This paper will focus on the question whether the emergence of democracy in Colombia can be explained based on the assumptions of the ‘sequentialist’ or ‘preconditionist’ theories as suggested, amongst many others, by Fareed Zakaria or Edward Mansfield and Jack Snyder, or if, by contrast, the views of ‘gradualists’ or ‘universalists’ such as Sheri Berman or Thomas Carothers are more indicated to explain and analyze Colombia’s democratic past, present and future.
Religion is a significant voice in international relations and its increased prominence is due in no small measure, for western audiences at least, to the influence of the Christian Right in US domestic politics and international affairs. The resounding Democratic election victories in 2008 might suggest that the movement has reached its nadir and is no longer worthy of consideration, but thie movement is highly resilient.
More and more frequently, accusations emerge from industrialized and developing countries, pointing towards China (the PLA, “Beijing”, the “government”, or its hackers), accusing it of being the source of major cyber attacks. What are the main characteristics of the Chinese approach to Information and Cyber Warfare?
Formerly, the European Court of Human Rights was seldom concerned with religion. The Court polices the European Convention on Human Rights in the countries of the Council of Europe and Article 9 of the ECHR protects freedom of religion, but religious matters had rarely disturbed the Court. However, over the last twenty years, this has changed dramatically. Cases concerning religion, argued under Article 9 and other Convention rights, are now commonplace.
In attempting to determine whether the most recent economic crisis or that of 1998 is more damaging for the Russian economy it is important to acknowledge, preliminarily, that these two crises are different. The international economic, political and strategic contexts in which they occurred were different; the origins were different; the triggers were different; the indirect victims are different; and, most importantly for this analysis, the recoveries were and will be different.
The human rights discourse has become a paradigm in international relations, with the transition from the international system to an international society. A vital aspect of that paradigm is the differentiation between adult and child, which has also been primarily instituted by the West. The supremacy of this definition has served the supremacy of the West in the human rights question.
The global revelations about the inadequate response by the Catholic hierarchy to sexual abuse of children by clergy is a wake-up call for everyone. When the largest church in the world harbors child predators as the hierarchy has, it is a strong signal that children are at risk in all circumstances. They are.
Religion, in the past, had influenced the behavior of international actors without determining it, although its role often went unnoticed. This situation, notwithstanding the new found fascination with the impact of religion on international affairs, has not changed. Religion is neither the source of conflicts and disputes nor a panacea for global problems.
Hannah Arendt’s name has emerged at the forefront of contemporary writing on the possibility of cosmopolitan political forms. The central political issue, for Arendt, was one of appropriate foundation, that is, ‘the setting of a new beginning’ and of ‘lawgiving’. One could read Arendt’s entire theory of politics as an effort to work out the possibility of non-violent, non-imperial, non-ideological political founding.
Diplomacy can help make the world a better place, but it has failed to adapt to the imperatives of world order management in the 21st century. It has been sidelined, under-resourced and marginalized by governments almost everywhere. If this is to change, grand strategy will have to be reconsidered.
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