War Theory, Thursday, 4th Period
Today, Nimitz prowled restlessly around the room, his attention focussed on something. In her mind, Honor had a distinct feeling he was stalking something, but what it was, she couldn't quite make out. She shook her head and decided to leave well enough alone. By the time students began filing in, she was back at her usual place in the front of the room.
A taut smile greeted the students as she watched them. "Find your seats, please, and we'll get started."
She waited until the clock ticked to 11, and then began speaking. "Over the past few weeks, we've discussed the ideas of 'just war' theory -- how they have evolved over time, looking at principal thinkers such as Sun Tzu, St. Thomas Acquinas. Last class period, we discussed 'mutually assured destruction' and 'countervalence' as forms of acceptable strategy during the Cold War. But something else beyond grand strategy changed in that time period. It was, aside from smaller skirmishes, a relatively peaceful -- if tense -- period in Terran history. Why? Because nuclear war meant not only the death of the intended target, but likely that of all life on earth. It was a grim possibility. It was also a grim possibility that the strategy of mutually assured destruction relied on."
Here, Honor paused, rubbing the tip of her nose with her index finger. She furrowed her brow and leant back against the desk, folding her arms across her chest. "How do you think this shift has shaped the idea of modern war theory? Is there a such thing as a 'just war' in, ah, modern society?"
It was a loaded question and she knew it -- thus, the hesitation. It was one, however, that this class was engineered to ask. While she had her own opinions, shaped as they were by her own experiences, she was curious to see what type of reactions she would receive.
Her gaze flitted toward the clock as discussion continued. Reaching behind her, she gathered a mass of papers -- her least favorite form of distribution -- and began passing them out. They contained an article that Professor Roslin had shown her. It wasn't so much that she agreed with the author, but that it offered a plausible explanation for the various clashes in the present day -- even her own, strangely enough.
Five minutes before the end of class, she resumed her position at the front of the room. "What I've just handed you is a copy of an article that speculated about the coming 'clash of civilizations.' We'll be discussing it next class period, so please bring a discussion question with you.
"As for your assignments -- please pass those in as you leave, and let me know if you have any questions or comments."
The same taut smile returned to her lips. "Class dismissed."
[::sigh:: Hate going to the client site *and* going to the office, but couldn't be helped. Slow play through the weekend if needed, and I'll be around tomorrow. Yay for federal holidays!
The article I've linked to will be available through Thursday of next week (I hope). After that, I need to take it down. It's a 2 MB PDF file, so it might not be dial-up friendly.
OCD coming up...and now in the right place!]
A taut smile greeted the students as she watched them. "Find your seats, please, and we'll get started."
She waited until the clock ticked to 11, and then began speaking. "Over the past few weeks, we've discussed the ideas of 'just war' theory -- how they have evolved over time, looking at principal thinkers such as Sun Tzu, St. Thomas Acquinas. Last class period, we discussed 'mutually assured destruction' and 'countervalence' as forms of acceptable strategy during the Cold War. But something else beyond grand strategy changed in that time period. It was, aside from smaller skirmishes, a relatively peaceful -- if tense -- period in Terran history. Why? Because nuclear war meant not only the death of the intended target, but likely that of all life on earth. It was a grim possibility. It was also a grim possibility that the strategy of mutually assured destruction relied on."
Here, Honor paused, rubbing the tip of her nose with her index finger. She furrowed her brow and leant back against the desk, folding her arms across her chest. "How do you think this shift has shaped the idea of modern war theory? Is there a such thing as a 'just war' in, ah, modern society?"
It was a loaded question and she knew it -- thus, the hesitation. It was one, however, that this class was engineered to ask. While she had her own opinions, shaped as they were by her own experiences, she was curious to see what type of reactions she would receive.
Her gaze flitted toward the clock as discussion continued. Reaching behind her, she gathered a mass of papers -- her least favorite form of distribution -- and began passing them out. They contained an article that Professor Roslin had shown her. It wasn't so much that she agreed with the author, but that it offered a plausible explanation for the various clashes in the present day -- even her own, strangely enough.
Five minutes before the end of class, she resumed her position at the front of the room. "What I've just handed you is a copy of an article that speculated about the coming 'clash of civilizations.' We'll be discussing it next class period, so please bring a discussion question with you.
"As for your assignments -- please pass those in as you leave, and let me know if you have any questions or comments."
The same taut smile returned to her lips. "Class dismissed."
[::sigh:: Hate going to the client site *and* going to the office, but couldn't be helped. Slow play through the weekend if needed, and I'll be around tomorrow. Yay for federal holidays!
The article I've linked to will be available through Thursday of next week (I hope). After that, I need to take it down. It's a 2 MB PDF file, so it might not be dial-up friendly.
OCD coming up...and now in the right place!]