Analysis and Commentary
US Healthcare Bill’s $871 billion dollar question
By: Freedom-Kai Phillips
They say what does not kill you, makes you stronger. The Democrats are sure hoping that to be true of their recent initiative, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R.3590). Amid widespread scepticism a myriad of potential roadblocks have been strategically overcome, and the Senate has come to a historical point in its pursuit of comprehensive healthcare reform. Yet, optimism aside, judgement must remain reserved until the practical costs – both economic and social – of this monumental piece of legislation are fully considered. Continue Reading…
Global Fund in Copenhagen should not be overlooked
By: Melissa Vargas
The United Nations’ climate conference in Copenhagen this month hopes to a find a new climate treaty to restore the Kyoto Protocol. Officials have 11 days to convince 192 countries to impede the growth of the global GHG emissions. Although the international goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are vital, the opportunity to establish a global fund to help poor nations fight climate change and the extreme environmental shifts that follow is of equal importance. Continue Reading…
Displacement in Iraq, Where Are We Now?
By: Gonzalo Pena
The Al-Askari mosque in Samarra, Iraq was re-opened not too long ago, its reconstruction still underway. Its golden tiles shine in the desert again, while massive and obtrusive scaffolding surrounds the dome, along with the rest of the mosque. The mosque’s image reflects a dual message of hope and weariness for those whose lives have been transformed by the conflict in Iraq. On February 22, 2006, the mosque suffered its first bombing, unleashing a wave of sectarian conflict in a country already embedded in a bloody war, one that would leave a trail of death and massive displacement that would turn Iraq into the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.
The Conditions for Return
Today the country is still trying to recuperate from the devastating years of 2006 and 2007 but signs of improvement are beginning to show. In a recent report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 81,000 internally displaced Iraqi have returned as of May of 2009. This news however, is far from true progress, as these returns have not always been sustainable…Continue Reading.
Translating words into deeds.
By: Freedom-Kai Phillips
At what point in the midst of a humanitarian catastrophe does a sovereign State lose its right to manage its own internal affairs without outside interference? What threshold must be reached before the international community has the legal right to intervene when massive human rights violations are being committed in a country? Earlier this week at the United Nations, these questions were given their first serious consideration on the international stage.
With a predictably cautious resolve the international community has inevitably begun to discuss and consider the complexities of implementing “the responsibility to protect” (RtoP) doctrine. Having longstanding roots in customary law, but being first formally introduced by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) in 2001 and subsequently clarified in paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit outcome document, RtoP is an ever-evolving and innovative international legal concept aimed at preventing genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Realistically, if these initial United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) plenary debates are any indication, the process of translating progressive policy into pragmatic practice will be a road riddled with obstacles. Continue reading…
Why the ‘Japan Model’ for Iran Unsettles the West.
Interpreting Domestic Nuclear Aspirations of Iran
By: Colette Mazzucelli*
As general elections approach in Japan this fall, the world has the chance to assess if the party elected by the people for the past half century, the LDP, will triumph over the main challenger, the DJP. This election has important foreign policy implications given that the LDP includes a faction of hardliners. These nationalists advocate self-reliance for the country in defense, including the option to develop nuclear weapons. Recent ballistic missile and nuclear tests by North Korea provide motive and opportunity for nationalists to revisit the internal debate about a Japanese nuclear deterrent.
The critical issue is how the existing “peace clause” in Article 9 of the 1947 Constitution should be interpreted. Article 9 renounces war as a sovereign right of the nation as well as the threat or use of force as a means to settle international disputes. In LDP circles, there are members of the Diet (Japan’s bicameral legislature) who advocate the retention of the existing interpretation of Article 9, which excludes collective defense. The majority of the Japanese public supports this viewpoint. Mulgan argues in ‘Why Japan Can’t Lead’ that the party further divides into supporters of “revision by interpretation” versus constitutional reformists. Continued reading…
Watching the Web for Change in Tehran…
How Influential is the ‘Marketplace of Ideas?’
By: Colette Mazzucelli*
The 2009 Iranian national elections were striking for the range of media the population used to participate in the debate among the presidential candidates. In the midst of protests about the disputed outcome, which re-elected incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian elites argue that dissent emanates from the Western media rather than the populace. In the days and months ahead, it will be interesting to observe how those who voted for the reformist challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi, will air their grievances. How will popular dissent be channeled in a regime driven to act by fear of change? (1) How will Ahmadinejad’s declared victory impact on the increasing rivalries among Iranian elites, which the election revealed?
For these elites, the 2009 elections are not about an overthrow of the system that serves their interests. The last word on matters of religion and state is that of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Supreme Leader’s style is to encourage competition among rival players for influence. Although his institutional position is unassailable, power in Iran is increasingly diffuse. This makes the regime as hard to read from the inside as from beyond the borders of the state. There are those who argue that the 2009 elections reveal the potential to open the Iranian system to democratic forces, particularly since the 60% of the Iranian population under 28 years of age clamors for reforms. This leads observers to inquire about what Snyder and Ballentine have identified as the marketplace of ideas. Continue reading…
Is Global Health the New Diplomacy?
How Africa May Etch an Early Legacy for Obama
By: Melissa Gorelick
With troops still in Iraq and U.S. foreign relations crumbling, the international legacy of George W. Bush already looks to be a dark one. It is difficult to escape the fact that all-but-unilateral military actions and an unabashed disregard of international standards were the hallmarks of Bush’s eight-year tenure. During this time, his foreign policies – which former President Jimmy Carter recently called “the worst in history” – have left broad gashes in America’s global image. Now, as the political tide turns in the United States, President Obama will have the unenviable job of repairing this image. How he does so may, in fact, become a legacy of his own. Continue reading…
