Suchergebnisse

The article compares the Norwegian & the German political debate on changes to the respective countries' citizenship laws. The Norwegian law will come into force in September 2006, while the German law was introduced in 2000. In citizenship laws we can find a contrast between an ethnic & cultural understanding of political community & a rights-based understanding. This contrast was hardly touched upon in the Norwegian debate. Among the Norwegian political parties there was broad agreement to carry on with the principle of ethnic decent. Moreover, all parties, with an exception of the Socialist Left Party (SV), wanted to introduce more restrictions on the established Norwegian practice to accept dual citizenship. The German debate dealt with the contrasting principles, & the conflict followed the left/right cleavages. The main difference found between the two countries refers to the left parties. Both with regard to the principle of ethnic decent/territorial principle & the acceptance of dual citizenship, the Social Democrats in Norway & Germany presented opposite standpoints. References. Adapted from the source document.

The Liberian state was originally founded by freed American slaves, or Americo-Liberians, who became the elite group of the country and against whom the natives fought. A bloody war lasted from 1989 to 2003 between the 16 different groups of people, which eventually tapered down in 2003 when the United Nations re-entered the country. Since then, the UN has fought for increased security and against corruption and conflicts, which were reduced by democratizing and localizing the political power. The major unsolved problems evolve around citizenship and landownership issues. Commissions have been set up to solve these, but they lack funding, political support and a clear mandate. The 100,000 soldiers that became unemployed after the war ended are also causing concerns in a newly stabilized country that essentially lacks legitimacy among its people. L. Pitkaniemi

A little over a month before election day, victory in the race between George W. Bush & John Kerry appeared to depend on closely divided opinion among voters in a few battleground states, whose blocks of votes in the Electoral College could well decide the outcome. The essay interprets polls, interviews, & news reports with registered voters in four of these states: two so-called small states, one leaning toward Bush (MO) & one leaning toward Kerry (WA); & two large states, both highly contested, but one leaning toward Bush in some recent polls (OH), & another where opinion is too close to call the likely result (PA). The analysis focuses on the issues that voters considered most important in these states & nationally, policy regarding the economic problems, especially job losses, & approaches to dealing with terrorism & the war in Iraq. 28 References. Adapted from the source document.

It is a long known fact that climate change will result in sea level rise and dramatically changed coastlines for a number of coastal States, and the physical consequences of sea level rise are most likely unavoidable for several coastal States due to their geographical location, size and topography. It is highly debatable whether the Law of the Sea Convention is equipped for dealing with the current challenges of sea level rise and maritime limits, and it may be argued that its rule of ambulatory baselines may contribute to loss of territory, relocation of maritime zones, uncertainty and instability.
This article investigates the current status of the law regulating maritime limits which may be affected by sea level rise, and argues that the best solution is to adapt the law within the current legal framework of the Law of the Sea, by undertaking a liberal interpretation of the already existing provisions of the LOSC, instead of invoking the amendment procedures of the LOSC, a new supplementary agreement or creating new customary law. In particular, the article explores the option of re-interpreting the law of baselines in Article 7, offering an adapting measure that mitigates the climate change effects on sea level rise. It is argued that a liberal interpretation of the LOSC can contribute to increased stability and juridical protection of the maritime entitlements for some of the States suffering the consequences of sea level rise.