BY DAVID R. IRVINE Not far from Stratford, on the river Avon, stands Warwick Castle. This thousand year-old relic is one of Britain’s premier historical attractions. The dungeons and torture chamber, with the rack and press, the thumbscrews and iron maiden, are popular tour stops as visitors ponder the dark barbarity of the age of [...]
BY REUBEN E. BRIGETY II One of the greatest convergences in American foreign policy in the last twenty years has been the recognition of the strategic utility of humanitarian and developmental assistance (HDA). While encouraging, this change is not without concern. The principal question posed by this development is this: How can HDA maintain its [...]
BY DAVID W. HAINES In 1939, as the St. Louis sailed first to Cuba and then along the east coast of the United States, the U.S. government refused to land the Jewish refugees on board—even though some 700 already had affidavits of support. They and many other Jews over the next several years would be [...]
BY DEBRA BERGOFFEN Just war theory, developed to deal with anarchy, insists that the breakdown of international order be addressed by appealing to the principles of justice rather than those of tyranny. However, the theory questions the relationship between peace and justice, and invites discussions of the ways in which injustice threatens the possibilities of [...]
BY FRANCES V. HARBOUR One of the tragedies common in failed and violent authoritarian states is that the police force becomes a significant contributor to humanitarian disaster. An organization that should protect domestic order and human security instead is implicated in human rights violations. When violation is on a scale that provokes international humanitarian intervention, [...]
BY CARLOS E. SLUZKI No less than 20 million of people, escaping wars, civil wars, persecution, ethnic cleansing and the like, are currently living as refugees beyond the borders of their own countries, and a still larger number are living as displaced persons within the boundaries of their country. Their protection is the core mission [...]
BY JO-MARIE BURT One of the most contentious issues facing transitional democracies is the problem of gross human rights violations committed during the previous regime. How should fragile democracies address the question of accountability, given the known deficiencies of their judicial systems; the ongoing power of the torturers themselves and/or those who benefited from their [...]