Normative Power Still Matters: Adopting the Srebrenica Resolution
The 1995 Srebrenica genocide was a shameful event in modern European politics. The Srebrenica Resolution, adopted in January 2009 by the European Parliament, represents a significant ‘normative’ initiative that once again has proved the relevance and effectiveness of the European Union as an appreciable normative power in international politics.
Three questions on Libya and one on the region
The Gaddafi regime appears to be falling in Libya, but important questions must be answered if the transition to a new government is to be peaceful. Where have Gaddafi’s fighters gone; what are their plans? How united are the rebels and who is in command? Who will lead international post-conflict reconstruction efforts? And what are the implications for the Arab Spring more broadly?
Don’t Fear the Air/Sea Battle Concept
Much has been made recently in multiple publications about the possible escalatory nature of fighting Chinese anti-access tactics with a concept of “Air/Sea Battle”. Very little exact information about the plan is known to the public, yet speculation has remained rampant. The concept at its core is attempting to create synergy between armed forces in combining their offensive capabilities as seamlessly as possible. This is not a new idea.
My Decade of Activism, Countering “Appearance-ism” and Fighting Islamophobia
Our biggest challenge is to be more attractive than those who tout rage as their ‘answer’ to prior rage and retribution; leading only to endless cycles of destruction. How to inspire haters to renounce hate, is our challenge. We face this hurdle within ourselves, as well, when we fall into feeling this way about the haters, or when we even fall into hating ourselves.
The efficacy and moral considerations of negotiating with terrorist groups, violent militias and mercenaries
Whether the ends justify the means is an impossible question to answer decisively. How unpalatable are the means and how desirable the ends? There is no definitive rulebook on how violent organisations such as Hamas need to be handled. Each example illustrates a different dynamic that requires a different response.
Political Economy of Human Rights: The Quest for Relevance and Realization
Advancing human rights to the level of global justice requires more than the current circus of councils, commissions, and committees with tedious documents deliberated in lengthy meetings. Coming closer to people in their daily pursuit of liberties and livelihoods is the most productive perspective for progress in the 21st century.
The Trial Will Not Be Televised: Mubarak and the Struggle for Power in the ‘New Egypt’
It is no small irony that while Egypt’s ‘new’ leadership is being lauded for making sure the Mubarak trial is not being rushed through a military court where standards of proof are lower and pressures on the defense can be higher, pro-democracy activists and protesters are being dragged through those same military courts in ever-greater numbers.
Contractors in the “War on Terror”: Enabling Global Military Deployment
What has begun as the “War on Terror” and is now a series of “overseas contingency operations” could in fact only go on in the global fashion that it did for almost ten years now because of the services provided by several hundred thousand contractors. In short, private contractors serve as enablers of this decade-old war, much like they have become enablers of most major Western militaries.
Assisting refugees in protracted refugee situations: A never-ending story?
The kind of assistance a refugee really needs is the right to work, to own property, to move freely and to participate in political processes. A short-term focus on the current humanitarian crisis in Dadaab needs to be accompanied by a recognition of the fact that those who live in the refugee camps face a protracted humanitarian crisis.
Palestine and the UN: The Recognition Debate
Palestine now only requires a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly, or 129 votes, to be admitted as the 194th member of the United Nations. The long conflict between Israel and Palestine has shed enough blood. It is high time that the international community worked to support the peaceful future of two sovereign states.
