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632. Defining a People: How Do International Rights Influence the Identity Formation of Minority Groups?
- Author:
- Reetta Toivanen
- Publication Date:
- 10-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
- Abstract:
- This paper looks at the macroeconomic performance of EMU since it started in 1999. It argues that Euroland has benefited from a benign environment, appropriate monetary policy and structural reforms. However, there is no institution clearly in charge of formulating coherent economic policies in Euroland and this is reflected in the euro's external value.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, Human Welfare, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe
633. 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
634. Seeking Justice on the Cheap: Is the East Timor Tribunal Really a Model for the Future?
- Author:
- David Cohen
- Publication Date:
- 08-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- Over the past eight years the UN Security Council has paid some $1.6 billion dollars to operate International Criminal Tribunals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Successfully pressured to establish a tribunal in East Timor, the Council sought to cut its costs by creating a new form of tribunal—a "hybrid" tribunal with both international and domestic judges and partially funded and staffed by the national government. Today, though the hybrid tribunal is lauded by the United Nations as a model, the East Timor Tribunal is anything but. Of its meager $6.3 million budget for 2002, $6 million went to the prosecution, which nevertheless has failed to take any high-level perpetrators into custody. The balance was almost all for international judges' salaries, who sorely lack adequate administrative and clerical support. Though some steps have now been taken to improve the training of defense counsel, the Public Defender's unit is so under-funded and inexperienced that it did not call a single witness in any of its first 14 trials. Whether a minimally credible tribunal is better than none at all is the real issue the United Nations has not openly addressed.
- Topic:
- International Law and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Southeast Asia
635. Asian Perspectives on the Challenges of China
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) held its annual Pacific symposium on “Asian Perspectives on the Challenges of China” at the National Defense University in Washington on March 7 and 8, 2000. This event brought together representatives of the policy community and academe from Australia, the People's Republic of China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States. It focused on how perceptions of China influence defense and foreign policies in key nations of the Asia- Pacific region, how the likely course of developments in China might affect the future policies of countries in the region, and how such changes might impact on their security relations with the United States.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, India, Korea, Singapore, and Thailand
636. The Strategic Implications of a Nuclear-Armed Iran
- Author:
- Judith S. Yaphe and Kori N. Schake
- Publication Date:
- 05-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- Scholars and other spcialists on Iran have argued about that country's political intentions and strategic amibitions since the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. In the 1980s Iran's efforts to export its revolution and support international terrorism raised the question of whether a moderate Islamic republic that was able to deal with the West could ever exist. The death of the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 and the succession of Ali Hashimi-Rafsanjani as president raised new issues for the 1990s. As the European and American oil and investment communities considered the race to open Iran commercially, scholars and diplomats debated Iranian efforts to recover from nearly a decade of war and revolution. They compared the merits of the European approach of initiating critical dialogue with the U.S. policy of containing and isolating Iran. Neither approach seemed to have much impact, both conceded, and Iranians continued to sort out their domestic political agenda and to decide how best to protect their strategic and national interests. The U.S. Government, for example, tried to estimate how much time and money Iran would need to modernize its military and to acquire new weapons systems despite projected low oil prices and the country's need to rebuild its damaged and neglected civilian and industrial infrastructure.1 The assumption underlying the U.S. projections was that Iran would be pursuing weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear technology and longrange missile systems.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, International Law, Nuclear Weapons, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- United States, Europe, Iran, and Middle East
637. Palestine and Israel
- Author:
- Stephen Zunes
- Publication Date:
- 02-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Foreign Policy In Focus
- Abstract:
- There is a widespread assumption that resolution of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is extremely complex and that the U.S. has been and still is the best hope for peace. The reality, however, is just the opposite.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Foreign Policy, International Law, Peace Studies, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- United States, Middle East, Israel, and Palestine
638. Strategic Challenges for the Bush Administration
- Author:
- Stephen J. Flanagan
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- As the Bush administration settles into office, the United States confronts an international environment marked by growing volatility and rapid change. What security challenges will the new administration face, and what strategies are available for managing these challenges? To answer these questions, leading policy specialists in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University recently prepared a series of assessments for the Department of Defense. These perspectives are presented in this occasional paper. Together with the Institute's previously published Report of the National Defense University Quadrennial Defense Review 2001 Working Group, these assessments offer a broad menu of security policy choices.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United States
639. Empowering Local Actors: The UN and Multi-Track Conflict Prevention
- Author:
- Ben Rawlence
- Publication Date:
- 12-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- The International Peace Academy convened an international policy workshop in New York on 10 December 2001 in the conference room of Chadbourne and Parke LLP bringing together approximately fifty members of the UN system and civil society representatives from around the world. The purpose of the workshop was to follow up on the June 2001 report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Prevention of Armed Conflict and address some of the opportunities and challenges involved in working to prevent the outbreak of armed conflict in tandem with relevant local actors.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- New York
640. The Economics of War
- Author:
- Jake Sherman
- Publication Date:
- 09-2001
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- Greed and grievance, or “need, creed and greed,” are all important sources of conflict, though the relative weight of each factor varies across cases and across time. Poverty, social inequality, rapid economic decline, large numbers of young unemployed males, and polarized identity politics may all provide the necessary catalyst for conflict, particularly when accompanied by repressive, illegal or extralegal behavior on the part of governments. Yet, as World Bank economist Paul Collier cautions, what motivates conflict and what makes it feasible are separate issues. In general, the existence of some form of grievance, whether economic, political, or social in nature, appears to be the most persuasive motivation for conflict. Greed, or, more broadly, economic motivations — whether the pursuit of resources for war-financing or for elite self-enrichment—appear more significant in sustaining, prolonging, and transforming conflict.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, International Law, International Organization, Migration, and United Nations