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192. Advancing the Rule of Law Agenda at the 67th General Assembly
- Author:
- Alberto Cutillo
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- Since 2004, the rule of law has gained solid attention in the UN community. This year, on September 24th , there is an opportunity to mark a milestone in enhancing its role in the global effort to rebuild societies after conflict, support transition sand economic growth, and strengthen state institutions. For the first time, the United Nations General Assembly will devote its opening high – level event to the topic.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Security, Development, Economics, Fragile/Failed State, and Governance
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
193. Climate Negotiations Open a Window: Key Implications of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action
- Author:
- Robert N. Stavins and Joseph E. Aldy
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- A key outcome of the Seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP-17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in Durban, South Africa, late in 2011 — the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action — represents an important milestone in the history of climate negotiations. This is because it departs from the long-standing and problematic dichotomous division of the world's countries into those with serious emissions-reduction responsibilities and the others — with no such responsibilities whatsoever. That distinction, now apparently abandoned, has prevented meaningful progress for decades. The Durban Platform — by replacing the Berlin Mandate's (1995) division of the world into a set of countries with ambitious responsibilities and another set of countries with no responsibilities — has opened an important window. National delegations from around the world now have a challenging task before them: to identify a new international climate policy architecture that is consistent with the process, pathway, and principles laid out in the Durban Platform, while still being consistent with the UNFCCC. The challenge is to find a way to include all key countries in a structure that brings about meaningful emission reduction on an appropriate timetable at acceptable cost, while recognizing the different circumstances of countries in a way that is more subtle, more sophisticated, and — most important — more effective than the dichotomous distinction of years past.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- South Africa, United Nations, and Durban
194. Building Effective Drinking Water Management Policies in Rural Africa
- Author:
- Christopher Opio
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- The importance of providing clean, safe drinking water and sanitation to rural inhabitants of developing countries is widely recognized. The United Nations (UN) General Assembly, for instance, declared 2008 the International Year of Sanitation, and the World Bank has been increasing financial assistance to developing countries in support of water supply and sanitation improvements (Cho, Ogwang and Opio, 2010).
- Topic:
- Development, Non-Governmental Organization, Natural Resources, and Water
- Political Geography:
- Africa and United Nations
195. VOICES FROM THE FIELD: Protecting Children from Conflict and Strengthening Accountability of Armed Actors
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- On September 19ththe UN Security Council called on member states to bring perpetrators of child rights violations to justice. To do so, Resolution 2068—adopted on the occasion of the annual Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict—emphasized the importance of national judicial systems and, where applicable, international mechanisms.This call to end impunity was one of the key conclusions of a roundtable discussion held at the International Peace Institute and co-organized with Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflicton September 17th , just two days before the adoption of Resolution 2068.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Political Violence, Arms Control and Proliferation, Human Rights, and War
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
196. Two Cheers for Humanitarianism
- Author:
- Tom Farer
- Publication Date:
- 10-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Carnegie Council
- Abstract:
- Over the last two decades a spate of books, led by the ones cited in this essay, have illuminated and debated the bristly questions confronting contemporary “humanitarianism.” The definitional or, one might say, foundational question is whether the adjective “humanitarian” should be limited to only those independent agencies that are engaged (without reference to a political context) in the impartial delivery of emergency relief to all those in existential need—or, in the unique case of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), engaged in monitoring the application of the Geneva Conventions to armed conflict. An answer in the affirmative could be considered the “classic” position of the humanitarian, and one still championed by the ICRC. Today, however, many NGOs, such as CARE, OXFAM, and Catholic Relief Services, which certainly regard themselves as humanitarian agencies, engage in a broad range of rehabilitative and developmental activities and continue to deliver emergency relief, and they are prepared to do so under circumstances where their work has conspicuous political implications. The same is true of such UN agencies as UNICEF, UNHCR, and the World Food Programme, which are not infrequently involved in complex peace operations that have clear political goals as specified by the Security Council. Further, well-known humanitarian activists and writers, notably Bernard Kouchner and Samantha Power, also reject the ICRC's definitional canon. The unsettled boundaries of what properly constitutes humanitarianism brings a number of difficult questions to the surface, including: Should relief be provided even if it could prolong a conflict, or could indirectly assist a belligerent, or possibly identify the relief giver with a government's political ends? And should the nature of those ends influence relief efforts? Should relief agencies also assist in addressing the causes of humanitarian emergencies by joining in efforts to resolve a conflict, foster economic development, rebuild state institutions, and strengthen the protection of human rights? Should such agencies accept funds from governments where governments specify how the funds are to be used? Where necessary, should they advocate armed intervention to protect their personnel as well as the recipients of their aid? In terms of the way they organize and structure themselves, should nonprofit agencies dedicated to humanitarian relief follow private-sector models? Can organizations dedicated to the effective provision of emergency relief pursue that end without creating a culture of dependence, without discouraging local initiative, and without violating the liberal “right” to participate in life-shaping decisions? Finally, how does humanitarianism relate to human rights, the other leading expression of what I would call “the humanitarian impulse”?
- Topic:
- Security
- Political Geography:
- Geneva and United Nations
197. Seeking Global Reform: The United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court, and Emerging Nations
- Author:
- Ezequiel Jimenez
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Macalester International
- Institution:
- Macalester College
- Abstract:
- In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles created an international tribunal in order to prosecute Kaiser Wilhelm II for initiating the First World War. However, the Kaiser sought refuge in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Queen Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria refused to cooperate with the new tribunal or surrender her cousin to the Allied Powers. Much has changed in the Netherlands since. As a pioneer country in the advancement of human rights, the Netherlands has participated actively in the development and enforcement of multiple treaties and conferences hosted by the United Nations. Today, the city of The Hague is proud to call itself an “international city of Peace and Justice.” Indeed, The Hague is the host of multiple international courts; evidencing the Netherlands commitment to protect human rights. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is one of the most prominent institutions the Netherlands honorably hosts.
- Topic:
- Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- United Nations and Netherlands
198. One Actor, One Too Many Voices? The EU at the UN General Assembly
- Author:
- Attila Molnar
- Publication Date:
- 09-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Central European University Political Science Journal
- Institution:
- Central European University
- Abstract:
- The article tests the assumption that the deepening integration brought on by the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon should have a palpable effect on the dynamics of EU Member States' action at the United Nations. Building on existing scholarly literature, on interviews with diplomats and staff of the European External Action Service at two UN headquarters locations, as well as on a case study of what is arguably the most universal of multilateral bodies, the UN General Assembly, the article asses the "voice of the EU" on the global multilateral scene. It concludes that, in spite of the abundance of theoretical and practical arguments for increasing the unity of European diplomacy, action in the UNGA does not provide grounds fo an overly hasty departure from a state-centric view of EU foreign policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe, United Nations, and Lisbon
199. Alfred Verdross as a Founding Father of International Constitutionalism?
- Author:
- Thomas Kleinlein
- Publication Date:
- 11-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Goettingen Journal of International Law
- Institution:
- The Goettingen Journal of International Law
- Abstract:
- Alfred Verdross was one of the first scholars who transferred a meaningful concept of constitution to international law. Like international constitutionalists today, he aimed at establishing the autonomy of international law vis-à-vis State sovereignty and State consent. With his theory of moderate monism, Verdross refers to a further issue raised by today's multilevel constitutionalism, i.e. the relationship between international and domestic law. In contrast to some modern approaches, Verdross's use of the term 'constitution' in international law was only metaphorical. More ambitiously, international constitutionalism also serves as a kind of meta-theory for international law in the present debate.
- Topic:
- International Law
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
200. Legalization of International Politics: On the (Im)Possibility of a Constitutionalization of International Law from a Kantian Point of View
- Author:
- Phillip-Alexander Hirsch
- Publication Date:
- 11-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Goettingen Journal of International Law
- Institution:
- The Goettingen Journal of International Law
- Abstract:
- In the debate on the constitutionalization of international law, Kant's work Toward Perpetual Peace is the most important point of reference when talking about the intellectual origin and philosophical background of the idea of constitutionalizing international law. But while it is undeniable that Kant called for a juridification of international relations, it is far less clear which form of juridification Kant aims at . In this essay, I want to show that Kant's ultimate ideal of international law is neither a State of States nor the peace federation (which seems to be commonly accepted), but the cosmopolitan republic , that is, a single homogenous world State. Only such a cosmopolitan republic, backed up by enforceable laws, can be called a constitution in the Kantian sense. Kant's proposal of a peace federation is nothing but a first step towards this ultimate end.
- Topic:
- International Law
- Political Geography:
- United Nations