Six members of the Turkish Constitutional Court have voted to close down the AKP (the ruling Justice and Development Party). However, four others voted only to deprive the party of half of its government financial assistance. Closure of a political party requires seven votes. The court chairman, according to one news report, said that the […]
Aleksandar Hemon has this oped in Radovan Karadzic in the New York Times. Meanwhile, Andre Gerolymatos argues that there are deeper geopolitical considerations behind Serbia's decision to find Karadzic. As we, and most of the world, continue to discuss and celebrate Karadzic's arrest, he will appear before the ICTY tomorrow for an initial arraignment.
The Washington Post reported today that the Taliban insurgency is gaining ground in Pakistan (Clashes Escalate in Third Day of Violence in Pakistan): Violent clashes between extremist insurgents and Pakistani troops escalated Wednesday in the country's fractious northwest as Taliban leaders threatened to withdraw their support for peace deals brokered earlier this year with […]
The last time I invoked this French lament, it was in reference to President Bush's attempted flimflammery on climate change when he announced ".a new national goal: to stop the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025." Now the Republicans in the Senate have once again blocked the extension of tax credits for renewables. […]
Amnesty International has released a scathing report on China's unfilled promises to improve human rights. Worse, the report claims human rights abuses have deteriorated since its last report in April. Published ten-days before the start of the games, Amnesty's report claims Chinese authorities are persecuting individuals who may tarnish the sanitized image of the games. […]
A child in prison surely sounds like a superfluous statement, for unquestionably children do not belong in prison. The word prison is often synonymous with adult, yet sadly around the globe there are some 1 million children languishing in prisons, and most of these are not some special child prison or version of juvenile detention, […]
One of the things I taught my international relations students was the importance of regimes. There are critically important international environmental regimes such as the Montreal Protocol, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Kyoto Protocol, among many others. I also really tried to emphasize to my students the importance of the post […]
Zeinab Taleb-Jedi, a member of an Iranian rebel group called the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or Peoples’ Mohajedin Organization of Iran (MEK), faces charges in federal court for providing material support to a terrorist organization under 18 U.S.C. 2339. Taleb-Jedi argues that the United States is cooperating with MEK in Iraq, and so it is inconsistent for […]
During Barack Obama's visit to Europe, several European media outlets took issue with the coverage of his trip by the U.S. media. But while American pundits were debating whether the U.S. media were too biased in favor of Obama, a number of European journalists found their American counterparts excessively cool toward him. "Obamania? Not in […]
Yesterday NBC Nightly News broadcast an interview with Iranian President Ahmadinejad. If you saw the interview, what did you think of it? As you watch the interview, consider the following: Does he answer the questions posed by Brian Williams? Does he acknowledge the deadline given to Iran? Does he suggest any flexibility about the possibility […]
Marco Vicenzio, Director of the Global Strategy Project in Washington, DC and Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association recently published an article titled "Diplomacy in word and deed' in the July 28 edition of the Boston Globe. He points out that the major objective of Obama's trip to Europe was to emphasize his ability to […]
Intermediaries play a vital role in assembling information and bringing forward victims to help prosecute war crimes suspects in the Hague. Lawyers representing victim of war crimes rely on intermediaries on the ground to facilitate outreach and provide a vital information link. While the International Criminal Court (ICC) offers protection services to both prosecution and […]
The past few days have seen terrible acts of violence (terrorism) in Iraq, Turkey, and India , and threats in China. On Saturday, according to news reports, 17 explosions went off one after another in Ahmedabad, India , with two further blasts at hospitals. 49 people were killed. The attacks were probably "attempts to provoke […]
Anyone can look sympathetically upon a photo of someone crying inside their burnt out house, and feel the pain and grief that one would have, but imagine when it is compounded by a whole village. Now add death and rape into the mix, and the images are even more haunting, the images are the reality […]
There may be a good day in Darfur. And the ICC's indictment of Sudanese Presidnet Omar Hassan al-Bashir may have a lot to do with it, the New York Times reports. While al-Bashir's government, and even the domestic political opposition, is rallying around him in defiance of the ICC indictment, the Times suggests that previously […]