With the unsealing of the International Criminal Court’s first arrest warrants, the debate over the future of the court has reached a fevered pitch. In the latest issue of Ethics & International Affairs, Kenneth A. Rodman explains that critics and supporters of the court both overstate their cases. In reality, prosecutions will be guided by both political prudence and the rule of law. Political prudence should also play a role in the reform of development aid accountability, argues Leif Wenar. Despite recent calls for increasing accountability, not all morally desirable forms of accountability—from the rich to the poor, for one—are politically feasible. Instead, accountability reform should focus on what works to reduce poverty. In addition, a special section on justice after war examines issues of lustration, secession, and accountability and global governance in postwar Iraq.
Articles
Accountability in International Development Aid [Full Text]
| 04/24/06
Concerns over aid effectiveness have led to calls for greater accountability in international development aid. This article examines the state of accountability within and between international development agencies: aid NGOs, international financial institutions, and government aid ministries.
Compromising Justice: Why the Bush Administration and the NGOs Are Both Wrong about the ICC [Abstract]
| 04/24/06
The critics of the ICC in the Bush administration and its supporters within the human rights community have one thing in common: they assume that the ICC can evolve into an institution independent of states, either to constrain American power or to prosecute to end impunity for perpetrators.
Special Section on Justice after War
The Ethics of Secession and Postinvasion Iraq [Abstract]
| 04/24/06
This article outlines the two central theories in the ethics of secession and examines whether or under what conditions these normative theories would be satisfied in a post-invasion Iraq.
Accountability and Global Governance: The Case of Iraq [Abstract]
| 04/24/06
This article explores issues concerning accountability and global governance by
looking at three cases involving Iraq: the economic sanctions imposed by the
Security Council; the operation of the Oil for Food Program; and the US-led
occupation authority and its management of Iraqi funds.
The Ethics of Lustration [Abstract]
| 04/24/06
One of the most important challenges for the occupation of Iraq has been making decisions about the status of people who were either responsible for or who passively benefited from the regime’s past injustices.
Book Reviews
International Governance of War-Torn Territories: Rule and Reconstruction [Full Text]
| 04/24/06
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eastern Slavonia, Kosovo, and East Timor, the UN or international ad hoc bodies did not just keep the peace. They embarked on the formidable task of rebuilding political authority while acting as de facto governments until that goal was achieved.
Shaping Race Policies: The United States in Comparative Perspective [Full Text]
| 04/24/06
This book examines why racial incorporation is successful in some arenas of American public policy—affirmative action has diversified the labor market—while it has failed in others—notably in the area of welfare, where policies have tended to marginalize minorities.
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