R2P, Libya and International Politics as the Struggle for Competing Normative Architectures
The UN was neither designed nor expected to be a pacifist organisation. Its origins lie in the anti-Nazi wartime military alliance amongst Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. The all-powerful UN Security Council is the world’s duly, and only, sworn in sheriff for enforcing international law and order.
Israel’s New-Found Friends
Many of Israel’s supporters and friends are groups that advocate hatred and intolerance. Israelis need to took a good look at themselves and decide whether they want to be associated with these racist parties. Whether Israel embraces or rejects these new-found friends will say much about the character and nature of its society and the direction it decides to take with regards to its future.
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.
Libya’s Draft Constitutional Charter for the Transitional Stage: Promise and Drawbacks
The draft constitution creates an enormous and unprecedented opportunity for Libyans to shape their future in ways that will mark a clean and decisive break with the past. Yet, truly democratic state-building after conflict is not without perils, and democracy is not a foregone conclusion at the end of any authoritarian regime.
Dutch Tolerance: Something to Learn from?
In the age of intensified globalization and migration, societies are increasingly confronted with problems of integration and peaceful coexistence of religiously or otherwise ethnically different groups, particularly of groups identifying themselves with Western traditions on the one hand and the world of Islam on the other. Tolerance is an important element to meet these requirements.
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.
Before Engineering the Climate, We Must Engineer a Debate
The lay reader may be forgiven if geoengineering- the use of technology to manipulate the planetary climate system in order to forestall the worst effects of global warming- sounds like science fiction. The science of such interventions remains uncertain, but assessments are proliferating – and the implications for climate governance and policy could be huge.
The Middle-Class and the Future of World Politics
While the western world is likely to turn inward as its middle-classes attempt to cope with the economic squeeze, the new middle-classes in the global south are less predictable and more likely to be a force for instability. The ability of governments in the global south to respond to the changing demands of their constituents and provide competent economic governance will profoundly influence the future, both domestically and globally.
An End in Sight? The War on Terror and the Future of World Order
Western democracies must accept China as an equal partner in managing the global order, an order that has until recently borne the distinctive imprint of Western interests. The task of accommodating China will form the defining challenge of the 21st century.
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.
