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32. Can There Ever Be Transitional Justice in Iraq?
- Author:
- Mieczyslaw P. Boduszynski
- Publication Date:
- 09-2023
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- For many decades, Iraqis have been the victims of state and non-state ac- tors. A seemingly endless cycle of war, sectarian conflict, and extremist violence has resulted in a number of missing and forcibly disappeared Iraqis that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) calls one of the highest in the world.1 The goals of transitional justice (TJ), which the UN Human Rights Commission defines as “the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with a society’s attempt to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale, past conflict, repression, violations, and abuses in order to ensure accountability, serve justice, and achieve reconciliation,” are therefore uniquely relevant to Iraq.2 However, TJ faces major obstacles in the Iraqi context. In addition to the need to investigate, make public, and potentially pros- ecute multiple layers of abuse spread over two generations, would-be crafters of TJ mechanisms in Iraq must grapple with how to promote reconciliation in a deeply divided society. While the state often plays a key role in TJ, the Iraqi state is uniquely unstable, corrupt, and unable to lead TJ efforts effectively.3 In successive surveys of public opinion, Iraqi citizens express low levels of trust in their institutions and political leaders.4 Yet, Iraq is, in some dimensions, more democratic than many of its neighbors in the Middle East, which provides the opportunity for civil society-led initiatives for truth-telling. This essay surveys the decades of violations experienced by Iraqis, describes past efforts to imple- ment TJ measures, and analyzes possible paths forward.
- Topic:
- Security, War, Sectarianism, Transitional Justice, Iraq War, and Reconciliation
- Political Geography:
- Iraq and Middle East
33. Rethinking Resistance and Redress
- Author:
- Khatchig Mouradian and Michelle Allas Molina
- Publication Date:
- 09-2023
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Dr. Khatchig Mouradian is a lecturer in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University, and the Armenian and Georgian Area Specialist at the Library of Congress. Mouradian is the author of the award-winning book The Resistance Network: The Armenian Genocide and Humanitarianism in Ottoman Syria, 1915-1918. He is the co-editor of After the Ottomans: Genocide’s Long Shadow and Armenian Resilience and the forthcoming The I.B.Tauris Handbook of the Late Ottoman Empire: History and Legacy.
- Topic:
- Political Violence, History, Interview, Resistance, and Armenian Genocide
- Political Geography:
- Turkey, Caucasus, Middle East, and Armenia
34. Revenge, Revisionism, or Reconciliation? Libya after the Arab Spring
- Author:
- Marieke Wierda and Suliman Ibrahim
- Publication Date:
- 09-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- In September 2023, heavy rains in Libya caused two dams to break. Muddy floodwaters ripped through the town of Derna, dividing it in half and destroy- ing everything in their way, causing at least 10,000 deaths.1 This single natural disaster killed more people than the violence that has plagued Libya since its Revolution, but in many ways, it was man-made. The failure of the dams and the decaying infrastructure result from the political rifts that have dominated Libya for a decade. The disaster has once again prompted debate in Libyan so- ciety on how to achieve justice for the lives lost, in this case due to negligence and corruption. Since 2011, Libyans have been waiting for justice for lives lost, be it during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi or during the turbulent period that followed. The absence of accountability hinders the formation of a new social contract through reconciliation.
- Topic:
- Arab Spring, Transitional Justice, Reconciliation, and Muammar Gaddafi
- Political Geography:
- Libya and North Africa
35. Inequality Can Only Be Fixed By Structural Economic Reform
- Author:
- Graeme Maxton
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Inequality is like a slippery eel: it is easy to see but very hard to grasp. It has endured for centuries and has worsened recently.1 As a result of climate change, it is likely to become more of a problem in the future, bringing the risk of widespread instability. Although inequality has been a problem for a very long time, economists, social scientists, and political thinkers have failed to devise any lasting solutions. This is because the responses so far have been tepid-hearted, torn between three competing ideas.
- Topic:
- Reform, Inequality, and Economy
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
36. Women’s Security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Author:
- Immaculée Birhaheka
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- The fight for women’s rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) originated in the 1950s with the creation of young women’s social centers in local Catholic churches. In the early 1980s, challenges within the fight grew with the emergence of the NGO system, which brought non-state actors into activism for social change. This development popularized the idea that, because women constitute 52 percent of the population, abandoning them would be a mistake. However, the road to women’s social emancipation remains long and perilous.
- Topic:
- Security, Human Rights, History, Women, and Inequality
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo
37. Competition between Democracy and Autocracy: The Defining Challenge of the 21st Century
- Author:
- Derek Mitchell
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Ambassador Derek Mitchell is the president of the National Democratic In- stitute. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Myanmar from 2012 –2016, following a long and distinuguished career in and outside the government.
- Topic:
- International Affairs, Democracy, Strategic Competition, and Autocracy
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
38. The Need and Hope for Arms Control
- Author:
- Michael Krepon
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- An Interview with Nick Madoff and Luka Willett
- Topic:
- Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Interview, and Denuclearization
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
39. On Nuclear Politics and Financial Crime
- Author:
- Togzhan Kassenova
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- Dr. Togzhan Kassenova is a Washington, DC-based senior fellow with the Project on International Security, Commerce, and Economic Statecraft (PISCES) at the Center for Policy Research, SUNY-Albany and a nonresident fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She is an expert on nuclear politics, WMD nonproliferation, strategic trade controls, sanctions imple- mentation, and financial crime prevention. She currently works on issues related to proliferation financing controls, exploring ways to minimize access of proliferators to the global financial system. Kassenova holds a Ph.D. in Politics from the Univer- sity of Leeds and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). From 2011 to 2015 Kassenova served on the UN secretary general’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. Kassenova is the author of Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb (forthcoming, Stanford University Press, 2022).
- Topic:
- Nuclear Weapons, Politics, Nonproliferation, and Interview
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
40. Coups D’état in the Covid-19 Era
- Author:
- John J. Chin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Institution:
- Brown Journal of World Affairs
- Abstract:
- In the years preceding the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, many observers were cheerily optimistic about the decline of coups d’état in the twenty-first century. As late as early 2019, for example, Axios declared confidently that coups—or illegal seizures of power by military or government actors—“are becoming a thing of the past.”1 In early 2022, the same journalist and outlet reported that “coups are making a comeback.”2 Between those three years (January 2019–January 2022), 13 coup attempts occurred, 10 of which succeeded. By contrast, in the three years beforehand (January 2016–January 2019), there had only been five coup attempts, two of which were successful. In other words, the number of coup attempts more than doubled, and the number of successful coups quintupled, according to my updated Colpus dataset of coup types.3 What accounts for the apparent coup comeback? Is the pandemic itself to blame? In this article, I draw on my newly updated Colpus dataset of coup types, documenting all coups through February 2022, to survey the history of recent coups. I first show that after several decades in decline, coups started to make their comeback before the pandemic. I then survey the potential causes of “covid coups” and the factors for why recent coups have been overwhelmingly concentrated in Africa. I conclude by reflecting on the legacy of “covid coups.”
- Topic:
- Coup, COVID-19, and Instability
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Global Focus