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This paper analyses ASEAN's diplomatic style using Hofstede's theory of Cultural Dilemma Indicators and uses it to explain why the organization has failed to stop on-going cultural conflicts such as the PreahVihear temple dispute. There are 13 cultural dilemma indicators discussed in the paper, each is backed with an example which in the end leads to the conclusion that the government of each ASEAN member state must invest in longterm yet effective solutions. These solutions are necessary since ASEAN is embarking on ASEAN Community (AC), which is slated to take place in 2015, and since this paper is about the organization's diplomatic style in light of continuing cultural conflicts, the focus is on AC's Socio-Cultural Community pillar. The recommendations offered in this paper are necessary not only to prepare ASEAN people for major changes AC will bring in the context of culture, but also to rectify ASEAN's image in the eyes of observers outside Southeast Asia who view the organization as nothing more than a "talk shop." As a whole, they contribute to a successful ASEAN Community.

How can we defend the universality of human rights against the suspicion that it expresses a specifically Western culture & contributes to Western hegemony in the age of globalization? Can we accept aspects of this criticism without giving up on some version of universalism in which human rights can be used as a critical standard against Western practices themselves? The first part of this paper reviews a conception of human rights that is not affected by contemporary philosophical skepticism about abstract universalisms based on ahistorical principles. The second & main part of the paper then tries to show how this conception can address the resistance to human rights that comes from treating them as the expression of a specific culture. Besides trying to refine a sense of the universalism of human rights, we hope to add to a sense of what human rights demand in an age of identity politics. Adapted from the source document.

THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION HAS ENTERED AN ERA OF UNCERTAINTY HEIGHTENED BY WAR IN THE GULF AND A HOST OF UNSETTLED ISSUES CAUSED BY THE USE OF FORCE. THIS ARTICLE ATTEMPTS TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION? WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF THE CURRENT UNREST THAT EXTENDS FROM GIBRALTAR TO THE PERSIAN GULF? WHAT REMEDIES ARE INDICATED AND WHAT PROSPECTS EXIST FOR MEDITERRANEAN SECURITY AND A RETURN TO A TRADITION WHERE CULTURES COMPETED PEACEFULLY TO THE BENEFIT OF ALL HUMANKIND?

Liberal political theory acknowledges the interdependence of the wellbeing of individuals and the flourishing of the cultural groups to which they belong. Consequently, many liberal political philosophers have proposed policies and laws aimed at multicultural accommodation. That is, policies and laws aimed at assisting communities to preserve their cultural values and practices, and at allowing them greater autonomy and self-government. However, certain religious and cultural groups hold beliefs, values, and practices that are oppressive and discriminatory against some of their own members. Accommodating such groups may contribute to the discrimination and oppression. This question of "minorities within minorities" poses a real dilemma for liberal political philosophy. In this Paper I focus on certain cases that fall under the "minorities within minorities" framework that raise particularly complicated theoretical considerations. These are the cases where the demands for equal treatment are raised not by the state or by outsiders, but by disadvantaged individuals and groups within a community, who base their claim for greater equality not on the superiority of liberal values over the values of their culture but rather on an alternative, competing, interpretation of the values of their culture. I suggest that strong normative considerations support the view that the liberal state should assist challenges by marginalized individuals within communities to reinterpret cultural values and traditions in ways more favorable to them.