Search: Affective Justice: Book Symposium: A Response
13 May Is Democracy Possible Beyond the State?
...beyond the state. Marc Plattner has a fine new book out, Democracy Without Borders: Global Challenges to Liberal Democracy. As Plattner states on the page 3, “Very crudely stated, the contention of this book is that we cannot hope to enjoy liberalism (at least in today’s world) unless it is accompanied by democracy, and we cannot enjoy liberal democracy outside the framework of the nation-state.” Later in the book on Page 107, Plattner quotes political scientists Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan as follows: “Without a state, they argue, “no modern...15 Oct The AfPak Conflict and the Leadup to the December 2010 Review
...or beyond, etc. – at this moment there are two key sources. One is Woodward’s new book. I took a pause out of writing some stuff on these topics to read the book; events unfolding now appear quite directly to follow on the path laid out in the President’s review of Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy a year ago. This is the main narrative of the book, and well worth reading closely. There’s little going on now that is not presaged in those discussions. And current events are both following a...25 Feb Will Anyone Publish Saif Gaddafi’s Book on Civil Society?
...to publish the two extraordinary books Saif wrote on civil society and democratic reform in the developing world, will presumably now cancel publication. Barber is probably correct in predicting that Oxford will back down from publication. But is that necessarily the right decision? The junior Gaddafi’s study sounds pretty useful to anyone interested in nonstate actors. It’s not every academic study that has The Monitor Group on board crunching the data! Although Oxford could no longer count on a large bulk sale, it would surely sell better than average for...
18 Jan Symposium: Further Thoughts on an IAC with Three Parties and the Capacity of Armed Groups to Adhere to International Norms
making the capacity of the group to adhere to GCIII obligations a consideration that cannot so easily be batted away? I would be interested to hear Mačák’s thinking here. Conclusion The best books are those which start conversations and debates, and I welcome the opportunity to be able to solicit Mačák’s thoughts on these issues – which are only two small points in a rich sea of analysis. From one Pictet-ist to another, I would like to congratulate him as his book is certainly a great addition to the literature....28 Jul Don’t Let the Legal Policy Tail Wag the Foreign Policy Dog
I will join the chorus of praise for this terrific book. But I want to add briefly to Peter’s critique of Ben’s premise that the current threat from transnational terrorism has us in a “long war,” by looking at what this means for broader foreign policy – one that encompasses, but it is not driven by, domestic legal policy. The book correctly, and refreshingly, recognizes two important points: (1) that addressing the threat of terrorism requires approaches that encompass domestic law enforcement and regulation as well as applications of armed...06 Mar Exploring the Limits of International Human Rights Law
approach of Limits. First, the book largely ignores the effect of international human rights legal institutions (e.g., ad hoc and permanent courts) on a range of state and individual behavior. Second, by focusing almost exclusively on interstate behavior and international political institutions, Goldsmith and Posner fail to examine the domestic dimension of human rights compliance. Third, by minimizing the role of individuals, NGOs, corporations, and other non-state actors, the book paints a distorted picture of the current processes through which human rights norms are elaborated and enforced. Fourth, the book...14 Sep Victor Davis Hanson Reviews Cheney Memoirs
...don’t seem to have felt much obligation other than simply to repeat opinions from past years, rather than actually engage with the memoir on its own terms (call me cynical, but as a long-time book reviewer, let’s say I’m not persuaded that all the reviewers have read more than a few of the most controversial chapters of the book — lightly). Hanson, by contrast, is defending Cheney, and reads the memoir more sympathetically but also far more closely. In the end, agree or disagree either with Hanson or with Cheney,...