Author: Mr. Lakhaney

TOK Teacher

Israel and the International Criminal Court (ICC)

February 7, 2021

Interesting discussions and implications around international law, war crimes, human rights, jurisdiction of international bodies (ICC), sovereignty, among others.

 

Israel originally supported the establishment of the international court in 2002, but it did not ratify the Rome Statute, in part out of fear of ending up on trial over the issue of settlements.

As a nonmember, it cannot appeal Friday’s ruling. But Israel’s attorney general has argued all along that only a sovereign state can delegate authority to the I.C.C., and that the areas in question were not a Palestinian sovereign state.

 

Response by Benjamin Netanyahu

 

Lastly, a pretty great discussion (10 minutes) regarding the issue of the ICC’s decision. The discussion gets to the heart of the nature of the ICC and why the issue is controversial.

Global democracy has a very bad year ($)

February 7, 2021

Global democracy continued its decline in 2020, according to the latest edition of the Democracy Index from our sister company, The Economist Intelligence Unit. The annual survey, which rates the state of democracy across 167 countries based on five measures—electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties—finds that just 8.4% of the world’s population live in a full democracy while more than a third live under authoritarian rule. The global score of 5.37 out of ten is the lowest recorded since the index began in 2006.

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2021/02/02/global-democracy-has-a-very-bad-year

How the United States Lost to Hackers

February 7, 2021

Three decades ago, the United States spawned, then cornered, the market for hackers, their tradecraft, and their tools. But over the past decade, its lead has been slipping, and those same hacks have come boomeranging back on us…

Over the next three years, Iran emerged from a digital backwater into one of the most prolific cyber armies in the world. China, after a brief pause, is back to pillaging America’s intellectual property. And, we are now unwinding a Russian attack on our software supply chain that compromised the State Department, the Justice Department, the Treasury, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Energy and its nuclear labs and the Department of Homeland Security, the very agency charged with keeping Americans safe…

At this very moment, we are getting hacked from so many sides that it has become virtually impossible to keep track, let alone inform the average American reader who is trying to grasp a largely invisible threat that lives in code, written in language that most of us will never fully understand.

A Native Tribe Wants to Resume Whaling. Whale Defenders Are Divided

April 2, 2020

Good example of the concept of cultural or collective rights.

“We’re talking rights here,” Nate Tyler, a 47-year-old tribal council member, said of whaling. “It’s our identity.”

Many Makah believe a traditional diet that includes whale can help to improve their health. The preparation for a hunt is also physically and spiritually nourishing, tribal members say. Hunters train by running and paddling every day. They fast, abstain from sex and face the sun and pray each morning. After a kill, they pray for and thank the whale for providing for them.

“It brings to life a better part of our culture,” said Spencer McCarty, a 59-year-old Makah whaler.

Afghan conflict: Top court backs war crimes probe

March 16, 2020

But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the ruling was “reckless” and vowed to protect Americans from it.

“This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable, political institution masquerading as a legal body”, he said.

“All the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal on Afghanistan, which is the best chance for peace in a generation.”

The deal was signed with the Taliban last Saturday after more than 18 years of conflict.

The US is not a signatory of the ICC and does not recognise its authority over American citizens.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51751717

U.S. Warns Iraq It Risks Losing Access to Key Bank Account if Troops Told to Leave

March 16, 2020

The financial threat isn’t theoretical: The country’s financial system was squeezed in 2015 when the U.S. suspended access for several weeks to the central bank’s account at the New York Fed over concerns the cash was filtering through a loosely regulated market into Iranian banks and to the Islamic State extremist group.

“The U.S. Fed basically has a stranglehold on the entire [Iraqi] economy,” said Shwan Taha, chairman of Iraqi investment bank Rabee Securities.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-warns-iraq-it-risks-losing-access-to-key-bank-account-if-troops-told-to-leave-11578759629

To End Forever War, End the Dollar’s Global Dominance

https://newrepublic.com/article/156325/end-forever-war-end-dollars-global-dominance

As China’s investments in Germany grow, so do the ethical pitfalls

March 16, 2020

Yet this raises questions whether Duisburg – dubbed by local media as “Germany’s Chinese city” – is opening itself up to ethical compromises or reputational risk by so openly welcoming Chinese investment. The pressure Beijing exerts on foreign entities is increasing, at a time surveys show the German public is increasingly negative on Chinese investment. What price is paid to engage with China?

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2019/1211/As-China-s-investments-in-Germany-grow-so-do-the-ethical-pitfalls