Why is ‘historical memory’ still so significant in understanding German foreign and security policy?
From the Holocaust memorial, to the deliberately unrecovered foundations of Gestapo headquarters, to rare war-era buildings bearing the scars of Red Army gunfire, links to the Nazi-era and the associated ‘historical memory’ has maintained a grip on the German psyche.
What role does the AIDS pandemic play in accounting for poverty in sub-Saharan Africa?
This paper will highlight the significance of the AIDS pandemic in South Saharan Africa and assess the linkages between HIV/AIDS and poverty, both at a macro and micro level. It will argue that the dynamics of the epidemic are a cause as well as a symptom of poverty and underdevelopment in the region.
China: 21st Century “Superpower”?
The global financial crisis is one of the most severe that modern history has seen, providing China with opportunities as well as challenges. This crisis and its aftermath have accelerated China’s political, economic and social rise. China’s power in the international financial system is growing, however it shouldn’t be overestimated.
An Evaluation of the Prospect of Republicanism in New Zealand
New Zealand is a unique laboratory to observe republican dynamics and the direction of political change. In this regard, this essay provides an objective assessment of the notion of inevitability of a republic in New Zealand through analysing three variables of symbolic, economic and public in the republican deterministic argument.
Is it futile to attempt to prevent torture using international law?
Although breaches to the torture ban could suggest the uselessness of international human rights law when national interests and politics are involved, it has an undeniable role in the development of legal condemnation against torture
Theories and Interpretations of Environmental Policy
Two distinct approaches are central in environmental policy: one which emphasizes restricting man’s impact on the environment because of limited resources, and the other which seeks to use the market to compensate environmental costs but which also seeks to develop ways of continuing development whilst reducing environmental impacts through technology.
Protecting Civilians in Conflict: Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
The principle of distinction and discrimination of combatants and non-combatants is the cornerstone of international humanitarian law. Humanitarian and human rights law build on two very distinct perspectives of protection of civilians during armed conflicts; and therefore, present two independent legal regimes, which were not necessarily designed to coexist.
Disempowered “Heroes”: Political Agency of Foreign Domestic Workers in East and Southeast Asia
Migrants have come to fill an essential role in the global economy, yet at the same time states are problematizing immigration as a challenge to its security, sovereignty, economy, and social fabric. States with high levels of outward migration celebrate their emigrants as new heroes for the profits they send to their home state.
Conquering Nature: the implications of assigning monetary values to global commons
The atmosphere, forests and other forms of ‘natural capital’ come under the concept of the commons and increasingly these are being ‘managed’, through enclosure, carbon markets and other economic methods. This stance is, in many ways, at fault for the ecological issues faced today.
Putting the Democratic Peace Theory to the Test
Although democratic peace has gained various statistical and theoretical support, it can not escape from criticism. The theory should not be used as an excuse for adopting a foreign policy of forcibly conducting democratization, as the chances of success for this kind of action are highly questionable, as demonstrated in the cases of Iraq and Afghanistan.
