The seemingly unstoppable growth of regional organizations, since the end of the Cold War, has been one of the defining characteristics of the current international system. Throughout this period, regionalism has taken many forms and shapes, varying from tiny associations that include no more than a few actors and focus on a single issue, to huge continental-unions that address a multitude of common problems from territorial defense to food security. Far from being solely state-led undertakings, regional organizations have also come to include a variety of actors from civil society…
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SECURITY LAW AND NON-BINDING NORMS IN SPACE: FROM PEACE TO CONFLICT
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty contains three important principles. Article II spells out the principle of non-appropriation, Article III requires all activities in outer space to conform with international law, and Article IV announces the principle that the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used for peaceful purposes. The question was posed whether these principles continue to be effective, or whether the principles of non-appropriation and peaceful purposes are under threat. One key issue in raising this question is the relationship between peaceful purposes and war fighting in space.…
Read MoreTARGETED KILLING AS A METHOD OF COUNTER TERRORISM AND DRONES AS MEANS OF COMBAT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
When one aims to describe the human rights legality of targeted killings, one has to examine the right to life. The right to life is a natural and unalienable right of men. From the point of view of its subjects, the right to life requires that no man shall be killed arbitrarily, thus it ensures the life of the individual. From the relevant international conventions a two-folded obligation seems to flow: On the one hand, states have to respect the right to life of individuals, and in certain situations– based…
Read MoreWHAT IMPACT COULD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE HAVE ON ELECTIONS?
The Experts/Researchers adopt a broad understanding of elections that encompasses more than the practical conduct of elections and includes the election campaign and the post-election period, when the election results are published and discussed. In its work, the Experts/Researchers have focused on three main areas where we believe Artificial Intelligence (AI) may have an impact on elections and democracy. In these areas, we believe there is particular cause to be vigilant and prepared to avoid negative consequences for elections and democracy: – The information and media landscape – Covert election…
Read MoreCLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEMS
With reference to the UN Human Rights Commission’s adoption of Resolution 7/23.2 and the flurry of preparations for the December 2009 round of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Copenhagen (“UNFCCC COP-15”), several institutions had joined the call to develop the nexus between human rights and climate change. The nexus was meaningful because it demonstrated that climate change’s numerous negative impacts on human rights, particularly for already vulnerable populations, can be used as a way to measure the harm. It is also meaningful because it connects this…
Read MoreTHE SUBSTANTIVE COMPONENT OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE IN LIGHT OF TARGETED KILLINGS AND EXTRATERRITORIAL APPLICABILITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES AND TARGETED KILLINGS
When one aims to describe the human rights legality of targeted killings, one has to examine the right to life. The right to life is a natural and unalienable right of men. From the point of view of its subjects, the right to life requires that no man shall be killed arbitrarily, thus it ensures the life of the individual. From the relevant international conventions a two-folded obligation seems to flow: On the one hand, states have to respect the right to life of individuals, and in certain situations– based…
Read MoreTHE CONSEQUENCES OF POST WAR CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION: REVIEW
War Conflicts affect the lives of people not only due to the large scale loss of lives, but also due to the destruction that it causes on infrastructure and livelihoods. Thus, War conflicts create a long term impact on social, economic and political systems making it difficult for societies to revive back to normal on their own. The period after war conflict poses several challenges for the communities and governments to recover the economic and social systems, while maintaining stability and achieving sustainable peace. The recovery process necessitates post conflict…
Read MoreNEEDFUL VOTER FRAUD DEFINITION : VOTER FRAUD AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIDENCE : PART II
Conceptual clarity is important in evaluating evidence of fraud. We begin with a discussion of what voter fraud is and what it is not. The first problem in defining voter fraud is that as a crime, it defies precise legal meaning. In fact, there is no single accepted legal definition of voter fraud. In fact, some states do not actually criminalize ‘voter fraud,’ although they all criminalize acts that are commonly lumped together under the term, such as illegal voting, providing false information to register to vote, and multiple voting.…
Read MoreMAJOR FOOD SOURCES AND ASSOCIATED ANIMAL AND PLANT DISEASES
With increasing globalization, the persistence of trans-boundary animal diseases (TADs) and plant diseases in the world poses a serious risk to world animal and plant agriculture and food security and jeopardizes international trade. In recent decades, the world has experienced devastating economic losses to farmers from major outbreaks of TADs, such as 1. Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) epidemic in Great Britain (2001), 2. Classical Swine Fever in the Caribbean and Europe (1996–2002), 3. Rinderpest (RP) in Africa in the 1980s, 4. Peste des Petits Ruminants in northern Kenya, India…
Read MoreNEEDFULNESS OF VOTER FRAUD DEFINITION: VOTER FRAUD AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIDENCE : PART I
Conceptual clarity is important in evaluating evidence of fraud. We begin with a discussion of what voter fraud is and what it is not. The first problem in defining voter fraud is that as a crime, it defies precise legal meaning. In fact, some states do not criminalize ‘voter fraud.’ However, they all criminalize acts that are commonly lumped together under the term, such as illegal voting, providing false information to register to vote, and multiple voting. The legal incoherence contributes to popular misunderstandings. We need a basic definition of…
Read MoreTHE POWAR OF PROXIES : WHY NON STATE SPONSORS USE LOCAL MILITARY SURROGATES
The use of proxies in warfare is typically understood as a state sponsor’s reliance on military surrogates that are outside the purview of the state’s conventional armed or security forces, and that offer services to their benefactors in exchange for tangible material support. A long-standing feature in the history of armed conflict , the reliance on surrogates has become particularly endemic in the post–World War II era, with important implications for international security. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the ensuing “global war on terror,” the use of…
Read MoreDIGITAL CYBER REVOLUTION: AUTHORITARIANISM, CYBER SOVEREIGNTY AND REASSERTION OF STATE CONTROL
International law has generally recognized that, “ sovereignty is perhaps the most fundamental [principle]. From [which] emerges, inter alia, notions of non-intervention; prescriptive, enforcement, and adjudicative jurisdiction; sovereign immunity; due diligence; and territorial integrity.” A sovereign state thus maintains the right “to conduct its affairs without outside interference. Between independent states , respect for territorial sovereignty is an essential foundation of international relations.” Extending this principal of independent sovereign control to the ephemeral territory of cyber space, Russia and China have actively advocated for cyber sovereignty—“the idea that states should…
Read MoreLEVERS TO IMPROVE INDOOR AIR QUALITY: BEST PUBLIC POLICIES/ PRACTICES AND INNOVATIVE INITIATIVES
A crucial lever is improving access to clean energy for Three billion people. Getting renewable energy on small local distribution grids will help people phase out fossil and polluting fuels. The Climate and Clean Air Coalition(CCAC) has worked with development banks and micro-finance institutions to develop programs to support impoverished communities and enable them to get access to renewable energy. One example is XacBank, in Mongolia. In this country, the smoke from coal and wood burning is a major contributor to black carbon and Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 air pollution,…
Read MoreTHE AGE OF NEW WARS: THE USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS IN ARMED CONFLICTS
In history & current warring parties, political scientists counted a large number of wars and armed conflicts worldwide, almost all of them in developed countries &developing countries. Observers of these current ‘New wars’ or ‘complex political emergencies’ have noted that the main target of the war parties is the civilian population, and systematic atrocities, massacres and bombings are often applied as rational strategies within current warfare. Some believe in witnessing a qualitative change in the way wars are waged and organized violence is exerted; in other words, a transformation in…
Read MorePRICE OF HUMAN LIFE: MEDICAL, LEGAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS
The price of a human life has never been properly assessed, and a man as a value has neither been sufficiently learned nor protected. Though seeming illogical but, if the human life is under-evaluated, more extensively and lethally endangered, then it gives way to different approaches and methods to be developed in order to determine the man like a value (price) of material and social substance. Extensive research is being carried out in different countries on the value of a statistical life (VSL). Determination of material values of a human’s…
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