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672. Drug Trafficking on the Great Silk Road: The Security Environment in Central Asia
- Author:
- Martha Brill Olcott
- Publication Date:
- 12-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- To address drug proliferation and trafficking in the context of non-traditional security threats and to try to find ways out of the potentially explosive situation, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace sponsored a meeting of representatives of the five Central Asian states, Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the United States, the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Aga Khan Development Network, held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in May 1999. This paper analyzes the situation in the region based on the conference proceedings and aims to raise international awareness of the seriousness of the problem. It also advocates the need for a concerted effort within the region and without to help these countries fight this evil.
- Topic:
- Security and International Law
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Turkey, Asia, and United Nations
673. Toward an International Criminal Court?
- Author:
- Ruth Wedgwood, Kenneth Roth, John Bolton, Annie-Marie Slaughter, and Leslie H. Gelb
- Publication Date:
- 07-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- In July 1998, after years of preparatory work and five weeks of negotiations in Rome, 120 states voted to approve a “statute,” or treaty, establishing an International Criminal Court (ICC), with jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the still-undefined crime of aggression. Despite our strong interest in creating a court, the United States voted against the Rome Statute, concluding that it could pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. military personnel and to your ability as commander in chief to deploy forces worldwide to protect the United States and global interests. A year later, as our principal allies prepare to ratify the statute and bring the court into being, it is time to take a clear position supporting it, opposing it, or specifying the changes needed for our support.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United States
674. Reflections on the Chinese Constitution and its Relation to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Administration Region
- Author:
- Jerome A. Cohen
- Publication Date:
- 09-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Abstract:
- My talk today has two parts. The first will comment on the roles of the various actors in the famous decision of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in the “right of abode” cases and the subsequent interpretation of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (“Standing Committee” or “NPCSC”). The second part will focus specifically on a fundamental and immediate constitutional question now confronting the various actors - whether an interpretation of the Basic Law by the NPCSC is binding on the courts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”).
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy and International Law
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and Hong Kong
675. Illuminating Tomorrow's War
- Author:
- Martin C. Libicki
- Publication Date:
- 11-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The United States is midway through what may be called a revolution in military affairs (RMA). 9 This revolution opened in the 1970s with the development and refinement of precision-guided munitions 1° (PGMs), which can hit anything that can be located. It is likely to culminate with the multiplication and integration of the DOD C41SR assets, thereby creating a well-populated Grid. In the process, the physical battlespace will become illuminated better than ever. As this occurs, conventional warfare will change from force on force to hide-and-seek. Hence the need for a Grid capable of illuminating the battlespace, a case that rests on five tenets: With precision weaponry, seeing a target is tantamount to being able to kill it. The guidance for such weaponry is potentially shifting from shooters or internal sensors to externally provided information. Defenses exist against PGMs, but the link between seeing and hitting is likely to strengthen over time.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United States
676. The Revolution in Military Affairs: Allied Perspectives
- Author:
- Robbin F. Laird and Holger H. Mey
- Publication Date:
- 04-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- The revolution in military affairs (RMA) is an American concept that frames a debate about the restructuring of American military forces in the period of globalization of the American economy. A core task for U.S. allies is to seek to understand the American debate and to identify opportunities for and the risks to themselves in variant patterns of development of the American military in the years ahead.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United States and America
677. Protecting Human Rights: The Challenge to Humanitarian Organizations
- Author:
- Diane Paul, Larry Minear, and Mark Frohardt
- Publication Date:
- 01-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University
- Abstract:
- This occasional paper highlights the practical challenges faced by humanitarian organizations in protecting civilians in today's armed conflicts. It understands the concept of protection to involve ensuring respect for the full range of human rights, which, enumerated in the United Nations Charter, are the birthright of every human being.
- Topic:
- Human Rights and International Law
- Political Geography:
- United Nations
678. Popes, Kings and Endogenous Institutions: The Concordat of Worms and the Origins of Sovereignty
- Author:
- Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
- Publication Date:
- 02-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Studies Association
- Abstract:
- Very rough preliminary and incomplete draft The modern state-centric international system is generally thought to have its origins in the Treaty of Westphalia. From that perspective, the modern sovereign state owes its origins to the resolution of the Thirty Years War. Prior to 1648, international politics are thought to have been less territorially focused, with feudal ties taking precedence over considerations of state. Here I set out a modest theory of competition between the Catholic church and European kings, especially the Holy Roman Emperor and the kings of France and England, during the years from 1122 onward. That theory suggests that the modern territorial state has its origins in the Concordat of Worms, 500 years earlier than is generally thought. It also suggests that the development of important institutions of the modern sovereign state are an endogenous product of strategic maneuvering between the Catholic Church and European kings over political control within their domains. Naturally, other factors, including competition between kings and barons, and aristocrats and merchants also play an important part in the evolution of political institutions. Those other considerations, however, are not examined here so that what I propose is a partial, incomplete account of the early developments that culminated in the modern territorial, sovereign state. Specifically, the theory maintains that the development of “modern” political institutions and the history of economic growth in Europe are to a significant degree the consequence of competition between monarchs and the Catholic church. This views stands in contrast to the general accounts of economic growth or of institution building found in the sociological literature beginning with Weber or in the historical and much of the political economy literature.
- Topic:
- International Law, Religion, and Sovereignty
- Political Geography:
- Europe
679. The Never-Ending Iraqi Crisis
- Author:
- Bjørn Moller
- Publication Date:
- 03-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- There is little doubt that Iraq was in blatant violation of the 1991 ceasefire agreement in general and of the famous “mother of all resolutions”, UNSCR 687 (3 April 1991) in particular, in which the extent and modalities of the disarmament of the defeated aggressor were detailed: The Security Council..... 8. Decides that Iraq shall unconditionally accept the destruction, removal, or rendering harmless, under international supervision, of: a) all chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of agents and all related subsystems and components and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities; b) all ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 kilometres... 34. Decides to remain seized of the matter and to take such further steps as may be required for the implementation of this resolution and to secure peace and security in the area.
- Topic:
- Security, Foreign Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, International Law, and United Nations
- Political Geography:
- United States and Middle East
680. The Criterion of Citizenship for Minorities: The Example of Estonia
- Author:
- Carmen Thiele
- Publication Date:
- 08-1999
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Centre for Minority Issues
- Abstract:
- Using the example of Estonia, the criterion of citizenship as a prerequisite for membership in a national minority and its legal consequences for persons belonging to these groups is discussed. While at the universal level minority protection is considered as a basic human right, at the European level it is still viewed as a right of citizens. The author pleads for a simplification of the naturalisation process and the renouncing of the citizenship criterion as a requirement for membership of a national minority.
- Topic:
- Ethnic Conflict, Human Rights, International Law, and Nationalism
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Estonia