The Responsibility to Protect – The Cases of Libya and Ivory Coast
The United States, France and Britain invaded Libya with cruise missiles, stealth bombers, fighter jets and attack jets. In addition, the United Nations and France have been bombing the Ivory Coast to protect civilians. The Responsibility to Protect doctrine, which is being used to legitimate these attacks, is a slippery slope that should be viewed with extreme caution.
Trade and Aid Are Not Mutually Exclusive
The history of Western aid delivery is not flush with glowing recommendations, but to advocate the abolition of Britain’s entire aid budget is unwise. We must always ensure money is being spent effectively with sufficient accountability and transparency. We must not step back from our commitments to those who most need it. The alternative is simply intolerable.
Leal’s Execution was Legal (Sort Of), But That Doesn’t Make it Right
The international community watched with muted anger Friday afternoon as Texas executed Mexican national Humberto Leal Garcia after the Supreme Court refused to stay his sentence. Little doubt remains that in doing so, the United States violated the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and this is not the first such occurrence.
Human Rights in the Context of International Relations
In the struggle for public justice, international human rights provide not just legal resources as based on positive law, but also political means anchored in public legitimacy. Additionally, human rights function not merely to protect people with regard to the freedoms and entitlements they have already acquired, but in their emancipatory struggles for socio-political transformation as well.
The Responsibility to Protect and Peacemaking
R2P has the potential to operate as a broader norm-based policy framework. As its normative weight increases and its normalization advances, it could enhance local and international institutional capacities to assess and address the risk of atrocities at an earlier stage through primary prevention, ensure robust measures are taken to halt R2P crimes in a more consistent manner, and rebuild societies emerging from conflict.
Premature Adulation in Sudan
On July 9th diplomats celebrated the birth of Africa’s newest country, South Sudan, like over-stimulated toddlers at a party. The media followed suit, with trivial and sometimes patronising stories about the new national anthem and flag, and the admittedly strange plan to create cities in the shapes of African animals. Sadly, those involved should have focused on the agenda items they failed to address before sending out the independence day invitations.
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.
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.
Whither R2P?
With the exception of Raphael Lemkin’s efforts and the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, no idea has moved faster in the international normative arena than “the responsibility to protect”. While blow-back from Libya is inevitable, nonetheless R2P is alive and well.
The Responsibility to Rebuild and Libya
The responsibilities to prevent and react have been addressed in Libya, but the third stage of the R2P, “the responsibility to rebuild”, remains an ongoing issue. The extent to which the R2P can be seen as a “success” in Libya rests largely how this part of the R2P is implemented. In many respects, the “responsibility to rebuild” is the one of the most important parts of the R2P because requires intervening actors to establish a clear and effective post-intervention strategy.
