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31. The Practice, Promise and Peril of EU Lawfare

Author:
Steven Blockmans
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Centre for Defence and Security - ICDS
Abstract:
Power generates law and its interpretation, irrespective of whether it serves the cause of international justice. Despite its many shortcomings, the rules-based international order (RBIO) tries to advance that cause. But as a concept, the RBIO is now being rejected by China, Russia and parts of the so-called “Global South” for what they claim is the Western hegemonism and liberal values that underpin it. The fact that these countries have voluntarily signed up to the international covenants that enshrine the legal doctrines to strengthen the sovereign rights of weaker countries, especially in the context of economic relations, makes it hard to sympathise with the argument that the RBIO should be replaced by another concept, especially one that is advanced by autocracies. The RBIO has been partially shaped by the European Union (EU), a community of law that encodes the aspiration of “good global governance” in its constitutional DNA. With the waning “Brussels effect”—the soft power of EU law in shaping international rules and standards, the EU should consider how to instrumentalise the law to protect and promote its foreign policy interests, first and foremost the protection and promotion of the RBIO. This report unpacks the notion of “lawfare” and conducts a comparative analysis of such practices by the US, China, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and others to assess the promise and peril of the EU using the power of the law to its strategic advantage.
Topic:
International Law, Sanctions, European Union, International Order, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, China, Europe, Turkey, Ukraine, and United States of America

32. Finding Law in the History of Global Violence: An Interview with Lauren Benton

Author:
Lauren Benton and Daniel R. Quiroga-Villamarín
Publication Date:
07-2024
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Toynbee Prize Foundation
Abstract:
Violence is, in the public imagination, the law’s radical Other. Brutality and cruelty, we tend to believe, are elements that flourish in law’s absence. Not only is the appearance of violence a symptom of the absence of order, but its bloody outbursts are taken to be utterly meaningless. The narrative of the emergence of “modern” law —both within, and beyond, the nation-state— is usually that of the triumph of reason and deliberation over violence. This progression supposedly entailed the prohibition (or at least, the domestication) of force in local and global politics. Against this rather rosy narrative, Lauren Benton invites us to read the ways in which violence and law act, together, to cement claims of global order. Benton does so by placing so-called “small wars” at “the center of a new history” of interpolity relations (p. xii). Instead of seeing them as mere “manifestations of insurgency and counterinsurgency,” she studies how a variety of practices (“raiding and other sporadic violence as well as conflicts that were small in scale, remained undeclared, or lasted for relatively brief periods”) were central to how European empires justified the legality of their expansion over the globe (p. 7). Such “small” wars, in fact, could be quite “big” in scale or “long” over time. What matters is that all these instances of violence oscillated at the “threshold of war and peace” (p. 8) —and, as such, raised thorny questions about their legal basis all long the imperial chain of command. The productive ambiguities offered by this “law of neither war nor peace” offered enormous opportunities for those who knew who to exploit them —as Benton shows by tracing how imperial agents negotiated this threshold at different times and places, from the Iberian Conquistadores “discovering” the Americas all the way to their successors in our own day and age (p. 184-185). The contours of this vague threshold were not, as Benton argues, predetermined by the metropolitan laws of expanding European empires. Pushing against histories of “diffusion” of laws of war from the West to the Rest (p. 9), Benton instead analyzes how agents in different imperial locales —for instance, in both the colonial frontier and heartland— raised arguments about the legality of violence within and beyond the threshold (p. 60). Moreover, “not just Europeans, and not just law-trained elites” were productively exploiting the ambiguities of this threshold (p. 17). The book is replete with cases in which non-lawyers (for example, a British captain patrolling distant seas) or local elites (for instance, rulers in South Asia) were active interpreters of the law applicable to the violence they encountered (p. 146). By bringing together a variety of materials from different continents and periods, Benton provides a thoroughly global account of the interpenetration of law and violence in the making of empire —past, present, and perhaps even future.
Topic:
International Law, Law, Violence, Interview, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus

33. Political and Economic Dimensions of the Dominance of Selected Asian Recycling Yards in the World

Author:
Malgorzata Kamola-Cieslik
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have dominated the global ship recycling market in the 21st century. A recycled ship provides steel and other metals for industrial reuse. In addition to economic gains, ship recycling affects the environment and workers’ health. The article compares the changes in the policies of the governments of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan regarding recycling shipyard operations from 2009-2022 in the context of international and EU law standards. It also shows the impact of international organizations, shipbuilding trade unions, Shipbreaking Platform non-governmental, Maersk shipping company, and Norway on the decisions of South Asian countries to make them ratify the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships. Analysis of the collected research material allows us to conclude that the governments of India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have shown varying degrees of understanding of introducing legal regulations for safe ship recycling.
Topic:
Government, International Law, Recycling, and Trade Unions
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, and Asia

34. Israel and the ICJ: Comparing International Court Cases During the Gaza War

Author:
Alexander Loengarov
Publication Date:
07-2024
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
The current cycle of legal actions involving Israel is unprecedented in scope and politicization, but governments are still better off engaging with the process and lodging their objections there than dismissing it outright. On July 19, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will deliver an advisory opinion on the “legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.” The opinion was requested by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) more than a year and a half ago—well before the Gaza war broke out—in the context of efforts to increase awareness of the Palestinian issue at various international forums, as well as more specific concerns about escalating “tensions and violence” with Israel. The timing of this week’s opinion might seem incongruous given how much has taken place since it was first requested in January 2023. Yet it is in keeping with a wartime trend in which more new cases are being brought before international courts, and pending cases are being rekindled and amplified. Distinguishing between these cases is instructive.
Topic:
Genocide, International Law, International Court of Justice (ICJ), and 2023 Gaza War
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza

35. The Rabble of International Community over Afghanistan and the Recognition of Taliban Government

Author:
Matiullah Safi
Publication Date:
07-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
South Asian Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
It is to highlight the responsibility of the international community, and the concerns of the Afghan people under international law in the wake of the Taliban takeover on 15/ August/ 2021. Considering the apprehensions of Afghans under the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the prodigious behavior of global polity, and regional powers to the recognition of the Taliban as a political party and finally the legitimate leadership of Afghanistan has legal domestic, international, and regional implications for Afghan people. The recent engagement of the international community with the Taliban government and the dynamics of political statements of the nations around the world and regional states have created a domino effect for recognition among regional powers over the course of the short history of the Taliban government in Afghanistan including the United Nations' response. A considerable segment of the international community is looking for economic, political, and strategic interests rather than international norms of diplomacy, human rights, and other international considerations for the recognition of the Taliban government. This paper investigates the interdependence between international law, regional politics, and human rights in the wake of the Taliban‟s takeover of Afghanistan. The paper also provides a conceptual framework for international recognition of the Taliban‟s government, it critically analyzes the international community‟s engagement with the Taliban's emergence as the de facto government and the broader implications for both Afghan citizens and global actors.
Topic:
International Law, Taliban, International Community, and Recognition
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and South Asia

36. R2P Monitor, Issue 68, 1 March 2024

Author:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
R2P Monitor is a quarterly publication applying the atrocity prevention lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 68 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar (Burma), Nicaragua, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Cameroon, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Yemen.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocity Prevention
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, China, Sudan, Ukraine, Israel, North Korea, Yemen, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Nicaragua, Haiti, Syria, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Myanmar, South Sudan, Cameroon, Sahel, Central African Republic, and Global Focus

37. The Responsibility to Protect in the Americas: Exploring Sources of Mass Atrocity Risk and Best Practices for Response

Author:
Elisabeth Pramendorfer
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
Over the past four decades, countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have made important strides – transitioning from dictatorship to democracy, exploring avenues for transitional justice, reconciliation and memorialization of past atrocities, and becoming champions of the human rights norms and multilateral institutions that safeguard humanity. Despite this progress, today the region has once again become one of the most violent in the world and governments around the region are systematically curtailing human rights. Independent UN investigations have documented possible crimes against humanity in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Similar patterns of systematic violations are unfolding in El Salvador. Escalating urban and gang-related violence in Brazil and Haiti resemble conflict zones and have resulted in unprecedented casualties. Meanwhile, the structural marginalization of Indigenous Peoples across the region, the militarization of security strategies and attacks against judicial independence are emblematic features of many countries in the Americas. Despite documentation of how phenomena like gang violence and structural marginalization of Indigenous Peoples may facilitate an environment conducive to the commission of atrocity crimes, atrocity prevention frameworks have not sufficiently considered the unique risks associated with these threats. While varying in scope and severity, democratic backsliding has further exacerbated the risks associated with these patterns in recent years. Instead of addressing such institutional risk factors, governments have gradually eroded the rule of law and have resorted to violating human rights, curtailing, and, in some cases, repressing and criminalizing civic space. Disproportionate and violent responses to street protests in Chile, Colombia and the United States further demonstrate that atrocity prevention should become both a domestic and foreign policy imperative. This Occasional Paper assesses recent protracted and emerging atrocity crises by examining various institutional and hybrid risk factors present in Venezuela, Nicaragua and El Salvador. This paper also provides recommendations for governments to identify gaps and opportunities to address atrocity risks in their own country, as well as how to strengthen the region’s atrocity prevention capacities by presenting options available on the regional and multilateral level to ensure robust and time-sensitive response. It is not too late to ensure effective, holistic and coordinated response to emerging situations in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Doing so will require the requisite political will, a steadfast commitment and the courage to prioritize human rights by countries in the region and beyond.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), Atrocity Prevention, and Democratic Backsliding
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and Caribbean

38. R2P Monitor, Issue 69, 1 June 2024

Author:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
R2P Monitor is a quarterly publication applying the atrocity prevention lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 69 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar (Burma), Nicaragua, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Central African Republic and South Sudan. Updates for Cameroon, China and Yemen are available on our Populations at Risk page.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocity Prevention
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, Israel, North Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Nicaragua, Haiti, Syria, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Myanmar, Sahel, and Central African Republic

39. R2P Monitor, Issue 70, 1 September 2024

Author:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
R2P Monitor is a quarterly publication applying the atrocity prevention lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 70 looks at developments in Afghanistan, Central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar (Burma), Nicaragua, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Central African Republic and South Sudan. Updates for Cameroon, China and Yemen are available on our Populations at Risk page.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocity Prevention
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, Israel, North Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Nicaragua, Haiti, Syria, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Myanmar, South Sudan, Sahel, and Central African Republic

40. R2P Monitor, Issue 71, 1 December 2024

Author:
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Publication Date:
12-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
R2P Monitor is a quarterly publication applying the atrocity prevention lens to populations at risk of mass atrocities around the world. Issue 71 looks at developments in Afghanistan, the Central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar (Burma), Nicaragua, Nigeria, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Central African Republic and South Sudan. Updates for Cameroon, China and Yemen are also available on our Populations at Risk page.
Topic:
Human Rights, International Law, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Atrocity Prevention
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, Israel, North Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine, Nicaragua, Haiti, Syria, Venezuela, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Myanmar, South Sudan, Sahel, and Central African Republic