Jeff Bachman and Esther Brito Ruiz, The politics of war and aggression
In a new paper published in Critical Studies on Security,聽SIS Professor Jeff Bachman and SIS PhD Student Esther Brito Ruiz examine the different global responses to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq.
Putin and Bush both provided justifications for their invasions of聽Ukraine and聽Iraq, but only Putin's actions have been widely labeled as a clear case of aggression, with many calling them war crimes and even genocide. This difference is striking because both invasions were similar in key ways: they were carried out unilaterally, justified with shaky claims about threats and human rights, and caused significant death and suffering, often in ways that violated international law. Yet the global response to each has been very different鈥攂oth in political speeches and media coverage, and in the legal consequences that followed.
In their analysis, Bachman and Brito Ruiz聽look at what these wars had in common, how they were treated in major U.S. publications, and what this tells us about how public understanding of war is shaped. They聽conclude by exploring聽how these differences affect the way leaders are held accountable during times of conflict.
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