All too often in conflict situations, rape is referred to as a 'weapon of war', a term presented as self-explanatory through its implied storyline of gender and warring. In this provocative but much-needed book, Eriksson Baaz and Stern challenge the dominant understandings of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings. Reading with and against feminist analyses of the interconnections between gender, warring, violence and militarization, the authors address many of the thorny issues inherent in the arrival of sexual violence on the global security agenda. Based on original fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as research material from other conflict zones, Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War? challenges the recent prominence given to sexual violence, bravely highlighting various problems with isolating sexual violence from other violence in war. A much-anticipated book by two acknowledged experts in the field, on an issue that has become an increasingly important security, legal and gender topic.

Reports of sexual violence in armed conflict frequently appear in political discussions and news media, presenting a stark contrast to a long history of silence and nonrecognition. Conflict-related sexual violence has transitioned rapidly from a neglected human rights issue to an unambiguous security concern on the agendas of powerful states and the United Nations Security Council. Through interviews and primary-source evidence, Kerry F. Crawford investigates the reasons for this dramatic change and the implications of the securitization of sexual violence. Views about wartime sexual violence began changing in the 1990s as a result of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and then accelerated in the 2000s. Three case studies—the United States' response to sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1820 in 2008, and the development of the United Kingdom’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative—illustrate that use of the weapon of war frame does not represent pure co-optation by the security sector. Rather, well-placed advocates have used this frame to advance the antisexual violence agenda while simultaneously working to move beyond the frame’s constraints. This book is a groundbreaking account of the transformation of international efforts to end wartime sexual violence.

This book is a well-researched and moving account of how sexual assault on women has become a potent weapon in virtually all armed conflicts. Chapters giving historical and geographic perspectives describe how rape has been used throughout the ages and around the world. Case histories reveal the individual tragedies within the broad picture.

Wartime sexual violence belongs to one of the most horrific aspects of modern warfare. However, unlike much of the literature until the early 2000s suggested, it is not a ubiquitous element of war. The prevalence of sexual violence varies not only across conflicts but also within them. This thesis analyzes the variation of conflict-related sexual violence through a comparison of two Colombian armed groups, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). Drawing from theories that link the organizational structures of armed groups to their violence repertoires, it examines the importance of group norms, the gendered composition of armed groups and the effectiveness of command and control structures to explain the variation of conflict-related violence in the Colombian conflict. The findings suggest that the combination of group norms banning the sexual victimization of civilians, high levels of female participation and strict command and control account for the relative absence of sexual violence from the FARC's violence repertoire. On the other hand, the absence of group wide norms coupled with weak hierarchical and disciplinary strength explains the high levels of sexual abuse perpetrated by the AUC.

This is a curated and comprehensive collection of the most important works covering matters related to national security, diplomacy, defense, war, strategy, and tactics. The collection spans centuries of thought and experience, and includes the latest analysis of international threats, both conventional and asymmetric. It also includes riveting first person accounts of historic battles and wars.Some of the books in this Series are reproductions of historical works preserved by some of the leading libraries in the world. As with any reproduction of a historical artifact, some of these books contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. We believe these books are essential to this collection and the study of war, and have therefore brought them back into print, despite these imperfections.We hope you enjoy the unmatched breadth and depth of this collection, from the historical to the just-published works.