poli unit 2

human rights

the rights you have, simply because you are human

where does a lot of human rights today come from

• Christian theology

• more individualistic

universal declaration of human rights (UDHR)

• milestone document in history of human rights

• sets out fundamental human rights to be universally protected

• accepted as the foundation of modern human rights law

why do some states sign rights treaties and do nothing?

• since there is no reward, there is no incentive to take a costly action

• fear of weakening states by undermining their sovereignty through reigning in security forces

• belief that punishments are unlikely because coordinating one is difficult and costly

key tension of human rights

does a state have obligations to protect its people or to its survival

civil war

violent conflict within a country, fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center, or to change government policies

empirical definition of civil war

inner state conflict with at least 1000 fatalities

factors associated with civil war

• poverty

• weak central governments

• large populations

• poor economic development

• previous outbreak of civil war

• dependence on natural resources

• hard terrain

• mixed government regimes

factors contributing to duration of civil wars

• coups (quick)

• geography (prolong)

• colonial wars (prolong)

• separatist wars (prolong)

• contraband financing (prolong)

biggest bargaining problem in civil wars?

dynamic commitment problems leading to exploitation

the paradoxical danger of peace

peace is efficient, but it creates a commitment problem

refugee (UN definition)

someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence

types of refugees

• internal displacement (IDP)

• external displacement

internal displacement (IDP)

• someone who is a refugee but remains in his or her country’s borders

• more common

external displacement

• someone who is a refugee and leaves his or her country’s territory

• those who have the means to do so

what is the stereotypical reaction to migrants/refugees?

ads made to create fear of crime, terror, etc

explanations for migrant stereotypes

• trojan horse (disguised as refugees in order to commit terrorism)

• copycats (will copy terror attacks elsewhere)

• scapegoats (blame taken for something they did not do)

explanations of persistent fear of refugees

• tendency to “other”

• dehumanization

• evaluation of data (anecdotes vs systematic analysis)

identifiable victim effect

response and reaction to a single victim is greater than to a group of victims

terrorism

• a politically motivated attack by a non-state actor against non-combatant targets for the purpose of influencing a group larger than the immediate victims

• according to definition, states cannot be terrorists

intent behind terrorist attacks

to shock and create fear to be used as leverage

success rate of terrorism

between 0-7%

jihadists goals

to alter international state system

what effect does external military aid have on states with terrorist groups

external military aid causes the rate of terrorist group collapse to decrease

typical result of wars on terror

they typically fail to eliminate terrorism

terrorism as a double edge

• leaders benefit from adopting aggressive policies against terrorists

• locks these leaders into a permanent aggressive posture

• may lead to long and costly wars

event that marks the start of the global war on terror

9/11 attacks

terrorism coercion

impose costs to induce change in behavior

terrorism provocation

• provoke the government into a disproportionate response

• wind up with civilian deaths, criticism from the international community, and potential shifts in support

terrorism spoiling

sabotage prospective peace between target government and home government

terrorism outbidding

outbid potential rival groups for support; demonstrate superiority

democracy and development of human rights

• correlated, but scholars say they are not sufficient

• democracy forces rule by the majority causing the minority to be institutionally discriminated against

• due to majority stability in democracies minorities face huge obstacles

ways to know human rights are violated

• reports

• military strikes, arrests, shellings, repression (behaviors)

• refugee flows (responses)

correlation between migrants and crime rates

none, no robust link

responsibility to protect with intervention

• obligations to protect people from atrocities or does sovereignty rule

• who is responsible to protect

UN peacekeeping force deployment

• consists of less wealthy, population heavy states

• deployment less likely to states with primary commodity exports

• deployments less likely to states with large armies

what case does peacekeeping tend to occur

the hardest and most difficult cases

what form of peacekeeping works better

consent based peacekeeping

intervention success empirical definiton

as the duration of peace following war

what does the empirical definition of intervention success leave out

• human rights, economic growth, etc

• does not identify whether conditions that led to war are resolved

consequences of intervention

may not allow conflicts to fully resolve, and may instead freeze them in place

mediation

promoting peace by passing information from one side to another, and attempting to incentivize parties to get an agreement

why are mediators advantageous

• both sides trust what they are saying

• ability for information to be passed back and forth

• allows for understanding of intentions

why does intervention appear to be unsuccessful

intervention happens in the most difficult cases

asymmetric strategies of terrorists

• coercion

• provocation

• outbidding

• spoiling