Global Human Rights Norms and the Retention of Capital Punishment
In the past 25 years 67 states have abolished capital punishment for all crimes, 5 have abolished it for ordinary crimes, and a further 35 states have become de facto abolitionists. This trend is curious because abolition has met with significant domestic resistance in a number of abolitionist states; in many the majority were against abolition. What explains the emergence of the abolitionist norm?
Radical Islam: both a product of globalisation and a serious challenge to it?
Radical Islam has come to play a very significant position within the international realm. It has taken terrorism, which was always a weapon of the weak, though usually with little perceived effect, and created what can be seen as a quite considerable challenge to globalisation and the international community.
Compatible? Incompatible? A Theoretical Analysis of Islam and Democracy
The question of the compatibility of Islam and democracy has persisted for generations. The recent events of the Middle East, facilitated by these technological advances, have only heightened the talk about the role of democracy in the region.
What Motivates Islamic Political Organisations in the Middle East?
The fact that Hamas and Hezbollah have participated in elections does not necessarily mean that they have abandoned Islamist ideology. The very term ‘Islamist’, or at least its application, is highly problematic. Furthermore, all Islamist organisations are very different, and are constrained by the institutional rules of participation to differing degrees.
Human Rights In The Middle East: Questions Of Compatibility And Conflict
The fact that the debate over whether Islam and human rights discourse are compatible is an example of how states in the Middle East continue to go through a transitional phase in regard to reforming laws and policies which infringe upon peoples rights. Post election violence in Iran and Iraq suggests that there is still a long way to go in terms of securing peace in security in the region.
What role does religion play in Hamas’ political behaviour?
This essay argues that religion plays a crucial role in Hamas’ political behaviour. Hamas established its identity around Islam when the organisation was being created and today it places Islam in the centre of its political actions. Yet Hamas remains a political organisation at a relatively high level of development, and it uses selected religious elements depending on what it deems profitable in any given political situation.
Islamic Fundamentalism in Central Asia: Evaluating Uzbekistan’s Response
Ever since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Islam has undergone a revival among Central Asian societies. The hitherto communist and atheist states with arbitrarily imposed constraints on the freedom of worship, started referring to their religious roots as a step in national identity formation.
The challenges of post 9/11 politics to the strict prohibition on the Use of Force found in the UN Charter
The weakening of the prohibition on the use of force since 9/11 has been essentially due to other Articles in the UN Charter which act as loop holes. The USA and its allies have undermined Article 2.4 in the Charter by using Article 51, whereas no punishment (except perhaps the general disapproval of the international society) has been issued.
Does proper respect for human rights require a radical transformation of the international system?
Pluralist arguments that human rights can be properly respected through the state system are more convincing than cosmopolitan claims because they recognise the diversity of cultures and national systems which exist in the world.
Islamic Identities in Post-Soviet Russia: Realities and Representations
In Russia, depictions of Muslims tend to be generalised, and in extreme cases are depicted as violent extremists with desires to convert the world to fundamentalist Islam
