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1351. Access To Information: A Key To Democracy

Author:
Laura Newman
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
Citizens and their leaders around the world have long recognized the risk of corruption. Corruption diverts scarce resources from necessary public services, and instead puts it in the pockets of politicians, middlemen and illicit contractors, while ensuring that the poor do not receive the benefits of this "system". The consequences of corruption globally have been clear: unequal access to public services and justice, reduced investor confidence, continued poverty, and even violence and overthrow of governments. A high level of corruption is a singularly pernicious societal problem that also undermines the rule of law and citizen confidence in democratic institutions.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Government, Human Rights, and Politics
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, Central America, Caribbean, and North America

1352. Human Rights Defenders on the Frontlines of Freedom: Protecting Human Rights in the Context of the War on Terror

Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
The Carter Center's decision to bring together human rights and pro-democracy activists from all regions of the world was based on the idea that it would be valuable to generate a picture of the state of global democracy and human rights movements. The late U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello agreed that in order to determine how the United Nations could support democratization and improvement in human rights conditions at the national level, he wanted to hear the views of those who are close to the action, those who work on the “frontlines of freedom.” Though situations differ according to local circumstances, it is important to watch for trends and assess progress as well as challenges that lie ahead. In the pages that follow are a selection of the pressing concerns of some of the world's most dedicated individuals who are truly betting their lives on the idea that universal freedom can be built law by law, case by case, community by community.
Topic:
Security, Human Rights, Terrorism, and War
Political Geography:
United States and United Nations

1353. Conference-Workshop on the Northern European Initiative

Author:
Denise M. Horn
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Security and Democracy
Abstract:
Heather Conley began the session with a report regarding the current plans for US policy in the region. Generally NEI is considered a success story, thus the US is now retooling its policies by asking where the US should go in a post-enlargement world, and asking how to use this policy elsewhere.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Genocide, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

1354. Onward, Liberal Soldiers? The Crusading Logic of Bush's Grand Strategy and What Is Wrong with It

Author:
Edward Rhodes
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Security and Democracy
Abstract:
As pressures mount to strike before summer weather forecloses military options for the year, the debate whether the United States should undertake a preventive war against Iraq moves inexorably toward the center of the American political stage, despite the understandable reluctance of many Americans to think about the difficult trade-offs and troubling questions such a war would raise. Proponents of the war focus on the dangers of leaving Saddam Hussein in power. Opponents focus on the morality, military risks, and international political costs of undertaking a preventive war, on the possibilities of containing Saddam Hussein's influence and deterring his use of weapons of mass destruction without resort to war, and on the difficulties of building stable political institutions in the region after a victory.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Genocide, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
United States and Europe

1355. Rape as Genocide: The Legal Response to Sexual Violence

Author:
Dr. Frances T. Pilch
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Security and Democracy
Abstract:
The last decade has witnessed a profound transformation in the treatment of sexual violence in international law. The overwhelming evidence of the widespread use of rape as a policy tool in the former Yugoslavia, combined with the tragedy of the genocide in Rwanda, in which rape was also widely prevalent, has led to a legal reconceptualization of sexual violence in internal and international conflicts. The ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, have genuinely broken new ground as they have confronted cases dealing with the complexities of rape, torture, and genocide. They have struggled with determining the legal definition of rape and finding a balance between the rights of witnesses and defendants. The revolutionary changes that have taken place in this area of the law in large part reflect the growing mobilization and influence of non-governmental organizations articulating the importance of the rights of women, and the increasing importance of the presence of women advocates, prosecutors, and judges.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Genocide, Human Rights, and International Law
Political Geography:
Europe, Yugoslavia, and Sierra Leone

1356. Analyser le massacre. Réflexions comparatives

Author:
Jacques Sémelin
Publication Date:
09-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
This text aims to examine a particularly difficult phenomenon to study—slaughter—although it is at the center of many wars today and yesterday. Slaughter is defined as a generally collective form of action that aims to destroy non-combatants, usually civilians. Slaughter is viewed as an extremely violent, both rational and irrational practice growing out of an imaginary construct pertaining to someone to be destroyed, whom the torturer perceives as a complete enemy. The aspiration of this text is to show the relevance of exploring slaughter from a comparative standpoint. It will go beyond the mere case study, or rather it will put the best of these studies (on ex-Yugoslavia, Rwanda, etc.) into perspective. To better understand the process by which the slaughter is put into action, two main directions guide the analysis: historic depth: it is in fact difficult to attempt to understand the slaughters that took place in 1990 without taking into account occurrences in the 20th century, including those termed "genocides." transdisciplinary overture: slaughter as a phenomenon is so complex in itself that it requires the eye of the sociologist, anthropologist and psychologist, as can be seen in the following pages.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and Third World
Political Geography:
Yugoslavia and Rwanda

1357. Paramilitarism, Death Squads, and Government in Latin America

Author:
Adam Jones
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
This paper, the first of a planned two-part analysis, examines the institutions of paramilitarism, death squads, and warlords in Latin America, with a focus on the case-studies of Mexico and Peru. It begins with an overview of the small comparative literature on paramilitary movements and death squads around the world, seeking to define and clarify the terminology. The literature on "warlordism" is then reviewed, and the similarities and distinctions between paramilitaries and warlords are considered. Lastly, I examine two case -studies that have not, as yet, received extended attention in the comparative literature: Mexico and Colombia. The paper concludes by summarizing the findings and charting a course for future investigations. (PDF, Spanish, 40 pages, 2.76 MB)   Â
Topic:
Civil Society and Human Rights
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, North America, Mexico, and Peru

1358. Multinational Solutions versus Intra-Alliance Specialization

Author:
Rachel Lutz Ellehuus
Publication Date:
05-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
This analysis focuses on possible multinational solutions aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and cost efficiency of multinational operations.All things being equal, multinational forces are less effective than purely national forces of a similar size. However, multinational operations have the advantage of potential greater strength in numbers and additional capabilities when several states cooperate.
Topic:
Security, NATO, Human Rights, and International Organization

1359. Human Rights and Foreign Policy Discourse in Today's Russia: Romantic Realism and Securitisation of Identity

Author:
Viatcheslav Morozov
Publication Date:
06-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Most people writing on the subject recognise that within the Russian discourse, the concept of human rights is used somewhat differently compared to Western Europe or the United States. However, the nature of these differences is yet to be properly studied. It is not enough just to say that 'the Western notions of human rights undergo certain transformations when transplanted to the Russian soil. At a superficial glance, the post-Soviet notions of human rights are identical [to the Western ones], but upon a more curious consideration their content turns out to be somewhat different' (Chugrov 2001:3). The essentialist concept of 'the Russian soil' as different from the Western one is of little help since it takes cultural differences as given, and thus all the researcher has to do is to register the differences in political practice, while the explanations are known in advance. More sophisticated essentialist approaches do no more than provide labels for the cultural features (e.g. 'nominalism' of the Western culture and 'collectivism' of the East –see Panarin 1999), but are unable to account for the interaction of these two fundamental principles in the Russian political process. As far as foreign policy studies are concerned, there is also the handy realist option of reducing the differences to an assumed national interest, which, of course, in itself is a social construct that is to be studied, and not a conceptual tool for research of other matters.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, and Nationalism
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, and Asia

1360. The Role of the University in Ethnic Conflict Transformation, Democratization, and Developing Human Rights in the Balkans

Author:
Zlatko Isakovic
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The aim of this paper is to elaborate the role of the University in democratization, developing human rights and transforming ethnic conflicts in the Balkan states proposing creative and applicable solutions. The main conclusions are, first, that if a system cannot be qualified as democratic one, appears the complex dilemma what could and should come first: developing democracy (including the university education) or transforming ethnic conflicts or preventing their escalations/deescalating them. Second, during conflict escalation, the Balkan and other University's duty is to offer to country's decision makers and the rest of the society and the world the knowledge residing on scholars in peace and conflict studies, philosophers, historians, economists, engineers, political scientists and many other fields that can help understand the goals, attitudes, interests, identities, and/or behaviors of the other and our conflict side as well as of the mediators, arbitrators, etc.
Topic:
Democratization, Education, and Human Rights
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans