The “Biafra Lobby” and U.S. Foreign Policy

Worldview ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-7
Author(s):  
Ernest W. Lefever

The passionate “Biafra Lobby” in the United States is a perfect example of the moral and political pitfalls of organized pleading and pressure on particular international problems The pro Biafra crusade is an improbable conglomeration of the New Left and old right idealists and hierlings American citizens and foreigners churchmen and secularists isolationists and interventionists. Though no clear common concern unites these diverse persons most of them agree that the United States Government should do more than it is now doing to feed starving Biafrans and many of them seem to believe that the U.S. hands-off policy toward the brutal civil war in Nigeria is immoral because it interferes with mercy measures and denies the Biafrans the “right of self-determination.”

1962 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 404-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
René Lemarchand

Not the least paradoxical aspect of the United Nations mandate in the Congo, as described in the three-power resolution adopted by the Security Council on November 24, 1961, is that it was designed to prevent the exercise of a right which is explicitly recognized by the Charter. In effect, by “completely rejecting the claim of the Katanga as a sovereign independent Nation” and “recognizing the government of the Republic of the Congo as exclusively responsible for the conduct of the external affairs of the Congo,” the authors of the resolution clearly denied the provincial authorities of the Katanga the right to self-determination. Similarly, the support given by the United States government to the resolution, reaffirmed in several official statements, seems hardly compatible with our long-standing moral commitment to the Wilsonian principle that “the small states of the world have a right to enjoy the same respect for their sovereignty and territorial integrity that the great and powerful states expect and insist upon.” Actually, what may at first sight appear to be a sign of inconsistency is rather a reflection of the fundamental ambiguity in the concept of self-determination.


1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L. Strug

The United States government proposes the eradication of the coca leaf in Peru to combat narcotics trafficking and cocaine use in the U.S. This proposal is discussed not only in terms of its officially stated goals, but also in terms of other factors which motivate its implementation. The proposal is likely to be accepted by Peru despite the fact that it contains a number of political disincentives to the Peruvian government. The proposal, if implemented, is likely to face difficulties, but will silence Congressional criticism that narcotics agencies have been ineffectual in stopping trafficking.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nouraldeen Ibrahim ◽  

When analyzing the global humanitarian crisis known as the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which causes the disease COVID-19), it is important to analyze the response of the United States so it is possible to learn from any mistakes. Since a global pandemic was completely unprecedented to the United States government, it did not have a concrete plan or solution prepared to deal with the outbreak. COVID-19 exposed the flaws in the United State's ability to deal with pandemics which, consequently, has now led to the U.S. to have the highest death toll in the world.


1976 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-344
Author(s):  
Ronald Bruce St John

From 1919 to 1942, Peruvian foreign policy focused on two interrelated issues: the resolution of Peru's territorial disputes with Chile, Colombia and Ecuador, and the reconciliation of an expanding and deepening relationship with the United States government. The two issues were entwined since the Peruvian government and people, for part of the period, expected the support and assistance of the United States government in resolving the three territorial issues. Partially in an attempt to respond to these expectations, the United States government was aggressively and extensively involved, albeit sometimes in a manner contrary to Peruvian desires, in the resolution of all three disputes. On the whole, United States foreign policy seldom equaled Peruvian expectations throughout the period, and its failure to do so precipitated or accelerated the growth of major new tenets in Peruvian foreign policy.


1957 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce F. Johnston

GOVERNMENT stocks of surplus agricultural commodities, which reached a record level of over nine billion dollars in February 1956, have moved to the center of the stage in recent agricultural legislation and discussions of the farm problem. Reasons for this prominence are numerous. Most obvious perhaps is simply the reaction against the apparent waste of resources in building up huge stocks for which no clear use is in sight. Merely to maintain stocks of this magnitude is a costly undertaking and has necessitated an uneconomic expansion of storage facilities. Little wonder, then, that more and more attention is being devoted to finding means for disposing of this vast mass of agricultural products acquired by the United States government as a prop to farm prices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 144-175
Author(s):  
Wildan Ilmanuarif Shafar ◽  
Dian Mutmainah

Since 2015 the United States has been a signatory of the historic nuclear agreement with Iran known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was also agreed by other P5+1 countries. JCPOA is the achievement of the U.S. and other P5+1 countries' negotiations with Iran regarding the limitation of Iran's nuclear program. JCPOA is also known to be the vital instrument to reduce Iran's capabilities regarding its aggressive behavior and malign activities, creating destabilization in the Middle East. However, in 2018 the United States government decided to withdraw its participation from the JCPOA. As we know, this decision had an impact on Iran's behavior, which several times violated the contents of the JCPOA agreement even though they did not leave the agreement. We are also witnessing the impact of this decision increase the conflict between the US and Iran in recent years. This research aims to explain the rationale of the U.S. decision to withdraw from the JCPOA nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018. This research using the foreign policy decision-making framework model by Charles W. Kegley and Gregory A. Raymond. This concept focuses on explaining factors of foreign policy decision-making in three sources of analysis and the process of foreign policy-making based on rational choice.


Author(s):  
Sina Mohammadi

The purpose of the article was to examine the Trump administration's asylum policy applied to Central American and Latino applicants. The United States has grappled with refugee problems in recent decades, and in 2018 Trump signed an executive order to detain families seeking to immigrate to the United States without separating from one another. With this decree, a new approach was formed in the policy of the United States government, which emphasizes the severe restrictions on the entry of asylum seekers and immigrants. In the methodological, it is a documentary research close to hermeneutics. It is concluded that, although the United States government has cited security concerns as an excuse to restrict the entry of asylum seekers, especially Latinos from Central American countries, this political approach is in conflict with the national legislation of the United States that stipulates that any citizen Foreigner arriving at any point along the US border, or at official exit points, has the right to apply for asylum. Furthermore, the implementation of such a policy is contrary to the end of the 1951 Convention, which focuses on the protection of refugees without distinction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-478
Author(s):  
Henrique Fernandes Antunes

This article focuses on the legal disputes between the U.S. government and the Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal (UDV), as well as on the regulation of the religious use of ayahuasca by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Our aim is to present the main issues that were at stake throughout the dispute, especially the relationship between the limits of religious freedom when associated with the use of controlled substances.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob H. Cecil ◽  
Joshua K. Michener

This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan).


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