289 Katarína Svitková Contemporary security from the urban standpoint: Cities in the face of risks and threats cities6, in order to adapt their capabilities to the challenges that develop in these types of conflicts. Two of the most complex facilities in the United States are Fort Carson in Colorado and the Joint Readiness Training Centre in Fort Polk, Louisiana. Dozens of other similar facilities have also been built in the United States alone7. In practice, collateral damage affects the inhabitants of cities involved in conflicts in a very direct way: not just due to the destruction of infrastructure and vital services, but also because of the very high numbers of civilian victims. Statistics on civilian victims tend to vary greatly – by thousands – depending on the information source. The campaign launched for the control of Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004 is a perfect example of this8. 2.2. Civilian events and civic conflicts At the same time, militarisation is considered as a necessary element to prevent civilian disobedience and terrorism in cities in the developed world9. In the case of civilian events (like the IMF, G8 or World Bank summits) and protests instigated by antiglobalisation movements, states deploy various security corps around urban areas. Where the functions of the police mix with those of the military, rights to movement and assembly become limited and violent means are often used to break up demonstrators10. In addition to this, the distinction between demonstrators and terrorists becomes somewhat blurred at times. The recent concept of military urbanism shows how new technologies, originally developed for military use, are used to monitor and control the behaviour and movements of civilians in any location, obviously under the pretext of guaranteeing their safety. This situation is characteristic of large urbanised centres in industrialised nations11. The militarisation of cities has also been evident in the security measures adopted for certain recent sporting events, like the controversial 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, and Rio de Janeiro12. Similar situations were seen during the Olympic Games 6 GRAHAM, Stephen. Cities Under Siege: New Military Urbanism. London: Verso Books, 2011, p. 181. 7 Ibid., p. 184. 8 CHANG, Tao-Hung. The Battle of Fallujah: Lessons Learned on Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) in the 21st Century, Journal of Undergraduate Research, Rochester: University of Rochester, vol. 6, nº 1, 2007, p. 33. 9 WARREN, op. cit., p. 214. 10 Ibid, p. 215. 11 GRAHAM, op. cit., p. 62. 12 SOUZA, Marcelo Lopes de. Panem et circenses versus the right to the city (centre) in Rio de
REVISTA IEEE 3
To see the actual publication please follow the link above