readings 3 Flashcards
Why NATO must admit ukraine -kuleba
- ukraine must become NATO member, without delay
- increasing majority of Ukrainians supporting membership
- Ukraine is divided on NATO accession is outdates
- Russian aggression against Ukraine has strengthened alliance’s purpose and unity
- dismisess concerns that admitting Ukraine would provoke Russia, citing Finland’s accession not leading to conflict
- NATO overly cautious - resulting in negative conseuquences for Ukrainians and allowing Russia to undermine western security
- Ukraine contributions to NATO: experience countering hybrid threats, innovation, improving alliance’s ability to fight modern wars
don’t let ukraine join nato - Logan and shifrinson
- historical context: NATO members have traditionally avoided expanding the alliance to states facing immediate risk of attack; commitment within NATO to fight and die for one another
- russian reaction: potential for nuclear war, conflicts in Georgia in 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014
- credibility of article 5 guarantees: extending article 5 guarantees to Ukraine could potentially draw US into direct conflict with Russia, argues that such a commitment may be questioned risking credibility crisis for NATO
- costs of defending ukraine: burden of defending ukraine would fall disproportionately on US
- perverse inventive for Moscow: incentivize russia to prolong conflict to prevent Ukraine’s accession, making diplomatic settlement less likely
- changing circumstances: post Cold War era - US could expand commitments at low cost, no longer exist and current challenges demand a more cautious approach
international cooperation on climate change: numbers, interests and institutions -victor
1) issues with kyoto protocol
- major emitters like US, China, Russia have limited commitments or face no emission limits
- commitments made are often non-cooperative and represent actions countries would have taken anyway
2) analysis of international cooperation
- demand for cooperation should be viewed through the lens of individual societies and their interests
3) membership in cooperation
- smaller group of essential countries is more effective for dealing with global problems like climate change, as broader agreements become too complex
4) design of institutions: non-binding agreements are more flexible and less prone to noncompliance concerns
- binding agreements play a role in codifying existing efforts rather than leading action
5) proposal for effective cooperation:
- creating a club of a small number of important countries to foster serious cooperation on climate change
- new institution like proposed Leader of the Twenty key countries could be more effective
6) focus on effective solutions
- need for large scale research and demonstration of new technologies, strategies for engaging developing countries
- international cooperation
The Arctic Melting. Here’s why cooperation and diplomacy get so complicated -McFarland
- arctic warming at twice the global rate leading to heatwaves, fires, melting of polar ice cap
- new global commons
- geopolitical implications: opens up new sea routes, potentially leading to resource extraction opportunities and commercial advantages
- resource extraction: energy and mineral resources, potential environmental concerns like oil spills lack of plan to combat this
- expanded sea lanes: reduces maritime transit times, environmental impact, routes pass through Bering Strait (environmentally sensitive area)
- national security: growing interest in several countries can lead to conflict, russia and china have strategic plans in region while western allies express concerns over military expansion and infrastructure development, new arctic airfields, deep water ports
When the System Fails -Patrick
- pandemic has revealed both the limits of the existing multilateral system and the costs of the system’s failure
- interconnectedness of nations due to globalization has led to challenges in managing health crises: arctic, geopolitical shifts, resource extraction
- COVID pandemic has seen nations adopting nationalist approaches, hindering global cooperation
- lack of collaboration, consultation, and joint planning among governments has resulted in a lack of global policy coherence
- china’s resistance to international cooperation and sharing scientific expertise - contribution to pandemic
last man standing -osnos and entous
- on jan 3 US launched drone strike that executed major general qassem suleimani chief of Iran’s elite special-forces-and-intelligence unit
- since Hague convention of 1907 killing a foreign government official outside of wartime has generally been barred by the law of armed conflict
- state’s decision to kill hinges less on definitive matters of law - set of highly malleable political, moral, and visceral considerations
- trump’s order culmination of a grand strategic gamble to change middle east
- killing a person in national defense rests on a moral and strategic case, not plainly political
- killings that are extraordinary and should be happening only in the narrowest of circumstance have become almost an ordinary US response - this person may have at some point been plotting a terrorist attack, we wouldn’t be able to stop him, so let’s just kill him
- 3 leaders from Lebanon, syria and Iran but only given permission to kill Mughniyeh
- US and Israel made a point of avoiding any claim of responsibility
- there is little benefit to targeting militants with limited power, yet the deaths of high profile opponents can have deep repercussions
- suleimani was not a leader of a stateless cabal but a high ranking rep of one of hte most populous nations in the Middle East, not in conventional war with the US
- trump convened a triumphant press conference
- CIA director believed the killing of suleimani was illegal
- result of trump’s decision was that anybody would be fair game
