Globalaffairs

Issue 17/October-November 2009
By Mauricio Palma Gutiérrez

A couple of weeks ago, Kan Guek Evan, alias Comrade Duch, made headlines as he publicly expressed his remorse for the demise of nearly 12,000 people who died while in his charge as the director of the S21-the most infamous prison camp from the Khmer Rouge era. However, the attention his declarations attracted was minor compared to the more recent events surrounding the bringing to justice of those who are accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide.

The issuing of arrest warrants by the International Court or the mandates of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia have attracted the most attention around the world and thereby the majority of the academic discourse on the matter. Notwithstanding, the case of the Tribunal for the Cambodian Genocide is seen as singular and innovative in its legal constitution and regulation of international legal elements for the statutes and the legal bodies established in the budding international legal order. The declarations of this person have become the perfect excuse to conduct an evaluation of the understandings of the action-taking logic of a peculiar legal body in action, within the context of one of the most remembered genocides of the latter half of the twentieth century, perhaps only comparable to the Rwandan genocide.

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Issue 18/December-January 2010
By Jamsheed K. Choksy

Successes, missteps, opportunities, and prospects

Rebuilding civil society has emerged as an essential path to reversing impacts of strife. Reestablishment of infrastructure, employment, services, administration, and security - all emphasizing local responsibility - are central to stability irrespective of culture, faith, or location.

Reconstruction of civil society in the approximately 10,500 sq. mile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan is desperately needed [1]. Local populations face intimidation from armed militants [2]. Common administrative and legal norms are lacking. Constructive tribal, intellectual, and economic cooperation across the FATA’s border with Afghanistan require augmentation. So economic opportunities have declined and, consequently, less than one-third of FATA’s nearly 5 million inhabitants live above poverty-level. Literacy has fallen to a lowly 17.4 percent because access to quality education became limited too, especially for women [3]. Consequently, “fundamentalist madrasas lure hopeful people with promises of knowledge and wealth, and then turned them into lawless hate-filled thugs” lamented one local FATA leader.

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Issue 17/diciembre-enero 2010
By Sandra Azima

In recent weeks, Brazil has intriguingly become involved in diplomatic relations with key Middle Eastern leaders, as it has asserted its aspiration to readily engage and take a leading role in Middle East affairs. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has warmly welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-the first Iranian president to visit Brazil. Furthermore, prior to Ahmadinejad visit, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, had been hosted by Lula. Lula took this opportunity to hint at Brazil’s determination to launch a new beginning in the Middle East peace process. Brazil’s fresh diplomatic dynamics reflect Lula’s ambition and determination to project Brazil into Middle East affairs and to act as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as US-Iranian relations. Brazil’s expectations to engage in a more active diplomatic post in the peace process in the Middle East has been consolidated by President Lula who has stressed the importance of searching for peace in the Middle East. This paper attempts to determine why Brazil desires to assert its role in the Region, what such a position entails and how this approach may impact the diplomatic realm.

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