Question:
Discuss the critical perspective of an international relations researcher?
Answer:
A critical overview
Through the critical perspective of an international relations researcher, Donnelly examines the rapid evolution of international human rights by exploring the integral roles of human association at the individual, state and international level in his book “International Human Rights”. The book primarily sets its ground in the post world war II time zone. It is an analytical attempt to look at the International standpoint of human rights issues. The book is more about Donnelly’s arguments and critical evaluation and less about the general perspective. The book is divided into three parts which analyze three different areas of International human rights. The first part talks about the act of evolution and the relative theory, the second part discusses international, local and transnational activities while the third and the final part talks about the post world war II International Human Rights issues (Donnelly, 2013).
Unveiling the first part
The first part begins with a cursory chapter exploring the broad areas of how human rights emerged and how it has been on an evolutionary path ever since. The norms and laws have changed post World War II to include better theories and activity lists (Baylis et al., 2013). An outline of the present regime of international human rights is also drawn in the first part. The next few chapters discuss the theories of human rights. Philosophical issues, the standpoint of human rights today, realists’ criticism and their responses are discussed in brief detail. The chapters go on to talk about Universalist as well as relative culture based issues of hate and discrimination due to sexual orientation and other stereotypical choices. Donnelly argues about the weak Universalist stance again such acts and the urge International bodies have to protect discriminating legislation. The first part ends with discussion of human rights violations in the 1970s and 1980s in South America
And then comes the second part
The next chapters are short and crisp, and they discuss different global, local and transnational concepts, activities as well as instruments of human rights. The chapters begin on a formal note to discuss different human rights sections dealing with regional and global instruments like the UN and governing bodies and goes on to talk about local areas of interest like states and their individual policies. The chapters also analyze the role of independent and government advocated non-government bodies in promoting and monitoring levels of human rights compliancy. The chapter ends on a comparative note which talks about the role of different national, international and domestic forces/actors in instances of human rights violations. Several pre-cold war cases like Apartheid in South Africa find their place in the last few chapters (Mingst, 2013). This set up a formal ground for the last few chapters of the book which clearly discusses several post World War II cases of international human rights violation.
The final cut
The final few chapters sway away from generalization and spotlights on several different issues and cases where International human rights played a part. The chapter categorizes various facts about human rights in China, instances of the importance of humanitarian interventions, effect human rights on globalization and the connection between human rights and terrorism. The chapters talk about why human rights are violated, what can be done to prevent them, how can interventions be brought about when troops are divided and countries are confused about their interest in the matter of concern. A concrete example of such an issue is the Rwanda genocide. 800.000 people of Tutsi minority and Hutu moderates were murdered in the east-central African nation of Rwanda in the year 1994 (Adler, 2013). The massacre lasted from April to July. The massacre originated after a plane carrying Habyarimana and Burundi’s president Cyprien Ntaryamira crashed on April 6; 1994 crashed after being shot down over Kigali (Onuf, 2012).
The “Ghosts of Rwanda.”
On the 10-year anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide, a documentary was released by the name of “Ghosts of Rwanda” to remember the dead and to learn a lesson from the past. The movie talks about the genocide and the political as well as human rights decisions that were taken and not taken due to divided interests of the nations which affected the result of the incident (Carlsnaes et al., 2013).
The standpoint of the Americans-The US government resisted intervention from the very beginning. The interests were divided; priorities were different and domestic as well as bureaucratic politics were involved. During the time of the massacre several opportunities to intervene were disregarded by the US government. Several excerpts from the active US officials paint a clear picture about US’s stand-point in the situation (“Analysis | Ghosts Of Rwanda | FRONTLINE | PBS”, 2016).
What can we learn-Many years have passed since the massacre. Have America and other world powers learned from the incident? The importance to raise one’s voice and to state one’s opinion and clear out the air during such an incident is of utmost importance according to the leaders of the time like Kofi Annan, David Rawson, Madeleine Albright and Samantha Power.
The Rwandan Legacy- The massacre haunts the participating nations as well as the non-participating nations. The decision makers can still feel the sting of their good and bad decisions. The in-field experts, the survivors and the killers themselves can see the happenings of those three months in front of their eyes to this day. The movie brings in their experiences through their interview.
The Rwanda Genocide has set an example to the world powers. This has happened before and can happen again. International human rights can be harmed again if the nations fail to intervene when the time is right (Donnelly, 2012)
Questions
- What International human rights issues has Rwanda Genocide brought to the forefront?
- How can the arena of International human rights be changed?
- Cite examples of how Donnelly has compared the impact of intervention on crisis control.
- Critically analyze and correspond the “Ghost of Rwanda” with the book “International Human Rights” by Jack Donnelly.
- Would the act of “speaking out” have helped solve the Rwandan crisis?
References
Adler, E. (2013). Constructivism in international relations: sources, contributions, and debates. Handbook of international relations, 2, 112-144.
Analysis | Ghosts Of Rwanda | FRONTLINE | PBS. (2016). Pbs.org. Retrieved 6 March 2016, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/themes/
Baylis, J., Smith, S., & Owens, P. (2013). The globalization of world politics: An introduction to international relations. Oxford University Press.
Carlsnaes, W., Risse, T., Simmons, B. A., Burchill, S., Linklater, A., Devetak, R., … & True, J. (2013). POLS 660: Theories of International Politics Fall 2013.
Donnelly, J. (2012). The elements of the structures of international systems.International Organization, 66(04), 609-643.
Donnelly, J. (2013). Universal human rights in theory and practice. Cornell University Press.
Intext: (“Analysis | Ghosts Of Rwanda | FRONTLINE | PBS”, 2016)
Mingst, K. A., & Arreguín-Toft, I. M. (2013). Essentials of International Relations: Sixth International Student Edition. WW Norton & Company.
Onuf, N. G. (2012). World of our making: rules and rule in social theory and international relations. Routledge.
