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Article Review US Must Remain Wary of International Criminal Court even after Decision to Not Target Americans
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Article Review: US Must Remain Wary of International Criminal Court even after Decision to Not Target Americans
Saul Loeb wrote the article “US Must Remain Wary of International Criminal Court even after Decision to Not Target Americans” published on the Heritage website on the 12th of April 2019. The article examines the deliberations of the pre-trial chamber of the International Criminal Court that led to the conclusion that it would not pursue any action against the United States. The motion was in regard to the war in Afghanistan that has seen the loss of life and destruction property for both the United States and Afghanistan. The main argument in the article is that the United States is not party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; therefore it is not subject to the court’s jurisdiction.
The ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda made a request to the court to investigate war crimes including the violation of human rights in Afghanistan since 2003. This request was denied. The main reason for this rejection was that the trial was unlikely to succeed for several reasons. These include: evidence of the said crimes was poorly preserved, the US would not cooperate with the investigation and it would require significant human and financial resources that would have been put to better use elsewhere.
The author notes that the court’s decision is a welcome one but does not eliminate its conflicts with the US. In hindsight, the conclusion of the United States not to be a party to the Rome Statute was the right one. Military personnel would face prosecution for the actions they took to protect the country. The US invaded Afghanistan to counter terrorist activities after 9/11. President Trump reinforces the decision due to the unaccountable powers that the ICC holds and the threat it poses to the sovereignty of a country. Prosecution for the human rights violations in Afghanistan would intimidate the efforts against terrorism in Afghanistan.
The author presents a firm opinion against an investigation into the US by the International Criminal Court. He supports his assertions with the ruling by the pre-trial chamber of the court that launching an investigation would be impractical. The chamber acknowledges that crimes against humanity happened in Afghanistan but investigating them would be difficult. The United States welcomed the decision while at the same time stating that the ICC has no jurisdiction within its borders. The author explains that there might be more problems between the US and the ICC in the future. He quotes Mike Pompeo and President Trump to show the stance that the United States has taken in the matter of ICC prosecutions.
The article is informative and presents its arguments with logical support to back it. The author reports the facts of the matter, therefore, eliminating any bias that he might have. The reader has the chance to make up their mind. Given that the war in Afghanistan, human rights violations and the International Criminal Court constitute a significant area of interest to many people, the article does an excellent job of explaining the subject matter to readers and leaving them enlightened on the position of the US.
Works Cited
Loeb, Saul. “US Must Remain Wary of International Criminal Court even after Decision to Not Target Americans” The Heritage Foundation. 12 Apr 2019. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/global-politics/commentary/us-must-remain-wary-international-criminal-court-even-after-decision-not Accessed 15 April 2019
Article Review The Modi Mirage Why I Fell Out of Love With India’s Reformist Prime Minister
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Article Review: The Modi Mirage: Why I Fell Out of Love With India’s Reformist Prime Minister
The article titled “The Modi Mirage: Why I Fell Out of Love With India’s Reformist Prime Minister” appeared in the Foreign Affairs journal on April 11th 2019. The author of the article, Gurcharan Das, seeks to explain why he feels disillusioned by the actions of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister took office after the 2014 election at a time of rampant corruption, inflation and declining economic growth. Despite Indians misgivings regarding his authoritarian nature and anti-Muslim tendencies, he was elected due to greater concern for economic growth and reduction of corruption. He had built a legacy for himself in the two areas as chief minister of Gujarat. He won the polls and gave the country high hopes which were soon dashed.
The author begins by likening Modi to Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, a symbol of hope during the country’s disillusionment. Modi had been criticized in the past for his role in the Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 during which many Muslims were killed (Gurcharan). These evils were overshadowed by the promise of economic growth using the policy of ‘demographic dividend’. Modi was voted as he understood the country’s demographics and the need to create employment for the youth who made up almost half of India’s population.
Years later, Modi is accused of polarizing his party and the country along with it. His belief that India should be a country for Hindus is particularly alarming. He has also failed to deliver on promises of economic growth and creation of employment for the youth. He has not utilized the significant power he has in the lower house of parliament to make changes in the economy. On the bright side, inflation has declined from double digits to less than three percent. Corruption has declined under Modi’s regime and this has improved India’s ranking in the Corruption Perception Index (Gurcharan). Ownership of mobile phones and bank accounts has spread widely and online business has flourished.
The author insists that Modi created an economic crisis in November 2016 by declaring that almost 90% of the nation’s circulating cash would be rendered worthless. He relied on the civil service to implement reforms which failed. Other mistakes include introduction of too many programs at once without clear implementation formula. He went to war with Pakistan in retaliation for the killing of Indian troops in Kashmir, a move seen to be unwise by many.
The author writes an informative and balanced article that gives a clear picture of Modi’s leadership timeline to the reader, He begins by explaining the motivation behind his endorsement for Modi and the high expectations India had foe the new Prime Minister. The author explains the few successes Modi has had in his tenure and also highlights the greater number of failures and challenges. The article presents and unbiased overview of Modi and suggestions on what he could have done better. The author also cites facts and figures to back his claims, adding more credibility to the well-written and insightful piece.
Works Cited
Das, Gurcharan. “The Modi Mirage: Why I Fell Out of Love With India’s Reformist Prime Minister” Foreign Affairs. 11 April 2019. Retrieved from https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/india/2019-04-11/modi-mirage
Accessed on 15 April 2019
HOMEWORK 3 (Due
HOMEWORK 3 (Due October 29)
Professor Ozer
Question 1 (25 points
Let’s say we are researching voter turnout in three different countries. Professor Ozer has gathered data from several elections in each country and has created two hypotheses.
Hypothesis 1: Ozeristan will have a higher voter turnout than the Democratic Republic of Fisher.
Hypothesis 2: The United States of Coconut will have higher voter turnout than both Ozeristan and the Democratic Republic of Fisher.
Mean Voter Turnout (in %) Standard Deviation Sample Size (# of elections observed).
Ozeristan50 10 5
Democratic Republic of Fisher 60 10 5
United States of Coconut 70 2 5
a. Which of these countries has the most stable voter turnout rate? Why?
b. Calculate the 95% confidence interval for each country. Please report them in the following format: [lower bound, upper bound]
c. Does the evidence support Hypothesis 1? Why or why not?
d. Does the evidence support Hypothesis 2? Why or why not?
e. What would happen if we increased the sample size to 10 elections? 100 elections? No need to do the math, just tell me what would happen conceptually.
Question 2 (25 points)
a. What does it mean for something to be “statistically significant”?
b. What does it mean for something to be “substantively significant”?
c. If something is statistically significant, does that mean its also substantively significant? Why or why not?
d. Why are null findings still important and relevant?
Question 3 (25 points)
Let’s say Professor Ozer is running an experiment. In the treatment group, respondents were given a plate of cookies. In the control group, the respondents were given nothing. They were then asked how much they like Professor Ozer on a 100 point scale, with higher scores indicating that they liked him more. The results are as follows.
Mean score Standard deviation # of respondents
Treatment Group 75 15 100
Control Group 50 15 100
a. Calculate a difference of means test.
b. Is there a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p < .05)? Why?
Bonus question! (.5 points)
Who/what are you going as for Halloween?