du 12/02/2010 au 13/02/2010Understanding New Wars

Conference  summary

Whilst for centuries antagonists in inter-state wars  could be clearly defined (in terms of technological capacity, disciplined  state armies, the pursuit of strategic political goals), ‘new wars’ have  ceased to be objects or tools in the service of a political will aimed at  state-building. New wars feed on processes of state disintegration, the  asymmetry of war parties, and the blurring of front lines, thus arguably  making Clausewitz’s conception of war as a duel between antagonists aiming to  confront each other in decisive battle obsolete. This conference seeks to  explore an interpretive line that investigates logics of symmetry, notably  the tendency of antagonists to vindicate their attacks by their own status as  victims. Following Clausewitz, it essentially works on the premise that  periods of peace, i.e. the absence of war, still can be seen as the  continuity of a Zweikampf (combat) between antagonists. Whilst the conqueror  wants peace, the defender potentially is the real aggressor because past  defeats and humiliations are used as counter-narratives to prepare the  counter-attack. Clausewitz’s anthropological insight here is that the  aggressor has always been already aggressed. The long-standing  Israeli-Palestinian conflict perhaps best exemplifies how the spiral of  vengeance is vindicated by each side’s position as uniquely suffering  victims. In the global world, the distinctions between conquerors and  defenders, perpetrators and victims have been blurred further. Nowadays, not  only terrorists can vindicate their ‘holy war’ by self-attributions of  victimhood but the ‘international community’ have used their status as  (potential) victims of terrorist attacks to strike back in the name of  ‘universal values’.  Calls for vengeance phrased in the language of ‘just  war’ are now more evenly distributed, making potential aggression in the name  of one’s own victimhood and self-defence more likely.
 
  This conference explores the masks of new wars from the perspective of longue  durée civilisational dynamics and to discern anthropological, psychological,  and even spiritual forms of reciprocity underlying new wars. It will address  the following questions: What is the role of narratives of victimhood,  suffering, and humiliation in psychologically preparing populations for war?  To what extent are new wars underpinned by unconscious  psychological-emotional processes of reciprocity? If world religions such as  Christianity or Islam are founded on beliefs and ideas that put the care for  the victim in the centre of ritual practices how can the ‘cult of victims’  justify terror and violence? What are possible ways to transform spirals of  vengeance into active strategies of reconciliation?

12 February

09:00 -  09:30

Registration

09:30 -  09:45

Introduction: Harald Wydra (University of Cambridge)

09:45 - 11:30

Session I

Chair: Pierpaolo Antonello (University  of Cambridge)

Benoit Chantre
(Paris)
  Clausewitz and Girard: War  as a Duel

Wolfgang Palaver
(University of Innsbruck)
  War and Politics: Clausewitz  and Schmitt from the Perspective of Mimetic Theory

Discussion

11:30 -  11:45

Coffee break

11:45 - 13:30

Session II

Chair: Glenn Bowman
(University of Kent)

Arpad Szakolczai
(University College Cork)
  New Wars and Permanent  Liminality

Harvie Ferguson
(University of Glasgow)
  Surf War: Oblivion and the  Normalisation of Trauma in Contemporary Life

13:30 -  14:30

Lunch break

14:30 - 16:15

Session III

Chair: Roberto Farneti (University of Bolzano/Bozen  and Institut für Sozialforschung, Frankfurt)

Richard Sakwa
(University of Kent)
  Cold Peace: Mimetic Wars in  the Post-Cold War Era

Alexander Etkind
(University of Cambridge)

  Oil Curse, Double Monopoly,  and the Future of New Wars

16:15 -  16:30

Coffee break

16:30 - 17:30

Session IV

Harald Wydra
(University of Cambridge)
  New Wars and the Symbolism  of the Victim

Discussion

19:30

Conference dinner:
  Senior Combination Room, St Catharine's College, Trumpington Street

12 February

09:00 -  09:30

Registration

09:30 -  09:45

Introduction: Harald Wydra (University of Cambridge)

09:45 - 11:30

Session I

Chair: Pierpaolo Antonello (University  of Cambridge)

Benoit Chantre
(Paris)
  Clausewitz and Girard: War  as a Duel

Wolfgang Palaver
(University of Innsbruck)
  War and Politics: Clausewitz  and Schmitt from the Perspective of Mimetic Theory

Discussion

11:30 -  11:45

Coffee break

11:45 - 13:30

Session II

Chair: Glenn Bowman
(University of Kent)

Arpad Szakolczai
(University College Cork)
  New Wars and Permanent  Liminality

Harvie Ferguson
(University of Glasgow)
  Surf War: Oblivion and the  Normalisation of Trauma in Contemporary Life

13:30 -  14:30

Lunch break

14:30 - 16:15

Session III

Chair: Roberto Farneti (University of Bolzano/Bozen  and Institut für Sozialforschung, Frankfurt)

Richard Sakwa
(University of Kent)
  Cold Peace: Mimetic Wars in  the Post-Cold War Era

Alexander Etkind
(University of Cambridge)

  Oil Curse, Double Monopoly,  and the Future of New Wars

16:15 -  16:30

Coffee break

16:30 - 17:30

Session IV

Harald Wydra
(University of Cambridge)
  New Wars and the Symbolism  of the Victim

Discussion

19:30

Conference dinner:
  Senior Combination Room, St Catharine's College, Trumpington Street

13 February

09:00 - 10:45

Session V

Chair: Devon Curtis (University of Cambridge)

Ziya Meral (University of Cambridge)

  Clash of Narratives: Victimhood memories in the Middle East)

Roberto Farneti
(University of Bolzano/Bozen and Institut für Sozialforschung, Frankfurt)
  On Twins and other Mimetic  Clones: The Politics of Mimesis in the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Discussion

10:45 -  11:00

Coffee break

11:00 - 12:45

Session VI

Chair: Harald Wydra
(University of Cambridge)

Glenn Bowman
(University of Kent)
  Walling and Encystation:  Containment as a Mode of Warfare

Mark Anspach
(Ecole Polytechnique, Paris)
  Fighting for Victimhood: A  Tale of Two Zionisms

Discussion

12:45 - 13:30

Session VII: Final Discussion

13:30

Lunch and  close