Гольцева О.Ю. Международное право в официальных документах. Под ред. И.А. Горшеневой

291

militaries, without the same (harsh) punishments militaries inflict. Women are included in suicide terrorism throughout the Middle East.

Exercise 25. Answer and debate these questions.

1.What is a “new” form of armed conflict/war risks?

Give examples.

2.How does warfare affect men and women? Who suffers more?

3.Does economic warfare affect women differently? In what ways?

4.What is casus belli? What kind of casus belli do we come across in wartime?

Exercise 26. Suggest the Russian equivalents for the following words and word combinations.

Exercise 27. Debate these issues.

1.What crimes do you think are committed in warfare? What crimes did Nazis made on the territory of Russia during the Great Patriotic War? What about other countries?

2.Is the search for Nazi war criminals still going on? What international organizations conduct this hunt?

3.Are war criminals brought to justice?

292

Exercise 28. Read the following article. There are two different opinions. Which do you share and why?

Should the hunt for Nazis continue?

As the last remaining Nazis from World War II approach the end of their lives, it is debatable whether it is still worthwhile to pursue them.

Their crimes took place more than 60 years ago, it is often hard to gather evidence that will secure a conviction, and the defendants could die before the legal process is complete.

Here, two observers put the case for and against continuing efforts to trace and prosecute the guilty.

BERNARD JOSEPHS, FREELANCE JOURNALIST

While I understand the desire to bring these people to book, the fact is that it's for diminishing returns. It costs a lot of money, it involves a lot of resources for something which I wouldn't say was not worthwhile, but at least is questionable.

There are a lot of Holocaust survivors and families who have suffered trauma, and these people do need help. They need counselling, support financially and otherwise.

We have today a situation where people do question the Holocaust and whether it really happened. I think Holocaust education is another direction where the money should be spent.

We have a burgeoning far right in Europe, and in the UK, and that needs to be addressed.

I just feel that would be a better use of the money than putting on trial people who, in any case, are going to answer for their crimes in a much higher court than we have on earth.

I think hunting these men down now is pointless, but I am absolutely furious that these people, at relatively early ages, were able to carry on lives as normal after the war. We should have hunted them down years ago.

293

It's pointless to hunt them down now they're in their 80s and 90s. I would rather look after the survivors, and get their stories on record, so that no-one can deny what happened.

BERND KOSCHLAND, MEMBER OF ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH REFUGEES

We still have to persevere in pursuing the Nazi war criminal for a number of reasons.

They have committed crimes, so they need to be found and it needs to be logged, because otherwise it passes out of human knowledge.

If someone is found guilty then the sentence is really immaterial. What matters is that justice has to be done.

Even though it happened 60-odd years ago, the effects of it on individuals are still there – psychologically and physically.

I came to the UK in 1939, but my parents and several other family members died at the hands of Nazis in camps in Izbica, Poland, and Riga in Latvia.

Tracking Nazis down is an important lesson to demonstrate to potential modern-day human rights abusers that their crimes will never be tolerated.

I don't think you can forgive these people their crimes. What you can do is build a bridge of understanding.

We can live alongside each other as long as we both remember I cannot forgive, you should not be able to forget, but let's build a kind of bridge between each other to make a better future.

Exercise 29. Debate the following question.

Do you consider reviving fascism to be one of the challenges of the modern world?

Exercise 30. Study the readers’ commentaries to the article above. Which of them surprised you? Which of them do you consider unacceptable? Why?

294

They both present valid arguments. I would more toward reallocating the funds to educating people about the Holocaust. Those who are currently being pursued are more than likely subordinates and lower level guards, who would have been thrown into the gas chambers themselves if they had refused to carry out the orders that they were given. They should offer an amnesty to these people as an incentive to have them come forward, and allow the public scorn to suffice for their punishment. Using public funds to prosecute geriatrics is irresponsible. If we were talking about the Nazi policy makers, and higher level commanders, that would be one thing, but in the current economic situation, other, more pressing matters such as criminal justice funding, take precedence. Ben, New York

What justice? They're 90 y.o.! They lived full life, grew very old and probably reading this article with a smirk right now. Its pointless, as sad as it sounds – they've escaped justice in many ways. God will judge them. Why don't all those Nazi-hunters stop living in the past and invest these efforts and finances into fighting skin-heads and other "nazi clubs" that are spreading around Europe like a plague. If you're fighting the past – you're ignoring the future. And if we learned anything from history – it tends to repeat itself. Vlad, Toronto. Canada.

If Hitler himself had escaped and was still around somewhere today, would we allow him to have a peaceful life and put his feet up to enjoy "retirement." Would we excuse him just because it was so long ago? Why should other Nazi criminals have that luxury just because their names are not as known to us as those who stood trial in Nuremberg? Who are we to tell the victims of the Holocaust to forget and forgive? If we had been through what they have, how well would we be sleeping at night? True, the punishment will not fit the crime. True, no money will bring back what has been lost. But how do you put a price tag on the peace of mind of millions who suffer to this very day?

295

Darren, London

Regardless of age, health, family, these murderers killed innocent men, women and children. They should be hounded to death. I have nothing but praise for the efforts of those organizations who continue to pursue these evil people. David Ewing, Paris, France.

These people are the last surviving people to have participated in one of the worlds most horrific chapters. Life imprisonment is not the answer though. These people should be made to tour the world telling everyone what they have done until their dying day. Hiding them in four walls (certainly not execution) does no good at all. Listening to these people retell their terrible crimes may ring louder down through history than anything else. Graham, Coventry.

It is to our everlasting shame that we did not hunt these people down long ago – but we should carry on until the very last in memory of those that suffered. MG, London.

Did they ever refrain from murdering someone because they were too old, too sick, too frail, or even too young? Could you forgive someone who had butchered your own mother or father, brother or sister; if you knew that they still lived? The crimes that these men committed are so wicked, that we must never let them sleep even one night in their beds, without them having that fear of being caught and punished. David, Riga, Latvia.

Is it time to draw a conclusion on this (chasing Nazi's) and say that enough is enough. Whilst in an ideal world all these monsters should have been brought to justice, in reality, some have escaped and some have died. Is it really worth the great time and expense chasing 80 and 90 year old men? Wouldn't that money be better spent on places such as Rwanda and Sudan to name a few, were similar atrocities have occurred in more recent times? Ray, Liverpool.

This might upset some and, if so, I apologize in advance but forgiveness is the most powerful way of dealing with this issue.

One can talk of justice but in the case of these aging Nazi's this is pointless. They have got away with their

297

LESSON 15

NUCLEAR THREAT AND DISARMAMENT Stating up

Analyze the quotation. What does the author mean?

“We face the dangerous prospect of a world where the spread of nuclear knowledge to an increasing number of states risks creating 30 or 40 nuclear weapon states by the middle of this century”.

Prof. Nikolas j. Wheeler

Exercise 1. Study the information about global nuclear arsenals and comment on it.

•All numbers are estimates because exact numbers are top secret.

•Strategic nuclear warheads are designed to target cities, missile locations and military headquarters as part of a strategic plan.

298

ISRAEL

Israeli authorities have never confirmed or denied the country has nuclear weapons.

NORTH KOREA

The highly secretive state claims it has nuclear weapons, but there is no information in the public domain that proves this.

IRAN

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in 2003 there had been covert nuclear activity to make fissile material and continues to monitor Tehran's nuclear program.

SYRIA

US officials have claimed it is covertly seeking nuclear weapons.

NUCLEAR WARHEAD CUTS

Britain:

1,200 produced since 1953

Fewer than 200 Trident missiles remain

Source: All figs are estimates from Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (July 2006)

Exercise 2. Read the following text. Find the answers to the following questions.

1.What is the definition of nuclear proliferation?

2.Why is it considered to be an extremely important issue in the national security policies of many countries?

299

3.What is the difference between “vertical” proliferation and “horizontal” proliferation? Why does this difference exist?

4.What are the methods used by the leading countries in their combating nuclear proliferation?

Nuclear disarmament

The proliferation of nuclear weapons (nuclear proliferation), which is defined as an increasing number of nonnuclear states and, possibly in the future, non-state organizations, gaining access to nuclear weapons, is in the focus of the international security agenda. It is a top priority issue in the official national security policies of the United States, Russia and many other leading countries in the world. Efforts to check nuclear proliferation involve the intensive work of secret services, the use of force against individual states and even large-scale military operations. The efficiency of these efforts is crucial for the world’s prospects and for global security in the foreseeable future.

The buildup of nuclear armaments by the largest states, concomitant with the desire of an increasing number of non-nuclear countries to obtain them, have remained closely interconnected phenomena. This is why any nuclear arms race is often described as nuclear proliferation: there exists ‘vertical’ proliferation (a nuclear buildup by the leading nuclear states) and ‘horizontal’ proliferation (an increase in the number of countries having nuclear armaments in their armies).

Exercise 3. Explain the meaning of the following word combinations in English. Give their Russian equivalents.

nuclear proliferation, an increasing number of nonnuclear states, non-state organizations, gain access to nuclear weapons, the international security agenda, a top priority issue, the efficiency of the efforts, global security in the foreseeable future, the buildup of nuclear armaments, concomitant with, nuclear arms race.

300

Exercise 4. Read the following article. Pay attention to the connecting words in bold. Before you read, match these word combinations to their Russian translation.

New phase in proliferation

The world is entering a fundamentally new stage in the proliferation of nuclear weapons – the most destructive and dangerous of WMD.

Following the end of the Cold War, when the two superpowers ceased to be enemies and their ideological and geopolitical rivalry gave way to broad cooperation, the campaign against proliferation enjoyed several major achievements. Those years were marked by an unprecedented growth of the

United Nations’ authority and the role of its Security Council,