Impact of Dr Ambedkar’s Philosophy on International Activism of the Dalit Diaspora

The emergence of a large and prosperous Indian diaspora across the globe obscures the fact that it is not a homogeneous and monolithic whole but is representative of the diversity of India. The Dalit diaspora emerged simultaneously but separately with a strong consciousness and commitment to ameliorate caste disabilities both at home and in the host land. One can discern a perceptible influence of Dr Ambedkar’s dictum ‘educate, organise and agitate’ on Dalits. Therefore, the educated Dalits have organised themselves through various international organisations and are agitating against caste discrimination, in the process carving out a dignified identity for themselves. This article delves into the emergence and activism of the numerous international organisations and institutions working on Dalit issues in diasporic locations. It specifically analyses the attempts to incorporate caste as descent-based discrimination within the ambit of racism at various international forums and its inclusion as protected characteristics within the Equality Act, 2010, of the UK. These efforts have been successful in challenging the caste hegemony at both local and global levels and are a step forward towards its eradication.

The nexus of nationalism and internationalism: the journey of a “diplomat” after the galleons

After the galleons, Benito J. Legarda’s masterpiece on socioeconomic transformation after the galleon trade, has enriched our knowledge of the semi-open colonial economy in the 19th-century Philippine Islands, which witnessed the rise of nationalism at the end of that century. In this paper, I shed new light on the nature of the Ilustrados’ nationalism and their international activism by revisiting the life of the country’s “first diplomat”, Felipe Agoncillo, who battled in vain to achieve independence through a diplomatic channel. While class politics tends to be a focal point of the scholarly debate over the Ilustrados’ nationalism, this paper highlights the international dimensions of their advocacy. Agoncillo’s mission in the United States and Europe seems a reasonable option from our perspective, which has been shaped by the norm of modern diplomacy, but it was a risky adventure considering the overwhelming influence of imperialism. Why did Agoncillo conclude they had to send a mission? What kinds of negotiation strategies did they have? Combining Legarda’s global insights on the Philippines’ colonial economy with Agoncillo’s ideational and actual travel, this paper reveals how Philippine nationalism and internationalism created a nexus whose legacy exists in current Philippine diplomacy, one of whose achievements was the award of the arbitration case over the South China Sea in 2016.

An Oil Company as a Force for Good? How Statoil put Norway’s Identity as a‘ Champion of Ideals’ to the Test

This article explores how Norway’s quest for moral authority to be recognized as a “champion of ideals” came under strain in the 1990s when the Norwegian state’s oil company (Statoil) expanded its operations in- and outside Norwegian borders. While we know a lot about Scandinavia’s international activism after the end of the Cold War, we know less about Scandinavian business’ responses to this policy. Neither do we know much about business’ potential impact on this policy. The aim of this article is therefore to begin address this issue by examining Statoil’s response to some of Norway’s moral and ethical aspirations in the post-Cold War global arena. Particular attention is paid to the tension between Norway’s ambition to be an early mover for sustainable development and a human rights advocate, and Statoil’s approach to environmental problems and human rights violations. As such, the article explores the role of state-owned enterprises in profit-making and global expansion during a formative decade when economy became an increasingly important determinant of Norwegian foreign relations, and ethical and moral objectives with roots in earlier decades were revitalized through an unprecedented number of international initiatives.

The Role of the UN Peacemaking Operations in the Foreign Policy of Denmark in the 1990s: from an Exemplary Peacemaker to an Ardent Atlanticist

Under the Cold War Denmark successfully employed the UN peacemaking operations to increase its own international status and strengthen relations with the key Western allies. The Nordic model of peacemaking was later considered as an example to be followed by other European states in the 1990s. As the role of the UN gradually declined during the 1990s and the UN peacemaking operations led to major failures, most notably the Srebrenica massacre and the Rwandan genocide, NATO, as well as the EU, started expanding their own activities in the sphere of peacemaking and peace enforcement. As a consequence, Denmark stopped considering the UN peacemaking as the main framework for international activism and started getting increasingly engaged in coalition operations and NATO operations as a means to win the favor of the key ally — the USA. Another factor that significantly contributed to Denmark’s growing atlanticism was the so-called "defense clause" which prevented Denmark from participating in the military dimension of the emerging CFSP within the EU and later CSDP. The Danish international activism acquired therefore a tangible military element which on the one hand enabled Denmark to punch above its weight, but at the same time became contradictory to the very ideas and goals which made international activism attractive for the Danish public in the first place. The initial value- and identity-driven UN peacemaking eventually became reduced to a means of accomplishing limited goals of status-seeking and ensuring the country’s place as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. It is thus becoming increasingly difficult for Denmark to reconcile the adherence to humanitarian diplomacy and Nordic "Peace Brand" with aggressive military activism.

Momentum for negotiations on Western Sahara will fade

Subject The status of efforts to resolve the Western Sahara conflict. Significance On October 30, the UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for another twelve months. After three six-month extensions, this signifies a return to ‘business as usual’ in the UN approach to the frozen conflict, following a period of unusually intensive efforts to revive negotiations, primarily due to former US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s involvement. Impacts European ties with Morocco will deepen, driven by the priorities of EU institutions and member states. The Polisario Front will hope to score further victories through legal challenges to EU-Morocco cooperation deals. Political uncertainty in Algeria may be correlated with a reduction in Sahrawi international activism.

Human Protection and the Politics of Armed Intervention: With Responsibility Comes Accountability

Miliary intervention remains a controversial part of human protection. Indispensable in some circumstances, military intervention confronts significant structural challenges which means that it is used only rarely and has the propensity for causing unintended negative consequences. In this essay, we examine the place of humanitarian intervention within the human protection regime. Focusing on the case of Libya, we argue that the UN Security Council has now accepted that the use force, even against a sovereign state, is a sometimes legitimate response to mass atrocities. But the Libya experience also raised three major challenges – challenges of regime change, accountability, and selectivity – that will have be addressed if military intervention is ever to become a legitimate part of international society’s anti-atrocities arsenal. First, we show how increased international activism after the Cold War helped put downwards pressure on the incidence of mass atrocities worldwide. Second, we explain why armed intervention remained a controversial and rarely employed instrument of human protection. Third, we argue that the UN Security Council’s decision to authorise armed intervention in Libya represented a significant development in the place of armed intervention as a tool of human protection. Finally, we examine the political consequences of the intervention and argue that these will need to be addressed in order to rebuild sufficient trust to allow future considerations of the use of force for humanitarian purposes.

Religion and the Great Depression

The Great Depression of 1929–1941 brought not only economic and social crisis, but also forced families, churches, and religious organizations to reckon with individual and social suffering in ways that they had not done in the United States since the Civil War. This reckoning introduced a period of both theological and institutional transformation. Theologians wrestled not only with the domestic depression, but also with international instability as they faced questions about pacifism, economic and racial justice, and religious persecution. Ordinary people prayed for rain and revival. Many turned to their religious communities to wrestle together with the troubles they faced, or turned from those communities in disappointment and despair. During the decades before the Great Depression, religious institutions across the United States had expanded their charitable efforts and their social reform campaigns, but the Depression wiped out the support for that work just as Americans needed it most. The New Deal brought a new set of questions about the relative roles of church and state in welfare and reform and introduced a period of religious ferment and church–state realignment. At the same time, the discontent and dislocation that the Great Depression wrought on local communities meant that individuals, families, and communities wrestled with deep theological questions together, often in ways that fractured old religious alliances and forged new ones. For American Jews and some Catholics, events in Europe proved even more troubling than those at home, and local communities reorganized around international activism and engagement.

Muslim states will turn a blind eye to China's abuses

Subject The impact of repression in Xinjiang on China's relations with Muslim-majority countries. Significance The silence of Muslim-majority countries in the face of human rights abuses in Xinjiang contrasts with their international activism on behalf of Palestine, Kashmir and the Rohingya minority in Myanmar. Impacts Governments in the more repressive Muslim-majority countries, especially in the Middle East, will censor discussion of the Xinjiang issue. Where public pressure forces the governments of Muslim-majority countries to act, responses are unlikely to go beyond rhetoric. Beijing would not hesitate to use limited economic sanctions to punish Muslim-majority countries that criticise its internal policies.