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Letter from the Editors
Rules of Law

Over the two centuries of its existence, the United States Constitution has become firmly entrenched as a model of governance and has been exported far and wide across emerging democracies. The Symposium we humbly offer you for the summer, “Law of the Land: Grappling with Western Legal Systems,” examines the intersection of Western legal systems with a global context of increasing dialogue and legal pluralism.

By Collin Galster, Gloria Park  |  August 1, 2010
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Letter from the Editors
Power Play

Half a century after the Feminist Revolution began challenging patriarchal structures across all aspects of society, the structures of the political arena obstinately hold out as frequent perpetuators of gender inequality. Ironically, although political equality was among the first spheres in which women demanded equal treatment, it has been among the last to realize such equality in practice.

By Collin Galster, Gloria Park  |  May 1, 2010
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Letter from the Editors
To 2010 and Beyond

Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall collapsed, and alongside it came down the prevailing global order in a moment of palpable historical grandeur. Reflecting on this anniversary, our staff selected the Symposium before you to capture our opportunity to bear witness to both collapse and renewal; to apply lessons from our experience during the closing decade of one century and the opening decade of another. To this end, our editorial staff departed from our usual Symposium model.

By Collin Galster, Gloria Park  |  February 1, 2010
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Global, Letter from the Editors
State of the Stateless

In 1951, a post-World War II United Nations bent on protecting human rights adopted the landmark Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The document defined a refugee as an individual who, “owing to a well-founded fear of persecution…is outside of his or her country of nationality.” A half-century later, the Convention’s original framework—even its original definitions—demand reevaluation.

By Natasa Kovacevic, Owen Barron  |  November 1, 2009
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Africa, Letter from the Editors, Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East
The Exigence of Exile

In 1951, a post-World War II United Nations bent on protecting human rights adopted a landmark document known as the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Convention first defined the refugee as an individual who, ‘owing to a well-founded fear of persecution…is outside of his or her country of nationality.” The world has changed since 1951, to such an extent that the original framework--even the original definitions--applicaple to refugee protection demand reevaluation.

By Natasa Kovacevic, Owen Barron  |  October 26, 2009
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Letter from the Editors
A New Paradigm for Warfare?

What does “modern war” entail? The end of the Cold War signalled a shift—at least temporarily—away from territorial conflicts between large states and towards smaller, messier forms of warfare. US counterinsurgency in Iraq and Afghanistan typifies one emergent model of conflict—“small wars” fought at the cutting edge of politics, culture and law. Ethnic conflicts in Rwanda, Darfur, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo may come to represent another common form. But is the old model dead? Nuclear weapons, rather than being disassembled, are being developed in a number of rogue states.

By Natasa Kovacevic, Owen Barron  |  July 10, 2009  |  1
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Letter from the Editors
The Contours of the Crisis

The events of fall 2008, marked by the collapse of Wall Street’s investment banks and the unraveling of the global financial architecture, were unexpected and are still poorly understood. In discussing the mechanics of the global recession, therefore, we are left with more questions than answers. What actions, by US or international policymakers, could have averted the crisis? What methods of stimulus will be most effective in mitigating the repercussions of the recession?

By Natasa Kovacevic, Owen Barron  |  March 24, 2009
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Addressing Collapse

In October 1993, US soldiers landed in Mogadishu with a seemingly straightforward mission: they would abduct the lieutenants of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, who had gained power after the fall of Mohammed Siad Barre’s dictatorial regime. The disastrous operation, which resulted in the deaths of 18 US soldiers and hundreds of Somalis, signaled only the beginning to the country’s troubles.

By  |  March 15, 2008
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Securities Insecurity

In 1997 the Indonesian economy was devastated by a financial crisis, sending its currency plummeting and exposing President Suharto’s corrupt and shortsighted policies. The meltdown turned out to be the nail in the coffin for the aging dictator, whose hold on power had lasted for 30 years. What was perhaps more interesting than the resignation of this beleaguered president was the response made hundreds of miles away.

By Linda Li, Michael Jaskiw  |  December 31, 2007
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Letter from the Editors
Africa Redefined

Located only blocks away from St. James’s palace in London’s West End, the neoclassical mansion of Lancaster House was perhaps an unlikely venue for the final act of a century-long era of colonial rule and occupation. However, beginning on December 10, 1979 the house played host to a conference of British and Rhodesian leaders who negotiated the terms of independence for the last African territory remaining under European colonial rule.

By Linda Li, Michael Jaskiw  |  August 7, 2007
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