(Update, responding to Roger above: Let me stress that I have zero knowledge about Nobel Prizes apart from what I describe from my own experience below. I don't mean to generalize about them, although it sounds that way in part below. If there is any generalization that comes out of the experiences I mention below, it is about the nature...
This weekend the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Martti Ahtisaari for his role as an international mediator assisting in the resolution of international conflicts. The press release emphasized that throughout Ahtisaari's life he has worked for peace and reconciliation, with particular emphasis on his work in Namibia, Indonesia, Kosovo, and Iraq. Compared to last year's prize to...
That's the headline of today's New York Times article about Ali Kushayb, the janjaweed militia leader who has been indicted by the ICC. According to the article, the "[t]he move is widely being interpreted as a way for Sudan to improve its image abroad and attempt to head off the possible genocide prosecution of the country’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir." Honestly,...
The Christian Science Monitor ran an important story on Darfur a few days ago, detailing how Bashir is using the claim that his indictment will derail the peace process as a smokescreen for continuing to wage war against the Darfurians. The title says it all -- "Sudan Makes Case Abroad While Still Bombing Darfur": "How will the ICC hamper the peace...
Serbia might want the ICJ to opine on the legality of Kosovo's independence, but it seems that the horse is already out of the barn. Even Macedonia and Montenegro have now recognized Kosovo, the latter particularly irking the Serbian government: Montenegro's announcement sparked outrage in Belgrade, which along with key ally Russia has been vehemently opposing the split. Serbia in a...
Following up on Peter’s earlier post on the foreign policy views of Sarah Palin, I note this letter that she wrote in September 2007 to Senators Stevens and Murkowski expressing her “strong support” for the ratification of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). She also seems to advocate the use of the International Tribunal for the...
What is it with international prosecutors and their duty to disclose exculpatory evidence? First the ICC stays the Lubanga trial because of the Prosecutor's abuse of Article 54. And now the ICTR has had to formally reprimand its Prosecutor, Hassan Jallow, for failing to disclose exculpatory evidence in the high-profile Military II trial: In their ruling dated September 22, 2008, the...
One small item in the Biden-Palin debate that has gone largely unremarked in the press is Senator Biden's comment on the US commitment on foreign assistance. From the CNN transcript: IFILL: [...
Apparently, France will no longer even insist that the Sudan try Haroun and Kushayb. It only wants Haroun to be removed from his government position: France had previously stressed that Sudan must turn over Ahmed Haroun, state minister for humanitarian affairs, and militia commander Ali Mohamed Ali Abdel-Rahman, also know as Ali Kushayb who are wanted by the ICC in connection...
Last week, I defended deferring the ICC's investigation of Bashir for a year in exchange for, inter alia, the Sudanese government turning Harun and Kushayb over to the ICC for prosecution. That would have been a strong demand on the part of France and the UK -- one that, I argued, Bashir would be unlikely to accept. Lest they be accused...
Yesterday, on Monday, September 22, the 63rd UN General Assembly meetings got underway. As an annual confab, it features a parade of speeches by heads of state and foreign ministers and the Secretary General. This year had a couple of special items. One was President Bush's farewell address at the UN. A second-US-centric event was the arrival of Governor Sarah...
Paul Kennedy’s book on the history and future of the United Nations, Parliament of Man, appeared in 2006. A Spanish translation appeared in late 2007, which I review in a (very) long essay (some 10,000 words, be warned) appearing in Spanish in the Revista de Libros (Madrid), November 2008 issue. The Revista, for which I serve as political science advising editor is one of the best...
