bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Languages of Sulawesi
Authors: van den Berg René , Mead David
Published: September 2024

This chapter is the first attempt at a comprehensive linguistic survey of Sulawesi, the strangely- shaped island in the centre of Indonesia. Sulawesi is home to 111 languages, belonging to various subgroups, including the large Celebic group. Some of these languages are spoken by more than a million people and have their own written tradition (e.g., Bugis), while others are endangered and undocumented. Sulawesi has a long research history, with several substantial grammars written by Dutch missionary linguists in the colonial era. Phonologically, the languages of Sulawesi are not particularly striking, with the exception of the presence of prenasalised consonants, implosives, and a range of morphophonemic processes. Morpho-syntactically, however, the languages of Sulawesi display a remarkable typological diversity, especially in the areas of voice and transitivity (ranging from four symmetrical voices to no voice opposition), case marking on nouns, TAM marking and person-marking on the verb (some showing Philippine-type with little person-marking, others ergative-absolutive or nominative-accusative systems). This variation is illustrated on six representative languages. The languages of Sulawesi are also quite varied in their pronoun systems (ranging from two to five pronoun sets), and several have complex systems of deixis and directionals.
Languages of Flores and its satellites
Authors: Nagaya Naonori
Published: September 2024

This chapter provides a typological overview of the Austronesian languages of Flores and its satellites, namely, the Malayo-Polynesian languages of the islands of Flores, Palu’e, Komodo, the Solor Archipelago, the Alor Archipelago, Sumba, Sabu, and Sumbawa. The linguistic features examined in this paper are phonology, morphological profile, word classes, word order, grammatical relations and voice, tense, aspect, mood, and evidentiality, and serial verb/multi-predicate constructions. The chapter shows that the languages of Flores and its satellites show considerable diversity.
Languages of Timor and southern Maluku
Authors: Schapper Antoinette , Zobel Erik
Published: September 2024

This chapter provides a typological overview of the Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken in the region extending south from the Kei and Aru Islands, through the Tanimbar and Southwest Moluccan Islands, to Timor and the island of Rote. Using the limited extant materials, the chapter takes a comparative look at what are some of the smallest and least known languages of Island Southeast Asia, outlining key elements of their phonology, morphology, noun phrases, grammatical relations, negative expressions, and serial verb constructions. Particular attention is given to typologically unusual patterns that have been described for these languages, including isolating word structure, synchronic metathesis with morphosyntactic functions, reduplication marking relative clauses and syntactic dependency more broadly, agreement on numerals, and split-S alignment of verbal agreement affixes. Despite some broad typological similarities, the chapter underlines the many divisions that are present in the languages. In the north of the region, Kei has several typological features that diverge from other languages in southern Maluku. Southwest Maluku languages have a divided profile, patterning in some respects like Timor languages and in other respects like Tanimbar languages and to a lesser extent Aru languages. There is also a clear typological split in Timor, with central-eastern Timor languages showing several patterns in common with one another that are typically absent in western Timor and nearby islands.
Malagasy
Authors: Howe Penelope
Published: September 2024

This chapter focuses on typologically interesting features of Malagasy (Madagascar) that have been investigated in recent work, highlighting topics needing further investigation. The language is often noted for its morphosyntactic conservatism, but this claim is based primarily on Official Malagasy and overlooks significant innovations in the Malagasy dialects. The chapter employs dialectal data to highlight these ongoing changes in an overview of phonology, word structure and stress, nouns and pronouns, simple clause structure, voice system, and aspect. Particular attention is given to tonogenesis in Central dialects, which has largely replaced the voicing contrast in the oral obstruent series; pivot-initial order as an alternative to predicate-initial order in Northern Malagasy basic clauses; the way the Malagasy voice system has paradigmatically become less systematic in spite of its morphological similarity to Philippine-type systems; evidence that the circumstantial form creates verbal nouns rather than a voice form but is becoming integrated into the voice system due to its ability to function like and substitute for other voice forms; and the relationship of non-active and active voice forms to measures of semantic transitivity.
Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Case
Authors: Orakhelashvili Alexander
Published: September 2024

In 1933, the Agreement between the Imperial Government of Persia and the Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited (‘1933 Agreement’) was concluded, which defined the terms and duration of certain oil concessions in Iran. This agreement was later ratified by the Iranian Majlis, the Iranian Parliament. In 1951, the Iranian Majlis and Senate passed the → nationalization law related to the oil industry, which extended to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (‘Oil Company’) (→ Concessions; → Property, Right to, International Protection). The United Kingdom (‘UK’) decided to adopt the cause of the Oil Company and brought the matter before the → International Court of Justice (ICJ) by its application of 26 May 1951 (→ Diplomatic Protection). As jurisdictional basis, the UK invoked the 1932 Iranian Declaration under the Optional Clause (‘Iranian Declaration’) of the Statute of the ICJ (‘ICJ Statute’) (→ International Court of Justice, Optional Clause; Anglo-Iranian Case [Preliminary Objection] 103).
ANZUS Pact (1951)
Authors: Holz Wilfried
Published: September 2024

The Security Treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America (‘ANZUS’) is a collective self-defence agreement under Art. 51UN Charter originally limited to the Pacific area (→ Collective Security). The ANZUS Treaty was concluded on 1 September 1951 in San Francisco, United States of America (‘US’), between Australia, New Zealand, and the US, and entered into force on 29 April 1952.
Arab Free Trade Area Agreement (1997)
Authors: Bälz Kilian
Published: September 2024

The Arab Free Trade Area Agreement (‘AFTAA’) was adopted by the Economic and Social Council of the → League of Arab States (LAS) on 19 February 1997 and entered into force on 1 January 1998 (→ Free Trade Areas). The AFTAA initially had 17 Member States: Egypt, → United Arab Emirates (‘UAE’), Bahrain, Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, → Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Oman, → Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, and Yemen. Algeria joined as the 18th Member State in 2009. The AFTAA is an attempt of the LAS at enhancing Arab regional economic integration (→ Economic Integration, Comparative Analysis). Pursuant to Art. 2 Pact of the League of Arab States, the LAS shall inter alia promote ‘cooperation of the member States’ in ‘[e]conomic and financial matters, including trade, customs, currency, agriculture and industry’ (→ Regional Co-operation). In view hereof, joint economic action has been on the agenda of the LAS for many decades, without however producing any significant results.
Berlin West Africa Conference (1884–85)
Authors: Anghie Antony
Published: September 2024

The intensifying competition between European States intent on acquiring territory in Africa in the late 19th century resulted in increasing friction within Europe (→ Colonialism). The Berlin West Africa Conference 1884–1885 (‘Conference’) was convened by Chancellor Bismarck of Germany for the purpose of addressing the political, diplomatic, and legal issues that resulted from this Scramble for Africa, a scramble which involved not only States but various powerful commercial interests such as the British East Africa Company (→ Conferences and Congresses, International). The Conference was held between November 1884 and February 1885. The States who attended the Conference were France, England, Portugal, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, SwedenNorway, Spain and Italy, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire. No African States were present at the Conference that was to have such a profound and enduring impact on the African continent and its peoples. The greatest beneficiary of the Conference, King Leopold II of Belgium was absent, but his interests were furthered by Henry Morton Stanley, the noted explorer, who attended the Conference as a member of the American delegation.
Canevaro Claim Arbitration
Authors: Benedek Wolfgang
Published: September 2024

In 1875 the Peruvian firm José Canevaro & Sons became a creditor of the Peruvian government, which, in 1880, issued government bonds (libramientos) to the firm. Only part of the sum had been paid when, in 1889, the Peruvian government refunded the domestic debt by issuing new bonds, thereby causing a major devaluation of the Canevaro bonds (→ Debts). The firm, however, insisted on full payment. The bonds later passed to the three brothers, Napoleon, Carlos, and Raphael Canevaro by endorsement and by inheritance. Claiming to be Italian nationals (→ Nationality), they asked Italy for → diplomatic protection, which they were accorded. On 25 April 1910, Peru and Italy agreed in a protocol to submit the issue to → arbitration (→ Compromis; see also → Ottoman Debt Arbitration).
Central American Integration System (SICA)
Authors: Riquelme Cortado Rosa
Published: September 2024

The Central American Integration System (Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana; ‘SICA’) is the regional organization of the Central American isthmus, established by the Tegucigalpa Protocol to the Charter of the Organization of Central American States, which was signed 13 December 1991 and entered into force on 23 July 1992. To date, the members of SICA include the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama, as well as Belize, which joined in 2000 (→ Regional Cooperation and Organization: American States). The institutional predecessor of SICA was the Organizationof Central American States(Organización de Estados Centroamericanos; ‘ODECA’), which was established amongst the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua by Art. 22 Charter of the Organization of Central American States (‘San Salvador Charter I’) on 14 December 1951.
Chilean Copper, Nationalization, Review by Courts of Third States
Authors: Lowenfeld Andreas F
Published: September 2024

Copper had been mined in the Republic of Chile (‘Chile’) since the time of the Incas and Spanish colonials, and in the 1870s Chile was the world’s leading producer of copper. Thereafter Chile’s production of copper declined sharply, as its open-pit mines were becoming exhausted. In the second decade of the 20th century, two major American companies, Kennecott Copper Corporation (‘Kennecott’) and Anaconda Copper Company (‘Anaconda’), came to Chile to introduce newly developed technology that made it possible to mine low-grade underground copper ores in large volume. The companies did not receive → concessions; their investments simply took the form of land purchases plus introduction of the necessary equipment. Copper soon regained its position as Chile’s major export, and Chile regained its position as the world’s leading supplier of copper, with about 22% of world consumption. But as the production emanated from two huge mines owned and operated by foreign companies, writers and politicians spoke throughout the 20th century of ‘denationalization’ of their principal industry.
Colonialism
Authors: Axel Kämmerer Jörn
Published: September 2024

Whereas colonization, a form of → conquest usually involving alien dominance and subjugation, has been known to all historic eras, colonialism, at least in its narrower and frequently implied meaning, reaches beyond the mere taking of foreign land and peoples. Generally speaking, it refers to a concerted practice of, in most cases, European States dividing up other inhabited parts of the world amongst themselves. While Spain and Portugal, in the 15th century, took the lead by starting to partition much of the Americas and parts of East Asia, and other powers such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands subsequently followed the pattern, it was in the 19th century when European colonization proliferated and started to acquire features of an ideology, of which the ending ‘-ism’ is characteristic. Imperialism, which colonialism coincides with and is akin to, is marked by a belief in the anthropological, cultural, and political superiority of the European powers and their people, which is sometimes masked as an educative mission.
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
Authors: Killander Magnus
Published: September 2024

In October 1965 ministers of the independent States of Eastern and Southern Africa met in Lusaka, Zambia, under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Africa (‘ECA’) of the → United Nations. An interim council of ministers was established to negotiate a treaty for the establishment of an economic community of Eastern and Southern African States (→ Economic Integration, Comparative Analysis; → Economic Organizations and Groups, International). The project was however put on hold as attention focused on the → East African Community (‘EAC’). With the collapse of the latter in 1977 there was a renewed interest in the ECA initiative. In March 1978, a declaration of intent to create a preferential trade area in Eastern and Southern Africa was signed by 12 States. In December 1981 heads of State and representatives of Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Somalia, Uganda, and Zambia signed the Treaty for the Establishment of the Preferential Trade Area (‘PTA’) for Eastern and Southern Africa (‘PTA Treaty’). The PTA Treaty entered into force in September 1982 when it had been ratified by seven States (→ International Law, Regional Developments: Africa).
Decolonization: French Territories
Authors: Moïse Mbengue Makane
Published: September 2024

In the 19th and the 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was one of the largest in the world, behind the British and the Spanish colonial empires (see also → Decolonization: British Territories; → Decolonization: Spanish Territories). At the end of World War II, the French colonial empire mainly comprised the three Indochinese possessions, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos; the three North African protectorates and colonies, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia (→ Protectorates and Protected States); numerous colonies in the two colonial unions of French West Africa and French Equatorial Africa; Madagascar; Reunion and the Comoro Islands: as well as the two C-mandates and later trust territories, Togo and Cameroon (former German colonies) (→ Mandates; → United Nations Trusteeship System); and the two A-mandates, Syria and Lebanon (former Turkish territories of the Ottoman Empire).
Delagoa Bay Arbitration
Authors: Holm-Hadulla Moritz
Published: September 2024

Delagoa Bay—now Maputo Bay—an inlet of the Indian Ocean situated at the south-east coast of Mozambique near the South African border, was discovered by Antonio de Campo, one of Vasco da Gama’s companions, in the first decade of the 16th century (see also → Bays and Gulfs). After its discovery, the bay was visited by the Portuguese from time to time. The Dutch East India Company established a temporary settlement in the area of the bay in 1721 but abandoned it again in 1730 (→ Territory, Abandonment). Later on, the Portuguese began to build trading stations in the region that were protected by small forts. Regardless of the Portuguese settlement, in 1823 William Fitzwilliam Owen, Captain of the British Royal Navy, concluded → treaties of → cession with native chiefs (→ Indigenous Peoples, Treaties with). Hereupon, dispute arose between Great Britain and Portugal as regards the title to territory related to the southern area of the bay.
Development, International Law of
Authors: Mahiou Ahmed
Published: September 2024

The expression ‘international law of development’ (or ‘international development law’) is attributed to the economist A Philip who, in 1965, on the eve of the first meeting of the → United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), appealed to industrialized countries to take action to establish such law. From that point onward, the expression gained increasing acceptance in legal doctrine (see also → International Legal Theory and Doctrine). If the term has encountered a certain reticence on the part of Anglo-Saxon jurists, who have a tendency not to employ it very much, it has enjoyed growing success among other jurists, notably those working in French, who have played a major role in shaping the debate on the subject, giving rise to a school of international development law of which Virally has been the main proponent.
Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory)
Authors: Afsah Ebrahim
Published: September 2024

Diego Garcia is the largest of six atolls in the Chagos Archipelago comprising 55 uninhabited tropical → islands (jointly 60km2) covering a very large maritime area (54,340km2), further enlarged by the 200 nm → exclusive economic zone covering rich fishing grounds (636,600km2). The average elevation of the islands does not exceed two meters, vegetation is very lush, with a hot, humid climate, and large amounts of precipitation. The main island houses an important United States military base. The islands were known to the native population of Mauritius but were not settled. They were ‘discovered’ by Portuguese seafarers in the early 16th century but deemed too remote for colonial acquisition. Along with the → annexation of Mauritius, the islands were claimed by France in the 18th century, leading in 1776 to the creation of a leper colony, and in 1782 to the establishment of coconut-oil plantations with imported African slave labour (→ Slavery).
Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC)
Authors: Kembayev Zhenis
Published: September 2024

After the implementation of the Treaty on Economic Union (1993)—adopted in the framework of the → Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and aimed at the progressive establishment of a free trade area, a customs union, a common market, and subsequently a monetary union encompassing all CIS countries—proved itself to be a failure, in the second half of the 1990s efforts were made to pursue advanced integration projects at least among those CIS countries which were willing to integrate their economies into an economic union even if only among themselves.
Food, Right to, International Protection
Authors: Mechlem Kerstin
Published: September 2024

The right to food, despite being recognized in numerous binding and non-binding legal instruments since the → Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) (‘UDHR’), is among the least realized → human rights as the persistently high figures on hunger and malnutrition show. Eight hundred and fifty-two million people were undernourished world-wide in 2000–02: 81 million in → developing countries, 28 million in countries in transition, and 9 million in industrialized countries (FAO [2005] para. 7). Two billion more suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, the so-called ‘hidden hunger’, with its devastating effects on mental and physical capacity, health, and life expectancy.
Hamdan Case
Authors: Miller Russell A
Published: September 2024

The US Supreme Court’s lengthy and divided decision in Hamdan v Rumsfeld (2006; ‘Hamdan’) has broad significance because, with this decision, the Supreme Court intervened to impose limits on the authority of the US President in the exercise of his war powers. Thus, Hamdan belongs to the meagre line of Supreme Court cases addressing presidential war powers dating back to the US Civil War (Prize Cases [1863]; Ex parte Milligan [1866]), World War II (Ex parte Quirin [1942]; In re Yamashita [1946]) and the → Korean War (1950–53) (Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co v Sawyer [1952]). More specifically, Hamdan represents one of the peaks of the Supreme Court’s engagement with the assorted security policies, both domestic and international, undertaken by US President George W Bush in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the US (→ Terrorism). In this context, Hamdan was preceded by Rumsfeld v Padilla (2004), Rasul v Bush (2004) and Hamdi v Rumsfeld (2004). Hamdan was followed by Boumediene v Bush (2008).
International Law, Regional Developments: South and South-East Asia
Authors: Desierto Diane A
Published: September 2024

Small and large monarchies comprised ancient (antiquity to AD 711) and medieval (AD 711 to AD 1600) India. Different tiers of statehood, sovereignty, kinship, and hierarchies of suzerain-vassal relations characterized ancient and medieval India. From the least powerful Raja (king), the Maharaja (great king), Samrat (strong emperor), to the Chakravartin (emperor who ruled the entire known Indian subcontinent), ancient and medieval Indian States recognized interState norms on statehood, diplomatic relations, treaties, religious tolerance, non-use of force, neutrality, and humanitarian law. Depending on the nature of the treaty and the security of its performance, analogous to the concept of ‘unequal treaties’ → Treaties, Unequal), Indian kingdoms recognized the binding character of treaties.
Islamic Approach to International Law
Authors: Mahmoudi Said
Published: September 2024

The relationship between Islam and international law has long been studied, primarily in the field of the law of war and international humanitarian law (→ Humanitarian Law, International). Particularly in the past two decades, this relationship has been expanded to some other international law areas including → human rights and international → terrorism. The main reason for this increased attention to the relevance of Islam for international law is States’ and non-State actors’ repeated references to Islamic legal rules for explaining or justifying a certain position in their relations with other international law actors. The relevance of Islam to international law should be assessed with due regard to substantive legal principles and rules that Islam contains.
Latin American Integration Association (ALADI)
Authors: Montt Santiago
Published: September 2024

Latin America’s political and economic integration has been a long sought-after and elusive goal for the region, dating back to its independence from Spain (see also → Economic Integration, Comparative Analysis). The Latin American Integration Association (‘Association’ ‘ALADI’ from the Spanish Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración) represents one of the multiple historical instances of regional integration agreements that have been attempted in Latin America (→ Regional Trade Agreement; → Regional Co-operation and Organization: American States).
Lomé/Cotonou Conventions
Authors: Arts Karin
Published: September 2024

The Lomé Conventions (1975–2000) and the ‘Cotonou Agreement’ (2000–2020) are the international legal instruments that set out the scope, content, form, and terms for international development cooperation between the European Community/Union (‘EC/EU’) and (at present 78) → developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, also referred to as the ACP States. As will be further explained below, the ACP States organized themselves in the ACP Group, which to date (February 2018) consists of 79 States. Cuba is the only State that is a member of the ACP Group but not a party to the Cotonou Agreement.
MERCOSUR
Authors: Peter Schmidt Jan
Published: September 2024

MERCOSUR was launched in 1991 when Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asunción, aiming to create the Common Market of the South (in Spanish Mercado Común del Sur [‘MERCOSUR’], in Portuguese Mercado Comum do Sul [‘MERCOSUL’]). In 1994 MERCOSUR was institutionally restructured by the Protocol of Ouro Preto (‘POP’) and became a subject of international law (→ Subjects of International Law) (see also → International Law, Regional Developments: Latin America; → Regional Co-operation and Organization: American States).
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
Authors: O’Brien Derek
Published: September 2024

The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (‘OECS’) is made up of nine full and associate members spread across the windward and leeward → islands of the eastern Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, → Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands, which remain British overseas territories, have associate member status which means that they are not represented by the overseas missions of the OECS (→ Overseas Territories, Australia, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States of America). These nine countries are not only among the smallest countries in the world, they are also the smallest countries within the → Commonwealth Caribbean. Their small size makes them inherently vulnerable to external pressures both from within the region and from the wider international system due to their limited human resource base and low economic capacity. An acute awareness of their vulnerability has provided these countries with a strong incentive to join together at the sub-regional level to increase their visibility and to strengthen their bargaining power vis-à-vis their more prosperous neighbours in the region and the wider → international community.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Authors: Moos Lisa
Published: September 2024

After World War II the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands effectively controlled all → Middle East crude oil production and its distribution throughout the world through their influence over the so-called Seven Sisters comprising Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso, later replaced by Exxon); British Petroleum (BP, formerly Anglo–Persian Oil Company [APOI], which later became Anglo–Iranian Oil Company [AIOC]); Royal Dutch-Shell; Standard Oil of California (now Chevron); Texaco (now part of Chevron); Standard Oil Co of New York (later Mobile; merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobile); and Gulf Oil. Four of these companies (Exxon, BP, Shell, and Gulf) accounted for over 83 per cent of the world’s crude oil production. This was possible due to the fact that allocation of oil → concessions (→ Oil Concession Disputes, Arbitration on) to these European or US companies took place in the context of colonization (→ colonialism) when the host States still lacked → sovereignty as well as the technical knowledge for the oil production.
Pacific Islands Forum
Authors: Blatt Henning
Published: September 2024

The Forum originates from the struggle of the Pacific Island States to get more of a say in the organization and administration of their own political affairs. After World War II, all territories in the → Pacific Islands region were administered by their colonial powers, ie the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1947, they formed the South Pacific Commission (in 1997 renamed the → Pacific Community [PC]) to address the economic, social, and cultural affairs of their territories at a regional level. Later on, they gave the territories their own voice in the organization’s work, but it was kept as a strictly non-political institution, making it impossible for the Pacific Islanders to make themselves heard in political affairs. With the beginning of French nuclear testing in French Polynesia in 1966 and the unwillingness of the then South Pacific Commission to address their environmental damage, tensions peaked. Following the independence of Fiji in October 1970, and on the eve of another series of French nuclear tests, some Pacific Island heads of government pressed to organize a regional gathering for formal discussions of their political affairs.
Regional Co-operation and Organization: Asian States
Authors: Choi Won-Mog , Baetens Freya
Published: September 2024

Asia is highly diverse in socio-political terms: it contains more than half of the world’s population, displaying a broad variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Asian States are governed by diverging political systems and situated at significantly different levels of economic development. In order to address cross-boundary issues such as migration and pollution, there is a great necessity for → regional co-operation, but little has materialized on the ground thus far.
Regional Cooperation and Organization: Pacific Region
Authors: Hamamoto Shotaro
Published: September 2024

In geographical terms, the pacific region includes the Pacific Ocean, the lands surrounding it, and the → Pacific Islands. The present entry deals principally with regional cooperation in which the Pacific Island States participate (see also → Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation [APEC]; → Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN]).
Saavedra Lamas Treaty (1933)
Authors: Caminos Hugo
Published: September 2024

The Anti-war Treaty of Non-aggression and Conciliation (Tratado Antibélico de No Agresión y Conciliación, hereinafter, the ‘Anti-War Treaty’) also known as the Saavedra Lamas Treaty after its author Dr Carlos Saavedra Lamas (1878–1959), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Argentina, was signed on 10 October 1933 in RÍo de Janeiro and entered into force on 13 November 1935. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, and Uruguay were the original signatories. The Anti-War Treaty was widely supported in the region and out of the 21 American republics constituting the inter-American system at the time, only Bolivia and Costa Rica did not become parties to it.
Singapore Oil Stocks Case
Authors: Paparinskis Martins
Published: September 2024

From 1907 to 1941 the Netherlands Indies Government granted oil → concessions in Sumatra to three Dutch companies. Between them, the companies held all oil concessions and two large oil refineries in Sumatra. By the end of 1941 the companies had established production in their oil reservoirs in the concession areas. At the outbreak of hostilities with Japan, the companies were producing crude oil in commercial quantities from reservoirs under concession contracts and were refining crude oil on a large scale in their refineries. In February 1942 Japan invaded and occupied the Netherlands Indies (→ Occupation, Belligerent). Despite damage done by the retreating Dutch forces, by December 1942 Japanese forces had restored the refineries, and throughout the period of occupation extracted the oil from existing reservoirs and processed it in the refineries.
South African Bantustan Policy
Authors: Dugard John
Published: September 2024

As part of the policy of → apartheid, the South African government conferred ‘independence’ on four entities—Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, and Ciskei—between 1976 and 1981. These entities, known as Bantustans, were not recognized as States by any State other than South Africa and each other. In 1994 they were reincorporated into South Africa. In 1948 the National Party came to power in South Africa on the political platform of apartheid, a system of institutionalized white domination and racial discrimination (→ Racial and Religious Discrimination).
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)
Authors: Suarez Suzette V
Published: September 2024

The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (‘SEATO’) was established under the Southeast Asia Collective Defence Treaty (‘Manila Pact’) on 8 September 1954. The Manila Pact entered into force on 19 February 1955. Of the parties to the Manila Pact, only two are from the Southeast Asian region: the Philippines and Thailand. The other parties are the United States, France, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom.
Treaties, Unequal
Authors: Peters Anne
Published: September 2024

The pejorative term ‘unequal treaties’ (or more polemical ones such as ‘coercive’, ‘predatory’, or ‘enslaving’ → treaties) refers primarily to the bilateral treaties concluded in the second half of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries mostly, but not exclusively, between European powers, the United States, and even Latin-American States on the one hand, and on the other hand, mainly Asian States (→ China, Japan, Siam, → Korea, and others), but also African ones (see for overviews Li; Kleinschmidt). The concept thus symbolizes the division between the Western and the Non-Western, the ‘civilized’ and the ‘uncivilized’ world which pervaded international legal thinking in that historical period.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Authors: Fortin Carlos
Published: September 2024

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (‘UNCTAD’) is a subsidiary organ of the → United Nations, General Assembly (‘UNGA’) within the meaning of Art. 22 → United Nations Charter. It was established by UNGA Resolution 1995 (XIX) of 30 December 1964, following an intense political and diplomatic process that had begun in the early 1960s. Four kinds of factors converged in the drive that led to the creation of UNCTAD. In the economic field, the great dynamism of the golden age of the world economy from 1950 onwards, with both world output and world trade growing at unprecedented rates, was coupled with a deteriorating position of → developing countries in world trade.
Uti possidetis Doctrine
Authors: Nesi Giuseppe
Published: September 2024

The expression uti possidetis originates in Roman law, where it indicated an interdict by the praetor aimed at prohibiting any interference with the possession of immovable property acquired nec vi, nec clam, nec praecario (not by force, nor stealth, nor license). The purpose of uti possidetis was to temporarily assign a favourable position in the ownership action to the individual who possessed that property. In the context of the international law of war, uti possidetis initially (in the 17th century) described the situation on the ground after an armed conflict (see also → Armed Conflict, International).
World Food Council (WFC)
Authors: Mechlem Kerstin
Published: September 2024

The World Food Council (‘WFC’), which existed from 1975–96, was the highest intergovernmental body in the → United Nations (UN) system dealing exclusively with global food problems (see also → Food, Right to, International Protection). Its role was twofold: to develop food policy and to act as a co-ordinating mechanism.
Principles of International Criminal Evidence
Authors: McDermott Yvonne
Published: September 2024

This chapter argues that further development of the law and practice of proving international crimes should be underpinned by two key principles: rectitude of decision and the highest standards of fairness. Starting first with an analysis of the meaning of the idea of a ‘principle’ of international criminal evidence, it then examines each of these two overarching principles (which incorporate other sub-principles, such as upholding the integrity of proceedings) in turn. In analysing rectitude of decision it pushes back against post-structuralist theories, which deny that one objective truth exists, arguing instead that judges in international criminal trials are tasked with discovering the truth, albeit a narrow truth that is filtered through the lens of the crimes charged. In presenting the idea of the highest standards of fairness, it argues that the right to a fair trial is owed to the accused and that it should be interpreted in a manner consistent with key principles of fairness such as legal certainty, equality before the law, non-retroactivity, and impartiality.
The Admission and Exclusion of Evidence
Authors: McDermott Yvonne
Published: September 2024

This chapter outlines the processes for the admission of evidence before international criminal tribunals. It analyses the International Criminal Court’s recent turn towards an approach that favours the widespread ‘submission’ of evidence, deferring decisions on the admissibility of evidence until the deliberation of judgment phase. This chapter also examines the key admissibility considerations of relevance, probative value, and prejudice to the accused, and how they have been interpreted in practice. It concludes with an analysis of the jurisprudence on the exclusion of improperly obtained evidence and argues that international criminal tribunals could take a more rights-protective role in this regard.
Proof on Appeal
Authors: McDermott Yvonne
Published: September 2024

This chapter analyses issues of proving international crimes that arise at the appellate and review stages of proceedings. It argues that the standard of review for alleged errors of fact has evolved to what may now be called ‘tempered deference’. The tempered deference approach means that the Appeals Chamber respects the role of the Trial Chamber in making findings of fact and will not disturb a factual finding just because it would have reached a different conclusion. However, it also requires the Appeals Chamber to closely scrutinise the Trial Chamber’s evaluation of the evidence and whether it provided a fully reasoned opinion, particularly where the evidence is prima facie weak or inconsistent with other evidence on the record. This is a more rigorous and modern approach to the appellate function, in an era where recording technology and courtroom archival practices mean that the Appeals Chamber can often evaluate the evidence just as closely as the Trial Chamber that first received it. This chapter also discusses the sometimes murky distinction between errors of fact, law, and procedure, and the circumstances under which new evidence can be introduced on appeal. Overall, this chapter demonstrates that proving international crimes is by no means limited to the trial stage of proceedings and that appellate chambers have an important role in this regard. It also reveals a still-evolving body of case law in relation to key issues around evidence at the appeal and review proceedings.
Conclusion
Authors: McDermott Yvonne
Published: September 2024

This chapter presents the main findings of the book. They are, first, that international criminal evidence has not yet evolved into a coherent body of law, and second, that the principles of rectitude of decision and the highest standards of fairness should drive the development of a coherent framework for proving international crimes. While international criminal evidence, in its current form, is broadly fit for the purpose of proving international crimes, it could be greatly enhanced through the adoption of a coherent epistemic framework founded on these principles. This chapter also discusses the implications of the study: for the future development of international criminal evidence, for ensuring the quality of evidence on the record, and for strengthening the evaluation of evidence. Lastly, it suggests some directions for future research arising from this study and its implications.
How to Evaluate Political Institutions
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

This chapter addresses the question: how should we evaluate political institutions? The chapter sets out a functionalist conception of political institutions, according to which political institutions are tools that can help us address a wide range of morally significant problems. This functionalist picture recommends a political contextualist approach (as opposed to a political universalist approach), on which moral assessments of political systems can only be made relative to specific background contexts. The chapter also defends a morally constrained functionalist approach, on which there are moral considerations that limit how functional ends can permissibly be pursued. The chapter introduces a new dimension of political evaluation, that of political sensibility, which concerns the ability of a political system to respond to and to address genuine problems that exist in a particular political context. Finally, the chapter concludes by spotlighting several elements of modern political life that are common to many modern political contexts, as a way of helping to enable “apples-to-apples” comparisons of electoral and lottocratic systems.
Bad Press
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

This chapter considers the role of the press and other news media in an electoral democracy, focusing particularly on the way in which news media might address problems of ignorance in order to improve the mechanism of electoral accountability. The chapter suggests that this response, to turn to the news media, although a natural one, and an old one, runs into several deep problems. One problem, foregrounded by Walter Lippmann, concerns the way in which the news media we seek out and trust tend to be that which confirms our stereotypes and fits with our pre-existing views of the world. A second problem, discussed by Neil Postman, is that we tend to engage with the news predominantly to be entertained by it. This affects what news media we seek out and engage with, but it also affects the substance and form of the news media supplied by the for-profit marketplace. These together limit the extent to which news media serve to challenge and educate us as democratic citizens and potential voters. And these concerns make it so that the overwhelming function of news media is to entertain us, to keep us distracted, and to enable us to be variously misled and manipulated by the billionaires who control the for-profit corporate news media infrastructure. The chapter concludes on a note of pessimism about the possibilities for media reform, given the high cost of high-quality journalism, combined with the serious limitations of both for-profit and publicly funded news media.
Vicious Partisanship
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

This chapter presents a problem with electoral democracy that is more endogenous to elections: the problem of vicious partisanship. The partisanship is vicious in two respects: (1) what it does to us, epistemically; and (2) what it does to us, morally, particularly with respect to being able to live and work together in communities of respect and shared purpose. The basic argument is this. Elections like those in the United States lead to a dominant two-party political system (“Duverger’s Law”). This two-party division creates a clear ingroup/outgroup dynamic, which connects to deep-seated emotional and psychological responses (as discussed under the heading of “social identity theory”). The easy availability of these responses primes us to be manipulated to fear and hate those in the outgroup. This, in turn, affects who we trust, who we credit as testifiers, and what sources we seek out. We become epistemic partisans. This combination of emotional distortion and epistemic partisanship leads to social sorting and segregation in terms of neighborhood, workplace, friend groups, religion, cultural activities, and consumer behavior. This, in turn, intensifies the ingroup/outgroup dynamic, reinforcing the partisan distortion. We see the other side not just as people who disagree with us about politics, but as idiots, people who are morally vile, corrupted, misguided, and unredeemable. This is the situation that many political communities are now in—one in which working together to identify and solve the moral-political problems we face is almost impossible to imagine. And it starts with elections.
Modest Responses and Their Limitations
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

This chapter summarizes the concerns about electoral representative democracy identified in the previous chapters, sorts them into either constitutive or conditional problems of electoral democracy, and presents (and raises concerns about) several possible reforms that retain elections as a central component of the political system. The chapter argues that although these comparatively modest responses might result in some improvements, they do not effectively address the core concerns, and so we should be open to more radical reforms. The reforms discussed include introducing epistocratic or technocratic elements such as plural voting or “modelled” democracy, implementing broad public education and media reform, reducing the size of political communities, regulating campaign finance and providing public financing of electoral campaigns, restricting lobbying and revolving door politics, regulating political speech, reducing background socioeconomic inequality, and implementing approval voting or single-transferable vote systems. Although many of these reforms are worth pursuing, and many would make a positive difference, the chapter also argues that we should not put all of our eggs in these baskets, and that we should develop alternative ideas in case we end up doubting the viability of the basic electoral mechanism in the modern political context.
Introduction to the Use of Random Selection in Politics
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

This chapter provides a brief historical and contemporary overview of the use of random selection in politics, and introduces and discusses several recent proposals to introduce random selection into modern political structures. The aim of the chapter is to illustrate that the use of sortition is not a mere thought experiment and to present and evaluate some of the institutions and proposals that employ random selection elements. These examples and proposals all involve using random selection alongside electoral institutions and/or mass-scale direct democratic mechanisms. The precise role varies. In most contemporary examples, randomly chosen citizens serve on one-off Citizens’ Assemblies or Citizens’ Juries that work as an informational supplement or consultative body to standing electoral institutions. On most proposals, randomly chosen citizens would be brought into the political process by serving on a sortition-selected chamber alongside an electoral chamber as part of a generalist bicameral legislature, or (less commonly) by serving in a “people’s branch” of government, alongside other familiar branches of government. The chapter discusses concerns about systems that retain a substantial role for elections and argues that “hybrid” systems might actually result in the worst of both systems, rather than the best of both. The chapter engages with ideas from James Fishkin, Erik Olin Wright, John Gastil, Arash Abizadeh, and Hélène Landemore, among others. The chapter concludes by suggesting the need to consider fully non-electoral alternatives.
The Lottocratic Alternative
Authors: Guerrero Alexander
Published: September 2024

This chapter introduces a political system that puts lottery-selected citizens at the heart of the political system, replacing the use of elections. That system, lottocracy, has several key elements: a network of single-issue legislative bodies (“SILLs”); random selection as the mechanism by which political representatives are chosen; the use of learning phases and agenda setting phases in which structured presentations and discussions of experts, advocates, and stakeholders take place; the use of various mechanisms of community consultation; direct enactment power for each of the single-issue legislative bodies; and a complex system of structural assemblies and executive assemblies alongside the basic legislative structure. This chapter explains the details of many of those elements in order to provide a basic overview of the lottocratic system.