Synopses & Reviews
Globalization has created an interconnected world, but has not diminished violence and militarism.
The Economics of Killing describes how the power of global elites, entrenched under globalization, has created a deadly cycle of violence. In this groundbreaking work, Vijay Mehta shows how attempts at peaceful national development are routinely blocked by Western powers. He centers the 2008 financial crisis in US attempts to block China's model of development. He shows how Europe and the US conspire with regional dictators to prevent countries from developing advanced industries, and how this system has fed terrorism. Mehata argues that a different world is possible, based on policies of disarmament, demilitarization, and sustainable development. This original and thought-provoking book will be of great interest to anyone concerned about the consequences of endless war fueled by the West.
Review
"We live in a rich world and yet increasingly people are getting caught in the poverty trap and facing real hardship and pain. We know how to solve these problems: by disarmament and demilitarization, and putting human and financial resources into dealing with the real enemies of humanity - poverty, unemployment, environmental crisis, etc. Vijay Mehta's excellent book sets out the problems and solutions, and challenges us all to create the spiritual and political will to implement policies which will bring about real change and give hope to humanity." --Mairead Maguire, Irish peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Review
"The book,
The Economics of Killing: How the West Fuels War and Poverty in the Developing World by Vijay Mehta depicts ways in which the western powers can restructure their economies away from the reliance on the military industrial complex towards making the 21st century an era of soft power for a more peaceful and sustainable future." - Deepak Chopra, author of the best-selling
Peace is the Way "We live in a rich world and yet increasingly people are getting caught in the poverty trap and facing real hardship and pain. We know how to solve these problems: by disarmament and demilitarization, and putting human and financial resources into dealing with the real enemies of humanity - poverty, unemployment, environmental crisis, etc. Vijay Mehta's excellent book sets out the problems and solutions, and challenges us all to create the spiritual and political will to implement policies which will bring about real change and give hope to humanity." - Mairead Maguire, Irish peace activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
"Vijay Mehta's book is thought-provoking at a time of world economic crisis when fresh thoughts and approaches are sorely needed. I hope it will be widely read, especially by those who may, at first, find its substance unpalatable." - Sir Brian Urquhart, Former UN Under-Secretary General for Special Political Affairs
"The Economics of Killing brilliantly links the deepening economic crisis facing the West with the dynamics of militarism that is wreaking havoc on the planet. Everyone who cares about the future must read this groundbreaking book." - Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for the Palestinian Territories, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University
"Vijay Mehta's book shines a timely light on the role that Western Governments play in perpetuating conflict around the world. It is particularly welcome in that it does not just identify and detail the problem - it puts forward an alternative, and one which anyone genuinely committed to peace, justice and equality cannot afford to ignore." -Caroline Lucas, MP and Leader, Green Party, UK
"It is about time someone exposed the nefarious activities of the military-industrial complex that is destroying the foundations of civilized human existence. It has made killing a proifitable industry. This book is a must read for all peace-seekers." - Arun Gandhi, Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, President, Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, Rochester, NY
"Congratulations to Vijay Mehta on having grappled with this complex and too often sinister issue. The latest technology, with the clinically remote killing process of drones and the like, makes it all the more urgent and compelling. We are all involved. The subsidies by taxpayers to the arms industry are immense. Were that industry exposed to the full rigours of the market economy, it would be in deep trouble. It is a challenge to us all. Vijay Mehta helps us to face up to it." - Lord Frank Judd, Minister for Overseas Development (1976-1977), Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1977-1979), Director of Oxfam (1985-91) London, UK
"This important book identifies the real crisis ahead for the world which is not narrowly environmental but the fact that with rising population we will not have enough food or oil or water to survive. That is the real reason that this book, pointing to the waste in military expenditure, offers the real alternative to starvation, which is cooperation to meet our needs." - Tony Benn, former MP and Cabinet Minister, President, Stop the War Coalition, London, UK
"Vijay Mehta's book is an essential read for young people, North and South, who must demand dramatic change in global resources management and response to the needs for universal human well being. It presents the case for the implementation of new thinking necessary if they and their children are to have opportunities to live full lives. There must be a new realization that North-South human wellbeing and equality of opportunity requires that prosperity be global. The book exposes the reader to the vicious Northern military-industrial complex, and roles of the media and energy sectors, plus the corrupting role of the arms-dealing five permanent members of the UN Security Council in the profits of endless poverty. As power is shifting to the new emerging powers of the South, this book provides thought and hope that the Northern centuries-old model of brutal human exploitation and blatant use of warfare will be uprooted and changed to support socio economic well being, equal opportunity and sustainable prosperity. Nothing less will suffice." - Denis Halliday, UN Assistant Secretary General (1994-1998) and Former Coordinator of the UN Humanitarian Program in Iraq
"In his book, The Economics of Killing: How the West Fuels War and Poverty in the Developing World, Vijay Mehta lifts the curtain on a truth which many would prefer concealed. If we were to become instruments of peace instead of war and redirect some of the global trillion and a half dollars spent annually on war and weapons to real human needs there would be no need to create Millennium Development Goals.All those supporting humanitarian NGOs should read Mehta's book and act on it." - Bruce Kent, Vice President, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Movement for the Abolition of War,London, UK
"Vijay Mehta's powerful intervention reminds us of the need to mobilise for counter-models. It is a forceful appeal to find adequate forms of also multilateral cooperation in search for an alternative future." - Henning Melber, Executive Director of The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala, Sweden
"It is high time for a book like this to be written and read. We are beyond traditional international development cooperation. Globalisation and geopolitics have resulted in a complex network of economic, financial, political and military interests of countries and companies. Vijay Mehta's study of the underlying power relations reveals unpalatable truths. It also points in a different direction: policy making based on true values concerning peoples development, transparency, equity and human rights." - Jan Pronk, Former Dutch Minister of Development and Minister of the Environment, The Hague, Netherlands
"This is a book to challenge and test our comfortable assumptions about how the world works, who wields power and what for." - Dan Smith, Secretary General, International Alert, London, UK
"It should be obvious to every thinking person on the planet that killing people, maiming them, torturing them, dropping bombs on them, blowing up their homes or destroying their livelihoods is not an effective way to make the world a safer or more peaceful place. All war and violence has ever achieved is to fuel more hatred and to sow the seeds of the next conflict. So who benefits from the world's insane, drug-like dependency on weapons and military force as the 'solution' to every problem? Vijay Mehta lays out in this book how the world has got into this situation and how we can get ourselves out of it. The real solutions are all there right in front of our noses! The time has come to start implementing them." - Tim Wallis, Executive Director of Nonviolent Peaceforce Europe, Brussels, Belgium
"In The Economics of Killing, Vijay Mehta clearly describes the connections that link the global machinery of war with global poverty. This book goes to the heart of the global problematique and should be read by anyone who cares about building a more decent, equitable and sustainable world order." - David Krieger, President of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, California
"Vijay Mehta has thrown down a challenge to the hypocrisy of Western states that preach human rights an
Synopsis
Globalisation has created an interconnected world, but has not diminished violence, militarism and inequality. This book describes how the entrenched power of global elites has created a deadly cycle of violence, enacted through the Military Industrial Complex. Vijay Mehta shows how attempts at peaceful national development, environmental sustainability and human rights are routinely blocked by Western powers. He locates the 2008 financial crisis in US attempts to block China's model of development. He shows how Europe and the US conspire with regional dictators to prevent countries from developing advanced industries, and how this system has fed terrorism. The Economics of Killing argues that a different world is possible, based on policies of disarmament, demilitarisation and sustainable development.
Synopsis
Fresh look at Kurdistan Iraq today, including the role of central government and international forces, and the region's political and economic future.
About the Author
Vijay Mehta is an author and peace activist. He is Chair of Uniting for Peace and founding trustee of the Fortune Forum charity. His books include The Fortune Forum Code: For a Sustainable Future (2006), Arms No More (2005), and The United Nations and Its Future in the 21st Century (2005).
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement * Foreword * Introduction * Part I Military Industrial Complex - Power, Myths, Facts and Figures* 1. How the West's Addiction to Arms Sales Caused the 2008 Structural Financial Crisis * 2. What is the Military Industrial Complex? * 3. The Culture of Militarism and Global North's Power of Definition * 4. Europe and the Remaking of the Middle East* Part II Military Spending and Its Ill Effects * 5. Negative effects of conflicts on global, human security, refugees, forced migrations and urbanisation *6. War and its Ill Effects on Health, Environment, and Development * Part III The Folly of Chronic Wars -For Profit, Resources and Domination - More Weapons - More Wars - More Profits * 7. Terrorism and Non-State Actors, and How to Make Them Stop * 8. China's Periphery - The Military-Industrial Mess That Could Destroy a Bright Future * 9. The Emerging Conflicts - Other Future Fault-lines of the World * Part IV A New Vision, A New Beginning In A New Millennium - A Practical Way Of Reducing Arms, Armies And Wars For The Survival Of The Humanity * 10. Averting Disaster - What Type of Global Security Architecture Fits in Today's World? * 11. Replacing Military Industrial Complex - Making 21st Century the Century of Soft Power * Epilogue: The Path Ahead * Notes* Index