Harvard International Review articles from January 2008

Harvard International Review archives from January 2008

A different world.(CORRESPONDENCE)(US-China Relations)
January 1, 2008... Any geopolitical rivalry between the US and China, as Michael Mastanduno ("Rivals or Partners? Globalization and US-China Relations," Fall 2007) points out, would be disastrous not only for the two countries, but also for Asia-Pacific security...

On eliminating WMD.(CORRESPONDENCE)(Weapons of mass destruction)
January 1, 2008... Reading the wise words of Dr. Hans Blix ("A World Without WMDs? Modern Challenges to Nuclear Non-Proliferation," Fall 2007), I was reminded of the famous advertising slogan, "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen," which encouraged people to...

Igniting instability: al Qaeda's inroads into Africa.(AFRICA)
January 1, 2008... As a result of the West's continued presence in the Middle East, al Qaeda has turned its focus to the occupation of a new front in its global jihad: Africa. With their presence threatened in what was once a safe haven, al Qaeda leaders, cells,...

No easy peace: the Zapatistas' tense stalemate.(AMERICAS)
January 1, 2008... On January 1, 1994, the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional, EZLN) staged a violent rebellion that rocked Chiapas, Mexico's southernmost and poorest state. The EZLN mobilized some 2,000 armed...

No redemption: the failing Khmer Rouge trial.(ASIA PACIFIC)
January 1, 2008... Three decades after planning the genocide of 1.7 million Cambodians, the remaining leaders of the infamous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia are finally being-brought to justice. Between July and November 2007, the five most prominent living...

Crouching Tigers: pursuing elusive peace in Sri Lanka.(ASIA PACIFIC)
January 1, 2008... Long-standing conflict in Sri Lanka has claimed over 60,000 lives since 1983. Rebels from the Tamil minority demand substantial political autonomy for the primarily Tamil northern and eastern regions, creating tension with the...

Left to the birds: the EU's development woes.(EUROPE)
January 1, 2008... The expansion of Europe's transportation network has exacerbated the conflict between the need for development and the need for environmental conservation. One clear example of this tension lies in the debate over Poland's proposed E67 highway...

Sword of justice? Beheadings rise in Saudi Arabia.(MIDDLE EAST)
January 1, 2008... On November 25, 2007, a Saudi man was beheaded by sword for committing homicide. His execution brought the country's official number of beheadings to 151 last year. This number was a new record, standing in stark contrast to the 2006 total of...

Three years after: theoretical reflections on Ukraine's Orange Revolution.
January 1, 2008... In late 2004, Ukraine underwent the "Orange Revolution"--several weeks of peaceful mass demonstrations that reversed a fraudulent election, catapulted a democrat to the presidency, and promised to transform the country into a modern European...

One policy for China: avoiding conflict with the mainland.(PERSPECTIVES)
January 1, 2008... The United States' adherence to the "one China" principle has effectively maintained a stalemate between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Specifically, the United States has been able to deter a conflict between the PRC and...

An unbreakable link: peace, environment, and democracy.(PERSPECTIVES)
January 1, 2008... The reality that sustainable development, democracy, and peace are indivisible concepts should not be denied. Peace cannot exist without equitable development, just as development requires sustainable management of the environment in a...

Squashing the skull and bones: reforming the international anti-piracy regime.(WORLD IN REVIEW)
January 1, 2008... Blackbeard and Bluebeard are names that evoke an era long since passed. Their successors, however, continue to terrorize the seas today. Rather than disappearing, piracy has actually become more advanced and dangerous over the past several...

The dynamic welfare state: how adaptation can save the Swedish economy.(WORLD IN REVIEW)
January 1, 2008... The Swedish welfare system thrives in spite, or perhaps because of, its contradiction of contemporary economic thought. By ignoring the most basic principles of the deadweight loss of taxation and the inefficiency of transfer payments, the...

Crystal unclear: the challenges of water politics in the Middle East.(WORLD IN REVIEW)
January 1, 2008... Due to its importance, water is a double-edged sword. In addition to water's life-giving properties, it acts as a major source of conflict in areas that have a limited supply. Middle Eastern countries have had to divide water sources while...

Addressing collapse: an international responsibility?(picking up the pieces: FAILED STATES)
January 1, 2008... In October 1993, US soldiers landed in Mogadishu with a seemingly straightforward mission: they would abduct the lieutenants of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who had gained power after the fall of Mohammed Siad Barre's dictatorial...

An internal challenge: partnerships in fixing failed states.(picking up the pieces: FAILED STATES)
January 1, 2008... The term "failed state" has only recently entered into international legal jargon to describe the collapse and dissolution of states. These processes have become relatively frequent of late and are symptomatic of the condition of today's...

The slippery road: the imperative for state formation.(picking up the pieces: FAILED STATES)
January 1, 2008... In a perfect world, people would live in prosperity and peace, enjoying everything a perfect market and a perfect state have to offer. Unfortunately, this is a far cry from today's reality, even in the industrialized world. A large number of...

A new approach: the need to focus on failing states.(picking up the pieces: FAILED STATES)
January 1, 2008... In the post-9/11 security paradigm, failed states are considered one of the main threats to international and regional security. However, there remains much debate over what exactly constitutes a failed state. The first point of contention lies...

Failing the failed: the Bush administration and failed states.(picking up the pieces: FAILED STATES)
January 1, 2008... In December 2006, Ethiopian troops, with the support of the United States, entered Somalia to oust the Islamic Courts movement that had taken over the government. Somalia is a tragic example of a failed state that has put enormous pressure on...

Fixing failed states: a cure worse than the disease?(picking up the pieces: FAILED STATES)
January 1, 2008... The bipartisan Beltway consensus that sponsored the Iraq war is in the uncomfortable and unfamiliar position of having to justify its most basic tenets. After the Washington foreign policy community all but unanimously assured Americans of the...

The Conservator: saving states from political bankruptcy.(picking up the pieces: FAILED STATES)
January 1, 2008... The last several decades have seen a growing awareness of the phenomenon of failed states and its implications for the international system. In part, failed states are a product of the great proliferation of the nation-state model after 1945,...

Reforming human rights: challenges facing new Human Rights Council.(AN INTERVIEW WITH BLAISE GODET)(Interview)
January 1, 2008... BLAISE GODET is the current head of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations Office in Geneva. He served as vice president of the UN Human Rights Council from its inception in 2006 to the summer of 2007. [ILLUSTRATION...

A dubious recipe; Armand Clesse reviews Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise.
January 1, 2008... Amy Chua, Professor of Law at Yale Law School, has written an ambitious book covering a vast array of empires and other powers. The work reaches from the Great Persian Empire to Rome and the contemporary US hyperpower. Her analysis also...

Assessing the nuclear threat; Richard L. Russell reviews The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor.
January 1, 2008... While Langewiesche's new work has a great "hook," it offers little new insight into Pakistan's role in Abdul Qadeer (A.Q.) Khan's aid and abetment of nuclear weapons proliferation. Moreover, it is largely silent on the danger that Pakistani...

Failure to protect: international response to Darfur Genocide.(ENDPAPER)
January 1, 2008... International failure in responding to genocide in Darfur should be occasion for the deepest shame. Inaction has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives and caused untold human suffering--but the catastrophe is far from over. The example of...