The Duck of Minerva

Alana Tiemessen

Recent Posts

Doom and Gloom 101: Making Weak and Failed States Teachable

by Alana Tiemessen | 12 October, 2011 |

Nothing risks inviting cynicism and despair like teaching and learning about failed states. For the second year I'm teaching an upper level International Relations course titled "Weak and Failed States" in the Poli Sci Department at UMass Amherst. Much to the confusion of my students, I introduce the course by explaining that "weak and failed states" is a highly contested concept, driven more by policy agendas than empirical consistencies, and analytical re-conceptualized so many times over that it's almost entirely useless. In other words, welcome to Political Science! But, as a catch-all...

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Learn to Love Lawfare

by Alana Tiemessen | 19 September, 2011 |

Photo courtesy of Etsy. The perfect lawfare key chain!Over at the Lawfare blog, Jack Goldsmith recently offered up a "mea culpa" on his changing views of the concept and practice of lawfare. I don't want to address the specifics of that post, but this and the Libya situation got me thinking again that a non-pejorative conceptualization of lawfare needs to be put forward. Particularly in the context of the International Criminal Court. Stay tuned. But for now...Charles Dunlap defends that his original conception of lawfare was meant to be a neutral one. But it has since been co-opted by...

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Crimes in and of Famine

by Alana Tiemessen | 16 August, 2011 |

If you find the argument that famine is man-made to be credible, then famine is not just an inevitable outcome of the structural conditions of "failed states" but rather it is purposeful, systematic, and systemic human rights abuse and therefore criminal. Those who make the argument that the current famine in East Africa is man-made place more blame on political problems of restricted access, entitlements and aid management than the environmental factors of drought, overpopulation, and food scarcity. That Somalia has been hit harder by famine than neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya underscores...

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Impunity Gap: Syria

by Alana Tiemessen | 12 August, 2011 |

There is a near absence of calls for accountability in the international responses to the ongoing and escalating violence in Syria. Unlike in the Libya situation, where there was a swift UN Security Council Resolution mandating both the use of force and a referral to the International Criminal Court, influential states and human rights groups have yet to stand firm on either type of response for Syria. Is it simply premature or counter-productive to demand justice when violence has yet to cease? Or are the political and security implications of removing Assad greater than the risks of...

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Impunity Gap: Sri Lanka

by Alana Tiemessen | 15 July, 2011 |

(see first post in this series: Mind the Impunity Gaps)There is increasing pressure for justice in Sri Lanka for crimes committed in the long civil war between the Government and secessionist Tamil Tigers (LTTE) and that ended in May 2009. While the Sri Lankan government has publicly pledged to ensure justice, there are legitimate concerns its current approach will not be genuine and sufficiently punitive, and will place the burden of guilt for war crimes and crimes against humanity on the LTTE while institutionalizing impunity for crimes committed by Government forces."Sri Lanka's Killing...

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Mind the Impunity Gaps

by Alana Tiemessen | 14 July, 2011 |

This is the first of a series of posts on "impunity gaps" in justice for atrocities that constitute genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. There has been a resurgence of optimism for international and transitional justice because the ICC's judicial intervention in Libya and recent high-profile arrests and trial completions at the ICTR and ICTY. But I would like to shed some light on impunity gaps that persist for and within high-profile cases and for low-profile cases beyond the International Criminal Court.An impunity gap can manifest itself in several ways:There are no genuine...

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Who Will Arrest Gaddafi? Not It!

by Alana Tiemessen | 30 June, 2011 |

On June 27th the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, and chief of military intelligence Abdualla Al-Senussi for:crimes against humanity (murder and persecution) allegedly committed across Libya from 15 February 2011 until at least 28 February 2011, through the State apparatus and Security Forces.The judges believe there is "reasonable grounds" to attribute criminal responsibility to these three individuals for the deaths of (at least) hundreds of civilians during the protests. There are no allegations of the...

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Visualizing the “Misery” of Failed States

by Alana Tiemessen | 21 June, 2011 |

Foreign Policy magazine has just released their yearly Failed States Index ("A Year in Misery: The 2011 Failed States Index"), which also includes their photo essay called "Postcards from Hell."This photo essay raises the ire of those who criticize it as "poverty porn." This criticism is usually directed at aid organizations (see here and here) that exploit and misrepresent people's poverty and insecurity through shocking images to generate support and fundraising. As the infamous article "How to Write About Africa" satirically prescribed:"Among your characters you must always include The...

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International Justice Scholars and Advocates: One Big Happy Principled Family?

by Alana Tiemessen | 6 June, 2011 |

David Bosco posted "The Case for Impunity" today on his Foreign Policy blog, The Multilateralist. The central issue in the post is whether the ICC's intervention in Libya has prolonged the conflict, by taking away Gaddafi's option to go into exile, and whether international justice can credibly deter war criminals. I nodded my way through the first few paragraphs, until I got to the end. Bosco makes a sweeping claim about "international justice advocates":"It's a bit disconcerting that international justice advocates rarely acknowledge the possible downsides of international judicial...

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Notorious BIG Fish: Mladic and Munyagishari

by Alana Tiemessen | 30 May, 2011 |

The capture of Ratko Mladic and his pending transfer to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has become another boon for international justice in a year where war criminals seem to be dropping like flies. But there's an interesting debate to be had over whether this arrest signals a stronger commitment to end impunity on principle or its combined success with political and pragmatic imperatives. Of course, it's both. Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch argues that the international community's "principled pressure for justice" worked with Serbia - and the...

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