Human rights and international criminal law both illustrate the contradictory potential of international law. On one level, the imposition of human rights norms is a restraint on interventionary diplomacy, especially if coupled with respect for the legal norm of self-determination.… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
There are degrees of incompatibility, and there are more factors relevant to upholding democracy and human rights than the operation of neoliberal markets. Perhaps… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
Cumulatively, American society is sliding toward a new form of 'authoritarian democracy'. Elections continue, free speech is generally protected, institutions operate in accordance with… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
Historically, international law lent a measure of legality to the colonial system, and allowed the West to set the rules for participation as a sovereign state on a global level. It also protected the interests of foreign investment in countries of the global South even when these were exploitative, and deprived countries of the benefits of resources situated within their… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share
Nothing is more important than restoring a high degree of autonomy to educational experiences so that those who grow up in this society and… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
In the Goldstone Report, Israeli perpetrators of possible crimes against humanity were made subject to prosecution and punishment, although the geopolitical leverage of the United States within the UN prevents implementation. At the same time, several African leaders are being prosecuted for their crimes against humanity and participation in genocide: a double standard of sorts, given the impunity accorded to… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share
The UDHR has become an iconic document over the course of more than six decades, the starting point for discussions of whether or not… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
International law in its counter-hegemonic uses is very important in any domain where issues of legitimacy are significant, but is rarely able to have… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
The atmosphere of fear and security manipulated by the government has converted American citizens into terrorist suspects who are all subject to arbitrary and… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
What both the state and the capitalist economy oppose is an understanding of what might be called "the true nature of things" (using the… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
The fact that Universal Jurisdiction exists in relation to serious international crimes does convey two important aspects of the global reality: first, that such individuals would be held accountable if international law was applied without regard to geopolitics, and second, that there is enough ambiguity about the reach of UJ that it inhibits such individuals and conveys an impression of… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share
The weaknesses and biases of the international mechanisms of accountability make it seem desirable to extend the domain of accountability by empowering domestic courts… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share Image
As matters now stand, the veto seems inappropriate, given the absence of any deep ideological split between major states, and definitely constrains the war-prevention mission of the UN. Similarly, the present permanent five are out of touch with geopolitical realities, and constitute a remnant of a West-centric world order, casting a shadow of illegitimacy across the activities of the most… — Richard A. Falk Copy Share
