Is there ‘a responsibility to protect?’ Discuss with Reference to Darfur
In December 2001 the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty released a report titled “The Responsibility to Protect”. This essay examines whether, in light of this document, states and organisations now have a responsibility to protect the people of Darfur.
An Analysis of the Difficulties Associated with Establishing State Responsibility for Human Rights Violations Occurring as a Result of Climate Change
Despite conclusive and significant scientific evidence to the contrary, there is still some considerable scepticism over the nature, causes and consequences of climate change. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent that extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and cyclones, as well as retreating glaciers and melting sea ice at the North and South poles, are all indicative of a warming world.
Is Humanitarian Intervention Legal?
Where collective security avenues are blocked, could a State, or States acting jointly, lawfully intervene militarily in another State’s territory without the permission of the Government of that State to halt or prevent it from committing atrocities against its own people? What about intervention where the territorial Government is unable or unwilling to provide basic humanitarian assistance to its people in the face of natural or human-made disaster?
Obama’s Foreign Policy Challenges
The election of Barack Obama as American President has seen unprecedented interest in American politics, not only domestically but also internationally. There is no doubt that he is a superb orator and with his message of change for which over 60million Americans voted for, we have witnessed history in the making. But what are the immediate foreign policy challenges facing the new Obama administration, and how will his style of leadership and conduct of foreign policy differ from that of the Bush administration?
Mumbai Terrorist Attacks – A Question of Governance
The slaughter of civilians in Mumbai by terrorists in November 2008 has once again vitiated the relationship between India and Pakistan in what is the fourth major crisis between them since the two countries became nuclear powers in the late 1980s.
Burma’s Crimes Against Humanity – A Test Case for the ‘Responsibility to Protect’
Burma is ruled by one of the world’s most brutal military regimes, guilty of every possible human rights violation. Known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and led by Senior General Than Shwe, Burma’s junta is not only brutal, but illegitimate. Elections held in 1990 were overwhelmingly won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The world has an undoubted responsibility to protect the Burmese people from their leaders.
The British Invasion of Egypt, 1882
Liberal fire-brand William Gladstone launched his election campaign to become British Prime Minister in 1880 during what was being described by contemporaries as the ‘Great Depression’. The ‘People’s William’ was elected primarily on the back of his promise to reverse the Conservative Party’s jingoistic, imperialist foreign policy under Benjamin Disraeli’s tenure.
Sri Lanka Needs Peace, Not R2P
Proponents of “responsibility to protect” or “R2P” have been linking their concept in recent weeks to the waning civil war in Sri Lanka. Are they right to do so? Talk of R2P may well distract from what should be a clear and unified demand to both sides: Cease fire.
The Conflict in Sri Lanka and the Responsibility to Protect
In mid 2008, the Sri Lankan government began a military offensive against LTTE rebels. Civilians trapped by the fighting face a double peril: if they flee, they risk being killed by the LTTE; if they stay, they must face the government’s bombardment. All this has prompted some humanitarian advocates to invoke the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (RtoP) principle. Are they right to do so?
What is the Relationship Between Domestic and Foreign Policy? Should they even be Distinguished?
This essay will argue that foreign policy is “primarily generated from within”. The influence of the domestic forms the basis of foreign strategy, overshadowing but not discounting remaining elements. The correlation between both policy areas is one of great strength.
