- Summary
- A popular myth emerged in the late 1990s: in 1900, wars killed one civilian for every eight soldiers, while contemporary wars were killing eight civilians for every one soldier. The neat reversal of numbers was memorable, and academic publications and UN documents regularly cited it. The more it was cited, the more trusted it became. In fact, however, subsequent research found no empirical evidence for the idea that the ratio of civilians to soldiers killed in war has changed dramatically. But while the ratios may not have changed, the political significance of civilian casualties has risen tremendously. Over the past century, civilians in war have gone from having no particular rights to having legal protections and rights that begin to rival those accorded to states. The concern for civilians in conflict has become so strong that governments occasionally undertake humanitarian interventions, at great risk and substantial cost, to protect strangers in distant lands. I n the early 1990s, the UN Security Council authorized military interventions to help feed and protect civilians in the Kurdish area of Iraq, Somalia, and Bosnia. And in May 2011 , Barack Obama 's National Security Advisor explained the United States' decision to support NATO's military intervention in these terms "When the president made this decision, there was an immediate threat to 700,000 Libyan civilians in the town of Benghazi. We've had a success here in terms of being able to protect those civilians -- Provided by Publisher.
- Series
- Studies in strategic peacebuilding
Studies in strategic peacebuilding.
- Format
- Book
- Published
- Oxford : Oxford University Press, [2013]
©2013
- Contents
-
Who counts?
Introduction / Taylor B. Seybolt, Jay D. Aronson, and Baruch Fischhoff
Significant numbers: civilian casualties and strategic peacebuilding / Taylor B. Seybolt
The politics of civilian casualty counts / Jay D. Aronson
Recording violence: incident-based data
Iraq body count: a case study in the uses of incident-based conflict casualty data aggregate conflict casualty data / John Sloboda, Hamit Dardagan, Michael Spagat, and Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks
A matter of convenience: challenges of non-random data in analyzing
Human rights violations in Peru and Sierra Leone / Todd Landman and Anita Gohdes
Estimating violence: surveys
Using surveys to estimate casualties post-conflict: developments for the developing world / Jana Asher
Collecting data on violence: scientific challenges and ethnographic solutions / Meghan Foster Lynch
Estimating violence: multiple-systems estimation
Combining found data and surveys to measure conflict mortality / Jeff Klingner and Romesh Silva
Multiple-systems estimation techniques for estimating casualties in armed conflicts / Daniel Manrique-Vallier, Megan E. Price, and Anita Gohdes
Mixed methods
MSE and casualty counts: assumptions, interpretation, and challenges / Nicholas P. Jewell, Michael Spagat, and Britta L. Jewell
A review of estimation methods for victims of the Bosnian war and the Khmer Rouge regime / Ewa Tabeau and Jan Zwierzchowski
The complexity of casualty numbers
It doesn't add up: methodological and policy implications of conflicting casualty data / Jule Krüger, Patrick Ball, Megan Price, and Amelia Hoover Green
Challenges to counting and classifying victims of violence in conflict
Post-conflict, and non-conflict settings / Keith Krause
Conclusion
Moving toward more accurate casualty counts / Jay D. Aronson, Baruch Fischhoff, and Taylor B. Seybolt.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Seybolt, Taylor B., editor.
Aronson, Jay D., 1974- editor.
Fischhoff, Baruch, 1946- editor.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Who counts? -- Introduction / Taylor B. Seybolt, Jay D. Aronson, and Baruch Fischhoff -- Significant numbers: civilian casualties and strategic peacebuilding / Taylor B. Seybolt -- The politics of civilian casualty counts / Jay D. Aronson -- Recording violence: incident-based data -- Iraq body count: a case study in the uses of incident-based conflict casualty data aggregate conflict casualty data / John Sloboda, Hamit Dardagan, Michael Spagat, and Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks -- A matter of convenience: challenges of non-random data in analyzing -- Human rights violations in Peru and Sierra Leone / Todd Landman and Anita Gohdes -- Estimating violence: surveys -- Using surveys to estimate casualties post-conflict: developments for the developing world / Jana Asher -- Collecting data on violence: scientific challenges and ethnographic solutions / Meghan Foster Lynch -- Estimating violence: multiple-systems estimation -- Combining found data and surveys to measure conflict mortality / Jeff Klingner and Romesh Silva -- Multiple-systems estimation techniques for estimating casualties in armed conflicts / Daniel Manrique-Vallier, Megan E. Price, and Anita Gohdes -- Mixed methods -- MSE and casualty counts: assumptions, interpretation, and challenges / Nicholas P. Jewell, Michael Spagat, and Britta L. Jewell -- A review of estimation methods for victims of the Bosnian war and the Khmer Rouge regime / Ewa Tabeau and Jan Zwierzchowski -- The complexity of casualty numbers -- It doesn't add up: methodological and policy implications of conflicting casualty data / Jule Krüger, Patrick Ball, Megan Price, and Amelia Hoover Green -- Challenges to counting and classifying victims of violence in conflict -- Post-conflict, and non-conflict settings / Keith Krause -- Conclusion -- Moving toward more accurate casualty counts / Jay D. Aronson, Baruch Fischhoff, and Taylor B. Seybolt.
