Jean Baudrillard, the great postmodern philosopher who once described the U.S. as "the only remaining primitive society," died yesterday at age 77. Here is a snippet of his obituary in the New York Times:The author of more than 50 books and an accomplished photographer, Mr. Baudrillard ranged across different subjects, from race and gender to literature and art to...
I am blogging the UCLA nuclear threat conference over at Huffington Post. My first post on former Defense Secretary William Perry's keynote address last night is available here. Here is an excerpt: My impression after hearing Perry speak is that we must calculate the awful new arithmetic of the atomic bomb. The nuclear risk we face today is the...
When two keen observers cross the divide to agree on some basic propositions regarding anti-terrorism policies, we ought to pay attention. Ken Anderson and Elisa Massimino have this think piece out from the Stanley Foundation. (Ken will be known to readers of the blog and Elisa should be -- she heads up the Washington office of Human Rights...
I think we have talked about this before on this blog, but I don't think we ever came to a resolution on Iran's argument that Security Council sanctions against its nuclear program are "illegal." Iran's foreign minister is apparently arguing here that the UNSC resolutions are "politically motivated and unprincipled resolutions" which violate international law, rules and regulations. It...
Iran’s emerging nuclear weapons program poses a grave threat to U.S. national security interests. If left unchecked, Iran may well have a nuclear weapon within the next decade, if not sooner. See this article in the Washington Post. An Iranian nuclear weapon threatens U.S. interests in at least two distinct ways. First, there is a significant...
At least according this report by the the BBC, the foreign non-Cambodian judges slated to participate in the "hybrid" war crimes tribunal of Khmer Rouge-era defendants are threatening to pull out of the pending trials. This would effectively disband one of the more promising models for post-conflict criminal justice - the use of hybrid domestic/international tribunals. I can't...
Marking the beginning of the spring human rights season, the US State Department yesterday released its annual human rights report. Since 2003, it has become increasingly difficult for the U.S. to use this report as the effective "shaming" tool it once was. Secretary Rice's comments upon release of the report refleted this sober reality: We do not issue these...
A couple of days ago, I criticized Julian's claim that the ICC's involvement in Darfur makes the situation there worse. I still believe that, on balance, the ICC's involvement is positive. Nevertheless, articles like this give me pause:Aid workers fear war crimes accusations made by the International Criminal Court against two Sudanese suspects could hamper their work in...
I'm not sure what I think about this idea, reported in a Malaysian newspaper: An Islamic International Court focusing on Islamic human rights may soon become a reality. Iran’s chief of judiciary system Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroud said in principle, it was a good idea for such an establishment, adding that a secretariat to look into the matter had been formed in...
The NYT has an article today discussing negotiations between the President and Congress on revisions to pending bilateral free-trade agreements. The new Democratic Congress is pushing for greater protection of labor rights in those trade agreements with Panama, Peru, and Colombia. I'm far from an expert on labor rights in trade agreements, but I do find a couple...
UCLA is hosting a great conference this afternoon and tomorrow on nuclear weapons in the new century. I will be attending and will provide you with details after the conference. Speakers will include former Secretary of Defense William Perry, the current Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph, among other luminaries. The topics...
Apparently, the Bush Administration forgot to tell the Pentagon that global warming is nothing more than a hoax perpetrated by the Left:Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters.. A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities...
