In this volume,

the authors collectively argue that this is a field to w hich anthropology can
contribute pow erfully. We d o not d oubt the relevance of politics or
international relations or critical security stud ies; but w e d o d eny them a
m onopoly. This introd uction sets out the basic argum ent for anthropology
of security w hich each chapter elaborates in its ow n w ay.
H ow ever, the collection of the bod y of evid ence and argum ent w hich
em erged in this re-evaluation of security revealed som ething m ore then the
sim ple pretend ed scientificity of the various International Relations and
Security theories. These, on the official accepted perceptions, found their
valid ity, and scientific legitim acy, and then, as a result of this authentication
protocol, their undisputed right to d escribe the unsecure reality. The
accum ulated evidences d isplayed the vital connection betw een the theories
and the very structures that prod uced th ese theses. Then this bod y of
evid ence w as used to question the scientific validity of the theories, and the
truth and the underlying intentions of the very structure that prod uced
them . Established theories and structures w hich had com e to have a unique
status as pow erful d iscourses and explanations cam e to be challenged by
these new critical and m ultid isciplinary approaches w hich started
prod ucing d ifferent and contrasting discourses on the sam e realities. In this
new globalized w orld , despite the fact th at various voices can be heard , and
id eally everyone is interconnected , still the realm of the certification of w hat
constitute know led ge is a real battlefield , as the Foucauld ian critique of
relations of pow er-know led ge have suggested .
Thus w hile som e theory-structures found them selves apparently
obsolete or inad equate for the new political-economic-social global
land scape, and som e had to leave the stage and vanish, other structures
fought back fiercely in ord er to survive and to retain their part of pow e r
(political, econom ical, social and sym bolical), w hich the new realities, and
w ith them new perceptions and m ethod ologies w ere putting at risk.
H ow ever, this process of re-ad aptation, w hich started just after the
im plosion of the Soviet Union in 1991, is still incom plete tod ay, and sees
confronting structures of know led ge prod ucing opposite or antagonistic
security theories w hich vie to have their voices heard . As an exam ple, if w e
had to retrace all the narratives w hich und er the label of security d escr ibed
26
particular historical social events like the Bosnian War, the Kosovo conflict,
and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th , and w hich accom panied , and justified ,
particular w estern policy and / or m ilitary operations like the Kosovo
intervention, the w ar in Afghanistan and Iraq, or the recent w ar in Libya
against the inhum an authoritarian regim e of Gadd afi, then w e w ill notice a
d ram atic gap betw een the a priori narrative texts w hich justified the
intervention, and the a posteriori realities present in the territories of the
other w hich w ere transform ed in the theatre of m ilitary -hum anitarian
operations. Whenever these a priori narratives had the function to d escribe
blood y events and m obilize an international political support for som e
specific hum anitarian and m ilitary operations, in the end they participated
in the prod uction of a set of specific ethnocentric values w hich reinforced
the official narrating structures of know led ge. If those d ram atic events w ere
translated through interpretive und erstand ing, the translation stand s as an
exercise of pow er w hich prod uces a d om inant language and a new w orld of
id entities of exclusion and inclusion.
The problem here is ambivalent in the sense that not only the prod uced
translations and narratives w hich d epicted the actors and the events (the
others) w ere far from the truth, but the main point is that the broad casted
d ram atic d iscourses had to convince a specific target, the w e-aud ience, and
then for this reason, in ord er to persuad e, they had to be constructed o n a
set of com prehensible stereotypes fram ed in a specific social and cultural
value, language system : thus Um berto Eco is right to say that it is alw ays
the read er w ho w rites the book.
H ow ever, once the w e international military hum anitarian m ission
puts its foot on the others theatre of operation, and the w e sold iers
experienced the d angerous d istance betw een the reality in w hich they had
to operate, and the one narrated in their m ission m anual, it w as
d em onstrated that a theory is alw ays for som eone and for som e purpose.
Each perspective d erives from a position in time and space, specifically in
social and political tim e and space. The w orld is seen from a stand point
d efinable in term s of nation, or social class, of d om inance or subord ination,
of rising or d eclining pow er, of colonial history, of a sense of imm obility or
of present crisis, and of past experience, and of hopes and expectations for
the future (Cox 1981:126).
27
As an exam ple of how particular narratives w ith political repercussion

w ere orchestrated , consid er the exhaustive stud y cond ucted by Lene
H ansen titled Security as Practice: Discourse Analysis and the Bosnian
War (2007). Using discourse analysis, H ansen exam ines the Western
construction of the Balkans d uring the Bosnian w ar. Read ing this historical
genealogy, w hich rem ind s the read er of the w ork of Ed w ard Said on
Orientalism, w e d iscover how the official British and Am erican policies
based their perceptions and construction of the others Balkans on tw o non scientific texts, Robert D. Kaplans Balkan Ghosts (1993) and Rebecca
Wests Black Lam b and Grey Falcon: A Journey through Yugoslavia (1941).
The problem here is that these representations, w hich w ere assum ed as
know led ge, form ed the basis for the d esign of specific state policies, w ith
the result of ind irectly w orsening alread y d ram atic events, w ith d ead ly
repercussions on the lives of the local people involved in the conflict. This is
not just the im pact of unintended consequences; it is also the consequence
of unreflexive or, m ore bluntly, ignorant assumptions at w ork across the
post-colonial d ivide betw een d ominant and peripheral actors.
During the period of the Cold War, the stud y of security w as d one
und er a particular hegem onic m ilitary-strategic perspective to w hich a
specific political vision w as attached , not least because the d irect m ilitary
threat had an identifiable face and a specific political antagonist id eology,
now , after 1991, w ith the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reconstruction of
European and global international relations, this Manichean construction of
the w orld sim ply lost all applicability. As a consequence, w e started
w itnessing the proclaim ed exhaustion of the great id eologies, the
inauguration of the new w orld ord er, the em ergence of narra tives w hich
pred icted the end of history in the nam e of a utopian global liberal w orld ,
and the apocalyptic vision of a clash of civilizations.
And of course all these d iscourses w ere politically, scientifically, and
acad em ically certified as know led ge, an d in their intention they pretended
to red raw new lines of dem arcation. The w e and other categories begged
to be re-allocated , but fierce d ebates surround ed how (and w hether) those
lines m ight be re-established .
H ow ever, d espite the scientific prophecies w ith cartographic
am bitions, a m ore critical and sceptical analysis of the reality w as
28
sim ultaneously revealing that w hat w as em erging from the ashes of the
Cold War w as a com pletely d ifferent picture from the one w hich sym bolises
the end of the Secon d World War w hen an ord er w as established on a w orld
d ivid ed as chessboard w ith only tw o players.
2. N ew Times, N ew Empires, and N ew Security Maps
Panta rhei (everything flow s) rem ind s the philosopher H eraclitus.
H ow ever, in spite of the H . G. Wells n ovel, a real tim e m achine has not yet
been invented , and the nostalgic hum an action of putting back the arm s of
the history clock is an activity w hich apparently has not only inspired the
scripts of several entertaining m ovies. Tim e w as not frozen at the p oint just
before the Cold War ended , and even though som e security theorists m ight
have felt m ore comfortable sticking to their old assum ptions, global politics
had changed too m uch and too fast. As a consequence of the im possibility
of returning to that d istant id eal, the d isciplined pre and Cold -War tim e,
and theorists too had to ad apt to the fact that w e w ere d ealing w ith new
tim es, and new societies, w hich in turn had m ajor repercussions on
perceptions of national and international security.
The first evid ence of the features of the new times w as represented by
the fact that the d ed uctive id ea w hich sustained the strategic security
concept, that the principal source of insecurity w as tied to a possible
interstate w ar betw een the tw o Super Pow ers, had com pletely lost its
cred ibility. H ow ever, the m ost shocking proof w as represented by the
palpable truth that the main holder of pow er w as no longer solely id entified
w ith the State, and that pow er in its practice w as not only operating insid e
the bord ers of one state state-m anaged em pire. If w e observe photographs
of the Yalta Conference (February 411, 1945), w e can clearly point out the
im ages of Presid ent Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prim e Minister Winston
Churchill, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin, and affir m that they w ere
representing the pow er of United States, of the United Kingd om, and the
Soviet Union. In this case, w hen w e talk of State pow er, this has to be
und erstood insid e the legal fram e w hich d efines a sovereign state as a
political and legal system w ith a centralized governm ent, a suprem e
ind epend ent authority over a geographic area and its populations. It is a
29
pow er that also controls the use of arm ed forces, to w hich it has a full
m onopoly. Tod ay, this is no longer the case even though m ajor sta tes retain
enorm ous pow er. If w e had to look now , for exam ple, at a set of m ore recent
pictures of a major global conference, it w ould be m ore com plicated . This is
the case w ith the picture w hich catches the perm anent m embers of the
United N ation Security Council, w ith the one of the participant to the
Group of Eight (G8) forum , and finally w ith the official photograph o f the
Group of Tw enty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G20).
Like a rapid sequence of a m ovie, w e w ill see and und erstand that not only
the appearance of the politicians and the essence and quality of pow er
behind them has changed , but even how the geographical location of pow er
has shifted aw ay from the centres of pow er of the geopolitical chessboard of
the Cold War period . Thus the G-20 econom ies collectively account for
m ore than 80 percent of the gross w orld prod uct, 80 percent of w orld trad e
(includ ing EU intra-trade), and tw o-third s of the w orld population. N ew
lead ers not present at such a sum m it includ e the lead ers of Al Q aed a and
the CEOs of m ajor banks and corporations. We can say that at least on sole
occasions the old centres of pow er of the w orld are the new peripheries and
the old peripheries are the new centres of pow er; or, as Zygm unt Bauman
w rites: on such a plan et, the past separation betw een the insid e and the
outsid e, or for this m atter betw een the centre and the periphery is no
longer tenable (Baum an, 2006: 125).
At the sam e time, w e can ad d that if d uring the colonial period the
m ain actors of the colonizing process w ere the various Empires, w ith the
post-colonial period w e see and perceive the end of the trad itional im perial
pow er. Consid ering now the new neoliberal political economical global
context (launched after the im plosion of the Soviet Union by the Western
Pow ers), w e can affirm that a neo-colonial period has been inaugurated by
new neoliberal im perial pow ers. If the face of the old Empires has changed ,
the intention, the aim to im perare (to com m and and to rule) of the new
em pires has not. But there are not sim ply new state actors; new institutions,
and classes of actors com plicate and transform the nature of pow er
relations.
This calls into question the mainstream , and still som etim es popular,
International Relations theory of Realism , w hich recognizes the sovereign
30
state as the m ajor actor in the international system . This theory overlaps the
concept of security w ith that of state pow er, and w hich identifies external
w ar as the prim ary source of insecurity for the state, and thus m aintains as a
protocol of action solutions through m ilitary m eans. Of course, som e states
are sovereign in the old sense, and a few are hyper -sovereign. But a good
proportion of the 196 states in the global system have only bare vestiges of
sovereignty, and many key actors in the new order are not states at all. We
can com e to the logical conclusion that an analysis of this sort is not valid
any m ore in the globalized system . The reasons are various, and first of all
w e have to look at the concept of pow er and how it has changed of essence
in the last years.
During the Cold War, pow er w as generally understood as d omination
in a one-dim ensional view (A has pow er over B to the extend that he can
get B to d o som ething that B w ould not otherw ise d o; Lukes, 2005: 16), a nd
w as quantified accord ing to the number of nuclear w eapons, the
conventional arsenal, and the number of sold iers possessed by each of the
opposing block. H ow ever this vision d oes not reflect the new capacities and
potentialities of pow er in the new historical context. While the state in the
pre-globalized w orld w as still in a position to provid e and prom ise security
through military pow er (follow ing the Realist form ula) for its ow n territory,
populations, and structures, tod ay, the liquid (using an expr ession d ear to
Zygm unt Baum an) threats posed by non -state actors and non-state pow ers
to the social, economic, political, environm ental, and m ilitary sectors of a
state, encounter the bord er of a country as com pletely vulnerable and
penetrable. As Ulrich Beck puts it, the nation-state has ceased to be the
source of a fram e of reference that encom passes all other frames of reference
and enables political answ er to be found . Moreover, the terrorist attacks of
11th September 2001 teach us that pow er d oes not translate into security
(Beck, 2006: xii). The sam e argum ent can be applied to m igration, to
crim inal organizations transnational activities, to the m arket in organs, and
even to legal and illegal financial activities to w hich the bord ers of a state
are largely perm eable. Thus the com plex realities of the post cold w ar
period , w ith the restructuring of the international system and w ith the
arrival on the stage of new great pow ers (m ore than states but less than
superpow ers) im pose a new vision of the n ational and international
31
security agend a, generating w hat Roland Dannreuther has called critical

security threats (2008: 210). These critical security threats, w hich are based
on five sectors of security (m ilitary, political, econom ical, societal, and
environm ental) as Barry Buzan (1991) has show n, d em onstrate the kind of
m enaces states face. They sum m arize the various aspects of the
vulnerabilities of the contem porary state w hich are not only lim ited to the
m ilitary field or to military solutions.
As an exam ple, the N orth Atlantic Allied Organization (N ATO)
recently affirm ed that: the security of the Alliance w ill be challenged by a
w id e variety of risks, m ilitary as w ell as non -m ilitary, that w ill be often
d ifficult to pred ict. These risks includ e uncertainty and instability in and
around the Euro-Atlantic area and the possibility of regional crises at the
periphery of the Alliance, both of w hich could d evelop rapid ly. Ethnic,
political and religious rivalries, territorial d isputes, d isputes over vital
resources, inad equate or failed efforts at reform , the abuse of hum an rights
and the d issolution of states w ill lead to local and regional instability and
the Alliance security interests could be affected by other extant or em erging
risks includ ing acts of terrorism , sabotage, organized crim e, uncontrolled
m ovem ent of large num bers of people (particularly as a consequence of
arm ed conflict) or d isputes over often d w indling vital resources3.
The recent N ATO AJP-3.4.9 Allied Joint Doctrine for Civil-Military Coop eration on
21st centu ry threats says: 0101. Large-scale conventional aggression against the
Alliance is u nlikely in the near fu tu re bu t the p ossibility of su ch a threat em erging
over the longer term rem ains. Meanw hile the secu rity of the Alliance w ill be
challenged by a w id e variety of risks, m ilitary as w ell as non -m ilitary, that w ill be
often d ifficu lt to p red ict. These risks inclu d e u ncertainty and instability in and
arou nd the Eu ro-Atlantic area and the p ossibility of regional crises at the p erip hery
of the Alliance, both of w hich cou ld d evelop rap id ly. Ethnic, p olitical and religiou s
rivalries, territorial d isp u tes, d isp u tes over vital resou rces, inad equ ate or failed
efforts at reform , the abu se of hu m an rights and the d issolu tion of states w ill lead to
local and regional instability. The resu lting tensions cou ld create a w id e sp ectru m
of consequ ences, ranging from the need to p rovid e hu m anitarian assistance to
arm ed conflict. They cou ld also affect the secu rity of the Alliance by sp illing over
into neighbou ring cou ntries, inclu d ing N ATO m em bers and cou ld affect the
secu rity of other states. 0102. Any arm ed attack on the territory of the Allies w ou ld
generate a resp onse u nd er Articles 5 and 6 of th e N orth Atlantic Treaty. H ow ever,
Alliance secu rity interests cou ld be affected by other extant or em erging risks
3
32
At the sam e tim e these threats can help us to id entify, w here it is

possible, the sector in w hich m ultinational and non -state structures operate
(not to m ention the international criminal organization) w ith their ow n
pow ers w hich can have m ilitary, or political, econom ical, societal, and
environm ental peculiarities. These structures at the sam e tim e have the
capacity to launch and exercise their pow er behind and across the
geographical bord ers of a state. H ow ever it is especially precisely one of
those sectors id entified by Barry Buzan, the societal one, w hich played a n
im portant role in the erosion of the pow er and legitim acy of the state in the
post cold w ar period , and then as a consequence represents to us the second
reason w hich confirm the inability of the state to secure its ow n pow er. If
societal security concerns the sustainability, w ithin acceptable cond itions
for evolution, of trad itional patterns of language, culture and religious and
national id entity and custom (Buzan, 1991: 19), w hat started to be
experienced after the end of bipolar confrontation w as a resurgence of
ethnic nationalism and religious-based violence, as w ell as political
m anoeuvring in a number of countries w hich used ethnic and religious
d ifference as a pretext for provoking insecurity and violence..
Whereas ethnic and identity-based d iscourses w ere alread y in play at
the end of the Second World War as ind epend ence m ovem ents w hich
ad vocated national self-d eterm ination and recognition for form er colonies,
inclu d ing acts of terrorism , sabotage, organized crim e, u ncontrolled m ovem ent of
large nu m bers of p eop le (p articu larly as a consequ ence of arm ed conflict) or
d isp u tes over often d w ind ling vital resou rces. The variou s foru m s in the Alliance
give m em ber states p latform s to d iscu ss m u tu al secu rity issu es u nd er article 4 of
the N orth Atlantic Treaty and the op p ortu nity to coord inate their resp onses to risks
of this kind . 0103. The evolving strategic environm ent. Alliance d octrine m u st take
into accou nt the changing context in w hich arm ed forces are u sed . The strategic
environm ent w ill becom e increasingly d ynam ic and com p lex. There w ill be a
variety of factors that d irectly influ ence or cau se change, as w ell as d iscernable
p atterns in that change. There w ill also be a hand fu l of key strategic d rivers of
change: globalization of society, p olitical geom etry, d em ograp hic and
environm ental change and the im p act of technology. The N ATO AJP-3.4.9 Allied
Joint
Doctrine
for
Civil-Military
Coop eration
is
available
at:
http s:/ / w w w .gov.u k/ governm ent/ u p load s/ system / u p load s/ attachm ent_d ata/ fil
e/ 142538/ 20130306_ajp 3_4_9_jd p 3_90_cim ic.p d f.
33
it w as ignored or subordinated to id eological consid erations d uring the cold

w ar because it w as assum ed that id eological affiliation w as enough to
provid e id entity and a cosm ology of reference.
Then m ost of the countries and nations w hich saw their aggregating
political id entities disintegrate w ith the fall of the Berlin Wall, they entered
in a historical period of red efinition of their ow n id entities in ord er to
reaffirm their sense of belonging to a m eaningful universe. This is because
those hum an groups, w hose id entities w ere attached to a particular
id eology, saw their symbolic universe collapse, and w ith it their capacity to
find those reference points w hich helped them to und erstand the w orld and
give them a m eaning to their existence. As Peter Berger and Thomas
Luckm ann w rote: the sym bolic universe provid es a com prehensive
integration of all d iscrete institutional process. The entire society now
m akes sense. Particular institutions and roles are legitim ated by reference to
a cosm ic ord er of pow er and justice, and political roles are legitim ated as
representations of these cosm ic principles (Berger and Luckm ann, 1991:
121).
It w as in this period that various ethnic groups, that no longer
recognized their physical, religious, and cultural position insid e the political
and geographical bord ers of their ow n states, and w hich felt increasing ly
m enaced , entered a process of red efinition of the d ivid e-line betw een the
w e and the other. It w as through this activity that these groups
recuperated , and m ost of the tim e, reinvented their history, as an ord ered
sym bolic universe, w ith the purpose to recreate them selves, and the
others, and to look at the future w ith an enthusiastic gaze at their heroic
past. As Michael Ignatieff w rites, analysing the face of the new nationalism
in a context of id entity und er stress: Freud once argued that the s m aller the
real d ifference betw een tw o peoples the larger it w as bound to loom in their
im agination. H e called this effect the narcissism of m inor d ifference. Its
corollary m ust be that enem ies need each other to rem ind them selves of
w ho they really are. A Croat, thus, is som eone w ho is not a Serb. A Serb is
som eone w ho is not a Croat. Without hatred of the other, there w ould be no
clearly d efined national self w orship and ad ore (Ignatieff, 1984: 14).
H ow ever these signs of id entities had their ow n specific d istinctive
cultural, spatial, and territorial d imensions, w hich m ost of the tim e did not
34
coincid e w ith the factual hom ogenous presence of one specific group in a
d eterm ined territory. Due to the social engineering policy w hich w as one of
the m ain characteristic of the form er soviet com m unist countries politics,
population patterns m ost of the tim e d id not correspond to any historical
and cultural original territory (as w as often also the case w ith the artificial
colonial-created boundaries of new states in Asia and Africa). This is w hy
the new ly-released aspirations for id entity and territory expressed by
d ifferent ethnic groups contributed to those ethnic conflicts w hich broke out
around the bord ers of Europe in the 1990s.
If w estern countries (and their security structures) w ere taken by
surprise by these d ram atic events, it is because they w ere still looking at the
w orld , protected insid e our fortress, w ith the nave id ea that w e had w on
the Cold War, and that the future of m ankind w ould be to m ove t o a
prosperous m arket-led stability, perhaps forgetting the fact that the m ost
d eveloped territories of the w estern w orld had since the beginning of the
tw entieth century experienced tw o World Wars and the unforgettable, and
ind efensible d ram a of the H olocaust. H ow ever a further m ajor source of
w estern surprise w as d ue to sim ple ignorance of w hat w as going on behind
our d efend ed bord ers.
So far w e can sum m arise the m ain critical points w hich em erged from
an analysis of the events related to the relation bet w een the end of the Cold
War, and the prod uction of know led ge referred to the concept of security,
and w hich are of interest for this introd uction. What em erges from this
hum an laboratory is:
a problem of philosophy of science in w hich ontological and

epistem ological questions have to be re-presented in ord er to falsify
the m ethod ology of research;
the fact that the concept of security is not any m ore tied to a m ilitary
interpretation and a military solution;
the fact that the state d oesnt retain the sam e quality and am ount of
pow er as before, and w hat pow er it d oes have has been transform ed ;
the fact that pow er conceived as d om ination (political, econom ical,
social, etc) is held in the hand s of non -state actors and other
agencies, of varying d egrees of legitim acy and capability;
35
that the concept of security is linked to sym bolic representations of

ind ivid ual and collectives id entities;
that no analysis can ignore the strong link betw een pow er and
know led ge w hich inform s any of the contentious d iscourses of
security and insecurity.
These claim s form the starting point for an analysis, but are not
sufficient on their ow n to ground a stronger approach to re-thinking
security. We now turn to the elaboration of a m ore specific approach, w hich
w ill lead to an anthropological approach.
3. Security is profoundly political
The problem outlined here is not only related to the d efinition of the
referent object of security, the ind ivid uation of the threat, the id entification
of enem y, and how to respond to this m enace, but it is som ething m ore
broad , d eep, and com plex. Security is profound ly political (Dalby, 1997:
22), and as Bradley S. Klein (1997: 362) says security stud ies w as entirely a
prod uct of the post-World War II environm ent, w hen liberal societies
und ertook projects of both d ecolonizing and m aintaining global ord er
und er Western protection and coord ination. In Gram scian term s, security
becam e a crucial elem ent in the construction of hegem ony a hegem ony
that operated not sim ply betw een states but below them as a m echanism for
binding the civil societies of the West and its aspiring allies. Its selfrepresentation, in H obbesian term s of an anarchic security dilem ma,
m asked the d eeper global politics of state build ing, elite recruitm ent,
m od ernization , m ilitary-police training, and societal incorporation. Security,
in other w ord s, w as never sim ply about preparing against m ilitary threat
out there. It w as alw ays intend ed as a w ay of defending com m on w ays of
life. It w as an inherently cultural practice that w as alw ays about m ore than
just the d eploym ent of w eapons system .
36
H ow ever, even if w e do not agree w ith the above sentence, and w e

w ant to continuous to interpret the concept of security through the m ilitary
parad igm , w e m ight look at the follow ing tw o inspiring quotations, w hich
are fam iliar to any strategic stud ies stud ent, and then confront them , w ith
the use of som e questions, to question the possibility of putting into practice
a realist-m ilitary vision of security. These specific quotations ar e chosen
because they are often consid ered as the pillars of strategic visions of
security analysis and policies. The first quotation from Sun Tzus The Art of
War claim s: It is said that if you know your enem ies and know yourself,
you w ill not be im perilled in a hund red battles; if you d o not know your
enem ies but d o know yourself, you w ill w in one and lose one; if you d o not
know your enemies nor yourself, you w ill be im perilled in every single
battle. The second quotation is from Thucyd id es, w ho w ro te that people go
to w ar for fear, profit, and honour.
N ow the first em pirical question that w e w ant to pose based on the Sun
Tzu quotation is the follow ing: d espite the intelligence activities, the
acad em ic research, and all the bod y of know led ge prod uced d uring the
Cold War on our Soviet Com m unist foe, d id w e really know our enem y? If
so, w hy w ere w e not able to pred ict the fall of the Berlin Wall? And the
sam e question can be applied to m ore recent d ram atic events w hich erupted
in form er com m unist land s, includ ing form er Yugoslavia and the Caucasus.
Moreover, taking Thucyd id es quotation, w e can ask the second em pirical
question: w hen the Bosnian War erupted , w hy w ere w e not able to detect
how the others w ere living their fears, honour, and self inte rest, and w here
these m otivations located ? In answ ering these tw o epistem ological
questions, w hich challenge the proced ure of the acquisition of know led ge, a
genealogical vision has to be ad opted. Even if form er Yugoslavia refused to
take part in the com m u nist Warsaw Pact, and instead took a neutral stance
in the Cold War, still on the N ATO map, and in practical term s, it w as
consid ered a com m unist enem y. In Italy, d uring the Cold War, the so called
N orth-East Military Region, the Italian, and N ATO, bord er to Yugoslavia,
housed the prepond erance of military units, and continuous m ilitary
exercises w ere cond ucted along the bord ers, w here a potential Soviet
Com m unist attack w as staged .
37
H ow ever our cartographic-cultural-social know led ge of the other

never surpassed that inim ical frontier. In m ilitary -political-security term s it
w as consid ered enough to protect our bord ers through an Iron Wall, as for
exam ple the one provided by the tactical d eploym ent of the tanks of the
Italian 132nd Arm oured Division Ariete. Thus the m ilitary securitizing
action arrived just w here the N ATO geographical territory end ed. After that
line, it w as terra incognita. H ow ever, the same m ilitary -securitizing action
w as cond ucted insid e the N ATO territories even w ithout tanks. In the
Italian m ilitary environm ent, as an exam ple, gathering inform ation
activities w ere cond ucted even insid e the m ilitary structures, and w ere
aim ed to unm ask possible internal sym pathizers or those affiliated to the
com m unist cause. Once these people w ere spotted , they w ere im m ediately
classified as potential spies, enem ies, unreliable people, or even m em bers of
a fifth colum n. N evertheless, the sam e protocol of action has been used
until m ore recent tim e regard ing the prod uction of know led ge regarding
those out there in Third World territories that at the end of the Cold War
have becom e theatres of operations of First World m ilitary -hum anitarian
interventions.
And now another question w hich challenges the ethnocentric position
of the strategic vision of security stud ies, and d em onstrates the fallacy in the
prod uction of know led ge, and in the construction of the other enem y out
there: did w e seriously think that these others w ho did not pertain to our
d efined cultural, social, ethnic, econom ic, and geographical sphere of
interpretation, to our sym bolic universe, w ere aliens not really m em bers of
the shared prim ate fam ily of the hominid ae? Science fiction portrays social
others as aliens or zom bies, and som etim es provid es a provocative
analogy w ith cold w ar or post old w ar alterification, but this is surely a
satire and not a basis for policy? Thus this strategic vision of security
stud ies w as com pletely w rong, d em onstrating an extraord inarily arrogant
vision of the w orld. Ind eed these others w ere apparently translated as
m ere bod ies w hich belong to a hum an category that Giorgio Agam ben
(1995) calls hom o sacer (bare life). Therefore, follow ing this reasoning, w e
should assum e that this hom o sacer d oesnt live like us, he (or better it)
has no fears, honour, or legitim ate interests. Maybe w e think that he/ it lives
38
out there on the hom o sacer planet, and som etim e he/ it appears to
threaten our security.
This ind ubitably d angerous parad igm of interpretation m akes us forget
that up to tod ay w e have only one planet Earth to live in, and that our
existence is, and w ill continues to be, insid e a fram ew ork d efined by the
anthropos (hum an being), the ethos (the d isposition, character, or
fund am ental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or
m ovem ent), the oikos (the space, the territory, house, etc), and the
chronos (tim e). It is a d im ension w hich basically d em onstrated how the
construction of the human being other as a sim ple bod y is a result of the
com plex of pow er-know led ge relations.
4. Challenging the hegemonic construction of the other and of the out
there enemies territories
H ow ever, even using the cultural m aterialism of Marvin H arris (2011),
w hich d epicts hum an social life as a response to the practical problem s of
earthly existence, and if w e com pare his approach to the justification of the
recent ethnic, intrastate conflicts, nevertheless w e can see how the
behavioral superstructure, and the m ental superstructure played the
m ost im portant m otivational cause in those w ars. Accord ing to Marvin
H arris, all the com ponents of a sociocultural system can be organized into:
Infrastructure ( Mod e of Prod uction, and Mod e of Reprod uction);
Structure (the sociocultural system s w hich is d ivid ed in: the Polit ical
Econom y and the Dom estic Econom y)
Superstructure
(Behavioral
Superstructure,
and
Mental
Superstructure).
For H arris, the m od e of prod uction and reproduction (infrastructure)
w ill probabilistically determ ine the political and d om estic structure
(structure), w hich in turn w ill probabilistically d eterm ine the behavioral
and m ental superstructure (superstructure).
But w hile the infrastructure is considered to be of prim ary im portance,
the structure and superstructures are not m ere reflections of infrast ructural
processes, but are in interaction w ith the infrastructure.
39
Consequently, even a materialist approach to culture, such as the one

d eveloped by H arris, points to those com ponents of a sociocultural system
w hich should be id entified , analysed , and stud ied in ord er to prod uce an
exhaustive stud y of the other and of ourselves. H ow ever, the strategic
approach to security negates this im age of hom o sacer as one w here
people live in a sociocultural system characterized by an infrastructure,
structure, and superstructure like ours. But in our com plex interconnected
and interd epend ent w orld , the structure w hich is in a hegem onic position
of pow er-know led ge has the ability to separate societies accord ing to the
Levi-Strauss d ivision of hot and cold societies. Then the w e society
(Western, First World) is the hot one w hich has its em phasis on progress
and then as a rational logic has a m aterialist vision of the socialcultural
system . On the opposite out there sid e, w e find the other cold socie ties
w hich are outsid e of history, and w here the irrational behavioural and
m ental structures (alleged ly) retain a pred om inant position in their culture.
And this activity of separating, classifing, and m apping our and other
societies goes further, because the hom o sacers of the out there societies
becom e subjects of an operation of the d epersonalization of their ow n
id entity. This is the process that Frantz Fanon calls d e-cerebralization,
through w hich the others they have been m ad e to see them selves as other,
alienated from their ow n culture, language, land (Young, 2003: 146). As a
result, the d ecebralized hom o sacer lives in his ow n environm ent as if this
w ere a terra incognita to him self too.
In ad d ition, another constant elem ent in this sociocultural system is the
topic of pow er. H ow ever, m ost of the tim e and d ue to the strategic security
vision w hich d oes not pay too m uch attention to the structure, this elem ent
is not given m uch im portance. N evertheless, the d escription of the d eed s of
pow er in non-w estern cultures not only help us to think the political process
in a d ifferent referential system w hich is d ifferent from ours, but it helps us
to reflect, using a comparative approach, on the coherence of our ow n
conceptions (Abls, 2008: 144).
There is another elem ent too w hich in a w ay challenges the
cartographic representation of the strategic security m ap in the land of us
and the terra incognita out there. Ind eed w hat d efines the contem porary
w orld is the circulation, m ore th an the structures and the stables
40
organizations () From and anthropological point of view , w e can d efine

globalization as an acceleration of the flux of capitals, of hum an beings,
prod ucts, im ages, and id eas. This intensification of interaction and
interconnection prod uces relations w hich transcend the traditional
geographical and political bord ers (Abls, 2008: 40). So, d ue to the fact of
this circulation, w e should concentrate our attention on w hat circulates,
w hat becom es liquid (and not concentrate our vision insid e the
geographical bord er of a security national concept), because fear, accord ing
to Zygm unt Baum an, is liquid too: On a globalized planet, populated by
the forcibly opened societies, security cannot be gained , let alone reliably
assured , in one country or in a selected group of countries: not by their ow n
m eans, and not ind epend ently of the state of affairs in the rest of the w orld
(Baum an, 2006: 97).
If social anthropology, conceptually, is prim arily about social
relationships; only d erivatively, and not necessarily, about places (H annerz,
2010: 67) then the overall agend a of anthropology involves the m apping of
a continuously changing hum an d iversity (H annerz, 2010: 60). Therefore
w e have to concentrate our efforts on the faceless hom o sacer, on his
m igration, his efforts to survive and live (his fear, honour, and interest), his
need to belong and to have a recognized id entity. And only after that, as a
result of our analysis, w ill w e be able to m ove aw ay from the various
ethnocentric concepts of security (w hich recognize us as the only legitim ate
locus of fear, honour, and interest) and see security as a hum an value from
w hich to restart a w id er hum an d iscourse. For this reason the local w ork of
anthropology becom es about large issues, set in (relatively) small place,
rather then d etailed d escription of a sm all place for its ow n sake. ()
(Where) by place, w e m ean not only geographical locale, but also other
types of place w ithin political, econom ic, religious, or other socia l
system (H annerz, 2010: vii). And m ost of the tim e all these places can be
sim ultaneously both outsid e, and insid e the w e geographical bord er.
In m aking this argum ent, one need s also to recognise an im portant
linguistic point. Because if security is generally treated as a d erivative
concept, w hich in itself and out of context is meaningless, and then to allow
it to have any m eaning, security appears to presuppose som ething to be
secured ; but in reality, this is not the case. Security not only has a precise
41
m eaning d ue to its Latin language origin (securitas: w ithout anxiety) but it

has spatial and tem poral d im ension w hich make it an anthropological space
of investigation.
H ow ever, once security is transform ed in a concept, it becom es a grid
of interpretation, w hich then im plies a structure. Therefore, as every
structure, it has its centre w hich operates as a kind of panopticon in the
Foucauld ian sense, from w hich it gazes and controls, through out its ow n
parad igm , the territory, and the space of its concept. The concept itself has
its ow n peculiar and d efined language, w hich is controlled too. H ow ever,
the m ain characteristic of a security concept is that it is tied to a particular
political d iscourse, a territory, a space, a tim e, a w e/ other d ividing line,
and a specific situation. All of these elem ents, nor even one of them , can not
be exclud ed from any security analysis.
Most of the topics d iscussed hitherto w ere alread y part of the
argum ents of a book w hich, in a w ay, inaugurated the critical security
stud ies approach: ed ited by Keith Krause and Michael C. William s, Critical
Security Stud ies: Concepts and Cases (1997) represents one of the first
intellectual efforts and tentative to rethink and reconceptualise the concept
of security after the im plosion of the Soviet Union. H ow ever, its
particularity is that, d espite the various original and stim ulating approaches
d eveloped in this book, it is the fact that it collected papers of w riters w ho
w ere not belonging only to the First World , but also to that periphery m ost
of the tim e considered as the out there. Local Third World authors then
translated their insecurities in our language in ord er to m ake us und erstand
the relativism of our ow n vision. What em erge from the read ing of this
book, the evolution of the various security politics ad opted by various
countries or m ilitary alliances, the fact that the face of pow er, and the
essence of threats and vulnerabilities, have changed is that to reinvent the
stud y of security w e have to reinvent ourselves (Booth, 1997: 88). The book
suggests that a critical approach to security studies m ay ad opt the position
of a stranger, but not that of an outsid er (William s and Krause, 1997: xiii).
H ow ever both efforts, the one to reinvent ourselves, and the othe r to
assum e the position of a stranger, in ord er to approach the field of security
stud ies, are alread y available in the m ethod ologies of the d iscipline of
Anthropology.
42
5. Anthropology, Security, and neo-colonialism

It is w id e recognized that there w as an im portant link betw een the
d evelopm ent of anthropology and the colonial period . In that tim e, m ost of
the anthropological know led ge w as used to provid e specific inform ation to
those im perial pow er w ho need ed to know the other in ord er to govern
and to Im perare (to prod uce the suprem e law ) over him . H ow ever it is in
the post-colonial m om ent, that the d iscipline of Anthropology started to
d evelop its ow n ind epend ent intellectual direction of research, analysis, and
cultural intention, focusing on the societies that w ere form er colonies or on
the ones that had never entered in contact w ith any w estern cultural form of
life, and on the so called savage m ind . N ow , w ith the em ergence of the
globalized w orld and of new form s of pow ers, anthropology and secu rity
stud ies find them selves in a particular position to cooperate and stud y how
new pow ers and form s of neo-colonialism are conceptualizing, and
m apping new discourse of security w ere new form of out there terrae
incognitae are id entified , and w here n ew d e-cerebralized hom ines sacri
are confined .
Ind eed , starting from these prem ises, security is an anthropological
space in its broad m eaning, because it is a cultural concept (as a text and as
a space-territory), and it is in this environm ent that the anthropologist of
security should place him self in ord er not only to translate a reality, but to
transpose it. It is not only the participant observation, and the thick
d escription of the ethnographer in this space w hich w ill m ake the
d ifference, but his em ic 5 approach, his know led ge of the local social,
cultural, linguistic, and m etaphorical aspects of the local reality. At the sam e
The em ic ap p roach investigates how local p eop le think. H ow they p erceive and
categorize the w orld , their ru les for behavior, w hat has m eaning for them , and how
they im agine and exp lain things. The etic (scientist-oriented ) ap p roach shifts the
focu s from local observations, categories, exp lanations, and interp retations to those
of the anthrop ologist. The etic ap p roach realizes that m em bers of a cu ltu re often are
too involved in w hat they are d oing to interp ret their cu ltu res im p artially. When
u sing the etic ap p roach, the ethnograp her em p hasizes w hat he or she consid ers
im p ortant. Conrad Kottak, M irror for Humanity, N ew York: McGraw -H ill, 2006, 47.
5
43
tim e the Anthropologist of Security w ill be an area specialist, w ith a global

vision typical of International Relations sch olars.
H ow ever, w e have to return for a m om ent to the spatial and tem poral
d im ension of security, because if every security concept, as a coherent
cultural system , is a grid of interpretation, w hich m aps a territory, then the
anthropologist of security m ust have the ability to take a position both
inside that territory of the grid of interpretation, and into that out there
territory/ space, that gap of frictions, w hich is the result of the encounter of
d ifferent political concepts of security. Because a g ood interpretation of
anything a poem , a person, a history, a ritual, an institution takes us into
the heart of that of w hich it is the interpretation (Geertz, 1973: 18).
Once the anthropologist of security establishes herself insid e the
territory of the grid of interpretation, she w ill able to look and analyse how
a security structure w orks, and how an unpred ictable event (such as the fall
of the Berlin Wall) w ill reveal interesting aspects of the same structure. If a
security structure can resem ble a vertebrate, solid structure, the w ay it w ill
react, and respond to an unpred ictable security event, w ill unm ask the very
com position of the same structure, its intentionality, and reveal the single
m olecular elem ents w hich com pose its structure, or even t he single
m olecules intentionality. The sam e can be said about the anthropologist of
security positioned in the friction gap, because from this territory/ space,
and thanks to her capacity to see the reality through the eyes of the local
actors, she w ill be able to read the m icro events in a m acro context, and
observe the local conflicting im plem entation of antagonistic security
d iscourses.
We had to specify that these friction gaps w hich are not alw ays
present out there, outsid e the region d elim ited by a national security
concept, but, d ue to the hum an circulation m entioned before, and to the
w ay w estern and first w orld societies are becom ing m ore com plex, the sam e
friction gaps can be found insid e the sam e society w hich prod uced and
politically sup ported , in an historical m om ent, the national security vision.
Then, the anthropologist of security from his liquid stand points, inside and
outsid e the spatial-tem poral d im ension of a d eterm inate concept of security,
w ill be in the position to ask if w e (the complex society) really know
ourselves, before trying to know our other, w ho m ay or m ay not be an
44
enem y, and even before to ask w hat reality is and w hat real know led ge is.
And again from this lim inal physical and intellectual position, the
anthropologist of security w ill be able to id entify those elem ents of fear,
honour, and self interest, to d econstruct the w ay they interact, and then to
point to those actors w ho play in and out the spaces of the security concept,
m otivated by these three factors.
H ow ever, there is another d im ension that the anthropologist of security
should take into consid eration. We alread y know that security is
profound ly political, so any good political anthropological analysis should
look at the political and / or pow er structur e in ord er to d econstruct its
apparently solid form and to isolate its single com ponents. Analysis, then,
is sorting out the structures of signification (Geertz, 1973: 9), and in this
process of d econstruction w here the structures of signification of lea d ership,
hierarchy, clientelism , and political violence are spotted and sorted out,
there is one w hich plays an especially im portant role for the social
anthropologist. This is the elem ent of m em ory w hich is attached to the
roles of culture, m yth, and sym bols. Orw ell in his N ineteen Eighty-Four
(1990 [1949]) invented the structure of the Ministry of Truth. The Ministry
of Truth's function w as to m ake sure that language, art, books, and the mass
m ed ia echoed the approved narrative offered by the State. This involved the
invention of language (N ew speak) and a rew riting of history to serve som e
present need . Am ong the various slogans of IN GSOC political id eology
there w as one in particular w hich serves to our reasoning and it is the
follow ing: : "Who controls the past controls the future; w ho controls the
present controls the past. At the sam e tim e the political action of the
IN GSOC w as accom panied by continuous political rituals and celebrations.
Every form of pow er has its rituals, celebrations, m yths, sym bols, and
m em ory.
Then, if security, in its national dim ension, is an am biguous sym bol, the
sym bol itself suggests protection through pow er (Wolfers, 1991: 149). As a
result of this relation, w e can construct another d im ension in w hich the
security concept constructs its ow n space of signification w here its
narrative, through a sym bolic and ritualistic activity, is experienced by the
hom o ritualis (Lisn Tolosana, 2012) and linked to pow er. This is because,
if the m eaning of security is etym ologically tied to an em otional cond ition
45
(freed om from anxiety), then the rituals w hich are constructed around it
they m ust have the form , shape, and consistency of healing cerem onies
w here pow er fights against fear to re-establish securitas. As a consequence,
security as a sym bol then becom es a key elem ent in the d imension of
political religion, w here for political religion w e und erstand a w ay to
interpret life, and history, a w ay to conceive politics beyond pow er
calculations and interests, up to com prise in it the d efinition of the meaning
and the ultim ate aim of hum an existence (Gentile, 2007: 214). Therefore the
anthropologist of security has to take an observant participation position in
these rituals of political religion (interpreted as a cultural system ), a nd
analyses (follow ing the vision of Geertz) how fear is represented ,
perceived , and w hich are the healing m essages.
To sum up, all the above visions can be d eployed to revalid ate the three
levels of investigation d epicted by Claud e Lvi-Strauss: ethnography,
ethnology, and anthropology. And if in recent years w e have seen the
em ergence of an ethnography of conflict w hose aim is to stud y the other in
ord er to w in battles, and w ar, the purpose of an anthropology of security is
to stud y a com m on hum an value in ord er to help both ourselves and the
other to be free from anxiety. This is all the m ore significant because if
liquid m od ern life is lived on a battlefield, w e have to accept the fact that
all liquid m od ern victories are () tem porary. The security they offer
w ont outlast the current balance of pow er, w hich is expected to be as short lived as all balances: just as m om entary snapshots of things on the m ove are
know n to be (Baum an: 2006: 49). The m essage here is that security is not
just a strategy, but a need that results in a feeling from w hich people give
m eaning to each one of the actions that takes place both in the private and
in the public fields, both ind ivid ually and collectively. Then, d espite the fact
that security structures w ant to legitim ate their position on the bases that
their activities red uce risks, w hat it is certain is that at the end w hat people
feel and experience is a d isturbing sentim ent generated by their ow n
perception of insecurity. As Deleuze and Parnet (1997: 71) w rote pow ers
m ost need to d istress us than to repress us. So, like in the field of
Anthropology of Emotions, w hat it is seen as necessary here is to stud y
anthropologically security as a sentim ent w hich is culturally built in the
close relationship betw een the ind ivid ual and his com m unity. Because w e
46
can not speak of institutional security w ithout analyzing the social

perception of it (or the no perception), the sensation of vulnerability,
insecurity and d istrust that crystallizes in the feeling of fear. And this is a
w ork w hich can only be d one through our informants in our field w ork.
6. Structure of the collection
The ed ited collection brings together those papers w hich w ere
presented in the panel on Anthropology and Security Stud ies, as part of
the conference Anthropology in the World organized by the Royal
Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland , at the British
Museum (Lond on, UK, 8th to 10th June 2012). The m ain aim of this panel
w as to explore w ays to link the 'tools' provid ed by the d iscipline of
anthropology to the ones of the field of security stud ies.
We live in a w orld in w hich 'com plex insecurity' is the expression that,
better
then any others, can d escribe the contem porary explosive
com bination of fear-risk-threat-vulnerability-anxiety in w hich w orld society
is living. In this context the m otivation of the panel w as to construct a new
fram ew ork in w hich both acad emic topics w ill com plem ent each other, and
together w ill present a new w ay to contribute to the und erstand ing of
security in a critical sense in the com plex societies of the globalised w orld .
The id ea w as to use the concept of the Critical Security Theory
d eveloped by Ken Booth in his book Critical Security Stud ies and World
Politics (2005) and attach it to the epistem ology provid ed by
anthropological researches, w ith the aim to contribute to the id ea of an
em ancipatory politics. We believe that bringing together Anthropology and
Security Stud ies (m ore specifically the d enom inated critical security
stud ies) can contribute to a better und erstanding of the w orld and the
hum an cond ition, because w e can d ecid e to stud y (security) in w ays that
replicate a w orld politics that d oes not w ork for countless millions of our
fellow hum an beings; or w e can d ecid e to stud y in w ays that seek to help to
lift the strains of life-d eterm ining insecurity from the bod ies and m ind s of
people in real villages and cities, regions and states (Booth, 2005:276).
All the papers presented here provid e a vision (bottom -up, top -d ow n,
local-global, m icro-macro, pow er-know led ge, International Relations, and
47
victim s) w hich help to em ancipate the security stud ies analyst from security
concepts w hich prod uce interpretative autom atism . For this reason the
posture ad opted by the authors in their papers is the one that in general
sees security in w orld politics as an instrum ental value that enables
people(s) som e opportunity to choose how to live. It is a m eans by w hich
ind ivid uals and collectivities can invent and reinvent different id eas about
being hum an (Booth, 2005: 23).
In Consid erations on Anthropology and Critical Security Stud ies in a
Globalized Context: The NATO Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC)
Doctrine as an Anthropological Space, Giovanni Ercolani aim s to integrate,
in a critical fram ew ork the contribution of anthropologic m ethod ologies
w ith the approaches d eveloped by the environm ent of Critical Security
Stud ies. H is stud y w ants to und erline the necessity of a d ynamic focus on
the w ay conflicts, humanitarian interventions, and com plex em erge ncies
have been analysed , and cond ucted by N ATO. If the external military
interventions found their m oral justifications in the id ea of the construction
of a positive peace in the territories d isrupted by violent events, then the
research w ant to ask the follow ing question: now that the conflict has end ed
are w e in a positive peace environm ent or a negative one? If the bad
authority has been d estroyed or replaced , w hat about the various local
structures of pow er/ violence? Are w e still in front of a repr od uction of a
structural violence (and then a pre-intervention status quo situation) w hich
provoked the conflict or the affected society now is free to reorganise itself?
Then, according to the author, w e need not only to focus on the territory of
the crisis (anthropological contribution) but w e have to enlarge our focus
and consid er that the local conflict (new w ar) has a m ap, a ramification
outsid e its ow n territory. It is only by com bining the Anthropological lens
w ith the Security Stud ies global vision that w e can arrive to a more
sophisticated , em ancipatory analysis, and cosm opolitan outlook of the
m ultiple stress zones and their crisis m anagement in a globalized context.
Ercolani ad opts a position in w hich the NATO security concept is
consid ered as a cultural text, and the Civil-Military Co-operation Doctrine
as an anthropological space.
Can photography provid e any basis for know led ge claim s? This is a
question that Chris Farrand s asks in his paper on Visual Ethnographies,
48
Conflict and Security. Farrand s w rites that interpretations of security and

securitisation have tended to d raw heavily on w ritten sources, includ ing
literature, travel w riting, biography and poetry as w ell as official d iscourses
of varied kind s. Accord ing to him, these m ethod s in volve versions of
textual or d iscourse analysis and / or narrratology. This paper asks how w e
m ight extend , but also challenge, these m ore conventional id eas about
security d raw ing on m ethod s from visual ethnography. It asks w hether and
how the approach m igh t need to ad apt in d ealing w ith visual sources, and
questions w hether photography in particular provid es any kind of reliable
source base, especially in the age of digital technologies and Photoshop
m anipulation. The paper recognises the valuable w ork of P ink and others in
build ing the approach, and also d raw s extensively on Paul Ricoeur's core
approach to textual analysis (and the author's previous w ork on Ricoeur),
w hile proposing w ays of ad d ressing the more sceptical claim that
photography is an unreliable source for the re-read ing of security and
violence. Cautiously approached , it argues, a visual ethnography approach
to security can be a fruitful w ay of illum inating security d ilem mas and the
experience of insecurity.
In The Psychology of Peacekeeping: One Dom ain Where Political
Realism and Critical Security Theory Will Meet, H arvey Langholtz looks at
the United N ations as an anthropological space. Langholtz argues that
w hen individ uals from the w estern and non -w estern nations, the nations of
the global north and the global south, the d eveloped and d eveloping
nations m eet at the United N ations or on UN peacekeeping m issions,
d ifferent psychological perspectives are brought to the table. Many from the
d eveloped w estern nations and the nations of the glob al north w ill bring
w ith them an im plicit or explicit ad herence to the tenets of Political Realism ,
w hile others m ay be more open to the tenets of Critical Security Theory.
This paper exam ines at a practical level how these different perspectives
com e together either at the political level or on a peacekeeping m ission, and
w hat happens w hen they d o.
Occupy Wall Street is the anthropological space analyzed by Danielle
Moretti-Langholtz in her paper The Revolution Continues Worldw id e!
Emancipatory Politics in an Age of Global Insecurity. Accord ing to the
author Occupy Wall Street (OWS) claim s to be a lead erless resistance
49
m ovem ent that has spaw ned num erous d em onstrations across the United
States, Canad a, and now the w orld . Yet the ind ivid uals behind OWS ar e
skilled at using the Internet and social m ed ia to organize coord inated
com m unity action in an attem pt to effect societal change. By tapping into
w id espread d iscontent associated w ith econom ic and w orld politics aspects
of the OWS m ovem ent have been both embraced and rejected by political
lead ers and the press. Citing "security" as in issue, coord inated and violent
crackd ow ns against OWS cam ps in cities throughout the United States,
d uring the late fall of 2011, suggest the d egree to w hich the m ovem ent is
view ed as a national threat. This paper explores the genesis of the
m ovem ent through the lens of Critical Security Stud ies as w ell as exam ines
the use of anthropological research m ethod sparticularly those of Rapid
Ethnographic Assessm entto stud y this d yn am ic social m ovem ent and
w hat is portend s for em ancipatory politics.
Specifically focused on Anthropology and Conflicts, Marco
Ram azzotti w ants to intervene in the d ebate on:
1) The m od ern analysis of w ar by anthropologists (Anthropology of
conflicts and w ars);
2) The legitimacy of the use of anthropology in the cond uct of w ars (use
of social and econom ic anthropology in analysing a w ar situation).
Ram azzoti w rites that w ar and social attitud es to w ar have changed.
While the d istinction betw een just and unjust w ars has been alw ays present
in Western cultures, but lim ited to a State's evaluation of w ars, now ad ays
peoples' reactions to w ars are not lim ited to m oral jud gm ents but involve
their acceptance of and participation in w ars. Therefore people can accept
and refuse w ars, and sold iers can accept and refuse w ars. We cannot forget
that a num ber of Am erican servicem en refused involvem ent in the Vietnam
War. At the sam e tim e the author w ants to rem em ber the European fighters
w ho joined their countries' Resistances against the Fascist and N azi
oppression. Accord ing Marco Ram azzotti, the anthropologists w ho refuse
all w ars d o not recognize the d ifference betw een just and unjust w ars. It is a
reality that w ar has changed . We live in a period of asym metrical w ar fare.
H ow ever the author asks: d o w e analyze these asym m etrical w ars w ith the
sam e instrum ents as the sym m etrical w ars of the past? Accord ing Marco
Ram azzotti, the d ifference in culture betw een the conventional arm ies and
50
the unconventional ones require th e und erstand ing of d ifferent cultures and
d ifferent w ar cultures: w e need anthropology.
Strongly based on the author's field w ork experience in Bosnia and
H erzegovina, Anthropological Method s in Counter -Trafficking Activities:
Analysis of Criminal Netw orks and Victim -Oriented Approach Desire
Pangerc, looks at hum an trafficking as a global crim inal phenom enon and
the necessity to com bat it as a fund am ental issue in the International
Com m unity agend a. The author ask: w hy aren't all the im plem ented
counter-trafficking activities sufficient to stop it? And in this paper she
d escribes the anthropological m ethod s em ployed to analyze this human
rights violation and to fight it.
From the netw ork analysis of the crim inal groups involved in this
illegal m arket to the d ifferentiation of sm uggled and trafficked persons
fluxes, the paper show s the im portance of qualitative approach in counter trafficking activities and the strong lim its of quantitative analysis. The
research also focuses on the d elicate question of the victim status from the
psychological aspects to the legal ones, relying on evid ence from the victim s
and the social operators. In conclusion, Desire Pangerc d em onstrates how
im portant crim e perception is in the Eastern Europe civil society and how it
is fund am ental in prevention activities, investigations and victim
rehabilitation program s.
The conclusion w as provid ed by Maurizio Boni w ho, although not
present at the Conference Panel, kind ly accepted to participate in this
intellectual effort. Due to the fact that at the end of the d ay security is a
practical m atter, Boni w as the right person (for his military and acad emic
experiences) to prod uce the conclud ing chapter. In A new gram m ar for
international relations in a new w orld ord er, the author w rite s that security
is a m ultifaceted concept load ed w ith assum ptions, structures, solutions
and functional id eas w hich varies accord ing to d ifferent realities. The
d ebate on security should therefore be tailored to specific geopolitical and
social contexts. Conventional/ trad itional form s of societal organization
express orthod ox approaches to security, w hile fluid and evolutionary
trend s require m ore com prehensive and elaborated policies. Each social
actor d ealing w ith security issues is acting alongsid e a spectrum of
possibilities in w hich the m ilitary d im ension of security and the tenets of
51
the critical security stud ies offer their respective potentials accord ing to the
position that geopolitical and social factors d eterm ine in a given phase of
history. Therefore, broad ening the security agenda should nt be consid ered
as an isolated aim per se, since it m ust be confronted w ith each specific
situation. Taking into consid eration the m ain them es presented by the
contributors to this book in their respective w orks, the paper elaborates
som e specific topics related to the d ebate on security, and offers tw o
scenarios that present the prospective, for each author, to apply her/ his
specific skills in und erstand ing evolutionary trend s w hich m ay challenge
conventional w ay of thinking.
In presenting this book to a larger, m ultid isciplinary aud ience, the
authors hope to have actively contributed to this recent d ebate w here
Anthropology and Security Stud ies can prod uctively cooperate together,
and provid e new perspectives and analysis, in ord er to prod uce a valid
know led ge free from pow er influences, political orientations, and cultural
stereotypes. If there is a w ay to approach security analysis, this should
take in consid eration that the success of the hum an species w ould be
allocated in the acquisition of the culture that facilitates our creative
transform ation of unstable environments, often ad verse and som etim es
hostile. We have alw ays sought to secure the insecure, the hum ans m anage
very bad ly uncertainty and chaos, but the uniqueness of the m om ent is that
insecurity has becom e planetary, both from the socio-physical (ecological
risk, nuclear risk, genetic risk, etc.), and from the cultural point of view
(consum erism and unsustainable lifestyle). In this context w e m ust raise
aw areness that w e all depend on each other and , therefore, recognize that
the com plexity of the problem s facing hum anity can only be solved in a
global context. Security is a com m on hum an value, and the safety of people
passes through the cooperation of all the inhabitants of planet Earth.
52
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54
Consid erations on Anthrop ology and Critical Secu rity Stu d ies...
Considerations on Anthropology and Critical

Security Studies in a Globalized Context: The
N ATO Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC)
D octrine as an Anthropological Space
Giovanni Ercolani
It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.

Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories,
instead of theories to suit facts.
Sherlock H olm es
The w orld s inhabitants have at last becom e truly contem poraneous,

and yet the w orlds d iversity is recom posed every m om ent; this is the
parad ox of our d ay. We m ust speak, therefore, of w orld s in the plural,
und erstanding that each of them com m unicates w ith the others, that each
w orld possesses at least im ages of the others im ages that m ay w ell be
d eform ed , m angled , retouched , in som e cases red eveloped by those w ho
look to find in them , first and forem ost, features and them es that speak to
them of themselves, even if this m eans inventing them . Still, the referential
character of these im ages cannot be d oubted : no one can any longer d oubt
that the others exist. Even those w ho affirm w ith increasing vigour their
ow n irred ucible, untouchable id entity d raw their force and conviction from
their perception of them selves as being the opposite of the image of the
other, an other w hom they m ythify so as to be rid of this unbearable reality
6
.
Marc Au ge, An Anthrop ology for Contem p orary World s, Stanford University
Press, 1999, p . 89.
6
55
Giovanni Ercolani
1. Introduction: Listening to Images of Security, and Places of Virtual

Peace
Lad ies and gentlem en your attention please, w e are flying over the
city of Sarajevo, the Gold en Valley of Bosnia and H erzegovina. Do not look
out the w ind ow . There is nothing to see other than m isery and poverty. In
any case the pilot has increased our speed and w e w ill m ove aw ay as far as
possible
Fikret (the m ain character of the m ovie is on the roof of a building,
looking at the airplane passing overhead and talking to his girlfriend ): It
(the airplane) shines w hile w e are in the d ark. Thats becau se it carries
happy people. Thats w hy it shines so m uch .
I w anted to start this research quoting the beginning of the Bosnian

m ovie Ljeto u zlatnoj dolini (Sum m er in the Gold en Valley) 7 because I d o
Ljeto u zlatnoj d olini (Su m m er in the Gold en Valley) is a 2003 Bosnian film by
Sr an Vu leti , p rod u ced by Ad em ir Kenovi . The m ovie is abou t a 16 year old boy
w ho has to rep ay his d ead father's d ebt. In ord er to collect m oney, his friend and he
get involved in Sarajevo's u nd ergrou nd crim e. The p lot: at the trad itional Mu slim
fu neral service for his father Fikret Varu p a, sixteen year old boy from Sarajevo,
learns that his father ow es m oney to H am id , a m an he d oes not even know . The
d ebt is consid erable and H am id d oes not w ant it to go to th e grave w ith the bod y,
so the d ebt au tom atically p asses from the father to the son. Since in Bosnia this w ay
of collecting d ebts, at a fu neral, is consid ered to be u tterly hu m iliating, it is never,
ever ap p lied . Fikret and his entire fam ily becom e su bjects of rid icu le. Fikret, w ho is
p ractically still a child , is d ecisive to red eem his father's sou l . Wishing to rep ay
7
56
think that Fikrets existential and rhetorical t erritory 8, once d econstructed

as a text and reassem bled as a m ultidim ensional m ap, enclose a series of
constant elem ents (symbolism , em otions, structure, and functions) w hich
fram e the id entification and collection of d ata for this research.
Even if I am talking about a fictional story w e know that social science
is about telling stories. Som e stories can be m atched w ith evid ence better
than others. There cannot be a perfect fit because the story w ould be as
slow to tell as life itself. It w ould be a m irror on life rather than an
abstraction that pulls out certain aspects of life that help us guid e our
actions 9.
The problem is that a lot of tim e there is a cacophonic, incongruent
relation betw een the narrative w e listen to and the im agines of the st ory
itself that w e w atch, especially, as in the case of this m ovie, betw een the
im age of a post-w ar secure-peaceful Sarajevo and w hat w e listen to from
our local fictional inform ants.
Whatever the im ages w e w atch, to be receptive and to listen becom e a
prim ary source to confute w hat w e have seen because the fictional reality of
his father's d ebt and to secu re the forgiveness, Fikret w and ers into the real w orld of
Sarajevo, the w orld that is ru led by p ost-w ar chaos, m isery and p overty and
becom es an id eal target for tw o corru p ted p olicem en w ho w ish to "help " him : they
p lant the kid nap p ed girl on him .
8
The rhetorical territory (here rhetorical is intend ed in the classical sense, as
d efined by su ch rhetorical acts as p lea, eu logy, p raise, censu re, recom m end ation,
w arning, and so on). The character is at hom e w hen it at ease in the rhetoric of the
p eop le w ith w hom he shares life. The sign of being at hom e, at ease, is the ability to
m ake oneself u nd erstood w ithou t too m u ch d ifficu lty, and to follow the reasoning
of others w ithou t any need of long exp lanation. The rhetorical cou ntry of a
character end s w here his interlocu tors no longer u nd erstand the reasons he gives
for his d eed s and actions, the criticism s he m akes or the enthu siasm s he d isp lays. A
d istu rbance of rhetorical com m u nication m arks the crossing of a frontier, w hich
shou ld of cou rse be envisaged as bord er zone, a m archland , rather then a clearly
d raw n line. In Marc Au ge, N on Lu oghi, Milano: Eleu thera, 2009, p . 97.
9
Mary Kald or, H u m an Secu rity Reflections on Globalization and Intervention,
Cam brid ge: Polity, 2007, p .11
57
Giovanni Ercolani
Fikrets anthropological space 10 is a three-dim ensional one, m ad e of space,

tim e, and em otions (security).
1.1. Place
In listening to Fikret and in und erstand ing his territory , w hich becom es
for us an anthropological place, it w ill help to read , d ecod e the social
relations (structured , m olecular, form al and inform al) and the com mon
form s of belonging to him and of his environm ent, and to und erstand how
his society perceive totalities w hich d o not belong d irectly to their
environm ent.
Even if the airplane, w hich in the m ovie is flying over Sarajevo, d oes
not belong to the specific State of Bosnia H erzegovina, by the sim ple fact
that is entering in an existential space (Fikrets Sarajevo) it has an im portant
position in the sym bolic environm ent of Fikrets anthropological place.
This anthropological place, d espite its specific id entitarian -relationalhistorical traits is not a closed -isolated one, it is a situation too, and th e
airplane too speaks because this can sym bolize the globalized w orld , the
international-d eveloped com m unity, w hich for the sim ple fact of flying over
Sarajevo, is contributing to creating a relation, even sym bolically (and full of
m eanings) betw een the global environm ent and the local territory of Fikret.
Once d econstructed both d iscourses (the one of the shiny plane and
Fikrets), w e face som e particular elem ents w hich are part of opposite
perceptions of the sam e situation. H ow ever, m ost of the tim e, it is the
pow erful perception w hich is not only translated in political serm ons and
aptitud es vis a vis the beliefs and construction of the other, but prod uces
a hegem onic parad igm of interpretation.
Let us start this d econstructing exercise w ith the sh iny airplanes
d iscourse: We are flying over the city of Sarajevo. Do not look out of the
w ind ow . There is nothing to see other than m isery and poverty. In any case
An anthrop ological p lace is a p lace intensely sym bolized , lived by ind ivid u als in
w hich they fou nd their sp ecial, tem p oral, ind ivid u al and collective benchm arks. For
the anthrop ologist, at the sam e tim e, it is a sp ace in w hich he can read , and d ecod e
the social relations and the com m on form s of belonging. Marc Au ge, Straniero d i
m e stesso, Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 2011p . 158.
10
58
the pilot has increased our speed and w e w ill m ove aw ay as far as
possible.
We are flying over the city of Sarajevo: in this case the m oviereality is referred to a post-conflict Sarajevo (Bosnia). We are in the
year 2003 (the year of the m ovie prod uction) after exactly seven
years follow ing the end of the Siege of Sarajevo 11. A city that ju st
recently, on April 6, 2012, w ith a line of 11,541 red chairs, one for
each victim of the Siege of Sarajevo, rem em bered w hen w ar broke
out 20 years ago and the West dithered in the face of the w orst
atrocities in Europe since World War II. Can w e really and sincerely
call it a perception of peace even w hat w e are told that this is
peace?
Do not look out of the w ind ow : this w as the general attitud e
ad opted by various and neighbouring countries in the 1992 as the
arm ed conflict erupted in form er Yugoslavia. Quoting another
m ovie, Sarajevo w as d eclared by the United N ations to be only the
14th m ost d angerous place on earth 12.
There is nothing to see other than misery and poverty. In any case,
the pilot has increased our speed and w e w ill move aw ay as far as
possible: Despite the fact that the Bosnian w ar end ed officially on
Decem ber 14, 1995, and w ith it peace, still the current situation is of
poverty and political uncertainty. The 2012 anniversary of the
Sarajevo Siege, found the Balkan country still d eeply d ivid ed , pow er
shared betw een Serbs, Croats and Muslim s in a single state ruled by
ethnic quotas and united by the w eakest of central governm ents.
The Sarajevo Siege lasted from Ap r 5, 1992 to Feb 29, 1996. The Bosnian w ar w as
brou ght to an end after the signing of the General Fram ew ork Agreem ent for Peace
in Bosnia and H erzegovina in Paris on 14 Decem ber 1995.
12
A startling exam ination of the Bosnian w ar of the m id -1990s and the role of
jou rnalists in covering it, Welcom e to Sarajevo is a British w ar film from 1997. It
is d irected by Michael Winterbottom . The screenp lay is by Frank Cottrell Boyce and
it w as based on real-life jou rnalist Michael N icholson's book N atasha's Story.
11
59
Giovanni Ercolani
On the other hand , in his anthropological territory, Fikrets d iscourse

is em blematic, too: Th e airplane shines w hile w e are in the d ark. Thats
because it carries happy people. Thats w hy it shines so m uch, and a little
further on in the m ovie he w ill say in this m isery I am the m ost m iserable.
The m ain character of the m ovie in a w ay expresses his entrapped life
in an em otional situation, in a specific geographical area, and at a particular
tim e, in w hich it is im possible to realize himself and then to be.
In m y research, the fram ing and the d econstruction of the above
d iscourses are im portant tools because Fikrets anthropological space is
m ad e of hum iliation, rid icule, post-w ar chaos, poverty, m isery, and
corruption, and even by the sym bolism embod ied by the flying airplane.
All these attributes have a consid erable part in the construction of an
id entity: how w e construct the w e and the other. Their im portance is
even m ore im pelling w hen w e are d ealing w ith security issues because the
existential w orld of Fikret speaks of security and insecurity, too. And if the
m ain purpose of this research is to help us to learn how to think about
security and w hat to think about security and w hy, w hat has inspired my
w ork has been m y critical thinking to consid er the lack of interest
d em onstrated by various Security and International Relations Theories in
seeing in the right d irection of the local anthropological spaces they
w ere supposed to und erstand , translate and analyze, and tow ard s the local
hum an dim ension of the hum an beings w ho w ere living in that
anthropological space. These acad em ic theories and the w ay of seeing both
of w hich had an im portant influence in how w e constructed our parad igm
of reference regard ing the protocol of interpretation of how -w hat-w hy
security.
1.2. Time
Fikrets w orld itself is tem porarily situated in an histor ical tim e w hich
stretches from the im plosion of the Soviet Union (1989) and , for the purpose
of this research, the year 2010 (the year of the ad option of the N ATO New
Strategic Concept, Lisbon, 19 Decem ber 2010).
Then Fikrets tim e (2003) has a position in a tim e space betw een the
year 1989 and 2010, and this tim e is not ind epend ent or w aterproof. H is
60
tim e w as d ram atically influenced by the 1989 events and it w ill be

influenced by the 2010 events, too.
N ow , let us leave Fikret for a w hile in his post-w ar chaos Sarajevo,
and let us concentrate on this arc of tim e -- 1989-2010.
It is im portant to focus on a particular historical event like the
im plosion of the Soviet Union and its tw o m ain actors of the Cold War
because w hat happened there had repercussions on future events.
This exam ple is em blematic because if one of the actors vanished (the
USSR w ith its Warsaw Pact structure). The other one, N ATO, continues to
survive and w ith it its intellectual-scientific parad igm .
When the Berlin Wall cam e d ow n and no Soviet tanks w ere there read y
to invad e Europe, I can say that the N ATO d efence parad igm upon w hich
all our know led ge (supposed science) of the enem y -Soviet Union w as
constructed and hegemonically d ivulged and inculcated w ith the purpose
of constructing on us a We-N ATO-id entity in actual fact d em onstrated to be
not only a structured unscientific protocol-parad igm -grid of learning,
analysis and interpretation but also one of w orld politics.
H ow did the N ATO parad igm explain the Soviet Unions im plosion?
And if it had tried , som ething that d id not happen at all, how w as this
parad igm constructed and based on w hich it w as certificated as science?
Interestingly enough, in 2005, Prof. Ed w ard A. Kolod ziej in his
Security and International Relations 13 stud y, provid ed a quite exhaustive
answ er: no one of the contending International Relations (IR) theories, such
as realism , neo-realism , liberal institutionalism , classical econom ic
liberalism , and Marxism, w ere able alone to und erstand , and explain the
facts that brought a contra-revolution and the im plosion of the Soviet
Union.
Then, not only w ere the above listed IR theories too m uch concentrated
on the States policy as the only actor, and too static in ad apting itself to
the new tim es (and the passin g of generations w ith their ow n
expectations) as w ell as to the new global environm ent, but the N ATO
parad igm w as also completely fossilized on a m ilitary d efence gram mar
Ed w ard A. Kolod zij, Secu rity and International Relations, Cam brid ge University
Press, 2005.
13
61
Giovanni Ercolani
w hich m onopolized the interpretation of the security concept in im posing a

sim ple equ ation w ithout consid ering the value of the X variable (the
hum an factor): security = m ilitary problem and m ilitary solution. Thus,
there w as a parad igm and a practice w hich prevented listening to and
und erstanding the hum an dim ension of the Soviet state, society and
culture(s).
If this w as one of the m ajor faults of these theoretical approaches, at
least it d em onstrated that a theory is alw ays for som eone and for som e
purpose. Perspectives d erive from a position in tim e and space, specifically
social and political tim e and space. The w orld is seen from a stand point
d efinable in term s of nation, or social class, of d om inance or subord ination,
of rising or d eclining pow er, of a sense of im m obility or of present crisis, of
past experience, and of hopes and expectations for the future 14.
Then, w hat w as m issing w as the real contact and d ialogue w ith the
local realities, the und erstand ing of local events that only an
anthropological presence (fieldw ork and participant observation) w as able
to provid e.
Experts on security stud ies w ere at that time far too busy in assem bling
theories then to listen to the rhetorical territory in w hich the local soviet
lived , and unconsciously they d em onstrated that it is the rhetorical
territory w hich should becom e the field of research and analysis of d ata for
security stud ies.
H ow ever, security stud ies com pletely ignored the rich and varied
results com ing from anthropological practices, and , unfortunately, the
sam e m istake is going to be repeated these d ays w ith the d anger of
prod ucing the sam e parad igm and protocol of interpretation of security
events as the one hegemonically assem bled d uring the Cold War.
To be sure, the only survivor of the Cold War has been NATO and for
this reason the case study in this paper w ill be ded icated to N ATO and its
involvem ent in Crisis Management 15. H ow ever, w hile NATO talks about
Robert Cox, Social Forces, States and World Ord ers: Beyond International
Relations Theory, M illennium, 10 (2), 1981, p . 126-155.
15
http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ lisbon2010/ strategic-concep t-2010-eng.p d f
14
62
its ow n vision of security, it d oes not provid e any id ea of w hat peace should
be.
1.3. Emotions: Security and Peace
Emotions represent the third elem ent of Fikrets anthropological space
and to und erstand their im portance in full, w e should m ove from the idea
of security to the one of peace and focus on those places w hich have been
the theatre of international military hum anitarian operations. If w e look at
their actual living and em otional conditions, d espite the fact the area has
been officially labelled as being in peace, can w e really say that w hat the
local people is experiencing is really peace, or it is som ething else?
Because once a conflict is over and peace is reached, then the
hum anitarian m ission too com es to an end . But, unfortunately, security has
not been im plem ented , and the real security m ission has not been
accom plished . Und oubted ly, there is a link betw een the peace attained and
the security approach used to attain it. If peace is both possibility and
d anger, this underlines that w hat is d esirable is not just peace per se but the
right kind of peace. The d istinction betw een d ifferent kind s of peace has
been em phasized by Johan Galtung, for w hom positive peace w ould
includ e love, freed om from exploitation and repression, and the existence of
a culture of peace. Galtung d istinguishes structural violence (arising from
social structures) from d irect violence (harm that is specifically intend e d ).
Structural violence, for Galtung, includ es exploit and m arginalization
anything that lim its hum an w ell-being; it contains the seed s for d irect
violence 16.
The results of post-conflict situations after post-hum anitarian
interventions in various parts of the w orld have d em onstrated that, d espite
the fact a peace has been reached , this has not been positive peace at all.
In this regard , the w ords of the Italian Arm y General Fabio Mini, former
Com m and er of KFOR, are rightly incisive: The peace that is achieved after
the w ar is the peace of w ho w on and not the abstract concept of pax
16
David Keen, Com p lex Em ergencies, Cam brid ge: Polity, 2009, p p . 171-172.
63
Giovanni Ercolani
universalis. There is still a w ar going on after the w ar has been d eclared

over and the virtual peace achieved.17
Then, it is in this gap of space and tim e, betw een the anthropological
territory of virtual peace and the one of positive peace, that the w ork of
the anthropologist becom es of prim ary im portance in ord er to challenge the
constructed virtual reality of peace because it is in this new
anthropological territory of virtual peace that w ar is still present as a
w ar after the w ar regard less of the label peace. Therefore, w hat I call a
virtual peace space becom es the rhetorical and anthropological territory
w here the id ea of peace and security is refor m ulated and put into practice.
Ow ing to the fact that it is in this space-situation that hum anitarian
interventions are taking place, then the above approach and analysis
becom e even m ore significant and urgent for their practical repercussion on
an instable-com plex-d angerous area.
2. Theoretical Framew ork: D iscourse Analysis, and Mapping Approach

The m ain aim of this paper is to investigate the possibility of
constructing a com m on fram ew ork of reference built on the contributions
from the experiences of anthropological stud ies on the one hand , and from
critical security stud ies on the other, and to construct a paradigm w hich w ill
help m e to select, id entify, collect and classify d ata for the specific case
stud y of m y research.
There is one w orld , but m any realities, and since each of us sees
d ifferent things, and w hat w e see is d eterm ined by a com plicated m ix of
social and contextual influences and/ or presuppositions 18 , then I have
d ecid ed to take a constructivist approach because constructivist recog nizes
Fabio Mini, La Gu erra d op o la Gu erra Sold ati, bu rocrati e m ercenari nellep oca
d ella p ace virtu ale, Torino: Einau d i, 2003, p p . 142-143.
18
Jonathon W. Mosses & Torbjorn L. Knu tsen, Ways of Know ing Com p eting
Method ologies in Social and Political Research, N ew York: Palgrave Macm illan,
2007, p . 10.
17
64
the im portant role of the observer and society in constructing patterns that
w e stud y as social scientists 19.
Ow ing to the fact that the m ajority of conflicts that have erupted ,
experiencing an international hum anitarian intervention, have been
classified as id entity conflict since the im plosion of the Soviet Union, I
w ant to highlight the importance of focusing on the hum an being because,
as Max Weber noted, We are cultural beings, end ow ed w ith the capacity
and the w ill to take a deliberate attitud e tow ard s the w orld and to lend it
significance 20.
Consequently, because social contexts are filled w ith m eaning,
constructivists find utility in a m uch broad er set of epistem ological tools,
includ ing em pathy, authority, m yths and so on. () If som ething appears
m eaningful or real to a social agent, then it m ay affect his behaviour and
have real consequences for the society around him 21.
This is the reason w e have to learn to listen to our local inform ants and
their stories because truth lies in the eyes of the observer, and in the
constellation of pow er and force that supports that truth. () For the
constructivist, that battle is not so m uch about truth as it is about the pow er,
interests and id entities of those involved 22.
Then:
Constru ctivists recognize that w e d o not ju st exp erience the w orld objectively
or d irectly: ou r exp eriences are channeled throu gh the hu m an m ind in often
elu sive w ays. It is in this short channel betw een the eye and the brain betw een
sense and p ercep tion and the exp erience of the m ind that w e find m any
challenges to natu ralism . When ou r scientific investigation is aim ed at p ercep tions
of the w orld rather than the w orld as it is, w e op en the p ossibility to m u ltip le
w orld s (or, m ore accu rately, m u ltip le p ercep tions). Consequ ently, constru ctivists
recognize that p eop le m ay look at the sam e thing and p erceive it d ifferently.
Ind ivid u al characteristics (su ch as age, gend er or race) or social characteristics (su ch
as era, cu ltu re and langu age) can facilitate or obscu re a given p ercep tion of the
w orld , Ibid ., p p . 10-11.
20
Ibid , p . 11.
21
Ibid , p . 11.
22
Ibid , p . 12.
19
65
Giovanni Ercolani
because of all the sym bolism carried by the various social

representations 23 w hich are perform ed insid e the anthropological
space, w e are interested in analyses;
the fact that I d efine security as a cultural, id iosyncratic concept
based on the combination of tw o elem ents: cultural id iosyncrasy and
ind ivid ual idiosyncrasy 24;
the im portance of language w hich itself cond itions, lim its, and
pred eterm ines w hat w e see. Thus, all reality is constructed through
language so that nothing is sim ply there in an unproblem atic w ay
everything is a linguistic/ textual construct. Language d oes not
To rep resent m eans at one and the sam e tim e both to m ake absent things,
p resent and to p resent things in su ch a w ay as to satisfy t he cond itions for
argu m entative coherence, rationality and the norm ative integrity of the grou p . That
this is com m u nicative and d iffu sive is all the m ore im p ortant, since there are no
other m eans excep t d iscou rse and the m eanings it carries throu gh w hich
ind ivid u als and grou p s are able to orient and ad ap t them selves to it. Consequ ently,
the statu s of the p henom ena of social rep resentation is that of the sym bolic:
establishing a bond , m aking an im age, evoking, saying and cau sing to be said ,
sharing a m eaning in som e transm issible p rop ositions, and in the best of the cases
su m m arizing in a clich w hich becom es an em blem . Serge Moscovici, Social
Rep resentations Exp lorations in Social Psychology, Cam brid ge: Polity, 2000, p .
157.
24
Secu rity as an id iosyncratic concep t is the resu lt of the com bination of tw o
elem ents -cu ltu ral id iosyncrasy and ind ivid u al id iosyncrasy - in w hich anxiety acts
as a catalyst. For cu ltu ral id iosyncrasy, I consid er w hat is p ecu liar of a cu ltu re that
can sp ark p articu lar anxiety-fear em otions in ind ivid u als in its geop olitical context.
Then being a cu ltu ral p henom enon, it carries w ith it its ow n p articu lar cu ltu ral
relativism . Whereas for ind ivid u al id iosyncrasy, I consid er the p articu lar natu re of
the p olitical lead er, or agency, to w hich is recognised an au thority and then can
p erform the sp eech-narrative act. The com bination of cu ltu re, sym bolism , m yth,
p olicy, and interests, together w ith the p olitical activity and natu re -character of the
lead er-agency and the em otional elem ent, bring as a resu lt a cu ltu ral concep t of
secu rity w hich is consciou s of its cu ltu ral relativism . Giovanni Ercolani, Keep ing
Secu rity and Peace: Behind the Strategicalization of N ATOs Critical Secu rity
Discou rse, The Jou rnal of Secu rity Strategies, Year 7, Issu e: 14, Decem ber 2011, p p .
72-73.
23
66
record reality; it shapes and creates it so that the w hole of our

universe is textual 25;
and the im portance that culture has in the construction of the w ill
(interpellation) in a social-state-form ation, and this w ill is
perceived as a state capability in w ar;
I have decid ed to construct m y theoretical fram ew ork on three

m ethod ologies: d iscourse analysis, m apping approach, and Life-Mod es.
First, d iscourse analysis w ill help m e to d econstr uct the genealogy of
the protocol of interpretation, and use, of the term security.
Then, once having established the etym ological connection betw een
security and freed om from anxiety, at the sam e tim e consid ering the
centrality of em otions, I w ill m ap them and , using a life-m od es approach,
I w ill show how in a conflict situation culture plays a significant role for a
com m unity.
2.1. D iscourse Analysis and Security Studies: From Orthodoxy to
Liquidity Vision
Security is the m ove that takes politics beyond the established rules
of the gam e and fram es the issue either as a special kind of politics or as
above politics. Securitization can thus be seen as a m ore extrem e version of
politicization. In theory, any public issue can be located on the sp ectrum
ranging from non -politicized (m eaning the state d oes not d eal w ith it and it
is not in any other w ay m ad e an issue of public d ebate and d ecision)
through politicized (m eaning the issue is part of public policy, requiring
governm ent d ecision and resource allocations or, m ore rarely, som e other
form of com m unal governance) to securitized (m eaning the issue is
presented as an existential threat, requiring em ergency m easures and
justifying action outsid e the norm al bound s of political proced ure) 26.
Peter Barry, Beginning theory: an introd u ction to literary and cu ltu ral theory,
Manchester: Manchester University p ress, 2002, p . 35.
26
Barry Bu zan, Ole Waever and Jaap d e Wild e, Secu rity A N ew Fram ew ork for
Analysis, Lond on: Lynne Rienner Pu blishers, 1998, p . 23-24.
25
67
Giovanni Ercolani
Then, it is crystal clear how the process of securitization becom es a

political process in w hich d iscourse analysis and narrative have their
prim ary im portance.
The process of securitization is w hat in language theory is called a
speech act. It is not interesting as a sign referring to som ething m ore real; it
is the utterance itself that is the act. By saying such w ord s, something is
d one or perform ed (like betting, giving a prom ise, nam ing a ship) 27. But
w hereas by saying such w ord s, som ething is done or perform ed , in this
specific case of securitization, w hen w e use the very w ord security,
som ething m ore is d one: an em otional elem ent has been ad d ed to the
narrative.
H ow ever, the w ord w hich is central to our stud y is security 28 (freed om
from d anger, fear, anxiety, d estitution, and so on), w hich in its etym ological
m eaning bears strong em otions. Security is d erived from the Latin
securitas and in its turn from sine (= w ithout) + cura (= anxiety,
w orry)29.
N evertheless, there is a d ifference betw een anxiety and fear. While
anxiety is a generalized m ood cond ition that occurs w ithout an id entifiable
triggering stim ulus and is the result of threats that are perceived to be
uncontrollable or unavoid able, on the other hand, fear occurs in the
presence of an observed threat and is related to the specific behaviour of
escape and avoid ance. H ow ever, the anxiety built to full fear 30.
Ibid , p . 26.
The Pengu in English Dictionary, Lond on: Pengu in Books, 2004 2 nd Ed ition.
29
First of all w e note that the term secu ritas, like all fem inine nou ns in tas,
belongs to the category of abstract nou ns, su ch as libertas, hu m anitas, civitas,
and so on. It is, therefore, a p u rely theoretical concep t, w hich d id not corresp ond to
any real objectivity in the eyes of m ost ord inary citizens or Rom an sold iers. Even if
w e stop to consid er th e etym ological root of the nou n or ad jective, w e see that it is
d erived from sine (= w ithou t) + cu ra (= anxiety, w orry). The secu ra p erson w as
thu s at the origin of the sine cu re ind ivid u al, that is w ithou t anxieties, w ithou t
w orries, and then free from thou ghts or anxieties. The safety cond ition, therefore, is
conceived as the absence of som ething: it is a cond ition that cou ld be called 'of
d efau lt'. David e Cam p acci, Il concetto d i sicu rezza nel m ond o rom ano: sp u nti d i
riflessione, p ap er not p u blished , 2009, p . 1.
30
Daniel Golem an, Em otional Intelligence, Lond on: Bloom sbu ry, 1996, p . 6.
27
28
68
Regard ing this relation betw een the etym ological m eaning of security,
its use in parallel w ith a m ilitary m eaning and practice as w ell as its political
pow er, I have created tw o contending visions: one d efined as the Orthod ox
Security Stud ies (OSS) vision and the other as the Critical Security Stud ies
(CSS) vision.
Accord ing to the OSS vision: Security stud ies m ay be d efined as the
stud y of the threat, use, and control of m ilitary forces 31, and w ithout d oubt
this Cold War vision w as supported by a political apparatus interested to
link the m eaning-use of security to the construction of a particular enem ys
id entity. Then, it w as, as still it is, a ped agogic and learning process in
w hich stereotyping the enem y enforces the construction of our ow n
id entity: consid ering the other our enem y, w e w ere forced to d efine us as
the opposite of the supposed enem y. In this orthod ox, rigid opinion of
security, our id entity w as constructed on this side of the w all w hile, on the
other sid e, another opposed id entity w as constructed .
At the political and m ilitary level, this particular use of security w as
em bod ied by Articles 5 (and 6) of the N orth Atlantic Treaty Organisation
w hich still fram es security and insecurity insid e the id ea of an arm ed attack
against the territory and on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the
agreem ent signing Parties. 32
Therefore, w hile it w as im possible to check the intention of the other
enem y (Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact) thoroughly, the containm ent and
d eterrence policies prevented the tw o sides from com ing into a direct armed
confrontation w ith catastrophic results.
What becom es im portant at this point is the fact that w e have to
reconsid er the etym ological m eaning of security (Latin securitas:
freed om from anxiety) because it is in this that w e can find the seed s of a
parad igm shift, and the m ove from a concept to a hum an value.
By confronting the above incontestable meaning w ith the im posed
im aging and parad igm of security (security = m ilitary forces) w ith recent
historical events, w e w elcom e the em ergence of CSS w hich contributed to
Step hen M. Walt, The Renaissance of Secu rity Stu d ies, International Stu d ies
Qu arterly, Vol. 35(2), 1991, p p . 211-39.
32
The
N orth
Atlantic
Treaty
is
available
at:
http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ d ocu / basictxt/ treaty.htm .
31
69
Giovanni Ercolani
re-interpret and reframe security provid ing the inspiration fo r a new

parad igm , and theory. In scientific term s, the rich contributions brought by
the auto-d efined schools of Copenhagen, Paris, Aberystw yth, and other CSS
authors w hom d id not w ant to see them selves entrapped insid e a static
d ogm a, w ere revolutionary.
But w hy is their approach revolutionary? Because Critical Security
Stud ies vision represents a m om ent of opening the fram e in w hich the story
of security and its practice have been told , thus allow ing us to glim pse at
security issues at m ore m ultid im ension al levels, and d raw ing them on the
board , w hich other sciences up to that m om ent w ere not part of the official
gram m ar.
Ind eed , Ken Booth, w riting on CSS talks about em ancipation says:
Emancipation is the theory and practice of inventing hum anity, w ith a
view to freeing people, as individ uals and collectivities, from contingent
and structural oppressions. It is a discourse of hum an self creation and the
politics of trying to bring it about 33.
The above process is supported by the w orks of Buzan, Waever, and de
Wild e, w ho reform ulated a new fram ew ork for security analysis.
Buzan d eveloped the sectorial d im ension of security 34 in w hich the
m ilitary security is only one of five sectors joined by the environm ental,
econom ic, societal and political security. Then, in 1998, w ith the publication
of Security: A new fram ew ork for analysis 35 , Buzan, Waever, and d e
Wild e d eveloped an approach to the process of securitization in w hich
security is treated as a speech -act, as a linguistic perform ance w hich reconstitutes the w orld it represents. Therefore, security d iscourse can
represent a learning process and can participate in the construction of that
Ken Booth, Ed ., Critical Secu rity Stu d ies and World Politics, Lond on: Lynne
Rienner Pu blishers, 2005, p . 181.
34
Barry Bu zan, Peop le, State and Fear: An Agend a for International Secu rity Stu d ies
in the Post-Cold War Era, Lond on: H arvester Wheatsheaf, 1991.
35
Barry Bu zan, B., Waew er O., and De Wild e J., Secu rity: A new Fram ew ork for
Analysis, Bou ld er, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1998.
33
70
sym bolic system , id entified by Ernest Cassirer in w hich m ankind (animal

sym bolicum) lives its reality 36.
Precisely because of its political pow er, it is in this sym bolic system
w here contend ing pow erful voices d epict their ow n scenarios: w hile Waltz
in his Theory of International Politics 37 talks about anarchy in w hich it
is und erstood as the lack of a superior authority in the international system
(an authority w ith enforcing pow er), and then anarchy itself is the location
of fear, on the contrary, Cynthia Weber focuses her research on the link
betw een fear and International Relations Theory. Accord ing to Weber ,
anarchy d oes not create the fear that Waltz theorizes in Theory of
International Politics. Rather, fear creates the effects that Waltz attributes to
anarchy prioritizing survival, self-help over cooperation, and either
conflict or com petitive balancing. () The fear is the fear of fear itself. ()
Fear, then, is the final supplem ent of Waltzs theory 38.
H ow ever, as the end of the Cold War provoked the slow disappearance
of net, clear, id entifiable, id enti-cal39 characters based on official security
d iscourses, w e have passed from the solid to the fluid phase of
m od ernity 40.
Then, in a new reality w here the new conflicting situation has been
d efined as liquid , NATO, obsessed in staying alive after the vanishing of its
Ernst Cassirer, An Essay on Man, N ew H aven and Lond on: Yale University Press,
1974 (1944), p . 32.
37
Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics, Read ing, MA: Ad d ison -Wesley,
1979.
38
Cynthia Weber, International Relations Theory A Critical Introd u ction,
Lond on: Rou tled ge, 2005, P. 32.
39
Id entity in English has its origin in the Latin idem: sam e.
40
Flu id s are so called becau se they cannot keep their shap e for long, and u nless
they are p ou red into a tight container they keep changing shap e u nd er the
influ ence of even the slightest of forces. In a flu id setting, there is no know ing
w hether to exp ect a flood or a d rou ght - it is better to be read y for both
eventu alities. Fram es, w hen (if) they are available, shou ld not be exp ected to last for
long. They w ill not be able to w ithstand all the leaking, seep ing, trickling, sp illing
sooner rather than later they w ill d rench, soften, contort and d ecom p ose. In
Zygm u nt Bau m an, Id entity, Cam brid ge: Polity, 2004, p . 51.
36
71
Giovanni Ercolani
vertebral-solid m ortal enem y (the primary function of a structure is to

reprod uce itself), started to re-invent itself.
Therefore, N ATO too had to aband on its security equation (security =
m ilitary solution) linguistically because the conflicts w hich com e to the
stage after the im p losion of the Soviet Union w ere com pletely new
accord ing its paradigm , and w ere d efined as:
new w ars vs. old w ars 41;

War am ongst people 42 ;
Large group id entity-conflict 43;
For old w ars w e u nd erstand the w ar betw een states in w hich t he aim is to inflict
m axim u m violence; this old w ars are becom ing an anachronism . Accord ing to
Mary Kald or w ith the concep t of new w ars w e are in front of a new typ e of
organized violence w hich cou ld be d escribed as a m ixtu re of w ar, organized crim e
and m assive violations of hu m an rights. For Kald or new w ars actors are both
global, and local, p u blic and p rivate. These new w ars are fou ght for p articu laristic
p olitical goals (Kald or talks of Id entity Politics: m ovem ents w hich m obilize arou nd
ethnic, racial or religiou s id entity for the p u rp ose of claim ing state p ow er) u sing
tactics of terror and d estabilization that are theoretically ou tlaw ed by the ru les of
m od ern w arfare. Mary Kald or, N ew & Old Wars Organized Violence in a Global
Era, Cam brid ge: Polity, 2006.
42
War am ongst p eop le it is the reality in w hich the p eop le in the street and hou ses
and field s all the p eop le, anyw here are the battlefield . Military engagem ents can
take p lace anyw here: in the p resence of civilians, against civilian, in d efence of
civilians. Civilians are the targets, objectives to be w on, as m u ch an op p osing
forces. In contrast to w hat Gen. Ru p ert Sm ith d efines as interstate ind u strial
w ar, the new p arad igm of w ar am ongst p eop le is based on the concep t of a
continu ou s criss-crossing betw een confrontation and conflict, regard less of w hether
a state is facing another state or a non -state actor. Rather than w ar and p eace, there
is not p red efined sequ ence, nor is p eace necessarily either the starting or the end
p oint: conflicts are resolved , bu t not necessarily confrontations. Ru p ert Sm ith, The
Utility of Force The art of War in the Mod ern War, Lond on: Allen Lane, 2005.
43
Large grou p id entity-conflict, in w hich a threat against a large grou p id entity
brings a p sychological regression w hich can sp ark an id entity conflict. H ere the
concep t of large-grou p id entity d escribes how thou sand s or m illions of ind ivid u als,
m ost of w hom w ill never m eet in their life-tim es, are bou nd by an intense sense of
sam eness by belonging to the sam e ethnic, religiou s, national, or id eological
grou p . When large grou p s are threatened by conflict, m em bers of the grou p cling
41
72
H ybrid conflicts 44;

Fourth Generations w ars 45.
everm ore stu bbornly to these circu m stances in an effort to m aintain and regu late
their sense of self and their sense of belonging to a large-grou p . At su ch tim es,
large-grou p s p rocess becom e d om inant and large-grou p id entity issu e and ritu als
are m ore su scep tible to p olitical p rop agand a and m anip u lation. Political, econom ic,
legal, m ilitary, and historical factors u su ally figu re p rom inently in any attem p t to
m anage and solve large-grou p conflicts, bu t it is also necessary to consid er the
p rofou nd effect of hu m an p sychology, esp ecially sp ecific large -grou p p rocesses that
evolve u nd er stress or after m assive trau m a and are m anip u late d by lead ers..
Vam ik Volkan, Blind Tru st Large Grou p s and Their Lead ers in Tim es of Crisis
and Terror, Charlottesville, Virginia: Pitchstone Pu blishing, 2004.
44
Althou gh conventional in form , the d ecisive battles in tod ay's hybrid w ars are
fou ght not on conventional battlegrou nd s, bu t on asym m etric battlegrou nd s w ithin
the conflict zone p op u lation, the hom e front p op u lation, and the international
com m u nity p op u lation. Irregu lar, asym m etric battles fou ght w ithin these
p op u lations u ltim ately d eterm ine su ccess or failu re. H ybrid w ar ap p ears new in
that it requ ires sim u ltaneou s rather than sequ ential su ccess in these d iverse bu t
related p op u lation battlegrou nd s. () Thu s, hybrid w ars are a com bination of
sym m etric and asym m etric w ar in w hich intervening forces cond u ct trad itional
m ilitary op erations against enem y m ilitary forces and targets w hile they m u st
sim u ltaneou sly--and m ore d ecisively--attem p t to achieve control of the com bat
zone's ind igenou s p op u lations by secu ring and stabilizing them (stability
op erations). H ybrid conflicts therefore are fu ll sp ectru m w ars w ith both p hysical
and concep tu al d im ensions: the form er. a stru ggle against an arm ed enem y and the
latter, a w id er stru ggle for, control and su p p ort of the com bat zone's ind igenou s
p op u lation, the su p p ort of the hom e fronts of the intervening nations, and the
su p p ort of the international com m u nity. In hybrid w ar, achieving strategic
objectives requ ires su ccess in all of these d iverse conventional and asym m etric
battlegrou nd s. At all levels in a hybrid w ar's cou ntry of conflict, secu rity
establishm ents, governm ent offices and op erations, m ilitary sites and forces,
essential services, and the econom y w ill likely be either d estroyed , d am aged , or
otherw ise d isru p ted . To secu re and stabilize the ind igenou s p op u lation, the
intervening forces m u st im m ed iately rebu ild or restore secu rity, essential services,
local governm ent, self-d efense forces and essential elem ents of the econom y.
H istorically, hybrid w ars have been w on or lost w ithin these areas. The y are
battlegrou nd s for legitim acy and su p p ort in the eyes of the p eop le. John J.
McCu en, H ybrid Wars, Military Review , March -Ap ril, 2008.
45
These w ars have fou rs d istinct characteristics: (1) the loss of the states m onop oly
of w ar and on the first loyalty of its citizen; (2) the rise of non -state entities that
73
Giovanni Ercolani
Despite their various labels, new -w ars, w ar am ongst people, large

group id entity-conflict, hybrid conflict, and fourth generations w ars, all of
them retain this am bivalence of w ers- w ar in w hich w e have been forced
to look at them , and w here the primacy is still given to the w o rd w ar and
the hum an being.
CSS and the recent contributions from Contem porary Conflict
Resolution stud ies suggest to us that none of all recent conflicts end ed w ith
a peace agreem ent. What CSS also d oes is to insist on the critical
epistem ology, the critical research practice, w hich, as Booth argues, offers
an em ancipatory approach into this difficult m aterial.
Then, w e have to start to exam ine these conflicts and virtual peace
places through the lens of peace (positive peace), and not only w ith the
purpose to w in w ar (bellum -w ar, and/ or w ers-w ar): a new position
from w hich look at the conflict and w in the security because critical
explorations of the realities of security have to start in our head s before they
can take place in the outsid e w orld 46.
2.2. Mapping approach and the Virtual Peace Space
Once d efined , the relation betw een the m eaning of security and its
em otional characteristics, together w ith the changing nature of the most
recent conflicts (w hich have id entified the centrality of th e hum an being, his
id entity, alongsid e his culture as the m ain m otivations behind the reason of
com m and p eop les p rim ary loyalty and that have the ability to w age w ar. These
entities m ay be gangs, clans, religiou s grou p s, races and ethnic grou p s, tribes,
bu siness enterp rises, id eological actors and terrorist organizations the variety is
alm ost lim itless; (3) a retu rn to a w orld of cu ltu res, not, m erely of states, in conflict;
and (4) the m anifestation of both d evelop m ents d e d ecline of the sate and the rise
of alternate, often cu ltu ral, p rim ary loyalties. And y Knight, Civil-m ilitary
coop eration and hu m an secu rity, in Christop her Ankersen, Ed ., Civil Military
Coop eration in Post-Conflict Op erations Em erging theory and p ractice, Lond on:
Rou tled ge, 2008.
46
Ken Booth, Ed ., Critical Secu rity Stu d ies and World Politics, Lond on: Lynne
Rienner Pu blishers, 2005, p . 3.
74
the com bats), I now need to illustrate these social representations em otional
d iscourses on a m ap.
This is justified by the fact that one of the characteristics of the new
w ars is that pre-conflict and post-conflict phases increasingly resem ble each
other. Agreem ents stabilize the violence but tend not to provid e solutions.
Moreover, the new w ars have a tend ency to spread through crim inal
netw orks, refugees, and the virus of exclusivist id eologies. The risk is that
the just w ar and the hum anitarian peace positions could end up prolonging
these w ars, perhaps ind efinitely 47.
Linking the pre-conflict phase to the post-conflict situation takes us
back to the discourse initiated before on the concept of peace and virtual
peace because, as David Keen says: the kind of peace that prevails w ill be
linked to the kind of violence that preced ed it. () Therefore, there should
be other routes to peace that m ight w ork better than the security approach,
particularly in the medium and the long term . One is the attem pt to
question the d efinition of the enem y that has been sanctioned and
propagated by officialdom (in w hatever form ) and perhaps also by rebels
and terrorists. That questioning w ill need to includ e an attem pt to
d econstruct the process by w hich a particular enem y cam e to be d efined as
the enemy. () A second approach is to try to m ap the various functions of
violence for the various parties w ho have contributed to violence (), and
then to use this analysis as a w ay to trying to reduce violent behaviour 48.
I have alread y d em onstrated the im portance of d iscourse analysis in
d efining the term security and how it is used by the state or agencies in
ord er to prod uce the im age of the enem y. N ow is the m om ent to m ove to
the second pillar of m y m ethod ology: the m apping approach.
H ow ever, I believe that there are som e problem s w ith this approach
d ue to the fact that it should provid e a valid , d ynam ic and open
representation of the rhetorical space-anthropological place w here the
actors-inform ants interact. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. My
Mary Kald or, H u m an Secu rity Reflections on Globalization and Intervention,

Cam brid ge: Polity: 2007, p . 71.
48
47
75
Giovanni Ercolani
interest is, und oubted ly, to provid e a w ay to map w hat I call the virtual
peace space:
an open and d ynam ic rhetorical space-anthropological-existential

place, filled w ith sym bolism , cultural elements and em otions,
w hich has been the territory-environm ent of pre-conflict phases,
and subsequently of an arm ed conflict, and
post-conflict situations in a virtual peace d imension w here there is
still a w ar after the w ar.
For this reason, even if the m apping approach and conflict m apping are
regard ed as the classical m od us operand i, I consid er them unable to
reprod uce the qualitative reality w hich they suppose to r epresent and
thus the base for a structured analysis, w hich I w ant to set in m otion here
w ith the id ea of virtual peace space.
Ind eed , the m apping approach has been subject to a very particular
(and very narrow ) interpretation in the form of analysis an d interventions
based around the id ea of rebel greed. Accord ing to this lim ited
perspective, the m ost useful interventions are those that constrain the
m oney that rebels can make, thereby rem oving the cause of civil w ar and of
its perpetuation 49.
Despite the fact that conflict m apping is a first step in intervening to
m anage a particular conflict 50, in m y opinion, how ever, there are still som e
Ibid , p . 173.
Conflict m ap p ing is a first step in intervening to m anage a p articu lar conflict. It
gives both to the intervenor and the conflict p arties a clearer u nd erstand ing of the
origins, natu re, d ynam ics and p ossibilities for resolu tion of t he conflict. () H aving
m ap p ed the stru ctu re of the conflict, the next step is to u se the inform ation in the
m ap to id entify the scop e for the conflict resolu tion, p referably w ith the help of the
p arties or em bed d ed third p arties. Su ch an analysis w ou ld id entify: changes in the
context w hich cou ld alter the conflict situ ation, inclu d ing the interests and
cap acities of third p arties to influ ence it; changes w ithin and betw een the conflict
p arties, inclu d ing internal lead ership stru ggles, varying p rosp ects fo r m ilitary
su ccess, the read iness of general p op u lations to exp ress su p p ort for settlem ent;
p ossible w ays of red efining goals and find ing alternative m eans of resolving
d ifferences, inclu d ing su ggested step s tow ard s settlem ent and eventu al
49
50
76
problem s w ith both approaches because I think they participate to

d iagnosticate a conflict as a d isease, follow ing an ethnocentric biom ed ic protocol of d ata-id entification and interpretation. In this m apping
approach, based on a w estern N ew tonian -Cartesian scientific parad igm , the
d ynam ic relation betw een tim e and m aterial-subject is not considered . Even
a red uctionist scission betw een the mind and the bod y has been operated
on, not to m ention the d istance w hich has been constructed betw een the
intervenor-d octor and the supposed patient 51. Therefore, if m ed icalization
occurs w hen hum an problem s or experiences becom e d efined as m edical
problem s, usually in term s of illnesses, d iseases, or synd rom es 52 , these
m apping approaches, or m ed icalization -m apping approaches contribute
to the construction of a new institutionalized concept of security: from the
orthod ox-m ilitarized concept of security to a m ed icalized one. For this
reason, these official m aps d epict a sym bolic space, w hich I call a
geopolitical-narrative fram ew ork 53 : the space w here the process of
Securitization becom es a m ore extrem e version of politicization 54 , and
now as a result of a securitization -m edicalization process.
transform ation; likely constrains on these; and how these m ight be overcom e. ()
A conflict m ap is an initial snap shot. Analyst m ay then w ant to keep u p d ating it by
regu lar conflict tracking. In Oliver Ram sbotham , Tom Wood hou se and H u gh
Miall, Contem p orary Conflict Resolu tion, Cam brid ge: Polity, 2005, p p . 74-75.
51
Ju an Ignacio Rico Becerra, El inm igrante enferm o ap u ntes y reflexiones d ese
u n trabajo antrop olgico, Mu rcia: Ed iciones Isabor, 2009, p p . 68-83.
52
Peter Conrad and Kristin K. Barker, The Social Constru ction of Illness: Key
Insights and Policy Im p lications, Jou rnal of H ealth and Social Behavior, 2010, 51:
S67. p . S74.
53
A geop olitical-narrative-fram ew ork is a p hysical and intellectu al-sym bolic
sp ace (as a herm eneu tical circle w here the three elem ents of the Aristotles Rhetoric
are p resent: Ethos, Pathos and Logos), in w hich em otions and p ercep tions are
elaborated throu gh an hegem onic narrative (narrative is a re-p resentation of real or
invented events, then a p arad igm ), in ord er to p rod u ce a p articu lar im age and
m eaning (and p rotocol of interp retation) to be attached to the w ord secu rity. In
Giovanni Ercolani, Keep ing Secu rity and Peace: Behind the Strategicalization of
N ATOs Critical Secu rity Discou rse, The Jou rnal of Secu rity Strategies, Year 7,
Issu e: 14, Decem ber 2011, p . 54.
54
Barry Bu zan, Ole Waever and Jaap d e Wild e, Secu rity A N ew Fram ew ork for
Analysis, Lond on: Lynne Rienner Pu blishers, 1998, p . 23-24.
77
Giovanni Ercolani
H ow ever, m ed ical anthropology challenges the excessive biologists

view of w estern m ed icine (the d imension of disease), and focuses m ore on
the cultural d im ension (illness) and the social d im ension (sickness). This is
because it is w ithin this d im ension illness-sickness w here the continuum
health/ illness of the patient is d eterm ined . 55
As a result, the m apping approach (und erstood as a conflict mapping
conflict tracking) w ill not be able to m ap the virtual peace space in w hich
the local populations live because the tim e of this m ap has expired after the
end of the w ar/ conflict and the d eclaration of peace. H ow ever, the
problem is not only of the tim e, but of the very r elation w hich the official
m apping approaches (as a bio-m ed ical protocol) establish w ith the local
population.
Peace is not a m edicam ent w hich, once prescribed (by the intervenor d octor) and sw allow ed (by the w arring patients), transform s the w hole
post-conflict situation, and the hum an relations w hich exist into the
virtual peace place.
The problem resid es in the bio-m ed ic d ivision betw een bod y and mind,
and the d istance betw een the d octor and the patient. H ere, in this
d im ension, the patient looses his hum an d im ension and the m ed ical d octor
looks only at the bod y-d isease. It is the d isease that m ust be com bated ,
w hat the patient says and feels is of no im portance: once a d isease is
d iagnosed , the bio-m ed ical protocol takes possession of the situa tion.
Thus, even the continuum health/ illness, the cultural/ social d im ension
in w hich the patient lives, becom es a contagious non -existing place.
Again, it is m edical anthropology w hich provid es us a clue to exit from
this
bio-m edical
herm eneutical
cycle:
the
process
56
(health/ illness/ treatmentsalud / enferm ed ad/ atencion
(s/ e/ a)
attention), focuses on the continuum health/ illness, then, becom ing a basic
d im ension of culture, gives im portance to w hat the patient says and feels.
It is in the treatm ent-attention phase of the s/ e/ a process, w here the
relation betw een the d octor and the patient is restored , and w here em pirical
Ju an Ignacio Rico Becerra, El inm igrante enferm o ap u ntes y reflexiones d ese
u n trabajo antrop olgico, Mu rcia: Ed iciones Isabor, 2009, p p . 84-85.
56
Ibid , p p . 83-84.
55
78
evid ence plays a m ajor role. In treating and attend ing to the patient as a
hum an being, w ith his ow n id entity, culture, em otion, a nd in listening to
him , perm its us to exit from the bio-m edical protocol.
Then, consid ering the local population as hum an beings, in listening to
their voices w hich verbalize their em otions, in und erstand ing them and
their cultural-social environm ent, and not pretend ing that they and their
existential place are contagious, these represent the first steps for a
reinterpretation of the m apping approach.
Dom inique Moisi, a lead ing authority on international affairs, in his
2009 book The Geopolitics of Emotion H ow Cultures of Fear,
H um iliation, and H ope are Reshaping the World , reports his experiences
of travelling and interview ing people around the w orld , and explains that
in ord er to und erstand our changing w orld , w e need to confront em otion.
Emotions m atter. They im pact the attitud es of the peoples, the
relationship betw een cultures, and the behavior of nations. N either political
lead ers nor stud ents of history nor ord inary concerned citizens can afford to
ignore them 57 . For this reason Dom inique Moisi suggests that such a
m apping involves bringing together elements as diverse as surveys of
public opinion (how people feel about them selves, their present, and their
future) the statem ents of political lead ers, and cultural prod uction such as
m ovies, plays, and books 58. Taking into consideration the globalization 59
Dom iniqu e Moisi, The Geop olitics of Em otion H ow Cu ltu res of Fear,
H u m iliation, and H op e are Reshap ing the World , N ew York: Anchor Books, 2010,
p . 29.
58
Dom iniqu e Moisi, The Geop olitics of Em otion H ow Cu ltu res of Fear,
p . 16.
59
Tod ay (), qu ests for id entity by p eop les u ncertain of w hom they are, their
p lace in the w orld , and their p rosp ects for a m eaningfu l fu tu re have rep laced
id eology as the m otor of history, w ith the consequ ence that em otions m atter m ore
than ever w here m ed ia are p laying the role of a sou nd ing board and a m agnifying
glass. () In an age of globalization, em otions have becom e ind isp ensable to grasp
the com p lexity of the w orld w e live in. () Unlike the Cold War system ,
globalization is not static bu t a d ynam ic ongoing p rocess, involving the inexorable
integration of m arkets, nation -states, and technologies to a d egree never w itn essed ,
in a w ay that is enabling ind ivid u als, corp orations, and cou ntries to reach arou nd
57
79
Giovanni Ercolani
process and the various sentim ents w hich have been aroused by the im pact relation betw een the local and the global, the author focuses geopolitically
on three em otions of culture: fear, hope, and hum iliation. Follow ing the
m apping approach d eveloped by Prof. Dom inique Moisi, it is very
interesting how different the culture of em otions takes place in various
geopolitical areas of this planet.
While the culture of hope is an Asian hope 60, and the culture of bad
hum iliation is m ost present in large parts of the Arab -Islam ic w orld 61, the
culture of fear is the d om inant em otion of the West is, above all, a reaction
to the events and feelings taking place elsew here. For the first tim e in m ore
than tw o centuries, the West is no longer setting the tune. This perception of
our vulnerability and of our relative loss of centrality is at the very center of
our id entity crisis 62.
the w orld farther, faster, d eep er, and cheap er than ever before. This sam e p rocess is
also p rod u cing a p ow erfu l backlash from those bru talized or left behind by the n ew
system . () The p rim ary reason that tod ays w orld is the id eal fertile grou nd for
the blossom ing or even the exp losion of em otions is that globalization cau ses
insecu rity and raises the qu estion of id entity. In the Cold War p eriod there w as
never any reason to ask, Who are w e? The answ er w as p lainly visible on every
m ap that d ep icted the tw o ad versarial system s d ivid ing the globe betw een them .
Bu t in an ever-changing w orld w ithou t bord ers, the qu estion is intensely relevant.
Id entity is strongly linked w ith confid ence, and in tu rn confid ence, or the lack
thereof, is exp ressed in em otions in p articu lar, those of fear, hop e, and
hu m iliation. Econom ically, globalization can be d efined sim p ly as the integration of
econom ic activities across bord ers throu gh m arkets. The d riving forces of
globalization, m asterfu lly analyzed by Martin Wolf, are technological and p olicy
changes that red u ce the cost of transp ort and com m u nication and encou rage
greater reliance on m arket forces. Bu t this free flow of good s in econom ic term s also
im p lies in p olitical term s the free flow of em otions, inclu d ing both p ositive
em otions (am bition, cu riosity, yearning for self-exp ression) and evil ones, inclu d ing
the angry p assions that lead to hatred betw een nations, religions, and eth nic
grou p . Dom iniqu e Moisi, The Geop olitics of Em otion H ow Cu ltu res of Fear,
p p . 4-13.
60
Ibid , p p . 30-55.
61
Ibid , p p . 56-89.
62
This crisis m ight be d escribed in the follow ing term s: Whats hap p ening to u s?
We u sed to be in charge of the rest of the w orld . Even if, in the tw entieth centu ry,
80
3. Case study: N ATOs geopolitics of fear and CIMIC operations

It is in m y case study that m y theoretical fram ew ork finds its
justification. This is because N ATO has prod uced not only its ow n discourse
on w hat constitutes its concept of security, but it has also prod uced a m ap,
too. It has even prod uced a bio-m ed ical tool. These h ave been d one in the
follow ing phases:
1. The d iscursive part w as provid ed by the N ATO em erging security
challenges as reported in the speech of the N ATO Secretary
General Rasm ussen on em erging risks (Lond on, October 1, 2009).
The challenges w e are lookin g at tod ay cut across the d ivid e
betw een the public and the private sectors 63 the N ATO Secretary
General said .
2. On the other hand , w hat I consider here as the N ATOs Fear Map
w as visually provid ed by Lieutenant General Jim Soligan, USAF
(Deputy Chief of Staff, of the N ATO Allied Com m and
Transform ation) on April 17, 2009, at The Second International
w e led ou rselves to self d estru ction [World War I] or to su icid e/ m u rd er [World
War II and the H olocau st] at least w e d id it to ou rselves. Those w ere ou r ow n
follies. N ow it seem s w e are to be victim ized by forces beyond ou r control. Asia is
abou t to overtake u s econom ically. Fu nd am entalists in the Islam ic w orld are intent
on d estroying u s. Im m igrants from the sou thern nations are abou t to ove rw helm
u s. Is there any w ay w e can regain control of ou r ow n d estiny? Ibid , p p . 90-91.
63
Furtherm ore, his sp eech em braced the follow ing p retexts for N ATO
interventions. This fu tu re casu s belli, in his ow n w ord s, inclu d es: p iracy; cyber
secu rity/ d efence; clim ate change; extrem e w eather events catastrop hic storm s
and flood ing; the rise of sea levels; p op u lation m ovem ent p op u lations w ill m ove
in large nu m bersalw ays w here som eone else lives, and som etim es across
bord ers; w ater shortages; d rou ghts; a r ed u ction in food p rod u ction; the retreating
of the Arctic ice for resou rces that had , u ntil now , been covered u nd er ice; global
w arm ing; CO2 em issions; reinforcing factories or energy stations or transm ission
lines or p orts that m ight be at risk of storm s or flood ing; energy, w here d iversity of
su p p ly is a secu rity issu e; natu ral and hu m anitarian d isasters; big storm s, or flood s,
or su d d en m ovem ents of p op u lations, and fu el efficiency, thu s red u cing ou r overall
d ep end ence
on
foreign
sou rces
of
fu el.
At:
http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ cp s/ en/ natolive/ op inions_57785.htm
81
Giovanni Ercolani
Sym posium on Strategic and Security Stud ies, organized in

Istanbul by the University of Beykent. 64 In his presentation, the
N ATO General show ed a m ap of poten tial areas of intervention for
N ATO, and d efined potential regions of crisis as Multiple Stress
Zones, ad d ing that Instability is likely to be greatest in areas of
Multiple Environm ental Stress.
If w e overlap General Soligans presentation w ith the speech of the

N ATO Secretary General, w e w ill see that not only are the m ain points
regard ing the possible security challenges the sam e but also, at geopolitical
level, the threats (the sources of fear) Multiple Stress Zones - are all
outsid e the territories of N ATO countries.
3. The last historical m om ent in the construction of this narrative,
w hich d efines N ATOs fears, is represented by the recent N ATO
Strategic Concept 65 approved in Lisbon on N ovem ber 10 th , 2010
(N N SC 2010). Accord ingly, the d efence and security of the Mem bers
Jim Soligan, The Transform ation of Defence: N ATO Persp ectives, in Sait
Yilm az. Ed ., The N ational Defense in the 21st Centu ry, Istanbu l: Beykent
University, 2009, ISBN : 978-975-6319-06-2;
65
At: http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ strategic-concep t/ p d f/ Strat_Concep t_w eb_en.p d f
64
82
of the N orth Atlantic Treaty Organisation w ill be based on an

Active Engagem ent, Mod ern Defence 66.
To sum up, the three pillars on w hich the security (freed om from
anxiety) of the NATO Alliance w ill be based are: Collective Defence, Crisis
Management, and Cooperative Security. This is because on the N ATOs
Fear Mapping approach there is an em otional d irect relationship betw een
the security-securitization of the NATO-States territories and the
securitization of Multiple Stress Zones w hich w ere regard ed (if not
ignored at all) until recently as the periphery of non -im portance.
Then, for N ATO, the bio-m ed ical tool for the d efence and security of
the m em bers of the N orth Atlantic Treaty Organisation, becom es the
Crisis m anagem ent 67 operations.
(a) Collective d efence. N ATO m em ber s w ill alw ays assist each other against
attack, in accord ance w ith Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. That com m itm ent
rem ains firm and bind ing. N ATO w ill d eter and d efend against any threat of
aggression, and against em erging secu rity challenges w here the y threaten the
fu nd am ental secu rity of ind ivid u al Allies or the Alliance as a w hole. (b) Crisis
m anagem ent. N ATO has a u niqu e and robu st set of p olitical and m ilitary
cap abilities to ad d ress the fu ll sp ectru m of crises before, d u ring and after
conflicts. N ATO w ill actively em p loy an ap p rop riate m ix of those p olitical and
m ilitary tools to help m anage d evelop ing crises that have the p otential to affect
Alliance secu rity, before they escalate into conflicts; to stop ongoing conflicts w here
they affect Alliance secu rity; and to help consolid ate stability in p ost -conflict
situ ations w here that contribu tes to Eu ro-Atlantic secu rity. (c) Coop erative secu rity.
The Alliance is affected by, and can affect, p olitical and secu rity d evelop m ents
beyond its bord ers. The Alliance w ill engage actively to enhance international
secu rity, throu gh p artnership w ith relevant cou ntries and other international
organisations; by contribu ting actively to arm s control, non -p roliferation and
d isarm am ent; and by keep ing the d oor to m em bership in the Alliance op en to all
Eu rop ean d em ocracies that m eet N ATOs stand ard s. N ATO 2010 N ew Strategic
Concep t, at: http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ lisbon2010/ strategic-concep t-2010-eng.p d f
67
Secu rity throu gh Crisis Managem ent, at http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ strategicconcep t/ p d f/ Strat_Concep t_w eb_en.p d f.
66
83
Giovanni Ercolani
3.1. Civil-Military Cooperation Operations and N ATO

Civil-m ilitary cooperation (CIMIC) is a military label used to d escribe
those occasions that see elem ents of arm ed forces engaging, and even
collaborating, w ith civilian entities (such as local authorities or other
governm ent
agencies,
non -governm ental
organizations,
or
international/ intergovernm ental organizations). This collaboration usually
takes place d uring som e crisis situation, w hether it be after natural d isaster,
w ar, or, increasingly, d uring com plex peace support or stability operations.
It can take the form of abstract contingency planning or the high level
coord ination of resources and objectives, but can also m anifest itself as aid
d elivery or reconstruction activity by m ilitary forces 68.
N ATO has been involved in CIMIC operations since its d eploym ent in
Kosovo (1999, KFOR m ission). H ow ever, perceiving and red ucing the
purpose of CIMIC as w inning the hearts and m ind s of the local
populations is too simplistic. It is not a coincid ence that the Italian Arm y
Gen. Fabio Mini, form er KFOR Com m ander, w ho had first hand
experiences d uring the m ission, talks about the concept of virtual peace
and the id ea of the w ar after the w ar. For this reason, and based on his
experience, m y interest in this research is not related to the political and
strategic involvem ent of N ATO m ilitary forces in any conventional d eclared
conflict, but the very mom ent at w hich N ATO, called by the international
com m unity to operate, is d eployed and tactically enters into and operates,
in a CIMIC Operation context, in a Virtual Peace Space.
The id ea that a N ATOs com prehensive political, civilian and m ilitary
approach is necessary for effective crisis m anagem ent, in ord er to contribute
to the stabilization and reconstruction of areas w here a conflict has com e to
an end , is expressed by the follow ing articles from the N N SC 2010:
24. Even w hen conflict com es to an end , the international com m unity
m ust often provid e continued support, to cr eate the cond itions for lasting
stability. NATO w ill be prepared and capable to contribute to stabilisation
Christop her Ankersen, Interrogating civil-m ilitary coop eration, in Christop her
Ankersen, Ed ., Civil-Military Coop eration in Post-Conflict Op erations Em erging
Theories and Practice, Lond on: Rou tled ge, 2008, p . 1.
68
84
and reconstruction, in close cooperation and consultation w herever possible

w ith other relevant international actors.
And :
21. The lessons learned from N ATO operations, in particular in
Afghanistan and the Western Balkans, make it clear that a com prehensive
political, civilian and m ilitary approach is necessary for effective crisis
m anagem ent. The Alliance w ill engage actively w ith other international
actors before, d uring and after crises to encourage collaborative analysis,
planning and cond uct of activities on the ground , in ord er to m axim ise
coherence and effectiveness of the overall international effort .
In this particular regard , it is w orth noticing that the N ATOs theory of
Security through Crisis Managem ent is organized insid e the liquid
concept of Com prehensive approach.
Although the Com prehensive Approach is not yet w ell d efined , since
actors and nations have d ifferent opinions about w hat it is, it has, how ever,
becom e the biggest issue in N ATO tod ay. From the stand point of the N ATO
m ilitary, through lessons learned , it is now generally agreed that m ilitary
operations executed in host countries cannot reach the state of that
operation by military means alone. Although the m ilitary can contribute in
final other fields, their first objective w ill alw ays be to bring a higher level of
security in that area of operation.
Accord ing to the N ATO official w eb page: The com prehensive
approach not only m akes sense it is necessary, says N ATO Secretary
General Rasm ussen. NATO need s to w ork m ore closely w ith our civilian
partners on the ground , and at a political level especially the European
Union and the United N ations. The effective im plem entation of a
com prehensive approach requires all actors to contribute in a concerted
effort, based on a shared sense of responsibility, openness and
d eterm ination, taking into account their respective strengths, m andates and
roles, as w ell as their decision-m aking autonomy. N ATO is im proving its
ow n crisis-m anagem ent instrum ents and it has reached out to strengthen its
ability to w ork w ith partner countries, international organizations, non governm ental organizations and local authorities. In particular, N ATO is
build ing closer partnerships w ith civilian actors that have experience and
85
Giovanni Ercolani
skills in areas such as institution build ing, d evelopm ent, governance,

jud iciary and police 69.
Therefore, if the Com prehensive Approach is a liquid concept, this is
not the case for the N ATO Civil-Military Co-operation operation w hich is
very w ell regulated by the follow ing N ATO d ocum ents: the MC 411/ 1
on the N ATO Military Policy on Civil-Military Co-operation (18 January,
2002), and the AJP-9 on NATO Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC)
Doctrine (June, 2003).
Accord ing to the MC 411-1 70 N ATO d ocum ent: CIMIC is the coord ination and co-operation, in support of the mission, betw een the NATO
Com m and er and civil actors, includ ing national population and local
authorities, as w ell as international, national and non -governmental
A Com p rehensive Ap p roach to crisis m anagem ent. N ATOs new Strategic
Concep t, ad op ted at the Lisbon Su m m it in N ovem ber 2010, u nd erlines that lessons
learned from N ATO op erations show that effective crisis m anagem ent calls for a
com p rehensive ap p roach involving p olitical, civilian and m ilitary instru m ents.
Military m eans, althou gh essential, ar e not enou gh on their ow n to m eet the m any
com p lex challenges to Eu ro-Atlantic and international secu rity. Allied lead ers
agreed at Lisbon to enhance N ATOs contribu tion to a com p rehensive ap p roach to
crisis m anagem ent as p art of the international com m u nit ys effort and to im p rove
N ATOs ability to contribu te to stabilization and reconstru ction. The
com p rehensive ap p roach not only m akes sense it is necessary, says N ATO
Secretary General Rasm u ssen. N ATO need s to w ork m ore closely w ith ou r civilian
p artners on the grou nd , and at a p olitical level esp ecially the Eu rop ean Union and
the United N ations. The effective im p lem entation of a com p rehensive ap p roach
requ ires all actors to contribu te in a concerted effort, based on a shared sense of
resp onsibility, op enness and d eterm ination, taking into accou nt their resp ective
strengths, m and ates and roles, as w ell as their d ecision -m aking au tonom y. N ATO
is im p roving its ow n crisis-m anagem ent instru m ents and it has reached ou t to
strengthen its ability to w ork w ith p artner cou ntries, international organizations,
non-governm ental organizations and local au thorities. In p articu lar, N ATO is
bu ild ing closer p artnership s w ith civilian actors that have exp erience and skills in
areas su ch as institu tion bu ild ing, d evelop m ent, governance, ju d iciary and p olice.
In March 2012, N ATO agreed on an Up d ated List of Tasks to u p d ate its
Com p rehensive Ap p roach Action Plan. These tasks are being im p lem ented by a
d ed icated civilian-m ilitary task force that involves all relevant N ATO b od ies and
com m and s. At: http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ cp s/ en/ natolive/ top ics_51633.htm .
70
At: http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ im s/ d ocu / m c411-1-e.htm .
69
86
organisations and agencies. And the im m ed iate purpose of CIMIC is to

establish and m aintain the full co-operation of the N ATO com m and er and
the civilian authorities, organisations, agencies and p opulation w ithin a
com m and er's area of operations in ord er to allow him to fulfil his m ission.
This m ay includ e d irect support to the im plem entation of a civil plan. The
long-term purpose of CIMIC is to help create and sustain cond itions that
w ill support the achievem ent of Alliance objectives in operations.
Moreover, in m eeting the above purpose the CIMIC staff w ill,
accord ing to the AJP-971 N ATO d ocum ent:
a. Liaise w ith civil actors at the appropriate level.
b. Engage in joint planning, at the strategic as w ell as the operational level,
w ith appropriate civilian bod ies before and d uring an operation.
c. Carry out continuous assessm ents of the local civil environm ent,
includ ing local need s in ord er to id entify the extent to any vacuum and how
that vacuum m ight be filled .
d . Oversee the cond uct of civil-related activities by m ilitary forces,
includ ing the provision of requisite functional specialists.
e. Work tow ard s a tim ely and sm ooth transition of civil responsibilities to
the proper authorities.
f. Work w ith others staff branches on all the aspects of operations.
g. Ad vise the Com m ander on all the above.
The above activities should contribute tow ard s the follow ing three core
functions of the CIMIC activity: civil-m ilitary liaison, support the civil
environm ent, and support the Force.
Because of m y interest in the tactical level, it is necessary to know that
the principles governing the N ATO Civil-Military relationship are: cultural
aw areness, com m on goals, shared responsibility, consent, transparency, and
com m unication. Ind eed , I can say that the tw o pillars on w hich the human
relationship w ith the locals is based (cultural aw areness, and
com m unication) is highlighted by the fact that the m ilitary m ust acquire a
sound und erstand ing of local culture, custom s and law , and that effective
71
At: http :/ / w w w .nato.int/ im s/ d ocu / ajp -9.p d f.
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Giovanni Ercolani
com m unication w ith civilian authorities, agencies, organizations and

populations is vital to maintaining consent and co -operation (AJP 9, 2-2
2-4).
These principles are very im portant the m om ent the CIMIC staff
prepares the CIMIC input to the m ain operational plan. They w ill also
ensure that factors relating to the (local) civil d im ension are incorporated
into all aspects of planning. Inputs w ill be based , w here possible, on
reconnaissance, and d etailed assessm en t. In the latter w ill includ e:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
Political and cultural history.

The state of national and local governm ent.
Civil ad ministration and services.
The needs of the civilian population.
Population m ovem ent.
The presence, m and ates, capabilities and intentions of IOs and
N GOs.
(7) Civil infrastructure.
(8) Econom y and Com m erce.
(9) The m ind -set and perceptions of the civilian population (AJP 9, 32).
The above approach can be synthesized by w hat Clifford Geertz calls a
thick d escription 72 , w hich inspired David Kilcullen to d evelop his
conflict ethnography m ethod ology.
Accord ing to Kilcullen, w ho served as Senior Counterinsurgency
Ad visor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, it is necessary to und erstand
the w ar holistically, in its ow n term s and through the eyes of its act ual
participants, in their w ord s and in their language. Field m ethod s applied
includ e participant observation, face to face interview s, open -ended
interaction w ith key inform ants, proficiency in local languages, long term
presence on the spot, integration of w ritten sources w ith personal
Clifford Geertz, Thick d escrip tion: Tow ard and Interp retative Theory of
Cu ltu re, in The Interp retation of Cu ltu res: Selected Essays, N ew York: Basic
Books, 1973.
72
88
testim ony, and d eveloping w ell-found ed relationship of trust w ith key

inform ants along w ith the fund am ental ethical responsibility to protect
those inform ants and advocate for their safety and w ell-being. The aim is to
see beyond surface d ifferences betw een societies and environm ents, beyond
a m ilitary orientalism that see w arfare through exotic eastern cultural
stereotypes, to the d eeper social and cultural d rivers of conflict, d rivers that
local participants w ould un d erstand on their ow n term s 73.
H ow ever, I consid er that there is an ontological problem w ith the above
approach for the fact that, d espite its scientificism , conflict ethnography
has been d eveloped insid e a bio-m edial ethnocentric m entality in w hich th e
rebel-terrorist-fighters are seen as a d isease, then reprod ucing the sam e
m ed icalization protocol w here the intervenor -d octor exam ines the
Conflict ethnograp hy m ethod ology can be su m m arized as follow s: Cond u ct the
research, as far p ossible, u sing sou rces in the local langu age; Get as close as p ossible
(in tim e and sp ace0 to the actu al events, id eally by being p resent w hen th ey u nfold
bu t, at the very least, by seeking firsthand d escrip tions from eyew itnesses; Use
d ocu m entary sou rces (inclu d ing op erational and intelligence rep orts, cap tu red
d ocu m ents, qu antitative d ata, m ap s and su rveys, m ed ia content analysis, and the
w ork of other researchers) to create a p rim ary analysis of the environm ent; Use this
p rim ary analysis to id entify a m ore lim ited nu m ber of com m u nities (local areas,
p op u lation grou p s, villages, or fu nctional categories) for fu rther d etailed p ersonal
analysis at the case-stu d y level; Cond u ct firsthand , on -the-sp ot field stu d ies
(ap p lying an extend ed resid ential field w ork ap p roach w herever p ossible) of these
second ary com m u nities; Work from u nstru ctu red , face to face, op en -end ed
interview s (rather than im p ersonal qu estionnaires and su rveys) d u ring field w ork,
bu t integrate this su bjective qu alitative p ersp ective w ith qu antitative d ata from the
p rim ary analysis; Revisit, in an iterative fashion, the resu lts of earlier field w ork
and analysis u sing follow -u p interview s and contextu al stu d ies; Und erstand and
accep t the p resence of p ersonal and research bias, bu t act to com p ensate for it by
u sing the greatest p ossible variety of hu m an and d ocu m entary sou rces and by
exp licitly id entifying and exam ining the sou rces of bias; Treat analogies (w ith other
conflicts, societies, or regions) w ith extrem e scep ticism : seek to u nd erstand the
conflict in its ow n term s rather than by analogy w ith som e other w ar; Accep t the
fu nd am ental ethical resp onsibility to p rotect the id entity, a nd w ork to fu rther the
w ell-being, of any key sou rces and inform ants, seek their inform ed consent to
research and p u blication, and ad vocate for p olicies that enhance their w elfare.
David Kilcu llen, The Accid ental Gu errilla Fighting Sm all Wars in the Mid st of a
Big One, Oxford University Press, 2009, p p .304-305.
73
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Giovanni Ercolani
bod y of the patient, does not listen to him , focusing his attention only on
the d isease w hich m ust be confronted .
In this regard , it is interesting to note that w hat I have called a
m ed icalization-m apping approach is d epicted by Kilcullen w hen he
proposes the m ed ical m ap of the Accid ental Guerrilla Synd rom e 74.
Consequently, accord ing to the above represen tation, the infection is
spread by the diseased bod y of a terrorist-fighter-rebel, and so on.
At this point, I should recall m y previous com ment w hen I d iscussing
the m ed ical anthropology approach, w hich id entifies in the
health/ illness/ treatm ent-attention process a protocol w hich:
Focuses on the continuum health/ illness, and becom es a basic

d im ension of culture, and , as a result, gives im portance to w hat the
patient says and feel.
Where the treatm ent-attention phase contributes to restoring the
relation betw een the d octor and the patient, and w here em pirical
evid ence plays a m ajor role.
As a result, in treating (to treat in the hum an sense) and attend ing to
the patient as a hum an being, w ith his ow n id entity, culture, em otion, and
in listening to him , permits us to exit from the bio-m ed ical protocol.
Then, the problem of the conflict ethnography encapsulated in an
Accid ental Guerrilla Synd rom e is that it is not interested in listening to
the im age of the sick person w hich has been prod uced .
On the contrary, this is w hat an Italian approach d oes to CIMIC
d eveloped by Col. Fabiano Zinzone, Com m and er of the Multinational
CIMIC Group (Motta d i Livenza, Italy) w hich I think puts into practice a
Based on field observation in several theatres of the War on Terrorism since
2001, I theorize that the accid ental gu errilla em erges from a cyclical p rocess that
take p lace in fou r stage: infection, contagion, intervention, and rejection. ()
Infection: Al Qaed a (AQ) establishes a p resence in a rem ote, u ngoverned or
conflict-affected area; Contagion: AQ u ses the safe haven to sp read violence and
takfiri id eology to the others regions; Intervent ion: ou tsid e forces intervene to d eal
w ith the AQ threat and d isru p t the safe haven; Rejection: local p op u lation reacts
negatively, rejecting ou tsid e intervention and allying w ith AQ. Ibid , p p .34-38.
74
90
health/ illness/ treatm ent-attention process insid e a stabilization

operation w hich takes place in w hat I consid er a virtual peace space.
3.1.1. The Ulysses paradigm for CIMIC
Accord ing to the Italian Arm y Col. Fabiano Zinzone, w e need a
parad igm shift in the operational-tactical approach to CIMIC operations.
Based on a cultural approach w hich has its roots in the Greek m ythology,
Col. Zinzone rem ind s us that it w as not Achilles w ho, d espite his strength,
and the fact that he killed H ector (w ho embod ied the Com m and and
Control mind of the Trojans) w ho w on the Trojan War, but the strategic
im agination of Ulysses w ho w as able to read , listen, and und erstand the
sym bolic w orld of the Trojans. While the Achilles gaze w as concentrated on
the w alls of the city and on the num ber of the sold iers (quite a C old War
approach in m y opinion), the Ulysses gaze w as trying to d etect, id entify,
and then translate those sym bols-signs w hich em bod ied the m ythologicalreligious essence of the cultural life of the Trojans.
As I personally rem arked to Col. Zinzone, Ulysses translated (as a
sym bolic analyst) the em blem of the city (the horse), w hich symbolized
peace, in an instrum ent of w ar: on it he constructed the fam ous Trojan
horse and staged a peace representation. The Trojans opened the gate of
their city only because they recognized in the H orse the emblem of their city
and the m eaning of peace.
In a conference presented at the Multinational CIMIC Group on April 19,
2012, Col. Zinzone exposed his personal view on the above topics linking
the Achilles view to th e old CIMIC parad igm , w hile the Ulysses one to
w hat should be a new CIMIC m ethod ology.
Accord ing to Zinzone, the Achilles view w as based on a shape -clearhold -build approach, w hile the contem porary Ulysses vision should be
based on an und erstand and shape penetrate and secure style.
In the Ulysses vision, w hat becom es very im portant is the secure point
because in this version (opposed to the Achilles) the aim of his m ission is
not to w in a w ar, but to establish security for the local population .
Und oubtedly, there is a rem arkable shift in interpreting the theatre of
operation: first, und erstand ing, then shaping (not m anipulating) the
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Giovanni Ercolani
environm ent, and in a second phase penetrating and securing the area. The
tw o opposite view s (Achilles and Ulysses) can resem ble tw o d ifferent w ays
of looking at the CIMIC (old and new ).
Accord ing to Col. Zinzone, a new CIMIC concept is:
Essential civil-m ilitary interface (und erstand and shape penetrate

and secure);
Function in support of the overall m ission (expand and d evelop);
Key enabler/ force m ultiplier in a m od ern m ultifunctional
environm ent (political/ m ilitary end state);
Enabling all sources of the state/ coalition pow er system to w ork.
What CIMIC is not:
CIMIC is not a hum anitarian agency;

CIMIC is not a d uplicate of UN / IO/ N GOs/ Civil actors;
CIMIC is not capable of provid ing m ed ium and long term
sustainability.
Ind eed , w hat can d raw a line betw een the old and the new concept of
CIMIC is the im plem entation of the Ulysses parad igm for CIMIC w hich
is based on a Listening-Influence-Interact (LII) m od el.
Thanks to this new parad igm , the CIMIC operational activity becom es
an operational d esign in a balanced com prehensive approach, becom ing a
sm all local centre w here all the com prehensive approach ca pabilities are
present.
Then, it is in restructuring the basis of the of the CIMIC operational
d esign that w e are able best to appreciate the evolution it brings bottom -up
to the id ea of com prehensive approach.
92
3.1.2. Structuring the Ulysses paradigm: Buzans Sectorial dimension

of Security, and Life Modes
Once the CIMIC operations are put into practice using the Ulysses
parad igm , its m ain purpose is to create a locally -secured Centre of
Influence, end ow ed w ith centrifugal and centripetal energy in ord er to
spread security, and attract people from unsecured surround ing areas.
Then, the CIMIC local base becom es a centre w here the Und erstand
and Shape-Penetrate and Secure-Expand and Develop project is
continually sustained by the com prehensive app roach capabilities and the
local tactical d octrine of the Listening-Influence-Interact (LII) m od el.
If w e look m ore carefully at the above representation of centre of
influence-penetrate-expand and take into consid eration the fact that the
Ulysses parad igm gives prim ary im portance to the interaction w ith local
people, w ith the purpose of securing the area, and then attracting people
from surround ings area, I w ould say that w e are d ealing w ith the putting
into practice of specific critical security stud ies and anthropological
m ethod ologies.
Thus, it is necessary to structure and enrich the Ulysses Parad igm w ith
the concept of societal security, and the m ethodology of the anthropology
of life m od es for the follow ing reasons. N ot only d oes the centre of
influence becom e an em ancipated place w hich has been freed from the
insecurity-conflict dim ension, but also the local people becom e the main
actors. Then, the centrality of the concept of societal security is restored ,
and w ith it the live m odes of the com m unity.
It is in this combination of the Ulysses Parad igm w ith societal
security concept, and Life Mod es m ethod ology, that w e can have a
d efinitive parad igm shift w ith a practical adaptation of this new com bined
parad igm to the nature of the new conflicts (and post-conflict situations),
w hich are, as w e have seen before, id entity conflict, then, societal conflict.
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Giovanni Ercolani
The concept of Societal Security w as d eveloped by Barry Buzan in his

book State and Fear: An Agend a for International Security Stud ies in the
Post-Cold War Era 75.
In the book, societal security is one of the sectors in his fived im ensional approach to security alongsid e m ilitary, political, economic,
and environm ental concerns.
Despite the fact that Buzan d eveloped his approach w ithin the fram e of
a neo-Realist fram ew ork, in w hich the state remains the referent object of
security, the concept of societal security has been acquiring m ore
im portance since the time of the publication of his book.
Societal security is concerned w ith the sustainable d evelopm ent of
trad itional patterns of language, culture, religious and national id entities,
and custom s of states and if w e com pare these patterns to the ones w hich
play an im portant role in the id entity politics-new w ar (Mary Kald or),
w ar am ongst people (Rupert Sm ith), large group id entity -conflict
(Vam ik Volkan), hybrid w ars (John J. McCuen), and fourth generations
w ars w e can really und erstand that everything happens insid e this fram e
of societal security.
Threats to societal security exist w hen a society perceives that its w e
id entity is being brought into question, w hether this is objectively the case
or not. Those m eans that can threaten societal id entity range from the
suppression of its expression to interference w ith its ability to reprod uce
itself across generation 76.
H ow ever, the point that is m issed is that if w e d o not have a society, w e
can not have the other sectors of security, and not even a state. This is
another reason for consid ering this concept central to m y reasoning.
What is m ore, a lot of tim e states and societies do not coincide, and the
lack of cohesion betw een the state and its society can d efine the state as
w eak. If w e look at the characteristics of the Id entity Politics in the new
w ars, this tend s to be fragm entative, backw ard -looking, and exclusive, not
Barry Bu zan, Peop le, State and Fear: An Agend a for In ternational Secu rity Stu d ies
in the Post-Cold War Era, Lond on: H arvester Wheatsheaf, 1991.
76
Pau l Roe, Societal Secu rity, in Alan Collins (Ed .), Contem p orary Secu rity
Stu d ies, Oxford University Press, 2007, p . 169.
75
94
to m ention the im portant role played by diasporas and new im agined

com m unities in the econom y of the new w ars.
If w e w ant to com e up w ith a practical exam ple, just consid er that the
fund am ental problem w e had w ith the Bosnian w ar w as a conceptual
problem : the failure to und erstand w hy or how the w ar w as fought and the
character of the new nationalist political form ations that em erged after the
collapse of Yugoslavia.
This conceptual problem is behind the critical id ea of virtual peace:
w e w ere not able to und erstand before, d uring, and after the societal
security problem . H ow w as it possible for us then to treat and listen to the
societal sector?
The Ulysses parad igm w orks at the tactical level w ith the societal
sector of security w here listening to it, and trying to und erstand the social
and cultural d im ension in w hich the virtual peace is lived d aily. Ow ing to
the fact the local CIMIC unit plays a linking role betw een the local society
and the N ATO Com prehensive d im ension of the operation, it helps the
local population to restore a legitimate government and , consequently, all
the other sectors of security: m ilitary, political, economical, and
environm ental.
As a result, into the Centre of Influence societal security (and the
other security sectors) is re-established and w ith it the life m od es of the
local society. As a result, the com bined w ork of the CIMIC local unit and the
local players contribute to provid ing that capability w hich perm its the
centre of influence to survive in a virtual peace place/ conflicting area.
In m y opinion, it is the contribution and the very use of the concept of
Life Mod es that can make a qualitative difference in a centre of influence
because once societal security is re-established , the centre has to w ork to
reprod uce that life w hich perm its the society in the centre of influence to
survival.
Accord ing to Thom as H jrup, professor of Social Anthropology at the
University of Copenhagen (Denm ark), Life-Mod es is a social theory
w hich analyses culture insid e the fram ew ork of the state. In his w ork, the
state is und erstood in its d ouble sovereign efforts tow ard the external and
tow ard the interior. H ere, he has elaborated on a m od el of society w hich
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Giovanni Ercolani
bind s the process of interpellation to a reform ed analysis of the m od es of

prod uction and the life-m od es w hich are tied to the society itself.
In his oeuvre State, Culture and Life-Mod es, H jrup takes w ar as a
particular social reality and gives it a rem arkable position and function in
the form ation of society.
The author w ants to d em onstrate how the capacity to generate m ore
d efence capability (based on internal interpellation) by a state involved in a
w ar/ struggle for recognition at international level (stat e system ) is seen as a
biological evolutionary theory in w hich the notion of the survival of the
superior d efence is eradicated .
For Philip Bobbitt, w ar is a prod uct as w ell as a shaper of culture.
Anim als d o not m ake w ar, even if they fight. N o less th an the m arket and
the law courts, w ith w hich it is inextricably intertw ined , w ar is a creative act
of civilized m an w ith important consequences for the rest of hum an culture,
w hich includ e the festivals of peace 77.
For sure, w ar d uring hum an history has p articipated in the form ation
of the state: one d om estic, w hile the other d epend ent on the international
system .
On this society-state form ation, Thom as H jrup talks of fusion theory
w hen he refers to the d om estic d im ension and of fission theory for the
international-system dimension.
It is on this particular relation w hich historically has been constructed
betw een w ar-culture-state form ation that H jrup w ants to d em onstrate
that civil society () cannot be und erstood ind epend ently of the state
subject of w hich it is part 78.
Philip Bobbitt, The Shield of Achilles War, Peace, and the Cou rse of H istory,
N ew York: Anchor Boos, 2003 [2002], p xxxi.
78 It is only in civil societys ow n u nd erstand ing () that civil society can be
consid ered as self d eterm ined or as an end in itself w hile the state is a d erivative or
m eans () This m eans that the state is not sim p ly a social contract in w hich
ind ivid u als ensu re them selves against civil w ar and the violation of their right. The
state is cu ltu res su bstantial fou nd ation. Withou t the state su bject, no ind ivid u al
and p articu lar su bjectivity or social relation can be conceived . () Cu ltu re is p art of
the concep t of the state. In Thom as H jru p , State, Cu ltu re and Life Mod es,
Ald ershot: Ashgate, 2003, p 160.
77
96
In this cultural-state-form ation process, a corner stone concept is

represented by the concept of recognition w hich w as introd uced by
H egel.
This recognition exercise operates at tw o levels:
at the d om estic level in w hich the ind ivid ual-citizen has to recognize
the state and the state has to recognize the ind ivid ual-citizen as
term inal elem ents of a relationship. This m utual recognizing affair is
constructed through the interpellation process 79 (fusion theory);
at the international level in w hich m utual recognition is a perm anent
struggle for recognition w hich has becom e the accepted rule of the
gam e am ong a plurality of state subjects (fission theory).
As the author says, cultural history contains both the struggle for
recognition and interpellation, and this is not a novelty if w e read history
w ith the right eyes.
In this interpellation -recognition conflicting-exercise in w hich the
citizens-state-states are involved a catalyst elem ent is inserted in this
laboratory: w ar.
This is because w ar activates a variety of elem ents w hich, at the
international and d om estic levels, plays a d ecisive role in this interpellation recognition process.
Only the recognized state subject, w hich possesses the defence
capability in the struggle for recognition (d uring w ar) to exclud e others
from its d om ain of sovereignty, can interpellate its ow n citizens. ()
Sovereignty is forged in w ar. State subjects are not pre -existing entities, but
w ills w hich are forged and recognised as sovereign in th e struggle for
recognition. Cultures are forged and selected in this struggle 80.
Thus, it is here that the theory of w ar d eveloped by Carl von
Clausew itz com es into play in this fram ew ork: w ar is struggle for life and
Lou is Althu sser, Id eologia Y ap aratos id eologicos d e Estad o, Bu eno s Aires:
Ed iciones N u eva Vision, 1988, p p . 52-58.
80 Thom as H jru p , State, Cu ltu re and Life Mod es, Ald ershot: Ashgate, 2003, p p .
166-167.
79
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Giovanni Ercolani
d eath betw een w ills, each of w hich attem pts to subord inate each other. War
is the effort of w ills to d estroy each others plans.
Accord ing to the w ork of Danish philosopher and peace researcher
And ers Boserup, at one point Clausew itz theory contains the key to a true
infinity, i.e. the infinite struggle for recognition w hich never culminates in
som e all-encom passing d om inant Will, and w hich resolves the
contrad ictions of the H egelian state theory. In his Krieg, Staat und Frieden,
Boserup outlines the w ay in w hich w ar theorys initial sequen ce of
specifications explains w hy the struggle for recognition is a truly infinite
process w hich w ill continue to split up into a plurality of states, i.e. generate
state system 81
It is at this point that H jrup, in ord er to sustain his reasoning, m akes
use of Clausew itzs point that the w ar com prises tw o form s of struggle:
offensive (O) and d efensive (D), of w hich the d efensive struggle is stronger
(D>O).
In this D-O (defensive-offensive) period of confrontation, the
im portance of pauses (of peace) is of essential significance, but the D>O
(suprem acy of d efensive on offensive) struggle is only possible if the
capabilities of the d efend ing state are just w ell enough to sustain the pauses
period s. H aving at its disposal m ore capabilities is equal to the bene fit of
pauses tim e, and thus peace tim e.
Then D>O is possible only if the d efend ing state is really able not only
to interpellate his citizens to sustain the state struggle, but even to provid e
m aterial capabilities to the state itself. In military term inology, I can say
that, as far as the d efend ing state has a strong logistic structure, then it is
able to live in pauses-peace tim e.
Consequently, w e can assum e that the struggle for recognition am ong
states has its found ation on the d efence capability of the states them selves.82
Ibid , p . 169.
The state, then, is d efined in the system of states as a cap ability for d efence. ()
As the d efence cap ability rests u p on the states ability to generate and renew the
internal social stru ctu re w hich p rovid es the d efence cap ability and the w ill to
d efence, this stru ctu re is cond itioned by the concrete cond itions of p ossibility in the
state system . The social stru ctu re, therefore, are qu ite varied and d efined concretely
by the context of the state system . Ibid , p 173.
81
82
98
Going back to the art of w ar 83, it is natural that the offensive-attacking

part w ill try to attack the opponent on its w eak point and then reach the
centre of gravity of the opposing structure. Thus if D>O, the then
d efending state, has to defend its ow n centre of gravity, w hich is not only
m aterial but also includes a hid d en agend a, the tactics of the enem y are
lim ited by material factors and thus the strategy to d estroy the adversarys
centre of gravity is based on id eas w hich are unknow n and unlim ited .
The centre of gravity can then be seen in the w ill of the state.
General Sir Rupert Sm ith says: The w ill to w in is the param ount factor
in any battle: w ithout the political w ill and lead ership to create and sustain
the force and d irect it to achieving its objective com e w hat m ay, no m ilitary
force can trium ph in the face of a m ore d eterm ined opponent. () political
w ill is an essential ingred ient to success in w ar. The w ill to trium ph, to carry
the risks and bear the costs, to gain the rew ard of victory, is im m ense; as
N apoleon had it, The m oral is to the physical as three to one. ()
capability=means x Way2 x 3 Will 84.
Therefore, on this id ea of the w ill as an im m aterial capability, H jrup
constructs his d iscourse in w hich the states defence capability requires
three elem ents:
1. given goals;
2. given means;
3. the ability to activate these m eans purposefully in relation to the
goals85.
Consequently, using the Aristotelian problem atique of polis, oikos, and
etikos, H jrup constructs his d om estic structure in w hich this state d efencew ill capacity is constructed in com bining three levels:
1. polis-political level, in w hich it ensures the form ation of the w ill to
d efend the d om ain of sovereignty w hen it is challenged ;
We d o not have to forget that w ars and conflicts are cond u cted at fou r levels:
p olitical, strategic, theatre and tactical.
84
Ru p ert Sm ith, The Utility of Force The Art of War in the Mod ern World ,
Lond on: Pengu in Books, 2005, p p . 241- 242.
85
Thom as H jru p , State, Cu ltu re and Life Mod es, Ald ershot: Ashgate, 2003, p 176.
83
99
Giovanni Ercolani
2. oikos-econom ic structure, w hich not only provid e the m aterial

capability but the arm ed forces in charge to d efend the city;
3. etikos-id eological structure, w hich activates, through the
interpellation process, the m eans to attain the goals.
This last point is of particular im portance because in this etikosid eological structure there is the construction of the citizen selfconsciousness (linked to the concept of live-m od es). H ow ever, in this
id eological process of consciousness construction, I see a strong relation
w ith the concept of habitus d eveloped by Pierre Bourd ieu in w hich the
habitus is a set of d ispositions w hich incline agents to act and react in
certain w ays 86, and thus provid ing ind ivid uals w ith a sense of how to act
and respond in the course of their d aily lives.
There is every reason to think that the factors w hich are the m ost
influential in the form ation of the habitus are transm itted w ithout passing
through language and consciousness, but through suggestions inscribed in
the m ost apparently insignificant aspects of the things, situations and
practices of everyd ay life 87.
As a result, the capability of a state resid es in this capacity of the
political level to interpellate-habitus (interpellate-accustom) its subjects in
ord er to activate them to provid e the m eans (material and im m aterial) for
the sustainm ent of the state d efence.
This is in short the state d om estic prod uction of its ow n d efence
capability.
Defence capability is a necessity in that it constitutes the conditions of
possibility for all other aspects of culture 88.
I strongly support the above construction and thesis because there are
plenty of historical events w hich are the results of the international system
influencing/ constructing society/ states form ation.
As a result, w hat is im p ortant is the capacity of the state to prod uce the
political w ill (through the interpellation -habitus process) insid e their ow n
Pierre Bou rd ieu , Langu age & Sym bolic Pow er, Cam brid ge: Polity Press, 2005, p .
12.
87
Ibid , p . 51.
88
Thom as H jru p , State, Cu ltu re and Life Mod es, Ald ershot: Ashgate, 2003, p 180.
86
100
citizens, and I argue a political w ill that sees security as a value and not as
an open concept.
This process, w hich w orks both as a centrifugal force (struggle for
recognition at international level) and as a centripetal force (d omestic
interpellation process), finds its explanation in the fission and fusion
theories.
In fusion theory the state em erges as an am algam ation of pre -existing
concepts. This theory is an effect of the given properties w hich em erge
w hen certain object-concepts are put together. In fission theory, states
appear in a process of splitting on the global level 89.
These tw o theories open the path to the conclu ding analysis in w hich
the capacity of the state to generate a d efence capability (based on internal
interpellation) and its D>O struggle for recognition at an international level
(ecosystem) is seen as a biological evolutionary theory in w hich the notion
of the survival of the superior d efence is eradicated .
Therefore, if w e apply the above concepts at societal security level, it is
the ability of the local society, helped by the CIMIC operation, to prod uce
that w ill w hich is inside the centre of influence and thus becom es a
d efence capability d uring the pauses tim e.
When w e talk about pauses tim e, I refer here to the Conflict
Management Continuum because I take into consid eration the continuum
of tim e w hich is present in the idea of the w ar after the w ar in a virtual
peace space.
Then, on m y ad vice, it is only integrating the Ulysses approach w ith
the concept of societal security together w ith the m ethod ology of Life
Mod es in a culture-state-form ation process, fram ed in a tem poral
d im ension of Conflict Managem ent Continuum (w ar after the w ar), that w e
are able to prod uce the follow ing in the centre of influence:
89
The re-establishm ent of a social security d im ension, w here the w ill

of the local society, based on its state culture, prod uces that
interpellation process w hich m obilizes the local people to re establish their life m od es and then their d efence capabilities;
Ibid , p 219
101
Giovanni Ercolani
That official recognition w hich operates at the local level (fusion

theory) and external-international level (fission theory), and w hich
perm its the centre of influence to expand its influence at the external
level (fission theory);
The im plem entation of the link betw een the cultural (illness) and
social (sickness) d im ensions in the centre of influence, w hich perm its
a treatm ent/ attention, and w hich has a tim e d uration w hich exceeds
the establishm ent of a virtual peace.
4. The Anthropological Lens as a cosmopolitan outlook: The Local and

the Global Context
Tod ay, the planet has shrunk; inform ation and im ages circulate
read ily, and because of this the others m ythic d im ension is fad ing. The
others are in fact not so very d ifferent, or rather, their otherness rem ains,
but the prestige of their erstw hile exoticism is gone. () We are
experiencing an acceleration of history another expression for the
shrinking of the planet that involves both objective interactions w ithin
the w orld system and the instantaneity of inform ation and image
d issem ination. Each m onth, every d ay, w e experience historical events;
each d ay the bord er betw een history and current events becom es a bit m ore
blurred . The param eters of tim e, like those of space, are changing, and this
is an unpreced ented revolution 90.
Accord ing to the French anthropologist Marc Auge, anthropology,
because of its d im ension in w hich is established a relation w ith the object of
its observation, and in the context in w hich the object is observed , it
becom es a privileged path for the observation of the contem porary w orld s.
It is the contem porary situation w hich forces anthropology to d efine itself
not only as just ethnography: the context today is increasingly global and ,
although it rem ains necessary to stud y the local and regional m icro -
Marc Au ge, An Anthrop ology for Contem p oraneou s World s, Stand ford
University Press, 1999, p . 14.
90
102
contexts, anthropology acquires all its m eaning only in relation to the

global context in w hich are inserted the micro-contexts.91
Then, it is the com plexity itself of the contemporary w orld , w hich
forces anthropology to ad opt the elem ents of a prospective critique 92. It
thus im proves its w ay of looking, taking into consid eration th at, in this
anthropology of contemporary w orld s, as the anthropological space has
changed , so the concept of tim e has changed , too.
Auge, in this regard , d efines the tim e w e live in as the state of super m od ernity, d efined in opposition to m od ernity. Sup er-m od ernity
correspond s to an acceleration of history, a shrinking of space, and an
ind ivid ualizing of references, all of w hich subvert the cum ulative process of
m od ernity 93.
Super-m od ernity is m arked by three types of events:
1. An excess of event, w hich m akes it d ifficult to conceive history;
2. An excess of images and spatial references, the parad oxical effect of
w hich is to close us up into a shrinking space of the w orld ;
3. An excessive recourse to the individ ual, by w hich I m ean that
because of the collapse of interm ediary bod ies and the confirm ed
im potence of the great system of interpretation, ind ivid uals are now
required to conceive their relation to history and the w orld by
them selves.94
Thus, w e are cached in a new space-im age-tim e d im ension in w hich I
w ould like to place the N ATOs fear m ap to see if its geopolitical
representation of its fears and anxieties are really justified w hen w e are
confronted w ith the others perceptions of reality like the above
m entioned m ap of hum iliation and hope.
Marc Au ge, Che fine ha fatto il fu tu ro?, Milano: Eleu thera, 2009, p .87.
Marc Au ge, An Anthrop ology for Contem p oraneou s World s, Stand ford
University Press, 1999, p . 53.
93
Ibid , p . 110.
94
Ibid , p p . 101-102.
91
92
103
Giovanni Ercolani
This w ay of challenging the N ATOs fear m ap is justified by the fact

that other con -tem porary states and societies live in the sam e fusion and
fission processes w hich are at the base of their life m od es.
For this purpose, I consid er the NATOs fear m ap a nd the N ATO
N ew Strategic Concept as a com bined im age that is posing for a picture.
Once I feel m yself observed by the lens, everything changes: I
constitute m yself in the process of posing, I instantaneously make another
bod y for m yself, I transform m yself in advance into an image. This
transform ation is an active one: I feel that the Photographer creates my
bod y or m ortifies it, accord ing to its caprice. () I pose, I know I am posing,
I w ant you to know that I am posing, but this ad ditional m essage m ust in no
w ay alter the precious essence of m y ind ivid uality () What I w ant, in
short () is to see m yself 95.
This is w hy, to explain the fact that the NATOs picture is living in a
d ifferent tim e and a d ifferent space dim ension, I need to use an
anthropological lens.
In the physics of photography, the brighter the light, the sm aller the
aperture of the lens; w ith m ore light, a sm aller hole is sufficient to transm it
the im age to the film . And the sm aller the aperture, the larger is the d epth
of the field . That is, the photographer can include in focus the background
and the foreground of the object as w ell the object itself. If this field could be
extend ed infinitely, it could includ e even the cam era. Anthropology is not
im prisoned in the law of optics, nor is it exclusively visual; but a visual
analogy may help us think concretely 96.
Roland Barthes, Cam era Lu cid a, Lond on: Vintage Classics, 2000, p p . 10-12.
In the p hysics of p hotograp hy, the brighter the light, the sm aller the ap ertu re of
the lens; w ith m ore light, a sm aller hole is su fficient to transm it the im age to the
film . And the sm aller the ap ertu re, the larger is the d ep th of the field . That is, the
p hotograp her can inclu d e in focu s the backgrou nd and the foregrou nd of the object
as w ell the object itself. If this field cou ld be extend ed infinitely, it cou ld inclu d e
even the cam era. Anthrop ology is not im p risoned in the law of op tics, nor is
exclu sively visu al; bu t a visu al analogy m ay help u s think concretely. Im agine a
p hotograp her w ho favors bright, harsh light cond itions w here glare is intense.
Im agine also that he seeks d ep th of field to inclu d e in focu s the foregrou nd and
backgrou nd as w ell th e su bject itself. Anthrop ology seeks cond itions of harsh light;
this m ay be literally tru e () bu t is also tru e m etap horically in that anthrop ologists
95
96
104
Therefore, if I use a small lens aperture (w ith a long exposure), the

larger the d epth of the field becom es. The result is that I create an image in
w hich, w hile NATO is posing (interested in being itself) in front of m e, in
the background (caught in the d epth of the field ), I have other realities and
perceptions w hich, on the w hole, contribute to provid ing a different picture
from the one NATO had originally in m ind .
As a result, I prod uce a picture that ontologically and epistem ologically
challenges the id ea N ATO has of w hat reality is and w hat know ledge
constitutes.
Because once the picture has been d eveloped and printed , this is w hat
w e find in the background of a posin g N ATO:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Unrestricted w arfare;
The 2010 G20 Seoul Meeting;
A m ultiple stress-zone-Pentagon m ap;
The w orlds population grow th rate;
Consum ption factor;
A d em and for food ;
Water, food and clim ate changes;
Life expectancy rate;
The globalization of m igration;
The changing character of conflict.
1. Other countries like China (w ith a population of 1.5 billion) have

prod uced their ow n concept of w ar. Unrestricted Warfare is a book on
u su ally seek to their w ork in cond itions that are in som e sense harsh, so as to
exp ose the raw and elem ental, the fu nd am entals of hu m an natu re strip p ed of the
flu ff of civilization. Within those settings, anthrop ology focu ses softly rather than
sharp ly: rather the focu s narrow ly on the object, anthrop ology blu rs the bou nd ary
betw een object and m ilieu so as to inclu d e not only the object bu t also its
backgrou nd , and foregrou nd ; this p ercep tion of the total m ilieu w e call holism .
Were this holistic field of vision extend ed far enou gh, it w ou ld inclu d e the
p erceiver as w ell as the object p erceived , and this too is a concern of anthrop ology,
w hich recognizes the su bjective as w ell the objective asp ect of know led ge. Jam es
L. Peacock, The Anthrop ological Lens, Cam brid ge University Press, 2001 (1986) p p .
xi-xii.
105
Giovanni Ercolani
m ilitary strategy w ritten in 1999 by tw o colonels in the People's Libe ration

Arm y, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. The book, rather than focusing on
d irect m ilitary confrontation, exam ines a variety of other m eans w hich can
be sum m arized in the Form ula: Schw artzkopf + Soros + Xiaom olisi + Bin
Lad en.97
2. At the G20 Seoul m eeting (2010), even the m ap of the w orld financial
crisis w as changed . Despite the w estern countries d epicted the financial
crisis as a global one, its perception from other global actors and em erging
econom ies w as com pletely d ifferent. Accord ing to O'N eill (G old m an Sachs),
policy m akers in Asia w ere referring to the global cred it crisis as the "N orth
Atlantic Crisis" 98 Thus, and for the first tim e, the others d efined our
m ilitary alliance as a financial system .
3. When w e look at the Multiple Stress Zone m ap presented by the NATO
General Soligan in 2009, how can w e not see that it is the exact copy of the
Pentagon Map w hich w as prod uced in the year 2004 99 to highlight the grand
strategy for the Am erican foreign policy? Furtherm ore, the Pentagon Map is
m uch m ore than a sim ple cartographic representation of the planet. It is a
d ivision of the w orld s countries betw een the Functioning Core,
characterized by econom ic interd epend ence, and the N on -Integrated Gap,
characterized by unstable lead ership and absence of international trad e. The
Core can be sub-d ivided into the Old Core (N orth Am erica, Western
Europe, Japan and Australia) and the N ew Core (China and India). The
N on-Integrated Gap includ es the Mid d le East, South Asia (except Ind ia),
m ost of Africa, Southeast Asia, and northw est South Am erica. Thus, using a
realist terminology, the Functioning Core can represent the land of order
w hile the N on-Integrated Gap the land of anarchy and d isord er.
Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsu i, Unrestricted Warfare, Beijing: PLA Literatu re
and Arts Pu blishing H ou se, Febru ary 1999, at: http :/ / cryp tom e.org/ cu w .htm
98
BBC N ew s - Tod ay - West 'p aranoid ' abou t w orld econom y, N ov 11, 2010 at:
http :/ / new s.bbc.co.u k/ tod ay/ hi/ tod ay/ new sid _9179000/ 9179739.stm
99
Thom as P.M. Barnett, The Pentagon's N ew Map : War and Peace in the Tw enty First Centu ry, Pu tnam Ad u lt, 2004.
97
106
Furtherm ore, it can be seen as a tentative to ethnicalize the w orld 100. And if
w hat can happen in the N on -Integrated Gap can prod uce security concerns
to the N ATO countries (w hich are part of the Functioning Core) and justify
a m ilitary intervention in their internal affairs, then fear is som ething that
is actually m issing in a situation of international anarchy, and because it is
m issing, it m ust be invented and skilfully d eployed 101.
4. World Population Grow th Rate: By 2003, the com bined population of

Europe, the United States, and Canad a accounted for just 17 percen t of the
global population. In 2050, this figure is expected to be just 12 percent. ()
Tod ay, roughly nine out of ten child ren under the age of 15 live in
d eveloping countries. () Ind eed , over 70 percent of the w orld s population
grow th betw een now and 2050 w ill take place in 24 countries, all of w hich
are classified by the World Bank as low income or low er -m id dle income,
w ith an average per capita incom e und er $ 3,855 in 2008 102. Data, w hich
have been confirm ed recently by the USA N ational Intelligence Council
Marco Aim e, Eccessi d i Cu ltu re, Torino: Einau d i, 2004, p p . 73-100.
Cynthia Weber, International Relations Theory A Critical Introd u ction,
Lond on: Rou tled ge, 2005, p . 23.
102
Jack A. Gold stone, The Fou r Megatrend s That Will Change the World , Foreign
A ffairs, Janu ary/ Febru ary 2010. And the recent article of Georges Minois, Une
Plante trop p eu p le ? , Le M onde Diplomatique, Ju in 2011.
100
101
107
Giovanni Ercolani
Global Trend s 2025 A Transform ed World. Population grow th: Asia,

Africa, and Latin Am erica w ill account for virtually all population grow th
over the next 20 years; less than 3 percent of the grow th w ill occur in the
West. Europe and Japan w ill continue to far outd istance the em erging
pow ers of China and Ind ia in per capita w ealth, but they w ill struggle to
m aintain robust grow th rates because the size of their w orking -age
populations w ill d ecrease. The US w ill be a partial exception to the agin g of
populations in the d eveloped w orld because it w ill experience higher birth
rates and m ore im m igration. The num ber of migrants seeking to m ove from
d isad vantaged to relatively privileged countries is likely to increase. The
num ber of countries w ith you thful age structures in the current arc of
instability is projected to d ecline by as m uch as 40 percent. Three of every
four youth-bulge countries that rem ain w ill be located in Sub -Saharan
Africa; nearly all of the rem aind er w ill be located in the core of the Mid d le
East, scattered through southern and central Asia, and in the Pacific
Island s 103 . World population is projected to grow by about 1.2 billion
betw een 2009 and 2025 from 6.8 billion to around 8 billion people.
Although the global population in crease is substantialw ith concom itant
effects on resourcesthe rate of grow th w ill be slow er than it w as, d ow n
from levels that ad d ed 2.4 billion persons betw een 1980 and today.
Dem ographers project that Asia and Africa w ill account for m ost of the
population grow th out to 2025 w hile less than 3 percent of the grow th w ill
occur in the WestEurope, Japan, the United States, Canad a, Australia,
and N ew Zealand . In 2025, roughly 16 percent of hum anity w ill live in the
West, d ow n from the 18 percent in 2009 and 24 percent in 1980 104.
5. Consum ption factor. The estim ated one billion people w ho live in
d eveloped countries have a relative per capita consum ption rate of 32. Most
of the w orld s other 5.5 billion people that constitute the d eveloping w orld ,
N ational Intelligence Cou ncil, Global Trend s 2025: A Transform ed World ,

Washington: US Governm ent Printing Office, N ov 2008, p p . vii-viii.
104
Ibid , p . 19.
103
108
w ith relative per capita consum ption rates below 32, are m ostly d ow n
tow ard 1 105.
H ow w ill it be possible to secure our future (the estim ated one billion
people w ho live in d eveloped countries coincid entally is the sam e num ber
of N ATO people, the our) and then m aintain a consum ption factor of 32
w hen the others w ill w ant to consum e like us? The World Bank has
pred icted that by 2030 the num ber of m id dle-class people in the developing
w orld w ill be 1.2 billion a rise of 200 percent since 2005. This means that
the d eveloping w orld s m id d le class alone w ill be larger that the total
populations of Europe, Japan, and the United States com bined . From now
on, therefore, the m ain d river of global econom ic expansion w ill be the
econom ic grow th of new ly-ind ustrialized countries, such as Brazil, China,
Ind ia, Ind onesia, Mexico, and Turkey 106.
6. Dem and for food : The World Bank estim ates that d em and for food w ill
rise by 50 percent by 2030, as a result of grow ing w orld population, rising
affluence, and the shift to Western d ietary preferences by a larger m id dle
class. Lack of access to stable supplies of w ater is reaching critical
proportions, particularly for agricultural purposes, and the problem w ill
w orsen because of rapid urbanization w orldw id e and the roughly 1.2
billion persons to be add ed over the next 20 years. Tod ay, experts consid er
21 countries, w ith a combined population of about 600 m illion, to be either
cropland or freshw ater scarce. Ow ing to continuing population grow th, 36
countries, w ith about 1.4 billion people, are projected to fall into this
category by 2025 107.
Jared Diam ond , Whats You r Consu m p tion Factor?, The N ew Y ork Times, Janu ary
2, 2008, at
http :/ / w w w .u n.org/ esa/ p op u lation/ p u blications/ w p p 2006/ WPP2006_H ighlight
s_rev.p d f
106
Jack A. Gold stone, The Fou r Megatrend s That Will Change the World , Foreign
A ffairs, Janu ary/ Febru ary 2010.
107
N ational Intelligence Cou ncil, Global Trend s 2025: A Transform ed World ,
Washington: US Governm ent Printing Office, N ov 2008, p . viii.
105
109
Giovanni Ercolani
7. Water, Food , and Clim ate Change: Experts currently consid er 21

countries w ith a com bined population of about 600 m illion to be either
cropland or freshw ater scarce. Ow ing to continuing population grow th, 36
countries, hom e to about 1.4 billion people, are projected to fall into this
category by 2025. Am ong the new entrants w ill be Burund i, Colombia,
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Malaw i, Pakistan, and Syria. Lack of access to stable
supplies of w ater is reaching unpreced ented proportions in m any areas of
the w orld (see map on page 55) and is likely to grow w orse ow ing to rapid
urbanization and population grow th. Dem and for w ater for agricultural
purposes and hyd roelectric pow er generation also w ill e xpand . Use of
w ater for irrigation is far greater than for household consum ption. In
d eveloping countries, agriculture currently consum es over 70 percent of the
w orld s w ater. The construction of hyd roelectric pow er stations on m ajor
rivers m ay im prove flood control, but it m ight also cause consid erable
anxiety to d ow nstream users of the river w ho expect continued access to
w ater 108.
8. Life expectancy rate. Will the people living in the m ultiple stress zone
(the non- integrated gap) accept their d ram atic living cond itions, and live
less than the people living in other parts of the globe? Will they accept the
status quo that has prod uced their m isery or w ill they rebel? And the peace
that N ATO w ill im pose on them w ill be a positive peace or a negative
peace w hich w ill reprod uce the sam e structural violence that provoked
unrest and internal conflict, and not seeing instead the civil w ar as a
system 109?
9. The globalization of m igration. According to the EU analysis on Global
Trend s 2030 - Citizens in an Interconnected and Polycentric World 110: The
globalization of m igration w ill continue to expand d ue to increased factors
of m obility such as greater availability of inform ation for d iscerning
m igrants, broad er d iasporas that facilitate migration and s ettlem ent, and
Ibid , p . 51.
110
ESPAS Rep ort, Global Trend s 2030 - Citizens in an Interconnected and
Polycentric World , 27 Ap ril 2012.
108
109
110
changes in the d rivers of m igration. The m ost important trad itional d rivers
of m igration the d ifferences in economic opportunity and/ or personal
security betw een source and d estination countries w ill be increasingly
com plem ented by d ifferences in d epend ency ratios that encourage changes
in im migration policy in m any host countries. Clim ate change m ay also
have m ore of an influence on future migration flow s. While the d om inant
m igration d estinations of the latter half of the tw entieth cent ury w ill
continue to attract people (N orth Am erica, Western Europe and the Persian
Gulf), increasing num bers of m igrants w ill m ove tow ard new d estination
zones in quickly d eveloping countries 111.
The sam e scenario of m igration is confirm ed by the US N ationa l
Intelligence Council, Global Trend s 2025: A Transform ed World 112: The net
m igration of people from rural to urban areas and from poorer to richer
countries likely w ill continue apace in 2025, fuelled by a w idening gap in
econom ic and physical security betw een ad jacent regions.
Although the d ocum ent d oes not m ention the concept of societal
security, it talks about Id entity Dem ography: Where ethno-religious
groups have experienced their transition to low er birth rates at varying
paces, lingering ethnic youth bulges and shifts in group proportions cou ld
trigger significant political changes. Shifts in ethno-religious com position
resulting from m igration also could fuel political change, particularly w here
im m igrants settle in low -fertility ind ustrialized countries.
10. The Changing Character of Conflict. Conflict w ill continue to evolve
over the next 20 years as potential com batants adapt to ad vances in science
and technology, im proving w eapon capabilities, and changes in the security
environm ent. Warfare in 2025 is likely to be characterized by the follow ing
strategic trend s: the increasing im portance of inform ation, the evolution of
irregular w arfare capabilities, the prom inence of the non -m ilitary aspects of
Ibid , p p . 65-67.
N ational Intelligence Cou ncil, Global Tren d s 2025: A Transform ed World ,
Washington: US Governm ent Printing Office, N ov 2008, p p . 23-24.
111
112
111
Giovanni Ercolani
w arfare, and the expansion and escalation of conflicts beyond the

trad itional battlefield 113.
In conclusion, w hat em erges from this com plex picture is that NATO
countries cannot ignore the rest of the planet w hen the Alliance represents a
m inority com pared w ith the global picture. If NATO d oes not w an t to be
accused to have strategicalized the global politics 114 , and to have
prod uced its ow n w orld vision 115 , it has to accept to review its id ealistic
d iscourse.
Then N ATOs narrative, w hich can be seen as the sum of the various
Alleys national security looks, need s to m ove from w hat I consid er as an
exam ple of cosm opolitan id ealism totally in contrast w ith the concept of
cosm opolitan realism w hich adheres to the principle that political action
and political science m ake us blind w ithout cosm opolitan con cepts and
w ays of seeing the w orld 116.
If N ATO really w ants to see itself, it has to consid er the large
background w hich appears on the picture because in this globalized and
com plex society w e are all interconnected .
Then, NATO too has to ad opt a new w ay to look at the w orld and
accept a cosm opolitan outlook (w hich) () is neither optim istic nor
pessim istic but sceptical and self-critical. The w orld that appears w ithin its
field of vision is neither d arkened by cultural pessim ism nor illum inated by
belief in progress. There is not attem pt here to persuad e us that w e are on
Ibid . , p . 71.
Strategicalization of global p olitics the rend ering of events as su bject to
hu m an m astery at the hand s of statesm an and to the logic of a p ecu liarly
contem p orary, i.e. p ostw ar strategic d iscou rse. And by talking of
strategicalization, w e id entify p rocesses by w hich p olitical d om ain is extend ed
beyond realm s of im m ed iate sovereignty. Brad ley S. Klein, Strategic Stu d ies and
World Ord er: The Global Politics of Deterrence, Cam brid ge: Cam brid ge University
Press, 1994, p . 27.
115
What is d istinctive abou t strategicalization is the extent to w hich state
behavior becom es encod ed w ithin w orld view s and then becom es the basis of the
w hole bu reau cratic ap p aratu ses of secu rity analysis, intelligence estim ates, and
international su rveillance. Ibid , p .127.
116
Ulrich Beck, Pow er in the Global Age A N ew Global Political Econom y,
Cam brid ge: Polity, 2006, p p .110-115.
113
114
112
our w ay tow ard s a w orld of general hum an benevolence. Ind eed , just the
opposite is the case: d isasters lurk at every turn, and yet there is also an
enticing glim m er of new beginnings usually it is im possible to tell
w hether or not the future hold s both at once. The m ain feature of the
cosm opolitan outlook is sim ply that it is d ifferent 117.
5. Concluding Thoughts
To evaluate the results of operations and w ars is not sufficient to
consid er only the end of m ilitary hostilities, but w e need to exam ine the
results of the next phase of transform ation w hich is euphemistically called
reconstruction. This phase becom es an integral part of the d eclared
engagem ent for peace and should be an integral part of the w ar engagem ent
that preced ed it 118.
Ibid , p . 110.
Cou ntries rebu ilt by the so-called international com m u nity, bu t d ep end ent on
the w orld charity in term s of econom y and secu rity are d ou bly enslaved : they are in
the cond ition of d ep end ency and in the im p ossibility to rebel against overw helm ing
and ind efinite p ow er. Therefore w ar is strictly tied to the p ost conflict and to the
m ilitary and civil com p onent. These tw o d im ensions intertw ine and influ ence each
other in a continu ity w hich shou ld alread y be m anifest before the w ar. These tw o
com p onents shou ld be alread y in set in the p re-w ar p hase, in the p lanning, and
cond u ct of the w ar. The need of transform ation and reconstru ction, the costs, the
d u ration, the sacrifices w hich w ill be im p osed , the socio-econom ic m od el w hich
shou ld be im p lem ented , and the id entification of the p ersonnel in charge of the
p ost-conflict p hase, all these are all those elem ents w hich shou ld even ind icate w hat
to d estroy and w hat to safegu ard . Mod ern w ar is w on or lost in relation to the
resu lts of w hat is d one after the end of the conflict, and not in relation to the
elim ination of the op p onent. It is from the p ost-w ar p hase that w e can u nd erstand if
the w ar and the op erations w ere w orthy and if they w ere necessary for som ething
or not. If those w ho m ad e the w ar w anted p eace, stability and w elfare as an
assertion of civilizations and solid arity, or if they ju st w anted to m ake a show of
p ow er, exercising au thority, d estroy, p lu nd er, and gain extra exp enses and leave.
H ow d id som e barbarian hord es and all ad ventu rers. Fabio Mini, La Gu erra d op o
la Gu erra Sold ati, bu rocrati e m ercenari nellep oca d ella p ace virtu ale, Torino:
Einau d i, 2003, p p . 172-173.
117
118
113
Giovanni Ercolani
Accord ing to the Italian Arm y Gen. Mini, w hat is then of big
im portance in these operations w hich take place in virtual peace space is
the tem poral aspect, that tim e w hich continues to play a role after t hat the
conflict has end ed . This is ind eed the concept of the after -afterw ards
(d opo in Italian) w hich broad ens the structured Ulysses parad igm , puts
it in a state of super-m od ernity, and creates the link w ith that cosm opolitan
outlook w hich participates in a construction of possible life-m od es
m ethod ology at a global level.
Therefore, taking the id ea of after-afterw ard s as a system of
m easurem ent, w e can go back to the ontological and epistem ological
questions of (of w hat??) and ask again:
What is reality?
What is real know led ge?
What can w e d o?
And after, d ue to the fact w e are d ealing w ith security issue, w e can
ask the follow ing questions:
What is being secured ?

What is being secured against? Who are the enemies?
Who provid es security?
What m ethod s can be und ertaken to provid e it?
Therefore, the reality is m ore com plicated then the one presented on the
N ATOs fear m ap and our m ethod ology has presented a picture w hich
can be accepted as know led ge.
After these results, there is m ost d efinitely som ething that w e have to
d o. First of all, the referent object of security has to be consid ered .
The structured Ulysses parad igm puts at the centre of its activity the
security of the local society. The creation of a centre of influence is a
practical exam ple of how to im plem ent at best CIMIC cooperation activities
in areas w here the enem y is the situation created by the virtual peace
w here a w ar after the w ar is going on, and w here the society is slow ly
trying to reconstruct its life-m od es. Indeed , hard security is need ed .
114
This is a task of the international forces w hich received an UN m and ate

to operate. H ow ever, w hen w e arrive to answ er to the question w hat
m ethod s can be und ertaken to provid e security?, w e need another tool
w hich au tom atically w ill provid e benefit to the im plem entation of CIMIC
operations by the structured Ulysses parad igm.
Thus, it is in this state of super-m od ernity, w here tim e and space
assum e d ifferent significances and d im ensions, that create the centre of
influence, w hich is open and con -tem porary to the global d im ension
because the centre of influence, even if it has place in a m ore w id e
regional area of virtual peace, is connected to the w orld , and the w orld is
connected to it.
Therefore, it is on th is global-contem poraneous w orld d im ension that
w e should rethink the N ATO CIMIC Doctrine, and put it on a new global
fram ew ork.
Alread y the structured Ulysses parad igm w orks at a different level,
linking the social reality to the regional context and the international
d im ension in a com prehensive d im ension. H ow ever, this is, on m y ad vice,
not sufficient.
If the purpose of the secured centre of influence is to generate that
centrifugal and centripetal energy w hich it permits to enlarge its sphere of
influence, then the philosophical w ill on w hich the N ATO CIMIC operation
is based should not be an ethnocentric one, or linked to a m ap of fear, or a
specific security discourse, but based on a m ore general and global concept
as the one d eveloped by H um an Security.
Our version of hum an security em phasizes w hat the UN DP calls
personal security the security of hum an beings in violent upheavals. Thus,
w e agree w ith the id ea of Responsibility to Protect. But w e also think that it
is im possible to protect people from violence w ithout taking into account all
of the other d imensions of insecurity the cond itions of violence 119.
Shannon D. Beebe and Mary Kald or, The Ultim ate Weap on Is N o Weap on
H u m an Secu rity and the N ew Ru les of War and Peace, N ew York: Pu blic Affairs,
2010, p p . 7.
119
115
Giovanni Ercolani
A hum an security approach aim s, above all, to prevent violence by

tackling the cond itions that lead to violence. () A hum an security
approach looks not just at reconstruction but also at preventing new
outbreaks of violence, since the conditions that led to violence w eak rule
of law , unem ploym ent, crim inality, surplus w eapons, loss of livelihood , or
extrem ist id eologies are often w orse after conflict than before. () There is
an essential role for force in hum an -security operations: som etim es you
need to be able to protect people using w hat is know n as hard pow er. But
m ilitaries m ust w ork together w ith civilians police officers, health
w orkers, d evelopm ent experts, and others and their role is very d ifferent
from trad itional w ar fighting.
Thus, accord ing to Mary Kald or, the six principles of hum an security
that apply to both m ilitary and civilians w orking together in zones of
insecurity are: the prim acy of hum an rights, legitim ate political authority, a
bottom -up approach, effective m ultilateralism , regional focus, and clear
civilian com m and .120
Therefore, the structured Ulysses parad igm should openly ad opt the
H um an Security principles and m ove m ore closely to a H um an Security
operation d octrine. The H um an Security principles should become the new
referential fram ew ork for the structured Ulysses parad igm . Then, in this
virtual peace space, peace is w on or lost in relation to the results achieved
and w hat is d one after the end of the conflict, and not in relation to the
elim ination of the opponent as Mini rem ind s us.
Consequently, although conflict is often m ore polarized in areas of
insecurity, the real d ifference betw een areas of security and areas of
insecurity is the existence of m echanism for m anaging conflicts peacefully.
() When prevention fails, and violence escalates, a hum an security
approach aims to reverse the process: to stop the violence rather that to sid e
w ith one party to the violence. This is m uch m ore expensive and d ifficult
than prevention. This is w hy hum an -security approach stresses the need to
w ork proactively before conflict turns violent and violence turns to
120
Ibid , p p . 7-9.
116
catastrophe. The tasks to be und ertaken are sustainab le security, sustainable

livelihood s, sustainable governance, and sustainable d evelopm ent 121.
As a positive result, w e should find a structured Ulysses parad igm
guid ed by the six principles of H um an Security and im plem ented to achieve
those tasks w hich w ill perm it to m ake a difference in that period of tim e,
w hich stretches from the m om ent of the end of conflict, and passing by the
phases of peace, virtual peace, and finally arriving at a positive peace
(w hich as Johan Galtung rem ind s us w ould includ e love, freed om from
exploitation and repression, and the existence of a culture of peace).
In conclusion, I w ould like to say that w e have to reinvent ourselves
and und erstand w hat our position is on this planet and w hat the
responsibilities are that w e have tow ard the global com m unity. It is in reinterpreting the concept of security, how the concept is im plem ented and
exported in d ifferent cultural environm ents w hich prove to us how our
perception of the other is based on a cultural relativism , w hich can becom e
a d anger w hen w e operate in the w ar after w ar area. What is need ed is to
m ove from a conflict ethnography and ad opt a life-m od es
anthropology, w hich can represent the m id dle point, or the point of
contact betw een the anthropological w orld of research and the ideas
d eveloped by the critical security stud ies environm ent. This is because it is
in this m ultid isciplinary environment w here it is possible to put into
practice the tool of controversy d eveloped by the School of Mines of Paris 122.
H ere, controversy, as a ped agogical m ethod ology, is defined as a d ebate
w hich takes into consid eration technical or scientific know led ge that is not
even insured . Furtherm ore, this is by reason of the fact that the gross
negligence has been not to have listened to Fik ret as w ell as not having been
able to integrate the after-afterw ard s in a unitary process of thinking and
planning.
Without know ing that w e have been a prisoner of a conceptual w ay of
looking, like Achilles had been, and w ithout realizing that the first
Ibid , p p . 89-106.
Izasku n Chinchilla and Fabin Mu niesa, La controversia com o herram ienta
p royectu al,
Boletin
CF+S,
Mad rid ,
2004,
at:
http :/ / habitat.aq.u p m .es/ boletin/ n32/ aichi01.htm l
121
122
117
Giovanni Ercolani
controversy starts at the very m om ent w e look at the events, the m oment
w e label them w ith term inologies, w e d efine their m eaning and their
existence.
It is the anthropologist w ho, in contact w ith local post -conflict realities,
looks, listens, und erstand s, com pares, w rites, and proves that w hat has
been d efined as peace, in reality is still a w ar after the w ar. Thus, it is in
this space that the m ilitary and the civilian have to operate to secure people
and re-establish a secure life-m od es, provid ing dignity and hope for a better
future. This is not an acad em ic exercise. It is a hum an responsibility
because, quoting Sherlock H olm es, it can be d angerous to theorize before
one has d ata. Insensibly, one begins to tw ist facts to suit theories, instead of
theories to suit facts.
118
Visu al Ethnograp hies, Conflict and Secu rity
Visual Ethnographies, Conflict and Security

Chris Farrands
In this paper 123, I am concerned w ith how interpretive approaches to

photography in contem porary conflicts m ight offer som e kind of
und erstanding of those conflicts using an ethnographic approach. To d o
this, the paper w ill establish w hat is generally m eant by visual
ethnography, and id entify how this approach m ight d iffer from , and strike
a conversation w ith, m ore conventional international relations (IR)
approaches. I w ill look at som e specific im ages, w hich w ill be the main
elem ent of the presentation in the conference session. The paper explores
w hether, and how , some kind of interpretation or sense-making process
m ight help our und erstand ing not just of those ind ivid ual im ages, but of the
conflicts w hich form their context. All the tim e, the argum ent of this paper
resists a sed uctive scepticism w hich d enies the possibility of this kind of
und erstanding. This scepticism is seen not as a fund am ental problem , but as
an essential part of the d ialogue from w hich sense-making m ight em erge.
The paper m akes an im portant contribution to an und erstand ing of security
I shou ld like to acknow led ge help and / or ad vice at d ifferent tim es from Eva
Katsaiti, Roland Bleiker, Ilknu r Baltaci, David King, Jenny Matthew s, Step hen
Chan, Pau l Sheeran, H u gh Mosley, and esp ecially to Cerw yn Moore and Giovanni
Ercolani. Som e of the research for this p ap er w as su p p orted by N ottingham Trent
University research fu nd s. A m u ch earlier version w as given to a conference at
Birm ingham University in Ju ly 2009 and I am gratefu l for com m ents from the
conference organisers, Jill Steans and Cerw yn Moore, and to all those p articip ants
w ho offered d etailed com m ents and su ggestions on that d raft.
123
119
Chris Farrand s
and securitisation through the use of an anthropological or ethnographic

approach.
It is often said that postm od ern society is ad d icted to im ages, and that
w e live in a society w hich und erstand s itself through the im ages w hich it
prod uces m uch m ore than through m ore trad itional, print m ed ium oriented
m ed ium of w ord s and w ritten text (see, for exam ple, Ep stein, 2012 and
Thorpe, 2012). Im ages have apparently taken over contem porary culture,
alm ost to the extent that only w hat can be captured in a m obile phone shot
and placed on Facebook counts as real, and , perhaps even m ore pointedly,
w here new s only exists for ed itors, journalists and consum ers alike if the
film or images can be found to justify its inclusion in TV or online
broad cast. This leaves new s professionals and lobby groups struggling to
find the im age w hich can best convey w hat they are trying to get across,
and , even in serious new s m ed ia, less and less space being d evoted to text
as opposed to im ages of d ifferent kind s. It also encourages the invention of
im ages and the recycling of established iconic im ages for purposes very
d ifferent from those w hich originally led to their creation.
This im age-focussed nature of new s has an obvious effect on the
presentation of stories w hich m atter a great d eal but w hich d o not, for one
reason or another, generate great film : they get neglected . Conflict in the
eastern Congo (DRC) might be only one exam ple, w here it has generally
been too d angerous for film crew s to travel d uring a civil w ar w hich killed
around 3 m illion people over a d ecad e, and w hich, d espite having been
proclaim ed resolved is still going on. Equally, stories of great com plexity,
w hich is hard to capture in film im ages m ay lose out to stories w hich it is
possible to tell w ith available new film and / or stock im ages. But this
situation also changes the priorities and processes of new sroo m s; and it
shapes the w ays in w hich w ord s are used , as it w ere, around pictures and
film sequences in new s. But it also influences the w ay non -new s stories are
presented . It changes the balance betw een them and m ore solid new s so
that gossip, new m edia of all kind s, and the styles and capabilities of new
m ed ia in turn affect m ore conventional m edia, not least in the w ay stories
are ed ited and framed . Visual im ages have come to d efine a great d eal of
w hat w e see and know , and w hat w e d o not see and d o not know , about
international relations. They m ay, perhaps, also shape consciousness I say
120
perhaps because this is im portant, but not a d iscussion for this paper.
These evolutions in turn have effects on w hat people m ight experience as
security or insecurity, in w ays w hich w ill be explored shortly. What counts
as security m akes sense to a com m unity in the context of a w hole raft of
social assum ptions, expectations and practices, how ever unjustified or
prejud iced these m ay (som etim es) be. This w hole context is difficult to
separate from the specific political anthropology of security closely d efined
includ ing the gossip, new m ed ia exchanges, Facebook postings and blog
entries, as w ell as m uch m ore longstand ing social assum ptions.
Visual ethnography has several d im ensions here. One m ain id ea is the
use of visual im ages m ad e by the researcher as a tool in her w ork. In this
context, the researcher is m ore in control both of the context and the w ays in
w hich im ages are m ad e and reprod uced . In this paper I am concerned w ith
the question of how visual im ages m ight m ake sense and contribute to an
und erstanding of violence w hen the photography w as not d one by the
researcher. There are good reasons for this w hich are d iscussed through the
paper. Although som e critics m ay see this is imm ed iately invalid ating the
w hole effort, by the end of this essay, I trust that the read er m ay be
d issuad ed from hold ing that view .
Visual ethnography or m ore generally uses of the visual in
anthropology, are as old as those field s them selves. El Guind i (2004)
provid es a useful history of this end eavour explaining the interest of many
of the found ers of anthropology in film and still im ages. H ow ever, El
Guid is ow n stud y is prim arily concerned w ith film and vid eo, and
although som e of these argum ents carry into discussion of still photography
m any of them are only tangentially relevant here. Banks (2001) suggests a
range of specific research strategies in the id entification of visual d ata and
the ground ing of an analytic fram e for ethnograp hic research to w hich this
paper ow es som e acknow led gem ent. But it is Sarah Pink (2003, 2007, 2008)
w ho has probably d one m ore than anyone else in the recent acad em ic
literature to d evelop strategies and bound aries for the use of film , vid eo and
still im ages in ethnography, and her w ork provides a pow erful im petus for
further stud y, includ ing this paper.
The starting point for this argum ent is that photography in conflict
situations provid es an im portant potential resource for the researcher, that
121
Chris Farrand s
photographs are very often referred to by w riters on conflict and violence,

but that those w riters m ay quite often be taking too m uch for granted . A
visual ethnography (as opposed to other kind s of approach in conflict
stud ies, for exam ple see H on Wong Jeong, 2008) has the potential
ad vantage of taking the source and the creation of the im age seriously, of
exploring the context w ith attention, and of m aking ethical positions clear.
Visual ethnography has been concerned w ith the everyd ay human
experience in its d etail and com plexity, and in this paper I w ill be exploring
w hat might be called the violence of everyd ay life, or at least, violence as
everyd ay life. Inevitably, there m ust be som e lim itations to the kinds of
conclusions one m ight d raw from an exercise w here the subject m atter are
im ages taken by others in a context w hich m ay not be fully understood or
explained . So this paper also constructs a critique of the know led ge of
visual ethnography of this form : w hat are the limitations and constraints on
m ethod ology, m ethod s and ethics w hich can be id entified w ith this kind of
activity. The question is im portant not least because scholars in conflict
stud ies are increasingly turning to im age based texts alongsid e those rooted
in w ord s, poetry, d ram a, novels, travel w riting and various form s of
biography or autobiography (Bleiker, 2009, Moore, 2006). The question at
issue then becom es d oes anthropology in the more specific form of visual
ethnography offer any correctives to the assum ptions that are often m ad e in
that kind of argum ent in conflict stud ies?
N early all photography, and in particular all new s photography , w ith
w hich this paper is m ainly concerned , is shot to a d ead line for com m ercial
reasons. Photographs that appear in new s m ed ia of all kind s are t aken w ith
m otives other than prod ucing a beautiful picture, and aesthetics m ay not
com e into the process of creation of im ages at all, although at the sam e time
aesthetics (m ore broad ly d efined ) cannot be avoid ed in the evaluation of
photographic im ages (a point explained later). Com m ercial consid erations
m ean that many im ages are rejected by the photographer in favour of a set
w hich are sent to an ed itor, w ho then chooses the im age they m ost w ant to
use, w hich m ay not be the photographers preferred choice. Som ething
sim ilar applies to m obile phone im ages taken in Tahrir Square or in an
Occupy d em onstration: the photographer selects one or a few im ages to put
on Facebook from a m uch larger sam ple they are not only their ow n im age
122
m aker but also their ow n ed itor. One dim ension of the paper is to ask w hat
value the im m ed iate images gathered and diffused through the new m ed ia
such as Facebook and tw itter have in the analysis of contem porary conflict
if any.
1. D ebates on security and the invitation to ethnography
We m ight argue that security and insecurity have been central concepts
in alm ost all political debate, as w ell as in m uch sociology, for centuries,
and then still recognise that since roughly the end of the Cold War, the
term s of that d ebate have significantly changed . An und erstanding of
insecurity and securitization has evolved w hich is m uch m ore com plex and
sophisticated that that generally held by w riters in acad em ic international
relations in the Cold War period , and perhaps earlier (there is a d ebate to be
had here w hich I am not going to engage now ). The prim ary reason for the
d ebate to w hich this paper contributes is that there is a sense that the d ebate
on critical security stud ies (see Fierke, 2007, Dannreuther, 2007) w ithin
international relations has gone about as far as it can, and that the baton can
be taken up and m oved forw ard by a dialogue betw een critical security
stud ies and som e form of anthropological stud ies (political anthropology,
ethnography, analysis of the rituals and everyd a y practices of form s of
violence and so on). Giovanni Ercolani has mad e a significant contribution
to the d ebate on how political anthropology m ight illuminate (or in his
view , perhaps, supplant?) critical security stud ies as a w ay of making sense
of hum an experience of security and insecurity (Ercolani, 2012). This
touches on the relationship betw een anthropology and international
relations, an interesting but very large question w hich this paper d oes not
try to pursue.
Barry Buzan (1991) initiated a thorough-going revision of concepts of
security in international relations at the end of the Cold War, a debate
w hich he furthered in later publications and in collaborative w ork w ith
others (e.g. Buzan, Waever and d e Wild e, 1998). The shift of focus is one of
content from state security to hum an or societal security. But it is also a
shift to a different set of ethical concerns. And if presents a distinctive
know led ge parad igm . It integrates d om estic d ebates about risk and security
123
Chris Farrand s
w ith international politics, w here trad itional approaches to security stud ies
(m ilitary strategy) had generally kept d ebate about the tw o separated . It
takes questions about id entity, risk and technology m uch m ore seriously
alongsid e trad itional questions w hich have not d isappeare d , includ ing
appropriate force structures, institutional arrangem ents for security and the
econom ic basis of military capability. These new security agend as have
includ ed the com plex issues of food , energy, w ater and environm ental
security, all of w hich have both m arket d im ensions and social psychological
and political d im ensions w hich can lead to the conclusion that they are the
focus of a process of d ouble securitization (Farrand s, 2010b). In this w ork
there is a shift tow ard s a (contend ed ) notion of hu m an security and a m uch
greater priority put on the risks and d angers w hich has com e to m atter as
part of the norm al agenda of acad em ic international relations.
Buzan and others (Buzan, 1991, Buzan, Waever, d e Wild e, 1998, Dillon,
1996, Fierke, 2007, MacSw eeney, 1999) have argued that security is
constructed in specific contexts and w ithin the bound aries of certain kind s
of know led ge. Security is at the sam e tim e a m atter of everyd ay experience
and of fund am ental id entity. In m ore philosophical language, it concerns
both being-in-the-w orld and Being. It is possible to point to security
d iscourses and their interaction w ith how people und erstand insecurity
(Dillon, 1996) but it is not possible to pin d ow n w hat counts as security
except in an id eal (unrealisable) sense. But it is possible to ask basic
questions about security w hich help to take the d ebate forw ard aw ay from
the lim iting fram ew ork of state security und erstood as a m ilitarised
hegem onic regim e or as an apparatus for the im position of the pow er of the
state on its unconsenting (and , often, unknow ing) citizens. These questions
open up a critical space: security for w hom ? Security as the elimination of
risk or as its arbitrage if the latter in w hose favour, if the form er, by w hat
m eans has risk been elim inated if that is possible at all? Does the assertion
of security tend tow ard s the construction of a sovereign subject identity or
d oes it listen to the subjectivity of those it confronts (Ed kins et al, 1999, Jabri,
1998)? H ow are resources m anaged in insecurity d iscourses and how does
that in turn create inequalities (the question can be reform ed as w hat is the
political econom y of insecurity?) (Farrand s, 2010b). Does the focus on the
political or political econom y of security underm ine the possibility of a
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coherent social being (MacSw eeneys critique of Buzan et al)? The purpose
of these questions is to reform ulate an und erstand ing of global social and
political relations aw ay from the trad ition of state centred security stud ies.
It vastly extend s the scope of w hat is at issue in thinking about security, and
creates an intellectual space w ithin w hich non -governm ental organisations,
private interests, global corporations and social m ovem ents contend to
securitize particular issues and to shape governm ent policies w hich relate to
their concerns. The concept of hum an security d raw s attention to the global
interests of hum ankind in food , d isease and clim ate change issues as
security questions w hich d em and quite different kind s of und erstanding
and quite d ifferent kind s of action from the trad itional agend as (Fierke,
2007, Dannreuther, 2007). H um an security is also supposed to put
ind ivid uals and their experience in a central place in these d ebates, but this
is not alw ays the case. The attention to individ uals interacting in small
groups w hich has alw ays been a focus of ethnographic stud y is one reason
w hy a specifically ethnographic approach to visual im ages of conflict and
insecurity brings som ething new to the d ebate even m ore rad ical
approaches to con flict stud ies tend tow ard s institutional analysis w hich,
und eniably im portant, tend s to contrad ict the claim s of those w riters on
critical security stud ies w ho aim to set hum an experience at the heart of
their w ork (for a broad er d iscussion of conflict stu d ies, see H o-Won Jeong,
2008).
Security in this m ore recent und erstand ing is precarious and com plex.
Insecurity represents a set of risks w hich are m uch broad er than specific
threats. Insecurity d oes not only arise from the clear and present d angers
w hich form the rhetoric of m uch Am erican foreign policy. Insecurity is at
once system ic and im med iately personal, specifically political and societal
in the broad est sense. One of Buzans m ain contributions to these d ebates
w as to argue that although enlarged concepts of security had a pow erful
force, the trad itional agend a of security state, territory, political system ,
social ord er- had not d isappeared , and furtherm ore that, d espite the
evolution of international organizations and sub -state political m ovem ents.
The sovereign state remained the principal m eans by w hich security issues
could be arbitrated and m anaged . Buzan continues to hold that the state is
ind ispensable for security even though it may have lost control over w hat
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Chris Farrand s
com es to form the substance of the security agend a (securitization). H is

critics d o not d isagree for the m ost part, but m ight w ell point out that w hen
the agend a and the processes of security are so m uch m ore com plex, the
trad itional concept of the state is as m uch changed as the issues and
contexts w ithin w hich insecurity is ad d ressed. But other critics plausibly
argue that the focus on institutional levels of relationships m ean relatively
little if the burd en of insecurity is faced by ind ivid uals and sm all groups of
people. H obbes suggested that insecurity w as a function not so m uch of the
original sins of ind ivid uals or the structured conflicts of w hole societies as a
prod uct of the fears and insecurities of ind ivid ual people w ho had then to
d ecid e how they w ould respond . In a giv en situation, it becam e rational to
kill others before they threatened you, not simply w hen they im m ediate
threat presented itself. This led H obbes to the fam ous form ulation of a w ar
of all against all .. there being no assurance to the contrary (H obbes ,1968 ,
chapter xiii, pp. 183-186). This starts to point tow ard s ind ivid ual and group
responses to insecurity. H ow d o people react? An im age seem s to be a w ay
of conveying the im m ed iacy of that response, but m ay also id entify the
longer-term pow er of stress and loss can w e not see in the faces of those
touched by conflicts how insecurity shapes their lives and lim its their
possibilities, how in extrem e cases individ uals and com m unities becom e
enslaved by fears and insecurities w hich they find them selves un able to
bear or im possible to rem em ber w ithout new traum as? But this question,
w hile it is not at first sight unreasonable, assum es that there is a one -to-one
correspond ence betw een how people look or express them selves and their
experience.
H ow ever any u nd erstand ing of insecurity, includ ing the w ays I w hich
photographs capture its d ifferent faces, need to recognise the im portance of
context and ethical concern. An image of an exhausted sold ier w eary of w ar
carries a d ifferent m essage if w e d iscover he has just returned from his role
in a special com mand o killing Jew s in Ukraine in 1942 or m assacring
Bosnian civilians in 1993. There is no meaning without context and some prior
understanding, including some understanding of the visual language at play in an
image. This can be a w arning to be w ary w hat a picture m eans until, at the
least, w e have a sense of how and w hen it w as taken, by w hom , for w hat
purpose, and in w hat context. Im ages d iscussed later illustrate the
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im portance of both context and of read ing different levels of m eaning into
an im age, but m ost of all they w arn against any closure w hich tries to
determine the (singular) m eaning of an im age. Derrid a, d iscussing the force
of the photographic im age, (2010) typically supports the tw o main
argum ents here, that context is everything in understand ing the m eaning of
im ages, and that any attem pt to close d ow n the interpretation of m eanings
into a neat basket of representations and identities is bound to fall short of
its goal of m aking sense of the subject of the picture in question. Context is
vitally im portant, but there are, as this essay w ill argue later, d ifferent
read ing strategies w hich one might bring to bear on visual im ages, and
these strategies go beyond both the authorial intentions of the ph otographer
and the context in w hich ind ivid ual shots are m ade.
Visual ethnography has evolved as a sub -field of ethnography
concerned w ith w hat John Berger explored in his influential W ays of Seeing
(1972), the id ea that w hat w e see and how w e see are so closely connected e
m ight argue they are mutually constitutive, and socially form ed , that w hat
w e see pred ates any verbal language w e acquire. Languages w e share
includ e the visual environm ent w e inhabit and describe, w hich form s w hat
Lud w ig Wittgenstein m ight have called a d istinctive form of life. Bergers
attem pt to explore visual und erstand ing w as partly d irected at
und erm ining a conventional aesthetic centred account, but he d iscusses
photography and ad vertising as w ell as painting and the high arts, as
Roland Barthes did in his im portant stud y of the visual environm ent w hich
photography surround s us, Camera Lucida (2000). Susan Sontag (1979, 2004),
m ore sceptically, exam ines how w e read photographic im ages and how
claim s are m ad e for the capability of photography to shape sensibilities and
record events w ith a truth that transcend s the everyd ay sentim entality or
personal m eaning of the pictures people m ight put on the table or w all. All
of these authors, w ho have all also been photographers Sontag w ith great
d istinction- refer explicitly back to Benjam ins essay on autom ated
reprod uction and kitsch, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reprod uction (Benjam in, 1999). These notions of the social construction,
social use and social pow er of visual im ages provid e a platform for the
m ore specific kind s of questions w hich a visual ethnography of violence
and insecurity can pursue. In this construction process, there are a number
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Chris Farrand s
of d ifferent sim ultaneous d ialogues, and the focus of any kind of analysis
rests on the exploration of those d ialogues and the m eanings w hich they
create, encapsulate or exclud e (Moore and Farrand s, 2010; Farrand s, 2010a).
These d ialogues legitimately includ e one betw een the photographer, her
subject(s) and the view er; they also includ e one betw een the im ages and
their context, and a d istinct interrogation betw een view ers and their ow n
context through w hich they evaluate im ages presented to them .
2. Photography and Know ledge
Can photography provid e any basis for know led ge claim s (in any
subject field )? While it is easy enough to reject naively optim istic claim s
(the cam era never lies), it is not so easy to id entify w hen and w here w e can
claim to have any und erstand ing of social life from visual im ages. This is all
the m ore an issue w here m any of the strategies of visual ethnography seem
to rely on the cam era operator being the researcher and using photographic
im ages as a w ay of telling a story enriched beyond w ord s by the im ages
w hich they ow n and have taken them selves, and w h ich they take
responsibility for, and w here they have the ability to interpret layers of
m eaning from the context in as m uch d etail or in as many d im ensions as
they think are necessary to construct a coherent and justified account
(Pinney, 2011, Banks 2001). H ere I am specifically not concerned w ith
im ages I have taken. I am not a w ar photographer, although I have taken
and som etim es d eveloped , enlarged or photoshopped pictures I have taken.
I can claim som e und erstand ing of the technology, but this paper is not
about im ages for w hich I have any d irect responsibility. While this is not to
d isclaim responsibility for the use of im ages that w ill be cited in this paper
in any w ay, it is evid ently quite d ifferent.
Furtherm ore, to ask this question is im m ed iately to confront one of the
great contributions to d ebate on uses and abuses of photographic images in
the available literature. Susan Sontag, in her Concerning the Pain of Others,
has expressed a d eeply ground ed scepticism about w hat w e m ight learn
from im ages if w e claim they tell not just the truth, but any truth at all. She
ad d s to that a m easure of scepticism about the kind of em pathy w hich a
photograph might create in its view er. Stephen Chan (2010) has augm ented
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this argum ent w ith an argum ent of his ow n w hich, pow erfully w ritten and
carefully argued , underpins Sontags case against interpretation. For this is
an argum ent against interpretation as a w hole. Even if w e have som e d irect
experience of conflict, w hich, thankfully, m any people w ill not have, w e
should be w ary of bringing that experience to bear on the experience of
others in a picture. People victim s, survivors, perpetrators, or those w hom
Maya Zehfuss (2004) has called victim / perpetrators- have a unique
experience of their ow n w hich is usurped by a claim that I feel your pain.
A rape victim m ay em pathise w ith another; a person w ho has seen their
child killed in Tahrir Square m ay (perhaps) be able to com m unicate more
easily than others w ith som eone w ho has lost a close relative or friend m ore
recently in Syria. But m ost of us are not in that position, and should not
pretend that w e can be w ith them or even (a favourite term of Christian
helpers) alongsid e them in any very m eaningful w ay w ithout great care
and reflection. This argum ent extend s to the w ays in w hich w e m ight view
visual im ages. It also begs a question of how w e learn to look at
photographs and how w e m ake sense of them in everyd ay life w hich the
paper returns to later. Sym pathy here is a natural em otion; but it is also a
d angerous pointer tow ard s a sentim entalisation w hich d ead ens a m ore
critical and careful response.
This is partly an argum ent about representation w hether any kind of
representation of the Other person is possible either ethically or, ind eed , at
all. The ontological condition of the Other is at a sharp d istance from each
person encountering them / . Any representation asserts m y ow n
subjectivity over theirs; any representation co-opts their subjectivity to mine
and so d enies it; any representation asserts a closu re of their id entity w hich,
although actually im possible nonetheless m akes a bid to subjugate the
Other. These argum ents, m ostly d erived d irectly or ind irectly from Derrida,
are w ell know n (Ricoeur 1992, Jabri, 1998), but they d o not negate the
possibility of d ifferent kind s of relationship to that Other. The photographer
m ight present rather than represent the subject, by allow ing them agency in
the taking of the photograph, but allow ing them to construct the narrative
the photograph suggest (at least as far as possible there w ill alw ays be a
lim itation to the subjects authority in the im age making process). The im age
m ight also fail as a representation of the Other but suggest m etaphorical
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Chris Farrand s
sense in w hich the status of an im age m ight restore or create m ean ing anew
(again there are potential im portant problem s w ith this suggestion, w hich
w ill be d eveloped below ). One further conceivable relationship is that the
photographer or view er allow the subject of an im age into a dialogue w ith
them in w hich the negotiation pow er is not all on their (photographer or
view ers) sid e. This assum es that som e kind of subjectivity on the part of the
subject is possible, but goes beyond that to construct a d ialogue in w hich
their voice carries significance. H ow this d ialogue m ight becom e possible is
a function of several cond itions, not least the aw areness or recognition of
the view er, w hich in turn evokes their im age literacy, their ability to read
these kind s of texts. H ow ever, this is
also an argum ent about w itnesses and w itnessing. It asks w ho should,
w ho can, bear w itness in a case such as the Rw and an Genocid e of 1994. The
response m ight not be that a photographer intrud ing on a scene can hold
that role; but it might also be that bearing w itness is one of the clearest roles
w hich sensitively planned photojournalism can play.
H ow m ight one respond to the Sontag/ Chan argum ent? One part of an
answ er is to interrogate the w ay in w hich w e look at visual im ages. And
one part of a response is also to interrogate the social function of visual
im ages includ ing photography. And a further elem ent of a reply is to ask
how im ages are used , and to think how one m ight d raw on tools of
reflexivity to respond to photographic im ages.
It m ay be that the response proposed here to the Sontag/ Chan
argum ent is relevant, and m aybe even a helpful clarification; but that it is
also inad equate. Sontags ow n answ er to the dilem m as her argum ent create
is blood y mind ed : although there is no solution to the problem of the
interpretation of photographic im ages she id entifies, she asserts, there is no
alternative but to keep trying to take honest photographs, and to keep
trying to find interpretations w ith as m uch integrity as w e can m uster. This
is so even though she suspects that w e are bound to fail in the attem pt. But
the struggle is better than quiescence. The critique of conventional
sentim entality in photographic interpretation is w ell m ad e, and the
question of interpretation is no d oubt alw ays a struggle, a conflict w ithin a
series of d ialogues, as Ricoeur notes in a d ifferent context (Ricoeur, 1974,
1978). The case m ad e here is that perhaps one can be a little less pessim istic
130
than Sontag if one id entifies other functions and other d ialogues w hich
constitute parts of the relationship betw een photographe r, im age subject
and view er.
3. Forging truth .?
One of the m ost fam ous w ar photographs of the tw entieth century, the
im age of a Spanish Civil War sold ier falling backw ard s in the m oment he
has been hit in an attack, has been claim ed to be faked. 124 In other w ord s,
the picture w as set up. It is as if the photographer, Robert Capa, says to the
view er it m ight have been like this, but it w asnt. This at first sight seem s
im m ensely reprehensible, if the allegation is true. Many com m entators reply
to the accusation by saying that Capa clearly end angered him self m any
tim es to get the im age he w anted , that he w as a great artist, that he nearly
d ied on the N orm and y beaches in an attem pt to get the shots he w anted ,
and that both his artistic integrity and his professional integrity should be
sufficient to w ard off the accusations, w hich w ere only m ad e long after the
events he portrayed . One m ight not d oubt his integrity, yet this raises a
slightly d ifferent question. The fam ous im ages of Abu Ghraib are at one a nd
the sam e tim e real: shocking im ages and w holly faked constructions
created by a team of prison officers for their ow n am usem ent, but also, so
they apparently thought, so that they could becom e fam ous through the
publication of these im ages on social m edia. Although this is an extrem e
case, it m ight lead one to think that all images have a certain integrity of
their ow n, even if it is rem ote from the intentions of the im age m aker, and
all photographic im ages have at the sam e tim e the quality of m ad e -upness,
of construction, of lack of authenticity. The Abu Ghraib pictures tell a truth
of their ow n. Sontag (1979) suggests this am biguity about all photographic
im ages even before one starts to question how it is possible to respond to
such im ages, a question she then explored in her later essay (2004). 125
124
http :/ / w w w .tc.p bs.org/ w net/ am ericanm asters/ files/ 2008/ 08/ cap a_essay_01.jp
The p oint is recognisable in im ages of Sontag herself; com p are the follow ing:
http :/ / w w w .su sansontag.com / Su sanSontag/ im ages/ su sanBioIm age01.jp g
and
http :/ / i2.listal.com / im age/ 1057041/ 600fu ll-su san-sontag.jp g
125
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Chris Farrand s
One other exam ple is the im portant early w ar photography of William

Russell in the Crim ea (1854-56)) and Tim othy OSullivan in the Am erican
Civil War. OSullivans im age of the fed eral d ead at Gettsyburg w hich he
called , perhaps w ith a particular kind of d ramatisation, The H arvest of
Death on the Field of Gettysburg126 is a still im age of a group of fed eral
casualties w hich he posed for the purpose. H e asked his assistants to group
the bodies in a pattern w hich he found pleasing but w hich, because it w as
not too close-up, w ould not shock reasonably robust new spaper read ers
(the im ages w ere all the sam e found shocking for the tim e -1863). This
im age w as posed by regrouping the bod ies, and w e cannot be sure how
m any other of the pictures of the m id -nineteenth century w ere posed except
to note that, given the clum siness of the equipment and the long exposure
tim es necessary, alm ost any photograph w ould have had a good d eal more
of an artificial elem ent than the im m ed iate im ages taken by photographers
and casual observers or participants after the m id d le of the tw entieth
century.
This question is rend ered even m ore pressing by the existence of
Photoshop and the ease w ith w hich all im ages, but especially d igital one s,
can be ad justed or sim ply faked . It d oes not take ten m inutes of training to
put Presid ent Barack Obam as face on the bod y of Osam a Bin Lad en in an
im age w hich can then be put on a w ebsite to prove that the president is a
Muslim fanatic w ho has consistently lied about his background . But anyone
seeing this im age is likely, if they have any sense, to question the context
(the only w ebsites that w ould carry this im age are rabid ly fanatical as w ell
as child ish) and w ould recognise the crud e m anipulation b eing attem pted .
The task of the honest photographer is to get beyond this kind of argument
by the d em onstration of their integrity but also through their und erstand ing
of the context. It m ay also be possible to argue that a set of related im ages
provid es a kind of narrative in w hich each im age ad d s a check on the
others; but, again, it is as easy to manipulate a string of images as it is a
single picture, and this argum ent in itself is not sound . But even the most
honest intending photographer can no m ore shake off their assum ptions
http :/ / p hotohistory.jeffcu rto.com / w p content/ u p load s/ 2008/ 07/ osu llivan_harvestd eath.jp g
126
132
and their ow n cultural context than any other story -m aker can. This is, of
course, as m uch a problem of w hat is m eant by truth as of the possibilities
of fakery. The arguably nave d esire of a photographer to tell a better truth
by re-arranging the d etails of a picture seem unexceptionable in the context
of w hat painters such as Goya or Paul N ash surely truth tellers?- have
d one in w ar im ages. Pictures can tell stories, and groups of pictures can
narrate a sequence of events as a com plex reality, w hich is to say that they
can never be sim ple truths, as William E. Connollys argum ent (2005) that
there are m ultiple truths w hich are com patible w ith each other in various
w ays d istinct from falsehood also im plies.
4. The N umbing Image of War and Conflict
There are a num ber of stand ard im ages of conflict, recognisable tropes,
often perhaps clichs. These im ages are repetitions of im ages one can find in
every conflict and every new spaper or blog. These representations give us
pow erful im ages w hich resonate in one w ay if w e know som ething about
the history of w ar photography and resonate in other w ays to a view er
com ing quite cold to the im age. Specific im ages create a pornography of
violence in w hich the view er com es to consume an im age for their ow n
purpose at the expense of the ind ivid uality as w ell as the experience of the
Other. 127 This d efinition is intend ed to put som e responsibility on the
view ers gaze for the construction of pornography as w ell as id entifying
som ething about th e im age itself and its creators intentions. This m ay
involve, but d oes not need to involve, im ages w hich have a m ore evid ently
sexual content. Everyd ay journalism m ay look for the truth, but w hether or
not journalists are looking for a truth, ed itors and m anagers are looking for
the im age w hich attracts attention. Ultim ately, the choice of w hich pictures
take prim ary places on the front covers of new spapers and (even more)
I have in m ind Kevin Carters p ictu re of a vu ltu re stalking a d ying child in
Su d an, a great im age like the N achtw ey p ictu re cit ed earlier, bu t also a terrifying
im age of resp onsibility, a resp onsibility Carter him self fou nd u nbearable:
http s:/ / lh3.googleu sercontent.com / PAm r30WkSw s/ T3lN yu ITMm I/ AAAAAAAADzE/ nY_6nbVw GKg/ Su d aneseVu ltu re.jp g
127
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Chris Farrand s
new s m agazines is an ed itorial d ecision about com m ercial interests. But

other pictures m ay be used in initially valid w ays and yet com e to have a
very sim ilar function. It is not an accid ent that cam paigners and publishers
have som e com m on interests even if their first aim is not sim ply to sell a
prod uct. Cam paigners for non -governm ent organizations (N GOs) find
them selves und er great pressure to use the m ost effective im ages to support
their w ork. This can lead to the creation of w hat has been called survivor
porn or cam paign porn, w here dam aged child ren and survivors of rape or
fam ine are includ ed in ad vertisem ents. Every N GO publicist is aw are of the
d anger of using exploitative pictures; each N GO m anager w ill avoid the use
of som e pictures; but all w ill ad mit that using the m ost violent im ages
generally brings in the m ost incom e from d on ors. This use of visual im ages
has been the subject of m any d ebates am ong NGO groups, but the fact that
the general public tend to acquire a chilling num bness in response to
repeated im ages m eans that a form of escalation creeps into N GO searches
for attention and recognition, especially in long-d raw n out hum anitarian
em ergencies.
This num bing of perception leads to a num bing of response. The
view er becom es accustom ed to the em otional responses w hich a series of
recurring im ages invokes, unaw are that w hat is problem atic is not the
im age or im ages they see but the assum ption that w hat is at play here is an
em otional response at all. To engage only an emotional response to images
of suffering or hum an catastrophe is to m ove tow ard s sentim entality. As
Schopenhauer (2000) suggested in his critique of Kantian ethics, and as
H eid egger and Levinas, as w ell as Ricoeur (1992) w ere subsequently to
d evelop, sentim entality is the enem y of a politics of care for the Other. This
raises d ifficult questions because to not feel em otion on seeing these kind s
of im ages w ould be inhum an. Sontags argum ent (and on this point I agree
w ith her) is that to ground an und erstand ing solely on em otion w ithout
critical reflection is intellectually shallow , and w hen one brings critical
reflection to bear, the conclusions to d raw from a particular im age appear
highly circum scribed .
N ote that the previous paragraph d oes not argue against any em otional
response to the im ages w hich m ight be faced in an exhibition, on a blog, or
in the varied new s m ed ia. It argues that a response w hich is only em otional
134
tend s to sentim entality and so tend s to d estroy the faculty of critical

reasoning w hich m ight be a better basis of understand ing. More precisely,
that is at issue here is a specific kind of jud gm ent w hich is neither aesthetic
nor rational/ scientific, but w hich is m ore closely aligned w ith the faculty of
aesthetic jud gm ent (Farrand s, 2010a; see also Bleiker, 2009, and Moore,
2006). The notion of jud gm ent here includ es a significant elem ent of
em otion, partly on the ground s that to respond only w ith reason or
scientific m easurem ent to shocking im ages and violent experience is to
trad uce both the hum anity of the subject and ones ow n; but the response is
not red ucible to em otion, and it includ es an elem ent of reflectivity w hich
takes and critiques the em otional reaction as it m easures it against both
learned jud gm ent, previous experience and reasoned evaluation. This is a
version of Kants third critique refined through Gad am er and Ricoeur. It is
neither purely em otivist nor m erely subjectivist. It is also consistent, one can
argue, w ith versions of interpretivist m ethod ological argum ents in
anthropology and ethnography d erived from Bourd ieu and Geertz (but this
point is not d eveloped here for space reasons).
One w ebsite w hich looks at first useful and then might on second
thoughts be d angerous presents The 12 m ost iconic w ar photographs
ever.128 Many of these images have ind eed become very fam iliar. Are they
iconic? They are an ind ivid ual collection, although m aybe half of them
m ight also be in many peoples choices. It is not over -acad emic to point out
that, d espite com m on popular usage, an icon is not a parad igm picture of
anything, but an im age w hich points to som ething else through a spiritu al
m eans w hen the som ething else is itself ineffable. But that m ay not be
helpful here. It may also not be helpful to id entify om issions from the list;
these probably should includ e the Robert Capa im ages of both D -Day 129 and
the falling Republican sold ier, but everyone w ill have their ow n choices.
The m ost im portant problem w ith this kind of site is that it m akes w ellhttp :/ / sw ick.co.u k/ ind ex.p hp / 2009/ 06/ 12-of-the-m ost-iconic-p hotograp hsever-taken/
129
See
for
exam p le: http :/ / w w w .skylighters.org/ p hotos/ w ho.jp g
and
http :/ / travel67.files.w ord p ress.com / 2011/ 10/ cap a-germ anp ow s.jp g -the form er
an ind ivid u al sold ier in the su rf and the latter an im age of Germ an p risoners
cap tu red by US troop s, both on Om aha Beach.
128
135
Chris Farrand s
know n im ages even m ore com m onplace in such a w ay that they tend to lose
the force of im pact they can have; fam iliarity breed s, if not contem pt , then at
least a d ulling of sensibility and jud gm ent. But if im ages can have a
num bing effect, they can also have a fresh and pow erful im pact, as the
exam ples consid ered below d o, and also as the range of m aterial put
together by the Afghan photographer Zahria of child labour suggests.130
5. Giving an Account of Another: Ethnography of Violence
From the critique w hich has been d eveloped so far, one m ight conclud e
either that photography has nothing to tell us about w ar and conflict, and
that it contributes nothing to our und erstand ing of insecurity, or one m ight
say that the m ethod ology of how w e m ake sense of still im ages need s to be
rebuilt. That is the task this paper initiates but cannot com plete. The focus is
valid if it is shifted onto the subject of the im age rather than the skill of the
photographer. It is valid if it takes ethical questions into account it d oes not
need to resolve them , but it cannot ignore them . The param eters of an
ethnography of insecurity are to respect and includ e the insecurity of the
Other person, and not merely to use the Other person as a m eans to an end ,
even if that end if in itself relevant or valuable. This basic principal, a
refinement of the Kantian im perative filtered through the w riting of Levinas
and Ricoeur, shapes the gaze of the photographer and the approach of the
view er at the sam e time.
Let m e now com e to the point. I w ould argue, in the face of some
possible scepticism , that visual im ages might present (at least) six
d istinctive w ays of reading insecurity thr ough their ability to engage and
hold a view er. These are:
(i) Metaphor: even if one suspects the ability of photographs to tell a literal
truth of any kind , it is also possible to explore and elaborate m etaphor in
im age m aking. Som e of the m ost im pressiv e photography fails the is it
true? test w hile provid ing m etaphorical narratives w hich can be valid in
See
for
exam p le:
http :/ / w w w .zoriah.net/ blog/ 2009/ 04/ gu estp hotograp herp hotojou rnalist-gm b-akash-child -labor.htm l
130
136
them selves. Although they still have to pass the test of respect for the
subject of the im age, they m ay have other functions than a d irect
presentation of the subject as she/ he w ould w ant. 131 The rule of m etaphor
w hich characterises an im portant elem ent in Ricoeurs (1978) approach to
interpretation
provides a d ouble-ed ged sense of how interpretive
und erstanding s constituted (d ouble ed ged because the rule could be a
principle or a disciplinary regim e, but can also be both at once). This is also
an im portant quality, even if am biguous, in Jam es N achtw eys w ork
d iscussed below .
(ii) Presenting the subject: an honest and insightful photographer has the
ability to let the subject present herself. The image w ill be partial and no
d oubt there w ill be other stories to tell. But the im age itself w ill present a
valid story if it lets the subject tell their story, w hatever that is. This is
im possible if the photographer d oes not und erstand the context, the
personal history, the fears and d esires, of their subject. But the possibility
that a photographic image can assert the subjectivity of an ind ivid ual w hose
gaze back into the lens hold s the view er and com pels their ethical and
intellectual attention is alw ays im portant. Jenny Matthew ss w ork, also
d iscussed below in m ore d etail, points am ong other things tow ard s this
kind of quality in image m aking. Both in m etaphorical im age m aking and in
the presentation of the subject, specific languages of the image m atter
enorm ously. Confronted w ith a surplus of meaning, the view er has to
choose betw een conflicting interpretations (Ricoeur, 1974, Taylor, 1998,
Derrid a )
(iii) Everyd ay violence: ethnography aim s to m ake sen se of everyd ay life in
the social groups in w hich people actually live and have their id entities.
Acad emic conflict stud ies and acad em ic strategic stud ies slips around the
experience of ind ivid uals and sm all groups w hich ethnography engages.
But it is not d ifficult to suggest that violence is not the exception in the lives
of m any people, m ost obviously in Iraq since 2003 and Afghanistan (w ith
sm all pauses) since 2001. It has becom e a part of the fabric of everyd ay life
131
For exam p le the com p lex im ages in the tw o bed fram e p ictu res:
137
Chris Farrand s
in many conflict zones (Darfur, DRC, Pakistan, South Sud an, but also the
south sid e of Los Angeles, as w ell as El Salvador and too m any others to
nam e here). Conventional liberal read ings of global security take insecurity
as unnatural and violence as an aberration, hoping that insecurities can be
elim inated by good m anagem ent and effective institutional arrangem ents.
Visual ethnography starts w ith the experience of those w hose life it tries to
und erstand as it is evid enced in their behaviour, life style, attitud es, fears
and relationships. In many cases these hold violence and insecurity as a
central part of everyd ay life and not an asid e. Photographic images provid e
one w ay of beginning to m ake sense of that experience w ithout excuse or
justification. But this kind of interpretation is never m erely com m on sense
and it should alw ays be expected to rem aining com plete.
(iv) Making sense of the experience of others: the visual im age captures
som ething about the experience of other people. It tells their story. It may
w ell give clues from the background as to the context as m uch as from the
m ain im age. This is the function of photography w hich one might be m ost
leery about, especially in the light of the Sontag/ Chan argum ent. As has
alread y been d iscussed , Sontag also argues that the d angers an d pitfalls of
interpretation of em pathy for another through photographs d oes not
necessarily prevent one from trying, but it is problem atic at least.
(v) N ot being truthful the intensification or expressionistic function of the
im age: photography, no less than other arts of perform ance, includ ing m ost
evid ently m usic, but also d ance, film , theatre, painting and all the plastic
arts, has an expressive d im ension. It is able to intensify im ages and the
stories they m ight tell as it intensifies light and co ntrasts of light. The
problem w ith this kind of narratology might be w hether the view er is
sophisticated enough in their visual ed ucation to m ake m ore of the im age
than its m ore basic quality a question of visual ed ucation. But at the sam e
tim e one should not patronisingly assum e that only an expert can make
sense of the w orld through photos, w hich are after all one of the m ain w ays
in w hich people in all mod ern societies m ake sense of their ow n w orld .
138
(vi) What im ages m ight tell us w hich no other med ium can articulate? It is
possible to find w ays of articulating m eanings across from one m ed ium to
another, so that, for exam ple, particular things can be said , or intim ated or
im plied , in w ord s or m usic; other id eas m ight be conveyed equally in poetry
or in painting. But it is not a very controversial point to argue that w hat is
m ost im portant about prose, m usic, poetry or painting is w hat is
untranslatable from each, w hat is specific to that peculiar m ed ium . In the
sam e w ay, still im ages m ight be seen as h aving a specific force of
com m unication, and ability to resonate and capture experiences and feed it
back to the view er. 132 The unique force of photographic im ages, separate
from other kind s of graphic w ork but also separate from m oving film , is at
issue here. This m ight take a num ber of form s, but one d im ension of this
w hich clearly m atters in d ebates about security and insecurity is m em ory
(Rolleston, 2004). Im ages in photographs have the pow er to shock, to
d istract, to shift assum ptions and to challenge w h at view ers had thought
they rem embered . Steven Poliakoff suggests a chain of im plications from
visual im ages w hich at the sam e tim e recapture and question received
m em ories in a television d ram a, Shooting the Past (1999) w hich explores the
am biguity and uniqueness of visual im ages as w ell as any acad em ic
analysis.
(vii) It is clear from this d iscussion and from other sources (Rolleston, 2004)
that photography has the potential to play a central part in the construction
and reconstruction of id entities. Im ages of com m unity and shared
experience such as the m em orialisation of the second w orld w ar as w ell as
m ore recent events shape how new generations of a society m ake sense of
their past and so und erstand them selves. But as Rolleston suggests in his
account of changing Germ an self-im ages, this is a continuously changing
process of re-im agination.
N achtw eys im age of a child and a sold ier in the DRC, w here the sold ier is
looking u p a street and the child hid es ju st behind him rou nd the corner. We d o not
see or know w hat they are looking at u p the street bu t it is clearly a sou rce of great
insecu rity: http :/ / farm 4.static.flickr.com / 3585/ 5805037640_c3b13055a6.jp g
132
139
Chris Farrand s
It m ight then be said that one significant d anger in the w ays in w hich
photography is used is that these separate partial truth telling strategies are
not recognised (Clifford , 1986), or are confused by those w ho d o not
recognise them as particular strategies, or w ho mistake one for another. This
in turn points tow ard s an area of d iscussion that this paper w ill not pursue,
the visual illiteracy of a large proportion of view ers of com plex im ages. I am
not sure that any professional photographer is unaw are of these questions,
or w ho d oes not w orry how a particular im age w ill be read and interpreted ,
or w ho has not on occasion junked im ages they thought w ere pow erful or
even beautiful because they w ere fairly sure that they w ould be
m isinterpreted if they w ere w id ely available.
6. The Ethics of an Ethnography of Violence
The previous section m akes a num ber of assertions about ethics,
includ ing the both the ethics of the relationship betw een a photographer
and their subject(s) and the view er and the im age. It m ight be im portant to
stop the flow of argum ent to reconsid er these questions. In confronting a
photographic image, w e are entertaining an im age of the Other. That
ethically d istinct other person has a subjectivity and a voice to w hich each
person view ing the picture ow es a d uty of care. This is so regard less of the
relative pow er relations betw een the tw o, but is perhaps even more
pow erfully com pelling if there is an obvious d isjuncture of pow er and
voice, as there is in m any photographic im ages of w ar and violence. The
first responsibility of the view er is not to strip the subject of an im age of
their hum anity or their d istinct id entity. That rem ains the case, it can be
forcefully argued , even if the choice is betw een a m ore perfect aesthetically
satisfying image or a m ore refined or enhanced truth. And here, critical
security stud ies and visual anthropology converge w ith a philosophical
argum ent originally set out in Levinass w ork and refined in Ricoeurs
w riting (1992).
When a view er looks at a photograph of ind ividual people, how m ight
they d o this? N ote that this question exclud es a lot of interesting and
potentially im portant im ages. It d oes not includ e the landscapes and
generalised social images of conflict and the insecurities and narratives
140
w hich they m ight point tow ard s; although these m ight be illum inating, they
point to other questions and other m ethod ologies (critical geopolitics; the
built environm ent as an arena of conflict; narratives of the spaces of
violence) w hich might be the subject of other d ebates. It focuses m ore
particularly on the kind of im ages w hich are illustrated in the analysis of the
w ork of N achtw ey and Matthew s w hich interroga tes in the individ ual
subject in the face of violence. This confronts the question of subjectivity
and responsibility that others (notably Cam pbell, 2003, and Ed kins, Persram
and Pin-Fat, 1999) engage. Specific im ages capture our attention because the
subject looks at us and hold s our interest, but also d em and our ethical gaze.
They d o so w hether they look d irectly at us or w hether their ow n gaze is
m ore oblique.
7. D raw ing on Specific Cases: Jenny Matthew s and James N achtw ey.
While m uch of this essay focuses on m ethod ological questions, there
are plenty of exam ples of w ork w hich one m ight explore to d evelop and
reflect on the case the paper is suggesting. Tw o contem porary
photographers seem to capture som e of the elem ents of the d iscussion
outlined in this essay. No d oubt there are m any other potential cand id ates,
but here the discussion explores the w ork of Jenny Matthew s and James
N achtw ey. Both are professional photojournalists; Matthew s is British and
N achtw ey Am erican.
N achtw ey has long experience of photojournalism and has w on m any
aw ard s and m uch d istinguished recognition for his w ork in conflict zones
and new s reporting. H e has taken som e of the m ost stunningly beautiful
im ages I can think of, but he has also taken im ages w hich are very hard to
look at at all. H e challenges the vision of the view er and d raw s them into
the conflict he has w itnessed him self. H ow ever I have som e questions about
som e of the images he has prod uced I ask the read er to believe that I also
have great respect and ad m iration for m uch of his w ork, but here I have
selected three im ages in particular to m ake the point I w ant to propose.
They are im ages w hich are, I think, typical of a very influential genre of
photojournalism . They present structures and situations; but one m igh t
recognise that they d o not present subjects. They have great m etaphoric
141
Chris Farrand s
force, and they tell pow erful stories. But they d o not often allow subjects to
present them selves, and they offer com pelling images at the expense of the
ind ivid uality of their subjects. We never know their names; they are generic
im ages. They tell stories, and they inform the view er in specific w ays. They
have also often been achieved at great personal risk. But their beauty is also
a part of their problem, one m ight suspect. Tw o im a ges, one of recent
violence in Tripoli in Libya and one from Sudan capture this ambiguity
very clearly.133
Matthew s ad opts a d ifferent approach w hich presents her subjects to
the view er (Matthew s, 2003). H er im ages involve a m ore critical approach to
the construction of the im age w hich is explicitly d irected to three
d im ensions of conflict. First of all, she now rarely takes pictures of actual
fighting, although she has d one so in the past. Instead , she is attem pting to
gauge the im pact of violence and to interrogate som e of the assum ptions a
view er m ight have. In the process, she is one of the m ost effective in her
field at allow ing the subject to present them selves. This is in part a reflection
of professional experience, but it also reflects a fem inist concern w ith the
w ays in w hich w om en are treated in m uch other conflict photography, and
d em onstrates an ethical concern w ith the w om en she portrays in the series
Wom en and War in particular. In both her im age of a girl in Afghanistan
taken for Care International to prom ote w om ens ed ucation 134 and in Fina 135,
these concerns are pow erfully evid ent. In Goyas fam ous im age of the
Shootings of the 3rd of M ay, a group of Spanish nationalist resistors are shot
by French troops a d ay after a failed uprising in 1807. 136 The resistors stand
out, especially the central figure in a w hite shirt; the French execution squad
are faceless and rem orseless, w ith their backs to the focus of the im age (the
cam era, except of course the im age is a painting). We see the im age
Resp ectively http :/ / w w w .ncsx.com / 2012/ 020612/ H u ngeree/ trip oli_bu llet.jp g
and http :/ / w w w .u nfp a.org/ sw p / 2005/ im ages/ Chap 8.jp g
133
134
http :/ / p hotop hilanthrop y.org/ im ages/ 00000941_Matthew s/ 2009_p rofessional_00

000941_p hoto09_resized .JPG
135
http :/ / w w w .u r.u m ich.ed u / 0304/ N ov24_03/ im g/ 031124_cal_w om en_w ar_1.jp g

http :/ / d avid m hart.com / WarArt/ Goya/ 3r d May1808.JPG
136
142
through a series of planes w hich the artist constructs for the view er w hich
includ es as one level his ow n gaze. In the same vein, Matthew s is w ell
aw are of w hich faces she w ants to d irect to the view er, and how they m ight
interrogate the view er w ho is interrogating t hem . The picture of Fina,
especially, looks at first sight very like survivor porn of the kind that N GOs
have often been accused of exploiting. The young w oman has been
m utilated by gangs in Sierra Leone and looks back at the camera w ith a
kind of anger. But this is not how Matthew s took the picture. She talked at
length to her subject, asked her how she w anted to be pictured and gave her
the m ain d ecisions of how she w ould present herself. It is, of course, true
that Matthew s is a professional photographer w ho has probably m ad e quite
a lot of m oney out of the im ages she takes and sells as a freelance
photographer. But her care for the subject of her w ork is unrem itting, and
her concern to recognise the subject as an other person in her ow n right is
an im portant and very distinctive elem ent in m uch of her photojournalism .
Many of the sam e qualities are id entifiable in Penny Tw eedies com pelling
im age of a w om an em erging from the forest w ith her child ren carrying a
rifle at the end of the civil w ar in Banglad esh in 1971.137 In this image it is
im possible to know w hat the w om an know s, or und erstand the w orld
through her eyes, or to und erstand w hat she has experienced in any
com plete w ay; but the im age gives a series of glim pses and id eas w hich
am ong other things help the view er to und erstand how blurred the line
betw een peace and conflict are and how insecure the peace here might have
been.
8. Conclusions
My first purpose in this paper has been to m ap out an argum ent for
visual ethnography in the und erstanding of conflict and violence. The claim
m ad e is sim ply that visual ethnography is a coherent and ground ed w ay of
thinking w hich enables one to com e to grips w ith problem s of
und erstanding conflict and violence. Much m ore cautiously, it is also an
argum ent that a visual ethnography approach supplem ents both a m ore
137
http :/ / w w w .p anos.co.u k/ blog/ w p -content/ u p load s/ 2011/ 01/ 00128509.jp g
143
Chris Farrand s
loosely d efined political anthropology fram ew ork and a conflict/ peace

stud ies analytic m od el, although since I am m yself sceptical of the real
m eaning of the d ifference betw een these disciplinary boun d aries, this in
not a point I w ould press very far. The second m ain claim here is that this
can be so, and that it is visual m ethod ology properly so called , even if
researchers are not them selves the cam era operator. This is im portant in a
sense for w hat m ight be taken as health and safety reasons, but those are
m uch less im portant (in m y view ) than a second consid eration. That is that
new s photography is a highly qualified business in itself, providing
im portant sources of inform ation in its pictures and im ages, in the stories
that it tries to convey, and in the resources it creates for m em ory and
history. But to try to interpret these sources naively or as a straightforw ard
representation of w hat they purport to show is surely crass. We need
read ing strategies for these texts as surely as w e need read ing strategies for
any kind of text. These strategies need to take account of the possibility of
fraud , but they also need to recognise the contexts w ithin w hich im ages are
created , the editorial and selection processes w hich bring som e to a w id er
reception w hile concealing or losing others.
We also need read ing strategies w hich can m ake sense of the vast array
of m aterial com ing through the new m edia, as w ell as recognition of the
possibility of large-scale m anipulation of im ages and narratives articulated
through m any of the new m ed ia. Thus the third m ain claim has been rooted
in an exploration of w hat som e of those strategies m ight be. It suggest that a
read er m ust ind eed bew are, as Sontag and Chan have argued , of the claim
that through photography w e m ight get closer to a subject, that w e m ight
be able to em pathise w ith them and feel their pain. There is a risk of
d em eaning oneself as w ell as the subject in this situation, and the d anger is
com pound ed both by the em otional d epth of many good im ages and the
com m onplace language of em otional sharing and the self-help counselling
book w hich pow erful im ages of suffering attract. Sontags w arning is not,
after all, against the d anger of Facebook fakery; it is a w arning against the
m isuse of responses w hich are d angerous because they reflect som e of the
best parts of hum an nature. The d esire to em pathise can, how ever, be as
m uch an attem pt to co-opt the Other to oneself as anything else, w ith all the
ethical and m ethod ological problem s that that cooption creates. But I argue
144
here that w hile recognising these d angers, the read ing of the text of
photographic im ages can bring a fuller sense of the nature of human
experience by other m ore reflective m eans. The pa per suggests a num ber of
read ing strategies w hich rem ain valid in the face of both the critique of
em pathy and the critique of representation, w hich the essay spend s less
tim e d iscussing since it is relatively w ell rehearsed in other sources. These
read ing strategies are ground ed in m ethod ology d erived from Ricoeur and
Bourd ieu (and to a lesser extent a version of Gad am ers herm eneutics)
w hich is consistent w ith (som e specific) contem porary w ays of trying to
m ake sense of violence through visual im ages w hich id entifies an area in
com m on betw een those three d isciplinary sub -field s to w hich this essay
relates (conflict/ peace stud ies in international relations, ethnography and
political anthropology).
Finally (fourth), this essay tries to examine some of the ethical issues
w hich run through the reflective m ethod ologies w hich the paper consid ers.
It d oes so aw are of the possibility w hich other scholars also touch on, that
easy assum ptions about interpretive strategies lead to unethical as w ell as
unground ed argum ents.
Quite a lot rem ains undone in this paper, includ ing the question of the
d ifferences betw een new and old m ed ia and the im pact of visual im ages
on social netw orking sites on the practices of securitisation, violence and
resistance. The paper has also mad e no attem pt to d evelop som e of the trails
it has initiated beyond the brief exploration of the w ork of only tw o
photographers am ong hund red s w orking in the field . This serves to
illustrate the possibility of visual pathw ays to better und erstandin g of
security. But if the paper achieves that, it is long enough alread y, and no
apology is necessary for w hat it cannot cover here.
I have no intention of claim ing to have d one more in this essay than
open up these m ain questions for d ebate and critique, build ing, as w as
noted early in the paper, on a valuable extensive literature on visual
ethnography w hich ahs not, how ever, explored conflict and insecurity in
any d etail. There is no definite answ er here, and I am inclined to think that
there could not be a definitive answ er to these questions. H ow ever, one
m ight at the sam e tim e suggest that there is a com pelling ethical basis for an
und erstanding of violence w hich sets in question the everyd ay nature of
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Chris Farrand s
hum an experience of the d ram a of conflict and the extraord inary suffering
w hich w e find , and to w hich visual im ages are capable of bearing w itness.
That is, at bottom , w hat good photographers m ight claim -not that they
represent others or that they interpret their experience, but that they enable
the bearing of w itness. They enable, no d oubt in som e flaw ed and
incom plete form , the subjectivity of the subject of photography to be
articulated . This is w hat Jenny Matthew s has claim ed of her ow n w ork at its
best, and it is consid ered response to critics w hich carries a great d eal of
w eight. We encounter those people w hen w e look carefully and slow ly at an
im age, and then, as the painter Lucien Freud insisted in his ow n approach
to a portrait subject, w e look again and then look again, as photographers
them selves look again and again. This is an ethical encounter w ith the face
of the Other even if it is not an encounter w ith the w hole person of the
other. That m eans that the view er of images has a responsibility in how they
look at im ages w hich m ay be at once n ecessary (essential) and im possible to
fully d ischarge. This is a d ilem m a w hich has part of its source in the
Levinassien ethics w hich Ricouer m od ifes and integrates into his account of
m em ory and interpretation w ith w hich this author is not in disagreem en t.
Ethical questions therefore inform the reading strategies w hich this
paper has suggested . But there are specific textual strategies proposed here
beyond the generalised m ethod ological and ethical analysis. More
obliquely, I am also concerned at the lack of visual ed ucation am ong people
w ho, it w as suggested earlier, are m ore d epend ent on visual im ages and
visual stim uli than pretty m uch any culture before, at least in the m od ern
w orld . This lack of sophistication m ay be som ething one has to accept; but it
m eans that a highly d eveloped vocabulary of im age, m etaphor and
response shared in dialogue is not available to m any people. It also m eans
that, w hile w e are all vulnerable to unscrupulous m anipulation by im ages
and film, the majority of people on w hom d emocratic institutions depend
are less able to d efend them selves against that m anipulation than they
generally believe. Bluntly, visual m eanings and visual m anipulations
express, present and represent violence to view ers continuously; visual
ethnographies provid e the possibility of critique and the possibilities of
sense-m aking w ithout w hich, in an age of fast moving pictures and im age
overload , w e m ay sim ply be lost. If one w orks in ed ucation, w hatever the
146
bound aries of ind ivid ual d isciplines, is there n ot as m uch of a d uty to

prom ote cautious and com plex visual literacy as there is of any other kind
of textual und erstand ing?
147
Chris Farrand s
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Photographic sources
For copyright and convenience reasons, I have not includ ed any images in
this text, although there is a Pow erpoint presentation w hich accom panies it.
All the im ages referred to in this text are freely available via Google Im ages.
All the pictures by Jenny Matthew s referred to here are held in the im perial
War Museum (Lond on) archives and previously form ed part of her
exhibition there Wom en and War.
152
The Psychology of Peacekeep ing: One Dom ain Where Political Realism
The Psychology of Peacekeeping: One D omain

Where Political Realism and Critical Security
Theory Will Meet
Harvey Langholtz
1. Introduction
While the field of international relations has been largely occupied and
controlled by political scientists, law yers, econom ists, and military leaders,
in this paper w e w ill exam ine international relations, w ar, collective
security, and peacekeeping from the perspectives of anthropology and
psychology. In this paper I w ill show that the psychology and a nthropology
of international relations as w ell as the psychology and anthropology of w ar
have changed , and these changes need to be reflected in new theoretical
explanations and hopefully the useful application of these new theories. My
goal w ill be to exp lore w ays to link the tools provid ed by anthropological
stud ies to the ones from security stud ies and to construct a new fram ew ork
in w hich anthropology and security stud ies w ill com plem ent each other and
contribute to the und erstand ing of security. This w ill w e hope be our
contribution to Critical Security Stud ies as d iscussed by Booth in his 2005
book Critical Security Stud ies and World Politics.
There is an unattributable quote that d iplom ats know w ell. It is War
represents the failure of d iplom acy. (Som e attribute this quote to Tony
Benn of the UK and Mem ber of Parliam ent, but there is no consensus in
this). But I subm it to you that w ar represents not only the failure of
d iplom acy, but also the failure of psychology, anthropology, sociology,
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H arvey Langholtz
political science, economics, international relations, security stud ies, and all
the other social sciences broad ly d efined . Perhaps it should be our goal as
anthropologists, psychologists, and social scientists to und erstand w hat
anthropology and the other social sciences can construct in term s of theories
that go beyond trad itional Security Stud ies, to Critical Security Stud ies. In
m any w ays the tim e is quite ripe for m oving beyond trad itional Security
Stud ies. The realities of the environm ent of international relations have
evolved since the realities that led to the d evelopm ent of trad itional Security
Stud ies.
Trad itional Security Stud ies d eveloped d uring the 20th century a
century characterized by w arfare betw een the major pow ers either actual
w ar d uring WWI and II, or threatened w ar d uring the Cold War. During
World War I and II sovereign nations sent their uniform ed sold iers to meet
on the battlefield s, or in the air or on the w ater. The Cold War w as of
course also a confrontation betw een sovereign nat ions. H ow ever, w ars of
the 21st Century are m ore likely to be und eclared w ars, or civil w ars,
characterized by ethnic cleansing, genocid e, and a blurring of any
separation betw een the sold iers on the battlefield and the civilians w ho live
on it. In m any w ays Critical Security Stud ies and Critical Security Theory,
w ith its challenges to TSS is m ore appropriate for the realities of the 21st
Century, just as TSS m ay have been appropriate for the realities of the 20th
Century.
Lets take a step back to international relations as they existed for
centuries. What is the history of Europe but the history of w arfare? What is
the stud y of security but the stud y of the tensions betw een sovereign
nations and how those tensions are played out betw een those sovereign
nations? And w hat are the assum ptions and theories about the psychology
and anthropology of international relations that have evolved over the years
and continue to evolve?
154
2. The Evolving Assumptions about the Psychology and Anthropology of

International Relations
I d o not know if there is any one reference that is cited as the first
publication on Security Stud ies. If there is such a d ocum ent it w as probably
w ritten in the past 100 years. But the first record ed efforts to und erstand
how the relations betw een nations can lead to w ar w ere reactions to the first
record ed w ars. Kagan (1995) in On The Origins of War And the
Preservation of Peace notes that
The ancient Greeks, w racked ...by perpetual w ar, w ere
eager
to
investigate
its
causes...Thucyd id es,
w riting...about...w ar, sought its causes..... H e expected
his history to be useful to those w ho w ish to have a
clear und erstand ing both of events in the past and of
those in the future w hich w ill, in all hum an likelihood,
happen again in the sam e or sim ilar w ay. That is w hy
he set forth w ith great care the quarrels betw een the
Athenians and the Peloponnesians and the reason they
broke their treaty: so that no one m ay ever have to seek
the causes that led to the outbreak of so great a w ar
am ong the Greeks [em ph asis ad d ed ].
The careful stud y of the origins of w ar d eclined for m any centuries to
follow , perhaps because it w as such a com m on occurrence. (Kagan, p. 5)
That w ar cam e to be tolerated as a com m on occurrence of the hum an
cond ition is a statem ent of its w id espread acceptance at a psychological
level. Rapoport (1968) sum m arizes Clausew itz (1832) as having a
philosophy of international relations w here the
State is conceived as a living entity...(w ith) no authority above
itself.....Since am ong the goals of all states is that of increasing their ow n
pow er at the expense of that of other states, the interests of states, regard less
of incid ental and ephemeral coincid ence, are alw ays in conflict. Clashes of
155
H arvey Langholtz
interest betw een tw o states are typically resolved by the im position of the
w ill of one state upon that of another. Therefore w ar is a norm al phase in
the relations am ong states. (Rapoport in Clausew itz, 1968, p. 63)
It w as perhaps William Jam es (1910), w ho first questioned these
assum ptions and cam e to be called the first peace psychologist (Deutsch,
1995). In his 1910 classic The Moral Equivalent of War, Jam es objected to the
tolerance the w orld had for w ar and called for a future w here acts of w ar
shall be form ally outlaw ed as betw een civilized peop les (Jam es, 1995, p.
23).
This sam e them e of finding a w ay to outlaw w ar can be found 22 years
later in the exchange of letters betw een Freud and Einstein, as proposed by
the League of N ations at its International Institute of Intellectual Co operation at Paris (Einstein & Freud , 1933, p. 1). Although there had been
hopes that the League of N ations m ight be the institution to enforce an end
to w ar, by 1932 this seemed to be a fad ing hope. In his letter of July 30, 1932,
Einstein w rote to Freud , asking
This is the problem : Is there any w ay of d elivering
m ankind from the m enace of w ar? It is com m on
know led ge that, w ith the ad vance of m od ern science, this
issue has com e to m ean a m atter of life and d eath for
civilization as w e know it; nevertheless, for all the zeal
d isplayed , every attempt at its solution has end ed in a
lam entable breakd ow n.
I believe, m oreover, that those w hose d uty it is to
tackle the problem professionally and practically are
grow ing only too aw are of their im potence to d eal w ith
it...As for me, the normal objective of m y thought afford s
no insight into the d ark places of hum an w ill and feeling...I
can d o little m ore than enable you to bring the light of
your far-reaching know led ge of m ans instinctive life to
bear upon the problem . There are certain psychological
obstacles w hose existence a laym an in the m ental
sciences...is incom petent to fathom : You, I am convinced ,
156
w ill be able to suggest ed ucative m ethod s, lying m ore or

less outsid e the scope of politics, w hich w ill elim inate
these obstacles...
The ill-success, d espite their obvious sincerity, of all
the efforts m ad e d uring the last d ecad e to reach this goal
leaves us no room to d oubt that strong psychological
factors are at w ork, w hich paralyse (sic) these efforts.
(Einstein & Freud , 1933, p. 3-4).
Freud respond ed to Einsteins questions in Septem ber of 1932 w ith a
letter d iscussing several themes:
psychology, sociology, law , and
international diplom acy.
Conflicts...are resolved , in principle, by recourse to
violence. It is the sam e in the animal kingd om , from w hich
m an cannot claim exclusion; nevertheless m en are also
prone to conflicts of opinion, touching, on occasion, the
loftiest peaks of abstract thought, w hich seem to call for
settlem ent by quite another m ethod . This refinem ent is,
how ever, a late d evelopm ent. To start w ith, brute force w as
the factor w hich, in small com m unities, d ecid ed points of
ow nership and the questions w hich m ans w ill w as to
prevail...
Thus, und er prim itive cond itions, it is superior force-brute violen ce, or violence backed by arm s--that lord s it
everyw here...
There is but one sure w ay of end ing w ar and that is the
establishm ent, by comm on consent, of a certain control
w hich shall have the last w ord in every conflict...The League
of N ations...has no force at its disposal and can only get it if
the m em bers of the new bod y, its constituent nations,
furnish it (Einstein & Freud , 1933, p. 10-14).
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H arvey Langholtz
3. The End of WWII, The Founding of the UN , and a N ew Psychological

Perspective
With the subsequent failure of the League of N ations and the advent of
World War II, it w as recognized by all that the existing theories and m odels
of International Relations w ould need to change. While it m ay have been
the reality for centuries that d isputes betw een sovereign nations w ere
ultim ately settled either by the use or threat of force, the w orld could not
end ure w ars of such scale every generation. The United N ations w as
found ed on the ashes of World War II and it w as d esigned to prevent
repeats of the cond itions that led up to World War I and II.
The found ing of the UN and the establishm ent of the UN Security
Council of course represented a red efinition of the assum ptions of the
relations betw een nations and the d evelopm ent of a new approach to
collective security. The acceptance of the existence of the UN Security
Council of course represents an erosion of sovereignty. Article 2 of the UN
Charter clearly states All Mem bers shall refrain in their international
relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or
political ind epend ence of any state, or in any other m anner inconsistent
w ith the Purposes of the United N ations.
The UN Charter continues through 19 chapters to establish a structure
by w hich nations might ad d ress grievances and avert w ar. Ch apter VI
ad d resses The Pacific Settlem ent of Disputes in w hich
The parties to any d ispute, the continuance of w hich
is likely to endanger the m aintenance of international
peace and security shall, first of all, seek a solution by
negotiation, enquiry, med iation, conciliation, arbitration,
jud icial settlem ent...or other peaceful m eans of their ow n
choice.
As the UN w as form ed in the closing d ays of World War II, it w as
agreed that collective measures m ust be put in place to prevent a repeat of
the sort of aggression that had precipitated the w orld -w ide conflict. Chapter
VII of the UN Charter w as d rafted to d eal w ith "Actions w ith Respect to
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Threats to the Peace, Breaches of Peace, and Acts of Aggression and

proposed how the comm unity of nations w ould join against an aggressor
nation through the joint application of land , sea, and air force.
Chapter VI w as intend ed to ad d ress d iplom atic solutions to potential
conflicts and Chapter VII w as to provid e for a united m ilitary capability to
confront any single aggressor nation. It seem ed that the m echanism s w ere
now in place to breathe life into Jam ess hope that acts of w ar w ould be
form ally outlaw ed as betw een civilized peoples and to respond to
Freud s concern that such an organization w ould need force at its
d isposal (Gould ing, 1993).
4. Realities of the Cold War
The political realities of the im m ed iate post-w ar years led to an
environm ent w here the UN w as incapable of assum ing its role as intend ed .
With the grow ing superpow er rivalry and opposing id eologies of the Cold
War, instead of serving as an organization of nations that w ould w ork
together to avoid or prevent w ar, the UN became a place w here ad versaries
or potential ad versaries w ould seek political advantage as part of broad er
strategies of conflict.
The id ea of the m em ber nations of the UN w orking together to bring
collective security took at least partial form w ith the early UN peacekeeping
m issions. Peacekeeping w as never m entioned in the UN Charter. Instead ,
peacekeeping becam e a series of ad hoc interventions, starting w ith the UN
Truce Supervision Organization in the Mid d le East in 1948, the UN Military
Observer Group in Ind ia and Pakistan in 1949, and the UN Emergency
Force in response to the so-called Suez Crisis in 1956 (Durch, 1993).
With som e notable exceptions, UN Peacekeeping continued as a series
of relatively sm all operations throughout the Cold War and the UN w as
selective not to over-extend its capabilities. Despite m ore than 80 w ars (not
includ ing m any of the sm aller intra-state conflicts) that w ere fought w orld w id e d uring the 40 years of the Cold War w ith a toll of 30 million d eaths
(Jam es, 1990), the UN Security Council established only 13 peacekeeping
and observer forces (Roberts, 1996). A handful of troop -contributing nations
loaned the UN less than 10,000 people per year and the entire bud get for
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H arvey Langholtz
UN Peacekeeping in constant 1990 US d ollars w as generally less than $500

m illion per year (Durch, 1993). UN Peacekeeping missions w ere small,
peacekeepers w ere either unarm ed or lightly arm ed , and US and USSR
personnel w ere rarely involved (United N ations 1990, 1996).
5. The End of The Cold War, Smaller Conflicts, and a Smaller World
While the specter of conflict betw een the superpow ers d om inated geo political relations throughout th e Cold War, sm aller-scale intra-national
conflicts persisted . What changed w as not the frequency of these sm aller
conflicts, but rather the level of public aw areness and the w illingness of the
superpow ers to intervene.
N early 100 national and m inority peop les participated in violent
conflicts d uring the 50 years follow ing WWII (Gurr 1993, 1994, 1995) and
these includ ed alm ost 50 cases of genocide and m ass political m urd er that
caused at least 9 m illion d eaths (H arff & Gurr, 1995). While the roots of the
cultural and ethnic anim osities that led to these sub -national conflicts had
their beginnings long before the Cold War, the close of the Cold War
brought a period w ere the w orld com m unity w ould becom e m ore aw are of
these ethno-political conflicts.
In ad dition to the changes in pow er relationships that cam e w ith the
end of the Cold War, there w as also a technological d evelopm ent that led to
a w idening and d em ocratization of the global relationships. With the
ad vent of 24-hour cable new s, the CN N effect (Livin gston & Eachus,
1995) m ad e people everyw here m ore aw are of situations that seem to cry
out for intervention and m ore fam iliar w ith the hum an traged ies that
accom pany these horrible calamities (Blechman, 1996, p.288). View ers of
CN N saw im ages of starving m asses in Som alia(Chopra, Eknes, & N ord b,
1995; Crocker, 1992) and shelled cities in Yugoslavia (Gow ing, 1994;
Jakobsen, 1996; Livingston & Eachus, 1995; Strobel, 1996), shaping public
opinion as abstract inform ation never could (Borgid a & N isbett, 1977), and
increasing pressure on w orld lead ers and national governm ents to
intervene.
CN N view ers w orldw id e w ere now m ore aw are of hum anitarian
traged ies be they m anm ad e or natural and they w ould pressure their
160
capitals to d o som ething even if that som ething m eant sim ply placing
that problem at the d oorstep of the UN . As a result the number of UN
hum anitarian and m ilitary interventions in civil w ars and other internal
conflicts grew from less than five per year throughout the 1980's to alm ost
20 per year by the early 1990's. This w id ening of the comm unity of
ind ivid uals w ho w ere aw are of ongoing conflicts and threats to security led
to a d em ocratization of international relations, and one m ore change in the
environm ent and the assum ptions that had orig inally spaw ned Trad itional
Security Stud ies.
6. An Agenda for Peace
In January of 1992, w ith the Cold War over, Dr. Boutros Boutros -Ghali
becam e the Secretary General of the UN . Within a m onth, w orld lead ers
asked the new Secretary General, to d raft a pa per proposing his view of the
em erging role the UN could play in m ore expand ed peacekeeping that
w ould live up to the expectation held for the UN at its found ing, that of a
w orld bod y capable of ad d ressing both the causes and consequences of w ar.
Boutros-Ghali outlined his vision in An Agend a for Peace (1992). In it
he called for a w id ening of the size, scope, and com plexity of UN
Peacekeeping Operations, and a greater w illingness to ad d ress the root
causes of conflict: econom ic, social, political, ethnic, and a w id ening gap
betw een the haves and the have-nots.
This w ould not be the psychology of m ed iation, but rather a
psychology of active intervention. A n A genda for Peace called for the
international com m unity not to w ait until a d ispute had escalated into
violence before attem pting an intervention. Instead , the UN w ould take
preventive measures early to avert w ar, or hum anitarian and rem edial steps
follow ing w ar to help a region return to stability. Boutros -Ghali asserted
that The Organization m ust nev er again be crippled as it w as in the era
that has now passed (1992, p. 2). H e also called for a greater read iness for
the UN to im pose peace on behalf of a civilian population by using force.
The Secretary General called for m ore post-conflict peace-building m easures
to enhance the confid ence that is so fund am ental to peace.
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H arvey Langholtz
To this end , these new approaches w ere d esigned to id entify potential

problem s early and resolve conflicts before they escalated into violence. But
w here a conflict had d egenerated into w ar the interventions w ere d esigned
to lim it the effects on the civilian population, seek a cease fire, d isarm the
com batants, clear m ines, restore ord er, rebuild infrastructure, hold
elections, and reinstitute the w eb of civil society so necessary to the build ing
of confid ence and trust. These w ere no longer the peacekeeping
interventions of sold iers, but instead w ere the interventions of
psychologists, economists, sociologists, political scientists, and other
branches of the social sciences.
An Agend a for Peace represented one m ore fund am ental change that
called for a revision of Trad itional Security Stud ies. The years follow ing An
Agenda for Peace w ould see attem pts at intervening in a conflict d uring the
full cycle from the start of the d ispute to the cessation of hostilities and
beyond (Lund , 1996) and w hat w ould becom e know n as Second Generation
Multinational Operations (Mackinlay & Chopra, 1992 & 1993).
7. Tw enty Years After the End of the Cold War and the Writing of Agenda
For Peace
In the 20 years since the End of the Cold War there has not been a w ar
betw een any of the m ajor pow ers. During this period the w orld w itnessed
the breakup of the form er Yugoslavia, includ ing the m assacre at Srebrenica,
the im plosion of Som alia (United N ations 1995a), the Rw and an (United
N ations 1995b), Genocide, civil w ars in Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, and
Liberia (United N ations 1995c), the end less w ar in the Eastern DRC that has
led to 4 million d eaths m ostly in the civilian population and caused by the
second ary causes of w ar, ongoing tensions in N igeria that stop short of civil
w ar, and of course Septem ber 11 th , the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the
2006 w ar betw een Israel and Lebanon, the Civil War in Syria, and of course
the Arab Spring w hich is far from over. There are currently 300,000 m ilitary
personnel, police, and civilians d eployed w orld w id e on peace support
operations. A little over a third of these are d eployed on 15 UN
peacekeeping m issions, but there are also m ulti-national m issions run by
the EU, AU, NATO, OSCE, and others on a total of 74 peace m issions.
162
The close of the Cold War, the break-up of the Soviet Union, the
blurring of sovereignty, an increase of the num ber of ethno -political
conflicts, and the w illingness of the international com m unit y to intervene in
areas of trouble have created opportunities for interventions by
psychologists but have also raised som e unforeseen questions. Where d oes
national sovereignty begin and w here d oes responsibility for the w elfare of
civilians in another nation end ? At w hat point is the International
Com m unity nurturing peace and stability and at w hat point are w e
im posing w estern -style solutions and institutions such as elections, human
rights, police, and d em ocratic governm ents?
Peacekeeping is no longer sim ply a military intervention to halt
fighting betw een arm ies. The past 20 years have brought an era w hen the
international com m unity has been open to add ressing the root causes of
conflict as never before and there are now opportunities for anthropologist s,
psychologists and other social scientists to both d evelop new theories to
explain and pred ict conflicts, and constructive interventions to avoid or
lim it violent conflict.
One anthropologist w ho has taken a clear position in the application
of anthrop ology to understand ing the cultural aspects of violent conflict,
and d eveloping theory-based interventions, is Montgom ery McFate. She
d eveloped the H um an Terrain System s, to assist US and coalition m ilitary
personnel in better und erstand ing local culture, and find ing w ays to
influence the local population through culturally appropriate persuasive
m easures instead of through the use of force (McFate, 2005). There w ere
m any w ithin the anthropological com m unity w ho d isapproved of this,
arguing that such applications w ere unethical. I w ill leave it to you to, the
read er, to consid er if this application of anthropological theory represents
an exam ple of w hat w e are trying to explore here tod ay.
8. Conclusion
It is our goal to explore new theories as part of Critical Security Stud ies.
It has been m y goal here to argue that w ith the changes in international
relations that cam e follow ing WWII and also follow ing the Cold War, the
163
H arvey Langholtz
tim e is ripe for the d evelopm ent of new theories to replace trad itional
Security Stud ies.
I know that som e current publications in this field ad d ress issues of
d em ocratization, the differences betw een the haves and have-nots, and the
need for fund amental changes in the global financial architecture. Yes,
Critical Security Stud ies m ust encom p ass m ore than just m ilitary questions,
but also global issues of food supply, access to d rinking w ater,
com m unicable disease, and econom ic stability. Of the 7 billion people on
earth 1 billion d o not have access to clean d rinking w ater and another 1
billion d o not have access to rud im entary sanitation tw o things w e take
com pletely for granted . With the w orld still spend ing 1.6 trillion USD
annually on d efense 2.6% of global GDP the burd en of the cost of arm s
still has a negative effect on econom ic prosperity. This w as perhaps stated
best by U.S. Presid ent Dw ight D. Eisenhow er on April 16, 1953, shortly after
the d eath of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, w hen he com pared arm s spend ing
to stealing from the people:
Every gun that is m ad e, every w arship la unched , every rocket fired
signifies in the final sense, a theft from those w ho hunger and are not fed ,
those w ho are cold and are not clothed . This w orld in arm s is not spend ing
m oney alone. It is spend ing the sw eat of its laborers, the genius of its
scientists, the hopes of its child ren. This is not a w ay of life at all in any true
sense. Und er the cloud s of w ar, it is hum anity hanging on a cross of iron .
So it is our job now as social scientists to seek new theories of Critical
Security Stud ies to replace Trad itional Security Stud ies. The environment
that led to the d evelopm ent of TSS has now changed and it is tim e to
reevaluate these theories in light of tod ays realities.
I w ill leave you w ith one final quote from social psychologist Kurt
Lew in, that There is nothing so practical as a good theory (Lew in 1951, p.
169).
164
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168
The Revolu tion Continu es World w id e! Em ancip atory Politics
The
Revolution
Continues
Worldw ide!
Emancipatory Politics in an Age of Global
Insecurity
D anielle Moretti-Langholtz
On September 17, 2011 the m ovem ent, know n as Occupy Wall Street
m ad e its d ram atic entrance into the publics consciousness in N ew York
City. This event w as not sui generis. Rather, it w as a confluence of actions,
id eas, em otions and planning. While choosing to m aintain anonymity and
to claim the protests w ere and are lead erless, the relatively sm all band of
protestors w ho initially planned the occupation of Low er Manhattans
Zuccotti Park w ere inspired by other d irect action protests such as: the 1999
blockad e against the WTO m eetings in Seattle, the G8 Sum m it protests in
Genoa (Juris 2012:267), the 2011 protests in the state of Wisconsins
legislature, as w ell as the global d em ocracy m ovem ent in Tahrir Square, and
Spains May 15th acam pad as m ovem ent.
The political id eology for Septem ber 17 th w as inspired by A dbusters, an
anti-consum erist & pro-environm entalist, activist-group found ed by
Canad ians Kalle Lasn and Bill Schm alz and the w ritings of David Graeber,
Michael H ard t and Christopher H ed ges, to name just a few . H ow ever, the
em otional com ponent, w hich w as generated by the so -called 99%, w as and
rem ains a diverse grass-roots coalition of d em onstrators, w ho represent the
unem ployed and em ployed , professionally ed ucated and unskilled , young
and old , m ale and fem ale; yet are united in their w ish to challenge
perceived threats to their economic and political security w rought by
169
unrestrained transnational corporate greed and globalization. The protests

fund am ental structure is rooted in the tenets of em ancipatory politics and
participatory d em ocracya perspective w holly m isund erstood by critics
and the m ainstream m ed ia; and w hose version of civil society is view ed as
threatening to hierarchical transnational corporations.
During the course of my ow n fieldw ork in 2011 & 12, I visited OWS
cam psites in N Ys Zuccotti Park (October and Decem ber 2011), Montreal
(N ovem ber 2011), Dew ey Square in Boston (March 2012), and in Lond on Finsbury Square (March 2012). Initially, I monitored new s reports and
w ebsites about the protest in N Y, as w ell as received first -hand reports from
m y d aughters, w ho visited Zuccotti Park several tim es in September of
2011. During m y first visit to Zuccotti Park I w as im m ed iately struck by the
contrast betw een m ainstream m ed ia discussions of OWS, w hich w ere
invariably presentations of a chaotic, hippie-led , freak show and w hat w as
being w ritten on the social m ed ias live feed s and w ebsites, w hich presented
the id eological, political and econom ic argum ents fueling the protests. The
d izzying array of online and m ass m ed ia reporting w as nearly im possible to
m onitor. As a cultural anthropologist I realized that I need ed to observe this
protest from insid e Zuccotti Park; em ploying the trad itional ethnographic
tool kit; and later to visit its sister protest sites as w ell.
What follow s is a brief sum m ary based on m y observations and
fieldw ork at Occupy Wall Street encam pm ents in N ew York City (October
& December of 2011), Montreal (N ovem ber 2011) and Lond on (March 2012).
In every instance each Occupy Wall Street camp I visited w as highly
organized w ithin a tightly bound ed stone or concrete space an d far too
com plex and d ynam ic to em ploy the stand ard anthropological
observational m ethod ology.
Visiting the protest site for the Occupy Wall Street/ N ew York at
Zuccotti Square it w as evid ent that the physical space w as d ivid ed into
clearly d em arcated areas for activities such as food preparation and
accepting food d onations. Tables w ere set up and labeled for inquiries
relating to security issues and legal ad viceincase of arrest by the police,
em ergency m edical care, taking d onations of clothing and be d d ing, and
d onations of cash. An OWS library, com piled from d onations of visitors and
protestors contained a w id e array of read ing topics from m aterials on
170
anarchy to classic literature. A cam era w as set up w hich enabled protestors

to record ind ivid ual political statem ents on any topic of their choosing.
(Think Tank on Education Zu ccotti Park, N ew York October 2011. Photo by au thor.)
171
(Camp Organizational Signs Zu ccotti Squ are, N ew York. October 2011. Photo by
au thor.)
172
In N ew York City, a ring of food vend ors, as w ell as a ring of

uniform ed policem en encircled Zuccotti Square. Relations betw een the
police and protestors seem ed cord ial; and at the very least I observed that
protestors often exhibited great care to not have an antagonistic rela tionship
w ith the police. This w as true at least in the early d ays and w eeks of the
protest. The use of a peoples m ic d uring the nightly general assembly
m eetings and sched uled w orkshops gave the protest a festive and upbeat
atm osphere. It m ay be argued that the one exception to this spirit of
cord iality centered on the d rum m ing and noise from the corner of
Zuccotti Square d rum m er w here m usicians pound ed out a stead y beat of
d rum m ing. Over tim e, som e of the protestors from the w orkshops
expressed an interest in having the m usicians have a less prom inent place in
the d em onstration. Interestingly, the d rum m ers, along w ith d rop -in big
nam e m usicians, such as Sean Lennon, w ere often featured in the
m ainstream m ed ia television broad casts. Prior to the crackd o w n on the
encam pm ent, buses loaded w ith tourists visited the site as if it w ere a pop
culture event. H ow ever, I w ould argue, that the Occupy Wall Street
Movem ents w ere being d iscussed in the m ed ia as a lead erless, chaotic
m ovem ent, w ithout any clear m essage. Im portantly, the m ovem ents
horizontal structure, its im plem entation of participatory d em ocracy, and its
com m itm ent to em ancipatory d em ocracy w as misund erstood and ignored
in all m ain-stream reporting, either on television, rad io, and in the print
m ed ia.
173
(Cam p library at bottom right, d iscu ssion tables center and food vend ors in
backgrou nd -top left. Zu ccotti Squ are, N ew York. October 2011. Photo by au thor.)
Form al acad emic w ork on the Occupy m ovements is provisional and

just starting to appear in print. Tw o recent journal articles in the May 2012
issue of Am erican Ethnologist, one by Jeffery Juris, and another by
coauthors Maple Razsa and And rej Kurnik, along w ith Chris Farone s 99
N ights with the 99%, and N oam Chom skys Occupy (2012), are am ong the
m ost inform ative about the structural and functional aspects of the OWS
m ovem ent. These w orks present not only the id eology behind the
m ovem ent but in the case of Juris article, locate the read er d irectly into the
cam psite at Dew ey Square in Boston.
Borrow ing Foucaults (1967) concept of a H eterotopia, I w ould like to
suggest that the Occupy sites functioned as a non -hegem onic space of
otherness. Perhaps this quality m ad e Occupy cam psites seem so foreign and
threatening to m ainstream m ed ia. Moreov er, the cam psites them selves
served a critical function for the protests. There w as a noticeable feeling of
em pow erm ent that w as generated by the occupation of particular spaces. In
particular, the cam ps location at Zuccotti Park, w ith its proxim ity to th e
174
N ew York Stock Exchange, a short d istance from Wall Street itself, w as

m ore than a tactic but the physical em bodim ent of the m ovem ent (Juris
2012:269). The politics of the space w ere observable w hen I visited the
cam psite on a w eekd ay, w hen the stock exchange w as open; the sym bolism
of the protest w as apparent w ith stockbrokers in business suits and
protestors visible to one another yet separated from one another by a ring of
uniform ed N ew York City police. Later, visiting on a Sund ay, after the
N ovem ber 15th raid and eviction of protestors from the cam p the space had
an entirely d ifferent feel. Zuccotti Park, occupied only d uring the d aytime,
w ithout tents, the library, food preparation, etc., d id not generate the sam e
type of energy and enthusiasm that it d id w hile fully occupied . Yet the ring
of police w as still in place. When I saw and heard the Rev. Jesse Jackson
speak at Zuccotti Square in Decem ber of 2011, after the raid on the
encam pm ent and a heavy police presence rem ained in the square. Of
course there w ere raid s on other Occupy sites and Lond ons w as m oved
from St. Pauls Cathed ral to a less visible location at Finsbury Square. The
im pact of these raid s has not yet been fully stud ied .
Again, m y experience at various cam psites w as in sharp contrast to
new s reports about the protests. Typically a TV reporter w as show n
stand ing in front of a small group of m usicians beating on d rum s w hile the
reporter m entioned som ething about a celebrity w ho had visited the
cam psite along w ith som e brief com m entary em phasizing that the
protestors lists of com plaints w ere varied and they w ere not united by a
single platform or issue. Im plied by such a reports is that the protestors
cant get their act together and no one is in charge so this protest w ill fad e
and accom plish nothing-but it w ill cost the tax payers of the city d early for
the police protection and the security necessary to keep ord er in the
respective cam ps. The insecurity of police and local governm ent officials
about the com position of the cam ps w ere m asked und er the guise of costs of
provid ing police protection and poor sanitation of the cam ps. The financial
and political insecurity fueling the protests w as m asked by m ainstream
m ed ia reports, w hich em phasized cam p disorganization. The horizo ntal
and participatory structure of the cam ps w as not seen as a conscious
organizing strategy. N evertheless, it w as.
175
N egative m ed ia reports both created and d isseminated an im age of the

protestors as a d issatisfied , d isorganized , fringe population; again t his w as
counter to m y ow n experience at each site I visited . People I interview ed
w ere articulate on a variety of issues. H ow ever, television reporting on the
Occupy m ovem ent featured financial experts using neo-liberal rhetoric to
explain business cycles and the banking ind ustry, brought into sharp relief
w hat appeared to be a d ifference in know led ge betw een experts and a
lack of financial expertise on the part of the occupiers. Thus I w ould argue
that the m ainstream m edia established a d ichotom y betw een the know led ge
reprod uced by protesters and know led ge expressed by financial experts .
This dichotom y functioned to em phasize cond itions of chaos at the
cam psites, w hile sim ultaneously ignoring the exam ples of participatory
d em ocracy taking place w ithin Zuccotti Park.
Significantly, never w as the valid ity of any of the categories used by
financial experts challenged in any w ay by television new scasters. Ken
Booths (2005: 268-9) argum ent for the d enaturalization of human
m ad e referents as w ell as the questioning of assum ptions of fact
m akers in contem porary society has particular relevance here. I w ould
argue that challenges to, or any critical analysis or m od ification of,
trad itional econom ic theory w ill not be generated from w ithin the field of
finance, especially given that that the reprod uction of this form of expert
know led ge is prod uced at prestigious post-grad uate business schools that
are often heavily fund ed by successful bankers and stock brokers, as is the
case at m y ow n university.
Ind eed the prod uction of anthropological field w ork in the stud y of and
reportage about the Occupy Wall Street Movem ent and relevance of
ethnography in this w ork is also a critical question. As Marcus and Fischer
noted (1986: 17, 19) the pred icam ent of anthropology w as generated by
the d isciplines focus on creating a field w hich sought to be know n as
prom oting the science of m an and thus practioners researched prim itive
societies as living cultural analogues of the past and d escribed diversity
across the w orld w ithout reference to colonial d om ination or the steady
encroachm ent of capitalism and m od ernity onto their anthropological
subjects. Ind eed the only voice heard in ethnography w as that of the
176
anthropologist, self-fashioned and authoritative (1986: 92). Clearly,

ethnography can no longer be und ertaken in this m anner.
In George Stockings 1992 w ork, The Ethnographers M agic, stud ents as
w ell as practitioners of anthropology, are offered a retrospective on the
m ethod ologies and parad igm atic trad itions of the d iscipline. Rem ind ing
read ers of Malinow skis m ythic character and his success in valid ating
the prim acy and authority of his ethnographic field m ethod s (1992:57) w e
are able to reflect on the nascent approaches to the anthropological focus.
Malinow skis w ork (1922) re-directed early or proto-anthropologists
questions about the origins, m yths, and cultural d ifferences, in the hum an
cond ition to overarching questions about w hat w as shared am ong human
beings. Malinow skis approach tu rned the anthropological gaze aw ay from
the form ulaic questions typified in the N otes and Queries (1874, 1951) carried
by European travelers and m issionaries to exotic locales, w hose responses
w ere relayed to the Tylor-esque arm chair scholars of the acad em y, from
w hich pronouncem ents about culture w ere m ad e. For Malinow ski,
anthropological w ork w as und ertaken to id entify that w hich w as com mon
to all hum ans, our basic biological and psychological need s. Malinow ski
d em onstrated that our d ifferences w ere only in the varied w ays w e satisfied
those basic hum an need s. Of lasting im portance w as the w ay in w hich
Malinow ski and his students w ent about exploring these need s in a variety
of settings. Malinow ski and his stud ents took them selves directly in the
field itself to stud y one bounded group at a tim e. Ever after
anthropologists w ere to live am ong those being stud ied to observe and
d escribe them .
In 1896, und er the m entorship of Franz Boas, anthropology, as an
acad em ic discipline in the United States, at Colu m bia University in N .Y.,
took its form and shape. Boasian anthropology w as characterized by an
ind uctive, four-field approach to research, imbued w ith a passionate
rejection of the id eology, along w ith the proponents, of the evolutionary
perspective cum classificatory typology of mankind . For Boas and his
stud ents, the stud y of so-called prim itive people w as to be und ertaken in
the field (a nod perhaps to the influence of Malinow ski) but shaped by the
Boasian cannon of participant observation and cultura l relativism, seeking
177
to d ebunk the com parative m ethod in previous anthropological w ork

(Bohannan and Glazer 1988).
With few exceptions, notably Margaret Mead in the South Pacific, the
field sites of Boas stud ents w ere situated w ithin the bound aries of the
nation state; prim arily on Indian reservations, thus enabling Boas stud ents
to und ertake the task of salvage anthropology in ord er to d ocum ent the
vanishing Am erican Ind ian lifew ays. The trad itional practices, languages
and cultures of N ative Am ericans w ere thought to be in a state of collapse
d ue to the relentless pressures of the assm iliationist policies prom ulgated
by the U.S. governm ent, starting in the late nineteenth century. The
m ethod ological und erpinnings of Boasian anthropology hinged upon the
id entification of prim ary or key inform ants, typically senior m ales in the
ind igenous com m unity, w ho possessed w hat w as d eem ed to be trad itional
cultural know led ge in categories such as native language, ritual, kinship
practices and life skills. This d irect historical approach w as used to
reconstruct the past. Be it the recent or ancient past, Boasian ethnography
sought to get at the past.
With the rise of Functionalism and Structural Functionalism , prim arily
und er the tutelage of Malinow ski and Radcliffe-Brow n respectively, w hile
subtly d ifferent perspectives, each w as im plemented und er the protection of
the m antle of colonial adm inistratorsw hile hard ly giving a m ention of this
overarching governmental cloak. Ethnographies rem ained essentially
d escrip tive in presentation single-sited . H ow ever, d eterm ined to prom ote a
natural science of society Rad cliffe-Brow ns (1952) argued for the stud y of
social relations as a com ponent of an integrated larger all-encom passing
structure, as w ell as the w ay in w hich social life w as analogous to a
biological organism. This perspective allow ed for both structural and
com parative research. Moreover, once society w as view ed as an organic
institution its parts could be view ed as they expand ed or contracted and
along w ith the w ays that these structures functioned and atrophied .
Decad es of classical anthropological w ork, produced on both sid es of
the Atlantic, characterized by extraord inary d ed ication to fieldw ork, the
com piling of catalogues of m aterial culture and the building of acad emic
program s, are the intellectual inheritance of every anthropologists.
Regard less of w hether or not the subjects of the respective ethnographies
178
w ere presented as living in a state of change or insecurity, the

anthropologist w as neither. This w as the era of the prim acy of the
anthropologist. The voices of those being stud ied w ere aud ible only
through the anthropologist. Missing as w ell w as any m ention of the context
and larger systems in w hich these societies w ere im bed d ed . The heyd ay o f
Functionalism and Structural Functionalism is long past and criticized as
anti-historical in its approach and as a hand m aid en to colonialist goals of
the nation state. Boasian ethnography, once synonym ous w ith culture
(Stocking 1992:134), a term for w h ich there still is little consensus, has
reced ed into a kind of anthropological amnesia, no longer seen by som e as
relevant to field w ork at present.
Anthropologists had becom e captives in an ethnographic present of
their ow n m aking, an a-historical d ream from w hich the field aw akened
w ith the post WWII new w orld ord er, and an em ergent global
interconnectedness that w ould have been unim aginable to social scientists
in 1945. The single-sited , d escriptive, ethnographies that had begun in
earnest three d ecad es earlier end ed w ith the ad vent of the m od ern era and a
re-exam ination
of
theoretical
parad igm s
and
m ethod ologies.
Sim ultaneously, applied anthropologys attem pt to solve problem s and
shape governm ent policy m ay be seen in the testim ony of Julian Stew ard at
the Indian Claim s Comm ission hearings to aw ard financial com pensation to
tribes for treaty violations by the United States. The genesis of applied
anthropology, a new subfield in the discipline, seen in the w ork of Frank
Speck and his stud ents in the 1940s, w ho w orked am ong and w ith
ind igenous com m unities in the Eastern states to com bat racism and bolster
N ative Am erican id entity, becam e a legitim ate outcom e for field w ork.
Critical contributions by Fernand Braud el (1973), Im m anuel Wallerstein
(1974), Eric Wolf (1988), helped to orient the d iscipline tow ard World
System s Theory and political economy, thus fostering a reengagem ent w ith
history, lead ing to stud ies in ethnicity and id entity, d evelopm ent and
und erd evelopm ent, d epend ency and post-colonial stud ies, poststructuralism and d econstructionism, bringing us to the current
reassessm ent of anthropological research w ithin the fast -paced and
d ynam ic land scape of participatory d em ocracy.
179
Through political econom y and w orld system s theory researchers

sought answ ers to explain the origins of the m od ern w orld not the
origins of prim itive peoples and civilizations of the past. Rather than ignore
the influence of colonialism and its relationship to the rise of capitalism ,
political econom ists, influenced by the Annales School, sought to untangle
the event level, conjuncture and longue d uree, of Europes colonist policies,
particularly in the Am ericas and Africa. One outcom e of this scholarship
w as the concern w ith the positionality of anthropologists in their
ethnographic w ork, w riting of alternative histories, the am plification of
subaltern voices in w orks characterized by collaboration and civic
engagem ent, w ith a goal to affect social change both w ithin the discipline in
the form of applied w ork and outside the d isciplinein the form of activist
anthropology. A parad igm shift occurred w ithin the w orld at large and
bringing the field to the anthropologist in a d ynam ic and novel m anner.
Graeber (2011: 247, 354), in his w ork entitled Direct A ction Ethnography,
questions the relevance of ethnographic w riting w hich aim s to d escribe the
social and conceptual universe w ithout ad vocating for consensus d ecision m aking or participatory d em ocracy in the w id er society.
In m y view , the d ecentralized nature of the OWS ca m ps, horizontal
lead erless structure, internal reliance on social m ed ia, as w ell as their
em phasis on participatory d em ocracy, w as best exem plified by the d aily
General Assemblies and topic-specific think tanks. H ow ever, these
d ynam ic and fast-changing exam ples of participatory d em ocracy challenge
the efficacy of the trad itional ethnographers toolkit.
Tw o w orks prefigured the lim itations of the trad itional ethnographic
toolkit for stud ying the Occupy m ovem ent. June N ashs 2007 book
Practicing Ethnography in a Globalizing W orld and Douglas H olmes and
George Marcus 2008 article entitled Fast-Capitalism: Para-Ethnography
and the Rise of the Symbolic Analyst. Each of these w orks offers a critique
of trad itional ethnography, as w ell as suggests new m odels for w orking in
the interconnected and m ulti-sited land scapes of contem porary
anthropology.
N ashs (2007: 137) clear and sw eeping d iscussions of the processes of
globalization and its im pact on the m ovem ent of people, m oney, and
180
resources, in response to the expansion and integration of capital

investm ent, w ith its im pact on civil society and the sim ultaneous response
of the counter veining forces of fund am entalism , privatization, grass -roots
m ovem ents, N GOs, rise of inequality, and environm ental d egrad at ion, call
for the anthropologist to resituate her w ork w ithin m icro and m acro
historical processes, to assist collective action (see Wolf 1986: 327) and
achieve social change (194).
H olm es and Marcus (2008: 46) article on role of technocratic
know led ge and the inner w orkings of the Fed eral Reserve Bank, w hat m ight
be called stud ying up, and the institutional m anagem ent of global affairs
is a particularly obtuse but vitally im portant subject. The authors d efine,
fast-capitalism as the circum stances un d er w hich know led ge is created
and effaced as the comm unicative space of the nation -state is eclipsed and
our ethnographic subjects and w e anthropologists too m ust think and act
w ithin a com m unicative space m ed iated by supranational markets . The
authors w ork on the conceptualization of the para -ethnography as w ell
as the re-functioning of ethnography, is ongoing.
H olm es and Marcus argue for the construction of a m ulti-sited research
d esign and a critical anthropology that is focused on revealing the history
and processes by w hich d istinct peoples have been im pacted by and reacted
to the encroachm ents of w orld historical systems, colonialism , capitalism ,
and globalization. Key to this approach is the acknow led gem ent that
anthropologists are stud ying subjects fully located w ithin the shared , but
d ifferently situated pred icam ents of contemporary life w ith careful
attention to w hat they term as the cultures of expertise em ployed by
anthropological m ethodologies them selves. (2008: 48) H olm es, Marcus, and
N ash argue for an ethnographic practice that acknow led ges that
supranational m arkets im pact politics and d efine our era and that the
w orkings of these m arkets are virtually invisible and inaccessible from the
stand point of conventional political id eology and practice (2008: 73 & 83).
In conclusion, refashioning an ethnography w hich is co -created , w ith
our subjects, w hich is civically engaged and itself generates expert
know led ge, w ill be the m ost effective toolkit for exploring the pred icam ents
of m od ernity and insecurity. Thus anthropologists, along w ith their subjects
181
can Occupy Everyw here and Everything w hile prom oting participatory
d em ocracy w orldw id e in this age of global insecurity.
182
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184
Anthrop ological m ethod s in cou nter -trafficking activities
Anthropological methods in counter-trafficking

activities: analysis of criminal netw orks and
victim-oriented approach
D esire Pangerc
1. A short introduction
In his article Tow ard a Critical Anthropology of Security, Daniel M.
Gold stein (2010) attem pts to explore the fund am ental relationships betw een
security d iscourse and practice, affirming the role anthropology can play in
security d ebates, in ord er to analyze every crisis and every crim inal
phenom enon in a com prehensive approach. Moreover, he points out how
collective security cannot be achieved w ithout national security, by m eaning
that this topic has a transnational dim ension (Gold stein, 2010). So, it is clear
that m igration flow s are a security issue, consid ering their transnational
spread and the necessity to m anage them through both international and
national m easures. For these reasons, this reflection is m ore va lid for illegal
m igrations, w hich are subd ivid ed into smuggling of migrants and human
trafficking. And , as Elke Krahman (2005) points out, the new presence of
non-State actors bring insecurity not only to States, but especially to
societies and individ uals: this is the case of global hum an trad e.
185
Desire Pangerc
2. The operational approach: description of the Italian model

In 2006, I started to regularly m eet then -Anti-Mafia Prosecutor in
Trieste 138 , N icola Maria Pace. H e introd uced m e to the them atic, starting
w ith explaining very clearly the difference betw een smuggling and
trafficking. The second is d efined by Article 3, paragraph (a) of the Protocol
to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons (U.N . 2000) as:
the recruitm ent, transportation, transfer, har boring or receipt of
persons, by m eans of the threat or use of force or other form s of
coercion, of abd uction, of fraud , of d eception, of the abuse of pow er
or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of
paym ents or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
Exploitation shall includ e, at a m inim um , the exploitation of the
prostitution of others or other form s of sexual exploitation, forced
labor or services, slavery or practices sim ilar to slavery, servitud e or
the rem oval of organs;
w hile migrants smuggling is consid ered by the Article 3 of the
Sm uggling of Migrants Protocol as:
procurem ent, in ord er to obtain, directly or ind irectly, a financial or
other m aterial benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State
Party of w hich the person is not a national or a perm anent
resid ent 139,
My hom etow n, an Italian city at the bord er w ith Slovenia.

The Sm u ggling of Migrants Protocol su p p lem ents the United N ations
Convention against Transnational Organized Cr im e.
(http :/ / w w w .u nod c.org/ u nod c/ en/ hu m an -trafficking/ sm u ggling-ofm igrants.htm l?ref=m enu sid e).
138
139
186
that is only the illegal transports of im m igrants, especially from their

Country of origin, through som e Countries of transit , to a Country of
d estination 140.
After this first theoretical phase, the Prosecutor elucid ated m e the
characteristics of the mod el ad opted by his team and by a lot of jud icial
coord inating institution, i.e. EuroJust 141 . The Italian m od el, created ,
verified and em ployed by him and his team , presents som e particular
features, such as:
1. the d ifferentiation of every flux of im migrants from the others. The
d ifferentiation on ethnical bases show ed that every crim inal group w orks in
a d ifferent w ay, from the recruitm ent of the victim s to the m od alities
through w hich they segregate them , once enslaved (Spiezia, Frezza, Pace,
2002);
2. the analysis of crim inal organizations in their transnational d imension,
com paring their structure to the one of transnational hold ings. As Jean
Ziegler (2000) clearly dem onstrates in his researches, the new m afias are
characterized by: first, a financial and econom ical capitalistic structure 142 ;
second , a m ilitary hierarchy, having every criminal organization its roots in
the extrem e violence, being subject to capital accum ulation, territorial
d om ination and conquest of the m arkets, establishing comm and -obed ience
relationships w ith authoritarian m ethod s; third, they present an ethnical
structure (Ziegler, 2000) or they can create coalitions ad hoc, w hich are
The United N ations Convention against Transnational Organized Crim e,
ad op ted by General Assem bly resolu tion 55/ 25 of 15 N ovem ber 2000, is the m ain
internation al instru m ent in the fight against transnational organized crim e. It
op ened for signatu re by Mem ber States at a high -level Political Conference
convened for that p u rp ose in Palerm o, Italy, on 12-15 Decem ber 2000 and entered
into force on 29 Sep tem ber 2003. The Convention is su p p lem ented by three
Protocols: the Protocol to Prevent, Su p p ress and Pu nish Trafficking in Persons,
Esp ecially Wom en and Child ren; the Protocol against the Sm u ggling of Migrants by
Land , Sea and Air; and the Protocol against the Illicit Manu factu ring of and
Trafficking in Firearm s, their Parts and Com p onents and Am m u nition.
141
Eu rop ean Union's Ju d icial Coop eration Unit, fou nd ed in 2002.
142
And the p aram eters are the m axim ization of the p rofit, a strong vertical control
and the goal of highest p rod u ctivity.
140
187
Desire Pangerc
tem porary alliance to reach a specific/ som e specific goal/ s (Boissevain,

1974, p. 171). These three characteristics exclud e one another in everyd ay
life, but by interconnecting them , the criminal organizations obtain the
m axim um level of effectiveness;
3. to d iversify the general phenom enon called trafficking in hum an
beings in sub-phenomena, such as: trafficking in w om en and m inors for
sexual exploitation; trafficking in m en, w omen and m inors for labor
exploitation; the issue regard ing the argati or m inors in leasing this is a
very peculiar crim e, present m ainly in som e Rom a ethnic groups, w here the
fam ily sells his sons to a gazda, an ow ner, as slaves for a certain period
(Pangerc, 2012 b); hum an organs trad e; illegal ad op tions; m oney
laund ering, obviously connected to all the previous illicit activities.
After being prepared on the legal and operative fram ew ork by the
Prosecutor, I spent tw o years betw een 2006 and 2008 com pleting m y
training by w orking at the Coord ination Center for Im m igrants
Com m unities and Associations in Trieste as Project Manager and
Researcher, in a Anti-Violence center as a social operator and researcher too,
and by follow ing som e jud icial cooperation initiatives m ost of them
carried on by UN ICRI 143 in Slovenia and Croatia. After that period of
researches and collections of sm uggled and trafficked peoples interview s, I
thought I w as read y to start m y fieldw ork in the Balkans, by follow ing that
route w hich arrives in Italy, passing through Slo venia, Croatia, Bosnia
H erzegovina and other Countries 144.
UN ICRI is a United N ations entity m and ated to assist intergovernm ental,

governm ental and non -governm ental organizations in form u lating and
im p lem enting im p roved p olicies in the field of crim e p revention and crim inal
ju stice (link http :/ / w w w .u nicri.it/ ).
144
This p art of m y essay w as p resented at the Conference A nthropology in the W orld,
organized by the Royal Anthrop ological Institu te of Great Britain and Ireland in
Ju ne 2012.
143
188
Sou rce: Italian Ministry of Interior. The rou tes of illegal m igrations.
When m y fieldw ork in Bosnia and H erzegovina started , I decid ed to

stop there because human trafficking w as managed by the crim inal
organization, but also by other actors, in a d ifferent w ay (Pangerc, 2012 b).
3. Obstacles and problems on the field

In Septem ber 2008, I arrived in Sarajevo and I w as officially em ployed
as a Program m e Officer for the Local Technical Unit of the Italian Embassy
there. My w ork consisted in preparing feasibility stud ies, evaluating Italian
cooperation initiatives and m onitoring them . Moreover, I follow ed as a
consultant our project concerning the justice system and the protection of
the vulnerable social groups, in this case w om en and m inors.
I have to provid e you som e inform ation about Bosnia and H erzegovina,
before entering the topic. The political situation of the Country is d eeply
com plex: after the conflict of 1992-1995, the Dayton General Fram ew ork
189
Desire Pangerc
Agreem ent for Peace (Belloni, 2001), w hich m ain purpose w as to end the
w ar, established an ad ministrative and political d ivision into tw o Entities,
the Fed eration of Bosnia H erzegovina form ed by 51% of the territory,
largely constituted by Bosn iaks145 and Croats and Republika Srpska 49%
of the territory, prim arily Serb 146. This arbitrary division had a very negative
aspect, that is the crystallization of ethnic 147 (?) id entities, and the
im possibility of integration betw een the three groups (Bilefski, 2008): the
lack of consensus from a bottom -up approach created the prem ises for a
failed State (Thuerer, 1999), de facto a non-autonom ous State, w ith a
corrupted governm ent and d epend ent on the presence of International
Com m unity, but, w hat is w orst, of the hid d en lobbies and organized crime.
Bosniaks are Su nni Mu slim , althou gh historically Su fism has also p layed a
significant role am ong them .
146
Plu s the District of Br ko, a sort of cond om iniu m betw een the FBiH and the RS,
and u nd er the control of the Steering Board of the Peace Im p lem entation Cou ncil
till the 31st of Au gu st 2012. (w w w .balkaninsight.com / en/ article/ bosnia -s-p eaceoverseer-su sp end s-brcko-su p ervision).
147
I am qu ite cau tiou s w hen I say that Bosnia and H erzegovina has three ethnic
grou p s; In anthrop ologically term s, this is not correct. In the Cou ntry w e have tw o
nationalities (Serbs and Croats) and the Bosnian m u slim s ( connoted by r eligion).
145
190
Sou rce: Vid iani.com . Ad m inistrative m ap of Bosnia and H erzegovina.
So, once there, m y fieldw ork began, but w hen I m et one of the m ost
experts in hum an trafficking, operating there for one Cooperation Agency,
he quickly stopped m y introd uction, in ord er to reply: But there is no
human trafficking here. H ave you read the TIP 148 report? Bosnia and
The Trafficking in Persons Rep ort is the U.S. Governm ents p rincip al d ip lom atic
tool to engage foreign governm ents on hu m an trafficking.
(w w w .state.gov/ j/ tip / rls/ tip rp t/ ).
148
191
Desire Pangerc
H erzegovina w as promoted , the Country is in the II Tier: its government

m ad e great efforts in fighting human trafficking and w as successful.
In the past BiH has generally assessed as a Country of transit and
d estination for victims especially w om en from Eastern Europe (OSCE
Report, 2009). With a lot of operative m easures to control the bord ers and
w ith the key-role perform ed by the International Police Task Force till 2003,
the proced ures to sm uggle the victim s in and out of the bord ers w ere too
risky for the crim inal organizations, so the external trafficking cam e to an
end (Pangerc, 2012) and this is d em onstrated by statistics. But Alain Bauer,
the French crim inologist, rem ind ed m e Benjam in Disraelis w ord s:
There are three kind s of lies: the big lies, the sm all liesand the
statistics.
And I agreed w ith him , because Bosnia and H erzegovina is still a
Country w here this human right violation is present, even though statistics
are not useful to id entify the social evil.
Another m eeting, another anthropological d ilem m a just at the
beginning of m y fieldw ork: w hen I met the assistant of the State
Coord inator for Counter-Trafficking in BiH 149 , she told m e: You ask me
how organized crim e operates here, but I have to tell you that only tw o local
mafiosi trafficked in human beings, Milakovi w ho operated in Prijed or
in the past and now Ku evi w ho operated in Tuzla. Ku evi w as
convicted in 2009, w hile I w as in Sarajevo. But the local new spapers
continuously reported cases of trafficked people and the State Coord inators
staff explained m e that the situation got w orse, because people w ere
trafficked by non -local crim inal organizations but and this shocked m e
also by Bosnian families. They are poor, they lost their jobs: they collect
som e m oney and they buy one or tw o girls to force them into prostitution in
their flats or houses, the Sam ir Rizvos assistant continued , the N GOs
continues to ask the Donors Com m unity for m oney to finance shelters,
This figu re w as inclu d ed in the Stability Pact and the Office w as cre ated in 2003.
The N ational Officer or State Coord inator is alw ays the Assistant of the Minister of
Secu rity. At that tim e, Sam ir Rizvo w as in charge of the Office.
149
192
rehabilitation activities and so on and w e have to m anage all these

problem s 150.
To sum up, d uring the first m onths of m y researches in Bosnia and
H erzegovina I found that: local m afia w as no m ore involved in human
trafficking business; there w ere no m ore data on external human trafficking, so
the institutions supposed it w as successfully stopped ; the Country, d ivid ed
into tw o Entities and a District, had three anti-trafficking legislations plus
one com m on Strategy, w hich w as not applied because of the political
unw illingness to cooperate; the perception of the phenom enon from the
civil society w as that it w as just a sim ple business and not a crim e. The
Italian m od el w as not useful to investigate hum an trafficking in that
context and in those years, so I had to change m y strategy.
4. A different w ay to proceed: social netw orks creation and actor-oriented
approach
First of all, to continue m y w ork I d ecided to collect facts and not data.
Anthropology d eals w ith social facts and hum an trafficking in Bosnia and
H erzegovina is d efinitely a social fact. Second ly, I ad opted an actor -oriented
approach (Long, 2001), by d ividing the netw ork of m y inform ants into three
levels; an inform al one, form ed by com m on people; an operative one,
form ed by experts from Mission EUFOR ALTH EA 151 and EUPM 152 , local
police, social operators from N GOs; finally, an institutional one, form ed by
the representatives of the Embassies, the International Organizations and
the Developm ent Agencies.
What I d iscovered w as that in the last couple of years, the Country has
been increasingly starting to face a new form of hum an trafficking, w hereby
Bosnian w om en and m inors (m inors especially from Rom a com m unities)
Interview Who trafficks w hom : Ju st p eop le, not m afiaOnly becau se its a
fast and easy w ay to m ake m oney. There are only tw o trials regard ing mafiosi
involved in this typ e of trafficking: Milakovi in the p ast and now Ku evi w ho
op erated in Tu zla. Bu t you cannot im agine: w e d iscovered a trafficking of you ng
w om en m anaged by a m other and her son. (OSCE inform ant)
151
The EU m ilitary op eration in BiH , lau nched in Decem ber 2002.
152
The Eu rop ean Union Police Mission in Bosnia and H erzegovina.
150
193
Desire Pangerc
are being recruited and exploited w ithin its bord ers. This internal trafficking
is hard er as w e can only find out about by special intelligence and surprise
raid s, both requiring a lot of resources and impossible to keep up as a
stand ard approach, an investigator noted (Savona and Stefanizzi, 2007, p.
18). And they w ere enslaved m ore and m ore often by com m on people and
not criminal groups.
As to the statistics m ostly provid ed by the N GOs , the num ber of
id entified victim s of trafficking in hum an beings for the purpose of sexual
exploitation stagnated since 2003. H ow ever, in 2007, although the num ber
of id entified victim s of trafficking in hum an beings for the purpose of
sexual exploitation w as the low est since this phenom enon has been
m onitored systematically, the num ber of citizens of Bosnia and
H erzegovina w ho have been id entified as victim s of trafficking in hum an
beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation w ithin its bord ers, for the first
tim e exceed ed the num ber of id entified foreign victim s o f trafficking in
hum an beings. The 44% of the total id entified victim s are m inors, all from
BiH (OSCE Report, 2009): the num ber of child ren that are w orking on the
streets is constantly rising, d ue to a lack of efficient m echanism of protection
by relevant institutions, particularly am ong m inority groups, such as Rom a
as I said before 153.
Accord ing to m y inform ants and m y researches, in Bosnia and
H erzegovina hum an trafficking is perceived like a sim ple business for
norm al people, both for the victim s and for the crim inals; there is a huge
internal d im ension of hum an trafficking; the victim s are no m ore sm uggled ,
so they are recruited am ong the Bosnian citizens; finally, there is still a
scarce involvem ent of the civil society and no inform ation on w hat the
Institutions d o to coun
As I have alread y u nd erlined , som e p arts of m y essay w ere p resented at the

Conference A nthropology in the W orld, organized by the Royal Anthrop ological
Institu te of Great Britain and Ireland in Ju ne 2012.
153
194
5. Some conclusive considerations

As I tried to prove in m y article, the com m on perception in BiH as w ell
in the majority of the Eastern Europe Countries is that human trafficking is
just a business and not a crim e against h um anity. So the main challenge is
to change this w rong perception and to w ork on raising aw areness am ong
civil society. Moreover, it is very im portant to focus on the victim status,
because victim s are fund am ental as w itnesses during the trials against the
crim inals and they need protection (IOM, 2007).
As Jo Good ey says (2004), the treatm ent of trafficked w om en as victim s
of crim e and their treatm ent as criminal justice inform ants are d ifferent
betw een EU Member States and not EU Mem ber States and this cle arly
constitutes a very big problem .
It is very hard to id entify a victim w ho d oes not co -operate or, as
often happens, d enies his/ her status, d oes not accept our view of
him / her as a potential or real victim []. It is also clear that if the
victim role is not beneficial to the presum ed victim , he/ she w ill have
no reason to com e to us [] 154.
The w eak legal status of the victim s in the legislations of m ost nation
states contributes to their reluctance to report the crim es and to co -operate
w ith authorities d uring the investigation and court proceed ings (Savona
and Stefanizzi, 2007, p. 20).
So, by w orking on crim e perception and through an actor -oriented
approach, m y conclusions are as follow s: first, the International Com m unity
and the local governm ent should continue to w ork on raising aw areness
am ong civil society and on prevention cam paigns in cooperation w ith the
local N GOs; second , the fund ed project should provid e a specific vocational
training both for the local police and the social operators, in ord er to ensure
the success of the operations and, after that, the collaboration of the victim s;
finally, a m ore system atic coord ination betw een institutional, jud icial and
social actors w ould allow to cut expenses for sm all projects and to channel
154
Rep ort from Finnish Police, 2006.
195
Desire Pangerc
resources for an effective long-term strategy in counter-trafficking (Pangerc,

2012).
As w e are analyzing a crim e but also a social phenom enon from an
em ic perspective, w e w ill see changes only in a m ed ium long -term period ,
but I hope that this contribution sh ow ed you som e concrete prem ises to
d eepen the analysis and to try to find other solutions, also w ith the help of
the social sciences, especially anthropology.
196
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Bilefski, Dan (2008) 13 years after Dayton accord , ethnic d ivisions again
threaten Bosnia, N ew Y ork Times, N ovem ber 11, 2008.
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IOM (2007) Handbook on Direct A ssistance for V ictims of Trafficking.
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International Review of the Red Cross, N o. 836, S. 731-761.
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dmocratie, Tropea.
198
Anthrop ology and conflicts. Tod ays w ars and p eace-keep ing op erations
Anthropology and conflicts. Todays w ars and

peace-keeping
operations:
w hy
an
anthropological perspective is needed
Marco Ramazzotti
1. Summary
The nature and the context in w hich m ilitary operations by Western
arm ies are cond ucted tod ay have changed rad ically. Western -led arm ies are
engaged m ostly in environm ents th at are non-Western in culture and
these different cultures need to be und erstood . We live in a period of
asym m etrical w arfare that pitches conven tional arm ies against arm ies that
use guerilla w arfare - poor w arfare. The instrum ents w e use to analyze
asym m etrical w ars must be d ifferent from those w e used for the
sym m etrical w ars of the past. Social attitud es to w ar have also changed . In
the Western w orld , in principle, civilians can either accept or refuse w ars.
Parliamentary d em ocracy allow s them to influence the d ecision w hether to
start, continue or stop w ars. They need the inform ation and know led ge that
enables them to form a jud gm ent as to w hether w ars are just or unjust.
Sold iers can also accept or refuse w ars.
Recent history (the French in Algeria, the French and the US in South east Asia, the Soviets in Afghanistan) show s that conventional arm ies are
unsuited to fighting a guerrilla-typ e w ar. So long as Western conventional
arm ies fought against other Western conventional arm ies, they behaved in
sim ilar w ays because Western arm ies shared sim ilar cultures and values.
This no longer hold s tod ay. The experience of the Soviet arm y in Angola
199
Marco Ram azzotti
provid es a telling example of lack of prepared ness for a d ifferent cultural

environm ent, and how interpreters helped to brid ge the gap.
Despite som e resistance to change on the part of the conventional
m ilitary establishm ent, w inning hearts and m ind s is by now a com mon
m antra of Western -led m ilitary and peacekeeping operations. War it is not
a technical und ertaking but a "social" and political und ertaking - and
und erstanding enem y and the enem y's society is the first step to be taken.
Since World War II, the US Arm y has a history of using social scientists and
anthropologists in preparation for and in the context of their operations.
Operations on the ground by N ATOs CIMIC (Civil-Military Cooperation)
and its role-playing exercises - w hich involve m ilitary and civil-society
actors - can be consid ered as experiences in practical anthropology.
The use of anthropology in analyzing w ars and peacekeeping
operations, and in preparing the military for them , is not only legitim ate but
necessary. Anthropology can help to respond to som e of the key issues that
UN or European sold iers w ill be confronted w ith w hile on mission in a non Western environment It is required to und erstand the socio -cultural context,
the need s of the people involved , to grasp different perspectives. But one
should avoid the confusion betw een the so-called behavioral or "sim plified "
anthropology: ("be respectful of custom s and behaviors of the host country",
w hich is w hat m ost of the arm ies care about) and anthropology as such
involving a real und erstand ing the culture(s) of a country and people.
Researchers can analyze and und erstand a conflict by from both sid es,
that is , also from the sid e of the offend ed party. The Author believes that
scientists and anthropologists have a m oral and scientific d uty to analyze,
und erstand and m ake public the reasons for a conflict, w ho is right and w ho
is w rong, and to favor a solution to the conflict. Sold iers are citizens and
they accept or sanction their Governm ent's policy at election tim e, by
w riting, voting and by creating a public opinion against a unjust w ar .
200
2. The Changing N ature of War ond Attitudes Tow ards War

W ars hav e changed.
Wars, and in general m ilitary operations by Western arm ies, have
changed . Since the end of World War II, Western arm ies have been engaged
w ith the exception of Slav Europe in areas and environm ents that are
non-Western in term s of culture. In recent years, this engagem ent has been
largely in the context of so-called peacekeeping operations. NATO (w her e
w e still belong, w hether w e consider its interventions to be just or not) d oes
not fight invad ers in our hom eland s, but is operational in non -Western
areas and environm ents.
The reality is that the conventional arm ies of rich countries are engaged
tod ay in poor countries, against an enem y w hich uses guerrilla strategies,
w hich is d ifficult to identify because it has no uniform s, uses "poor",
"im proper", "im provised", unsophisticated arm am ent. The enem y know s
the geography of the country very w ell; uses citizens - that is, the entire
society - to provid e for logistics, and m ay use a neighbor country (w ith
w hich it has a frontier) to obtain w hat its ow n people cannot provid e. The
national guerrilla fighter is a fish sw im m ing in the pond of his (or her) o w n
society
and so hav e social at t it udes t ow ards w ar.
Social attitud es to w ar have also changed . The d istinction betw een just
and unjust w ars has alw ays been present in Western cultures but w as
lim ited to the nation states assessm ent of the rationale for a specific w ar.
N ow ad ays, peoples' reactions to w ars are not lim ited to m oral jud gm ents
but also involve their acceptance of and participation in w ars. In the
Western w orld , in principle, civilians can either accept or refuse w ars.
Parliamentary d em ocracy allow s them to influence the d ecision w hether to
start, continue or stop w ars. Their social (cultural, econom ic, political)
situation allow s them to accept or to refuse w ars.
201
Marco Ram azzotti
Most im portantly, soldiers theselves can accept or refuse w ars. One can
recall the European fighters w ho joined their countries' Resistance arm ies
against the Fascist and N azi oppression; Am erican servicem en w ho refused
to serve in the Vietnam w ar; the refuseniks in Israel. Sold iers can refuse to
obey illegal ord ers: international law creates the obligation to follow correct,
legal ord ers. 155 By now , most national legislations recognize the principle of
conscientious objection.
Colonial and ant i-colonial w ars, poor w ars and guerilla
H istorically, guerrilla is the m ilitary strategy of poor peoples. Colonised
peoples (the Poor) started fighting the colonial and the neo -colonial w orld
(the Rich) w ith the instrum ents of a poor people's w ar. Being poor d id not
m ean that they had no technicity, culture or id eology.
Colonized peoples theorized and fought their ow n types of anticolonial w ars. Great theorists w ere Mao in China, Giap in Vietnam , the FLN
in Algeria. They fought peasants' w ars, prim arily in rural areas. Colonial
and neo colonial w ars w ere often "total w ars", against everybod y and
everything, w ith enorm ous d isparity of arm am ent, w ith outcom es w hich
could often be called genocid e (the Germ ans against the H erero in N am ibia,
the Italian general Graziani in Ethiopia and Lybia). Wars provoked in Africa
by w estern colonial pow ers w ere w aged first for slaves, skins and ivory,
then for agricultural land , then for copper, cotton, gold , d iam ond s, oil and
coltan (colum bite-tantalite)156.
From the Frankfurter Rundschau: the Basel Ap p eal, 1994, by the Eu rop ean Citizens'
Foru m , w ith the p atronage of the Eu rop ean Parliam ent and the Cou ncil of Eu rop e,
asks Eu rop ean cou ntries to allow their d ip lom atic rep resentations to facilitate
foreign d eserters by p rovid ing them w ith entry p erm its for hu m anitarian or
p olitical reasons if a tow n agrees to receive and su p p ort them . The financial m eans
for su ch a su p p ort shou ld com e from the tow n's bu d get. In Germ any, Mu enster,
Jena, Erfu rt, Gottingen, Mu nich, Brem en su p p ort su ch an initiative.
156
With the slave trad e, that is African w ars and the hu nt for hu m an beings, w ars in
Africa becom e m ore sim ilar to Eu rop ean w ars: Africans got training from the new
w hite lord s and obtained fire arm s. There w as nothing trad itional abou t cap tu ring
slaves, and there w as no one to m ed iate.
155
202
African w ars against colonizers w ere fought for freed om and equal
rights. Angolans, for exam ple, fought for their national liberation, against a
500-year long colonization and they consid er it to have been a "just" w ar.
Their Portuguese colonizers and the apartheid South Africans spoke of w ar
fought in the nam e of civilization, for the defense of Christian values
against savage negroes that w ere prey to the Com m unists. The Portuguese
and the South Africans ultim ately cam e to realize that the ir w ars in Angola
w ere unjust.
Differences in perspect ives in colonial and ant i-colonial w ars
The African, Asian, Latin -Am erican people w ho w ere confronted by
conventional arm ies, had (as they largely have tod ay) social and cultural
characteristics w hich are d ifferent from those of the Western w orld . The
perception of conflict and w ar also d iffered . The w ar s against Spanish
colonization in Latin Am erica bred heroes w ho w ere national but also
continental heroes: Sim on Bolivar, Jos d e San Martin - people w ho fought
for their ow n countries and , at the sam e tim e, for their entire continent. This
is a phenom enon Europe d id not experience, w ith the exception of
Garibald i in Latin Am erica, La Fayette in the Am erican liberation w ar
against Great Britain, Pilsud sky and other Polish fighters in the Italian
"Risorgim ento" (the struggle for the unification of Italy in t he XIXth sec.).
H ow did Gandhi and a large part of the Indian w orld envisage conflicts
and w ars? Regard less of w hat w e m ay think of Gand hi's theories and id eas,
he w as provoking conflicts w ith the British Empire to arrive at de colonization, but not a w ar, because he knew he w ould never have been
capable of fighting against the British arm y. But in the end he w on. Was
Gand hi just an accid ent on the road of the conventional officers w ho intend
to continue to w age conventional w arfare, or d id he represent a new w ay of
conceptualizing conflicts, w ars and w orld reality? We may agree or not
w ith Gand hi's id eas, but w e m ust take his theories into account (d espite the
fact that Ind ia tod ay has the atomic bomb.).
203
Marco Ram azzotti
In the Western w orld , conflict is positive struggle; it m eans em erging

over others, com peting and w inning. In m any Asian cultures, conflicts and
(to an even greater extent) w ars are consid ered unacceptable, uncivilized ,
savage behaviors, even by people w ho have suffered years and years of
persecution, aggression and d estruction.
Colonised people w anted ind epend ence (on the bases of Western
Constitutions principles of: "libert, egualit, fraternit"). In the Western
w orld , apartheid and colonization are by now negative term s but how
m uch d id the Western countries d o in the past to d efend those id eas of
colonization and apartheid !
Conv ent ional v ersus unconv ent ional armies t oday
Poor people often live in (or prim arily w ithin) subsistence econom ies
w ithout salaries and w ithout m arkets or w ith m arkets t hat d o not d etermine
their econom ic strategies. They m ay be illiterate or have low levels of
ed ucation. They are people characterized by ethnic structures, and by
cultures structured around trad itional religions w ith connections to m agic.
They fight poor w ars, w ith rud im entary, but often effective m eans.
Trad itional/ internal w ars w ere - and are generally tod ay sm all, w ith
a lim ited num ber of fighters. They are m anaged in trad itional forms,
accord ing to local rules of w ar; are often fought on ethnic groun d s, betw een
non- professional and un -paid fighters. Similar arm am ent is used on both
sid es (no technologies w ere em ployed), for trad itional outcom es (often
negotiated together by trad itional chiefs of the opposing sid es). Trad itional
w ars d eveloped into guerrilla w ars 157.
Many Westerners ask w ith (false or real) d ism ay: w hy d o p eop le, w ho are so
p oor, kill each other? Do w e, Wester ners, have a critical p ercep tion or
u nd erstand ing of ou r conflicts, of ou r w ars, of ou r genocid es? I learned from school
m em oirs that history is m ad e of w ars: the Thirty Years w ar, the 100 Years w ar,
religiou s w ars and genocid es: genocid e of the Scottish h ighland ers, genocid e of
Protestants by Catholics, of Catholics by Protestants, genocid e of the Albigenses,
genocid e of the "night of S.Bartolom ew ", genocid e of heretics, colonial genocid es,
p ogrom s, Shoa or H olocau st, the Savoia fight against Brigand s (p oo r starving
p easants!), 600.000 Italian sold iers killed and w ou nd ed in 1st WW, 20 m illion
157
204
It is a generalized experience that African and Asian conflicts, fought

w ith guerrilla w arfare, are m anaged differently from conventional w ars.
They are characterized by low level technology, elem entary logistics,
participation by the population. They are prevalently ground conflicts, in
w hich the air force and the navy have very limited involvem ent. Internal
conflicts are m ore frequent than interstate conflicts.
Western peoples w ith conventional arm ies are the "rich" people
(com pared to the other areas of our w orld ), w ith m arket (capitalist)
econom ies based on salaries, on ind ustrialization, connected to concepts
and structures of the Western w orld such as a State w ithout ethnic groups
or clans or tribes, w ithout im portant religious linkag es, w ith soldiers w ho
are not only literate but even w ell ed ucated in scientific field s.
Consid ering m od ern w ars, it is evid ent that conventional arm ies are
(very) unsuited to fighting a guerrilla -type of w ar, as show n by the French
d efeat in Vietnam , Laos, Cam bogia, Algeria, the USA d efeat in Vietnam ,
the Soviet d efeat in Afghanistan. Subsequently, the US invented the contras
w ars and counterinsurgency Despite this, both they - and their allies
obtained only "m inor" strategic results or w ere d efeated (as in Iraq and
Afghanistan tod ay).
As long as Western conventional arm ies fought against other Western
conventional arm ies, they behaved in sim ilar w ays because Western arm ies
shared sim ilar cultures and values. International law on w ar became a
com m on, shared law because there w as a Western w ar culture w hich m ad e
Western countries behave in the sam e w ay. Tod ay arm ies operate in areas
w hich not share sim ilar cultures and behaviors.
3. N ew Issues Facing the Military Today
In the face of these changes, m od ern arm ies are confronted w ith a set of
problem s. One (w hich I d o not d eal w ith) is how to equip a conventional
Ru ssians killed d u ring 2nd WW.......... And yet, the Ind ip end ence w ars w ere
gloriou s! (gloriou s or u nevoid able?). And w hat abou t the d ecolonization w ars?
Were they not gloriou s too? Do w e not p erceive them as su ch becau se w e d o not
know them ?
205
Marco Ram azzotti
arm y to fight both a conventional and a guerrilla w ar. The second relates to
how to culturally form and technically train the new cad res o f this arm y so
that they are able to analyse and cond uct operations in situations w hich are
very d ifferent from those that prevailed up to the Cold War; and in
peacekeeping operations - to enable to conquer hearts and mind s.
In operating in non-Western environm ents w here guerilla tactics are
used , even the m ost trad itional "technical" officer, the one refusing to be
"political", refusing to have anything to d o w ith w hat he generically calls
"politics", alw ays respond ing to a hierarchical structure w ithout any
com plaint, is confronted w ith issues that d iffer substantially from those
confronting him or her in a conventional w ar.
To an increasing extent an officer w ill be called upon to take

increasingly autonom ous d ecisions (the logic of total blind
obed ience no longer hold s);
It w ill also be necessary to confront an enem y w ho d oes not openly
d eclare him self or herself as such; that officer has to und erstand w ho
his enemy is accord ing to the d eep logic of the conflict (the logic of
the uniform and of the flag is also subverted );
The enem y combatant m ay not alw ays be m ale; the com batant can
be guerrilla w om an (as in Cam bod ia and Vietnam), no less
d angerous than m an (the logic of the w ar as a typical m ale business
is also gone);
Mod ern w ars exact a terrible toll on the civilian population as
victim s and as combatants (the logic that sold iers fight only soldiers
recognizable as such is gone, soldiers are often fight civilians).
In guerrilla w arfare the solution is not a m ilitary victory, the

d estruction of the enemy, but "w inning hearts and m ind s" of com batants
and of those provid ing them support, w hile lead ing the enem y w ith
m ilitary m eans to a political negotiation. There m ay be m ore or less chances
of influencing the end result. The d istinction betw een technical versus
political action, as also the stereotype "politics to d iplomats, w ar to
sold iers" are overturned). Just like politicians and d iplom ats, soldiers w ork
for a political end to the conflict. Technical m ilitary solutions to guerrilla
206
problem s need to be found but these are only partial solutions. They m ust
be com plem ented by political, m ilitary-cum -d iplom atic solutions achievable
through the und erstand ing of the enem y and of the conflict. This
und erstanding is need ed at all levels of our m ilitary structure, from the
sold ier (w hose behavior w ill be respectful of local culture) to the officer
w hose goal is to conquer hearts and m ind
The m ilitary also need to be aw are of the changing role of civil society.
Once, it w as left to diplom ats, politicians, professional sold iers to judge
w hether a w ar w as to be und ertaken or not. N ow ad ays, to an increasing
extent civil society questions w hether a w ar is just or unjust, w hether a
w ar is ad visable on political, economic, and m ilitary ground s . This is a
society w hich votes for or against the w ar in Parliament w hatever the
argum ents ad vanced by politicians and the military to justify it.
In brief, even the m ost "technically-m ind ed " officer should und erstand
that, in tod ays age, w ar it is not a technical und ertaking but a "social", and
political und ertaking, and that und erstand ing the enem y and the enem y's
society is the first step to be taken.
A soldier needs t o st udy and learn
There have been m om ents in our history, in the XIX sec., w hen our
officers w ere not supposed to stud y! Our soldiers d id not know how to read
and w rite. H istorically, there has been a transition from Arm ed Forces
w hose officers w ere supposed to sim ply fight w ith their sabers and sw ord s,
and w ere sanctioned for stud yin g, to Arm ed Forces w hose officers must
stud y if they w ant to be able to recognize their enem ies and w here sold iers
m anage very technical, very expensive, very com plicated equipm ent.
Ram bo says: "You treat m e like a d og, I d o not get the m ost elem entary jo b
and , d uring the w ar I w as supposed to use the m ost sophisticated and
costly equipm ent. Poor Ram bo, the sad d est sold ier in the history of
cinema. N ow adays, no sold ier can afford to be unaw are of the social context
in w hich he or she operates.
207
Marco Ram azzotti
Failing t o underst and t he cont ext - t he case of t he Sov iet Army in Angola
In his book We d id not see it even in Afghanistan m em oirs of a
participant of the Angolan w ar" (1986-1988) from w hich the follow ing text
is d raw n, Igor Zhdarkin w ho w as a m ilitary interpreter provid es a telling
account of how the military w ere ill-prepared for the context in w hich they
w ere supposed to operate, and how m ilitary interpreters contributed to
brid ge that gap. H e recalls that the m ilitary to be trained for service in
Angola cam e, apparently, from all parts of the form er Soviet Union. The
selection w as very careful and painstaking.
To give our General Staff its d ue, they did m ake serious
attem pts to prepare people in som e fashion or other for service in
tropical countries. N aturally, they tried to select people w ho w ere in
satisfactory physical cond ition: they had to confront d isease such as
m alaria, yellow fever, hepatitis and am oebic d ysentery (.....) And
w hat had to be taken m ost into consid eration w as the hot and hum id
clim ate (..). People going to Angola w ould be trained in
geography, history, d em ographics, the official language of the
country(.). Despite all these stud ies, d espite all these end eavors,
and d espite the fact that serious efforts w ere m ad e to prepare
people, nonetheless, the m ilitary w ho w ent to Angola w ere not w ell
prepared . They w ere not trained in the trad itions and the custom s of
the people and how they generally view them selves, how they
conceptualize reality (anthropology!) - w hich d iffers substantially
from w hat w e are used to. And m istakes are ind eed com m itted
w hen w e attem pt to cast reality accord ing to our ow n im age and
reality - and the Soviets d id that in Angola.
The attem pt w as to recreate in Angola exactly the same
cond itions as at hom e, expecting them to w ork equally w ell there.
The attitud e w as: Just as you have becom e a state of socialist
orientation, becom e w hatever else w e ad vise you to be. (In a
sim pler language: since you have becom e a state of socialist
orientation, you should follow our ad vice).
208
Just im agine a sim ple officer w ho has just been transferred to

Angola. What d oes he know about these people? H e know s
practically nothing about them .
H e arrives in Angola and he
begins to think of these Angolans as if they w ere or d inary Soviet
sold iers w ho share the sam e id eology and lifestyle w ith him . That is
to say, for him Soviet sold iers are norm al, everything w orks out
because this type of sold ier both speaks Russian and understands
everything. And he shares the sam e id eology and lifestyle w ith him ,
and so on. But, in fact, in Angola, everything is com pletely d ifferent.
H ow ever, the Angolans related very w ell to our interpreters
w ho knew the language, the custom s and the trad itions of the
country they w orked in. And it w as very easy for interpreters to talk
about things that w ere of interest to the Angolans, and sim ply about
their lives.
Likew ise, Angolans greatly respected our ad visors and
specialists w ho w ere not only experts good w orkm en but
could also speak Portuguese. Know ledge of local trad itions and
establishm ent of personal relations w ere m ad e possible by
fam iliarity w ith the local language.
The m ost im portant thing w as the contact betw een the
interpreter, local population and the Angolan m ilitary. It w as
essential for the interpreter to obtain their respect. If, ind eed , he
gained their respect, then he could iron out any tight situations or
unpleasant m om ents, etc., etc. After all, such m om ents sprang up all
the time.
Many advisors and specialists d id everything correctly, helped
Angolans in their w ork and struggle, and honestly fulfilled their
d uties, but generally they w ere not familiar w ith the specifics of the
Angolan m entality, they found it often very d ifficult to obtain
results.
We, as interpreters, w e u nd erstood not only Portuguese or
Persian-Farsi or som e other language, but also had specialized
training d ealings w ith regional military stud ies. This w as a
significant subject, includ ing in fact military geography and analysis
of international affairs, th e stud y of trad itions, custom s, history of
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Marco Ram azzotti
the state, w hat the state represents, and how to cond uct oneself in
such a state. We w ere taught by teachers w ho had alread y been
several tim es in the particular country of interest. In other w ord s, the
best form of instruction is the experience of a w itness to this or that
event, experience he transm its to his stud ents.
As for the others, on the other hand , especially the technical
specialists, they reached out very m uch to other people because
Angolans w ished to learn about this and the other......
Most of all, besid es an excellent know led ge of their ow n special
field s, they tried to learn how to say it in Portuguese that is, if they
w ere not next to a translator. But they could explain to Angolans
how to d o things.
I think the Angolans are grateful to them up until tod ay for
w hat they learned from them .158
Col. Sagachko, quoted by Vlad im ir Shubin in The hot cold w ar, the
USSR in Southern Africa, d escribes the type of training received as follow s:
- One w eek of training, 8 hours of lectures and self preparation in
the evenings, history and geography of the country, natural
peculiarities, operational situation, inform ation on com bat action,
structure and arm s of the FAPLA and those of the enem y...
- The lecturers w ere officers from Desyatka itself (General Staff, Office
for Relations w ith Liberation Movem ents) as w ell as from m ed ical,
logistical, intelligence and other structures .. and officers w ho had
earlier served in Angola 159.
Ad ap ted from Igor Zhd arkin: We d id not see it even in Afghanistan m em oirs
of a p articip ant of the Angolan w ar (1986-1988), Institu te for African Stu d ies,
Moscow , Ru ssia, October &N ovem ber , 2000 and October 2001.
159
Ad ap ted from Col. Sagachko, In Angola 1988 91, qu oted by Vlad im ir Shu bin:
The hot cold w ar, the USSR in Sou thern Africa, p .89.
158
210
4. How War Strategy Has Changed and Adapted

From failures in fight ing non-conv ent ional w ars
w inning heart s and minds
t o t he st rat egy of
From the experience com ing mainly from Word War II , from the
European Resistance and the French w ars in Ind ochina and Algeria,
Western arm ies w ere forced to take into account and d eal w ith
revolutionary armies and guerrilla strategies. In each of these w ars, officers
of the conventional arm y prod uced a anti-guerrilla strategy w hich they
im m ed iately forgot about at the end of the w ar . French officers, after
Vietnam and Algeria, w ent back to being fully conventional officers,
show ing m uch m ore interest in nuclear w ar than in guerrilla w arfare. The
sam e applied to the Americans and to N ATO: guerrilla w arfare w as just an
unfortunate (sham efu l) accid ent on the route. And w hen the next guerrilla
w ar explod es, they all have to quickly re-invent a new strategy for it. At
least, until the new USA Counterinsurgency Manual - published und er the
influence and w ith the support of General Petraeus.
Winning hearts and m ind s is by now a com m on m antra of Western led m ilitary and peackeeping operations. Officers are supposed to create
friend s and avoid creating new enem ies. They are encouraged to create
cooperation w ith civilians, influencing military operations through civilian
issues. Officers are obliged to look at w ar - at one and the sam e tim e - from
both a m ilitary and a civilian perspective. At the beginning it w as not easy.
N ow ad ays, military custom s, cultures and m entalities are grad ually
changing. And yet m any officers refuse any such d evelopm ents, and prefer
to stick to the confortable culture of "their ow n" conventional w arfare
Resist ance t o change w it hin t he milit ary est ablishment
The effort of the USA Governm ent and of the Arm y/ Marines fo r a
d rastic change in approach to these w ars seem to clash against the obstinacy
of a good part of the conventional arm y w hich intend s to remain
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Marco Ram azzotti
conventional. In an article in The N ew York Tim es (04 June, 2012) 160, col.
Gentile of West Point stated that coun terinsurgency could ultim ately w ork
in Afghanistan if the USA w ere w illing to stay there for 70, 80, 90 years.
(As if the USA had not tried conventional w arfare in Vietnam , Iraq and
Afghanistan for years on end!) Against the m ore "conventional" view of col
Gentile, col. Meese, again from West Point, says: "Warfare cannot be
d ivorced
from
its
political,
economic
and
psychological
d im ensions..Warfare in a d angerous environm ent is ultimately a hum an
end eavor and engaging w ith the population is som ething tha t has to be
d one" to try and influence them. It is d eclared that the new USA
Counterinsurgency Manual - published und er the influence and w ith the
support of gen. Petraeus prom otes the protection of civilian population,
reconstruction and d evelopm ent. But this sounds m ore like propagand a.
Bridging milit ary and civ il perspect ives t he examples of NATO s CIMIC
Tod ay's m ilitary exercises by N ATO and European Arm ed Forces are
set in an environm ent of d eveloping countries and peacekeeping (w hatever
peacekeeping m ight m ean). As part of the process of w inning hearts and
m ind s of the population, using the carrot instead of the stick, officers are
supposed to create friend s and avoid creating new enemies. The capacity to
create and m aintain such relations are also tested in N ATO military
exercises through the use of CIMIC Civilian-Military Cooperation.
CIMIC is an old instrum ent: it consisted of the rules of m ilitary
m anagem ent of occupied (w ar) areas. Initially, CIMIC referred to the rules
applicable in all m ilitary occupations in w hich the occupying Arm y had to
d eal w ith civilian governm ent. Tod ay it is conceived as an instrum ent to
conquer hearts and mind s and , at the sam e tim e, it is intend ed to help
people to survive in conflict situations. It m ay consist of a cubic m eter of
paper m oney com ing d ow n from an helicopter in Iraq to pay here and there.
It can be used as an instrum ent to overcom e em ergency and start
West Point is d ivid ed on a War Doctrines Fate, N ew York Tim es 28/ 5/ 2012
http s:/ / w w w .nytim es.com / 2012/ 05/ 28/ w orld (/ at-w esp oint-asking-if-a-w ard octrine-w as w orth-it.htm l
160
212
reconstruction. It m ay help to build up friend ships. N ATO European

exercises d eal w ith (a) military problem s, in the strict sense of the term ; and
b) the relations betw een Arm ed Forces and the civilian population.
These exercises have both a m ilitary and a civil society perspective: the
new actors in N ATO m ilitary operations are the country governm ent,
ord inary people, com panies, parties, labour unions, the UN agencies, other
international
organizations,
non -governm ental
organizations,
unconventional enem ies.
During the exercise, CIMIC officers w ork w ith civilians w ho are role
players w ithin the so-called EXCON Grey and White Cells. Roleplaying m eans that civilians personify UN Secretariat and UN Agencies
officials, ON G personnel, politicians, civil officials, m ilitary personnel, and
various characters from the country w here N ATO intervenes.
The role-plays includ e: public d eclarations and app earances in TV,
correspond ence, public and private m eetings all possible activities w hich
could occur betw een the occupying Arm ed Forces and the people from the
occupied country. The aim is exercises to test the capacity of a m ilitary to
tem porarily step out of his or her ow n culture and to easily connect and
d eal w ith the (civilian) culture of the occupied country. It is a test of
cultural aw areness of military personnel, their w illingness to accep t the
d ifferent and the d angerous, their capacity to play politics (an
expression w hich the Military norm ally d islikes), their capacity to choose
betw een the inevitable, correct d em ands of the population from d em and s
profiting the military occupation. The issue is about know ing the civilian
population, trying to und erstand how people think and behave, being able
to recognise signals of incoherent or unusual behaviours w hich could be
relevant for security relevance but w ithout running the risk of CIMIC
becom ing m ilitary intelligence. We could call it an exercise in practical
anthropology.
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Marco Ram azzotti
5. What We N eed to Know , and the Role of Anthropology

W hy new professions are needed in t he armed forces
For a long tim e, the profound changes in the general characteristics of
w ars and m ilitary operations have been calling for new professions in the
arm ed forces and these includ e social scientists and anthropologists. The
evolution in thinking has been sim ilar to that w hich has taken place over
the years in relation to developm ent aid .
Forty, fifty years ago, the d ebate on the use of social sciences started
am ong those interested in d evelopm ent projects and the d eveloping
countries of Africa, Asia, Latin Am erica. People had to record the failure of
the large majority of these projects. What w as the uncontested d om ain of
engineers, econom ists, "technicians" w as being opened to sociologists and
anthropologists because d evelopm ent strategies w ere failing and people
need ed to und erstand w hy w e, Westerners, d id n ot und erstand the people
to w hom w e brought aid. Tod ay, in w arfare, w e face the same phenom enon:
w e are not collecting victories, to say the least (and accusing the "politicians"
is a rather poor excuse!). The concept of soldiers as pure "technicians" of
strategy, tactics, m ilitary techniques and engineering evolves to encom pass
sold iers as sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists. War is a social
phenom enon. From the use of new acad em ic d isciplines, w e proceed
increasingly tow ard s interd isciplinary app roaches.161
In reality, as far as I know , the Italian m ilitary inform ation service alw ays
fu nctioned as ou r arm ed Forces inform al anthrop ologist. Tod ay, the need for
anthrop ological know led ge and finesse is extend ing to larger nu m bers of officers
and noncom m issioned officers. Once, w hen I w as w orking in an African cou ntry, I
w as talking to the p erson resp onsible for AISE, the Italian m ilitary inform ation
service, accred ited at the Italian Em bassy. I told him that I knew an Italian
anthrop ologist. This p erson knew a certain ethnic grou p p articu larly w ell and he
had w ritten a good book on them . The AISE m an asked m e to introd u ce him to the
anthrop ologist. Why? H e need ed to know how this ethnic grou p lived , how they
thou ght, how they behaved , their relations w ith the rest of the w orld . The colonel
sp ent hou rs talking and asking qu estions to the anthrop ologist. The colonel had
tu rned into an anthrop ologist.
161
214
To w in heart and mind s, officers and non -com m issioned officers

should seek to id entify the "w orld vision" of their enem ies, their d eep
reasons for fighting, and be able to see the conflict situation w ith the
enem y's eyes. Their objective should be to und erstand d eeper processes
w hich may be hard to grasp, such as clanic - tribal - ethnic relations and
conflicts; to make friends (lasting friend s) w ith local lead ers; to be able to
id entify enem ies. Stud ying and d efining genealogies is an essen tial exercise,
very useful to d efine local friend ships and enm ities.
In countries w ith a d ifferent culture - nam ely, a non-Western culture concepts such as peace, w ar, justice, com m unity, collectivity, State, enemy,
social organization, etc are d ifferent from ours and are applied d ifferently. If
the concept of com m unity in Africa is different from our ow n concept and
w e d o not recognize such a d ifference, w e w ill not und erstand w ho is in
front of us, w e w ill not recognize our friend s and our enemies.
Anthropology helps to look at w hat the ad versa ry thinks, how he or she
thinks and w hat channels should be used in ord er to reach his or her heart
and m ind .
Anthropology can help to respond to som e of the key issues that a UN
or European sold iers w ill be confronted w ith w hile on m ission in a non Western environm ent, say Africa:
What should sold iers und erstand of a local conflict? H ow can

sold iers und erstand it?
What relationships w ill people have and build w ith foreigners w hen
they com e as civilians? and w hen they com e as sold iers?
What are the practical im plications of concepts of conflict and w ar
that are different from ours?
What kind of relations w ill it be possible to build w ith national
lead ers, local ad ministrators, trad itional chiefs and im portant
persons?
When, how should soldiers negotiate w ith locals?
What relations should sold iers have w ith the local population?
When is "d iversity" to be respected and protected , w hen refused or
fought against?
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Marco Ram azzotti
H ow to distinguish friend from foe?

Which are the argum ents and the tools w e propose to use w hen
trying to w in hearts and m ind s of the local population?
Who can be, act as interm ed iary betw een sold iers and locals?
To answ er such questions requires an und erstand ing of d ifferences in

culture and beliefs; in trad itional versus m od ern w ay of exercising pow er
and lead ership; in state structures; relations betw een national and local
lead ers, betw een chiefs and people; betw een the Arm y and the State;
betw een trad itional and m od ern legislation and justice; betw een s ecular and
religious pow er. It also requires an und erstand ing of the relation betw een
conflict and local econom ies, and issues of com petitions betw een clans,
tribes, rich and poor, tow n and country in specific contexts.
Ferguson and t he ant hropology of w ar
A fund am ental contribution w hich illustrates the im portance of
anthropology in ad d ressing these issues is by Brian Ferguson. In his Ten
Points on W ar, he states:
We m ust explain w ar, w e cannot accept it for w hat it is. ()
Wars can be caricatured as explosions of ancient local hatred s, but
they are not. Other reasons are hid d en behind so called ancient local
hatred s.
(.) War is a relation betw een groups. It is in the nature of w ar
that its politics are internal as w ell as external. It is unusual, if not
rare, for w ar to involve tw o pre-existing groups and only them . In
actual practice, it is the conflict that firm s up the opposed groups.
War groupings vary in d uration. Segm entary system s, w here w e
m ay find that enm ities stretch over years or even generations,
provid e structured fault lines guid ing groups in alliance and
opposition.
(.) Oppositions in w ar are very contem porary constructions
..... how ever m uch ancient history (to build a public opinion in favor
of w ar) is invoked by its lead ers (or in terested outsid ers). These
216
struggles (authors note: the reference is specifically to id entity linked w ars) are often called "ethnic", even though m ost are not
about cultural d ifferences at all. () Und erstand ing their violence is
im ped ed w ithout first u nd erstanding the specific social character,
the social basis of contending groups, w orse, by m isleadingly
tagging them as "ethnic" or "religious" even though m ost are not
about cultural d ifferences at all und erstanding w hy w ars happen
requires bringing into theory the internal politics of each sid e in a
conflict.
The real politics of w ar is an ongoing d ialectic of the internal
and the external. () Lead ers favor w ar because w ar favors lead ers.
In States, w ar d ecisions are m ad e at the top, w ith those below being
com pelled to follow . In com paratively egalitarian societies, that
com m and pow er is generally absent, but there are lead ers w ho have
their ow n interests and exert substantial influence over d ecisions.
War often forces a coalescence of groups in a w ay that makes
the managem ent of people m ore possible. It lead s to the acceptance
of certain situations, otherw ise unacceptable.
Lead ers pursuit of self-interest in w ar m ay be accom panied by
a d eep sense of m oral correctness. To und erstand w ars it is essentia l
to und erstand the structure of d ecision m aking and to id entify the
total interests - internal and external - of those involved into
it.(.)To build a follow ing, they construct narr atives and histories to
d efine us and d em onize them . They speak to local cultural
und erstandings and fears, invoke potent sym bols and offer plausible
- even if false - explanations of recent m iseries. In m od ern societies,
d ecisions for w ar involve a com plex array of class, corporate,
institutional, m edia and political positions.
As w ar need s to be re-conceptualized , so d oes peace. People
often think of peace as the absence of w ar. Factors leading to
peaceful conflict resolution are quite d istinct from those that lead to
w ar. Peace has its ow n d ynam ic, includ ing behavior patt erns, social
and political institutions and value system s that foster equitable
treatm ent and the rejection of violence as acceptable m eans to an
217
Marco Ram azzotti
end . ....Without ad d ressing the m ore difficult issue of und erlying

culture of violence, w ar aw aits its comeback.
How ant hropologist s hav e been used by t he US milit ary .
To illustrate how social scientists and anthropologists have been used
since WW II in support of m ilitary operations, w e can cite an overview of
experiences by the US Arm ed Forces in using anthr opology in m ilitary
operations 162.
During WW2, Ruth Bened ict and other anthropologists of the
Office of War Inform ation w ere requested to analyse how the
Japanese Emperor w as perceived by Japanese society. Their research
convinced President Roosevelt not to includ e the Emperor's
unconditioned surrend er in the surrend er clauses, as w as the case
w ith Mussolini and H itler.
From 1947 to 1952, w orking for the Office of Naval Research,
Margaret Mead , Ruth Bened ict and others set up a research program
at the Colum bia University w ith the aim of creating w ays of
com m unicating w ith specific cultures. Som e of these research
results w ere not only correct and accurate, also proved to be useful
in a military context.
Many counterinsurgency operations by Lansd ale in the
Philippines could be d escribed as applied m ilitary anthropology. In
the years 50, in the context of the H uk rebellion, he com missioned
research on local superstitions, w hich he then used in his
psychological w arfare. People w ere scared of vam pires.... When a
H uk patrol w as expected to arrive, they w ould set up an ambush,
quietly catching the last one in line.... They w ould prod uce tw o
sm all holes on the neck, as a vam pires bite, and they w ould
aband on the bod y after having it suspend ed to bleed it. When the
H uks w ould go back looking for the one w ho had d isappeared and
Montgom ery McFate - Anthrop ology and Cou nterinsu rgency: the Strange Story
of their Cu riou s Relationship , Military Review , Ap ril 2005.
162
218
w ould find the bod y w ithout blood , the entire patrol w ould believe
that he had been the victim of a vam pire and that one of them w ould
be the next one. Lansd ale noted that such tactics w ere surprisingly
effective.
The anthropologist Gerald H ickey sought to analyse the
trad itional Vietnamise concept of ad aptation. In 1967, at the end of
the presentation by H ickey of his research to a Pentagon aud ience,
the politician and d iplom at Richard H olbrooke com m ented : What
you are saying , Gerry, is that w e shall not get a m ilitary victory in
Vietnam . Unfortunately, H ickey w as right but he d id not get m uch
personal success out of it. An interesting little story focusing on the
im portance of anthrop ology in preventing and shortening conflicts.
The Australian anthropologist and retired infantry colonel
David Kilcullen w as called in to m anage the anti-terrorism office
of the Departm ent of State. H e contributed to the new
counterinsurgency m anual of the US Arm y and Marine Corps.
Kilcullen d escribes his w ork on counterinsurgency as a guid e to
arm ed social w ork for sold iers in Iraq and Afghanistan. In certain
aspects, it is rem iniscent of an anthropology field -w ork m anual: Get
to know the people, topography, economy, history, religion, and
culture (local culture). Get to know every village, road , field s,
population group, tribal chief and ancient torts suffered . Your task is
to becom e the w orld expert on your d istrict.
The CIA financed the Pat Roberts Intelligence Scholars Program
to train m ore than 150 analysts in anthropology.
For m any years, the US Ministry of Defence financed the
publication of Area H and books or Country Stud ies (w hich are now
published by a University), a book for each cou ntry, w ith in-d epth
inform ation on
politics, anthropology,
culture, sociology,
econom ics, security and m ilitary issues.
The Sm all Wars Journal is a review w hich d eals w ith issues
related to sm all w ars, counterinsurgency, sociology and
anthropology app lied to conflicts, institutional build ing, nation
build ing rather than sim ple enem y d estruction. It show s the US
219
Marco Ram azzotti
effort to evolve and ad apt.

The US Arm ed Forces started the Cultural Operations Research
H um an Terrain Program in w hich they use anthropologist s and
experts in (far aw ay) foreign cultures, w ho are posted in fighting
brigad es in Iraq (experts in Arabic language and cultures) and in
Afghanistan. Their function w as to provid e d ata for
counterinsurgency and confront the inad equate aw areness of
cultural d ifferences at the tactical and strategic levels. It w as to
provid e the brigad e com m and ers w ith an organic capacity to
und erstand and m anage the hum an environm ent the social,
ethnographic, cultural, econom ic and political characteristics and
aspects of the people am ong w hom a m ilitary force operates, thus
im proving the d ecision-m aking
processes of the m ilitary
com m and s. In other w ord s, it enabled them to see social life w ith the
eyes of those they w ere w orking or fighting w ith, and provid ed
com m and ers w ith cultural experts and linguists w ho could support
them by m aking them und erstand w hat happened und er the
surface, and influence local lead ers. Language skills (speaking foreign
languages) are a critical element of counterinsurgency.
The N aval Postgrad uate School has a stud y program in cultures
and conflicts, w hich is w orking on the d evelopm ent of a database
on hum an groups for the H um an Terrain Program . Consid ering the
enorm ous im portance of the fam ily, of family linkages and
relationships in the countries of interest, important d ata to be
introd uced into these d atabases includ es the genealogic d ata of
m ajor families w hich w ill facilitate the und erstand ing of their
connections, and com plex questions regard ing tribal relations.
5. Conclusions
We live in a period of asym m etrical w arfare (and the term w arfare is
used here to includ e mod ern arm ies engagement in w hat "peacekeeping
operations"). Conventional arm ies are engaged alm ost exclusively in areas
on non-Western culture. The instrum ents w e use to analyse asym m etrical
w ars and m ilitary operations m ust clearly be different from those w e used
220
for sym m etrical w ars of the past. The difference in culture betw een
conventional arm ies and unconventional ones require the und erstand ing of
d ifferent cultures and d ifferent w ar cultures: for this, w e need social science,
and specifically anthropology.
Again, in Ten Points on W ar, Ferguson notes (page 46):
Anthropological know led ge is clearly being sought by the
m ilitary, but for the purpose of w aging w ar. (.) But w hat if, und er
a d ifferent regim e in Washington, w e w ere asked to use our
know led ge to help red uce the incid ence of w ars and reinforce
peaceful cooperation?
Anthropologists can help to prom ote peace by calling attention
to the interests of th e pow erful, d issecting m ilitaristic propagand a
and d ispelling the pervasive m yth that w ar is to be assum ed because
hum ans are inherently w arlike and thus w ar w ill alw ays be w ith us.
(.) Part of the cultural phenom enon of w ar is that both w ar
and its d efin ition are taken as "given", "inherently d efined " in hum an
society. Many aspects of this im plicit d efinition are not only w rong
but positively m islead ing. They prevent us from grappling w ith the
reality of w ar. Anthropology can offer a different vision.
There are political scientists and anthropologists w ho have tried to
und erstand the nature and reasons for w ars; anthropologists w ho have
sought to analyze specific w ars and conflicts, som e prim arily as scientists,
som e as com batants 163. The latter use of anthropology has been criticized in
acad em ic terms 164 , but by people w ho rejected all w ars, on m oral and
political ground s. I w ould argue that if the academ ic researcher agreed on
the need to fight a specific w ar on the basis of the (very trad itional Western,
Christian) evaluation parad igm just w ar unjust w ar, then the
anthropology of conflict and w ar by soldiers w ould becom e acad emically
In the bibliograp hy see Christian Geffray, David H . Price, Pau l Richard s, Bettina
Schm id t & Ingo W. Schrod er, Alisse Water ston.
164
See bibliograp hy, u nd er the head ing Au thors against the u se of anthrop ology in
conflicts.
163
221
Marco Ram azzotti
acceptable. Anthropologists w ho refuse all w ars d o not recognize the

d ifference betw een "just" and "unjust" w ars, betw een a w ar w aged , for
exam ple, by N azi Germ any against European N ations and the USA (w ar to
be refused ) and a w ar w aged by European Resistance fighters against N azi
Germ any (w ars w e m ust fight); betw een a w ar for colonization and a w ar
against colonization (France against Algeria, Angola against apartheid
South Africa).
The use of anthropology in analyzing w ars and peacekeeping
operations, and in preparing the m ilitary w ho are involved (as in N ATOs
CIMIC exercises) is not only legitimate, but necessary. It is required to
und erstand the socio-cultural context, the need s of the people involved , to
grasp d ifferent perspectives. One should , how ever, avoid the confusion
betw een the so-called behavioral or "sim plified " anthropology: ("be
respectful of custom s and behaviors of the host country", w hich is w hat
m ost of the arm ies care about) and anthropology as such a real
und erstanding the culture(s) of the country and people.
To analyze and try to und erstand a w ar d oes not m ean instigating a
w ar or taking part in it, being "embed d ed " in an invading or im perial
Arm y. Researchers can analyze and und erstand a conflict by from both
sid es, that is, also from the sid e of the offend ed party. I believe scientists
and anthropologists have a m oral and scientific duty to an alyze, und erstand
and m ake public the reasons for fighting, w ho is right and w ho is w rong,
and to favor a solution to the conflict. If the scientist is a soldier, he or she
w ill be m ore aw are of the reasons for conflict and consequently he or she
w ill have to d ecid e if he takes part in it, and w hich is the best policy to seek.
Sold iers are citizens and they accept or sanction their Governm ent's policy
at election tim e, by w riting, voting and by creating a public opinion.
222
Bibliography on the use of anthropology of w ar

A. Ant hropology and War in Africa
An outstand ing author, of great im portance also on m ethod ological
ground s, is Christian Geoffrey (1989): La cause des armes au M ozambique.
A nthropologie d' une guerre civile. Karthala.
See also
Jon Abbink on Southern Ethiopia, and Francesca Declich on Som alia, in
Bettina E. Schm id t & Ingo W. Schrod er (2001)- A nthropology of V iolence
and Conflict, Routled ge, Sten H agberg on Burkina Fas.
Sverker Finnstrom on N orthern Ugand a, Caspar Fithen & Paul Richard s on
Sierra Leone, Mats Utas on Liberia, Bjorn Lind gren on Zim babw e,
Bernhard H eland er on Som alia in Paul Richard s (2005) (ed .) - N o Peace,
N o W ar. A n A nthropology of Contemporary A rmed Conflict, Ohio University
Press, Jam es Currey.
B. Aut hors against t he use of ant hropology in conflict s
The Am erican Anthropology Association has released a statem ent of
resolution by the Executive Board against the H um an Terrain System (H TS)
Project, posted online, d ated October 31, 2007, published by N etw ork of
(US) Concerned Anthropologists (2009) in The counter-counterinsurgency
manual, or notes on demilitarizing American society.
Waterston, Alisse (2009) (ed .): A n A nthropology of war, views from the frontline,
Berghahn.
Price, David :
(2009) Anthropologys Third Rail: Counterinsurgency, Vietnam , Thailand ,
and the Political Uses of Militarized Anthropology, paper presented at
223
Marco Ram azzotti
the Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings, Santa Fe, N M, March

2009.
(2009) On the Impossibilities of Counterinsurgent Anthropological Theory: or, by
the Time Y ou A re Relying On Counterinsurgency youve already Los, paper
for University of Chicago Anthropology Conference, April 2009.
(2008) A nthropological Intelligence: the Deployment and N eglect of
A nthropological Knowledge during the Second W orld W ar", Duke University
Press.
(2004) Threatening A nthropology: M cCarthyism and the FBI' s Surveillance of
A ctivist A nthropologists, Duke University Press.
Marlow e, Ann (2007) Anthropology Goes to War. There are som e things
the Arm y need s in Afghanistan, but m ore academ ics are not at the top of
the list. 11/ 26/ 2007, Volum e 013, Issue 11 (internet)
Gonzlez, Roberto J. (2007): Tow ard s m ercenary anthropology? The new
US Arm y counterinsurgency m anual FM 3-24 and the m ilitaryanthropology com plex, in A nthropology Today, Vol 23, N o 3, June 2007
McKennan, Brian (2007) W hy I W ant to Teach A nthropology at the A rmy W ar
College? W hat W ould Smedley Butler Do?, US W ar College Journal,
Param eters, 2007
C. Aut hors in fav our of t he use of ant hropology in conflict s
Galula, David (2006) Pacification in A lgeria, 1963 (original French), reissued
by RAN D.
Ferguson, R. B., Ten Points on War, in Alisse Waterston - A n A nthropology
of W ar (see above).
Richard s, Paul (2007) (ed .), N o Peace No War: Anthropology Of
Contem porary Arm ed Conflicts, Journal of the Royal A nthropological
Institute, Vol 13, Issue 3, Septem ber 2007.
Evans, And rew (2006) Doing Anthropology in War Zones:
Interd isciplinary Perspectives on Anthropology in Wartim e ,
Conference, Doing Anthropology in Wartim e and War Zones held in
224
Tbingen, Germ any on Dec. 7-9, 2006, sponsored by the Collaborative

Research Center on War Experiences
Kilcullen, David :
(2003) Complex W arfighting, Australian Arm y.
(2004) Countering Global Insurgency, October 2004, long internet version
of a paper subsequently published in the Journal of Strategic Studies, 2006
Counterinsurgency Redux, in Survival, International Institute of Strategic
Stud ies.
(2006)
Tw enty-Eight
Fundam entals
of
Com pany-Level
Counterinsurgency An Australian Defence d ocum ent; in M ilitary Review
in May 2006
(2007) Anatom y of a Tribal Revolt, in Small W ars Journal, 29 August 2007
(2007) Ethics, politics and non-state w arfare: a response to Gonzalez , in
A nthropology Today, Vol. 23, N o 3 (June 2007)
(2007) Und erstanding Current Operations in Iraq, Small W ars Journal, 26
June 2007.
(2009) Crunch Time in A fganistan-Pakistan ed ited version of Kilcullen's
statem ent before the Senate Foreign Relations Com m ittee hearing on
Afghanistan on 5th February 2009.
Weisser, Rebecca (2007) Strategist behind w ar gains, The A ustralian, 18
August 2007.
Marczuk, Karina Paulina (2007) A Visionary and a Practitioner: the
Bernard Kouchner vs David Kilcullen in Defence and Strategy, vol.
2/ 2007.
Packer, George, Kilcullen on Afghanistan: w innable but only just,
interview , N ew Y orker magazine.
Conference, Doing Anthropology in Wartime and War Zones held in
Tbingen, Germ any on Dec. 7-9, 2006, sponsored by the Collaborative
Research Center on War Experiences, as w ell as the Ludw ig -Uhland Institut fr Empirisiche Kulturw issenschaft, both at the Eberhard Karl
University in Tbingen.
225
Marco Ram azzotti
D. O t hers
Kelly, Raym ond C. (1985) The N uer Conquest. The Structure and Development
of an Expansionist System, University of Michigan Press
H aas, J. (1990) The A nthropology of W ar, Cambrid ge University Press.
Knauft, B. (1991) Violence and Sociality in H um an Evolution, in Current
A nthropology, 32 (1991), pp. 391-428.
Ferguson, R. B. and N .L. Whitehead (1992) W ar in the Tribal Z one. Expanding
States and Indigenous W arfare, School of Am erican Research Press.
Viveiros d e Castro, E. (1992) From the Enemy' s Point of V iew, The University
of Chicago Press.
N ord strom , Carolyn (1997) A Different Kind of W ar Story, University of
Pennsylvania Press.
Scheper-H ughes, N ancy (2004) V iolence in W ar and Peace: an A nthology,
Blackw ell.
Kalyvas, Stathis N . (2006) The Logic of Violence in Civil W ar, Cambrid ge
University Press.
Snyd er, Jack (2002) Anarchy and Culture: insights for the Anthropology of
War, in International Organization, 56, 1 w inter 2002, pp 7-45.
The Authors analyses of th e Angolan and Sri Lankan conflicts cannot be
published because their copy-rights belong to UN agencies and to the EC.
The Authors notes on CIMIC (Motta d i Livenza CIMIC Com m and ) and
those on anthropology and w ar belong to CASD, Italian Arm ed Forces
Defence Research Centre.
226
Conclu sions. A new gram m ar for international relations
Conclusions. A new grammar for international

relations in a new w orld order
Maurizio Boni
W orld order is not value-neutral; any actual world order

will reflect the values of its architects and members
(A nne M arie Slaughter)
1. Introduction
I w ould like to thank Giovanni Ercolani for giving m e the opportunity
to be part of this interesting initiative, contributing to the ongoing d ebate on
the role of critical security stud ies in w orld politics. Consigning to a
professional sold ier the final consid erations on how Anthropology could
com plem ent these stud ies certainly represents a bold m ove, but I think it
appreciates the interd isciplinary nature of m od ern international relations, as
w ell as the intellectual effort to m ove beyond trad itional thinking and
com m onplaces to assess security need s w hich are intrinsically
m ultid im ensional and interd epend ent.
As a m atter of fact, the presence of anthropologists along w ith other
social scientists in the majority of the d ata bases of experts of the w estern
d efence general staffs, is a consolidated occurrence that has significantly
increased the und erstand ing of the m od ern operational environm ents,
along w ith the capacity to elaborate appropriate responses to current crisis
response operations. As H arvey Langholtz and Marco Ram azzotti have
both highlighted in their w orks, now adays there are new opportunities for
ad d ressing the root causes of conflicts and for constructive intervention. A
challenge that the m ore conscious actors tackling security issues (includ ing
both social scientists and the military) have taken seriously, in the context of
227
Mau rizio Boni
the grow ing aw areness on the inevitability of a interagency approach to

em ergencies.
As a representative of the military w orld and ad vocate of the
im plem entation of a holistic approach to international affairs as w ell, I feel
com fortable in this environm ent and happy to offer m y perspective to the
authors w hose papers I had the pleasure to read and stud y. In this
circum stance, I d ont fear the possibility for a part of the anthropological
com m unity to disapprove the application of anthropological theory to the
analysis of the m ilitary d im ension of security, as H arvey Langholtz has
m entioned . Acting pragm atically in the fram ew ork of an interd epend ent
w orld , Im rather inclined to consid er the opportunities offered by each
elem ent of com plem entary system s to better und erstand reciprocal tools
and capabilities, for d eveloping integrated strategies to ad d ress global
challenges. On the other hand , the m ultid isciplinary footprint of this panel
reflects this view , I think, pretty m uch.
Und oubtedly, this latter aspect has mad e, to som e extent, my task of
d raw ing the conclud ing rem arks m ore d ifficult, but it has offered the
opportunity to split conceptually m y contribution. After ruling out the
option of ad d ressing each paper separately, I preferred instead to com ment
som e com m on and recurrent them es presented by a few authors, and
referred to m y specific know led ge on security and m ilitary m atters, and
then to expand the focus of the stud y to a m ore com prehensive fram ew ork,
that offers to all of us a com m on reference for applying the parad igm of the
critical security stud ies.
The first part of m y contribution is therefore focused on the d ebate on
security. My in tent here, is to assess to w hich extent the international
com m unity has d eveloped the id ea to w id en the security agend as to
im plem ent the concept of hum an security, reform ulating an und erstand ing
of global social and political relations aw ay from the trad ition of state
centred security stud ies (Chris Farrand s), and encom passing m ore than
m ilitary questions (H arvey Langholtz). Thereafter, I briefly explain how
the w estern countries und erstand m ilitary operations tod ay, to com plem ent
Giovanni Ercolani, Marco Ram azzotti and H arvey Langholtzs analysis, and
to reinforce the id ea of the coexistence and the interd epend ence of d ifferent
d im ensions to take care of, w hen d ealing w ith crisis m anagem ent .
228
In the second part of my d iscussion I d escribe tw o scenario s that m ay

blend into the category of anthropological and existential places
introd uced by Giovanni Ercolani. They are portrayed by Khaled Fouad
Allam and Anne Marie Slaughter. The form er, Algerian by birth and Italian
citizen since 1990, is one of Italys m ost prom inent scholars and
com m entators on Islam ic issues 165 . The latter is Professor of Politics and
International Affairs at Princeton University. From 20092011 she served as
Director of Policy Planning for the United States Departm ent of State, the
first w oman to hold that position 166 . They are miles apart in personality,
ed ucation, professional background and intellectual outputs, but their
w orks (in this particular occasion a speech given to the participants to the
62th session of the Italian Institute for H igh Defence Stud ies, and a book
Khaled Fou ad Allam , is p rofessor of Sociology of the Mu slim World at the
Universities of Trieste, Urbino and the Stand ford University of Florence. H is
research interests inclu d e contem p orary Mu slim w orld and the analysis of Islam
p henom ena of accu ltu ration. H e has been m em ber of the Italian Parliam ent from
2006 to 2008, and he has been ap p ointed Exp ert abou t Im m igration and N ew
Citizenship s m atters for the Eu rop ean Union and the Eu rop ean Cou ncil. Colu m nist
of La Rep u bblica, La Stam p a, Il Sole 24 Ore and Avvenire (the new sp ap er
of the Italian Bishop s Conference), he has p u blished several essays and books,
am ong w hich Global Islam (Rizzoli, 2002), Letter to a kam ikaze (Rizzoli, 2004),
The Loneliness of the West (Rizzoli, 2006), and Islam (Laterza, 2007).
166
Prior to her governm ent service, Anne-Marie Slau ghter w as the Dean of
Princeton's Wood row Wilson School of Pu blic and International Affairs from 2002
2009. She is a frequ ent contribu tor to both m ainstream and new m ed ia, p u blishing
op -ed s in m ajor new sp ap ers, m agazines and blogs arou nd the w orld and cu rating
foreign p olicy new s for over 20,000 follow ers on Tw itter. She ap p ears regu larly on
CN N , the BBC, N PR, and PBS, lectu res w id ely, and has served on board s of
organizations ranging from the Cou ncil of Foreign Relations and the N ew Am erica
Fou nd ation to the McDonald 's Corp oration and the Citigrou p Econom ic and
Political Strategies Ad visory Grou p . Foreign Policy m agazine nam ed her to their
annu al list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2009, 2010, and 2011. She has w ritten
or ed ited six books, inclu d ing A N ew World Ord er (2004) and The Id ea that is
Am erica: keep ing faith w ith ou r valu es in a d an gerou s w orld (2007), and over 100
articles. She w as also the convener and acad em ic co-chair, w ith Professor John
Ikenberry, of the Princeton Project on N ational Secu rity, a m u lti-year research
p roject aim ed at d evelop ing a new , bip artisan national secu rit y strategy for the
United States.
165
229
Mau rizio Boni
published in the United States in 2004 167 respectively) are som ehow
convergent in the w ay they d escribe social trend s that can be caught,
und erstood and processed only if you are inspired by an unconventional
w ay of thinking.
Fouad Allam offers an analysis of the im pact of the Arab Spring on
the relations betw een the N orth and the South banks of the Med iterranean,
w hile Slaughter asks us to rethink our view s of the political ord er, looking
at m ultilateralism in term s of interaction am ong governm ent netw orks. The
title I gave to this conclud ing paper, m erges the tw o authors m ain them es:
the Allams concern for governing the interactions betw een populations
belonging to em erging new com m on social spaces (the quest for a new
gram m ar for international relations), and Slaughters stud y on em erging
form s of global governance characterizing a new w orld ord er. Despite
their broad d ifference both in scope and acad em ic origin, the tw o
approaches highlight the kind of intellect ual challenges and trend s w e
should capture and understand in a globalized w orld . They both provid e
food for thoughts for any social scientist and d ecision maker (includ ing the
respective ad visors) acting in a social w orld , trying to assess to w hich extent
he/ she is capable of grabbing the key d eveloping factors of evolving
societies, and applying the available existing analytical tools accord ingly.
They both represent an id eal background in w hich Danielle MorettiLangholtz and Desire Pangercs fieldw ork m ethod ologies, Chris Farrands
visual ethnography, and H arvey Langholtzs psychological perspectives, in
particular, could w ell fit in.
2. The debate on security
I appreciate w hat Barry Buzan and others have argued on security
being constructed in specific contexts and w ithin the bound aries of certain
kind s of know led ge (Chris Farrand s). I und erstand this statem ent in the
sense that the d ebate on security should be tailored to specific geopolitical
and social contexts. Indeed , the notion of security is em ployed in an
im pressive range of contexts and for m ultiple purposes. Its a m ultifaceted
167
Anne-Marie Slau ghter: A N ew World Ord er. Princeton University Press, 2004.
230
concept load ed w ith assum ptions, structures, solutions and functional ideas
w hich varies accord ing to d ifferent realities.
Since a d ecade at least, in the Old Continent this d iscussion has gone
w ell beyond the fram ew ork of the military dim ension, opening a space for a
m ore articulated approach. Since its inception in 1999, the year w hen the
European Union (EU) has begun to take on foreign, security and d efence
policies responsibilities, the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)
takes into consid eration a w orld of com plex, d ynam ic and interrelated
threats along w ith the uniqueness of each crisis/ region. The European
Security Strategy (ESS), ad opted by the Europ ean Council in 2003,
encom passes poverty and d iseases, the com petition for natural resources
(w ater in particular), global w arm ing and energy d epend ence am ong the
characterizing factors of global challenges 168 , and m ost of the security
challenges are assessed to be of a com prehensive nature: political instability,
violent conflicts, extrem ism and terrorism , organized crim e and
hum anitarian crises. Due to its com prehensiveness, the EU is w ell suited to
ad d ress these issues, and the EUs approach to prevent/ cea se conflicts and
(re)build peaceful and stable societies, is based on a com bined and tailored
response m ad e of d iplom acy, trad e, d evelopm ent and hum anitarian aid
d elivered through police, jud icial, civil protection and m ilitary tools. The
EU m embers d ecid ed to share this vision of such an articulated w ay to d o
business on m atter of security, and to tune up their respective policies and
actions accordingly.
In 2004, a Security Research Program m e (SRP) has been launched by
the European Com m ission aim ed at d eveloping a fully fled ged European
civil security fram ew ork. The European Research Innovation Forum
(ESRIF), established in 2007, takes care of this task. ESRIFs m ain m essage is
that
European security is inseparable from social, cultural and
political values of European life. Such values need to be present
at every level of security research and d evelopment. A threat to
Europe is a threat to Europe social integrity. Security research
A secu re Eu rop e in a Better World Eu rop ean Secu rity Strategy, Bru ssels 12
Decem ber 2003.
168
231
Mau rizio Boni
m ust necessarily in the future focus on und erstand ing and

d eveloping Europes societal resilience and the ability of Europe
to absorb the shocks associated w ith potential security
challenges 169.
In all, the scope of the security research is w id ening to take into account
societal fabric and vulnerabilities of societies w ithin the EU, and
appreciating the increasing inter-linkage betw een the internal and external
d im ension of security. Certainly, the im plementation of the ESS cant be
classified und er the head ing of the fully successful stories, because the EU
and the Mem ber States have not translated it into clear priorities. N or has it
had a real im pact on the d evelopm ent of m eans and capabilities, on w hich
the ESS rem ains vague as w ell. At the sam e time, the SRP has highlighted
the existence of m any w ays to interpret the EUs role in security along w ith
som e gaps/ d uplication betw een national and European level efforts. But
this is not the point.
What is relevant, here is that d espite the inevitable im plem entation
shortfalls, there is a European increasing em phasis on societal and hum an
security. The acknow ledgm ent that societal security is about safeguard ing
both the state and the population. The focus on the society as a w hole and
on everything that could d isrupt or d am age it. The id ea that security
research, encom passing the broad er concept of the w ord and the more
trad itional hard m ilitary research, are m oving closer together.
Moreover, d uring the last tw o years and a half the security agend a has
further expand ed to includ e the financial speculation, a cross bord ers
unconventional type of offence capable of d isrupting entire societies as
m uch as conflicts and w ars. Its interesting to see how the European Central
Bank (ECB) has recently taken its m ost am bitious step yet tow ard easing the
euro zone crisis, spread ing respon sibility for repaying national d ebts to the
euro zone countries as a group. Thanks to this m ove Mario Draghi, the
Italian presid ent of the ECB, has been recently assessed to be the m ost
169
ESRIF Draft Final Rep ort (2009), p g.11.
232
pow erful central banker in the w orld 170, and his financial strategy a critical
elem ent (if not the m ost im portant tod ay) for restoring confid ence and
prosperity in the Old Continent. Ind eed , the ECBs w ay ahead represents a
m ajor evolution from its original narrow m and ate to restrain inflation,
paving the w ay for a m ore fed eral Europe, but in its essence characterizes a
d efence from an irregular form of attack that affects hum an beings w ho
are sharing a political territory m uch w ider than any single state. H um an
security tod ay, at least at these latitud es in the w orld , is v ery m uch
d epend ent on the w ay the European political lead ers coord inate and
stabilize their interd epend ent economies and , m ore generally, the respective
banking system s. In practical term s, the situation highlighted by Danielle
Moretti-Langholtz citing H olm s, Marcus and N ash, stressing the im pact of
supranational markets that are virtually invisible and inaccessible from the
stand point of conventional political id eology and practice, in d efining our
era.
As w e turn our sight elsew here, the above d escribed highly
sophisticated approach fad es aw ay to give space to less com prehensive
environm ents. In the m ajority of the African Continent, w here the num ber
of civil w ars is d ecreasing, but the number of inter -state w ars and low
intensity conflicts is increasin g, security often m eans freed om from violence
and from fear, and hum an security encom passes infant d eaths,
m alnutrition, insufficient m ed ical treatm ent, low life expectancy, political
instability, and the like. The African Union, the new com er organization
found ed in 2000 m irroring the EU structure, has put security and d efence at
the hearth of its policies, im proving cooperation and integration am ong its
m em bers. Many states have joint a new form ulated Com m on African
Defence and Security Policy, and und ertake joint peace operations, in an
intellectual fram ew ork in w hich the physical security of hum an beings still
represents the m ain concern. In this context, tw o layers of security
com m unities 171 are d eveloping in parallel: continental (e.g. the African
International H erald Tribu ne: ECB takes new p ow ers, Frid ay, Sep tem ber 7,
2012, p g 2.
171
A secu rity com m u nity can be d efined as a grou p of states joined by collective
id entity and shared valu es, not ju st by com m on threats. See Bened ikt Franke in
170
233
Mau rizio Boni
Union) and regional (e.g. the African Regional Econom ic Com m unities)
w ith m any states being m em bers of both types. This m eans that the African
continental security system is currently d ecentralized , incorporating
regional security initiatives into continental policy. Decentralization m eans
regions feel d irect ow nership of the continental security system and have
central role in d ecision -m aking. This red uces com petition betw een the
layers and reassures states previously opposed to centralising security 172 ,
but although security cooperation has im proved , in som e areas of Africa
there is no guarantee that this articulated approach w ill continue, d ue to the
existing end em ic econom ic, social and political shortfalls. N otw ithstanding
the setting up of structures and institutions to im plem ent new courses,
w id ening the scope of the security agend a rem ains challenging.
In China, w here the hum an rights issue rem ains unsolved , there is
sim ply no chance to aband on the state-centric hard m ilitary dim ension of
security, since Beijings m ain focus is the sustainm ent of its aggressive
econom ic global expansion and the preservation of its unparalleled m ilitary
superiority in East Asia.
In the nearby centralist state of the Russian Federation, an asym m etrical
d evelopm ent in hum an security has taken place d uring the first tw o
d ecad es of transition from the com m unist period . The oil-led economic
boom d id im prove the hum an security of citizens in som e specific
d im ensions d irectly linked to the exploitation of such a business, but not in
others w here the state-centric approach to m od ernization has often resulted
in a loss of ind ivid ual security and liberties. On the other hand , the political
m entality of Russian society is d ivid ed . Priorities and interests w hich
m em bers of society, includ ing elites, recognize and pursue are d ifferent.
Against a general request for increasing d em ocracy and respect for human
rights, the d ebate on security is still d om inated by the national interests
affected , at their turn, by at least tw o elem ents of cont inuity of Russian and
Soviet history. First, the concept of Russias missionary id ea: the political
Africas Evolving Secu rity Architectu re and the Concep t of Mu ltilayered Secu rity
Com m u nities. Coop eration and Conflict, Sep tem ber 2008, vol.43 no.3
172
Ibid .
234
and military elites are united in their strong belief that Russia foreign and
security policy m ust aim at regaining and consolid ating its status of great
pow er. Second , the countrys specific geopolitical situation: the perm anent
encirclem ent synd rom e that pervad es the Russian lead ership since
centuries, the consequent struggle for m aintaining sovereignty and
influence over the rem aining territories of the form er Soviet Union, and the
effort to contain the effects of a perceived grow ing w estern pressure.
Therefore, the trad itional Russian political culture of the id ea of the state
representing an end in itself rather than serving the interests of the society ,
coupled to an intrinsic vocation to pow er projection, ham pers the possibility
to apply the parad igm s of the critical security stud ies.
In the Korean Peninsula, the tw o Koreas have been suffering through a
long period of m ilitary confrontation since the years of the Korean War in
the fifties, and there is little hope that the situation w ill im prove in the near
future. Over the last few years both Korea have strengthened their arm ed
forces, and after the 2010 N orth Korean attack in the West Sea, the milita ry
build up is likely to continue in the years ahead . Military confrontation is an
extension of political confrontation fund ed on the incom patibility of the
political, econom ic, and social system s of the tw o states. While the northern
society is locked in a d ictatorship, the economic d ynam ism of the Southern
state com pensates the lead ing conventional m ilitary d im ension of security.
A kind of situation that the about 16 m illion inhabitants populating the
d isputed territory of Kashm ir, betw een Ind ia and Pakistan, are used to since
the UN-brokered ceasefire on 1 January 1949, w ith the aggravating
circum stance of the presence of nuclear w eapons. A recent Chatham
H ouses stud y illustrates that for a large majority of the population (81%)
unem ploym ent is thought to be the m ost significant problem faced by
Kashmiris. Governm ent corruption, poor econom ic d evelopm ent, human
rights abuses and the Kashmir conflict itself are all given as the main
problem s facing people 173.
In Cyprus, the event of a m assive flow of incomin g European citizens
living in the nearby territories of the Mid d le East using the island as a safe
Robert W. Brad nock: Kashm ir: Paths to Peace, Kings College & Associate
Fellow , Asia Program m e, Chatam H ou se, May 2010.
173
235
Mau rizio Boni
area in case of turm oil represents for the populations of the Greek portion of
the island , a m ajor source of concern. As the Cypriots alread y experienced
such an occurrence in 2006 in the occasion of the Lebanon crisis, they
consid er this possible incid ent a form of asymm etric w arfare 174. On the
other hand , since the partition of the island in 1974, the Greek Cypriots are
the protagonists of a w eird living con d ition as each citizen is keeping a rifle
along w ith som e 500 round s of am m unition beneath the bed , fearing a
m ilitary invasion com ing from the Turkish -controlled portion of the island .
A security parad ox of the 21th Century in w hich, respectively, an EU a nd a
N ATO m em bers, confront on the basis of purely political-m ilitary
consid erations.
If w e look at the Mid d le East, still the higher m ilitarized region in the
w orld and probably the m ost com plex from a geopolitical stand point,
national security is normally seen in term s of m ilitary strength and internal
security operations against extrem ists and insurgents. The upheavals of the
Arab Spring have highlighted how national security is m easured in term s of
the politics, economics, and social tensions that shape national stability as
w ell. The w rong kind of internal security efforts, and national security
spend ing that has lim ited the ability to m eet popular need s and
expectations can d o as m uch to und erm ine national security over tim e as
external and extrem ist threats. Ongoing d om estic changes throughout the
region are becom ing increasing im portant and issues such as political and
econom ical reform s, civil m ilitary relations, lead ership change, and the
inform ation revolution are all affecting regional security d y namics, but it is
far from certain that the regime changes w ill evolve into functional
d em ocracies and governance. The religious rivalry, alone, is a d ominant
elem ent of the equation and the future of the entire area d epends on the
outcom e of the ongoing d ispute betw een Shiites and Sunnis. In the
fram ew ork of the com plex Syrian crisis, for exam ple, m ilitant Sunnis from
Iraq have been head ing to Syria to fight against Presid ent Bashar al-Assad
for m onths since the beginning of the civil w ar. While Im w ritin g, Iraqi
Concep t exp ressed to the au thor by the Director of Larnaca Civil Defense in the
occasion of the Exercise ARGON AUT 2012 held in that city in October 2012,
sim u lating a N on Com batant Evacu ation Op eration (N EO) in Cyp ru s.
174
236
Shiites are joining the battle in increasing numbers, but on the governm ents
sid e, d riving Syria ever closer to becoming a regional sectarian
battlefield 175.
In Central Am erica, citizen insecurity is d riven by crim inal threats,
fragile political and jud icial system s and social hard ships such as poverty
and unem ploym ent, w hich leave large portions of the population
susceptible to crime. Drug trafficking organizations, along w ith
transnational gangs and other organized criminal groups, put at risk t he
existence of Central American governm ents, and their respective societies,
along w ith their inhabitants. Consid ered the state of affairs of these
countries, the response to such a circum stance has been (and its still) rather
conventional: m ore aggressive m easures, includ ing d eploying m ilitary
forces to help police w ith public security functions and prom ulgating antigang law s. Other softer preventive initiatives has been put in place, such as
intervention program s that focus on strengthening fam ilies of at-risk youth,
along w ith regional cooperation strategies that take into account the
increasing transnational nature of the threats, but nothing m ore elaborated .
This is not an exhaustive case stud ies list, but a m ore accurate analysis
of the rest of the existing political and social realities in the w orld w ouldnt
ad d anything m ore significant in substance. There are locations w here
history hasnt substantially m oved from the inter -state confrontation of the
20th Century, and the id ea of security is simply overlapping w ith the
conventional traditional schem e of the balance of pow er. Other places,
w here hum an security focuses just on freed om from violence and w here
state security is really an apparatus for the im position of the pow er of the
state as such, u sing a Chris Farrand ss term .
The spectrum of possibilities varies accord ing to geographic location,
cultural, historical and social factors w hich are instrum ental to
lim iting/ expand ing the kind of possible response. On the other hand , since
broad er concepts of hum an security includ e everything from poverty to
genocid e, it has often proved too all-em bracing to be helpful in policy
d evelopm ent, posing an ad d itional layer to com plexity. The challenge
Yasir Ghazi and Tim Arango: Iraqi sects join Syrian battle on both sid es, The
International H erald Tribu ne, Mond ay, October 29, 2012, p g5.
175
237
Mau rizio Boni
therefore isnt that m uch in recognizing the role of socia l sciences in

international relations but, rather, to assess in w hich context w ider
analytical tools can complem ent the m ore trad itional security stud ies, and
to select the m ost appropriate m ethod ologies to inspire the d ecision making
process, should any targeted political lead erships be eager to d o so.
The w estern com m unities have d eveloped the m ore com prehensive
intellectual requirem ents to im plem ent such an approach, the w orld w id e
exportation of w hich rem ains challenging, at least for the legitim acy asp ect
raised by H arvey Langholtz of the im position of w estern -style solutions and
institutions to other form s of political-social organizations. But d espite the
relevance of this latter elem ent in the d ebate, in recognition of the
universality of the tenets of the critical security stud ies, w e should also
pragm atically select the geopolitical contexts in w hich such an approach
could be grad ually im plem ented .
3. The grow ing complexity of (Western) military thinking
Tod ay, in Western countries the m ilitary portion of security is d ealt
w ith a grow ing interagency focus and holistic posture. Since m ore than a
d ecad e by now , the totality of the Western arm ed forces (not necessarily
N ATO m em bers) are planning and executing their operations taking into
account the political, econom ical, social, infrastructure and inform ation
factors characterizing the operational environm ents, along w ith m ilitary
consid erations.
238
The challenge: und erstand ing the system s in a PMESII environm ent
The intellectual tools to und erstand the com plexity of the current crisis
scenarios have been d eveloped by ed ucating the m ilitary lead ership along
w ith their subord inates at all levels, from the very beginning of their
respective professional careers. This mind set is w ell shared w ith a n
increasing and d ifferentiated num ber of civilian interlocutors, w ith w hom
the m ilitary w orld is used to interact, attend ing the sam e universities, post
grad uate courses as w ell as specific ed ucation and training events. Giovanni
Ercolani has alread y stressed N ATOs consciousness of the fact that
m ilitary m eans, although essential, are not enough on their ow n to m eet
the m any com plex challenges to our security and that is necessary to w ork
w ith other actors to contribute to a comprehensive approach tha t
effectively com bines political, civilian and military crisis m anagem ent
instrum ents 176.
N ATO Lisbon Su m m it Declaration, Para. 8, w hich also states that the effective
im p lem entation of the com p rehensive ap p roach requ ires all actors to contribu te in
a concerted effort based on a shared sense of resp onsibility, op enness and
d eterm ination, taking into accou nt their resp ective strengths, m and ates and roles,
as w ell as their d ecision -m aking au tonom y.
176
239
Mau rizio Boni
The international com m unity recognizes the Com prehensive

Approach (CA) as the effort to pursue greater synergy, harm onization and
com plem entarily in the internation al peace-build ing system , and a lot of
actors are now com m itted in im plem enting this principle. In the United
N ations context, there have been generated the Integrated Approach and
a specific structural arrangem ent in the context of UN peacekeeping
operations: the Integrated Mission, w ith the focus on a w id e coord ination
across the political, security, d evelopm ent, rule of law , hum an rights and
hum anitarian d im ensions 177. Other sim ilar d efinitions includ e the Wholeof-Governm ent approach, end orsed by Un ited Kingd om and Canad a, the
3D (Diplom acy, Developm ent and Defence) approach ad opted by the
N etherland s and the United States 178, w hile the Multinational Experim ent
5 process describes the overarching fram ew ork in w hich various nationally
sponsored concepts (or focus areas) are evaluated for their ind ividual
practicality and for their critical integration linkages, w ith other focus areas
to support effective and efficient coalition operations 179 . The H um an
Terrain System s, m entioned by H arvey Langholtz r efers to this
background , but w ith a m ore lim ited scope compared to the CA.
Integrated m issions refer to a typ e of UN m ission in w hich there are p rocesses,
m echanism s and stru ctu res in p lace that generate and su stain a com m on strategic
objective and a com p rehensive op erational ap p roach am ong the p olitical, secu rity,
d evelop m ent, hu m an rights, and w here ap p rop riate hu m anitarian UN actors at
cou ntry level. See United N ations Peacekeep ing Op erations -Princip les and
Gu id elines, 2008, Chap ter 5, Para 1Planning a United N ations Peacekeep ing
Op eration.
178
The United States established the Center for Com p lex Op erations (CCO), a
congressionally m and ated center w ithin the Institu te for N ational Strategic Stu d ies,
located at the N ational Defense University on Fort Leslie J. McN air in Washington
DC. The CCO is tasked to cond u ct research, id entify lessons learn ed , enhance
training and ed u cation, and im p rove the p lanning and execu tion of interagency
op erations. w w w .ccop ortal.org/
179
The Mu ltinational Exp erim ent 5 com m u nity inclu d es 18 nations, N ATO and the
Eu rop ean Union. Sp ecifically Au stria, Canad a, Denm ark, Finland , France,
Germ any, Sp ain, Sw ed en, the United Kingd om , the United States and N ATOs
Allied Com m and Transform ation com p rised the p artner and p articip ating nations.
Ad d itionally, Au stralia, the Czech Rep u blic, Gr eece, H u ngary, Jap an, Poland ,
Singap ore, Sou th Korea and the Eu rop ean Union are involved as observers.
177
240
The com m on id ea is that the scope of m od ern crisis is often of such a

scale that no single agency, governm ent or regional/ international
organization can m anage it on its ow n. The r ecognition of that represents
the good new s. The bad new s is that efficient com plem entarily and
coord ination is very difficult to achieve in such a m ulti-d im ensional arena.
Despite the agreem ent in principle on the necessity to coord inate, each
agency, organization, governm ent its incline to serve its ow n strategic goals
and interests. The d efinition, at the strategic level, of the type of integrated
operation to launch and the interests it m ay serve, constitutes the main
challenge: the scene w here political realism may m eet theory (H arvey
Langholtz). In the above m entioned framew ork, as Rupert Sm ith affirm s,
m ilitary force is consid ered a solution, or part of a solution,
in a w id e range of problem s for w hich it w as not originally
intend ed or configured [...] We seek to create a conceptual space
for d iplom acy, econom ic incentives, political pressure and other
m easures to create a d esired political outcom e of stability and if
possible d em ocracy 180.
In other w ord s, establishing a cond ition is the hallm a rk of the new
parad igm of m od ern m ilitary operations. A condition in w hich
hum anitarian activity could take place, and negotiation or an internal
ad m inistration could lead to the d esired political outcom e 181 . This id ea
reflects w hat Marco Ram azzotti has m entioned about sold iers achieving
political end states along w ith politicians and d iplom ats, even though he
refers his analysis to a specific operational background (the asym m etric
w arfare) w hich represents just a portion of a possible operational spectrum .
General Sir Ru p ert Sm ith is a retired general. In his forty -year career in the
British Arm y he com m and ed the UK Arm ored Division in the 1990-1991 Gu lf War,
com m and ed the UN forces in Bosnia in 1995, w as General Officer Com m and ing
N orthern Ireland in 1996-99, and then served as Dep u ty Su p rem e Allied
Com m and er (DSACEUR) in N ATO. H e is the au thor of the best seller titled The
Utility of Force The art of War in the Mod ern World , p u blished by Pengu in
books in 2005.
181
Ibid .
180
241
Mau rizio Boni
In ord er to establish a cond ition, its necessary to und erstand the road
to crisis includ ing its root causes both at strategic level, the stage w here the
operation is being shaped , and at operational/ tactical level, the arena w here
the operation is bein g planned and executed . This is the context in w hich
the contribution of social scientists is becom ing the m ore and m ore relevant,
and w here soldiers are requested to und erstand , on their part, sociology,
psychology, anthropology and econom y because social factors perm eate
their operational environm ent. This is the context in w hich, for exam ple, the
Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) concept (Giovanni Ercolanis m ain
them e), has been thought, d eveloped and fully im plem ented .
Desire Pangerc offers the opportunity to apply her field w ork
m ethod ology to another hum an trafficking scenario in the H orn of Africa,
w here thousand s of refugees from Som alia and Ethiopia m ake their w ay to
the sm uggling hubs in Puntland , Som aliland (tw o sem iautonom ous regions
of Som alia) and Djibouti, for a risky journey across the Gulf of Ad en to
Yem en, and other locations in Mid d le East. Smugglers and pirates w ork
hand in hand w ith the form ers loaning their boats to the latters. In return,
the pirates pay the sm ugglers a percentage of the ransom they receive from
a pirated vessel. Very often, pirates and sm ugglers overlap as pirates skiffs
are used in a d ual role. On their w ay to Yem en filled w ith m igrants, and
then equipped to attack com m ercial vessels before sailing back to the
northern coast of Som alia. The m ajority of the m ilitary navies running
counter piracy operations in the region 182 can d o alm ost nothing to contrast
hum an trafficking at sea, because this occurrence legally exceed s their
m and ate. On land , instead , there is m ore r oom for action as the
international com m unity is com mitted in establishing the cond ition of a
stable and functional governance in Puntland and Som aliland through,
am ong other initiatives, the erad ication of piracy and the other illegal
activities, includ in g hum an sm uggling, that ham per social and econom ic
d evelopm ent along the coast. In the com prehensive fram ew ork of the
Capacity Build ing, som e European nations and the United States arm ed
forces, are im plem enting projects to strengthen Puntland and Som aliland s
Mostly acting u nd er N ATO/ EU flags, or ru nning national cou nter p iracy
m issions as Ind ep end ent Dep loyers like Ru ssia, Ind ia, China, and even Iran.
182
242
security forces, in ord er to enable local authorities to prevent and d isrupt

such illegal activities. Coupled w ith the broad er international civilian -led
efforts to im prove the effectiveness of local institutions or to re -build them
in the sam e region, these program s constitute a fram ew ork in w hich social
scientists contribute to the d evelopm ent of recovery processes w ith benefits
for the w hole range of civilian and m ilitary initiatives. You can im agine
how relevant is the m apping and the stud y of the clanic Som alian society,
for exam ple, just to m ention one of the com m on basic requirem ents to start
w orking in the area, and how therefore relevant is the specific contribute of
anthropologists in find ing origins, causes and features of hum an behaviours
and in suggesting w orking solutions.
In any case, creating/ establishing cond itions represents just one
elem ent of a m ultifaceted operational environm ent, in w hich military forces
can be asked to cond uct hum anitarian, peacekeeping/ stabilization,
reconstruction and combat operations sim ultaneously. This is the nature of
the H ybrid Conflicts, alread y m entioned by Giovanni Ercolani, or the so
called three/ four blocks w ar 183 in w hich the type, the scale, the priority
and the relationship of the blocks vary in a rapid ly changing operational
environm ent. For any m ilitary organization, em bracing such an all-round
approach m eans to educate, train, and equip its ow n forces to face
com plexity and m ultiple tasks, preparing to be com m itted for very long
period s of tim e.
Still, the above d escribed talented intellectual fram ew ork, concerns just
a m inority of arm ed forces in the w orld , incid entally coincident w ith
N ATO/ EU m em bers and Canada, and w ith those countries w hose political
m ilitary systems refer, for their d om estic d evelopm ents, to the above
m entioned com m unity. While the w estern block is struggling d ebating
the utility of the use of force in m od ern operations, and contributing to the
The term Three Block w ar w as coined by General Charles C. Kru lak w hen he
served as Com m and ant of the United States Marine Corp s (1995-1999). Based u p on
the challenges the Marines faced in failed states su ch as Som alia and the form er
Yu goslavia, he offered the concep t as a m etap hor to d escribe the d em and s of the
m od ern battlefield . This is im agined to be u rban and asym m etrical, an environm ent
w ith few d istinctions betw een com batant and noncom batant. The fou rth block has
been ad d ed later on, to reflect the reconstru ction p ortion of a p o ssible m ission.
183
243
Mau rizio Boni
im plem entation of the CA, a relevant cluster of other states anchor the
em ploym ent of the military to m ore conventional roles, especially in those
areas of the globe w here the interstate confrontation parad igm of the past
centuries rem ains still extant. Rupert Sm ith reinforces this id ea:
The higher ed ucational levels of the w est European arm ies,
the expectations of their societies as to how sold iers should be
treated and em ployed, all d ictate the nature and operating
m ethod of those forces. At the risk of a gross generalization,
they are technologically d epend ent, require consid er able
resources to keep them in the field com fortably, and their
political m asters tend to not be prepared to risk them 184.
Going back to the geopolitical overlook presented in the
paragraph on the d ebate on security, w e can appreciate the
found ation of su ch an assertion. Western m ilitary thinking reflects the
sophisticated approach to security that typifies w estern societies
w here, unlike other realities w orld w id e, the issue of striking a balance
betw een hard pow er and soft pow er strategies rem ains relevant.
4. A new grammar for international relations
One good exam ple of consid ering the hum an being as the focal point
for d eveloping innovative social and political settings is represented by
Khaled Fouad Allam s analysis of the ongoing deterioration of N orth Africa
and Mid d le East geopolitical situation. H e affirm s that d uring the last 30
years, Europe has been failing in d efining a tim ely political architecture
capable of inserting the south bank of the Med iterranean into the d ynamics
of globalization. The ad option of such a narrow m ind ed approach focusing
just on regim es elites instead of people and societies, and characterized
by a structural lack of com m unication and real und erstanding, prevented
analysts and d ecision m akers sitting either in Bru ssels or in any other
w estern capital, to pred ict the events w hich are currently grouped und er the
Ru p ert Sm ith, The Utility of Force The art of War in the Mod ern World , p g.
22.
184
244
very w ell know n term of Arab Spring. N otably, accord ing to Allam , one
of the m ost relevant causes of this failure has been the im plementation of
the w estern com m unitys good neighbourhood/ partnership strategies,
d eveloped d uring the 1960s and 1970s, and now totally obsolete.
Migrations, turm oils and civil w ars are long lasting processes, w hich
are effecting both north -south and Europe-Arabs perceptions of the
relationship betw een the notions of territory, personal id entity and
governance. In particular, as they perm anently set up in the European
territory, the thousand s of im migrants coming from the scourged Maghreb
are und erm ining the conventional w ay of thinking on this issue. Looking
w ith a m ed ium / long term perspective, its becom ing the m ore and more
d ifficult to apply a rational d efinition of geographic bound aries to not
hom ogeneous populations w ho recognize them selves as a part of a (new )
com m on p olitical space. In other term s, heterogeneity, to be assum ed ,
as Allam points out, as the main functioning principle of current society,
brings along a m ore fluid notion of territoriality w hich effects, in turn, the
political governance. The future European id entity w ill therefore d epend
on how this political space w ill be perceived by its assorted inhabitants, and
on how far it w ill be physically extend ed .
Faced w ith the need to d evelop a new interface m echanism w ith the
effected populations/ societies, and to build up innovative form s of
governance, the w estern com m unity seem s incapable of appreciating the
ongoing social/ anthropological changes, lacking a visionary approach and
the d efinition of clear objectives to achieve as w ell. We are therefore
m anaging the globalization processes in presence of a critical asym m etry.
On one sid e, the real effects of such revolution in term s of m igrations,
financial speculations, oscillating courses of econom y m arkets, and new
d em and s for political lead erships. On th e other sid e, the reality of the
outd ated 20th Centurys instrum ents and m od alities inspiring the current
ineffective political options. What is therefore m issing, as Allam articulates,
is a new gram m ar for international relations und erstood as the
substance of relations betw een system s merging in d ifferent contexts.
This new gram m ar should consid er the Med iterranean area, in its
entirety, as an interm ediate political space in the w orld system in w hich
circularity and connecting rings prevail on the existing conventional
245
Mau rizio Boni
d ivid ing lines. In w hich, the national state enters the globalization challenge
w ith the perspective of ad apting its structure to a constant grow ing of
d iasporas and contamination, that contem plates the territory as nothing
m ore than a supporting carrying vector. Transition m easures to
accom pany this d evelopm ents and to integrate m inorities are essential,
bearing in mind that integration m eans to feel the affiliation to a com m unity
sharing a com m on d estiny, as ind ivid uals as w ell as collectively. Facing an
em ergency after another w ithout projects, in a political vacuum and w ithout
a clear und erstand ing of the new need s, lead s the w ay to conflict. In the
Med iterranean area, there is the risk to convert its south bank into a sort of
south European security line, separating populations sharing alread y the
sam e political and social environm ent.
Stretching the concept, Allam pred icts the political geography for the
next 30-40 years to come characterized , as he firm ly believes, by interface
relationships betw een three geo-political system s/ connecting rings, in
w hich
the
w orld
circulation
w ill
take
place,
such
as
Europe/ Africa/ Mediterranean Asia/ Pacific Australia/ Oceania.
This fascinating analysis carries the high d estabilizing potential to
put und er question the conventional notion of nation state itself, along w ith
the elaborated institutional architecture d eveloped in Europe through
d ecad es. As Europeans, consid ering the characteristics that d ifferentiate
N orth African political and social cond itions from those of the rem aining of
the Med iterranean area, w e should focus on the first ring in particular,
setting the interface m echanism s betw een Maghreb and the Old Continent.
In fact Maghreb, w here societies are relatively unconnected from their
neighbours, d iffers from Mid d le East w here the politics of Syria and
Lebanon, for exam ple, cannot be d ivorced from stability issues in Jord an an
Iraq, or from the fearful reactions of Turkey and Israel, w ith a bigger
d ifficulty to apply Allam s circularity parad igm as such. Is the alread y
m entioned European com prehensiveness, capable of ad apting its heavy
bureaucratic m echanism s w hen confronted w ith the perspective of a
territory und erstood as just a carrying vector? What is security (and
hum an security) in the fram ew ork of such an interm ed iate/ new com m on
and contam inated political space? H ow should w e harm onize
246
circularity w ith governance? H ow should w e eventually fill up the

political vacuum applying the principles of the critical security stud ies?
Allam s d escription of current events offers the opportunity to set up
that m ulti-sited research d esign augured by Danielle Moretti-Langholtz
for exploring the pred icam ents of m od ernity and insecurity, in w hich Chris
Farrand s reading strategies suggested by his visual ethnography could
com plem ent Desire Pangercs efforts to examine the nature of m igration
flow s and their possible influence on the d evelopm ent of circularity. In
w hich a new psychology of international relations could d evelop, being
captured and interpreted by H arvey Langholtzs analytical tools.
On the other hand , the necessity of w riting a new gram mar of
international relations m ust be end orsed by the totality of the possible
stakeholders. Tariq Ram ad an rightly sustains that Muslim societies need
not only political uprising but also an intellectual revolution that w ill open
the d oor to econom ic change and personal freedom . In affirm ing that the
tim ew orn d ichotom y of Islam versus the West is giving w ay to an era of
m ulti-polar relations, he calls for courageous scholars and intellectuals
w ho are w illing to d iscuss [...] the need to take responsibility for their
actions185. A backing of Allam s circularity com ing from a different m ilieu,
coupled w ith the quest for an intellectual personal com m itm ent that
perfectly fits into our d iscussion.
5. A new w orld order
Exam ining globalization challenges from a very d ifferent stand point,
Anne Marie Slaughters looks at m ultilateralism not in term s of relations
am ong liberal d em ocracies, but betw een governm ent netw orks. For her
w orld is one w here governance takes place not through com m unication
w ith nation states presid ents, prim e m inisters, or international
organizations, but through a com plex criss-crossed system of governm ent
Tariq Ram ad an is p rofessor of contem p orary Islam ic stu d ies at Oxford
University and he is the au thor, m ost recently, of Islam and the Arab Aw akening.
H is view s, cited in this p ap er, are exp ressed in the article titled Waiting for an
Arab Sp ring of Id eas, International H erald Tribu ne, Mond ay, October, 1, 2012, p g
8.
185
247
Mau rizio Boni
netw orks com posed of courts, regulatory agencies and executives, all of
w hom are netw orking w ith their counterparts abroad , creating a d ense level
of relations. Und erstood as critical dim ension of any w orld ord er, these
netw orks can becom e the solution to the globalization parad ox, w hich is
explained as follow s:
Peoples and their governm ents around the w orld need
global institutions to solve collective problem s that can only be
ad d ressed on a global scale. They m ust be able to m ake and
enforce global rules on a variety of subjects and through a
variety of m eans. [] Yet, w orld government is both infeasible
and und esirable. The size and scope of such a governm ent
presents an unavoid able and dangerous threat to ind ivid ual
liberty. Further, the d iversity of the people to be governed
m akes it alm ost im possible to conceive of global d em os. N o
form of d em ocracy w ithin the current global repertoire seem s
capable of overcom ing these obstacles. This is the globalization
parad ox. We need m ore governm ent on a global scale and a
regional scale, but w e dont w ant the centralization of d ecision m aking pow er and coercive authority so far from the people
actually to be governed "186.
If national governments officials can w ork w ith international
institutions, she argu es, its possible to achieve the required global capacity
(also in security m atters) avoiding a centralized global institution,
coord inating the response to various crises and (possibly) ad opting
com m on policies 187. In other w ord s, her vision of a w orld ord er is
Anne-Marie Slau ghter: A N ew World Ord er. Princeton University Press, 2004
p g.8.
187
A global p olicy netw ork inclu d es anyone w ho is interested . It inclu d es
nongovernm ental organizations, ind ep end ent exp erts, activists, scientists and
international officials; it can also inclu d e the p rivate sector. The id ea is that to
im p lem ent global p olicy, w e need to harness everyone. A new World Ord er. Anne
Marie Slau ghter, Joanne Myers. Pu blic Affairs, Ap ril 15, 2004. Available on
186
248
[] a sphere that w ould have international institutions do

im portant things that only international institutions could d o,
but that w ould be em bed d ed in an increasingly d ense w eb of
netw orks that w ould span the globe 188.
Every European could argue that w hat Dr. Slaughter is presenting is to
som e extent alread y in place since d ecad es in the old continent, w here the
European Union has been experim enting a kind of regional-collective
governance based on the sam e principles. H ere, in fact, national officials of
all kind s act trans-nationally and trans-governm entally in the context of a
com plicated m ulti-faced regulating system , d iscussing and im plem enting
d ed icated regulations focused on virtually all the area of interest for
m ankind , w ith the relevant exception of d efence m atters. On the sam e
venue, w e m ay note that interactions am ong national officials have been
regularly taking place even d uring and after the cold w ar, in the fram ew ork
of the various regional/ international organizations and internation al bodies
w hich arose in num bers (believe it or not, in the m ilitary environm ent as
w ell).
Trans-governm entalism , therefore, is not really new but Slaughters
analysis is not aim ed at d iscovering government netw orks. She intend s,
rather:
- to point ou t their proliferation in every place w e have eyes to see 189 for
m any of the sam e reasons;
- to call the attention to the fact that government officials, w ho once
d efined their jobs as d om estic, increasingly see their w ork as having an
Carnegie
Cou ncil
for
Ethics
in
International
Affairs
w w w .carnegiecou ncil.org/ stu d ies/ transcrip ts/ 4467.htm l
188
Ibid . More p recisely, World Ord er d escribes a system of global governance that
institionalizes coop eration and su fficiently contains conflict su ch that all nations
and their p eop les m ay achieve greater p eace and p rosp erity, im p rove their
stew ard ship of the earth, and reach m inim u m stand ard s of hu m an d ignity. AnneMarie Slau ghter, p g 15.
189
Anne-Marie Slau ghter, p g 11.
249
Mau rizio Boni
international com ponent, w ith an expansion of the scope, substance,

intensity and range of their business;
- to affirm that these netw orks are critical d im ension of any w orld ord er
w e hope to establish in this century to ad d ress the problem s w e face now
and at least in coming d ecad es 190.
In this context, I captured at least six m ain features characterizing this
setting:
- the inform al structure of governm ent netw orks: separate governm ent
institutions have no form al standing in the international system or
m od ern international law ; thereby the coexistence or conflict betw een the
form al unitary state relations and the parts of states acting in the form al
sector is a challenging relationship 191;
- the shift from hierarchy to netw ork: from a situation of com m and and
control i.e. being able to d irect people to d o things in each corporation
to the challenges posed by a m ore horizontal structure, requiring one to
m anage a regional or global netw ork 192;
- the increasing level of the com plex interd epend ence , und erstood as
an overall d escription of relations am ong nations d riven by the
increasingly transnational nature of services and by the extraterritorial
d im ension of d om estic regulation 193;
- the shift from government to governance : involving the delegation
of transfer of public functions to particular bod ies, operating on the basis
of professional or scientific techniques 194;
- the d isaggregation of states: they rem ain crucial actors, but they are
d isaggregated in the sense that they relate to each other not only
through their respective m inistries for foreign affairs, but also through a
variety of other channels 195;
Anne Marie Slau ghter, Joanne Myers. Pu blic Affair s.

192
Ibid .
193
194
195
Seeing the w orld throu gh the lenses of d isaggregated rather than u nitary states
allow s lead ers, p olicym akers, analysts, or sim p ly concerned citizens to see featu res
190
191
250
- the d isaggregation of sovereignty: trad itional conceptions of

sovereignty are inad equate to capture the com plexity of contem porary
international relations. The n ew sovereignty is specified as the
capacity to participate in international institutions of all types, in
collective efforts to steer the international system and ad d ress global and
regional problem s together w ith their national and supranational
counterparts 196.
Each of these trends presents an excellent opportunity for social
investigation as it represents an elem ent of a m ore fluid id ea of states
organization and relations. More relevant, the fact that Slaughters analysis
recalls the sam e Allams issu es concerning new form s of governance and
sovereignty, d espite her totally d ifferent research prem ises and
requirem ents. Tw o academ ics, w ith the sam e end state. Tw o processes w ith
d ifferent speed and d ynam ics, as elem ents of the sam e gear m echanism. A
longer cycle encom passing a sm aller cycle, in w hich the synchronization
m achinery is part of that new gram mar for international relations under
scrutiny.
As a m atter of fact, the above d escribed situation is just reinforcing
Zygm unt Baum ans parad igm of liqu id m od ernity presented in his
hom ologous book published tw elve years ago 197 . Giovanni Ercolani has
alread y referred to this fascinating pred icam ent that offers a capable tool for
interpreting social changes. Raym ond Lee, one of Baum ans theories
interpreters, provid es the follow ing sum m ary:
The concept of liquid m od ernity proposed by Zygm und
Baum an suggests a rapid ly changing ord er that und erm ines all
notions of d urability. It im plies a sense of rootlessness to all
form s of social construction. In the field of d evelopm ent, such a
of the global p olitical system that w ere p reviou sly hid d en. Anne -Marie Slau ghter,
p g.5.
196
As d efined by Abram and Antonia Chayes in The new Sovereignty:
Com p liance w ith International Regu latory Agreem ents. Cam brid ge, Mass.:
H arvard University Press, 1995.
197
Zygm u nt Bau m an, Liqu id Mod ernity, Cam brid ge, Polity, 2000.
251
Mau rizio Boni
concept challenges the m eaning of m od ernization as an effort to

establish long lasting structures. By applying this concept to
d evelopm ent, it is possible to ad d ress the nuances of social
change in term s of the interplay betw een the solid and liquid
aspects of m od ernization.198
In this context, the solid part of m od ernization is represented by the
centralization of institutional pow er, w hile the liquid portion by its
d issolution. Another w ay of presenting the challenging relation ship
betw een the form al unitary state relations and the d isaggregated state
portrayed by Anne Marie Slaughter.
Another author, such as Griseld a Pollock highlights the follow ing other
key aspects of Baum ans analysis:
Change is not the passage to the new ly ord ered ; it is the
cond ition of perm anently ord erless. [...] Instead of settlem ent,
location, national econom ies and political entities, w hich m ad e
the city its sym bol against all form s of transitoriness, offering
the ord er and d iscipline necessary for prod uction and
consum ption, the liquid phase of m od ernity aim s to erod e
frontiers and bound aries. [...] Baum an invites us to consid er the
relations betw een the shift from solid , d efined , localized,
territorialized , nation -bound m od ernity to that w hich he has
d efined as liquid rather than post m od ernity. In this qualifier,
liquid, Baum an catches up the effects of globalization, m igration,
nom ad ism , tourism , the effects of w orldw id e w ebs and
internets, socket-free phones and texters.199
Raym ond L.M. Lee, Bau m an, Liqu id Mod ernity and Dilem m as of
Develop m ent, Thesis Eleven, N u m ber 83, N ovem ber 2005, SAGE Pu blications,
Lond on.
199
Griseld a Pollock, Liqu id Mod ernity and Cu ltu ral Analysis An Introd u ction to
a Trannsd iscip linary Encou nter, Theory, Cu ltu re & Society 2007, SGAE
Pu blications, Lond on.
198
252
A line of reasoning w hich perfectly matches Allam s circularity and

territorial relativity.
6. Concluding remarks
Draw ing the conclusions to the conclusions is certainly w eird , but
since I d eveloped m y contribution in the form of a paper, I d ont see other
logical w ays to conclud e our brainstorm ing. The gold en nugget I w ould
take aw ay, is the portray of a spectrum of analysis in w hich
conventional/ trad itional
form s
of
societal
organizations,
and
fluid / circular/ disaggregated trends stand at the tw o opposite extrem es of
the band . They are not isolated though, as different m od alities of interaction
take place along the spectrum as life goes on.
Accord ingly, orthod ox approaches to security are challenged by
m ore com prehensive and fluid id eas of security. In this context, the
m ilitary d im ension of this d ebate, that has represented a m ain source of
concern for a part of the contributors to this book, offers its potential w hich
is pred om inant albeit lim ited , accord ing to the position that geopolitical and
social circum stances guarantee to this d im ension along the spectrum . As w e
tread this scale, it grad ually blurs to give space to m ore elaborated concerns,
interests and requirem ents, exactly as m ilitary forces are consid ered just a
part of the solution as w e get farther aw ay from conventional/ trad itional
d octrine to deploy and use them .
In som e parts of the spectrum , even the tenets of the critical security
stud ies could be at stake, as the rarefied atm osphere of the liquid
m od ernity and circularity im pose even m ore d em and in g constraints in
term s of interpreting and follow up actions. In practical term s, assessing in
w hich part of the band a given social action is supposed to take place,
und erstanding w hich d egree of freed om of action is being granted , and then
selecting the m ost appropriate tool/ m ethod ology to influence the social
environm ent, should be the recom m end ed sequence to apply by any actor
d ealing w ith security issues. Accord ingly, broadening the security agend a
should nt be consid ered as an isolated aim per se, since this end state m ust
be confronted w ith each given situation.
253
Mau rizio Boni
To im plem ent such a modus operandi, a holistic and visionary m ind set is
need ed , in ord er to grasp the essence of the evolutionary trends in each
anthropological space, to overcome com m onplaces and to challenge
conventional interpretations of reality. The sam e flexible and ad aptable
m ind set, though, capable of telling the d ifference betw een circum stances in
w hich interpreting evolutionary trend s and evolving cycles is a m ust, from
those in w hich provid ing a solid and functional governm ent in all its
aspects is the only w orkable solution. This is not a utopian proposal, but
rather a call for a m ore, I think, w orthy policy. If I w as right in capturing the
spirit of each paper I have read , all the contributors to this book could be
im portant actors in d eveloping such an articulated proced ure as true
architects of a possible new w orld . Its just a matter of selecting a context
and to start w orking.
254
The Contributors
Fina Antn Hurtado is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Murcia,
Spain. She started researching on the topic of Symbolic Anthropology, analysing
popular religiosity in Murcia. The results of her research brought about the publication
of her book: De la Virgen de la Arrixaca a la Virgen de la Fuensanta. Recently, Prof.
Antn Hurtado has focused on the themes of identity, consciousness and meaning in
advanced societies, and on these topics, together with Professor Luis Alvarez
Munrriz, she co-edited the book: Conciencia e identidad en la Comunidad de Murcia.
Prof. Antn Hurtado has published extensively in both national and international
academic journals. Her articles are to be found in 'Sociedad y Utopa, Bitarte and
Gazeta de Antropologa (Spain), Socits, and Revue de Sciences Sociales de la
France de l'Est (France), and Rivoltare il tempo (Italy). Prof. Antn Hurtados
current investigations are concentrated on Criminal Anthropology and Anthropology
and Security.
Maurizio Boni is a Brigadier General in the Italian Army and the Commander of the
Italian Joint Force Headquarters in Rome. He holds a Masters Degree in Strategic
Sciences (University of Turin, Italy), a Masters Degree in International and
Diplomatic Relations (University of Trieste, Italy) and a Master of Arts in Global
Strategy and Security (La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy). His international
education includes the international Training Course in Security Policy at the Graduate
Institute of International Studies in Geneva and the European Security and Defence
Policy High level Course, at the ESDP College in Brussels. He has published several
articles focusing on security policy in the Military Review. He is also the author of two
books, namely Arms Control and International Security (2003) and The PoliticalMilitary Dimension of the OSCE (2009). During his career, Brigadier General Boni
served as a faculty Member and Syndicate Chairman at the Center for Higher Defence
Studies at the Joint Services Senior Staff College in Rome. He was lecturer at the
Alcide De Gasperi Post Graduate Institute of European Studies in Rome where he
supervised the Course on European Security and Defence Policy for two consecutive
academic years (2005-2006 and 2006-2007). Brigadier General Boni is a journalist and
Research fellow in the History of War and Military Institutions at the Faculty of
Political Science, University of Bari, Italy.
255
Giovanni Ercolani is Thesis Advisor for the Peace Operations Training Institute,
USA.
A Doctor in Political Science and Oriental Studies, both from the La Sapienza
University of Rome, Italy, he holds an M.A. in Politics and Government from St.
Johns University, USA, and a Masters in Social Anthropology from the University of
Murcia,
Spain.
Previously,
Dr.
Ercolani
served
at
the
NATO
COMLANDSOUTHEAST HQ in Izmir, Turkey. He has been a Research Associate at
the Scottish Centre for International Security at the University of Aberdeen, UK. Dr.
Ercolani has lectured on international security issues and political anthropology in
Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania,
Albania, Turkey and China. He is a specialist in Anthropology and Security Studies,
International Terrorism, Security Studies, International Relations, Human Security,
Conflicts, Peacekeeping and International Conflict Resolution, CIMIC, Intelligence,
the Geopolitics of Energy, and Energy Security. He is a regional expert on Turkey, the
Caucasus, and the Black Sea. Dr. Ercolani is a fellow of the Royal Anthropological
Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, UK, a member of the Royal Institute of
International Affairs, Chatham House, London and of the Royal United Services
Institute, UK, and Research Associate at the Centre for Energy and Environment
Security, Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Chris Farrands studied at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, at Strathclyde
University, and at the London School of Economics. He has formerly taught at the
Open University, Leicester University and Nottingham University, and has been
visiting professor at a number of universities outside the UK, including the University
of Grenoble in France, the American University in Washington, DC and the University
of Balamand in Lebanon. He currently teaches at Nottingham Trent University, where
he offers courses in International Relations and Philosophy of Social Science as well as
being programme director for graduate studies in International Relations. He also
jointly manages the programme of research development for doctoral students across
the Schools of Arts, Humanities, Education and Fine Arts. The author, co-author and
editor of a number of books and numerous articles and published papers, Prof.
Farrands has most recently specialised in the contemporary philosophy of International
Relations and in critical security studies and political economy. His recent articles
include work on energy security for the New Political Economy and the Central
European Journal of International Relations and Security and a critique of visual
ethnography in security studies to be published by Routledge in 2012. His most recent
publications include the co-edited International Relations Theory and Philosophy:
Interpretive Dialogues (Routledge, 2010). Prof. Farrands is co-author of International
Political Economy in the Twenty-first Century (Longman, 2011).
256
Harvey Langholtz is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the College of

William and Mary. His area of specialty is the Psychology of Peacekeeping. His
publications include two books: The Psychology of Peacekeeping and The Psychology
of Diplomacy as well as journal articles on decision making and resource allocation.
From 1991 to 1993 he was a member of the US Delegation to the United Nations and
the US Representative to the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations.
Prof. Langholtz holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, an MS from the US
Navy Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, an MA from the New School for
Social Research in NY, and a BA from SUNY Oneonta.
Danielle Moretti-Langholtz completed her graduate work in anthropology at the
University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. Her primary research interests are
political economy, museology, and the political resurgence of American Indian tribes.
Since 1998, she has served as director of the American Indian Resource Center and
research assistant professor at the College of William and Mary and as curator of
Native American Art at the Muscarelle Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia. Her
publications include a book: Were Still Here: Virginia Indians In Their Own Words,
as well as journal articles on civic engagement and collaborative anthropology, and
several studies for the U.S. National Park Service on heritage and history. From 2003
to 2006, Ms. Moretti-Langholtz served as an advisor on American Indian affairs to the
governor of Virginia.
Desire Pangerc is an Italian anthropologist. Born in Trieste in 1980, she graduated in
International Diplomatic Sciences at the University of Trieste, Italy, receiving her
Ph.D. in Anthropology and Epistemology of Complexity from the University of
Bergamo, Italy. From 2008 to 2010 she was employed by the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs as a Programme Officer at the Local Technical Unit of the Italian
Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. There she also carried out her research
on human trafficking. After her fieldwork, she taught Anthropology of Development,
Applied Anthropology and Anthropology of Security at academic institutes in Trieste
and Padua and vocational training centers in Italy. In June 2012, she published her
book on the Balkan experience entitled: Il traffico degli invisibili. Migrazioni illegali
lungo le rotte balcaniche, edited by Gruppo Editoriale Bonanno.
Marco Ramazzotti is a fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University, UK
(anthropology, African history). A Doctor in International Law from the Faculty of
Law, University of Naples, Italy. He served in the Aosta Fusiliers Battalion and at the
Army School of Engineers (military and humanitarian demining). As an
anthropologist, he took part in various NATO and European military exercises dealing
257
with interventions in Africa and Europe. Since 1979, he has worked in 23 African, 3
Asian, 1 Latin American, and 9 European countries. Dr. Ramazzotti is a designer,
manager, and evaluator for development and emergency (post-war) projects. He has
been a consultant for UN agencies, European and African governments, NGOs and
companies. Having done research in Italy, the UK, France, Belgium and Portugal, he is
a trainer in un-armed security for NGOs and religious missions. His publications deal
with juridical anthropology (African traditional legal systems), institutional analysis,
conflict analysis and security, and Angolan history. Dr. Ramazzotti is married with two
children.
258

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Anthropology

and Security Studies

Foreword by Luis lvarez Munrriz

Coleccin: Cultura y Sociedad

Coleccin: Cultura y Sociedad

Universidad de Murcia, Servicio de Publicaciones, 2.013

Director de la Coleccin: Luis lvarez Munrriz

Coedicin: Universidad de Murcia, Nottingham Trent University

Diseo de Portada: Colectivo EZ. Victoria_Chezner & Manu_Daz

FOREWORD : AN THROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO SECURITY

PRLOGO: EN FOQUE AN TROPOLGICO D E LA SEGURID AD

IN TROD UCTION : AN THROPOLOGY AN D SECURITY STUD IES

1. CON SID ERATION S ON AN THROPOLOGY AN D CRITICAL

3. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PEACEKEEPIN G: ON E D OMAIN WHERE

5. AN THROPOLOGICAL METHOD S IN COUN TER-TRAFFICKIN G

Forew ord : Anthrop ological Ap p roach to Secu rity

Forew ord: Anthropological Approach to Security 1

Security is a universal aspiration of hum an beings that is present in all

Forew ord : Anthrop ological Ap p roach to Secu rity

and should be treated as such. The category of persons is a sphere in w hich

Forew ord : Anthrop ological Ap p roach to Secu rity

2. Social dimension: public security

Forew ord : Anthrop ological Ap p roach to Secu rity

In this new globalized context the challenge facing us is to recognize

Forew ord : Anthrop ological Ap p roach to Secu rity

of the American em pire m ust be unavoid ably overcom e. In this situation a

Prlogo: enfoque antropolgico de la seguridad

Prlogo: enfoque antropolgico de la seguridad

social al que pertenecen y pod er d isfrutar d e los bienes que le ofrece el

Prlogo: enfoque antropolgico de la seguridad

d erechos fund am entales que estn ligad os a su existencia que en manera

d erecho al trabajo que quien lo posee las pued e satisfacer. La globalizacin

Prlogo: enfoque antropolgico de la seguridad

fallid os d em uestra lo acertad o d e esta d ecisin. H oy se consid era que la

por el m antenimiento d e las costum bres tradicionales que aspiraban a

Prlogo: enfoque antropolgico de la seguridad

La presencia d e tensiones o enfrentamientos culturales genera, a nivel

id entifica con subjetivism o o relativism o. H ay principios universales que

Prlogo: enfoque antropolgico de la seguridad

geopoltica com o una form a d e m antener el pod er am ericano y al mism o

d escartar el peligro d e un enfrentamiento m ilitar si lo que por el m om ento

Introd u ction: Anthrop ology and Secu rity Stu d ies

Introduction: Anthropology and Security Studies

1. The production of know ledge and Security Studies

Fina Antn H u rtad o and Giovanni Ercolani

narratives, d iscourses, language and id eologies of security. In this volume,

Introd u ction: Anthrop ology and Secu rity Stu d ies

Fina Antn H u rtad o and Giovanni Ercolani

As an exam ple of how particular narratives w ith political repercussion

Introd u ction: Anthrop ology and Secu rity Stu d ies

Fina Antn H u rtad o and Giovanni Ercolani

Introd u ction: Anthrop ology and Secu rity Stu d ies

Fina Antn H u rtad o and Giovanni Ercolani

security agend a, generating w hat Roland Dannreuther has called critical

Introd u ction: Anthrop ology and Secu rity Stu d ies

At the sam e tim e these threats can help us to id entify, w here it is

Fina Antn H u rtad o and Giovanni Ercolani

it w as ignored or subordinated to id eological consid erations d uring the cold

Introd u ction: Anthrop ology and Secu rity Stu d ies

a problem of philosophy of science in w hich ontological and

Fina Antn H u rtad o and Giovanni Ercolani

that the concept of security is linked to sym bolic representations of

Introd u ction: Anthrop ology and Secu rity Stu d ies

H ow ever, even if w e do not agree w ith the above sentence, and w e