The Limits of Self-Determination: The Case of the Katanga Secession

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.

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.”


1963 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 226-230

The Security Council discussed this question at its 1022nd–1025th meetings, on October 23–25, 1962. It had before it a letter dated October 22, 1962, from the permanent representative of the United States, in which it was stated that the establishment of missile bases in Cuba constituted a grave threat to the peace and security of the world; a letter of the same date from the permanent representative of Cuba, claiming that the United States naval blockade of Cuba constituted an act of war; and a letter also dated October 22 from the deputy permanent representative of the Soviet Union, emphasizing that Soviet assistance to Cuba was exclusively designed to improve Cuba's defensive capacity and that the United States government had committed a provocative act and an unprecedented violation of international law in its blockade.


Slavic Review ◽  
1969 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 276-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin M. Weissman

In March 1921 Lenin predicted, “If there is a harvest, everybody will hunger a little and the government will be saved. Otherwise, since we cannot take anything from people who do not have the means to satisfy their own hunger, the government will perish.“ By early summer, Russia was in the grip of one of the worst famines in its history. Lenin's gloomy forecast, however, was never put to the test. At almost the last moment, substantial help in the form of food, clothing, and medical supplies arrived from a most unexpected source —U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover.Hoover undertook the relief of Soviet Russia not as an official representative of the United States government but as the head of a private agency —the American Relief Administration (A.R.A.).


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-136
Author(s):  
John A. Parnell ◽  
John E. Spillan ◽  
Marlon R. McPhattar ◽  
Donald L. Lester

The decade from 2000 until 2010 was a turbulent time for Toyota Motor Company. The carmaker came under significant criticism from the United States government, consumers throughout the world, and media critics amid allegations of poor quality control and vehicle safety concerns. Problems with accelerators and brake systems were found on several of its most popular models, a situation initially exacerbated by the slow and somewhat tentative response from top management. Toyota was accused of not addressing early warning signs that appeared several years before the crisis received intense negative publicity. Toyota struggled to retain the confidence of consumers and governmental regulators, eventually recalling approximately eight million automobiles.


Author(s):  
Rachel Lunde Brooks ◽  
Maria Brau

In the United States Government (USG), language-test scores in the various skills are defined by reference to the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Skill Level Descriptions (SLDs). The ILR SLDs for Translation Performance state that reading the source language (SL) and writing the target language (TL) are prerequisites for translating but add that there is a prerequisite third skill, termed “congruity judgement”. Since the Language Testing and Assessment Unit (LTAU) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) uses the ILR as the basis for its translation testing, it has conducted several studies on test results to discover the interconnection, if any, of these requisites.


1976 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-63
Author(s):  
Richard Lobban

I would like to take the liberty of responding to a “statement” which appeared at the end of Issue, number 4 [Winter 1975] which was recently sent to the ASA membership. Since the authors have often sought to keep “politics” out of the Association I was rather surprised to see them taken by a “matter of conscience” which is perhaps one of the most politically charged issues of the day. In any case I was annoyed with the inference that the fight against colonialism, racism, apartheid, and fascism was a “partisan urge” while attributing only the noblest sentiments to their “statement”.It was particularly ironic for the authors to note that they will withdraw their “support” from nationalist organizations and governments which identify Zionism as a form of racism since they stood against a resolution raised and passed in the 1973 ASA meetings calling upon the United States government to recognize the Republic of Guinea Bissau.


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.


1961 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-279 ◽  

From its 921st through its 923d meetings the Security Council considered the complaint of the government of Cuba that the United States was planning direct military intervention in Cuba.Mr. Wadsworth, the representative of the United States and the first speaker, deplored the fact that because of continued provocation over nearly a two-year period the United States had been forced to break diplomatic relations with Cuba, and denied as false propaganda the Cuban charges that the United States was contemplating a military attack on Cuba. Mr. Roa, the Cuban representative, stated in his opening remarks that Cuba considered the Security Council the proper organ before which to bring its case, and that his country opposed any effort to transfer the examination of its claim to the Council of the Organization of American States. He charged, inter alia: 1) that United States materials had been air-lifted to counter-revolutionary groups in the Cuban mountains; 2) that United States Embassy officials had been engaged in espionage and in conspiracy with counterrevolutionary elements; 3) that false and harmful propaganda against Cuba was being broadcast from the United States, with the support of the United States government; 4) that mercenaries were being trained at Guantanamo Naval Base, with a view to launching a number of small military expeditions against different points of the island; and 5) that destroyers had been placed on the alert in Key West, ninety miles from Cuba. The ultimate objective of these movements, Mr. Roa added, was a military invasion of his country.


1987 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold G. Maier

The ultimate authority of the International Court of Justice flows from the same source as the ultimate authority of all other judicial bodies. Every court’s decisions are an authoritative source of law in a realistic sense only because they are accepted as such by the community whose controversies the court is charged to resolve. In the case of the World Court, it is the community of nations that confers that authority and under the Court’s Statute, its jurisdiction is conferred solely by the consent of the nations whose disputes it is called to adjudicate. It is for this reason that the case Nicaragua v. United States and the actions of both the Court and the United States Government in connection with it are of special importance to those who are concerned with international law.


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