HUMAN RIGHTS: THE REAL COST OF WAR

In: Mediterranean quarterly: a journal of global issues, Band 3, Heft 2, S. 1-7

Abstract

WAR VIOLATES BASIC HUMAN VALUES AND IGNORES LAW DESIGNED OVER CENTURES, EVEN MILLENNIA, THAT PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF ONE PERSON LIVING ADJACENT TO ANOTHER. IN THE 1980S, THE AVERAGE ANNUAL WORLDWIDE EXPENDITURE FOR DEFENSE WAS ONE TRILLION U.S. DOLLARS, WHICH IS A THOUSAND BILLION DOLLARS--TWO MILLION DOLLARS EVERY MINUTE. JIMMY CARTER SUGGESTS THAT THE WORLD COMMUNITY CAN AND MUST DO SOMETHING TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION AND DEPRIVATION. HE ADVOCATES THE LEARNING OF GENERIC PRINCIPLES ON WHICH HUMANITY CAN MOVE FORWARD TO A TIME WHEN WARS ARE NOT TREATED AS LITTLE NUISANCES OR, WORSE, IGNORED, BUT ARE ELEVATED TO THEIR PROPER PLACE AS MATTERS OF PRESSING INTERNATIONAL CONCERN.