How do you start a country?
August 11, 2021
The definition of a people is much disputed, but some might argue that it means a permanent population with a concept of, and belief in, their own nationality.
Author: Mr. Lakhaney
TOK Teacher
Ten surprising facts about humanitarian intervention
August 11, 2021
As is usually the case in world politics, the actual practice of humanitarian intervention is more complex, than we might think. Sometimes, states traditionally thought to oppose intervention might support it, as with Pakistan over Bosnia and China over Somalia. The reverse is also sometimes true – in 2011 Germany opted not to vote in favour of NATO-led intervention in Libya, whilst decades earlier, Norway – a well known champion of humanitarianism – condemned Vietnam for its intervention which ended a genocide in Cambodia that had accounted for a quarter of that country’s population.
Half-Truth and Reconciliation: After the Rwandan Genocide
August 11, 2021
Rwanda, Sundaram learned, was not the peaceful democracy it appeared to be. It was a state whose grip over the population subdued most citizens into silence or false flattery. Through the clarifying lens of this book, Rwanda appears not as a democracy making rapid progress after the horror of genocide, but as a disguised North Korea—a massively repressive dictatorship demanding slavish devotion to the leader, president Paul Kagame.
Rwanda & South Africa: a long road from truth to reconciliation
August 11, 2021
Reconciliation goes hand in hand with many other factors and generates many difficult questions. Who needs to be reconciled with whom? Who should initiate the process? Who should facilitate it? What should it look like? How do national and interpersonal movements towards reconciliation intersect, if at all? Can you reconcile when there’s no freedom? Justice? Equality? Redress?
https://theconversation.com/rwanda-and-south-africa-a-long-road-from-truth-to-reconciliation-75628
How a Nation Reconciles After Genocide Killed Nearly a Million People
August 11, 2021
The premise is simple and extraordinary in its efficient enforcement: Every able-bodied Rwandan citizen between the ages of 18 and 65 must take part in community service for three hours once a month. The community identifies a new public works problem to tackle each month.
The Life After: Fifteen years after the genocide in Rwanda, the reconciliation defies expectations.
August 11, 2021
Gacaca was designed to reward confessions, because the objective was not only to render rudimentary justice and mete out punishment but also to allow some emotional catharsis by establishing a collective accounting of the truth of the crimes in each place where they were committed. During a trial run of gacaca courts, in 2005, there were many reports of corrupt judges, and of intimidated witnesses, including an alarming number of cases in which genocide survivors were murdered before they could testify.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/04/the-life-after
Warming, Water Crisis, Then Unrest: How Iran Fits an Alarming Pattern
August 11, 2021
Nigeria. Syria. Somalia. And now Iran.
In each country, in different ways, a water crisis has triggered some combination of civil unrest, mass migration, insurgency or even full-scale war.
The Battle Line for Western Values Runs Through Poland
August 11, 2021
The European Union is the West’s last line of defense. The United States has historically been the world’s anchor of republican ideals, but President Trump has abandoned the role, openly admiring strongmen like Vladimir Putin of Russia. As the temptations of nationalist populism spread, Europe has responsibility for holding down the Western fort. The primary battle right now is over Poland, which is deepening its descent into illiberalism. The European Union needs to take a firm stand in defense of Western values.
The future of international justice
August 11, 2021
The effort to establish a system of global justice which could deprive war criminals of any hope of escape is a vivid illustration of what can be achieved by nation states acting together. But equally, the refusal of some of the most powerful nations to participate, notably China and the United States, shows how such effort can be hugely undermined.
Globalisation: time to look at historic mistakes to plot the future
August 11, 2021
Trade deals were hammered out in secret by multinationals at the expense of workers and citizens. Benefits must be shared if the global economy is to work
The US basically wrote the rules and created the institutions of globalisation. In some of these institutions – for example, the International Monetary Fund – the US still has veto power, despite America’s diminished role in the global economy (a role which Trump seems determined to diminish still further).
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