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Political Science 349
Stephen Buckley
April 2, 2004
(Reflections on Thomas Weiss' "The Politics of Humanitarian Ideas," Security Dialogue, 31.1, March2000, p. 11-23.)

Presentation Text

The Pendulum Dialectic: Enacting the Paradigm of Human Security

1. A History of Political Authority

< 1648
Absolute Monarchy
1648
Westphalia: State Sovereignty
1945
United Nations: HumanitarianIdeals
1999
September, Kofi Annan: Limit toLegitimate Sovereignty
2001
September 11 and after: ?

2. The Pendulum Dialectic



  Hegel theTaoist 

Thesis

Antithesis

Synthesis/Equilibrium

- AbsoluteSovereignty
-Responsibility to Protect
- Humanitarian Intervention
- TenuousEquilibrium between Sovereignty and R2P
- Thomas Weiss: "Governments redefine national interests through thepush and pull of domestic politics."
- Civil Society: The OtherSuperpower
- Ottawa Process, SALW?, DepletedUranium
Hostile to HI:
Russia, China, pariahs
Lukewarm to HI:
Large developing countries
Enthusiasm for HI:
West and sub-Saharan Africa
- ThomasWeiss: "To state that ideas and values are important in and ofthemselves does not mean that they are divorced from power andinterests."
-Boutros-Gali: "The time of absolute and exclusive sovereignty...haspassed."
- Leader:frame and sell the issue
- Are sovereignty and HI mutually exclusive?
- ThomasWeiss: "They are worried that the wideranging demand for interventionwill waste resources and distract Washington from truly importantissues of national security." Short-sighted?
- USA's Article 98 bilateral agreements that undermine the ICC
- USA's "Hague Invasion Act"
- Annan:"Frontiers are not the absolute defense," "sovereignty is no longersacrosanct."
- Truth and Reconciliation Commissions as means of adding restorativeto retributive justice models
- FrancisDeng: "Sovereignty as Responsibility"
- Thomas Weiss: "The lowered threshold for outside military force isapproaching conventional wisdom."
- OSCE vision
- EU RRF
-UN RRF's (Americas, EU/Africa, Asia)
- Nointervention likely in Chechnya, Tibet or Kashmir (imposing on Russia,China, and India/Pakistan), but possible in East Timor (Indonesia canbeopposed, though).
- P5 veto
- Abuse: US + Coalition invasion of Iraq 2003
- Double ortriple veto
- Veto over-ride procedures
- Expanding P5 (India, Brazil, Nigeria)
- Expanding UNSC non-permament membership
  Sovereignty:
 1. territory,
 2. people,
 3. authority, PLUS
 4. "minimum standard of human rights"
 (4. recognition, now being expanded to include R2P)


3. The (Present) Kindergarten Phase of the R2P Learning Curve




Y-Axis is Global Expertise inHumanitarian Intervention, Human Security and Responsibility to Protect
X-Axis is time

Point on X-Axis
Event
-2
Northern Iraq
-1.8
Somalia
-1.75
Rwanda
-1.3
Bosnia
-0.8
East Timor
-0.65
Kosovo
0.0
2010? Debate: "standards,trigger mechanisms and compliance"
0.5
2015?
1.0
2020?
1.5
2025?


4. The Future: "Juxtaposing ideals andrealpolitik"

- Thomas Weiss: "Humanitarians withhearts on their sleeves lament the pernicious influence of politics."[I grudgingly recognize the poignancy of realism.]


1. Pushing the Curve: through the defense policy review, Canada shouldengage in principled leadership to double our military spending overthe next decade to support, underwrite and staff UN RRF initiatives.

"The Canadian Forces must have the ability to fulfil any mission necessary to effectively defend Canada, protect the continent and contribute to international peace and security." Defense Minister David Pratt, in Charlottetown's Guardian on February 27, 2004. Contributing to international peace and security is the focus we should pursue and promote.

2. Naming the Curve: exploring "standards, trigger mechanisms andcompliance" while within the crucible of HI.

3. Applying Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to the help define the human security paradigm: hsp

The Human Security Paradigm

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

Physiological

Human Security:

Totally Insecure
(Personally Disempowered)

- Torture, rape, enslavement, genocide, forced migration, starvation, malnutrition

Safety
- Homelessness
- Subsistence income
Love
- Time to nurture relationships

Esteem
- Public education, health, CPP, EI, welfare

Self-Actualization
- Emotional, artistic, creative freedom
- Material luxury (?)

Very Secure
(Personally Empowered)


How about aSemester End Party?

see http://dgiVista.org/party?





Impeach Bush

Killer Coke

www.stopsleeping.com

International Committee of the Red Cross

Amnesty International

Doctors Without Borders

No Sweat Apparel.com

Rumsfeld and The Grinch?
Separated at Birth?

the Onion

http://rtmark.com

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