Entries from The WIP Contributors tagged with 'War'

Rape Survivors in the Military: Invisible No More

by Alexandra Marie Daniels Arts, Culture & Media Editor "If everyone knows, it can’t be a secret." - The Invisible War “If you could do one thing political this month, go see this film.” These words stay with me in...

Green Scarves for Solidarity with Afghan Women

by Kate Hughes -UK- Ten years ago, Afghan women were promised a bright future. After decades of civil war, and repressive Taliban rule, they entered a new era in which they were once again able to work, send their daughters...

Hell and Back Again Brings Home The Psychological Devastation of War

by Alexandra Marie Daniels -USA- This week marks the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. For most of us, this is a relatively insignificant fact in our daily lives. We acknowledge our military as distant heroes, doing important work...

Civilians' Key Role in Afghanistan Strategy

by Heidi K. Zirtzlaff -USA- On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that US President Barack Obama remains committed to his strategy in Afghanistan and that no major changes will be announced in his upcoming December review. A senior administration official...

Looking Forward: But What Does Sierra Leone's Future Hold?

by Pushpa Iyer -USA- Dr. Pushpa Iyer was in Sierra Leone leading a two-week course for fourteen Monterey Institute of International Studies and Middlebury College students. In this series of articles and student blogs, Dr. Iyer and her students reflect...

Violence Breeds Violence: “Afghanistan without bombs and burqas”

by Wazhmah Osman - Afghanistan/USA - Today Afghanistan finds itself in a state of collapse and at the center of a powerful network of global terrorism. Kabul is a city filled with anxiety, insecurity, instability, trauma, and uncertainty; lost souls...

Dancing The Divide: Interview with Pakistani Peacemaker Sheema Kermani

by Aditi Bhaduri - India - With her large flashing eyes rimmed with kohl and flowing hair, she is the quintessential dancer. Despite her chain-smoking, she is the picture of health and surprisingly agile. But then again, she has been...

“Deeply Divided”: Sri Lanka through the Eyes of Adele Barker

by Mandy Van Deven - India - During the year she taught Russian literature at the University of Peradeniya in Kandy, Sri Lanka, Arizona University professor Adele Barker found herself more comfortable in the role of perpetual learner than educator....

Defending Human Rights in Colombia is a Deadly Job

by Moira Birss - Colombia - “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid,” Jorge tells me. “Your right to freedom disappears - you have to limit your movements and activities.” I would be afraid, too; Jorge and...

Another 5 years of Karzai: An Afghan-American Perspective from Kabul

by Wazhmah Osman - Afghanistan/USA - I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan during the good years, in the early seventies. Among my fondest memories is walking to and from school holding the hand of my stylish mother who was then...

Paint It Black: Women in Iraq Pay for Liberation

by Miaad A. Hassan - USA - For a long time she resisted, but four years ago Amal started to wear the hijab - her bright and shining youth draped in black. She is a 25-year-old Iraqi woman, and she...

Colombia’s War: “He’s giving our country away”

by Moira Birss - Colombia - The sparse media coverage of Colombia tends only to give vague descriptions of a violent country with a thriving drug trade. But I’ve come to understand in my 15 months living and working here...

Ramadan: A Time for Peace or Another Month of War?

by Patricia DeGennaro - USA - After being embroiled in years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, most Americans have now heard of Islam’s holiest month, Ramadan, which began on August 22nd this year. (Note: Ramadan is based on the...

The Human Cost of Unregulated Arms Trade

by Binalakshmi Nepram-Mentschel - India - In July I spoke before the United Nations General Assembly in honor of the tens of thousands of people who have lost their lives to gun violence in my part of the world. The...

Remote Warfare Radically Changes the Front Lines

by Kimberly N. Chase - USA - In ancient times, warriors could look one another in the eye on the battlefield. War was fought with minimal weaponry, a person-to-person test of bravery and strength. Battlefields were clearly demarcated, extending only...

From Iraq to Afghanistan: Out of One Occupation and into Another

by Patricia DeGennaro - USA - Barack Obama promised Americans that he would move to withdraw American troops from Iraq once he takes office as President of the United States. As troops were “freed” from that war, he would send...

Thoughts from Mumbai: A Return to Gandhi’s Dream for India

by Rupa Chinai - India - In the aftermath of Mumbai’s most recent encounter with terrorism, there is the feeling of isolation felt by those pleading for sense and reason. These voices are being drowned out amidst the jingoism and...

No Time for War: A Call for Peace Amid Rising Nuclear Tensions between Pakistan and India

by Zubeida Mustafa - Pakistan - Peace activists in Pakistan and India are attempting desperately to be heard above the din raised by warmongers – elitist by all counts and claiming to be patriotic as well – in the wake...

The Granny Peace Brigade Campaigns to Close All US Military Bases - in Latin America and Around the World

by Nancy Van Ness - USA - Their hats adorned with artificial flowers identify them at many of the protests in which I participate. The Grannies also show up on New York City's Union Square to sing their signature anti-war...

Why I Too Have Never Been Proud of a Presidential Candidate, Until Now

by Martín Granada - USA - One of the first times I ever saw my mother cry was the night Reagan was elected president. She cloistered herself in her bathroom and drank an uncustomary glass of wine. I found her...

A Different Kind of Birthday Party

by Shenali Waduge - Sri Lanka - At only a year old, would a child know that she was in front of a cake attempting to blow out something called a candle? When my daughter turned one she was pretty...

Niger Delta Crisis: Women and Children of the Creeks Pay High Price for Nigeria's Oil

by Remi Adeoye - Nigeria - There is stiff opposition to the proposed Niger Delta Summit slated to be held in Abuja, Nigeria. The Delta’s most prominent militant group, known as The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta...

According to Harold Bloom, “What we are seeing is…the fall of America”

by Eva Sohlman - Sweden - Harold Bloom, Yale literature professor and cultural critic, is one of America’s most prominent and provocative intellectuals. Unabashedly, he has always spoken up for what he calls “the fight for truth and beauty” making...