In The News

U.S. Is seen Losing Its Moral Authority

Thomas Fuller July 5, 2004
Many diplomats, academics, and human rights groups claim that recent American policies and blunders have “eroded the moral leadership that Washington has pursued without embarrassment for years.” Citing the Iraq war, prisoner detention at Guantánamo Bay, the promulgation of the Patriot Act, and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, critics charge that America’s newly tarnished image has harmed its...

Can Corporations Safeguard Labor and Human Rights?

Susan Ariel Aaronson June 24, 2004
Recent scandals over US mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan have badly tarnished America’s human rights record. Grave as the abuses are, says globalization scholar Susan Ariel Aaronson, the Bush administration can help restore at least a measure of goodwill by promoting human rights and labor protections in the factories of US-based multinational corporations. The anti-...

U.S. Drops Plan to Exempt G.I.'s From U.N. Court

Warren Hoge June 24, 2004
With only one week left before a special exemption for US troops was set to expire at the United Nations, Washington has said it will no longer seek to protect its military from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. For two years running, the US has received a special one-year exemption from the UN Security Council that prevents its civilian and military personnel taking part in peace...

Inside America's Secret Afghan Gulag

Duncan Campbell June 23, 2004
In May graphic evidence of American soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners was presented to the worldwide media, causing an uproar and leading to charges of abuse that have reached into the highest levels of American policymaking. With the world's attention focused on Iraq, say the authors of this article in the UK's Guardian, similar – if not worse – abuses have been carried out in...

China Debates Its “Peaceful Rise” Strategy

Evan S. Medeiros June 22, 2004
Will the 21st century see China become a strong but benevolent superpower? Since late 2003, top-level Chinese officials have used the term 'peaceful rise' to describe an ideal growth plan for Chinese economic, political, and military expansion. Whatever the future evolution of this blueprint for Chinese development, says political scientist Evan S. Medeiros, it is noteworthy that the...

UK's Flawed Position on Global Court

Steve Crawshaw June 22, 2004
At the United Nations this week, the US is expected to request an extension of a resolution exempting its military personnel from prosecution at the newly established International Criminal Court. To grant such a request, say human rights advocates Steve Crawshaw and Richard Dicker, would weaken the Court and send a dangerous signal to the world. The Bush Administration's insistence on...

The War on Terror Yet to Be Won in Southeast Asia

Zachary Abuza June 15, 2004
Since the much-hyped global ‘war on terror', the human rights situation in Southeast Asia has taken a turn for the worse. In the name of fighting Islamic terrorist groups in the region, says political scientist Zachary Abuza, governments are using state power to repress political opposition by targeting political dissidents and making widespread arrests without trial. Malaysia and Singapore...