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10871. The Responsibility to Protect—Five Years On

Author:
Alex J. Bellamy
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) has become a prominent feature in international debates about preventing genocide and mass atrocities and about protecting potential victims. Adopted unanimously by heads of state and government at the 2005 UN World Summit and reaffirmed twice since by the UN Security Council, the principle of RtoP rests on three equally weighted and nonsequential pillars: (1) the primary responsibility of states to protect their own populations from the four crimes of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, as well as from their incitement; (2) the international community's responsibility to assist a state to fulfill its RtoP; and (3) the international community's responsibility to take timely and decisive action, in accordance with the UN Charter, in cases where the state has manifestly failed to protect its population from one or more of the four crimes. The principle differed from the older concept of humanitarian intervention by placing emphasis on the primary responsibility of the state to protect its own population, introducing the novel idea that the international community should assist states in this endeavor, and situating armed intervention within a broader continuum of measures that the international community might take to respond to genocide and mass atrocities. As agreed to by states, the principle also differed from the proposals brought forward by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty by (among other things) emphasizing international assistance to states (pillar two), downplaying the role of armed intervention, and rejecting criteria to guide decision-making on the use of force and the prospect of intervention not authorized by the UN Security Council. Five years on from its adoption, RtoP boasts a Global Centre and a network of regional affiliates dedicated to advocacy and research, an international coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), a journal and book series, and a research fund sponsored by the Australian government. More important, RtoP has made its way onto the international diplomatic agenda. In 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon challenged the UN membership to translate its 2005 commitment from ''words to deeds.'' This challenge was taken up by the General Assembly in 2009, when it agreed to give further consideration to the secretary-general's proposals. RtoP has also become part of the diplomatic language of humanitarian emergencies, used by governments, international organizations, NGOs, and independent commissions to justify behavior, cajole compliance, and demand international action.
Topic:
Security, Crime, Genocide, Government, and War
Political Geography:
United States and Australia

10872. The Paradox of Partnership: Assessing New Forms of NGO Advocacy on Labor Rights

Author:
Shareen Hertel
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in rule making on labor rights are as varied as the companies they seek to influence. Many of these NGOs consist of little more than a handful of staff cramped in a small office in New York or London, armed with an Internet connection, a list of contacts in developing countries, and a limited budget. Others have bigger budgets, more staff, wider networks of contacts, and greater public renown. Some focus only on the labor rights practices of a single corporation, while others seek to engage companies across a whole industry sector, country, or region. Regardless of their differences, NGOs involved in rule making on labor rights share a willingness to work astride a series of divides: the divide separating the for profit and not-for-profit sectors; separating governmental and nongovernmental entities; and separating the production of goods with ''public'' characteristics (such as environmental protection or public health) from the production of private goods (such as consumer durables).
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
New York and London

10873. Deterrence, Democracy, and the Pursuit of International Justice

Author:
Leslie Vinjamuri
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In recent years efforts to hold the perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable have become increasingly normalized, and building capacity in this area has become central to the strategies of numerous advocacy groups, international organizations, and governments engaged in rebuilding and reconstructing states. The indictment of sitting heads of state and rebel leaders engaged in ongoing conflicts, however, has been more exceptional than normal, but is nonetheless radically altering how we think about, debate, and practice justice. Arrest warrants for Sudanese president Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, Liberian president Charles Taylor, and the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, Joseph Kony, have not only galvanized attention around the role of international justice in conflict but are fundamentally altering the terms of debate. While a principled commitment continues to underpin advocacy for justice, several court documents and high-profile reports by leading advocacy organizations stress the capacity of international justice to deliver peace, the rule of law, and stability to transitional states. Such an approach presents a stark contrast to rationales for prosecution that claim that there is a moral obligation or a legal duty to prosecute the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Instead, recent arguments have emphasized the instrumental purposes of justice, essentially recasting justice as a tool of peacebuilding and encouraging proponents and critics alike to evaluate justice on the basis of its effects.
Topic:
Crime, Genocide, Government, and War
Political Geography:
Uganda and Sudan

10874. "The Gender of Reparations: Unsettling Sexual Hierarchies While Redressing Human Rights Violations" Edited by Ruth Rubio-Marin

Author:
Debra L. DeLaet
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This edited collection provides a gender-sensitive analysis of reparations programs in transitional and postconflict societies, examining the gendered nature of violence during armed conflict and political repression, and reparations as an approach to promoting postconflict justice.
Topic:
Human Rights and United Nations

10875. "A Cosmopolitanism of Nations: Giuseppe Mazzini's Writings on Democracy, Nation Building, and International Relations" Edited by Stefano Recchia and Nadia Urbinati

Author:
Daniel Voelsen
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Editors Stefano Recchia and Nadia Urbinati assemble a new collection of original texts by Giuseppe Mazzini, a 19th century Italian activist-philosopher who, despite being almost forgotten today, was a prominent and prescient voice for republicanism and liberal nationalism.
Political Geography:
Europe

10876. "Preemption: Military Action and Moral Justification" Edited by Henry Shue and David Rodin

Author:
Martin Cook
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Surveying a variety of perspectives on the uses and limits of preemption, this edited volume coalesces around three key themes: differences in just war terminology between disciplines; historical perspectives on changes in key concepts; and the evolution of preventive war thinking in the U.S.
Political Geography:
United States and Soviet Union

10877. Renegotiation of the Just War Tradition and the Right to War in the Twenty-First Century"

Author:
John W. Lango
Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
What were the primary justifications for the Iraq War, and how do they relate to classical and contemporary just war thought? Identifying three such justifications—anticipatory, punitive, and humanitarian—Cian O'Driscoll clarifies the debate within the just war community about the invasion.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid and War
Political Geography:
Iraq

10878. Briefly Noted [Full Text]

Publication Date:
06-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs.
Topic:
War and Financial Crisis

10879. The Politics of Punishing Terrorists [Full Text]

Author:
Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Debates about trying and punishing terrorists reveal how the failure to construct a shared normative consensus in international criminal justice continues to bedevil the international community. The only way to achieve this consensus is to engage in the messy business of politics.
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
United States, New York, and Europe

10880. Introduction

Author:
Terry MacDonald and Raffaele Marchetti
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
If global democratization is to advance beyond the current point, it is necessary to confront the practical challenge of institutional design: How might ideals of global democracy be put effectively into practice given the many constraints imposed by the existing global political order?
Topic:
Politics