War

Summary Currently much debate centers on the issue of whether drone strikes radicalize some people and increase the risk of retaliatory attacks. This article addresses this issue by presenting some research data demonstrating that war violence with similar contextual characteristics as drone warfare have certain cognitive and emotional effects (e.g. sense of injustice, anger, outrage, helplessness, loss of meaning in life, and desire for revenge) that are indistinguishable from those of torture in their nature and intensity. Such emotional reactions in humans possibly reflect evolutionarily-determined responses to threats to their physical and psychological well-being. As such, they could well contribute… Read More ›

SUMMARY Much of the current debate about the morality and legality of drone warfare focuses on the number of civilian casualties with little attention to its mental health, socio-economic, cultural, and political consequences. A recent study in Pakistan by the Stanford Law School and New York University (NYU) School of Law suggests that such outcomes of drone strikes need serious consideration. This article presents a learning theory analysis of the contextual trauma characteristics of drone warfare and systematic torture and points to striking commonalities between these two ostensibly different traumatic events. Substantial evidence shows that helplessness induced by unpredictable and… Read More ›