Contesting Contestation—Alice Huntoon

Contestation between those who are largely concerned about justice and social equality and those who represent a traditional international governance system based on the primacy of nation state is neither new nor an existential threat to world order. But the tension is there and it is increasing as the forces of globalization increase. 

Common Sense Climate Change – Paul Fry

Do we need a comprehensive and binding international treaty in order to start to tackle the global issue of climate change? Of course not. Do we need the country of Lesotho to agree to chip in by reducing greenhouse gas emissions before other countries can move forward on addressing climate change? Again, of course not, and thankfully it seems that we are waking up to those simple facts.

Need for the Global Community – Seungmin Song

As much as climate change had been debated, nothing really has done to solve the problem. Since 1990s, including Kyoto Protocol, the international institutions has shown its lack of capacity to manage the issue. In order to prevent further damage and danger, the global community needs a stronger international institution to address the issue effectively.

The World Health Organization or: How We Must Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation –Anthony DeSantis

The modern World Health Organization (WHO) faces some immense challenges. Ebola may be what immediately comes to the mind, but response to emergencies and epidemics is by no means old work at this international organization. Rather, Laurie Garrett highlights for us five “existential challenges to global health.” Among these five, three are inextricably tied to financial and structural concern, a swift departure from the notion that Ebola, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and the like are the largest issues begging for WHO solutions. It is the opinion of this author that while it is quite productive to be critical of the implications of governance structure on the success of the organization’s mission, a large sum of the energy vested in that criticism could be better spent furthering the successes of the organization in question. In other words, fretting about the influence of a donor like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on the WHO is not going to solve any of the organization’s immediate problems or even its existential challenges, especially when minimal alternatives have been provided.

Power’s Most Dangerous Synonym – Anthony DeSantis

For over sixty years now, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has served as a key instrument of the liberal international economic order (LIEO). Free trade, loans to aid development, and the decline of command economies have all been results of this institution—much to the delight of countless actors across the international stage. Yet the past decade has hosted a particularly strong wave of criticism. The 2007-08 financial crisis, as Eric Helleiner shows us, damaged the legitimacy of both IMF policies and leadership. From that time through today, many have insisted that a “new Bretton Woods” occur as to totally begin again in our structuring of global finance. Helleiner and I are, at our cores, opposed to such a move. This is largely because a “new Bretton Woods” is almost impossible, but also because a “new Bretton Woods” seems rather counterintuitive.

ICBL– Inspiration for New Human Rights Campaigns? Chiara Gabellieri

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines was the result of a rigorous effort from the international community that came together to address a human rights issue of global importance. Landmines and cluster munitions, which are a large threat to the developing world, were addressed in the Ottawa Treaty that resulted from this determined campaign.

An Imperfect World for International Justice – Paul Fry

Let’s be honest here. In a perfect world, no prosecutor should take political factors into consideration when deciding who to investigate and who to prosecute. But we don’t live in a perfect world; far from it. Since the International Criminal Court is “the world’s most serious attempt at achieving international justice” (Bosco 1), it needs to be treated seriously. It needs to have its survival protected.

Institutions: Anymore Effective Now? – Graham

Mearsheimer takes a very bleak stance on institutions in international institutions. He states in the opening of his article that his “central conclusion is that institutions have minimal influence on state behavior, and thus hold little promise for promoting stability in the post-Cold War world.” (http://mearsheimer.uchicago.edu/pdfs/A0021.pdf) He spends the majority of his article showing how none of the institutionalist theories work in the real world for using institutions to prevent war and promote peace. He spends almost no part of the article trying to think of ways in which an institution might work.

The Third Wheel: Finding the Right Teeth – Jin Sol Park

On October 2013, the National Security Agency of the United States was blamed for intercepting more than 70 million phone calls in France between December 10, 2012 and January 8, 2013. In the process of consulting with France, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said “lots of countries engage in intelligence activities to try to prevent terrorist attacks. This might not sound like a sincere apology. It is an illegal activity that victim states should check on. But in short, major powers all do it and we all know that we do it. Victim States should act on it not solely because of the spying incident itself but also because of the gullible image that victim states will receive when failing to act on it. This is a result of Relative-gain consideration and concern about cheating.

Impediments to Cooperation: The Realist Doubts on International Organizations – Paige Moeller

Power relations today are different than they were in 1995. They are different than they were before the collapse of the Soviet Union and will probably shift again in coming years. However, there are main tenets to power relations that remain consistent, although the degree that they affect the international order has shifted. Since Thucydides’ recount of the Peloponnesian War, realpolitik has been prevalent in power relations where stronger nations will aim at maximizing power, according to realist theory. Generally, uncertainty and mistrust have prevented full cooperation; however, today there is a greater connection of the states in the international system which has led to ambiguous obligations which is also preventing full cooperation.