“ Exclusive reliance on quiet dialogue and cooperation [with abusive states] becomes a charade designed more to appease critics of complacency than to secure change. … A key offender has been the European Union. “Defending human rights is rarely convenient. But if [Western] governments want to pursue other interests instead, they should have the courage to admit it, instead of hiding behind meaningless dialogues and fruitless quests for cooperation .” - Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. See his op-ed in the New York Times here . See veteran Tamil journalist J. S...
Here’s something for pundits of US-China military rivalry to think about: The US giant General Electric, one of the aviation industry’s biggest suppliers of jet engines and airplane technology, is to share its most sophisticated airplane electronics with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). State-owned AVIC also supplies China's military with aircraft and weapons systems. Avionics are the electronic and computer systems that control an airplane and determine its capabilities. The Chinese government insists Western companies operating there should be “willing to share technology and know-how.” However, the G.E.-AVIC avionics joint venture, analysts say, appears to be the deepest relationship yet and involves sharing the most confidential technology . See reports by the New York Times (NYT) and Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The deal will help China's manufacturers eventually compete with the US aircraft industry, which is one of America's strongest manufacturing sectors, as well as the European one.
“Over the years you see an increase in ‘important’ defendants, indicted for more serious crimes: the higher you climb up the power hierarchy, the more serious the crimes in the indictments are .” - Dr. Frederiek de Vlaming, who has studied the careers of three international prosecutors of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. (See the interview by Thijs Bouwknegt of Radio Netherlands Worldwide here )
“Southern Sudan is just the beginning. The world may soon have 300 independent, sovereign nations ... and that's just fine.” “It is less likely that [states that are internally diffuse and often intentionally unevenly developed] will gather the competence, capacity, and will to become equitable modern states than that they will continue to inspire resistance to the legacies of centralized misrule .” “ The way to create a peaceful and borderless world is, ironically, by allowing ever more nations to define themselves and their borders .” - Parag Khanna is a senior research fellow at the New...
It has become routine in much analysis of international affairs to position China as an opponent of the West (i.e. not just a competitor), and as prioritizing state sovereignty and non-interference in a state’s internal affairs above other international principles. The one is also often suggested as the explanation for the other. However, China’s changing role in Sudan over the past two decades demonstrates that neither can be taken as a given. See our analysis feature here .
“In every state, without exception, there are people in state power who … assert that all the citizens of that state constitute a nation, one that has already determined its destiny. In the twenty-first century, [this] is in retreat in most countries .” “Autonomy versus secession has geopolitical consequences. And these are crucial in terms of the ongoing struggles within the world-system as a whole. … Outside powers are primarily concerned with the geopolitical impact of the decision. But it is the role of these outside powers that is often decisive. ” - Immanuel Wallerstein , eminent...
Four top Khmer Rouge leaders have had their appeals against the cases against them thrown out, paving the way for another major genocide trial later this year. The four face charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and related crimes under Cambodian laws in connection with the deaths of up to two million people between 1975 and 1979 from starvation, overwork and execution. The accused are the communist regime's most senior surviving members, Nuon Chea ('Brother number 2'), former foreign minister Ieng Sary, his wife and ex-social affairs minister Ieng Thirith, and former head...
“ The historic vote is an exercise in self-determination long in the making . “The international community was united in its belief that this referendum had to take place and that the will of the people of southern Sudan had to be respected, regardless of the outcome. “ If the south chooses independence, the international community, including the United States, will have an interest in ensuring that the two nations that emerge succeed as stable and economically viable neighbors.” - President Obama. See his op-ed in the New York Times here .
The African National Congress (ANC), Africa's oldest liberation movement, celebrates the 99th anniversary of its founding today. See South African president and ANC leader Jacob Zuma’s speech marking the event here . 2011 also marks two 50th anniversaries: the forming in 1961 of the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (‘Spear of the Nation’), co-founded by Nelson Mandela, and the awarding of the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize (held over for a year) to the then president-general of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli . Explaining the ANC’s decision to take up armed struggle, Mr. Mandela, who argued within...
“Such is India's footprint on so many transnational challenges - from climate change to pandemics to the international trade regime - that no table deciding on them would be complete without its presence. [This] may even explain India's rise far better than geopolitics ever will. India's and the world's growing awareness of this fact is expanding its presence in global governance structures, as seen in the endorsements for its bid for the UN Security Council. “India's intent is clear. It is turning ‘non-alignment’ on its head. Without sacrificing the fundamental principle of not entering...