It would be a mistake to deny that technological progress has been, and still is, a characteristic of our history. Men have gone from fighting with their gladios in ancient Rome to using gunpowder in cannons and rifles, and from deploying machine guns to applying the threat of nuclear war.
Private security companies and privatizing security can at first seem to offer solutions to maintaining safety and stability when a state is no longer able to do so. However, the interference of PSCs in state functions ultimately can hinder the development and legitimacy of a state and cause further insecurities within.
We may all agree that there is a moral imperative to halt mass atrocities. The problem is the reconciliation of such an obligation and our entrenched system of anarchy at the international level. Those states that are part of the United Nations should have a responsibility to respect the adoption of R2P principles, notably the moral imperative to halt mass atrocities and punish the perpetrators through the ICC.
On May 30th, 2010, former Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Mora Medina declared the drug cartel La Familia Michoacana, known simply as “La Familia,” to be the most dangerous in all of Mexico. The rise of La Familia, its bizarre ideology and indoctrination of members, and the lower-class following it has received have separated it from other DTOs in Mexico.
The crisis in the Euro Area is enmeshed in an evolving global, and European, financial and economic crisis. Its dimensions are profound, historical, and structural. It raises the stakes in European integration to new heights.
Although Western publics are not casualty-phobic and presently pay little attention to body counts as the ultimate barometer for success, they are wary of supporting wars with low prospects for ultimate triumph, and casualty rates and patterns can help formulate more nuanced policy opinions.
June 2010 witnessed the opening of a new chapter in the history of the European Central Bank (ECB). Without any debate or decision-making process outside the closed doors of the ECB’s conference rooms, the Bank decided to extend its activities far beyond the field of traditional monetary policy.
Merkel’s actions over the EU fiscal pact have been likened to a game of chicken. They are more akin to tightrope walking while composing an opera. Lurking in the background is the threat that the markets will lose faith and tear the whole edifice down. Either way, this pact will not be the last word.
The debate over American exceptionalism has only just begun. It appears to be at its apex during times of anxiety and crisis within the American polity. Hence, the current state of affairs in America makes the 2012 election season such a juncture.
Not supporting the people of South Ossetia in their determination to make their voices heard and their votes count undermines the credibility of EU efforts to promote and support democracy and sends a message that it may yet be possible to get away with stealing elections.
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