The 1933 “Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees” was the first real commitment to build a legal framework on behalf of refugees, specifically Russian and Armenian refugees (Article 1), and was ratified by nine nations in which France and the United Kingdom were included. The primary strength of the 1933 convention was the establishment … More 1933 Convention and Interwar Humanitarianism
While international law existed prior to World War II, the form of law remained weak in protecting stateless people, such as the Jews in pre-World War II Europe, in a domestic sphere. Firstly, the rights an individual held under international law was granted in terms of their nationality and so if an individual believed his/her … More Why international law was not enough to stop the Holocaust
One of the most important things that we, as an international community, can take away from the Rwandan Genocide is that not intervening when a nation fails to protect its citizens ultimately allows for the tragedies to continue. As in the case with this Genocide, the Hutus were in large part free to continue persecuting … More Rwandan Genocide & International Intervention
The international community, led by the UN, acted as a bystander during the Rwandan genocide despite its increasing awareness of the crimes taking place. Why? In my opinion, as Barnett also describes, the lack of action by the UN was a moral factor and not one of, say, incompetence. … More International Response to the Rwandan Genocide
As any other species, I do not believe human beings naturally have rights but rather engage in a process of survival led by natural selection; however, as intellectually superior creatures, humans live in a way by which each individually should ideally have rights. It is by the latter reasoning, therefore, that humans do in fact … More Are we naturally ensured human rights?
Apart from any legal or political issues, I believe that protecting Syria is a moral responsibility for the U.S. They don’t need to, but they should. However, I support President Obama’s position to refrain from using any sort of warfare to solve the issue. Using weapons to suppress violence seems a bit ironic, even hypocritical … More Protecting Syria
