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51. Virtuality, Perception and Reality in Myanmar's Democratic Reform

Author:
Victoria Christensen
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
Since the summer of 2011, the country of Myanmar has been experiencing rapid democratic reform. Headlines lauding these positive changes have become common-place in the international media. However, experts and academics who have been involved in the decade-long campaign to bring peace and democracy to Myanmar remain divided over how sincere these changes are. Some accuse the Government of carrying out “window-dressing” reforms to please the Western governments and enable the lifting of sanctions. They argue that the Government has a vested interest in maintaining the reins of power and that there is no incentive to make true democratic reforms. During a speech in Oslo in June 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmarese Pro-democracy leader described the recent reforms as positive but warned against blind faith in the process and pointed out the main challenges that remain unresolved – namely the ethnic issues and the ongoing imprisonment of political prisoners.
Topic:
Democratization, Human Rights, Political Economy, Governance, and Reform
Political Geography:
Geneva, United States, China, Tehran, Korea, and Southeast Asia

52. The Power to Kill or Capture Enemy Combatants

Author:
Ryan Goodman
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
During wartime a critical legal question involves the scope of authority to choose whether to kill or capture enemy combatants. One view maintains that a combatant is lawfully subject to lethal force wherever the person is found – unless and until the individual offers to surrender. In contrast, this article concludes that important restraints on the use of deadly force were a part of the agreement reached by states and codified in the 1977 First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions. When nations of the world focused their attention on balancing principles of humanity and military necessity, and making higher law, they agreed on two important sets of rules. Under Article 35, states agreed to prohibit the manifestly unnecessary killing of enemy combatants. And, under Article 41, they agreed that combatants who are completely defenceless, at the mercy of enemy forces, shall be considered hors de combat. – including alternative specifications of standards and burdens of proof. Nevertheless, the general constraint – and its key components – should be understood to have a solid foundation in the structure, rules, and practices of modern warfare.
Political Geography:
Geneva

53. Moment of Truth: Call to action ahead of Syria peace talks, and beyond

Author:
Daniel Gorevan
Publication Date:
10-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
The world was rightly appalled by the use of chemical weapons in Damascus on 21 August 2013. If the recent diplomatic initiatives by the USA and Russia mean that these weapons are never again used, it would be a great achievement. But it won't be enough.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Crime, Human Rights, International Law, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:
Geneva, Russia, Middle East, Arabia, and Syria

54. The Middle East: Change and Upheaval 2013

Author:
Dr. Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Christian Koch, and Dr. Klejda Mulaj
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
As the Middle East continues to grapple with challenging questions of continuity and change, a group of distinguished thinkers on the region's politics and society met in Gstaad, Switzerland, to analyze current political dynamics and their implications for the region and beyond. This 11th Annual Conference organized jointly by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), the Crown Centre for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, and the Gulf Research Center (GRC) aimed to take stock of developments in the Middle East over the previous year and bring about a greater understanding of the complex problems faced by a perplexingly disordered region. Following on the 10th meeting in 2012, the primary focus of the discussion was on the Arab revolutions, their overall significance and outlook as well as their impact in the region with a specific emphasis on Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan. In addition, Iran's domestic politics and its international security implications; the GCC states and their place in the broader Middle East; as well as Israeli-Palestinian relations also featured prominently. The meeting opened by looking at the broader geopolitical and regional dynamics and concluded with a session considering policy implications in relation to present regional political dynamics. This report summarizes discussions held in the course of this meeting and in the tradition of previous reports on this Conference series, no direct, personal attributions are made herein. The Conference's program is attached.
Topic:
Political Violence, Governance, and Political Activism
Political Geography:
Geneva, Middle East, Israel, Arabia, Syria, Switzerland, and Egypt

55. Film: Bollywood for grown-ups

Author:
Burhan Wazir
Publication Date:
10-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
A lesser known independent strand in Indian cinema that is prepared to talk seriously about politics
Topic:
Politics
Political Geography:
Geneva, Pakistan, India, and London

56. . . . and New York and The Hague and Tokyo and Geneva and Nuremberg and . . .: The Geographies of International Law

Author:
David Koller
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
In the dominant narrative of international law, historical events in space and time are made to fall along an invisible line of progress, from Westphalia in 1648 through the Bretton Woods and San Francisco conferences of 1944 and 1945 to the present day and continuing on through the future to a more just world. Against this, a counter-narrative has emerged which denies the possibility of such linear development and consigns international law to forever tracing an unending circular path between points of idealism and realpolitik. This article examines how international lawyers have created and continue to create these metaphysical geographies of international law. Drawing on the work of the French multi-disciplinary thinkers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, this article shows that both approaches, and indeed the very concept of international law, can at most only replicate and impose pre-conceived theories and that the imposition of such theories is contrary to the natural patterns of human consciousness. It urges us to see international law rather as but one manifestation of the ongoing struggle between efforts to impose unity on and to control human consciousness and the mind's efforts to break free of such restricting structures.
Political Geography:
Geneva, New York, Tokyo, San Francisco, Papua, and Westphalia

57. The Laws of Occupation and Commercial Law Reform in Occupied Territories: Clarifying a Widespread Misunderstanding

Author:
Jose Alejandro Carballo Leyda
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Since the publication of the widely quoted book by Eyal Benvenisti on The International Law of Occupation, there seems to be a generally accepted premise that Article 64 of the IV Geneva Convention is applicable to all types of laws (including commercial laws) and that, therefore, its legal regime replaced Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations. With all due respect, this article argues that such approach is wrongfully grounded. Furthermore, almost no author seems to give any relevance to the formal obligation imposed by the IV Geneva Convention to publish (in the language of the inhabitants) the commercial law norms enacted by the occupying power.
Political Geography:
Geneva and Papua

58. The Laws of Occupation and Commercial Law Reform in Occupied Territories: A Reply to Jose Alejandro Carballo Leyda

Author:
Eyal Benvenisti
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The essay 'The Laws of Occupation and Commercial Law Reform in Occupied Territories: Clarifying a Widespread Misunderstanding' accuses my 1993 book of fostering the 'misleading' contention that Article 64 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 recognizes the authority of occupants to modify all types of laws (and not only penal laws), beyond the limited scope of legislative authority recognized under Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations. The criticism is unconvincing for several reasons. I limit my response to the claim that my interpretation of Geneva 64 is a misunderstanding, spelling out in more detail the discussion in the book. Addressing this claim offers an opportunity to gain insight not only into the specific meaning of Geneva 64 but also into the more general question of how to read and assess travaux préparatoires of complex multilateral treaties.
Political Geography:
Geneva

59. The Laws of Occupation and Commercial Law Reform in Occupied Territories: A Rejoinder to Eyal Benvenisti

Author:
Jose Alejandro Carballo Leyda
Publication Date:
02-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
I thank Professor Benvenisti for his response to my article and hope that this discussion will be helpful and fruitful. Nevertheless, I concur with Pictet that Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Regulations 'imposes obligations of a general nature on the Occupying Power', while Article 64 of the IV Geneva Convention contains a specific exception for penal legislation. Therefore, Article 43 HR still remains the applicable norm regarding commercial law reform in occupied territories.
Political Geography:
Geneva

60. Business and Human Rights: Proposals from the Research Group on Private International Law and Human Rights

Author:
Nicolás Zambrana Tévar
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre on Human Rights in Conflict
Abstract:
By means of Resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011, the UN Human Rights Council has created a Working Group with the mission of implementing the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework and its Guiding Principles. As part of its activities, the Working Group asked for input from stakeholders and convened a meeting with them, which took place in Geneva on 20 January 2012.
Topic:
Economics, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
Geneva and United Nations