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Tag Archives: sovereignty

Sovereignty Strikes Back: Turkey’s Purge and International Silence

Sovereignty Strikes Back: Turkey’s Purge and International Silence

On July 15th, the world saw the consequences of the struggle between religious forces and the secular military contending for control of the Turkish state.

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Triumphalism in Wake of Court’s South China Sea Ruling is Futile

Triumphalism in Wake of Court’s South China Sea Ruling is Futile

The Permanent Court of Arbitration’s verdict will have little weight in Beijing’s strategic considerations in the South China Sea.

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The Debt Crisis and the U.S.-Puerto Rico Relationship

The Debt Crisis and the U.S.-Puerto Rico Relationship

Recently, this relationship has been called into question as Puerto Rico faces a looming debt crisis that could set the island’s economy back by more than a decade.

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On the Establishment of the White House Council on Native American Affairs

On the Establishment of the White House Council on Native American Affairs

Executive Order 13647 of U.S. President Barack Obama, signed June 26, 2013, and published July 1, 2013, eponymously established the White House Council on Native American Affairs (the Council). This move reaffirms Obama’s stated commitment to the principles of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The tasks and duties charged to this […]

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Canadian seeks to find traces of Arctic explorers 100 years on – but is it necessary?

Canadian seeks to find traces of Arctic explorers 100 years on – but is it necessary?

A ship drops anchor in the Beaufort Sea, high in the Canadian Arctic. A group of scientists disembark to map the surrounding area and study the ice and flora and fauna. It may sound like 2013, but these events actually took place 100 years ago. In 1913, the Canadian Arctic Expedition (CAE) set off to […]

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Nuclear Weapons and State Sovereignty

Nuclear Weapons and State Sovereignty

The Set-Up Overflowing with distrust, deception, and ulterior motives, America and Iran’s tumultuous saga has the makings of a made-for-TV, B-rated movie. The twists, turns, and over-the-top drama are a guilty pleasure for movie viewers just as news junkies cannot get enough of the endless dramatics between the United States and Iran. The world wants […]

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The United Nations and the “Paranoid Style”

The United Nations and the “Paranoid Style”

As historian Richard Hofstadter pointed out in his classic 1964 essay “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” U.S. history has featured recurring waves of conspiracy theories. Sometimes they have become prominent; sometimes they abide below the surface. Nineteenth-century versions saw threats that were vague and ill-defined (Illuminati, Masons, Papists, Monarchists); more recent ones have depicted […]

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Somalia, Sovereignty in Catch-22

Somalia, Sovereignty in Catch-22

For more than two decades, Somalia’s sovereignty has been in limbo- or in an utterly defunct status. Though there are many causes, a particular one stands out exponentially: volatile security. For no nation can claim, or (like in Somalia’s case) reclaim its sovereignty while dependent on another country, coalition, or a peace-building force for security. […]

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Iceland Foils Chinese Investor’s Bid to Buy Land

Iceland Foils Chinese Investor’s Bid to Buy Land

Iceland’s Minister of the Interior, Ögmundur Jónasson, rejected Chinese businessman Huang Nubo’s bid to purchase a large tract of territory in the northeastern region of the country. Huang had sought an exemption from an Icelandic law which prohibits nationals from outside the European Economic Association from purchasing large amounts of land. Huang wanted to purchase […]

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US to China: Do As I Say, Not As I Do!

US to China: Do As I Say, Not As I Do!

Paraphrase of NYTs Helene Cooper’s 26 Nov 2010 article: A fundamental tenet of foreign affairs doctrine holds that sovereign nations will always define and act in their own national interests, and will rarely against their own interests. Somebody needs to tell that to the United States when it comes to China, many foreign policy experts say. A key part of America’s relationship with China now turns on a question that is, at its heart, an interminable conundrum: How to get Beijing to do what its leaders don’t believe are good for their country, but will benefit ours? From economics to climate change to currency to Iran and finally culminating with North Korea last week, America has sought to push, prod and cajole China, to little or no avail.

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Drones Doing Their Job Maybe Too Well

Drones Doing Their Job Maybe Too Well

Pakistani intelligence officials briefed the US military yesterday and though they agreed that American drone attacks were degrading Al Qaeda’s leaders and more importantly their ability to foment far reaching violence, that the radical group, partnered with the Taliban, was increasingly destabilizing the Pakistani state.  As much as the US desires a stable (and free?) […]

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