Month: February 2014
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Report on “How to Advance the Rule of Law”
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a highly-respected think-tank that publishes very well-written reports on topics a variety of issues from climate change and nuclear weapons to democracy and human rights (which is what we care about in IR 389). Follow the link below to read a short report on “how to advance the…
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Does the ICC only go after the Africans?
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the premier example of using international law to fight human rights violations. The Court’s prestige is very important, because it does not have enforcement powers, only symbolic power. If countries respect the ICC they will help it bring criminals to justice, otherwise the Court will have no teeth. For this…
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The current situation in Syria
We will probably talk more about the Syrian civil war in the coming weeks. If you need to catch up, here is a good summary of the current international and domestic actors in the Syrian civil war.
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US cooperates with Uganda to catch Kony
Joseph Kony is a warlord, leader of the LRA, a rebel group that has been fighting the Ugandan government since the late 1980’s. The man and his group’s evil reaches comic-book proportions with thousands of murders, kidnappings and rape under his command. He was indicted for war crimes by the ICC, but evaded capture. He…
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The limits of diplomacy
US Ambassador to Russia (and Stanford professor) Michael McFaul leaves his post after only two years. He was an outspoken advocate of Russia’s democratization and strongly disliked by the Russian government. He admits that he has failed to improve human rights in Russia. The most important quote is this: I think it’s easy to overestimate…
Kerim Can Kavakli 