Reviews
New Asia Books is an initiative of the International Insitute for Asian Studies
ISBN: 978 0 230 61709 4
Format: Hardback
Pages: 224
List price(s): 50.00 GBP 74.95 USD
Publication date: 6 August 2009
Diego Garcia is a pivotal US base for all Middle East operations. This book describes its evolution from a secret US-UK bilateral deal in 1966 and the deportation of the native population in the 70s to its new role in Guantanamo-style 'renditions' and the impact of miltary construction on its environment.
The coral atoll of Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory) today is a pivotal US naval and air base for all Middle East operations (Afghanistan, Iraq, and potentially, Iran). This book, largely based on hitherto unpublished source material, describes the build-up of the base -- starting with a secret US-UK bilateral deal in 1966; the deportation of the native island population in the 1970s; the clouded new role of Diego Garcia as a destination for Guantanamo-style 'renditions'; and the impacts of military construction on the environment of the island -- which because of its average elevation of 4 ft above sea-level is at direct risk from climate change
Preface History: Empire's Last-Born Colony Human Rights: How To Depopulate An Island Power Politics: Our Ocean Military Secrecy: Public Access Denied Nemesis: Natural Heritage Dredged -- and Drowned Epilogue: The Lords' Day Appendices
PETER H. SAND, formerly legal adviser for the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Bank, is a lecturer in International Environmental Law at the University of Munich, Germany. His earlier publications include Lessons Learned in Global Environmental Governance (1990), Transnational Environmental Law (1997), and over a hundred articles in international legal journals and collections. He has been visiting professor at Duke Law School and at the universities of Paris, Geneva, Addis Ababa, and Helsinki; and he served on the UN Security Council's Compensation Commission for environmental claims arising from the 1991 Gulf War.