From the European Journal of International Law, Andrea Bianchi (GIIS): Assessing the Effectiveness of the UN Security Council's Anti-terrorism Measures: The Quest for Legitimacy and Cohesion; a review of The UN, Human Rights and Post-conflict Situations and Honoring Human Rights under International Mandates, Lessons from Bosnia, Kosovo and East Timor; a review of Between Light and Shadow, The World Bank, The International Monetary Fund and International Human Rights Law and The IMF, The World Bank Group and the Question of Human Rights; and a review of United Nations Law and the Security Council and Le Pouvoir normatif du Conseil de sécurité des Nations Unies: portée et limites pdf.
A review of Blind Oracles: Intellectuals and War from Kennan to Kissinger and The Parliament of Man: The United Nations and the Quest for World Government. Global governance and the division of labor: National governments need to be responsive and effective to fulfill their part of the “social contract” within a national society. The Gospel According to Sachs: An economist lectures the world on how to solve the problems of good and evil. Rich countries and their leverage on Africa: The African continent, with its abundant supply of mineral and natural resources, has suffered tremendously from the rapacious exploitation of those resources.
From TAP, The Trouble with Helping Iran's Dissidents: Iranian reform activists have a love/hate relationship with the Western NGOs that often advocate on their behalf. We need a strongman: Back to "Saddam without a mustache"? After all, the US eyes still on the Iraqi prize. The real tragedy of Iraq? Never mind the death and destruction - damage to the cause of liberal interventionism is what worries one columnist. In the face of disastrous policies and administrative incompetence, the president has an answer every time: Appoint a new "czar." Street Without Joy: Will Bush’s surge secure Baghdad’s bloodiest block?
From The Atlantic Monthly, The Army We Have: To fight today's wars with an all-volunteer force, the U.S. Army needs more quick-thinking, strong, highly disciplined soldiers. But creating warriors out of the softest, least-willing populace in generations has required sweeping changes in basic training (and an interview with Brian Mockenhaupt on the men and women who enter basic training today, and how the Army has adapted to meet their needs); and with Rumsfeld and Powell gone, and Cheney's power diminished, this is Condoleezza Rice's moment. Can she salvage America's standing in the Middle East—and defuse the threat of a nuclear Iran? Behind the curtain in Washington and Jerusalem with the secretary of state (and an interview with David Samuels on Rice and her ambitious efforts to secure peace in the Middle East).
The real reason we went to war: Don't listen to George Tenet: It wasn't because of Dick Cheney's wiles or Tenet's embarrassment about the "slam dunk", and one couldn't help but think of the peevishness of King John in 13th-century England. Cheney and the Saudis: For a glimpse at hidden power plays, keep your eye on Vice President Cheney's trip this week to Saudi Arabia. And King of the Plastic Rambos: More on Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy by Andrew Cockburn
