The International Affairs Association

The big story from the United Nations is about the inspectors who are in Iran for a 3-day examination of one Iran’s uranium enrichment sites. At this point, there’s not a lot to say until results come in. So until those results come in I’ll focus on something perhaps a little less critical.

The United Nations recently approved a universal mobile phone charger that will work with all types of cell phones. This step was taken in response to the fact that when most people get a new phone, they throw out the old charger. The UN says this action will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 13.6 million tons each year.

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The Afghan elections have been fraught with problems from the very beginning. It was expected that any election in Afghanistan would involve a degree of fraud and those suspicions have now been confirmed by the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC). Hamid Karzai who had initially secured a comfortable victory (54.6% of the votes) now has to face a run-off with his closest rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.

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The Sri Lankan government prides itself on not giving into the demands of Western countries without a fight. This could be admirable, until it begins to harm others. The country is now faced with wide - spread protest to human rights violations that took place in the conflict with the Tamil Tigers. The EU recently threatened suspension of trade benefits that were granted to the country in 2005. More than 250,000 Sri Lankan refugees are living without enough shelter or nourishment.

The reaction? Obviously negative. Some Sri Lankans accuse the EU of using economic “blackmail”. The Sri Lankan government is also in a tough spot. If it gives into demands made by the EU, it will look like it is submitting to another’s power. This, to me, seems like a rather perverse logic. Any government looks “better” protecting and taking care of its own people.

However, one needs to think about the disadvantages of this potential trade block as well. If the grant is indeed suspended, the clothing industry in Sri Lanka will be greatly hurt. It will cost Sri Lanka 10,000 + jobs - especially among working women. With the world economy the way it is, nobody would want that.

The best outcome would probably be Sri Lanka giving in and taking care of those impacted by its civil conflict. That way, it doesn’t lose its trade benefits, and the number of displaced citizens is decreased.

In the early 1990s an unspeakable amount of atrocities were committed during the conflicts that erupted after the breakup of Yugoslavia.  Perhaps the most common image many of us have of those conflicts is what occurred in Bosnia from the Srebrenica Massacre to the bombardment of Sarajevo.  Though no side in these conflicts was without its own crimes, one of the most heinous perpetrators of war crimes during this era was the military and government of the Republic of Srpska under Radovan Karadzic.  It was in fact Karadzic and his military chief Ratko Mladic who bombarded Sarajevo and ordered the execution of Muslims at Srebrenica.  So when Karadzic was finally captured last year it was a chance to finally bring a bit of closure to one of the worst conflicts of the last half century by trying Karadzic for his crimes at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in the Netherlands.

That being said, let’s hope the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague does not drag its feet on this case.  Three years ago the tribunal had a golden opportunity to prosecute Slobodan Milosevic but dragged their feet in prosecuting him that led to a drawn out trial that prevented Milosevic from being tried for his role in the Yugoslav Wars as he died during its proceedings.  Now Karadzic is attempting to hold up his own upcoming trial by threatening to boycott it and arguing he has not enough time to prepare his own defense.  However, the tribunal should ignore his complaints and finally seize upon their original mission and prosecute him in a swift and just manner.  The evidence is completely against Karadzic and his attempts to prolong the trial are merely efforts to delay an inevitable guilty conviction.  The Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal should realize the opportunity they have on their hands and not allow their efforts to be bogged down.  Karadzic is one the few major war criminals left and his particular conviction will go a long way in finally bringing justice and at a least console those who lost family at Srebenica.  Here’s hoping the ICTY makes sure justice is applied.

The recent UN probe into the Afghan elections turned out to be very successful, evidenced by Karzai’s recent agreement to hold runoff elections. Even though Karzai had denied all accusations of fraud in the previous few months, he has finally agreed to the runoff. According to the Secretary-General, the United Nations will also play a role in ensuring the runoff is held without further fraud from either side.

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Raj Rajaratnam, a Wharton alum and one of the US’s richest men, was arrested this Friday for insider trading pertaining to hedge funds. Rajaratnam is the manager for a prominent hedge fund known as the Galleon Group, and he was caught sharing and collecting private information about public companies in order to receive greater investment returns. The case is especially interesting because he and six other high profile executives from companies such as Intel, McKinsey, and IBM were found out by the US government through wire tapping. The story is also rather sobering, because Rajaratnam was an esteemed businessman, reputed for his trading “skills”, and his humble origins from middle class Sri Lanka.

The behind – the – scenes trading generated around $25 million of profit; this is apparently the largest hedge fund case ever prosecuted in the US. Analysts note that it may be a “wake – up call for Wall Street” that the government is watching (or, I suppose, listening). These profits hurt other investors, and they are obviously unjust.

I actually heard about the case when I was home for fall break, when my dad pointed out that Rajaratnam was a Wharton alum.

My thoughts? Greed happens. No matter how much one emphasizes business ethics, or ethics in general. Cases like these, though upsetting, are reminders that many crimes don’t go unnoticed.

Consistent with his recent redefinitions of U.S. foreign policy in North Korea and Iran, President Obama today announced U.S.-orchestrated incentives for the Sudanese government to restore peace in Darfur.

That is, he announced the existence of said incentives. Frustratingly enough, the incentives themselves are deemed classified information, such that we really have no idea what they are.

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This edition of Ban Ki Croons is strictly opinionated.

It has been reported that African leaders from throughout the continent have raised over $65 billion dollars, which they aim to contribute to the United Nations’ initiative to prevent global warming. I think this is ridiculous.

The African continent is in complete disarray right now. We all know about all the problems so I won’t bother going into them.

The first problem with this is that there are poor African governments are paying for the crimes of the United States and China. These two countries contribute the most to global warming, and these countries are doing very little to stop it.

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The words that come to mind when one thinks of Silvio Berlusconi are flamboyant, extravagant and opulent. These are words that you may associate with a movie star or a sports person but certainly not a prime minister. For years, Berlusconi has defied all common perceptions of a figure of authority. His widespread popularity is primarily based on his ostentatious personality and it often makes me wonder of he has to run the country at all to get re-elected.

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Hey guys, just a brief entry today as everyone heads on break

Today the top UN Human Rights official issued a statement in Geneva endorsing a report on war crimes committed during the 2008-2009 Gaza Conflict. The report is seen as more critical of Israel than it is of Hamas.  Such reports are commonplace for the UN and are made after new conflicts.  The make no concrete impact beyond asking for more investigations but at the same time serve an obligatory purpose of disseminating information of a conflict.  One cannot chide the UN Human Rights Council for simply writing these reports and issuing them as it is part of their duty. That being said, these reports, especially when they pertain to conflicts in the Middle East only serve to exacerbate existing wounds.  They inevitably outrage Israel who in pursuing conflicts for the need to maintain security are only naturally angered at being scolded for necessary actions.  Israel, who often sees itself as being berated by the international community at large for its actions will not take any further comfort in this report.  Yet for the Palestinians, this report is merely a hollow PR victory and a meager one at that considering the report puts blame on war crimes on Hamas as well.  Though in age in which IGOs must issue such reports out of political correctness and a desire not to repeat the ignorance of war crimes that occurred in the past, these reports only serve to further rupture relations rather than repairing them.  They bring back hostilities long dying down after conflicts and serve to fuel a blame game that heightens tensions once more.  In an age where information spreads quickly, information on conflicts is readily available far quicker than these reports. Their original purpose of providing a clear account of a conflict has long been subsumed by new and wide media that in its sheer volume allows propaganda to be filtered out.  Though I would not advocate that such reports be ended, I would like to plead with those issuing such reports to take into account current political sensitivities and not to reignite the tensions fading after the end of a conflict.