Three years ago, I sat in on a meeting with some of the negotiators at the 2005 World Summit. It was the morning after the Summit outcome document had been approved – something that had looked very unlikely even 36 hours before. All were exhausted.
“It’s not a bad result,” one said. “But we didn’t get [...]
The following was in yesterday’s New York Times. Interested to hear views on this debate.
July 17, 2008
Op-Ed Columnist [link]
Prosecuting Genocide
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Many aid workers and diplomats suffered a panic attack when the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court sought an arrest warrant this week for the president of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, for [...]
Yuri Fedotov, who is the Russian Federation’s Ambassador to the UK, has written to The Guardian to defend his country’s decision to veto Security Council sanctions on Zimbabwean officials responsible for political violence since the elections. In aside, he writes:
“There is an important technical point at stake. UN security council resolutions exist as a mechanism to address [...]
Nicholas Kristof has used his column in the New York Times to note the G8’s collective shrug over Darfur and ask the rhetorical question, “Is genocide really that bad?”
The answer is yes, he concludes; genocide is the ultimate human crime. It is interesting to read some of the comments that readers posted on Kristof’s blog [...]
A few weeks ago, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner (a lifelong advocate of ‘humanitarian intervention’) invoked R2P when the Government of Burma/Myanmar appeared to be obstructing relief efforts in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. However, when the French Ambassador to the UN requested a briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation, even this [...]
In the New York Times Magazine, David Rieff examines the gap between principle and practice when it comes to humanitarian intervention, and asks a profound question:
“Are we talking about people in desperate need of aid or are we talking about ourselves when we debate such matters?“
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Ramesh Thakur - one of the original R2P commissioners, is critical of suggestions to apply R2P to natural disasters.
He admits that the original report identified ‘overwhelming natural or environmental catastrophes, where the state concerned is either unwilling or unable to cope, and significant loss of life is occurring or threatened‘ as among the conscience-shocking situations [...]
He’s nothing if not consistent. Alex De Waal continues to equate R2P with armed intervention, which he says would be counterproductive in Darfur.
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In The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier advocated military intervention to expel aggressors, maintain post-conflict peace and prevent coups. The Eldis Conflict & Security Blog discusses some responses:
“Is it wise to intervene in conflict? Should foreign governments and international institutions take immediate action to avert possible civilian casualties? Or is the priority to ensure ‘stability’ (which [...]
Becky Tinsley in The New Statesman: “In the four years I have been campaigning against the genocide in Darfur, I have realised that the rules of the schoolyard apply to international relations. Unless nations come together to call the bullies’ bluff, the thugs will continue to divide and rule, to terrorize, and to make the [...]