Suchergebnisse

Criticizes the Nobel Peace Prize committee for awarding the price for environmental action to Wangari Maathai in 2004, and to IPCC and Al Gore in 2007 by raising concerns that this will hurt the credibility of the prize. While Wangari Maathai's laureateship can be justified with politological theory, the same cannot be said of IPCC and Al Gore - the evidence between climate change and increased conflict is very weak, especially with the decline of Malthusianism. Even if the peace prize committee's boldness can be hailed, a better solution would be to establish a separate environmental Nobel prize or alternatively leave the field for the existing distinguished environmental awards. L. Pitkaniemi

An open debate where the eight central figures from the eight largest Norwegian political parties explain their foreign policy goals for the term 2009-2012. While all three leftwing parties stress the importance of climate change and equality, the criticism towards NATO intensifies when we moved from the center-left to the far left. The traditional center and right wing parties all emphasize the importance of free trade and globalization with an increased degree of skepticism in the center. The Progress Party stands out from the crowd by attacking foreign aid for increasing corruption and diminishing human rights in developing countries. L. Pitkaniemi

Six current and former Norwegian foreign ministers gathered for the fourth 50 year celebratory seminar conducted by the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). The theme of discussion was past, present and future Norwegian foreign policy challenges. The contrast of the discussion was strong as Thorvald Stoltenberg, who held the position from 1987 to 1989, discussed the end of the cold war, while Jonas Gahr Store talked about climate change as a newly established part of foreign policy. In general a wide agreement and foreign policy continuity existed among the ministers. For example, all ministers supported a membership in the EU, but were conflicted in whether or not the country will actually move towards that direction. They also agreed on that the world is moving towards a multipolar foreign policy environment and that Norway's main foreign policy goals consist in strengthening the country's relationship with Scandinavia and Russia. Adapted from the source document.

This article summarizes Barack Obama's foreign policy during his short political career and labels his foreign policy as a mix of expansionism, realism, and institutionalism. A brief biography of Barack Obama is included to address Obama's views of the global community and history. Obama's views on Iraq, the war against terrorism, Iran, the UN, NATO, nuclear weapons, and climate change are examined. It is argued that Obama will be limited by circumstances in his ability to conduct foreign policy according to his convictions. Four examples are provided to illustrate actions desired by Obama but limited by circumstance, including a reform of the UN security council, nuclear disarmament, ratification of the US agreement with the International Court of Justice, and prevention of humanitarian disasters. It is suggested that Obama may prove to have individual strengths, including extraordinary powers of persuasion and inspiration, to overcome limitations and make a mark on history. The author speculates whether Obama's overall foreign policy objective will be peace or moral perfection. References. E. Sundby

The ethical merits of three major strategies to confront global warming -- prevention, adaptation, & geoengineering -- are considered. From the point of view of consequentialist ethics, the choice between prevention & adaptation depends on the exact set of consequences taken into consideration. Adaptation is likely to be the preferable option if only consequences for humans here & now are emphasized. By contrast, if one also takes into account effects for humans in other parts of the world, for future generations, or for other species, the case for prevention is strengthened. However, it is probably too late to avoid global warming altogether. The question is therefore if we should try to recreate the "original" climate through geoengineering. A number of ethical objections to this strategy are being discussed. The general conclusion is that, for now at least, we ought to prevent global warming as far as possible, & otherwise adapt as best we can to the climatic changes that nevertheless arise. 1 Table, 30 References. Adapted from the source document.