Economics v. Justice? International Nuclear Liability Regimes

After the recent earthquake in Japan, there has been a global outpouring of sympathy and support. Governments and individuals worldwide have been trying to help Japan recover from the tragedy. Likewise, the world has been on edge regarding the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima I (or Fukushima Daiichi) nuclear power station, as everyone hopes that an even more serious nuclear catastrophe can be avoided.

Yet what about those individuals devoid of empathy or, seemingly, any human emotion? Pseudo-humans so empty and craven that, seeing the Japanese nuclear crisis, they think first and foremost about what the impact will be on the stock market. Self-interested automatons from an economics textbook come to life, who focus only on things that matter – or rather, the thing that matters: money. Whose writing will cater to this audience? The Wall Street Journal? Fox Business News? Amateurs! Come with me, fellow homo economici, and let us cast off this veil of humanity.

Firstly, the crisis in Japan has been playing havoc with the stock market, and that can only mean one thing: investment opportunities! Here’s a great stock pick[1] to get the ball rolling: General Electric. GE built (wholly or in part) half of the reactors at the Fukushima I plant, and the crisis now unfolding has been partially attributed to a design flaw. In reaction to this news, GE’s stock price

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Realizing Layers of Security in Haiti: A Conceptual Re-Think is Needed if Haiti is to Find Post-Earthquake Peace

Articles in this week’s New York Times and Globe and Mail highlighted calls for a massive scaling-up of disaster relief and development efforts in Haiti. However, leaders should be much more critical about the shortfalls of such missions in the past, as Haiti is no stranger to international interventions, in particular at the hands of the United Nations and the US government, and to a lesser extent, Canada. As security is often held to underpin relief and development efforts, policymakers need to reform their view of the provision of physical security and international law needs to reflect this process. Time and time again, Western powers have failed to assist the Haitian people address the wrongs of the past and meet their overall social and economic development goals.[1]

Sadly, it has become commonplace for developed nations to make big pledges when tragedies occur, but seldom are all funds collected to drive development strategies. Only 10% of funds pledged to Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake have arrived in Port au Prince thus far. Core funding is often lumped into ‘security programs’, while so-called ‘soft development’ strategies languish. Soft development aid dollars are often tied up in the activities of foreign NGOs. The amount of NGOs in Haiti is staggering. The presence of so many foreign personnel, who are often unaccountable to the Haitian government or people as a…

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Haitians Seeking Refuge: Canada’s Obligations Under International Law

Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010, Canadians have opened their hearts and their wallets, raising over $27 million during a recent two-day telethon, for a total of more than $50 million for victims of the Haitian earthquake. The Haitian community in Montreal is particularly sizeable and Quebecers have dispatched medical teams, emergency rescue squads and hundreds of soldiers from the Valcartier base. Canadians seem to feel a sense of unprecedented kinship and solidarity with the Haitian people.

It is little wonder then that phone lines have been ringing off the hook at Immigration Canada, with calls from well-intentioned viewers seeking to alleviate some of the pain and suffering they watch on their TV screens by adopting Haitian orphans. However, despite estimates that more than 50,000 children have become orphans as a result of the quake, many agencies are calling on governments to deliver aid, not adoptions.

While fast-tracking adoptions already approved by the Haitian and Canadian governments may be a humane and logical tactic to support Haiti, additional mass adoptions of children from the earthquake zone may in fact violate international law.  Haitians orphaned by the earthquake do not meet the traditional criteria of Convention Refugees, in that they are not subject to persecution based on their “race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”, but there…

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