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11271. We are the World? What United States Courts Can and Should Learn from the Law and Politics of Other Western Nations

Author:
Evan Gerstmann
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Law and International Relations
Institution:
Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto
Abstract:
The United States is often perceived as a nation that prefers not only to go its own way, but also to take almost a perverse pride in ignorance of foreign ways and indifference to the opinion of our international peers. Until recently, this perception has certainly extended to America's most powerful court, the Supreme Court of the United States of America. In 2003, for example, an article in The Legal Times, referred to the Court as an 'ostrich' that had only just begun to take its head out of the sand. This perception, however, is likely to change over the next several years. In a single seven-day period in 2003, the United States Supreme Court cited international sources, such as foreign laws and documents, in three high-profile cases in which it interpreted the American constitution.
Political Geography:
United States and America

11272. The West Bank Barrier Debate: Concept, Construction and Consequence

Author:
Michael Bell
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Law and International Relations
Institution:
Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto
Abstract:
Debate over the construction of the West Bank separation barrier has been ongoing and acrimonious since its inception in June 2002, when the Israeli government announced its intention to erect a fence to control strictly Palestinian entry into Israel and thereby impede terrorist activity directed against the citizens of the Jewish state. Strikes by Palestinian terrorists groups, most notably the fundamentalist Hamas and Islamic Jihad, had reached unparalleled levels against the civilian population following the commencement of the Palestinian uprising against Israel, the Al Aqsa Intifada, in the fall of 2000.
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

11273. A Sacred Trust of Civilization

Author:
Frédéric Mégret
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Law and International Relations
Institution:
Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto
Abstract:
In its advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the International Court of Justice (hereinafter, 'the Court' or 'the ICJ') reminds us that Palestine—'certain communities, formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire'—was once a class 'A' mandate entrusted to Great Britain by the League of Nations. The Court also reminds us that the Pact of the League once described 'the well-being and development of … peoples (under mandates) as forming “a sacred trust of civilization.”'
Political Geography:
Turkey and Palestine

11274. The Impact of the Advisory Opinion on Israel's Future Policy: International Relations Perspective

Author:
Moshe Hirsch
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Law and International Relations
Institution:
Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto
Abstract:
The recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory stirred widespread interest in the international community and in Israel. The Opinion includes judicial statements regarding controversial questions that lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, such as the legal status of the West Bank and the Palestinians' right of self-determination. Following a brief survey of the central legal rules arising from the Court's Opinion, the article will examine the expected impacts of the Opinion on Israel's future policy regarding the separation barrier's route and the West Bank.
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

11275. The Law of Betrayal in the Wild West Bank

Author:
Ed Morgan
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Law and International Relations
Institution:
Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto
Abstract:
The response by Israel's Foreign Minister to the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has struck a chord that echoes with history. As Silvan Shalom put it, in condemning his state's defences the Court has condemned its own set of legal norms, in the process becoming 'equally guilty of betrayal.' Other commentators, pointing to the failure of the Court to address the catalogue of violence presented in the Israeli submissions, have accused the United Nations of 'a betrayal of its Charter commitment to peace and security.' It is as if in denying Israel's claim to self-defence with respect to the barrier that snakes along the Green Line and through the West Bank, the Court has both sentenced the country to death and sealed its own fate as a normative authority.
Political Geography:
Israel and Palestine

11276. Table of Contents

Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
No abstract is available.

11277. Dedication

Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
In the scales of concentrated sadness, the sudden loss of an exceptional compatriot is one of the most acute. In the early morning of July 11, 2005, Mr. Abdulkadir Yahya Ali was assassinated at his residence in Mogadishu, and in front of his wife. Activists come in a variable quality; Abdulkadir was sterling—that is, he was a tireless, courageous, reasoned, and optimistic devotee of national reconciliation and peace, and a founding member of the National Civic Forum. He joins the unsung heroes whose lives have been cut short by murderers antithetical to the return of national solidarity and justice to Somali time. We pray that Allah will reward him for his noble earthly deeds on behalf of the Somali people.
Political Geography:
Somalia

11278. Editor's Note

Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Volume five of Bildhaan is a tad different than earlier issues. First, we are pleased to offer, in print, pieces that appeared, though updated, on electronic sites that cater to readers on Somali affairs. Second, we are formalizing a section that, in the future, will record documents, no matter how controversial, that we deem to be of critical value for constructive debates on the nature and directions of the Somali people and society. Third, Abdi and Ahmed Samatar's writings are overrepresented. Though we promise not to make this a habit, we feel the pertinence and timeliness of all three pieces to be compelling enough. Fourth, Bildhaan, as we promised in the inaugural volume in 2001, is open to both scholarly and artistic contributions. Fifth, in the spirit of the editorial essay in this volume, we plan to occasionally publish opinion pieces—including responses to the editorial included here—that reflect on contemporary and substantive issues. Consequently, we invite our readers to submit well-written and carefully reasoned pieces (around 3,000 words) for consideration.
Political Geography:
Somalia

11279. Transition and Leadership: An Editorial

Author:
Ahmed I. Samatar and Abdi Ismail Samatar
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Let's begin with one fundamental assertion: We both feel deeply for Somalia and its people—our people. In the heat of this moment, some might dismiss such a sentiment as rather anachronistic. But even if there is some grain of truth to that judgment, we hold firmly that the instinct is a viable and deliberate mistiming commensurate with the imperatives of the long durée. Our loyalty, therefore, is to no individual or political group. On the contrary, we define ourselves as civic scholars whose sole interest is to make whatever small contribution our modest talents will allow to the revival of Somali national identity, dignity, and purpose. This brief essay's central concern, then, is the direction of the country in the wake of the recent announcements of a new leadership and political institutions. We offer these thoughts, though somewhat melancholic in word and tone, with the hope that our compatriots will use the new tidings as a potentially valuable development (albeit not a tabula rasa as one would have wished for); that is, a fleeting opportunity to be used to move out of the current morass and positively forge ahead towards an authentic renewal.
Political Geography:
Somalia

11280. In Limbo: Dependency, Insecurity, and Identity amongst Somali Refugees in Dadaab Camps

Author:
Awa M. Abdi
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Somalia is still in a protracted political limbo as it enters its fifteenth year of “statelessness.” Despite the precarious situation of Somali refugees scattered across many parts of the world, both the country and the plight of its refugees remain off the radar of the world media. The atrocities committed in the process of the overthrow of Siyaad Barre's regime in 1991, and the clanistic power struggles that followed, led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Somalis. The refugees initially fled to the neighboring countries of Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya, subsequently moving on to countries near and far. Those who were fortunate enough to escape the trials and tribulations inherent in exile in countries such as Kenya, where existing resources are barely able to meet the basic needs of the native population and where most refugees still remain in closed camps, moved on to more prosperous countries where they obtained refugee status. Most were not so fortunate, however.
Political Geography:
Kenya and Somalia