Upcoming International & World Days

As we kick off the new year, you may want to mark these dates on your calendar!

• Friday, January 27: International Holocaust Remembrance Day
• Established by the UN General Assembly in 2005, 60 years after the end of the Holocaust
• Here's a link to a video by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum about why it matters.
• Saturday, February 11: International Day of Women and Girls in Science
• Established by the UN General Assembly in 2015
• http://www.un.org/en/events/women-and-girls-in-science-day/background.shtml
• Monday, February 20: World Day of Social Justice
• Established by the UN General Assembly in 2007
• http://www.un.org/en/events/socialjusticeday/background.shtml

By Hope Coulter

US Flexes in South China Sea by Thomas Brown

(Source: Reuters)
US Navy image shows China circling the heavily disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea

On Friday October 21^st, 2016 a US destroyer sailed through the South China Sea to exemplify the abilities of the US under International Laws of the Sea from the UN, according to the White House spokesman Josh Earnest. This action was also meant to show a signal to China that the international sea is not open for their claims. 

Over the past few years, China has been actively forming man made landmasses for military use in the South China Sea. These new formed islands are for naval supply ports and air force landing bases, felicitating China’s interests of asserting dominance in this region. The US has responded to these movements by supporting territorial allies, and exercising our rights to sail in the South China Sea. The Chinese Defense Ministry responded to these events by calling them a serious breach of law, however did not use physical means to express a threat. 

As tensions rise between the US and China grow increasingly tenser, movements in this sea will determine how future actions will be responded to. Will China continue to build artificial islands and military strongholds that threaten other countries and their rights in the South China Sea? Only time will tell. 

(Source: US-China Institute)
The many facets of the disputes in the South China Sea

Africa and the International Criminal Court by Hope Coulter

Source: dw.com

On October 26th, Gambia became the third country to leave the International Criminal Court this week when it formally began the process of withdrawing from what the country’s Minister of Information, Sheriff Bojang, has called the “International Caucasian Court”. Gambia follows in the footsteps of South Africa and Burundi, who have also accused the court of discrimination against African countries. These states are the first to ever have withdrawn from the International Criminal Court, and disapproving global leaders worry that it will spark a mass exodus of African states, which could diminish the Court’s credibility and effectiveness.

The operation of the International Criminal Court is based on the Rome Statute, an international treaty adopted in 1998. Tensions among African nations over the International Criminal Court came to a head in 2015 when South Africa hesitated to arrest Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who had been convicted by the Court of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Following this incident, South Africa, initially a supporter of the Court, stated that the Rome Statute conflicts with its obligations to members of the African Union, and with its laws regarding diplomatic immunity.

While supporters of the withdrawals are refreshed to see African nations standing up to Western imperialism (all 39 persons convicted by the court since its creation have been from African nations), critics worry that the move is a step backward in ending the devastating genocide and war crimes that have occurred, and are still occurring, in Africa. GenocideWatch.net has issued a Genocide Emergency or Genocide Watch warning for the states of Burundi, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan.

Disagreement exists among African Union states about the idea of withdrawal. Botswana’s foreign minister Pelomoni Venson-Moitoi, a candidate to become the next African Union chief, urged African states to reform the Court instead of abandoning it. Meanwhile Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, has said that the African Union should set up its own Criminal Court to demand reparations from the West for war crimes and crimes against humanity inflicted by Western nations, particularly during the colonial era.

The International Criminal Court has urged countries to discuss their discontent within the Court’s Assembly of State Parties, and has pointed out that preliminary investigations are currently taking place in six non-African countries.

(DailySabah.com, Huffingtonpost.com, GenocideWatch.net, ICC-CPI.int, Mgafrica.com, Theguardian.com, BBC.com, Thinkprogress.org, Foxnews.com, Reuters.com)

Who Will Succeed Ban Ki-Moon? By Thomas Brown

(Oct. 12, 2016 - Source: Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America)
Guterres with Ban Ki-moon

As the term of the current UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, comes to an end possible successors have come forward. 

The process for selecting a new Secretary General takes place within the UN Security Council of the P5 (the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China) the victors of WWII, where several straw polls establishes consensus. 

The tops three delegate names that came from the most recent poll are António Guterres of Portugal, Miroslav Lajčák of Slovakia, and Vuk Jeremić of Serbia. These names represent a wide range of strong leadership to experienced public service, however there was anticipation of a female UN Secretary General successor.

In the more than seventy years of existence, the UN has not had a female Secretary General. As the leader of these polls designate who will follow Ban Ki Moon, the results suggest António Guterres will be the next UN Secretary General. Guterres is the former prime minister of Portugal (1995-2002), and the United Nations high commissioner for refugees (2005-2015).