Suchergebnisse

The Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been hailed as a legal instrument that would integrate the ten constituent members as a community and a regional organization. Ostensibly, the Charter has three strategic thrusts in support of the vision of the ASEAN Community. The first is to formalize ASEAN as an institution while streamlining its decision-making processes. Secondly, the Charter seeks to strengthen ASEAN institutions. Thirdly, it seeks to establish mechanisms to monitor compliance and settle disputes. The article considers the extent to which the Charter will help ASEAN achieve its aims. This is especially pertinent in light of the Charter's reaffirmation of ASEAN's longstanding policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs and the retention of consultation and consensus as a fundamental tenet of decision-making. It also considers whether the Charter will facilitate the creation of new norms and values, and protect democracy and human rights.

For almost a decade, the Kingdom of Nepal has been confronting a civil war (termed People's War) launched by the Maoist faction of the Communist Party of Nepal, with a view to replace the current political system of governance (multi-party democracy with a constitutional monarchy - put in place in 1990) by a secular communist republic. Relying essentially on guerilla methods and tactics, the Maoists have successfully gained of a vast territorial area, and this has created a type of triangular power equation in the country. Nepal's experience is in a number of ways similar to that of other South Asian countries which have also long suffered from civil war, both from the standpoint of a composite of cause and effect as well as the methods used to attempt conflict management. Against the background of a commonalty of problems, which occasionally overlap, this article attempts to assess the legal and economic implications of the decade-long conflict on Nepal's social and political governance, along with some suggestions in favor of peace-making. Adapted from the source document.