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R2P Networks

I’ve been reading a lot about transnational activist networks for my paper on the failure of R2P to be established as an effective international norm.  There are several requirements for the creation of a successful norm, which break down into three central categories: framing, structure, and mobilization.  Further complicating the success of a transnational movement is the interconnectedness of each of the three aspects: mobilization requires effective framing, which can be determined by the structure of the system.

My original hypothesis about the failure of R2P focused primarily on problems of framing.  As my research progresses, I am also beginning to wonder if the advent of the internet and other forms of technology isn’t in fact hindering the mobilization of activists, and/or that the structure of the movement (somewhat more centralized than others) isn’t hindering the effective use of technology.  This isn’t the question that I want to discuss here, but I would welcome any ideas or suggestions.

CCT 754 Blog Post: R2P and International Norms

There are many kinds of institutions – networks of relationships – today.  There are networks of both domestic and international activists, some with cross-cutting ties between the two levels.  There are the networks of state relationships – trade, security, law, culture, through institutions such as the WTO, NATO, the UN, countless formal bilateral agreements, as well as bonds of friendship and statesmanship between leaders.  On the one hand, these institutions may be said to be very effective, as they have allowed us to go 60+ years without a World War, have allowed us to respond to countless emergencies and horrors, from September 11, 2001 to tsunamis in South-East Asia.  On the other hand, these institutions have failed to enact new international norms, including environmental standards (Kyoto), common agreement over the management of oceans (Law of the Sea), or the forceful condemnation of the targeting of civilians in violent conflicts, whether with a genocidal purpose or simply to inflict mass casualties (R2P).  Furthermore, norms that once stood solidly, such as the Geneva Conventions, are now at risk as more and more states openly torture, led by the US.

New Blog, CCT 754, and Paper Abstract

I’m continuing to work on this idea for my CCT 754 paper about R2P.  The original question was how does the existence (and complete failure) of the R2P doctrine stymie the international discussion on conflict intervention? I still think that’s a good question, but after a thoughtful conversation with my Methods prof (chief blogger at DemocracyandSociety.com), I’ve started to expand the idea a little to looking at the creation and enforcement of international norms.  Barak also encouraged me to submit an abstract for the paper to a “Democrats, Dictators, and Demonstrators” symposium, so Friday night I wrote this:

Why are some norms established and effectively enforced and not others?  There has been a long evolution of human rights as a system of international norms, beginning with the abolitionists in the 18th and 19th centuries and the Geneva Convention in the mid 1800s.   More recent targets of human rights activists have been female genital mutilation (FGM), torture, and genocide.  The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) began working to create a new international norm to prevent genocide with the release of their 2001 report, A Responsibility to Protect (R2P).  Yet, despite admirable principles, an unprecedented moment of international solidarity and goodwill in the wake of September 11, 2001, and the support of the UN Secretariat and a coalition of dozens of international nongovernmental organizations, R2P has yet to be seriously invoked or acted upon.

Reasons for R2P’s failure include the lack of political will, lack of resources, inefficient or ineffective networks, and the well-established norms of national sovereignty and self-interest.  Yet obstructive  norms, and the lack of resources and access to power, etc, are not new problems, and were effectively overcome by the Abolitionists and supporters of the Geneva Convention.  Successful norms frame the issue in a way that actualizes state self-interest, and mobilize international support.    Using these case studies, this paper will examine the process of issue framing, actor mobilization and network utilization to answer the question: Given the domestic and international networks in which actors are embedded, how do we create effective norms and institutions?

The blog post for CCT 754 (that will follow) is an attempt to start thinking about this topic, and maybe build up an outline, since if accepted, my final paper will be due by Nov. 27, and I already have 35 pages about Uganda’s sector investment to write in the next two weeks.

CCT 754 Paper Topic

It’s getting the time of the semester that profs start requesting paper topics be chosen.  For CCT 754, I have to actually post a brief intro/outline of my paper topic, and do so tonight, which means that I should probably actually chose a paper topic.  My current top contenders are:

1. A continuation of my previous post on R2P: how does the existence (and complete failure) of the R2P doctrine stymie the international discussion on conflict intervention?
2. Under which circumstances does technology democratize international relations, especially activism, but also diplomacy?

#1 seems like a fairly straightforward (and possibly easier topic), but since it is a networks class, I’ll probably have to look at the networks of military action and international diplomacy at a bilateral and also regional/international level (NATO, UN) and then of course historical/colonial ties and how those influence current events.

#2 is a more recent, and probably farther reaching question, and one that I definitely intend to pursue, but I’m thinking that I’ll write about #1 for this semester.  R2P is a subject I’ve been struggling w for a while, and it feels good to be motivated enough by the assignment to finally begin work on it again.

So there’s my paper topic.  Now to write an actual summary of it for class….

R2P or Not(2P); That Shouldn’t Be the Question

NB: This post for CCT754 is admittedly very incomplete.  I’m working on an idea for a final paper for the class, and this post serves, not even as an introduction to that idea, but as an intro to the universe of ideas from which it comes.  I ultimately don’t think I will write about R2P, but I’ve needed to say some of these things for nearly 2 years now, and finally did.  As the topic evolves, I’ll be sure to post.

And Headlines (Quicklinks) Are Back!

School weapons crackdown in ZA

Kenya human rights activists head to the Hague to demand justice

Mouseveni continues to deal w fallout from the Buganda conflict violence

KwaZulu-Natal govt to pay for funerals of two girls trampled to death during a stampede at a traditional dance

A minister has dirt on former Zambian Defense Minister George Mpombo