International Law Essays (30173 words) - , Term Papers

International Law ILP WP 05/01 PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW ON THE USE OF FORCE BY STATES IN SELF- DEFENCE This publication contains: I Principles of International Law on Self-Defence II The list of participants III The responses to the Questionnaire Elizabeth Wilmshurst October 2005 Introduction The purpose of this study is to provide a clear statement of the rules of international law governing the use of force by states in self-defence. The rules are being challenged in the light of what are seen as new threats from terrorism and from the possession of weapons of mass destruction, and there has been controversy as to whether they need revision or redefinition. The study was prompted by various statements and actions by states, recent developments in the United Nations and by decisions of the International Court of Justice. In the resolution incorporating the Outcome of the World Summit in September 2005 the UN General Assembly affirmed that the relevant provisions of the UN Charter are sufficient to address the full range of threats to international peace and security, and has reaffirmed the authority of the Security Council to mandate coercive action to maintain and restore peace and security. But the resolution did not deal with the question as to when it is lawful for a state to use force in the exercise of its inherent right of self-defence. This study was undertaken because we believe that, in the light of current challenges, it is of importance to world order that there be clarity and understanding about the relevance and application of international law to the use of force by states. A questionnaire was sent to a small group of international law academics and practitioners and international relations scholars in this country, asking for their views on the criteria for the use of force in self- defence. At a meeting at Chatham House the participants discussed a paper which had been drawn up on the basis of the responses to the questionnaire. Following that meeting a set of Principles was prepared by the International Law Programme at Chatham House. They are put forward here with the intention of contributing to discussion and comment. Readers are encouraged to communicate any views and reactions. Depending upon the outcome of this stage of the study, further meetings may be held and the Principles further refined. While the Principles are intended to give a clear representation of the current principles and rules of international law, the law in this area is politically and legally contentious, and the interpretation of the Principles and their application to particular cases will rarely be without difficulty. The Principles do not necessarily represent the views of all the participants in the study. Comments are invited on the Principles. Any comments should be addressed to Iwona Newton at Chatham House ([emailprotected]). Participants Sir Franklin Berman QC is a barrister at Essex Court Chambers and Visiting Professor of International Law at the Universities of Oxford and Cape Town; formerly Legal Adviser at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Daniel Bethlehem QC is Director of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge, and barrister at 20 Essex Street, London. James Gow is Professor of International Peace and Security, and Co-Director of the International Peace and Security Programme, King's College London. Christopher Greenwood QC is Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a barrister at Essex Court Chambers. Vaughan Lowe holds the chair of Chichele Professor of Public International Law, is a Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford, and a barrister at Essex Court Chambers. Sir Adam Roberts holds the chair of Montague Burton Professor of International Relations and Fellow of Balliol College, University of Oxford. Philippe Sands QC is Professor of Law and Director of the Centre of International Courts and Tribunals at University College London, and is a barrister at Matrix Chambers. Malcolm Shaw QC is Sir Robert Jennings Professor of International Law at the University of Leicester, and is a barrister at Essex Court Chambers. Gerry Simpson is a Reader in the Department of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Colin Warbrick is Professor of Law at the University of Durham. Nicholas Wheeler is Professor in the Department of International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Elizabeth Wilmshurst is senior fellow, international law, at Chatham House. Sir Michael Wood is the Legal Adviser at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW ON SELF-DEFENCE The Charter of the United Nations prohibits the use of force against another state except where the Security Council has authorised the use of force to maintain or restore international

Savage Inequalities Essay

Savage Inequalities Essay Savage Inequalities Essay Savage Inequalities â€Å"’The Ultimate terror for white people†¦is to leave the highway by mistake and find themselves in East St. Louis. People speak of getting lost in East St. Louis as a nightmare. The nightmare to me is that they never leave that highway so they never know what life is like for all the children here. They ought to get off that highway. The nightmare isn’t in their heads. It’s a real place. There are children living here.’† (Kozol, 18). In the novel, Savage Inequalities, Jonathan Kozol describes the horrendous living conditions within five poverty-stricken areas in the United States. He is instantly able to put feelings of both shock and discomfort into his readers by describing the toxic wasteland that is considered East St. Louis. Actually having grown up in Fairfax County, I had no idea anyplace like this could still exist in our country, much less right in my backyard. If America is supposed to portray freedom and equality, then why are there still places like East St. Louis that could pass for a part of the third world? The main problems presented in this story were racist issues in the schools, differences between poor and affluent districts, and determining how to improve the public education systems. Most of the black communities Kozol visited were created when blacks moved north to work in factories, which were looking for cheap laborers. However, over time these factories moved to different locations, which caused massive unemployment rates in those areas. In my opinion, this is what caused the initial economic downfall and the result of predominately black neighborhoods. Kozol witnessed a few different versions of racism as he visited the various cities. Blacks mainly inhabited East St. Louis (also known as â€Å"The Bottoms†) while the wealthier white people resided on the adjacent hills (known as â€Å"The Bluffs†). Those who lived on The Bluffs made it clear that their black neighbors were not welcome, especially in their much nicer schools. On the other hand, some schools in the Bronx seemed to express racism in a different way. In a regular classroom there would be all white students, maybe with an exception to another black child. There were also s eparate classes set up for the â€Å"special† students, these were filled with primarily black or Hispanic students. This shows that even if a school is technically desegregated, administrators are still able to keep students separate because of their race. In 1876, the historic court case Plessy vs. Ferguson passed through the Supreme Court claiming that schools could be â€Å"separate but equal†. In my opinion, even though Brown vs. Board of Education went through the Supreme Court and cancelled out the previous ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson, segregation issues nowadays are even worse than before. Now, because of Savage Inequalities, many more Americans know about these modern issues and see that some schools are treating minorities both separate and unequal. When comparing the schools Kozol visited in the inner city to the wealthy suburban ones nearby, the differences are tremendous. Du Sables High, where many of the poor blacks students attend, has a dropout rate of about fifty-percent. Along with the extremely high dropout rate, the majority of the students are illiterate (usually around a sixth-grade level) and can afford very few supplies and outdated books for those who try to stick with school. â€Å"’You don’t dump a lot of money into guys who haven’t done well with the money they’ve got in the past,’ says the chief executive officer of Citicorps Savings of Illinois. ‘you don’t rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic.’† (80). In contrast to Du Sables

Discuss the contributions of iron technology to the process of state Essay - 1

Discuss the contributions of iron technology to the process of state formation in Bantu Africa - Essay Example The Bantu community had the notion of a ‘big man’ who was enchanted with grasping of new opportunities. Such an idea led to the development of political establishments as chiefdoms regrouped. It is believed that three main kingdoms that inhabited the western savannas came into being through this method. They include the Kongo, Luango, and the Tio. Importantly, copper trade in the contributed to the development of major commercial market routes and major markets that expanded the territories of the existing political establishments. For instance, the Malebo Pool along River Zaire began through such a process. Furthermore, copper rich areas were regarded as ‘capitals’ headed by a ‘paramount chief’. The paramount chief was surrounded by a close circuit of a court of title holders who performed rituals and emblems within certain principalities. Archeologically, along the Zaire valley iron and copper deposits had been discovered. In areas such as Bok o Songho-Mindouli area, political establishments were related to the large deposits of iron and copper (Alimen). The emergence of these kingdoms in the 14th to 17th the century occurred more or less simultaneously as a result of iron technology. To begin with, the Mbundu Kingdom was established in the 16th century, and it controlled most economic resources and commercial routes in the south of the Kongo. As a sign of the political power they wielded, the Mbundu Kingdom used a piece of iron as an emblem and mark of their authority. This piece of metal was known as ‘ngola’. It is known that towards the end of the 15th century a holder of that emblem established a major kingdom. In subsequent centuries, the emblem played a significant role in the slave trade (Alimen). Towards the end of the 18th century, the Mbundu had organized a large commercial network of together with Portuguese immigrants whose trading caravans reached as far as the Lozi and Lunda Kingdoms. The kingdoms developed a royalty form of a