Showing papers in "Medicine, Conflict and Survival in 1985"

The development of the physicians' peace movements.

Abstract: A brief historical account is given of the development of medical ethics, and of the gradual assumption of medical responsibilities in relation to victims of war. The idea that the medical profession as a whole should be concerned with health problems throughout the world, other than those of their own nationals, is quite recent. Collaboration in this area began with the International Health Organization of the League of Nations, and was greatly strengthened by the setting up of the World Health Organization by the United Nations in 1948. However, the idea that the medical profession has a duty to try to prevent war, rather than to mitigate its sufferings, is almost new and arose largely from the realization that war involving nuclear weapons poses the greatest immediate health hazard to humankind. The growth of physicians’ organizations during the past 30, but especially the past 5 or 6 years, is described, and the significance of their federation to form International Physicians for the Prevention of Nu...

The nuclear imperative the Crookshank lecture,1984

Abstract: The overwhelming destructiveness of thermonuclear weapons is illustrated by some simple comparisons with TNT—the ‘conventional’ military explosive. There is no theoretical upper limit to the size of an H‐bomb. It is recognized that nuclear war cannot be ‘won’ and must therefore be prevented; the current policy of ‘deterrence’ is examined and is seen to lead, not to a stable balance but, inexorably, to escalation. Richardson's mathematical analysis of conflict situations showed that automatic military responses to perceived threats generally lead to an escalating arms race. Human beings, however, need not behave like automata. Instead, they can try to see things from the standpoint of the adversary and seek ways of reducing instead of increasing tension. It is only if such saner responses are made that stability can be achieved. Scientists and technicians must not become so fascinated by the technological interest of weapons development that they ignore its ultimate purpose. Immanuel Kant summed up the con...

The myth of rationality in situations of crisis.

Abstract: The likelihood of a nuclear war being self‐activated owing to technical error may be lower than it was but the risk of nuclear war from human error has increased considerably. In an acute East‐West crisis that could escalate out of control because of a misperception or an accident, the features that are particularly dangerous are psychological stress due to the urgency to make a decision, the material values at stake, and the uncertainty of the outcome. The behaviour of people generally in crisis situations, both as individuals and in groups, is discussed. Examples illustrate the likelihood of irrational decision‐making in a situation of military and political crisis, even in favourable circumstances. Human beings are not machines, but individuals with personal problems and a potential to act irrationally.

The nuclear threat: when it hurts to think.

Abstract: (2009). The Nuclear Threat: When it Hurts to Think. Medicine, Conflict and Survival: Vol. 25, No. 4, pp. 279-280.

The sociobiology of war.

Abstract: Sociobiology is a recent outgrowth of ethology, the discipline concerned specifically with the study of animal behaviour. Its primary interest lies in the study of the evolution of behaviour. As such, it emphasizes a ‘gene's eye view’ of life that has often been misinterpreted as implying genetic determinism. Its primary concern, however, lies in the evolutionary consequences of behaviour and not with the developmental processes that underlie its ontogeny. Culture forms a key component of the human evolutionary strategy, so it can be studied quite legitimately from a sociobiological point of view. Sociobiology suggests that there is an inherent tension between the self‐interest of individuals and their willingness to conform to the wider interests of the society in which they live. While aggression (including organized war) can be viewed as a strategy that is often successful in ensuring a particular group's long‐term security, nonetheless the extent to which the group's members will be willing to sustain...

Nuclear war: lessons from disaster.

Abstract: One of the greatest difficulties in alerting people to the possibility of nuclear war is overcoming their denial of the threat. Some degree of optimism has allowed man to avoid social paralysis in the face of the natural disasters that have been the ubiquitous experience of most generations. Paradoxically, this tendency to deny the hazards that lie in the future can interfere with an adequate appraisal of the real threats to our survival. Studying the effect of natural disasters is one way of demonstrating the danger of such denial as well as providing opportunity to understand this phenomenon. A bushfire disaster is described in an attempt to highlight some of the elements of social and psychological disruption that would arise during and after a nuclear holocaust. It is striking how most people rapidly minimize the intensity and danger of the threat they experienced in the disaster, to the point that people have taken few or no steps to prevent the inevitable recurrence of such fires. This demonstrates ...

A biosocial perspective of peace and war

Abstract: Aggression and its most organized group expression, warfare, are phenomena that have considerable interest to those in the social and biological sciences. Indeed, it can be argued that it is only as a biosocial maladaption that such human behaviour can now be properly understood. This article briefly reviews the changing academic attitudes to the nature of aggression and war in human communities, past and present, arguing that society must begin to accept warfare now as a state of highly destructive social pathology. It can no longer be acceptable for the machinery of politics to place communities into states of warfare, or under the threat of mass‐destructive war, considering the increasing knowledge of human behaviour and that the vast majority of people as individuals are peace‐loving and not bellicose. Chronic world unrest urgently needs to be viewed in scientific, biosocial and epidemiological terms. Successful prophylaxis against the continuing violence must include an attempt to impart these perspe...

Nuclear weapons and nuclear power stations: What is the connection?

Abstract: From the start of the nuclear age with the dropping of two atom bombs on Japan in 1945 it has been known that this new source of primary energy could be exploited for weapons or for replacing coal or oil in electricity‐generating stations. Nuclear energy is made from two elements: naturally occurring uranium and man‐made plutonium. Their processing differs according to the intended end‐use. Great efforts have been and still are made to disguise the close connection between nuclear energy for war and for power stations. Two reasons are suggested for this: political convenience in avoiding additional informed protests against nuclear weapon production and industrial convenience in carrying on without public protest what has become a very profitable industry. It is argued that medical doctors, because of their professional prestige, can speak and be listened to on the risks of continuing to exploit this newly discovered form of energy. Furthermore, this industry is uniquely hazardous to the health of its wor...

Civil defence in the United Kingdom.

Abstract: What must be avoided in the nuclear age is wishful thinking. Wishful thinking occurs in an atmosphere of maximum terror (as in Mutual Assured Destruction), and where there is little opportunity for reality testing (as in the East‐West communication barrier). In the small, densely populated island of Britain, the size of today's growing nuclear threat will create responses where delusional thinking can easily dominate. A belief in effective civil defence may induce a sense of false security which may in turn direct attention from the fundamental problem of East‐West mistrust.