Examining Questions Relating to War Crimes Tribunals, Human Rights and the US-China Cold War

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thileni Rasadarie D. Wickramaratne
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cold War ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
The Us ◽  
War Crimes Tribunals

From Communist Internationalism to Human Rights: Gender, Violence and International Law in the Women's International Democratic Federation Mission to North Korea, 1951

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
CELIA DONERT
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Law ◽  
North Korea ◽  
Third World ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Gender Violence ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The Military

AbstractIn May 1951 the Women's International Democratic Federation – a communist-sponsored non-governmental organisation – sent an all-female international commission to investigate the war crimes and atrocities allegedly committed by United Nations forces against civilians during the military occupation of North Korea in late 1950. Communist internationalism has been relatively marginalised in the recent wave of scholarship on internationalism and international organisations. This article uses the Women's International Democratic Federation mission to Korea to analyse how the shifting relationship between communist internationalism, human rights and feminism played out in the ‘Third World’ during the early Cold War.

scholarly journals What is the responsibility to respect human rights? Reconsidering the ‘respect, protect, and fulfill’ framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Jason Karp
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Political Responsibility ◽  
Human Rights Practice ◽  
Do No Harm ◽  
New Meanings ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mexico Border

AbstractThe world's understanding of the action needed to advance human rights is deeply structured by the ‘respect, protect, and fulfill’ framework. But its potential is significantly undermined by a narrow conception of ‘respect’ for human rights. This paper systematically addresses these weaknesses and advances an original alternative. It first provides a historical account of the ‘do no harm’ conception of ‘respect’ in the political context of the late Cold War. It then analyzes this conception's empirical functioning today, using the example of unauthorized migration along the US–Mexico border. These points illustrate an overarching theoretical argument: the responsibility to respect human rights should be based on a responsibility not to dehumanize, rather than exclusively on a duty to do no harm. This involves the consideration of each person as a moral equal, the elevation of human rights practice as a basis for judgment inside of a moral agent's self, and the rejection of state-centrism as the basis for all political responsibility. This argument has implications traversing the theory and practice of human rights, including: the ability to translate and embed into practice the new meanings of ‘respect,’ ‘protect,’ and ‘fulfill’; and the need to re-consider the contemporary significance of 1980s liberalism.

Interpretation at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal: An Overview and Tojo’s Cross-Examination

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomie Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Japanese Culture ◽  
Simultaneous Interpretation ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
The Us ◽  
Japanese Residents ◽  
Address System ◽  
War Crimes Tribunals

The Tokyo and the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunals were two major international military tribunals organized immediately after World War II. Interpretation at the Nuremberg Trial has been described in a number of papers and books and is considered the origin of simultaneous interpretation. However, with regards to the Tokyo Trial, only the inadequate quality of interpretation has been mentioned in history books and political science publications, and this on very few occasions. This paper begins by offering an overview of the interpretation at the Tokyo Trial through interviews and the records of the proceedings and then analyzes a particular instance of interpretation, namely the cross-examination of Hideki Tojo, who was tried for his significant role in WWII as Minister of War and Prime Minister, and who was finally sentenced to death by the court. The Tokyo Trial was the first instance of an IBM Public Address System (simultaneous interpreting equipment) being installed with an interpreter’s booth in Japan. However, we must recall that it was actually consecutive interpretation that was provided through the use of the IBM system and the booth. Therefore the Tokyo Trial is the origin of the use of simultaneous interpretation equipment, but not the origin of simultaneous interpretation skills in Japan. The records of the proceedings show that twenty-seven Japanese served as interpreters. They were selected on the basis of their good command of English but were definitely laymen in terms of interpretational skills. In order to supervise the Japanese interpreters, four monitors were appointed by the Allied Powers. The monitors, who were second generation Japanese residents in the US, worked for ATIS (Allied Power’s Translation and Interpretation Section) during WWII and were then considered to have a good knowledge of the Japanese language, culture and history. Furthermore, the Language Arbitration System was established to address intractable translation issues related to Japanese culture and pre-war systems. The quality of the interpretation, as far as Tojo’s cross-examination is concerned, can be considered fairly good, if we consider that interpreters and monitors worked together as one unit in the interpretation service. The analysis of the interpretation based on the monitors’ interventions in Tojo’s cross-examination indicates that the monitors were concerned with the accuracy of the English interpretation in court and with the understandability of the Japanese interpretation for the accused and worked to ensure a fair trial.

Canadian Policy Towards Bangladesh: How Does the North Look at the South?

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaglul Haider
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
National Interest ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Development Partner ◽  
The North ◽  
The Us ◽  
New Nation ◽  
North And South

Abstract The goal of the paper is to analyze the Canadian policy towards Bangladesh. In this paper I argue that Canadian approach towards Bangladesh was different in different phases of history. In the liberation war of Bangladesh Canada played a role that went against the interest of Bangladesh and suited with the triple alliance of the US-Pakistan and China. Against the backdrop of Cold War politics, Canadian policy demonstrated the reflection of her national interest. In the dawn of the independence of Bangladesh in the early 1970’s Canada revised its policy, immediately recognized the new nation and supported Bangladesh’s admission in to the Commonwealth, the United Nations and other international organizations. Since the threshold of Bangladesh’s journey Canada emerged as a development partner of the new nation. Apart from significant aid, Canada also provided immigration facilities to the Bangladeshis. All these are consistent with its national interest. I also focus on the Canadian concerns over the violation of human rights and poor governance that gradually eroded the image of Bangladesh among the Canadian policy makers. Finally, I suggest a way out to improve relations between the two countries of the ‘North’ and ‘South’.

The Unassailable Self: Freud's Image Among Post-war American Intellectuals

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Jenness
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
External Force ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Human Being ◽  
World War ◽  
The Us ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Way

This paper explores the way American intellectuals depicted Sigmund Freud during the peak of popularity and prestige of psychoanalysis in the US, roughly the decade and a half following World War II. These intellectuals insisted upon the unassailability of Freud's mind and personality. He was depicted as unsusceptible to any external force or influence, a trait which was thought to account for Freud's admirable comportment as a scientist, colleague and human being. This post-war image of Freud was shaped in part by the Cold War anxiety that modern individuality was imperilled by totalitarian forces, which could only be resisted by the most rugged of selves. It was also shaped by the unique situation of the intellectuals themselves, who were eager to position themselves, like the Freud they imagined, as steadfastly independent and critical thinkers who would, through the very clarity of their thought, lead America to a more robust democracy.

Palestine Unbound

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-134
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Task Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Tel Aviv ◽  
The Us ◽  
Intention To Move ◽  
Arab Israeli Conflict ◽  
The U.S

This section, updated regularly on the blog Palestine Square, covers popular conversations related to the Palestinians and the Arab-Israeli conflict during the quarter 16 November 2017 to 15 February 2018: #JerusalemIstheCapitalofPalestine went viral after U.S. president Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and announced his intention to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. The arrest of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi for slapping an Israeli soldier also prompted a viral campaign under the hashtag #FreeAhed. A smaller campaign protested the exclusion of Palestinian human rights from the agenda of the annual Creating Change conference organized by the US-based National LGBTQ Task Force in Washington. And, UNRWA publicized its emergency funding appeal, following the decision of the United States to slash funding to the organization, with the hashtag #DignityIsPriceless.

Reluctant Cold Warriors

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Kontorovich
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
National Security ◽  
Soviet Economy ◽  
Accurate Analysis ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Us ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Military

The academic study of the Soviet economy in the US was created to help fight the Cold War, part of a broader mobilization of the social sciences for national security needs. The Soviet strategic challenge rested on the ability of its economy to produce large numbers of sophisticated weapons. The military sector was the dominant part of the economy, and the most successful one. However, a comprehensive survey of scholarship on the Soviet economy from 1948-1991 shows that it paid little attention to the military sector, compared to other less important parts of the economy. Soviet secrecy does not explain this pattern of neglect. Western scholars developed strained civilian interpretations for several aspects of the economy which the Soviets themselves acknowledged to have military significance. A close reading of the economic literature, combined with insights from other disciplines, suggest three complementary explanations for civilianization of the Soviet economy. Soviet studies was a peripheral field in economics, and its practitioners sought recognition by pursuing the agenda of the mainstream discipline, however ill-fitting their subject. The Soviet economy was supposed to be about socialism, and the military sector appeared to be unrelated to that. By stressing the militarization, one risked being viewed as a Cold War monger. The conflict identified in this book between the incentives of academia and the demands of policy makers (to say nothing of accurate analysis) has broad relevance for national security uses of social science.

History Has Begun

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Maçães
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
American Culture ◽  
Static Model ◽  
Early American Republic ◽  
Us History ◽  
New Model ◽  
Early American ◽  
Slow Decline ◽  
The Us

Popular consensus says that the US rose over two centuries to Cold War victory and world domination, and is now in slow decline. But is this right? History's great civilizations have always lasted much longer, and for all its colossal power, American culture was overshadowed by Europe until recently. What if this isn't the end? This book offers a compelling vision of America's future, both fascinating and unnerving. From the early American Republic, it takes us to the turbulent present, when, it argues, America is finally forging its own path. We can see the birth pangs of this new civilization in today's debates on guns, religion, foreign policy, and the significance of Trump. Should the coronavirus pandemic be regarded as an opportunity to build a new kind of society? What will its values be, and what will this new America look like? The book traces the long arc of US history to argue that in contrast to those who see the US on the cusp of decline, it may well be simply shifting to a new model, one equally powerful but no longer liberal. Consequently, it is no longer enough to analyze America's current trajectory through the simple prism of decline vs. progress, which assumes a static model—America as liberal leviathan. Rather, the book argues that America may be casting off the liberalism that has defined the country since its founding for a new model, one more appropriate to succeeding in a transformed world.

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