International Relations Commons^™

Environment, States, And International Organizations: The Role Of Global Environmental Conventions In Protecting The Environment, Natalia Escobar Pemberthy

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Global environmental conventions are created to address and resolve global environmental problems. Assessments of the achievement of specific environmental goals, however, indicate that there is room for progress and that stronger collective action is required. Given that there are no empirical instruments to measure implementation and to determine the factors behind individual countries’ results, challenges emerge that require the expansion of existing analytical frameworks around environmental conventions and their role as global governance instruments. This study develops an empirical instrument – the Environmental Conventions Index – to assess the implementation of global environmental conventions, determining the main trends for both …

Beyond Westphalia: Competitive Legalization In Emerging Transnational Regulatory Systems, Errol E. Meidinger

Errol Meidinger

Published as Chapter 7 in Law and Legalization in Transnational Relations, Christian Brütsch & Dirk Lehmkuhl, eds.

This paper analyzes several emerging transnational regulatory systems that engage, but are not centered on state legal systems. Driven primarily by civil society organizations, the new regulatory systems use conventional technical standard setting and certification techniques to establish market-leveraged, social and environmental regulatory programs. These programs resemble state regulatory programs in many important respects, and are increasingly legalized. Individual sectors generally have multiple regulatory programs that compete with, but also mimic and reinforce each other. While forestry is the most developed example, similar …

The Syrian Refugee Crisis And The European Union: A Case Study Of Germany And Hungary, Simone-Ariane Schelb

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis on the Common European Asylum System. It evaluates the extent to which the European Union was able to implement a common asylum system, identifies discrepancies between different European countries, primarily Germany and Hungary, and briefly examines the roots of these differences. To this end, the structure of the international refugee protection regime and the German and Hungarian asylum systems are analyzed. Furthermore, the thesis explores how the governments of the two countries perceive the rights of refugees and how their views have affected their handling of the crisis. The case …

Gender, Displacement And Transitional Justice, Sinead Mcgrath

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In the past fifteen years, there has been huge emphasis on the need for gendered mechanisms dealing with both forced migration and peacebuilding. The UN landmark resolution on Women, Peace and Security (S/RES/1325) and the gender-mainstreaming of the 1951 Refugee Convention have urged all actors to increase the participation of women in peacebuilding and their protection in instances of displacement. An underdeveloped link between these issues has not been addressed by the academic community, particularly when looking at societies in transition and the relationship of displaced women to international migration organisations in the context of transitional justice. This study aims …

Asean And The South China Sea: Approaches To Resolving The Conflict, Jennifer Jie Li

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In recent years, tensions have escalated between actors in the South China Sea, one of which is the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the region’s primary intergovernmental organization. The purpose of this report is to determine the effectiveness of ASEAN in resolving the South China Sea disputes and to clarify how geopolitical factors have impacted the organization’s actions. Through an analysis of evolving maritime claims and the current state of affairs, this paper suggests that ASEAN must be involved in any attempt to resolve the conflict peacefully. Acknowledging the importance of the diplomatic channels that ASEAN has created to …

Evaluating Frameworks For Multilateral Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Danielle Rosenthal

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Utilizing both empirical studies of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) regimes and the accounts of both public and private practitioners of these processes, this study aims to inform public policymakers, multinational corporation leadership, and academic researchers on some of the key issues to consider when developing a multilateral friendly ISDS regime. By analyzing the procedural and functional details of both traditional arbitration (via the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) and investment dispute courts (via those proposed in the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the EU Canada Comprehensive Economic and …

Femmes, Migration, Et Prostitution En Europe: Il N’Est Pas Question De “Travail De Sexe”, Anna Zobnina

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Quantitative Turn In Transitional Justice Research: What Have We Learned About Impact?, Brandon Stewart, Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm

Transitional Justice Review

In recent years, scholars have increasingly turned to quantitative research methods to understand the impact of transitional justice (TJ) on societies emerging from periods of violence and repression. This research often seeks to influence policy diffusion by making bold claims based upon large datasets of TJ events that span space and time. However, the policy advice from the first wave of quantitative research is inconsistent if not contradictory. In this article, we outline a range of methodological issues that help to explain the different conclusions reached by these studies, including sampling strategies, model construction, and the measurement of key variables. …

Empty Chair At The Table: Bargaining, Costs And Litigation At The World Trade Organization, Felicia Anneita Grey

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the World Trade Organization (WTO) to test how, if at all, its Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) serves the needs of its members. More specifically, it probes why countries would join the institution, but do not use it if a trade dispute arises. To test this expectation, the study hypothesizes that exorbitant dispute settlement costs can inhibit litigation. This occurs, however, across all dyads and not just when developing and developed countries litigate.

The project uses mixed methods comprising an extensive form game, case studies and the information theory approach for comparative case analysis. The cases selected have …

How Did They Become Law?: A Jurisprudential Inquiry About The Outcome Principles Of Historic United Nations Environmental Conferences, Woong Kyu Sung

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Contribution Of The Special Court For Sierra Leone To The Law On Criminal Responsibility Of Children In International Criminal Law, Ana Paula Podcameni

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The revision of laws and the application of culpability to those most responsible for serious humanitarian law violations has functioned as a necessary condition for achieving peace in most post-war societies. However, there is an embarrassing silence when it comes to addressing the question of whether children are to be subjected to the principle of individual criminal responsibility. As morally controversial as it is, the question remains fundamental. Unfortunately, children have been involved in armed conflicts, as victims primarily, but not exclusively. Children are among those accused of having committed brutal and terrible international crimes in times of armed conflict …

Cooperative And Uncooperative Foreign Affairs Federalism, Jean Galbraith

All Faculty Scholarship

This book review argues for reorienting how we think about federalism in relation to foreign affairs. In considering state and local engagement in foreign affairs, legal scholars often focus on the opportunities and limits provided by constitutional law. Foreign Affairs Federalism: The Myth of National Exclusivity by Michael Glennon and Robert Sloane does precisely this in a thoughtful and well-crafted way. But while the backdrop constitutional principles studied by Glennon and Sloane are important, so too are other types of law that receive far less attention. International law, administrative law, particular statutory schemes, and state law can all affect how …

Africa And The International Criminal Court: Behind The Backlash And Toward Future Solutions, Marisa O'Toole

Honors Projects

Fifteen years into its operation as the preeminent international institution charged with the prosecution of the most serious international crimes, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has faced and continues to face intense backlash from the African continent. Once the Court’s most fervent advocates, many African leaders now lambast the ICC. In recent months, three African countries and the African Union en masse have attempted withdrawal from the Court, thus pushing the ICC-Africa relationship into the international spotlight as a topic of acute global interest. This paper seeks to explore the critiques behind this backlash through both a historical and present-day …

Unconventional Lawfare: Operational Law In The War On Terror, L. P. Miller

Political Science Student Scholarship

This thesis examines the legal work required to establish a sufficient lawfare defense by focusing on the Department of Defense Judge Advocate Generals’ Corps (JAG Corps). The work will describe the JAG Corps as a well-trenched bureaucracy with a moral mission to uphold the military’s honor through laws, and how this was interpreted by the Bush and Obama administrations.

Paese Di Accoglienza: Il Successo Di Un Modello Innovativo Di Accoglienza Dei Richiedenti Asilo In Italia, Isabela Arena Secanechia

Senior Capstone Theses

This work discusses Italy's migrant reception system including its flaws and their effects. Furthermore, this work explores an alternative, sustainable model of migrant reception created in Riace, Calabria, that has been successful in varying towns across Italy. Ultimately, this work argues that this system, which is beneficial to both Italians and incoming migrants — specifically asylum seekers — can and should be implemented nationally to counter the current flawed system.

Exclusion From Rights Through Extra-Territoriality At Home: The Case Of Paris Roissy-Charles De Gaulle Airport's Waiting Zone, Pauline Gj Maillet

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this dissertation I argue that, since the 1980s, French airports have been designed to exclude people from legal, human and refugee rights. The particular space where this happens has been successively called “international zone”, “transit zone” and “waiting zone” and its scope has been significantly extended overtime. I contend that French authorities have used the concept of extra-territoriality in concert with the material design of the airport to sustain exclusion. While this research focuses on France, findings bear relevance to the global governance of migrants and refugees. The French case epitomizes how states creatively use the law (or absence …

Averting A New Nuclear Arms Race, Michael Anthony Calhoun

Honors Theses

The first goal of this thesis is to defend the claim that working towards nuclear disarmament is a rational, ethically pressing, and urgent goal. I will parse, condense, and array the arguments of statesmen, military leaders, philosophers, peace advocates, scientists, and religious leaders against the continued production, modernization, and maintaining of nuclear arsenals. After this, I will examine the current challenges to nuclear disarmament and promising and pragmatic options on the way to a world without nuclear weapons, with a focus on United States’ policy.

Enforcing The Fcpa: International Resonance And Domestic Strategy, Rachel Brewster

Faculty Scholarship

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), which bans corporations from offering bribes to foreign government officials, was enacted during the Watergate era’s crackdown on political corruption but remained only weakly enforced for its first two decades. American industry argued that the law created an uneven playing field in global commerce, which made robust enforcement politically unpopular. This Article documents how the executive branch strategically under- enforced the FCPA, while Congress and the President pushed for an international agreement that would bind other countries to rules similar to those of the United States. The Article establishes that U.S. officials ramped up …

Making Treaty Implementation More Like Statutory Implementation, Jean Galbraith

All Faculty Scholarship

Both statutes and treaties are the “supreme law of the land,” and yet quite different practices have developed with respect to their implementation. For statutes, all three branches have embraced the development of administrative law, which allows the executive branch to translate broad statutory directives into enforceable obligations. But for treaties, there is a far more cumbersome process. Unless a treaty provision contains language that courts interpret to be directly enforceable, they will deem it to require implementing legislation from Congress. This Article explores and challenges the perplexing disparity between the administration of statutes and treaties. It shows that the …