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10561. The One and the Many: Reading Isaiah Berlin

Author:
Kei Hiruta
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
The year 2007 marked the tenth anniversary of the death of Isaiah Berlin, the political philosopher and historian of ideas, legendary conversationalist and elegant essayist, and above all renowned defender of liberty. Somewhat paradoxically, interest in his ideas has increased in recent years—paradoxically, because these are the ideas of a man whose work certainly originated in the historical context of his time, a man who was often dubbed a ''cold warrior.''
Political Geography:
Berlin

10562. Briefly Noted

Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Europe

10563. An Exchange: The Morality of Immigration

Author:
Mathias Risse, Ryan Pevnick, and Philip J. Cafaro
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
In his recent Ethics International Affairs essay ''On the Morality of Immigration,'' Mathias Risse argues that attempts to understand the constraints that justice imposes on immigration policy ought to begin from the fact that ''the earth belongs to humanity in common.'' Risse goes on to suggest that a comparison of population density statistics provides prima facie evidence that ''the United States is critically underusing the resources under its control'' and that, as a result, ''there can be nothing much wrong with illegal immigration'' (p. 30). Without suggesting that humanity's putative collective ownership of the earth is irrelevant to the constraints justice imposes on the formulation of immigration policy, I want to argue—for two reasons—that Risse greatly over-estimates the relevance of such considerations.
Topic:
Immigration and Population
Political Geography:
United States

10564. Reuniting Ethics and Social Science: The Oxford Handbook of International Relations

Author:
Christian Reus-Smit and Duncan Snidal
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
If International Relations as a scholarly endeavor is to remain relevant it must speak to today's most pressing dilemmas of political action in world politics: theoretically, analytically, and practically. How should we combat terrorism? When, if ever, is humanitarian intervention justified? How should we address the transborder movement of peoples? What is an appropriate response to global climate change? What should the international community do about ''failed states''? How should we respond to persistent global poverty and political alienation? How do we reconcile trade liberalization and environmental protection? Who is the ''we'' that has responsibility for acting in such situations?
Topic:
Climate Change and Terrorism

10565. Business and Human Rights in Conflict

Author:
Olga Martin-Ortega
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
With respect to the social role of business, companies were traditionally held to be responsible only to their shareholders. Their duty was to generate profit while complying with the laws of the countries in which they operate. A given company may contribute to the well-being of individuals or groups, or even prevent harm, but such deeds were generally interpreted as acts of charity. Under the maxim that a good business minimizes costs and maximizes profits, inevitably businesses have been portrayed as being "in conflict" with human rights. The challenge of how to balance the pursuit of profit and the protection of human rights is particularly formidable in the context of wars and other armed conflicts. Over the last couple of decades the question of the responsibilities of businesses operating in conflict environments has risen to greater prominence, both in academic and policy circles and in the wider public discussion. On the one hand, the political economy of internal armed conflicts has become central to analyses of the causes of conflict and to the design of prevention and resolution policies. On the other, the impact of business activities and working methods on human rights has become a new focus of widespread discussion—not only within companies, but also within and among NGOs, states, and international bodies—following a series of highly publicized campaigns and lawsuits against companies, such as Unocal and Freeport McMoRan. These two developments have encouraged a broad examination of the ways in which businesses can aggravate or even perpetuate armed conflict and thereby contribute to human suffering, as well as of what businesses might do to contribute to conflict resolution and thus of mitigate that suffering. Can current policy and legal responses make businesses part of the solution rather than part of the problem? And can companies be held accountable—socially, legally, or by some other means—for whatever negative actions they might have taken in situations of armed conflict? whatever negative actions they might have taken in situations of armed conflict?
Topic:
Human Rights

10566. Horizontal Accountability in Intergovernmental Organizations

Author:
Alexandru Grigorescu
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
Many intergovernmental organizations (IOs) have recently established offices of internal oversight. Yet scandals such as the one surrounding the Oil-for-Food Program in the United Nations have revealed serious flaws in the design of these institutions, especially their lack of independence from top administrators of the bureaucracies that they are supposed to oversee. This study argues that this is due, in great part, to the initial use of an imperfect domestic model. It shows that, in addition to using a flawed model as a starting point for negotiations, states and IO officials intentionally weakened oversight offices even more. The study argues that member-states need to quickly give such offices increased independence in order to make them more effective and to avoid the continued erosion of the legitimacy of IOs.
Topic:
Government and United Nations

10567. Keeping the Peace in Africa: Why "African" Solutions Are Not Enough

Author:
Paul D. Williams
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
Since the early 1990s, a variety of African and Western governments alike have often suggested that finding "African solutions to African problems" represents the best approach to keeping the peace in Africa. Not only does the empirical evidence from post-Cold War Africa suggest that there are some fundamental problems with this approach, it also rests upon some problematic normative commitments. Specifically in relation to the problem of armed conflict, the "African solutions" logic would have at least three negative consequences: it would undermine the UN; it would provide a convenient excuse for powerful Western states that wished to avoid sending their own soldiers to peace operations in Africa; and it would help African autocrats fend off international, especially Western, criticism of their policies. After providing an overview of the constituent elements of the "African solutions" approach, this article sets out in general terms the central problems with it before turning to a specific illustration of how these problems affected the international responses to the ongoing war in Darfur, Sudan. Instead of searching for "African solutions", policymakers should focus on developing effective solutions for the complex challenges raised by the issue of armed conflict in Africa. To this end, Western states in general and the P-3 in particular should give greater support to conflict management activities undertaken by the United Nations, develop clearer guidelines for how these should relate to regional initiatives, and facilitate the efforts of civic associations to build the foundations for stable peace in the continent's war zones.
Topic:
Cold War and United Nations
Political Geography:
Africa and Darfur

10568. Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village

Author:
Takashi Inoguchi
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
With Bounding Power, Daniel Deudney makes a masterly contribution to the renaissance of classical political theory in contemporary thought about world politics; in this regard he follows Michael Doyle and others in demonstrating how a fresh reading of the his torical traditions that lie behind contemporary theoretical formulations can generate new perspectives on both theory and practice. In the case of Doyle's work, a key theme has been exploring the intellectual roots of liberalism in international relations and the contours of liberal peace theory—the idea that liberal democracies are not disposed to go to war against each other. For Deudney, meanwhile, the central subject is republicanism, and in particular the idea that the republican tradition of thought about security—with its recognition of the interplay of changing material contexts (geographical and technological) and the conditions that engender mutual restraint—ought to be taken far more seriously in contemporary debates about global security. An important insight generated by Deudney's reconstruction of the republication tradition, with consequences for foreign policy and the practice of world politics, is that in the ''global village'' changing technology invites and even compels the notion of political organization and ''union'' at the global level.

10569. The Politics of Anti-Westernism in Asia: Visions of World Order in Pan-Islamic and Pan-Asian Thought

Author:
John M. Hobson
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
Working at the interstices of International Relations and International History, Cemil Aydin has produced an exceptionally detailed account of the rise and development of pan-Asian and pan-Islamic thought from the early nineteenth century through to World War II. The background theoretical hook might be summarized as a critique of Eurocentrism as well as (relatedly) Samuel Huntington's ''clash of civilizations'' approach. Aydin sets out to challenge popular assumptions that non-Western ideological movements are always hostile to Western values, on the one hand, and that such movements emerge as a function of either anticolonial struggles or conservative and religious reactions to global modernity, on the other. Rather, he reveals that these movements were often sympathetic to the West. And, crucially, when they did become critical they did so not in terms of rejecting Western values, but rather in terms of holding the West to account, on the grounds that its imperial and racist practices contradicted its earlier ''progressive'' universalist (Enlightenment) ideals.
Topic:
Islam
Political Geography:
Asia

10570. Defining Environmental Justice: Theories, Movements, and Nature

Author:
Peter F. Cannavó
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Carnegie Council
Abstract:
Environmental issues have loomed large in domestic and international politics for decades, but only over the past twenty years have they caught the attention of political theorists. Environmental political theory is now extending the boundaries of the political to include the natural world and our relations with it. Some environmental political theorists are integrating ecocentrism—that is, moral consideration for nature itself—into conceptions of political community. They are thus bridging a theoretical divide between nature and politics that goes back at least to Aristotle. Meanwhile, the environmental justice movement has bridged the divide between nature and society in another way, urging that environmentalists pursue not just the protection of wilderness and natural systems but also the ecological health of human communities, specifically poor, minority, and indigenous communities.
Topic:
Climate Change and Health