International Relations Commons^™

Proportional To Life, Emma Gilligan

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Economist piece entitled “Proportional to what?” poses a dangerous question. The notion, as the article suggests, that proportionality in war is a “slippery idea” or that the facts are “nebulous” is the work of either an intentionally provocative or idly cynical author. Whatever the motivation for the words, it is precisely the dismissive tone embodied in such statements that has contributed to and defined the attitude more recently of larger states, like Israel and Russia, to issues of accountability for the death of civilians.

Healing From War To End All Wars, Christien Van Den Anker

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The First World War was known as the war to end all wars. After the Second World War, and especially in reference to the Holocaust, the urgent slogan was “Never Again.” Although these hopes to end war and genocide have not yet been fulfilled, they inspired the worldwide moral stance against war and a host of international instruments and bodies contributed to the protection of both civilians and combatants during war.

February Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Proportional to What?” The Economist. December 30, 2008.

Darfur: In Search Of Peace Exploring Viable Solutions To The Darfur Crisis, George Shepherd, Peter Van Arsdale, Negin Sobhani, Nicole Tanner, Frederick Agyeman-Duah

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The following is a report for the Consultation on Darfur carried out in Nairobi, Kenya by Africa Today Associates, Inc. The event took place June 9‐11, 2008 and was made possible with support from Ford Foundation, Kenya (in collaboration with the Institute of International Education). This report aims to build upon, not replace, the findings of our Consultation in Abuja, Nigeria. It is for this purpose that the findings and points addressed in this report are solely those discussed in Nairobi. Although it is inevitable that the two consultations reflected some overlap on the core issues and discussion points, especially …

The European Court’S Political Power Across Time And Space, Karen Alter

Faculty Working Papers

This article extracts from Alter's larger body of work insights on how the political and social context shapes the ECJ's political power and influence. Part I considers how the political context facilitated the constitutionalization of the European legal system. Part II considers how the political context helps determine where and when the current ECJ influences European politics. Part III draws lessons from the ECJ's experience, speculating on how the European context in specific allowed the ECJ to become such an exceptional international court. Part IV lays out a research agenda to investigate the larger question of how social support shapes …

The Responsibility To Protect: A Policy Forum, Sarah Bania-Dobyns, Kathy Gockel, Kyle Matthews, Jodi Vittori

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Human Rights and Human Welfare is pleased to offer its first policy forum-a new type of review to add to our review essays, book notes and roundtable. In this policy forum we asked practitioners in the field to review a set of policy reports on the responsibility to protect. R2P, as practitioners and scholars alike have come to know this policy area, like many of the human rights concepts addressed by HRHW, is a multifaceted concept requiring perspectives from different fields and professions to address it comprehensively. Further, R2P is a quickly changing policy issue, and academics and practitioners …

Rebecca Root On Banning Landmines: Disarmament, Citizen Diplomacy, And Human Security. Edited By Jody Williams, Stephen D. Goose And Mary Wareham. (Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008). 348pp., Rebecca Root

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Banning Landmines: Disarmament, Citizen Diplomacy, and Human Security. Edited by Jody Williams, Stephen D. Goose and Mary Wareham. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008). 348pp.

Jessica Burley On Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles. By Richard Dowden (New York: Public Affairs, 2009). 592 Pp., Jessica Burley

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles. By Richard Dowden (New York: Public Affairs, 2009). 592 pp.

Human Rights In China: Introduction, Hsiu-Lun Teng

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The People’s Republic of China has experienced rapid and cardinal changes in its political, economic, and societal realms over the past thirty years. These changes, in conjunction with China’s political and economic policies abroad, have left recognizable imprints on a variety of human rights issues. The human rights issues discussed in this digest cover both domestic and international dimensions.

Trafficking Of Women And The Harmonious Society: The Chinese National Plan Of Action On Combating Trafficking In Women And Children Within The Context Of Chinese Patriarchy And Reform, Sean Michael Barbezat

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Chinese National Plan of Action on Combating Trafficking in Women and Children, an evolution of prior regional cooperative work in coordination with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Trafficking (UNIAP), is a considerable accomplishment. It represents a comprehensive, practical foundation for counter-trafficking work, and addresses the most serious concerns raised by Chinese and international anti-trafficking research over the last dozen years. However, a statement of this magnitude produced by a state not known for its sweeping human rights instruments leads to suspicion.

Tibet Under Chinese Rule, Dina Buck

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The struggle between Tibet and China has been a long and intractable one. How China chooses to deal with Tibet, commonly referred to as the “Tibet Question,” is a point of controversy both within China and for the international community at large. The two main points of concern are Tibet’s quest for self-determination and Tibetan quality of life under Chinese rule. While Tibet’s struggle for self-determination can be linked with the questionable treatment Tibetans face under the Chinese government (hereafter referred to as Beijing), the two issues are not exactly the same.

Why China Supports Burma’S Dictators, Dustin Stokes

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Burma, also known as Myanmar, is governed by a repressive dictatorship that is guilty of numerous human rights abuses. Political prisoners, oppressed women and ethnic minorities, and child soldiers are examples of human rights violations in Burma. Burma’s government benefits from its relationship with China, whose support for the dictatorship is motivated by its own economic and strategic interests. The United States and its Western allies must alter their existing Burma policy, which has been part of the problem, in order to help end the suffering of the Burmese people.

Transforming Children Of War Into Agents Of Change, Brooke Breazeale

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Since the turn of the century, Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced the fastest growing rate of child soldiers. Consider the following statistics:

• An estimated 60 percent of child soldiers in Africa are fourteen years old and under (Singer 2006: 29);
• In Uganda the average age of personnel in armed forces is 12.9 (Singer 2006: 29);
• Since 1990, two million children have been killed in armed conflict, the equivalent of five hundred per day for ten years (Singer 2005).

Political Oppression In Sub-Saharan Africa, Alayna Hamilton

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Relative to social and economic rights, there is little discourse on the issue of political rights in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This fact is attributable to the pressing problems of lack of access to food and healthcare that plague millions of people in the region. However, without the observance of political (and civil) rights, economic development, wealth redistribution, and basic social order may be compromised. Contrary to arguments that insist that economic growth and social stability often require the limitation of political rights, political rights are a necessary requisite for promoting civilian support of governmental policies. Without political rights, equitable policies …

Considering The International Monetary Fund And World Bank: Lending Effectiveness In Sub-Saharan Africa, Daniela A. Wohlwend

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Sub-Saharan Africa is a place of unequivocal beauty, diversity and history; it is also the most impoverished and neglected area on the planet. With an objective look at what has gone wrong in the past five decades of International Monetary Fund and World Bank lending, along with strategic assessment and planning, sub-Saharan Africa does not have to remain the home to unimpeded, rampant poverty.

African Aid And Success: Four Keys, Susan Paganelli

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Aid to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has occasional success stories, but they are intermingled amongst tales of waste and failure. The stark reality is that more of the population of SSA is chronically undernourished in the present decade than it was in 1992 and 50 percent of the population is still considered to be living in extreme poverty. These problems persist in spite of the $650 billion given in aid to Africa by the world’s concerned countries since 1960 (Sunderberg and Gelp 2006). It is clear that money and good intent are not sufficient to alleviate the suffering in Africa.

Human Rights Abuses Along The Dominican-Haitian Border, Calla Cloud

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A 122 mile-long border separates the Dominican Republic and Haiti on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Of the two countries, Haiti’s human rights abuses are much more somber than the emerging developments of the Dominican Republic. Haiti’s stagnant economic situation has contributed to perennial political instability and lack of infrastructure, having a particularly confounding affect on the rights and labor conditions of Haitian citizens. There are a myriad of reasons why Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Two of the most prominent include its violent political history and the gradual deterioration of its economy. In the context …

Indigenous Rights In Latin America: The Gap Between Doctrine And Reality, Dan Ruge

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Indigenous people are prevalent across Latin America, with numbers reaching upwards of 70 percent of the general population in certain countries. Given their strong ancestral ties to the land and cultural practices, these groups have remained hidden and isolated from mainstream populations and the forces of globalization. For many groups, the limited interactions between indigenous people and the outside world have sadly been harmful to the survival of these communities. The discovery and exploitation of oil and other natural resources have led to the destruction of property, culture, and lives of indigenous groups. The uprooting and extinction in some cases …

Moving Beyond Divisive Discourse: Latin American Women In Politics, Ursula Miniszewski

Human Rights & Human Welfare

On June 25, 1993 the United Nations General Assembly held the World Conference on Human Rights, which adopted the Declaration and Programme of Action that states, “The human rights of women and of the girl-child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. The full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life, at the national, regional and international levels, and the eradication of all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex are priority objectives of the international community.” On September 18, 2008 The New York Times quoted Senator Cecilia López Montaño …

The Limits Of International Humanitarian Law, Melissa Eli

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The goal of international humanitarian law is to humanize war in an effort to minimize human suffering and the long-term negative consequences of war. However, despite the adoption by most countries of the Geneva Conventions and other relevant agreements, crimes of war occur in every conflict around the world on a regular basis. Additionally, as the form of warfare changes, so does the implementation and consequences of various war crimes. Genocide, systematic rape, and the use of child soldiers are three of the most significant war crimes facing sub-Saharan Africa today. Each has consequences so severe that specific international laws …

Revisiting Human Rights In Latin America: Introduction, Christina Cerna

Human Rights & Human Welfare

This Topical Research Digest on revisiting human rights in Latin America covers a wide range of subjects, both country specific and thematic, but has as its underlying theme the necessary protection of the human rights of vulnerable groups, whether they are women, children, lesbians, gay men, indigenous peoples, landless peasants, etc. This survey of literature on revisiting human rights in Latin America includes a rich selection of documents from international organizations, international human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and a plethora of American and foreign journals.

Child Labor In Latin America: Poverty As Cause And Effect, Michaelle Tauson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Throughout much of the developing world, children make up an alarming portion of the workforce. These children are robbed of their childhood in order to provide economic supplementation to their families. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), 5.7 million children in Latin America participate in the regional workforce (2006). It is a common misconception that children, who do not participate in the formal workforce, are not child laborers. However, the ILO defines child labor as any work that is detrimental to a child’s well-being or interferes with a child’s education. Due to the many categories and classifications of child …

Lanse Minkler On Human Rights And Structural Adjustment By Rodwan Abouharb & David Cingranelli. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 276pp., Lanse Minkler

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights and Structural Adjustment by Rodwan Abouharb & David Cingranelli. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 276pp.

Food Insecurity In Sub-Saharan Africa, Amy Rademacher

Human Rights & Human Welfare

For almost half a century, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been struggling, in one form or another, with food insecurity. This ongoing condition has been caused by a number of factors including distribution obstacles, global climate change, a lack of successful local agriculture, and an inability or disinterest to act by local officials. The situation has been further complicated by an inefficient and disorganized international response to the crisis. Although most would agree that each of these factors carries at least some validity, there is far less international consensus on the best remedy to the crisis.

Confronting The Past: Democratic Rhetoric Or Socially Necessary?, Rachel Oster

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In the current globalized international system, politics, economics, and societal issues are the concern of not only the state but of the world as a whole. It is increasingly apparent that participation in the global community requires states to implement, at minimum, conventional democracy within which individual rights are recognized and protected. Yet for much of the developing world, democratic regimes are partially contested given that many states were historically controlled by non-democratic, often militant regimes that offered security to citizens during times of economic crises.

James Pattison On Waging Humanitarian War: The Ethics, Law, And Politics Of Humanitarian Intervention By Eric A. Heinze. Albany: Suny Press, 2009. 224pp., James Pattison

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Waging Humanitarian War: The Ethics, Law, and Politics of Humanitarian Intervention by Eric A. Heinze. Albany: SUNY Press, 2009. 224pp.

Stephen James On Human Rights At The Un: The Political History Of Universal Justice By Roger Normand & Sarah Zaidi. Bloomington, In: Indiana University Press. 2008. 486pp., Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights at the UN: The Political History of Universal Justice by Roger Normand & Sarah Zaidi. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 2008. 486pp.

Nigel Parsons On Israel's Occupation By Neve Gordon. Berkley, Ca: University Of California Press, 2008. 318pp., Nigel Parsons

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Israel's Occupation by Neve Gordon. Berkley, CA: University of California Press, 2008. 318pp.

David P. Forsythe On John Charvet And Elisa Kaczynska-Nay. The Liberal Project And Human Rights: The Theory And Practice Of A New World Order. New York, Ny: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 446pp., David P. Forsythe

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

John Charvet and Elisa Kaczynska-Nay. The Liberal Project and Human Rights: The Theory and Practice of a New World Order. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 446pp.

Eric K. Leonard On The Future Of Human Rights: Us Policy For A New Era Edited By William F. Schulz. Philadelphia, Pa: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 314pp., Eric K. Leonard

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Future of Human Rights: US Policy for a New Era edited by William F. Schulz. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. 314pp.