6. Suggested activities for students and topics for discussion

1. Being safe and feeling safe are both individual and collective needs. In order to address that need, governments design security provisions, which range from deci­sions to develop and stockpile weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, biological and chemical weapons), conventional weapons (planes, ships, tanks, artillery etc.), land­mines, and small arms and handguns. Choose а country and research the securi­ty/defence decisions made by the government. How are resources allocated? How do these allocations compare to expenditures for social programmes such as health care and education?

2. Choose one of the ranges of armaments listed above (for example nuclear weapons, biological weapons, conventional weapons etc.) and research the countries most involved in the production and distribution of this kind of weapon. Consider also the following:

• Who is involved in the production: which industries produce what?

• What is needed for production? From where is this material obtained?

• How are arms transferred: are there legitimate/illegitimate transfers? (a report оn this topic is available on http://www.basicint.org.

• How can production be monitored? By whom?

• When weapons are confiscated or destroyed, what replaces them?

• Who has/can have access to weapons?

• How can distribution of weapons be monitored? Are any efforts being made by the government to monitor or control distribution?

3. Efforts to provide security can be offered by regional security organizations in place of individual country efforts. Who belongs to such regional security organizations as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Organization of African Unity, the Organization of South-East Asian Nations and the Organization of American States? Is membership open to all the countries in the area? Do provisions exist for peacekeeping operations? What kind of а regional organization could help with secu­rity issues in the Middle East, South Asia or North-East Asia? Does any such organiza­tion exist?

4. Choose either your own or another country and find out the requirements for military service for males and females. Do alternative provisions exist for service in peacekeeping and mediation corps? If so, what are the steps involved for participat­ing in such alternatives? If not, why not?

5. As it is put in the Charter one of the fundamental goals of the UN is "to save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war". How do you regard the UN's success in this field? Can you give any examples that will prove its effectiveness? Do you believe this goal to be achievable? What means of achieving this goal would you propose?

6. Armed conflicts are not the only threats to а country's security. Today, hunger, malnutrition and disease kill as many people in two days as the Hiroshima Bomb. Even if only а fraction of military spending was redirected to peaceful purposes, living standards and economic and social development would significantly improve. According to expert teams research comparative expenditures of the world are as following¹⁹:

	World	Developed	Developing
Military expenditures per soldier (US$)	31,480	123,544	9,094
Education expenditures per student (US$)	899	7,675	143
Health expenditures per capita (US$)	231	1,376	22

How can you account for such figures? Do you think a different allocation of means may contribute to alleviating the suffering of people in the world?

7. Here are some man's characteristics:

a) "Homo sapiens are the deadliest species"

b) "We have inherited a tendency to make war form our ancestors";

c) "The war or any other violent behavior is genetically programmed into our human nature";

d) "Humans have a violent brain";

e) "Aggression is an instinctive part of human nature"

Do you agree with definitions given above? If yes, how you see the way out of the situation? Can we then hope to live one day in peace or peaceful coexistence of peoples is a Utopia? Choose one of them to comment on.