Current International Issues

1. Current International Issues Globalization, Iran, and the Sudan

2. Advantage/Disadvantage of Globalization

3. North vs. South • Resource depletion and conservation • Northern nations are industrialized & affluent. Southern are poorer, more populous and less industrialized. • The North got rich exploiting natural resources of the South. • Now the North seeks to restrict the South’s ability to exploit those same resources.

4. Further Arguments • Southern states, seeking to exploit their resources for economic development, say the North is hypocritical. • One response to this dilemma used by the Nature Conservancy: to pay poor communities NOT to exploit their resources. The idea is this, that the cost of protecting the planet should not rest on poor communities, when everyone benefits.

5. Millennium Development Goals (2015) • Halving extreme poverty and hunger • Achieving universal primary education and gender equity • Reducing the mortality of children under 5 by 2/3 • Reducing maternal mortality by ¾ • Reversing the spread of HIV / AIDS • Halving the proportion of people w/out access to safe drinking water • Ensuring environmental sustainability • Building a global partnership for development

6. Structural Adjustment Programs • Loans • Many have certain conditions attached in order to increase chances of repayment • Examples include: cuts in government spending, devaluation of currency, privatization of industry • Tied Aid • Aid with restrictions on how it can be spent • Criticisms • Creates burden on the poor, should forgive debts

7. Disparities Between North and South

8. Global Priorities in Spending, 1998 • Basic education for the world 6 billion • Ice cream in Europe 8 billion • Pet foods in Europe and the US 17 billion • Cigarettes in Europe 50 billion • Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105 billion • Narcotic drugs in the world 400 billion • Military spending in the world 780 billion • (2005, US spending on military = 420 billion, world 950)

9. World and Regional Military Spending • Region 2003 • Africa 11.4 billion • Asia 151 billion • Central America 3.3 billion • Europe 195 billion • North America 426 billion • South America 21.8 billion • Middle East 70 billion • WORLD 879 BILLION

10. Military spending vs. aid for dev.

11. Social Movements against Globalization and neo-liberal policies: • France, 2005-present • Mass rioting and public protest over high levels of unemployment and discrimination • Mexico, 1994-present • Zapatista uprising, the “other campaign” • Seattle, Washington • 1999 Protests against the World Trade Organization

12. Current Issues Iran: Developing Nuclear Power

13. Iran: Nuclear Future? • What is the present condition of nuclear development in Iran? • What steps is the UN taking to address this? • What are the options for the international community?

14. Iran… • Claimed this past week that it has produced enriched uranium, for peaceful purposes • Now on the path towards nuclear fuel • Wants to thwart its reliance on oil, not dev. weapons • Russia and China support Iran’s nuclear development (members of UN SC) • However, Iran’s President Ahmadinejad has claimed that Israel must be “wiped off the map”

15. Other reasons for concern? • Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says “this technology is a victory for the Islamic world” • In addition, he said his country is ready to share its technology with other nations • First on list, Sudan • President Bashir considering a civilian nuclear program

16. US/Europe demand supervision • Iran has failed to meet certain obligations of reporting on nuclear activities • Many countries suspicious • Is it really for peaceful purposes? • If Iran was to build a bomb, it might provoke another arms race (in the Middle East) • Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc • Terrorism • UN Security Council gave Iran 30 days to freeze its program (deadline April 28) or face sanctions

17. IAEA • The International Atomic Energy Agency says there is no proof that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, but there is an “absence of confidence that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful” due to its policy of concealment… • IAEA will report back to UNSC regarding Iran’s actions before decisions are made

18. Iran’s response: • If sanctions are imposed by the UN, it will suspend contact with the IAEA. • If the country is attacked militarily, it will hide its nuclear program completely. • Question: • What can the international community do to ensure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons, or should they be allowed to have this technology?

19. War Games (The Atlantic Monthly) • Scenario analyzed 2 years ago • Looked at the long-term implications of US moves and Iran’s countermoves • What would happen if the US were to bomb Iran to try to take out its nuclear installations?

20. Possible Scenarios… • There is no possibility of an “ace in the hole” • Iran could retaliate by using its influence on the world’s oil markets • At best, slow nuclear development, but increase hatred and determination

21. Reality 2 years later • All agreed that everything is much worse now… • Possible Shiite alliances with Iraq • US is spread thin • Cannot keep troops in Iraq forever, nor prisoners at Guantanamo Bay

22. Tensions Mounting… • US says “all options remain open” regarding stopping Iran’s nuclear development. • Israel says “We won’t accept it!”

23. Question for discussion: • How should the international community, and in particular the United States, address what the media is now calling an “international crisis” ?

24. Genocide in the Sudan Dilemmas regarding humanitarian intervention

25. SUDAN: A History of Conflict • Civil War following independence in 1956 • Divisions between north and south • Religion and ethnicity at heart of dispute, natural resources • Estimated 4 million displaced • Death toll = 2 million

26. Framing the conflict: • Erupted in February of 2003 • Religion and Ethnicity • Sudan: largely white, Moslem (north) and African Christians and non-Moslems (south) • Governing Principles: Islamic law • Actors Involved • Rebel Groups • (Sudan Liberation Army, Justice and Equality Movement initiated attacks against Sudanese police) • Government Response = Janjaweed • State-sponsored terror

27. Janjaweed • Armed by the government to fight rebel groups • Also targeting civilians of same ethnicity with immunity and assistance • Tactics include rape, murder, looting, destruction of property, terror • Estimated 2 million displaced • Death toll = 200,000 (CIA)

28. Why no humanitarian intervention? • No norms of humanitarian intervention in the international community • UN Charter: based on the principles of sovereignty and non-intervention • Article 2(4) • All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state…

29. Problems of Sovereignty • Sovereignty norms prevent stronger nations from invading weaker nations • However, when human rights abuses occur, states hesitant to intervene • Reinforced by Article 2(7) • Nothing in the Charter can authorize the UN to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state…(except the Security Council)

30. Genocide or not? • Security Council has primary responsibility to maintain international peace and security • Self-defense or SC authorization • Emergence of intra-state conflict is a challenge • Refugee crisis in Chad (6,000 to 10,000 die per month due to unsanitary conditions, WHO) • Norms of upholding human rights exist • Legal obligation if genocide declared by UN Members

31. Problems with admitting Genocide • No standing army of the UN • Resources and leadership • Interests of Security Council members • Repercussions of invading another Moslem state • Genocide has been declared, though no mass mobilization of troops

32. Question ? • Does the international community have an obligation to intervene in humanitarian disasters regardless of state sovereignty? • What are some other measures to address the genocide?

33. To learn more about Sudan: http://www.sd.undp.org/