Harvard International Review

Question of Balance

Kenneth Waltz, in Theory of International Politics, insisted that the formation of balances of power is something of an iron law of international relations, perhaps the only one. A straightforward reading of realism therefore suggests that the present unipolar moment is an aberration and must, sooner or later, give way to a renewal of balance of power politics. Unipolarity has been a frequent occurrence throughout history, and periods without balances of power are as common as balanced system...

Americas: Coca Conflict

With the reelection of Pres Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in September 2006, inequities appeared to be fading and the quality of life of the average Brazilian seemed to be improving. Lula promised to advance the economy, already the ninth largest in the world, and thereby strengthen Brazil's claim to be a "country of the future" and an economic world power. Hence, Lula's main initiative should be to overcome organized crime in the slums, such that the poor, who remain vulnerable to gang warfare, ...

Asia Pacific: Pacific Power

Upon announcing his country's security pact with Japan in March 2007, Australian Prime Minster John Howard proclaimed, Japan and Australia have a common destiny in this part of the world. This new agreement between two major democracies, which calls for increased military ties, has the potential to increase regional stability through cooperation on issues such as North Korea, terrorism and drug trafficking. Australia and Japan have much in common. Both are populous democracies with market eco...

Reinventing Integration

As the sixth year of the US-led war on terror rages on, it would appear that few constructs are more self-evident than the one dividing Islam and the West. Muslim minorities in the West are often scrutinized through this paradoxical prism. The results of several recent polls have set off alarm bells in a tense Europe, still shaken by the Jul 7, 2005 bombings in London. One of the most pervasive assumptions in discourse on European Muslim integration is that Muslim religiosity threatens Europe...

Europe: Invisible Children

While agricultural and foreign policies were altered with much publicity in Romania, substandard social conditions in need of change, including childcare, human trafficking, prison overcrowding, and conditions in psychiatric institutions, were merely discussed. In particular, Romania has taken inadequate and inefficient steps to protect its orphaned and disabled children. Article 24 and Article 26 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union establish the inherent rights of the ...

Toward a Golden Age

The past decade has seen bold health-related commitments from political leaders, such as the Millennium Development Goals and the 2005 pledge by heads of state and government to press toward universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment. Between 2003 and 2005 alone, global spending on HIV/AIDS almost doubled, from US$4.2 to US$8.3 billion. The World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Macroeconomics and Health estimated that over eight million deaths per year could be averted with the effective ...

A New Realism

US foreign policymakers face novel challenges in the 21st century. Many problems that were once national are now global, and dangers that once came only from states now come also from societies -- not from hostile governments, but from hostile individuals or from impersonal social trends, such as the consumption of fossil fuels. The US must craft a new foreign policy adapted to a world of complex global challenges which require thoughtful and global solutions. US ports, cities, power plants, ...

Learning From Within

In the past 15 years, Somalia has become synonymous with war, anarchy, and misery. While the situation does not seem to be improving for the nation's almost nine million inhabitants, the current transitional government has a unique opportunity to build on Somalia's traditions and create a stable government for posterity. Central and southern Somalia are now among the most vulnerable and explosive regions in the world. Fighting parties, each armed and backed by separate neighbors, could very w...

Child Slavery

In recent estimates, the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that approximately 217.7 million children ages five to seventeen are engaged in labor around the world. Within Asia and the Pacific alone, 122.3 million children between five and fourteen are economically active. Child labor has not escaped the attention of policymakers around the globe. Within India itself, the Bonded Labour System Act abolished all forms of bonded labor in 1976. The practice of bonded labor was methodica...

Changing the System

While economic indicators provide reason for optimism among Russia's citizens, the poor financial state of the national pension system poses a threat to the standards of living of current and future Russian retirees. Without the right kind of reform, these retirees will find themselves with a lower standard of living and increased poverty. Most current retirees live on a basic fixed-income pension provided by the state -- the monthly pension is roughly 2,726 rubles (US$103) per month. Russia'...

Global Notebook

Africa: On the Air

Rwanda's stringent media policies stand in stark contrast to the recent improvements in Africa's freedom of press. The government has justified its repressive policy of heavy media censorship as a preventative measure for future tragedies. Rwanda's government must realize that progress toward good governance and development in the future relies upon an open-minded and unhindered press in the present. The High Press Council, Rwanda's media regulator, is allied with the government in keeping a ...

Americas: Rogue State

US foreign policy has traditionally been the purview of the federal government, but recent actions by states have stealthily challenged this assumption. Over the last decade, US governors have increasingly conducted their own foreign trade policy. In 2000, however, Congress passed the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act, which exempted certain agricultural and medical goods from sanctions. The intent was benevolent, namely to provide humanitarian aid to those under authoritarian...

Europe: The Next Plague

Stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS requires not only scientific awareness but also public awareness. More so than any other disease, HIV spreads because of misconception and lack of information; for instance, it is often dismissed as a threat to only sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the undeveloped world. This false impression masks a distressing increase in the prevalence of HIV infection in Eastern Europe. The nations of this region are at a critical juncture, and widespread government-sp...

Middle East: Fading Mirage

In the eyes of many Westerners, the idea of reform in Saudi Arabia is a contradiction. The Al Saud dynasty has long held a monopoly of political, religious, and social power over its citizens. The government currently bans all opposition political parties and tightly controls domestic media outlets. Despite the apparent lack of freedom, Saudi Arabia has in fact experienced some movements toward reform and modernization over the past few years. The years of 2001 and 2003 were marked by signifi...

Review Essays

Winning Battles, Losing Wars?

Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy, by William Martel, is reviewed.

Dark Ages of Human Rights?

Inventing Human Rights, by Lynn Hunt, is reviewed.

Endpaper

Averting Catastrophe

As the world awaits Iran's development of nuclear weapons, no legal doctrine allows any nation to use force against Iran, despite its support for terrorism and the professed goal of destroying Israel. The question for the international community is whether this prohibition of force against Iran has increased the risk of war. Since becoming an Islamic republic in 1979, Iran has supported terror throughout the Middle East and in Israel, Argentina, France, and, more recently, Iraq and possibly A...

An Interview

Building Peace

In an interview, George E. Moose, adjunct professor in International Practice at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washing University, talked about the United Nation's (UN) role in the post-conflict state. Moose said that a new management structure was needed within the UN system, with a mandate to draw upon and coordinate the activities of various elements and agencies. It begs the question of what kinds of inputs are needed for a credible and viable peacebuilding operati...

Correspondence

A New Conflict

The one issue that almost completely repudiates the traditional conception of world politics is the phenomenon of globalization. Globalization views the world as a single entity. Territorial demarcations are impediments to its full realization. By the end of the 20th century, it became apparent that the unequal effects of globalization were not restricted to relations among nations, but also within nations. The concern is the likely dispute between rich and poor individuals who can plausibly ...

For Better Or Worse? Courting Africa

Africa Redefined

Africa in Transition

Africa's first wave of democratization quickly morphed into a wave of autocracy as African militaries seized power in the mid-1960s, and multiparty systems gave way to authoritarian, one-party regimes. Economic stagnation had set in by the early 1980s, and African states became increasingly dependent on international development assistance, thereby incurring enormous debts. Even though the period of colonial rule was a relatively brief one in Africa, the European powers profoundly reordered A...

An Opportunistic Ally

Chinese officials, think tank researchers, and representatives of state-owned companies frequently refer to a "win-win" outcome when discussing Chinese-African relations. China and Africa have been trading partners for many centuries. The Chinese Communist Party formed close ties with African liberation movements in the late 1950s. In general China has sought to portray itself as the world's largest and most powerful developing country, while it describes Africa as the continent with the larg...

A Renewed Interest

In a post-September 11 world, the US has come to recognize that it has strategic interests in parts of the world that it long viewed as marginal at best. Africa is one such area. As a result, there has been an unprecedented focus on African issues in Washington and an equally unprecedented application of US resources to address the challenges that confront Africa and at the same time threaten US interests on the continent. It should come as no surprise that the US has a vital interest in the ...

Moderate Revivalists

There are approximately three hundred million African Muslims in the world, which comprises roughly one-third of the African continent's population. But despite this fairly large Muslim population and Islam's historical presence in Africa, African Islam has remained largely neglected in the study of Muslim politics. Next to Morocco, Egypt has done the most to strengthen relations with African nations in the postcolonial period. In the 1970s, several other Middle Eastern governments developed ...

A Crisis of Image

There has recently been a revival of interest in Africa's economic potential on the part of international players. Indeed then have been many insinuations that the prevailing post-Cold War assessment of the continent as a place fit for little more than humanitarian concern may be changing. Within Africa, economic growth rates have risen and have contributed to the emergence of new openings for trade and investment. In the end no matter how many suitors she may attract, be they handsome or oth...