Power Politics?
Not to dwell on the negative, but… Globalization, at least in the
US has a created an extremely negative effect of human rights. Terrorism alone is a violation of human rights. However,
US reaction to fears of terrorist has set back human rights as well, ignoring human rights legislation which developed as a result of the horrors of World War II. The Military Commissions Act of 2006, while containing provisions guarding against torture, also allows for the complete suspension of habeius corpus for those classified as, or being sympathetic to an “enemy combatant” – without the rights of either a criminal or a prisoner of war, and prohibiting anyone from claiming rights given under Article III of the Geneva Convention – including the right to trial. This complete disregard for international rights goes a long way towards slowing down the processes of globalization through prohibiting the development of international law. As long as the
United States (or any super power for that matter) remains able to twist international law to their whims, the world will remain unflat. Similarly, as in the article we read in class- the presence of a powerful economy remains one of the arguments against free trade- a country large enough will be able to manipulate the market in their favor. (Feel free to correct me on the economics)
lyndon said,
December 3, 2006 at 1:57 pm
can you really claim that the negative human rights outcomes are as a result of globalisation? I don’t quite see it. You also point towards this by saying that this disregard of international rights slows down the process of globalisation…