“Research finds a strong historical link between poor crop yields and violence.” (The Economist, 2017, p.57). Last year over 102,000 people died in nearly 50 armed conflicts across the world, according to the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), a think-tank. Much of this violence is caused by tensions between ethnic groups – two-thirds of civil wars have… Read More
“The charms of urban manufacturing Few factories have a forest in their lobby. But Crye Precision, which designs and manufactures high-tech military body armour, wanted to make its vast new premises at the Brooklyn Navy Yard calming and beautiful for its 200 employees. Many of them now practise tai-chi among the indoor trees. Crye began in a studio in Chelsea, in… Read More
“Genetically engineered fluorescent bacteria can hunt for mines Battlefields strewn with mines are one of the nastiest legacies of war. They ensure that, long after a conflict has ceased, people continue to be killed and maimed by its aftermath. In 1999, the year the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty came into force, there were more than 9,000 such casualties, most… Read More
“First synthesised in Germany and introduced after the second world war to treat pain, methadone was widely used in America after the Vietnam war, to treat soldiers who returned home addicted to heroin.” (The Economist, 2017, p.24). Reference The Economist (2017) Not Treating Addiction: What Would Hippocrates Do? The Economist. 15 July, 2017.
Which country has more generals, Venezuela or the United States of America (USA)? Venezuela has more than 2,000 generals whilst the USA has just under 900 (The Economist, 2017, p.32). Venezuela has approximately 115,000 active personnel whilst the USA has approximately 1.3 million active personnel. Reference The Economist (2017) It’s Up To The Army. The… Read More
As of today, women can apply for all roles within the Royal Air Force (RAF). The British Army and Royal Marines will follow next year.
The “Thucydides trap – the disaster that befell ancient Greece when the incumbent power, Sparta, failed to accommodate the rising one, Athens.” (The Economist, 2017, p.26). Thucydides (c. 460 BC–400 BC) was a general who was exiled for his failure to defend the Greek city of Amphipolis in Thrace. During his exile, he began compiling histories and… Read More
