Refugees: The Long Road to Protection
Editors’ Note:
The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs was conceived at a historical fulcrum: the Cold War outlook on international relations that had once dominated thought and practice had been replaced by nebulous uncertainty. The Journal‘s mission was to address that uncertainty– not by recycling tired debates, but by harnessing old insights in innovative ways that would help to reveal and resolve the crucial issues of the future.
The horrors of September 11 and their aftermath provide the first glimpse of what may be the defining international cleavages of the twenty-first century, but they also re-expose the face of an often overlooked problem: forced migration. As a byproduct of its two decades of conflict, Afghanistan suffers the largest refugee crisis in the world. Its neighbor, Pakistan, hosts over 2 million forced migrants, while Iran has become a refuge for some 1.5 million. Throughout the world, a total of 22 million people live in limbo, uprooted from their homes, praying for a time when they can return to their countries and rebuild their lives and communities.
With trenchant analysis and a careful reading of recent history, our Forum contributors assess where protection of refugees stands fifty years after the creation of the 1952 UN Refugee Convention, and extract important lessons to aid the world community in its trek down the long road to protection.
– Heidi Arola & Nikhil Patel
Forum: Refugees
- Introduction by Susan Martin | Read
This Forum marks– not celebrates– the anniversary of the Refugee Convention. Despite progress during the past fifty years in protecting and assisting refugees, there continue to be far too many unprotected displaced persons in the world to find cause for celebration. Refugee protection requires renewed commitment not only to humane treatment of those forced to flee their homes, but also to new initiatives that address the causes of such flight and provide durable solutions for the displaced.
- The Refugee Convention at Fifty by Erika Feller | Read
- Practicing at Home What We Preach Abroad: Four Lessons on Refugee Policy from the Clinton Administration by Eric Schwartz | Read
- International Refugee Law in East Africa: An Evolving Regime by Khoti Kamanga | Read
- The Protection of Refugee Women and Children: Litmus Test for International Regime Success by Wendy A. Young | Read
Business & Finance
- Coffee Crisis: The Case for a Regulated Market by John M. Talbot| Read
How much are you willing to pay for a Fair cup o’ joe?
- Reaching for the Light Andres Velasco, interviewed by Carol Lancaster | Read
A close look at Latin America’s economic problems and prospects.
Conflict & Security
- An Emerging Synthesis for a New Way of War: Combination Warfare and Future Innovation by James Callard and Peter Faber | Read
A 27-piece tool kit for war in the twenty-first century.
- Russia and Northeast Asia: Facing a Rising China by Leszek Buszynski | Read
Whether it wants to or not, Russia must look out its window on the East.
Culture & Society
- Getting Real about Global Hip Hop by Yvonne Bynoe | Read
While rap music has been globalized, Hip Hop culture cannot be.
Law & Ethics
- The Just War Doctrine and Covert Responses to Terrorism by Catherine Lotrionte | Read
Old ethical insights still matter in a shadowy new world.
Politics & Diplomacy
- Democracy Close to Home: Citizen Participation and Local Governance by Andrew D. Selee | Read
Decentralization can deepen democracy, but first it must overcome several challenges.
- Paradigm Shift: Japan’s Foreign Policy in the New Era by Masatoshi Honda | Read
The Yoshida Doctrine is ailing. What comes next?
Science & Technology
- Rumsfeld Aims for the Stars: An Arms Control Alternative to the Pentagon’s Plans in Space by Jeffrey Lewis | Read
Weaponization will not prevent a Pearl Harbor in space.
- Where Science Meets Statecraft Norman P. Neureiter, interviewed by Charles Weiss | Read
The State Department grapples with diplomacy in the digital Age.
Facing a New Threat
- Building International Defenses against Terrorism: A Comprehensive Strategy by Gareth Evans| Read
Fighting global terror requires global cooperation.
- Defending America by Joseph Cirincione| Read
Biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons may be just the tip of the iceberg.
- The United Nations Joins the New War by Nancy E. Soderberg| Read
On the ground and at the negotiating table, the UN must play a role.
Books
- Unraveling Chinese Political Culture | Read
Mark T. Fung reviews Joseph Fewsmith’s China Since Tiananmen: The Politics of Transition.
- Missile Defense without Global Diplomacy | Read
Theresa Hitchens reviews James J. Wirtz and Jeffrey A. Larsen’s Rockets’ Red Glare: Missile Defenses and the Future of World Politics.
View From the Ground
- The Red Herring in the Sands of Sudan by Denis Dragovic | Read
Without peace, foreign aid obscures real solutions to Sudan’s humanitarian problem.
A Look Back
- Reflections of an Algerian Moslem: The September 11 Attacks and Their Historical Significance in the Fight against Terrorism by Idriss Jazairy| Read
From Washington to Algiers, we’re in this together.