Summer/Fall 2002 Vol 26:2
The Evolving Architecture of International Law
The Hague Tribunal has risen to new prominence since the arrest of Slobodan Milosevic, yet many Balkan crimes go unpunished because the court has failed to influence the judicial systems of the region.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has pioneered international criminal jurisprudence, convicting a head of state for genocide for the first time and establishing that rape can constitute a war crime. Why do so few seem to care? (View)
The lesson from state practice in international human rights law is clear: individuals need the means to enforce and protect their own rights. The answer is an international civil court.
The eruption of antitrust law worldwide has imposed order-of-magnitude increases in the cost, uncertainty, and complexity of legal compliance. If allowed to continue unchecked, a tidal wave of antitrust constraints will swamp businesses.
A New Era of Development?
Can information and communications technologies force governments to become more accountable to citizens’ broader priorities? Yes, they can—and they can transform a nation’s political and economic landscape in the process. (View)
Governments and the private sector in developing countries must work together to develop a competitive environment which builds trust, justice, and human capital. Fairbanks charts the way ahead.
While the Chinese government's human rights practices certainly deserve criticism, the contemporary Chinese leadership has demonstrated tolerance, and even active support, for the reestablishment and resurgence of many minority cultural practices and institutions.
Technology entrepreneurship in the world’s two most populous countries is just emerging, but both nations will soon develop into global technology competitors. The Indian and Chinese Diasporas will act as the catalysts behind this development.
The Durban Racism Conference Revisited
The World Conference against Racism (WCAR) last September broke new ground in confronting racism worldwide, writes the Executive Director of the International Human Rights Law Group. In response to a piece by U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos in the previous issue of The Fletcher Forum, McDougall argues that there was much more to the WCAR than Congressman Lantos noted. (View)
The WCAR process was far more successful and important than most critics realize, writes a civil rights lawyer who attended the events. (View)
Romania Rising
How is Romania doing? Better than you have heard, writes the former U.S. ambassador to the country. It is a message that European and American policy makers should consider as NATO and the European Union gear up for new rounds of expansion.
Romania is showing promising signs of breaking away from its legacy of erratic economic management during the 1990s, writes the head of the World Bank office in Romania.
Issues and Policy
The Russian government was suspiciously incapable of acting against the terrorists who carried out a series of bombings in the country in September 1999. Just as disturbing is the fact that Russian society does not seem to care.
Structural weaknesses plagued the Czech economy and banking system in the mid-1990s, leading to an economic and political crisis in 1997. Woolman outlines the architecture of flawed post-communist reforms and the Czech Republic's efforts to reform the system once again.
Environmental management systems are a powerful way to mainstream environmental thinking in corporate decision-making.
The inexorable movement toward democracy in Indonesia is threatening the country's territorial integrity. As people become less willing to follow central government orders in the post-Soeharto era, the desire to escape government interference grows.
Continued advances in technology and a corresponding capacity for information warfare have raised serious questions regarding the U.S. Constitution. Congress must address these issues to maintain the governmental balance of power embodied in the War Powers Act.