Battle of Curiosity
Produced by the Imperial Warfare Museum Institute
Podcast, Sequence 1 from Could 2021 to March 2022
The Battle of Curiosity podcast critiques notable previous conflicts world wide in nations like Libya and Northern Eire, and examines ongoing conflicts equivalent to Yemen and Syria, to higher recognize who or what was concerned within the disaster, why it occurred, its outcomes and challenges. It primarily explores the conventional safety problem of warfare, which impacts the survival of the state. The Imperial Warfare Museum (IWM) Institute produces the podcast, and every of the 13 episodes within the first collection runs as much as an hour. The discussions typically contain the actions of great gamers inside a battle, together with non-state teams and authorities actors, that led to the beginning and continuity of violence and dysfunction, in addition to a few of the world socio-political and financial implications. The discussions additionally spotlight frequent themes throughout the episodes equivalent to civil resistance, political violence, energy and authority, radicalization, tradition and social norms, governance, and social order.
A curator of the museum or an IWM affiliate serves because the host. The friends are normally distinguished individuals in varied fields of labor together with safety companies and academia, who might be able to supply skilled data on a specific disaster, and well-known individuals together with playwrights and comedians, who could ask inquiries to know extra about that disaster, widening the attain of the podcast.
All of it begins within the museum’s café in London, the place friends discuss with the host and reply to a number of questions on a specific battle, sharing vital experiences and data to look at the disaster. They take a stroll by the museum, viewing vital objects to facilitate the dialogue. New friends, together with authors, could generally be a part of so as to add a distinct perspective. James Taylor, the chief curator, intermittently gives additional background on the battle below evaluation and signposts sources of data to assist listeners visualize the continuing conversations, in addition to perceive some occasions as they occurred within the battle location.
A number of episodes – like Episodes 2, 3, 4 and 5 – deal with battle inside Islamic societies and nations to emphasise, as an illustration, the struggling and harms that individuals from Muslim non secular backgrounds have confronted of their nations of origin resulting from aggression from their very own governments or exterior (primarily Western) states. In different phrases, these episodes intention to dispel sure imaginations, narratives and stereotypes related to the tradition, politics, faith, and populations of Islamic nations dealing with violence which were widespread primarily from the West to the remainder of the world.
In Episode 8, which focuses on the USA, that is additional highlighted when the friends share their experiences and data within the investigation of the occasions of 9/11, Al-Qaeda, the Twin Towers, and the Warfare on Terror. One among these friends, Mohsin Hamid, the novelist dwelling in Pakistan who wrote The Reluctant Fundamentalist, labored in New York on the time of 9/11, and recollects that a few month after the assaults, safety tightened on the airports. As an individual from a Muslim background, he was requested extra questions, making him really feel like a suspect on his travels, and this stays a standard pattern. We be taught that whereas the phobia occasions represented a shift in Al-Qaeda’s focus, location, and goal of assaults, the USA invaded Afghanistan as a result of it needed the Taliban (then rulers of Afghanistan) to return Al-Qaeda’s chief Osama Bin Laden to them. The USA had an infinite need to present a “huge response” to the 9/11 assaults all through the world resulting in the Iraq Warfare, which aimed to make Western individuals safe from a non-existent enemy. Nevertheless, the counterinsurgency operations in Iraq led to the rise and re-emergence of varied rebel organizations, together with the Islamic State which is an off-shoot of Al-Qaeda. Consequently, a number of teams have emerged globally to additional the calls for of spiritual fundamentalists who oppose the West, inflicting different safety challenges like insurgencies which have elevated globally, and the polarization of Western societies. Due to this fact, we must always somewhat unite and handle points that affect human survival, such because the coronavirus pandemic and the local weather.
This dialogue demonstrates the challenges of militarised approaches to curb safety threats. Such approaches have been really useful in failed states to regain territorial management from insurgents. They’re typically heavy-handed, involving acts that violate human rights together with brutality and repression to finish a disaster, however don’t at all times trigger the destruction of terror teams. To create higher battle outcomes, stakeholders of safety thus must strengthen their deal with the distinct socio-political, historic, and financial context of violence-affected states to mitigate the exclusion of Muslim peoples from society. This requires higher consideration to the varied inhabitants inside affected states, with a purpose to enhance the administration of individuals throughout inside navy operations and counterinsurgency actions elsewhere as, as an illustration, recruits could be a part of rebel organizations because of coercion, and never essentially to ‘protect’ non secular rule or to advertise any political motives.
Inside Battle of Curiosity, the IWM additionally produces a particular collection named “Earlier than the Warfare” through which a curator, typically Taylor, interviews different ‘celeb friends’ from conflict-affected nations to know their every day livelihoods earlier than a specific disaster began. The interviews, although restricted, assist listeners to understand human safety which pays consideration to individuals’s lives and survival as a substitute of the state. They draw consideration to themes like household relationships, custom, and gender. In lower than twenty minutes, these friends inform tales about how they navigated varied difficult environments to pursue their ardour and vocations. They share elements of their upbringing and livelihoods that formed their particular person careers in artwork and music, which aren’t at all times welcome in some conventional societies.
In an episode with Jake Shuker, musician, guitarist and chief of dying metallic band Maysaloon, Shuker talks about his upbringing in Syria and the creation of his band regardless of the music ban within the nation. He dropped out of faculty and turned to music. He discovered individuals with comparable pursuits and shaped the band which performed at completely different venues even through the warfare. Nevertheless, his work is frowned upon as a result of his selection of music is “blasphemous” and could lead on one to jail. He laughs whereas speaking about vital challenges equivalent to his lack of ability to maneuver about freely with the band because the warfare started, and his father’s inconsistent reactions towards the music that was performed. Because the warfare heightened, Shuker and the band attended a music pageant in Beirut, Lebanon, and escaped the battle.
On this interview, we be taught largely about resilience, which might be recognized, amongst different themes, in some episodes within the podcast. This dialog demonstrates that battle environments, although harmful, can start this power. Native individuals dealing with warfare don’t at all times modify their selections and aspirations to make sure their safety from hazard when a disaster emerges. Some inhabitants could cooperate with armed actors by sharing info, and others could select to not collaborate with these actors, by actions together with non-participation in violence to mitigate the violations to their civil liberties and rights through the evolving battle. Different individuals can also reject subordination by behaviours like dissent, opposing armed actors altogether. Nevertheless, some individuals could present resistance to each state actors and non-state actors by deviating from established guidelines, sustaining their very own routines, and pursuing varied agenda to deal with the uncertainty of hazard. This means to withstand shapes the end result of their particular person needs and aspirations.
In sum, Battle of Curiosity could also be useful for people, college students, policymakers, safety consultants and companies, and civil society teams who need to foretell potential outcomes of ongoing conflicts, assess present coverage or behaviour of states and the actions of non-state actors that may generate violence, and analyze vital options or outcomes of safety issues. The podcast wants extra deal with discussions of non-traditional safety points equivalent to local weather change, which may exacerbate the prospect of violence in some nations, because the data of safety and its definition have expanded to additionally embrace components like environmental safety. Most significantly, new episodes ought to deal with vital wars in nations or areas that aren’t predominantly Muslim in Africa and elsewhere. This will enhance the podcast’s attraction to individuals from non-western, secular, or different non secular backgrounds with experiences of warfare, and should promote range in knowledge-sharing and experience.
Additional Studying on E-Worldwide Relations
