Harvard International Review articles from June 1998

Harvard International Review archives from June 1998

Universalism and dissent: human rights in a changing world.
June 22, 1998... Fifty years ago this winter, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, without dissent, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This landmark manifesto aimed to promote respect for basic human rights and freedoms, and to "secure their...

Closer look at South Africa's transition.
June 22, 1998... The Winter 1997/98 edition of the Harvard International Review included an article by former South African President F.W. de Klerk, who presented many thought-provoking perspectives on South Africa. Many of the views of the former National...

Nourishment over politics (at odds with its political leadership, the U.S. balks at providing famine relief to North Korea).
June 22, 1998... What appears to be a basic international obligation--to feed a population which has already suffered more than 2 million starvation deaths since January 1997--has yet to become a central US concern. The isolationist tendencies of the US...

Foreign policy by spectacle (the U.S. government has to be certain of the public's support of foreign policies before consulting it).
June 22, 1998... The United States has become increasingly infatuated with the voicing of public opinion on every topic imaginable. US foreign policy, once far removed from the sphere of public commentary, is in the process of taking its programs to the people...

Solidifying democracy (strong judicial systems rather than international agencies are the best safeguards for human rights in new democracies).
June 22, 1998... In this issue, both Martin L. Kilson, Jr. (page 64) and Cesar Gaviria (page 76) express the view that human rights still have a precarious hold in many countries across the world. Both Africa and Latin America have traditionally been plagued by...

For whom the road tolls: road pricing in Singapore.
June 22, 1998... Another weekday dawns in cities around the globe, and the only thing as predictable as the rising of the sun is something insidious--gridlock. Since traffic first appeared as an endemic problem in the modern city, there have been few solutions,...

Planet savers: international coalitions for the environment.
June 22, 1998... In the past ten to 15 years, pollution and the possibility of resultant climate change have been recognized as a global dilemma. International environmental directives, however, cannot be effective in reaching their goals if they are created by...

Collision course: the United States, Iran, and the end of containment.
June 22, 1998... The transition of Iran's political organization and the resulting reversal of its foreign policy have drastically affected the nation's relations with members of the international community. The United States, which had friendly diplomatic...

Panama's canal: the US departure and Panama's new era.
June 22, 1998... On December 31, 1999, while the rest of the world will be celebrating the arrival of the new millennium, Panama's attention will be focused on noon and the return of the Panama Canal to its control. But as American troops gradually...

Hail Britannia: the benefits of empire in the modern age.
June 22, 1998... In 1999, Australians will enter the voting booth to decide the fate of the monarchy in their country. The choice, ostensibly, is between a native president and continued allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II. Many around the world, however, see this...

Enter Argentina: democratization, trade, and economic expansion.
June 22, 1998... CARLOS MENEM is President of Argentina. In this era of industrialization, Argentina is making an effort to insert its economy into the international system, an endeavor which can only be compared to the previous effort made by our country...

Trading together (the founding of Mercosur has resulted in the attraction of foreign investment in Latin America).
June 22, 1998... Argentina's regional plans are currently focused heavily on the successful development of Mercosur, the treaty for a "Common Market of the South." The agreement, signed in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, was originally intended...

New role: European integration and Finnish foreign policy.
June 22, 1998... MARTTI AHTISAARI is President of the Republic of Finland. As the new millennium approaches, Finland is a decision-maker in its own affairs to a greater degree than ever before in its history, a remarkable achievement for a small country and...

Popular diplomacy: the American public and US foreign policy.
June 22, 1998... JAMES P. RUBIN is US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. People say that all politics is local. Well, much of US foreign policy is domestic. As America's top diplomat, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright has already...

Breaking the wall: China and the Three Gorges Dam.
June 22, 1998... ALEXANDER KUO, World in Review Editor, Harvard International Review November 7, 1997, marked the beginning of the end for a scenic stretch along the Yangtze River in Yichang, China. Groups of giant Caterpillar trucks disposed large boulders...

Size matters (when completed, China's Three Gorges Dam will be the largest structure of its kind).
June 22, 1998... The construction of the Three Gorges Dam is not the first controversial hydroelectric project. About 40,000 dams with heights of 15 meters or more are currently operating globally. Numerous non-governmental organizations have attempted to delay...

Turbulent relations: redirecting US foreign policy towards North Korea.
June 22, 1998... CHRISTOPHER LIM PARK, Staff Writer, Harvard International Review Kim Jong-Il's election as General Secretary of the Korean Worker's Party on October 8, 1997, was marked by festive pageantry which included swimmers performing "Cheers All...

Dear leader (despite widespread famine, there seems to be little opposition to the rule of Kim Jong-Il in North Korea).
June 22, 1998... Despite the economic hardship that is afflicting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the loyalty of the country's people to the regime does not appear to be waning. Given the way that North Korea's leaders have been portrayed in the...

Lender of last resort: rethinking IMF conditionality.
June 22, 1998... GOPAL GARUDA, Staff Writer, Harvard International Review On December 1, 1997, the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Managing Director, Michael Camdessus, announced a historic multibillion dollar bailout of the Republic of Korea. Designed...

Universal truths: human rights and the westernizing illusion.
June 22, 1998... AMARTYA SEN is Master of Trinity College at Cambridge University and former Lamont University Professor at Harvard. This article is a revised version of the Commencement Address given at Bard College on May 24, 1997. Related arguments were...

Joining east and west: a Confucian perspective on human rights.
June 22, 1998... TU WEIMING is Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy at Harvard University. This article is based on an expanded version of Professor Tu's "Epilogue" in Confucianism and Human Rights, edited by William T. de Bary and Tu Weiming...

Legal reform: reviewing human rights in the Muslim world.
June 22, 1998... AZIZAH AL-HIBRI is Professor of Law at the University of Richmond. She is also President and founder of Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights. Muslim countries are the bete noire of the Human Rights Movement. Problems in these...

New medical ethic: physicians and the fight for human rights.
June 22, 1998... LEONARD S. RUBENSTEIN is Executive Director of Physicians for Human Rights. Professionals have played a uniquely important role in the movement for human rights. Lawyers, steeped in the rule of law, actively promote codes and covenants...

Drawing on custom: future prospects for international humanitarian law.
June 22, 1998... MICHAEL HOFFMAN is Officer for International Humanitarian Law for the American Red Cross. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of the American Red Cross. International...