James E. Hickey – författare

In this volume, experts on government examine historical as well as contemporary contexts to government structures in the United States and the states of the former U.S.S.R. Throughout, the contributors look at federalism at both local and national levels, and they try to assess how and why the two systems developed as they did. While the political history of the former Soviet Union favored a central monopoly-of-power system over a pluralism-of-separate-authority approach, this provides only part of an answer to a complex issue.Taken together the collection provides an exhaustive examination of the opportunities and obstacles presented by government structures, which reflect the need for both local autonomy and concerned action. This volume will be of concern to political figures and policymakers, constitutional experts, and political scientists.

James Hickey proceeds from the premise that throughout history, humans have demonstrated a proclivity for using violence against one another as a means to achieve an end, means enabled, in many respects, by the technologies available at the time. Advancing technology has often been a prime enabler of ever-increasing levels of violence and attendant human suffering. At a few junctures in history, however, certain technologies have seemingly provided the armed forces that possess them the ability to fight wars with decreasing levels of violence and suffering. Today, precision-guided munitions (PGMs) with their high degree of discrimination and accuracy again hold such promise. This book seeks to answer the question: Do PGMs mitigate suffering in war, and have these weapons changed the way decisions regarding war and peace have been made? Answering this question helps us understand possible shifts in emphasis in modern warfare, both in terms of methods employed and of the greater concern placed on limiting human suffering during conflict. This book will help students of ethics, just war and military history and senior military and civilian leaders to understand the possible outcomes and wider implications of their strategic choices to use such technology.