Author: Robert C. Johansen / Publishing Institution: Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame

Author:: Robert C. Johansen
Publication Date:: 01-2005
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:: Those seeking to perfect and apply the tools of peacebuilding as recommended by Chadwick Alger (1991; 1995; 1996; 1999; 2000; 2002) cannot avoid being alarmed by three recent developments that threaten to wreck already overextended tools. These developments include (1) new threats of mega-terrorism similar to the tragic events of September 11, 2001; (2) U.S. rejection of equitable implementation of international law and cooperative multilateralism by endorsing pre-emptive war and U.S. global military dominance, as expressed in the new National Security Strategy of the United States (Bush, 2002); and (3) the multiple threats posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In the face of these daunting problems, what can exponents of peacebuilding tools do to strengthen international peace?
Topic:: Development, Peace Studies, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Political Geography:: United States

Author:: Robert C. Johansen
Publication Date:: 11-2002
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:: Human beings have struggled for centuries to gain control of their own destinies, particularly to shape the political decisions that affect their lives. By the late twentieth century, nearly 60 percent of the world's people had achieved democratic governance. But now, because of interdependence and globalization, people living in national democracies have begun to lose their grip on decisions that affect them. Throughout the world, many decisions impacting citizens of one country are made by people living outside their country or by impersonal market forces that are not accountable to anyone and that often subordinate the needs of many people to the prosperity of a few.
Topic:: Globalization, Government, and Science and Technology

Author:: Robert C. Johansen
Publication Date:: 06-2001
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Abstract:: U.S. opposition to creating a permanent international criminal court arises from unwarranted fears that U.S. officials might be wrongly prosecuted. Opposition also rests on a mistaken belief that the United States can protect legitimate national sovereignty only by rejecting international legal constraints on criminal abuses of sovereignty. However, the proposed court would serve U.S. interests by investigating the world's worst international crimes and assigning individual responsibility for them, reducing collective blame for the criminal acts of individuals, discouraging atrocities, and upholding international law while protecting against politically motivated prosecutions.
Topic:: Government, International Law, and International Organization
Political Geography:: United States

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