Did Obama Just Endorse the Responsibility to Protect?

And this becomes particularly important when the purpose of military action extends beyond self-defense or the defense of one nation against an aggressor. More and more, we all confront difficult questions about how to prevent the slaughter of civilians by their own government, or to stop a civil war whose violence and suffering can engulf an entire region.

I believe that force can be justified on humanitarian grounds, as it was in the Balkans, or in other places that have been scarred by war. Inaction tears at our conscience and can lead to more costly intervention later. That’s why all responsible nations must embrace the role that militaries with a clear mandate can play to keep the peace.

- Barack Obama, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech.

This is Obama, and therefore the United States for which he speaks, endorsing the ‘strong’ version of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) which justifies intervention outside, and without recourse to, the UN.

Word Clouds

A word cloud of the Jessup problem this year, generated using the nifty Wordle. I’m very impressed with how the revolution in information graphics is changing how we deal with information. Yet I suspect that this is only the tip of the iceberg. As we get access to richer and deeper datasets, it’s anyone’s guess what the pictures will tell us.

Case Note: Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador, Inc. v. Republic of Ecuador

Ita leads this morning with a new English translation of the decision in Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador, Inc. (“EMELEC”) v. Republic of Ecuador. This is a pretty perplexing decision. The core issue was jurisdiction and the tribunal was asked to decide whether the representative of EMELEC before the tribunal was actually the ultimate shareholder of EMELEC  and entitled to bring the proceedings or a third party with no interest in EMELEC.

Musings on Disquiet

There are two kinds of quiet. One is the quiet of peace and contentment, the quiet that forms in a still moment and is a deep contentment that pervades every nook of the soul. The kind that forms when you sit in a warm window on a cold rainy day, and stare out at all eternity.

That is not my quiet. I have an unsettling gnawing quiet. A quiet that has no reason and gives no answers.

What the Problem is Not

I’ve been pondering the Jessup problem today from a purely abstract perspective. I’ve been thinking about what the problem isn’t: the issues that it decided to ignore instead of explore.

The problem, although focused on international investment law in part, has not raised the three big questions of international investment law that are at the forefront today.

The Doctors v The HK Hospital Authority

We were discussing the decision by the Court of Final Appeal in Leung Ka Lau and Ors v The Hospital Authority (FACV 22 & 23 of 2008) in which the CFA considered  claims by doctors employed by the Hospital Authority including their claim to to a day of rest in every seven as provided in Section 17 of the Employment Ordinance.

The doctors claimed that when they were on non-resident call, i.e. days when they were required to be available on short notice to respond to any emergencies (30 minutes) but didn’t actually have to be in the hospital, constituted a working day and not a day of rest. Their employer, who realised that this would cost them a large amount of money, fervently argued the other way.

Incoherent Readings

I’ve become very incoherent in the way that I read. In the last few days, I have approximately 5 books on the go flitting from one book to another as I drift from context to context in the search for their message. I don’t get to the end of one book before I start a new one.

Solutions, People

There are two ways to approach any issue, and two mind sets when an issue is identified – problems people and solutions people. These reflect different characters and different approaches to the world. They represent alternatives and we get to choose which alternative we make ours.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

John Perkins’ “Confessions of an Economic Hitman”  reads somewhere between spy thriller and banality – and it’s this odd combination which makes his claims believable. In any event Perkins insists that the book is factual.

The story is simple. During much of the Cold War, from 1971 onwards, John Perkins was an Economic Hitman or EHM.

A National Day Farce

TVB’s blatant pandering to the Motherland for National Day was rather obvious. I hope for their sake it will be appreciated across the border.

It certainly blew to shreds my last bit of belief that there was credible news to be had from our local TV stations. It was amusing how sincerely devoted to the 60th Anniversary Extravaganza they tried to appear.