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Eine Seite für Meinungsaustausch und Diskurs Neu 02. 01. 2009 Gaza: hope after attack Prof. Dr. Paul Rogers

Russia, Iran: Crisis of the West Image: NATO Moscow's war in Georgia and Tehran's nuclear challenge highlight the failings of United States and European security policy, says Paul Rogers. By Paul Rogers for openDemocrac

Welcome to the party: US convention follies The party conventions and the choice of vice-presidential running-mate are key events in any United States election. They do not always go according to plan, recalls Godfrey Hodgson. By Godfrey Hodgson for openDemocracy (19/08/08)

Writing in OpenDemocracy, David Sugarman, an expert on the Pinochet regime, reflects on the “landmark” arrest and trial of the dictator a decade after Pinochet was taken into custody.

International Law On Trial - Part TwoBy John Lloyd Published: July 26 2008 03:00 | Last updated: July 26 2008 03:00 function floatContent(){var paraNum = "3" paraNum = paraNum - 1;var tb = document.getElementById('floating-con');var nl = document.getElementById('floating-target');if(tb.getElementsByTagName("div").length> 0){if (nl.getElementsByTagName("p").length>= paraNum){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[paraNum]);}else {if (nl.getElementsByTagName("p").length == 3){nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[2]);}else {nl.insertBefore(tb,nl.getElementsByTagName("p")[0]);}}}}On July 14, in a separate trial, Moreno-Ocampo boldly indicted Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and murder committed in Darfur. Al-Bashir is the first serving head of state to be so indicted (Milosevic had lost power the year before his arrest); and even many of al-Bashir's critics, believe that, whatever guilt he may carry for Darfur, he is crucial to any peace deal. Alex de Waal, a journalist who has covered the issue for the past decade, writes on the website Open Democracy, that, "the prosecutor is striking an immense blow for universal jurisdiction. He is seeking to demonstrate that no one can enjoy impunity for crimes. He is taking a step towards a world constitution in which the barriers of national sovereignty are swept away in favour of the rule of law with global reach." He adds, however, that the issue is not so simple - and quotes a Sudanese political leader, known for publicly supporting the ICC in principle, as saying that this is "a classic case in which justice and stability are at loggerheads". De Waal calls the decision "controversial and fraught with danger", and asks: "Will this be a historic victory for human rights, a principled blow on behalf of the victims of atrocity against the men who orchestrated massacre and destruction? Or will it be a tragedy, a clash between the needs for justice and for peace, which will send Sudan into a vortex of turmoil and bloodshed?"

The question goes to the root of the present ambiguous position of the international courts, poised between what de Waal describes as the "rule of law with global reach" and the deal-making, power-broking, face-saving manoeuvres by which mediating states and institutions induce monsters to stop their horrors. If the rule of international law is to be embedded, it must find a working relationship with realpolitik - while gradually supplanting it. This is a long way from its declarative ideals. With luck, the idealistic step taken will not be taken back. It will need more than luck - it will need substantial political will - for another step forward.

Monday, October 13, 2008 Washington and Latin America: Farewell, Monroe Doctrine By Juan Gabriel Tokatlian

Following up on this previous post, here is part two of the series "The War on Terror, Seven years On":The war on terror: seven years on (part two)By Paul Rogers

Will ID cards keep the Iraq switchers with the LDs?

The war on terror: seven years on The George W Bush administration's answer to the attacks of 11 September 2001 was to launch a global "war on terror". Two weeks after 9/11, Paul Rogers began to track that war in a weekly openDemocracy column. In the second of a two-part retrospective, the author reflects on the last seven years and assesses the prospects for change in the next

Armistice Day

Yes, he can! openDemocracy - The victory of Barack Obama is a decisive rejection of the conservative ascendancy in United States politics. The test now is to make the promise of change a reality, says Godfrey Hodgson

The neighbor in the self Written on August 30th, 2008 in Humanitarian text Published on openDemocracy, by James R. Mensch, Aug 28, 2008. (Religions and States, even when apparently open, are subject to “auto-immune” reactions which make them turn against the other within. They need to make the effort to recognise the other as a constituent of themselves).

America's foreign policy election The United States party conventions open the last phase in an epic election campaign. But the world may have the final say on the result, says Godfrey Hodgson. By Godfrey Hodgson for openDemocracy (29/08/08)

The miscalculation of small nations Written on August 28th, 2008 in Society by Heidi Comments Off Linked with Fred Halliday - Ireland. Published on openDemocracy, by Fred Halliday, Aug 26, 2008. (The Russia-Georgia war emphasises the need for a nuanced understanding of international politics … ) … The puff of ideology:

Russia, Iran: Crisis of the West By: Paul Rogers | Open Democracy The military and political leaders of the United States and Europe could be forgiven in August 2008 for recalling the English phrase "it never rains, but it pours."

openDemocracy 19.08.2008 (UK)In the long term the Georgian war will have fatal consequences for Russia, writes Bulgarian political scientist and director of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Ivan Krastev: "Russia has no outreach whatsoever to Georgian society, and there is no legitimate political force in Georgia that is ready to challenge the pro-western orientation of the country. Russia can occupy Georgian territory, but only at the cost of its own international isolation and a perilous deterioration in its relations with the west. Russia's failure to oust Saakashvili and to instal a pro-Kremlin government in Tbilisi also means that Russia cannot gain control over the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline project; thus Russia's military victory has no practical impact on Moscow's ambitions to establish a monopoly over energy routes in the ex-Soviet space."

Democracy and new media Source: Charlie Beckett Date: 10 Jun, 2008

Tony Curzon Price says game theory is a dangerous business that has had its day