...times the minimum wage. Thesis Statement: This tells me what your position on the topic is as well as how you are going to support it. Example: Her suggestion is ridiculous and should be opposed for three reasons. First of all, it is arbitrary – why should it be 10 times the wealth of the poor and not 8 or 15. Secondly, it is un-American by going against basic liberal values of freedom and one’s right to pursue their economic dreams. Finally, it is likely to be destructive to economic growth. Indeed, numerous studies show that the type increased taxes Ackerman supports have hurt us in the past. Here is an example of a thesis paragraph all put together (with a title): The Conflict in Darfur: Causes, Consequences, and International...
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...each African state, becoming independent meant something far more than simply gaining back territory. For some, it was the beginning of a stable government, a local economy and a cultural comeback. For others such as the Sudan, it was the start of tragic consequences driven by political conflicts and civil wars. Through the process of decolonization that began, African leaders worked to shape the character of their postcolonial state, usually either against the continued European cultural and political predominance, while others worked with European powers in order to maintain an economically and politically stable state. As the success of each nation and region of Africa widely varied after their independence, their progress also varied. Unfortunately, some are still struggling to overcome these crucial instabilities preventing them from being at peace within their own state, and internationally. By examining Sudan and the decades leading up to its current political, social, and economic state, this paper will highlight the ways in which colonialism has effectively shaped the state's current context. It will give an overview of the current conflict in the western region of Darfur within Sudan's political instability, civil wars, and crisis of identity. More specifically, it will aim at showing how colonialism left the state of Sudan...
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...Chapter 3: The International Criminal Court By: Robel Tesfai History: The International Criminal Court and Darfur On July 1st 2002, the International Criminal Court was created by the implementation of a Roman Statute. As of May 2013, the ICC had 122 state parties to the Statute of the Court. This large number of states included all of South America, most of Oceania, about 50% of Africa, and almost all of Europe. A paper published by the Political Science Department of Columbia University describes the statute as having the following obligations and limitations: “The statute empowers the Court to exercise jurisdiction with respect to these crimes under three conditions: 1) where a State Party refers a situation to the Prosecutor, 2) where the Prosecutor initiates an investigation proprio motu, and 3) where the UN Security Council refers a situation to the Court. Under the first two conditions, the Court may exercise. 25 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Part 2. Jurisdiction only over nationals of a State Party or over crimes alleged to have occurred on the territory of a State Party; however, where the Security Council has referred a situation, the Court may exercise jurisdiction over any individual alleged to have perpetrated a crime within its competence, regardless of the nationality of the person or the location of the crime” (Broache, 11). On March 31, 2005, the UN Security Council passed the referral of the situation to the ICC with a unanimous...
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...CONFLICT RESOLUTION. THE AFRICAN CONTINENTAL BODY (AFRICAN UNION). Introduction The AU project was born in Sirte in 1999 with the decision to draft an act of constitution. The AU’s Constitutive Act was subsequently signed in Lomé, Togo on 11 July 2000. The official inauguration of the AU took place in July 2002 in Durban, South Africa and represented the next level in the evolution of the ideal of Pan-Africanism. Learning from the lessons of the OAU, the AU has adopted a much more interventionist stance through its legal frameworks and institutions. The AU’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) was established in 2004 through the Protocol Relating to the Establishment of the Peace and Security Council of 2002 (AU 2002). The AU’s 15-member PSC is mandated to conduct peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace building. In effect, the AU maintained a working relationship with the UN and other international organisations, namely the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), The AU has adopted a number of important new documents establishing norms at continental level, to supplement those already in force when it was created. These include the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (2003), the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and its associated Declaration on Democracy...
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...The conflict in the Darfur Region of Sudan began in February of 2003. At least 400,000 people have been murdered and more than 2.5 million civilians have been displaced. These citizens now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring country known as Chad. More than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival, some of which isn’t able to reach areas in Darfur. Women are raped and tortured and innocent civilians lack the most basic protections. The Sudanese armed forces and Sudanese government-backed militia known as “Janjaweed” have been fighting two rebel groups in Darfur, the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). The stated political aim of the rebels has been to force the government of Sudan to address underdevelopment and the political marginalization of the region. In response, the Sudanese government’s regular armed forces and the Janjaweed have targeted civilian populations and ethnic group from which the rebels primarily draw their support which would include the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa. The Darfur Peace Agreement also known as the Abuja Agreement, is a peace agreement signed in May 2006 by the largest rebel group the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Mini Menawi and the Sudanese Government was an effort to achieve peace in Darfur. The agreement addressed the long-standing banishment of Darfur and was intended to chart...
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...usually the propagators of this vice. In a state in which the availability and distribution of resources is anything short of equal, negative ethnic traits such as tribalism, nepotism and even clanism, in other cases, can easily result in the onset of genocide. Greed is also a consistent feature of many genocide-stricken states. The more worrying issue, apart from the killing of millions of innocent civilians, is the prejudice with which many of the leaders of these factions plan and coordinate these atrocities. The notion that leaders are well above the law is characteristic of states that have felt the iron grip of genocide. The case of Darfur is one of the most disheartening. Darfur has been embroiled in the throes of genocide for the better part of the 21st Century. Having been the first genocide of the 21st Century, the mention of Darfur does not resonate well on the global landscape. Upon the realization of freedom from the British, Sudan had little time to pause and draw a clear and concise roadmap that would spearhead development. For the large remainder of the 20th Century, Sudan suffered civil wars as the Northern Muslims fought with the Southern non-Muslims. The fact that Northern Sudan was more commercially viable than the South sparked off the civil wars, with both sides...
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...Humanitarian intervention poses a hard test for any international society built on principles of sovereignty, non-intervention, and the non-use of force. Immediately after the Holocaust, the society of states established laws prohibiting genocide, forbidding the mistreatment of civilians, and recognizing basic human rights. These humanitarian principles often conflict with principles of sovereignty and non-intervention. Sovereign states are expected to act as guardians of their citizens’ security, but what happens if states behave as criminals towards their own people, treating sovereignty as a licence to kill? Should tyrannical states be recognized as legitimate members of international society and accorded the protection afforded by the non-intervention principle? Or, should states forfeit their sovereign rights and be exposed to legitimate intervention if they actively abuse or fail to protect their citizens? Related to this, what responsibilities do other states or institutions have to enforce human rights norms against governments that massively violate them? Armed humanitarian intervention was not a legitimate practice during the cold war because states placed more value on sovereignty and order than on the enforcement of human rights. There was a significant shift of attitudes during the 1990s, especially among liberal democratic states, which led the way in pressing new humanitarian claims within international society. The UN Secretary-General noted the extent...
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...Conflict and the Environment The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) military escort for UNEP fieldwork near El Geneina, Western Darfur. Intense competition over declining natural resources is one of the underlying causes of the ongoing conflict. SUDAN POST-CONFLICT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT Conflict and the Environment 4.1 Introduction and assessment activities 2. an overview of the role of natural resources in the instigation and continuation of historical and current conflicts, listing the major resources of concern and focusing specifically on conflicts involving rangelands and rain-fed agricultural land; and 3. a brief environmental impact assessment of the various conflicts, evaluating the direct and indirect impacts of conflict on Sudan’s environment. Chronic environmental problems are covered in other chapters, though it should be noted that at the local level, the boundary between chronic and conflict-related environmental issues is often unclear. Assessment activities The assessment of conflict-related issues was an integral part of fieldwork throughout the country. In addition, UNEP carried out a number of specific activities, including: Introduction Sudan has been wracked by civil war and regional strife for most of the past fifty years, and at the time of finalizing this report, in June 2007, a major conflict rages on in Darfur. At the same time, Sudan suffers from a number of severe environmental problems, both within and outside current and historical conflict-affected...
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...Darfur, Sudan Since early 2003, Darfur, an arid desert region the size of France, has been gripped by a civil war since 2003 that has killed 300,000 people and displaced another 2.7 million, according to UN figures. Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, says 10,000 people have died. (AFP) The conflict in Darfur began in the spring of 2003 when two Darfuri rebel movements, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), launched attacks against Khartoum government military installations in response to government neglect and marginalization of the people of Darfur. Sudanese officials answered back by unleashing atrocious acts of violence on any Darfur villages who they determined had ostensibly harbored members of the SLM and JEM. Bombing villages from the air and with the hired help of a government armed nomadic Arab militia called the Janjaweed, over four hundred villages were burnt down, sending the few survivors to seek out refugee camps spread throughout the region and into neighboring Chad. All of this occurred within the span of 29 months. In 2004 George W. Bush declared the crisis in Darfur a “genocide”. Genocide, as defined by Merriam Webster, is “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group”. It is within the power of the United States government to end the brutalities in Darfur. A more assertive action needs to be taken in order free the Darfur people from the atrocities they suffer on a day...
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...OF CONTENTS Regional Conflicts in Africa • Introduction……………………………………………………………………….2 • Regional Conflict…………………………………………………………………...2 • Angola: • Angolan War for independence…….…………………………………………...3 • Angolan Civil War………………………………………………………………...5 • Sudan: • Darfur Conflict…………………………………………………………………....5 • Burundi: • Burundian Conflict………………………………………………………………7 • Nigeria: • Nigerian civil war………………………………………………………………..9 • Rwanda: • Civil War of Rwanda……………………………………………………………..11 • Liberia: • Sierra Leon vs. Liberia………………………………………………………….12 • Democratic Republic of Congo…………………………………………………….13 • South Africa……………………………………………………………………….14 REGIONAL CONFLICTS IN AFRICA Since gaining independence many West African nations have undergone political instability. There have been many wars in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire. Since the end of colonialism, West African states have often been affected by instability, corruption, violence, and authoritarianism. The region has seen the most brutal and serious conflicts that have ever taken place, such as the Angolan Civil War, First Liberian Civil War, Second Liberian Civil War, Guinea-Bissau Civil War, Ivorian Civil War, and the Sierra Leone Civil War. In this paper we’ll try to analyze the causes, costs and impacts of these regional conflicts and war, while giving a brief history of it. REGIONAL CONFLICT: According to Rightspeak Glossary, “Regional conflict is a war requiring violation...
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...Sudan and South Sudan’s Merging Conflicts Africa Report N°223 | 29 January 2015 International Crisis Group Headquarters Avenue Louise 149 1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 502 90 38 Fax: +32 2 502 50 38 brussels@crisisgroup.org Table of Contents Executive Summary................................................................................................................... i Recommendations..................................................................................................................... iii I. II. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... South Kordofan – the Epicentre of Sudan’s Conflicts ..................................................... A. The Government’s “Hot Dry Season” Campaign ....................................................... B. The Sudan Revolutionary Front ................................................................................ III. Internal Nuer Conflict in Unity State ............................................................................... A. Historic Disunity ........................................................................................................ B. Bul Nuer Rising .......................................................................................................... 1 2 2 4 7 7 8 IV. Merging Conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan ......................................................
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...THIRD PARTY MEDIATION IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION Introduction The contemporary international system has witnessed dramatic increases in numerous conflicts. Specifically, of the six continents in the world, not even one is immune to one form of violent conflicts or the other. Of all efforts to explain the causes of these conflicts, a growing body of research findings highlights the association between economic deprivation and conflict. (Gurr 1970; Elbadawi 1992; Collier and Hoeffler 1998; Stewart 2002; Deiminger 2003; Justino 2004). Thence, circumstances of gross economic denial, together with social, political, and environmental factors precipitate conflict. Third party mediation in Conflict Resolution has gained a considerable and increasing attention from academics and policy makers. There is plethora of literature on the role of third party in conflict resolution. Due to the complexity of the discipline, conflict resolution seems to be a relative term that can mean either conflict prevention or conflict management. Likewise, debates ensued as to why a third party mediates in conflicts. For instance, people marvel why the ‘coalition of the willing’ intervened in Iraq over the unproven existence of weapons of mass destruction but not in North Korea that admitted having the weapons. In addition, NATO intervened in Kosovo, but not in Bosnia, the UN sent troops to halt ethnocide in East Timor but had done nothing to prevent same from happening in Rwanda. More ...
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...of Sudan which consists of a majority of Muslims has focused the war on the Africans of Darfur region of Sudan. These Africans have had the control of some of the most fertile grazing lands and oil reserves in all of Sudan. Unfortunately over the past two decades, persistent droughts have forced the Arabs to migrate to more arable land, though having strained their relations with the Africans[1]. When the Arabs and the Africans started coexisting, fights broke out between them over lands and the Arabs became violent. Massacres and rebellions were a commonplace scenario between both the sides. The situation worsened when Sudan government sided with the Arabs and the government and military groups of Janjaweed(“devils on horsebacks”) began fighting the insurgents and the citizens of Darfur. It dint take very long for this to turn into genocide, also known as ethnic cleansing. The cleansing stopped focusing just on citizens and insurgents and started targeting certain ethnicities such as the Africans and the Christians. INTRODUCTION On the 10th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, another human catastrophe is rapidly accelerating despite full knowledge of the United Nations and Western democracies. In April, a U.N. team investigating human rights abuses in the far western Darfur region of Sudan found “disturbing patterns of massive human rights violations in Darfur, many of which may constitute war crimes and/or crimes against humanity.” Based on interviews...
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...Ethnic conflict: Ethnicity; defining principle of identity often determined by shared language, culture, religion * Desire to reassure and protect one’s own ethnic identity results in ethnic conflict within state boundaries * Ethnic cleansing; forcible removal of a group of people by another by violence and deportation ---- Genocide is an extreme form of ethnic cleansing Bosnian Genocide * The socialist federal republic of Yugoslavia was held together by the communist leadership of joseph bronz -1981, individual states began to secede along ethnic lines - Slovenia and Croatia declared independence in 1991 - Macedonia and bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 - Montenegro entered into federation with Serbia - Serbian nationals responded to Bosnian independence with attacks - The Bosnian war resulted in 100,000 dead and massive crimes to humanity - Ethnic cleansing of muslim pop. Especially in eastern bosnia - mass rape of 20,000-50,000 women. Modern ethnic conflicts often arise from colonial experience * artificial state boundaries grouping ethnic communities together * legacy of brutality Democratic republic of Congo * vey mineral rich lands * controlled by king leopold II of Belgium * slavery and violence The DRC relied on Hutu and Tutsi laborers from Rwanda * Tutsi’s were favored by Belgians Rwanda * Rwandan Civil War between the hutu led gov. and Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) * 1994: Hutu ethnic...
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...Analyzing the foreign policy of Saudi Arabia, this paper aims to show the ways in which Saudi foreign policy is unique and then go on to highlight the fact that Saudi policy is characterized by moderation and centrism. Its stance on issues pertaining to security and international relations will be demonstrated to be unique for a Middle Eastern state due a number of inter-linked issues; Saudi Arabia's geographical location as the ‘Heart of Islam', its significant oil reserves, and geo-political security issues. Having highlighted the special conditions in which Saudi foreign policy operates, it will then be argued that Saudi policy is dominated by themes of peaceful diplomacy and centrism, meaning that the Saudi approach to international affairs and security is one of pragmatic real politk rather than the more ideological approach adopted by other states in the region. In making such an argument, we will examine Saudi policy in relation to a number of key issues: the Israel-Palestine conflict and Iranian nuclear disarmament. Saudi Arabia holds a unique position in the Middle East. It is the ‘Heart of Islam' as it is home of to two of the holiest places is Islam, Mecca and Medina. Its oil reserves mean that it is the World's leading exporter of petrol. Furthermore, in the tinderbox-like atmosphere of the Middle East, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia plays a crucial role of peace-maker in the region and is the closet Middle Eastern ally of the United States. The Saudis have significant...
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