“All’s Fair?” Considering Laos, the environment, and war
Centuries ago, a writer penned the famous line “All’s fair in love and war,” which encouraged approaching romance and conflict with calculating Machiavellian sensibilities unhindered by inconvenient moral compunctions and scruples. This idea was readily embraced in Europe and the United States. You can see it presently expressed in popular culture such as “Flavor of Love,” or former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura’s tongue-in-cheek encouragement. “Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.” But is that truly good advice, or are there limits to what we might tolerate, especially in the conduct of war? November 6th is recognized by the United Nations as the ‘World Day to Protect the Environment in War,’ first established in 2001 by the late U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (a 1961 graduate of Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota!). It is more formally known as the “International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.” Among the many of the things it addresses, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said one is the challenge to “keep the unsustainable …