Human Rights

The Iranian regime's blanket censorship of satellite and Internet communications last week was so effective, it led many to wonder, why didn't the U.S. government do more to stop it?

A combination of recent events caught my attention that led to a few brief thoughts on India I wanted to share.

A meeting of top U.S. officials on Sudan last week was supposed to yield big recommendations on how to craft the right balance of incentives and pressures toward the Khartoum regime, which stands accused of fomenting genocide in Darfur and stirring instability in its autonomous southern region.

A poll gauging the Philippine government's response to the November 2009 political massacre in Maguindanao. 

The CIA investigation of the U.S.

The Philippine President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, hit the headlines last week when the news spread about a blood-chilling massacre that occurred in the southern Philippine province of Maguindanao.

This week, I've been pondering over the reported breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. There have been many moments in this sixty year-old conflict that seemed like they w

Introduction

Family is an important establishment recognized throughout the international community as the foundation of society.  Families are responsible for the wellbeing and development of their young children.  However, gender discrimination and cultural practices within families often run counter to the development of the female child.  Children throughout the world are subjected to sexual exploitation, particularly female children. 

Often, families help facilitate this practice. 

We resolved that these issues [of restoring the MDC Party's powers within Zimbabwe's unity government] must be dealt with now, in their totality before this Government becomes completely discredited in the eyes of the people and the continent" (Zimbabwe's prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai of his efforts to re-establish a rule of law in Zimbabwe).

The dilemma faced by Zimbabwe's prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, is a thorny one.  He garnered the majority of votes in the first round of the presidential elections in March 2008 but chose

Adopted in 2005 at the United Nations’ World Summit, the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) represents a remarkable evolutionary step for the international state system. R2P, which was pushed by then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in the wake of the Rwandan genocide, seeks to ensure that another Rwanda (or Cambodia or Holocaust) will never happen again.

It is my pleasure to introduce The Mantle’s inaugural virtual roundtable. The issue at hand, the United Nations’ doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is fascinating in so many respects. A recent development in international relations, R2P touches on many practical, philosophical, and moral quandaries revolving around conflict and security.