FRIDE Peace, Security & Human Rights

African mistrust of "Northern Justice"

Vidal Martín — 2009-01-09T03:01:17+01:00

Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

Last July, a number of events laid bare the difficulties that international justice has in progressing; one of the main problems is the expansion of jurisdiction beyond state borders in cases of genocide or massive violations of human rights.

In the face of lawsuits and summons by Spanish and French judges, Rwandan President Paul Kagame managed to secure broad support from the African Union (AU) for his proposal that its members neither answer nor accept being tried in other countries or by international courts.

At the same time, and in the wake of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to charge the President of Sudan with genocide in Darfur, the African Union, the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference closed ranks, accusing the West of interfering in their internal affairs.

For the first time ever, African voices clamoured as one against accountability, its methods and its agents.

International justice and the diplomatic struggle over Darfur

Isabelle Birambaux — 2009-01-09T03:01:17+01:00

On 14th July 2008, the prosector of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, decided to show that no state president is exempt from justice when crimes as serious as those in Darfur are committed. However, the interests of foreign powers in Sudan's oil and geopolitical negotiations could turn this into no more than a mere threat.

The accusation of the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, of crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes is a historic event. For the first time ever, the International Criminal Court thus accused a head of state in power and ordered that he should be detained. In March 2005, the UN Security Council approved Resolution 1593, backed by France and Great Britain, giving the prosecutor's office of the International Criminal Court authority over the Darfur situation.

This comment by Isabelle Birambaux analyses whether such actions on the part of the international community indicate its genuine intention to take a firm stance against those who violate human rights and ensure justice; or whether other interests are at stake, such as an attempt to seek concessions regarding oil and geopolitics.

Cuba: the legacy of a revolution

Susanne Gratius — 2009-01-09T03:01:17+01:00

The Cuban Revolution has celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Against all predictions, it not only outlived ten American presidents, but also the departure of its symbol, Fidel Castro, from power. In the beginnings of the revolution, the revolutionaries promised freedom and the end of foreign occupation. Reflecting on the situation 50 years later, it must be recognised that they achieved the latter aim, but at the expense of everything else: freedom and a better future. How long will the legacy of Fidel’s revolution last without a future project? Will the changes that Raúl Castro announced be implemented?

Can fragile states learn from the development tigers?

Ivan Briscoe — 2009-01-09T03:01:17+01:00

M.Chargel/AFP/Getty Images

“High, sustained growth” has been achieved in 13 countries (nine of them in Asia) since 1945, according to the recent report of the World Bank’s Growth Commission. Numerous studies have explored the historical background and policy and institutional dynamics that explain these successes, concentrating on the conditions that gave rise to capable governments, dynamic private sectors and cohesive societies in unfavourable contexts.

But in countries that are both poor and run by weak or fragile states, focused state intervention appears almost impossible to replicate. The core of the difficulties in generalising the experience of developmental states to the rest of the developing world can be found in the issue of transferability. There is now a general consensus that the simple transplant of public, industry- promoting institutions from a successful context to a low-income economy – particularly when it is ruled by weak institutions - is no guarantee that development can be initiated.

Even so, this policy brief argues that important general lessons can be derived from the study of the startling record of countries such as South Korea and Taiwan. Case studies show that active intervention, strategic economic policies and a hands-off approach by the international community are all crucial components in kick-starting fast growth. At the same time, there is little doubt that such growth, and the policies that often go with it, could aggravate institutional and social instability in regions such as the Great Lakes or the Andes.

In short, the huge difficulties in bringing fast development to weak states, divided elites and informal subsistence economies must be acknowledged. Even so, greater freedom of action for poor countries is essential at a time that neither the modern global economy nor the aid community seem ready to embrace a new cohort of poor countries forcibly working their way up the developmental ladder.

Remittances, states and development

Laura Tedesco — 2009-01-09T03:01:17+01:00

This Working Paper, by Laura Tedesco, is a continuation of previous studies by the same author, published by FRIDE, on state formation in the developing world. These studies analyse the political and economic resources that states may use to build institutions.

In the same vein, a previous study on foreign investment analysed the role of such investment in the building of state institutions throughout the dynamic period of state reform in the 1990s.

Recently, the increase in remittances has fed expectations as to the impact these remittances could have on economic development in the states receiving them. This Working Paper is designed to study the growth of remittances, their impact on the economy of the receiving countries and the debate surrounding the role of remittances in processes of development.

The aim of this study is to analyse the extent to which remittances can be considered vehicles of national or local development, or whether they should be analysed as private funds capable of generating limited economic growth as a consequence of a spin-off effect.

European-cuban academic views on the economy, development and cooperation

Francesc Bayo, Anicia García, Susanne Gratius — 2009-01-09T03:01:17+01:00

Str/AFP/Getty Images

The socio-economic panorama in Cuba is contradictory. In spite of the country's sustained economic growth, the impact of such growth on the Cuban population has been rather limited. Furthermore, the international financial crisis and the two hurricans have cast a shadow over the country's socio-economic prospects.

With regard to European-Cuban relations, the fluid economic exchange between the two continents stands in contrast to the currently limited academic cooperation on the subject. It has therefore been suggested that more lasting links or networks between Cuban and European experts should be built on issues of common interest, taking the inter-institutional cooperation between CEEC, CIDOB and FRIDE as a starting point.

Great challenges for President-elect Obama

Robert Matthews — 2009-01-09T03:01:17+01:00

The same nation that voted for and then reelected George W. Bush has just convincingly repudiated those elections.

A majority of its citizens just chose as president a relatively progressive Democrat who in character, style, personality and political vision is practically the obverse of the current occupant of the White House.

But as the world now knows, the true historic impact of 4 November 2008 is that the US has, rather astonishingly, elected its first African-American president.

This article was originally published in Spanish in the newspaper “El Mundo” on 6 November 2008. (See spanish version)

The US embarks on an era of change

Robert Matthews — 2009-01-09T03:01:17+01:00

J.Raedle/Getty Images

It is likely that the 2008 campaign has offered the US electorate the clearest option between Republican and Democrat candidates and their agendas since the 1972 battle between George McGovern and Richard Nixon.

Although the two candidates’ stances have coincided in some areas (more on foreign policy than on national policy), there have also been marked differences in their approaches, both from the point of view of style and content. From 20 January 2009 onwards, the degree of continuity or discontinuity with respect to the policies of the previous administration will also depend on the character of the Congress that has just been elected.

Although Senator Obama was rated as the most progressive parliamentarian in the United States Senate in 2007 by the National Journal, many believe that he has had difficulty adopting a progressive foreign policy agenda and that his stance continues to be cautious.