Bensouda, Bellinger on ICC: video

Fatou Bensouda

The International Criminal Court: A New Approach to International Relations was the topic of a presentation earlier this month at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Speaking was ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda; moderating was John B. Bellinger III, former Legal Adviser to the U.S. Department of State.
Video of the hour-long event, which was cosponsored by the American Society of International Law, is here.

It's a START

The same week as the release of a new U.S. nuclear strategy, a New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty is to be signed in Prague Thursday by the Presidents of Russia and the United States.
Well known is the treaty's acronym, START. Or, to use the term preferred by the White House, New START. (Prior posts on nuclear policy are here, here, and here.)
"New START" marks a distinction from START I, a multilateral treaty due to expire toward the end of this year. START I had been negotiated before the fall of the Soviet Union; it entered into force thereafter, with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States exchanging instruments of ratification in Budapest on December 5, 1994.
Another reason for preferring "New START": START II proved a bit of a false start. Signed in 1993 by U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin and fully ratified by 2000, the treaty never was implemented. As explained in a Moscow Times story yesterday,

Russia withdrew from START II in 2002, the day after the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

The aim of START I was to reduce levels of "strategic offensive arms" -- including nuclear warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles -- in 3 phases. At the end, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine were to "have no strategic nuclear forces," while U.S. and Russian "strategic arsenals" were to be "reduced by 30–40 percent."

New START, announced a week ago Monday, is the result of protracted negotiations that included the Presidents' side meeting during Copenhagen, the December climate change conference. As described by former State Department official Stephen Sestanovich, now a Columbia diplomacy professor and a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations the 2 countries have detailed in New START

cuts of hundreds of strategic nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles as the main lever of their so-called 'reset.'

(photo credit; and see here) Also key, according to the White House, is a "verification regime" that "will provide the ability to monitor all aspects of the Treaty."

Promising stuff, at least through signing. But then comes the ratification. Although Sestanovich is optimistic, some predict ratification difficulties Stateside:

[T]he Russian daily Kommersant reported that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev likely won't have difficulty getting the Russian Parliament to ratify the agreement, but U.S. President Barack Obama will have a harder time achieving the two-thirds majority needed for passage by the U.S. Senate [right].

Perhaps more than one new start is in order.

Look On! "Silence: Rape in Congo"

(Look On! takes occasional note of noteworthy films.)

For those who have not yet seen The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, try to view this documentary by Lisa F. Jackson (below right). It won the Special Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and has been broadcast in the US, including on HBO. You can see a video clip here.
Last week the Council on Foreign Relations hosted a screening, followed by a panel with filmmaker Jackson and Ambassador Atoki Ileka, the DRC's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council,, moderated.
From the vantage point of spreading the film's call for an end to impunity for rape, it was impressive to learn that the film was recently shown in the Congolese National Assembly. More than 600 people were there, including the president of the National Assembly, Vital Kamerhe, the president of the Senate, Kengo Wa Dondo, the deputy prime minister, Nzanga Mobutu, and the gender minister, Marie Ange Lukiana Mufankolo. President Joseph Kabila was absent.
Perhaps even more impressive, throughout January The Greatest Silence is airing on Congolese National Television in three different languages.
When watching the film, pay particular attention to Major Honorine Munyole, quoted below in a separate post, as she goes about her rounds and raises her four children. Munyole is the chief -- indeed, the only member -- of the sex crime unit of the Congolese National Police. Also, for those looking for results-oriented charitable deductions, consider the International Rescue Committee's support of the Panzi Hospital for rape victims.

(credit for photos at left and above right)

Boxing Days Future

Today is Boxing Day, a holiday traditionally celebrated in Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom by giving cash or durable goods to "those less fortunate." It seems, then, an appropriate day to reflect on the effects of the current financial crisis on American foreign assistance spending. As we tighten our belts in response to the economic meltdown and in fear of an ongoing credit crunch, limiting aid to the developing world might seem a sensible step. However, Laurie Garrett, a Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations, explains:

[I]n so doing Congress risks not only reversing all that has been achieved with U.S. tax dollars since 1990, but endangering the lives of millions of people. Furthermore, any backpedaling in U.S. support risks undermining disease surveillance and response capabilities, thereby directly threatening American security.

As we reel from news of Ponzi schemes and corporate implosions that impact the uber-rich to the working class here in the United States, it is all too easy to forget that the cost of a severe recession will be amplified in the developing world. In the words of Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank:

While people in the developed world are focused on the financial crisis, many forget that a human crisis is rapidly unfolding in developing countries. It is pushing poor people to the brink of survival.

High food prices will push an estimated 44 million of the world's poorest people into malnutrition this year. Despite economic hardships in the United States, this is no time to turn our back on those who will suffer the most from the financial crisis. The Obama administration should do its utmost to ensure a strong commitment to foreign assistance, as further detailed by groups such as the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. Here's hoping that's what we'll see on Boxing Days future.