| The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, (SIPRI) is rolling out the drums of celebration of and launching of the complete back catalogue of the SIPRI Yearbook. The climax was preceded by a 50-day social media campaign leading up to today’s launch, according to a short email from one of the world most able resource centres on the conditions promotional or otherwise of international discord.
In its own words, the campaign highlights moments in the Yearbook’s history including cover redesigns, publisher changes, new databases, technological advances, defining world events and the book’s significance to those who worked with it. “In doing so, it utilizes film, GIFs, photographs, quotes and information from various editions to reach SIPRI’s global audiences across its social media platforms”, said the statement. An introductory film featuring SIPRI Director Dan Smith is setting the tone for the campaign, re-directing attention to the importance of the data and analysis found in the Yearbook and the authority of the publication on the world stage. Graphics, such as the intricate cross-section of a US air-launched cruise missile (1978) or the map of proposed changes for the CFE Treaty flank zone realignment (1996), illustrate technological advancement and the core relationship between data analysis and data visualization found in the publication, it was emphasised. The background on Publishing the SIPRI Yearbook shows that Connie Wall, SIPRI Publications Manager from 1970–2007, contributes a special statement describing her time working at the Institute and on the Yearbook. Dominic Byatt, Publisher Social Sciences & Humanities at Oxford University Press, (OUP) recounts his first days working at the OUP in 1993 and the relevance of the Yearbook over the decades, describing it as ‘a milestone of my career and a highlight of my publishing year’. And he is advocating for its continuation on the ground that “the world needs it.’ Through any progression—or regression—of armaments, disarmament and international security, the SIPRI Yearbook remains a source for expert analysis, factual information, timely discussion and the independent resource on global security since 1969, the statement concludes. An institution such as SIPRI provides very strong evidence that diversity and hybridity makes the world hang together. While the hawks and war mongers around the world continued to promote their cause, they met their match in the crusaders for norms and emancipation such as SIPRI. The SIPRI Yearbook remained the world’s most well prepared barometer for reading the threat posed by the arms-Reich.
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Celebrations Galore for SIPRI Yearbook @ 50
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