scholarly journals ‘Please be a lady… you are not going to be heard’: The Debate over the Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kasie Durkit
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Relations ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Jimmy Carter ◽  
Heritage Foundation ◽  
Amnesty International ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Congressional Research ◽  
Concerned Women For America

Why did the United States fail to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women? This overarching question forms the basis of this paper and will be answered using an array of primary and secondary sources. This paper gleans most of its evidence from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearings of 1994 and 2002, letters from both President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Congressional Research Service reports on CEDAW from 2013 and 2007, several Senators’ statements in the Congressional Record, Congressional testimony, and the text of the CEDAW treaty. This paper integrates these primary sources with secondary sources, citing legal analyses by former Attorney General Harold Hongju Koh, positions taken by lobby groups such as Amnesty International, the Heritage Foundation, and Concerned Women for America, the text, “Circle of Empowerment” by CEDAW Committee veteran Hannah-Beate Schopp-Schilling, and research on the legislative impact of CEDAW by Dutch legal analyst Rikki Holtmaat. This paper contends that CEDAW’s failure stemmed from: 1) the belief that U.S. women’s rights are already “covered,” 2) the convergence of federalism and inherent constitutional restrictions, 3) the belief that CEDAW will subvert American sovereignty, and, 4) distorted interpretations of the CEDAW Committee’s recommendations.

Disinformation squared: Was the HIV-from-Fort-Detrick myth a Stasi success?

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erhard Geissler ◽  
Robert Hunt Sprinkle
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Department Of State ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Security Service ◽  
Literary Figure ◽  
East German ◽  
Immunodeficiency Syndrome ◽  
Participant Observer

BackgroundWhen in May 1983 the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) was first securely attributed to a virus, eventually called the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), many controversies arose. Among these was one centering on HIV's origin. A startling hypothesis, called here the “HIV-from-Fort-Detrick myth,” asserted that HIV had been a product, accidental or intentional, of bioweaponry research. While its earliest identifiable contributors were in the West, this myth's most dynamic propagators were in the East. The Soviet security service, the KGB, took “active measures” to create and disseminate AIDS disinformation beginning no later than July 1983 and ending no earlier than October 1987. The East German security service, a complex bureaucracy popularly known as “the Stasi,” was involved, too, but how early, how deeply, how uniformly, how ably, and how successfully has not been clear. Following German reunification, claims arose attributing to the Stasi the masterful execution of ingenious elements in a disinformation campaign they helped shape and soon came to dominate. We have tested these claims.QuestionWas the HIV-from-Fort-Detrick myth a Stasi success?MethodsPrimary sources were documents and photographs assembled by the Ministry of State Security (MfS) of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany), the Ministry of Interior of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the United States Department of State; the estate of myth principals Jakob and Lilli Segal; the “AIDS box” in the estate of East German literary figure Stefan Heym; participant-observer recollections, interviews, and correspondence; and expert interviews. We examined secondary sources in light of primary sources.FindingsThe HIV-from-Fort-Detrick myth had debuted in print in India in 1983 and had been described in publications worldwide prior to 1986, the earliest year for which we found any Stasi document mentioning the myth in any context. Many of the myth's exponents were seemingly independent conspiracy theorists. Its single most creative exponent was Jakob Segal, an idiosyncratic Soviet biologist long resident in, and long retired in, the GDR. Segal applied to the myth a thin but tenacious layer of plausibility. We could not exclude a direct KGB influence on him but found no evidence demonstrating it. The Stasi did not direct his efforts and had difficulty tracking his activities. The Stasi were prone to interpretive error and self-aggrandizement. They credited themselves with successes they did not achieve, and, in one instance, failed to appreciate that a major presumptive success had actually been a fiasco. Senior Stasi officers came to see the myth's propagation as an embarrassment threatening broader interests, especially the GDR's interest in being accepted as a scientifically sophisticated state. In 1986, 1988, and 1989, officers of HV A/X, the Stasi's disinformation and “active measures” department, discussed the myth in meetings with the Bulgarian secret service. In the last of these meetings, HV A/X officers tried to interest their Bulgarian counterparts in taking up, or taking over, the myth's propagation. Further efforts, if any, were obscured by collapse of the East German and Bulgarian governments.ConclusionNo, the HIV-from-Fort-Detrick myth was not a Stasi success. Impressions to the contrary can be attributed to reliance on presumptions, boasts, and inventions. Presumptions conceding to the Stasi an extraordinary operational efficiency and an irresistible competence - qualities we could not confirm in this case - made the boasts and inventions more convincing than their evidentiary basis, had it been known, would have allowed. The result was disinformation about disinformation, a product we call “disinformation squared.”

scholarly journals Das Vadanya" To the Multilateral Force: The Societ Union's Role in the Johnson Administration's Decision to Abandon the MLF

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander N.S. Chang
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Foreign Relations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Department Of State ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Record Group

The Multilateral Force (MLF) was a proposed nuclear sharing arrangement between the United States and a number of its NATO partners. Proposed in 1958, the MLF was debated until about 1965 or 1966 and was often distinguished by its controversial nature and failure to gain traction. This paper examines documents from the Digital National Security Archive (DNSA), Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), Record Group 59: General Records of the Department of State, and various secondary sources to evaluate the extent to which the Soviet Union contributed to the MLF’s failure as an initiative. The Force is often treated as a narrow and highly technical policy debate by existing literature. However, examination of these documents highlighted the necessity of viewing the Force as a topic of distinct political import in American-Soviet nuclear negotiations. While technical disputes over the MLF’s constitution was an immediate cause of its demise, U.S. policymakers also faced strategic incentives not to pursue the treaty. In particular, the documents reflect growing belief within the Johnson administration that exiting the agreement could improve broader bilateral relations with the Soviet Union and ensure that the international community could continue to make progress on the creation of a nuclear non-proliferation agreement.

A Reflection on Issues involved in the Exercise of the Power of the Attorney-General to enter A Nolle Prosequi under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 79-109
Author(s):  
Dr Andrew Ejovwo Abuza
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Attorney General ◽  
The United States ◽  
Criminal Proceedings ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Self Interest

The 1999 Nigerian Constitution bestows on the Attorney-General the power to enter a nolle prosequi in criminal proceedings. This paper reflects on issues involved in the exercise of the constitutional power of nolle prosequi. The research methodology adopted is mainly doctrinal analysis of applicable primary and secondary sources. The paper finds that the exercise of the constitutional power of nolle prosequi for self-interest or political considerations of the Attorney-General is unconstitutional. The paper suggests the subjection of the exercise of the constitutional power of nolle prosequi to the permission of the court in line with the practice in other countries like the United States of America (USA) and Kenya.

Western Music on Commodore Perry’s “Black Ships” in Japan, 1853–1854

2019 ◽  
pp. 153660061987791
Author(s):  
Sondra Wieland Howe
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Western Music ◽  
Music Curriculum ◽  
American Military ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
School Music ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Performed Music

Commodore Perry and his “Black Ships” opened Japanese harbors for foreign shipping in 1853 and 1854. Music was important for this Japan Expedition that obtained a treaty between the United States and Japan. Bands and singers performed music for parades, impressive ceremonies, religious services, and entertainment for the sailors and foreign audiences. This article examines the styles of Western music, instrumentation, and performance venues of Perry’s musicians as they traveled to harbors in China, Okinawa, and Japan. Since the large bands from Perry’s ships were impressive with their fancy uniforms, swords, and loud music, the Japanese associated band music with American military power. The performances on Perry’s ships were some of the first performances of Western music in Japan, before the Westernization of the Japanese school music curriculum in the 1880s. Primary sources for this research include contemporary narrative accounts, printed programs, nineteenth-century prints, and songbooks. Secondary sources include websites, articles, and books to put the material in a historical context.

scholarly journals Collective memory and historical narratives: The African American civil rights movement

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hughes ◽  
Sarah Drake Brown
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Narrative Structures ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
African American Civil Rights

This study explores how undergraduates, as historical thinkers, learn to interact with history and construct their understanding of the past, and examines the role that primary and secondary sources play in narrative construction and revision. Using the African American civil rights movement as a content focus, participants used images to create initial narratives that reflected their understanding of the movement. Half the participants then read an essay on the movement written by a prominent historian, and the other half examined 18 primary sources that reflected the historian’s interpretation of the movement. Participants then each created a second narrative, again selecting images to depict their understanding of the movement. The results of the study suggest that even as students work with primary sources, they need an effective narrative framework based on recent scholarship to forge powerful counter-narratives that transcend outdated interpretations and historical myths. In terms of teaching and learning about the lengthy struggle for racial justice in the United States, simply encouraging teachers and students to ‘do history’ and conduct their own online research is unlikely to change persistent narrative structures that continue to enable and excuse systemic racism.

Whose books? The Harvard-Yenching Institute's library and the question of academic imperialism

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Qing
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Chinese Scholars ◽  
Cross National

PurposeThis essay focuses on the Chinese-Japanese Library of the Harvard-Yenching Institute and examines how the Library collected and transported Chinese rare books to the United States during the 1930 and 1940s. It considers Harvard's rationale for its collection of Chinese books and tensions between Chinese scholars and the Harvard-Yenching Institute leaders and librarians over the purchase and “export” of Chinese books.Design/methodology/approachThis research is a historical study based on archival research at Harvard-Yenching Institute and the Harvard-Yenching Library, as well as careful readings of published primary and secondary sources.FindingsBy examining the debates that surrounded the ownership of Chinese books, and the historical circumstances that enabled or hindered the cross-national movement of books, this essay uncovers a complex and interwoven historical discourse of academic nationalism, internationalism and imperialism.Originality/valueDrawing upon the unexamined primary sources and published second sources, this essay uncovers a complex and interwoven historical discourse of academic nationalism, internationalism and imperialism.

The National Solo and Ensemble Contest 1929–1937

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61
Author(s):  
Brian D. Meyers
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Philosophy Of Music ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
National School ◽  
History Of ◽  
Substantial Change

This study is the first investigation of the nine-year history of the National Solo and Ensemble Contests, held in the United States in conjunction with the National School Band and Orchestra Contests of the late 1920s and early to mid-1930s. Primary sources used include letters from those involved with the planning of the contests, meeting minutes from the responsible organization, and music journals from the early twentieth century. Dissertations and research articles pertaining to the National Band Contests are the secondary sources that helped corroborate the existence of the events described and provide foundational information. This research offers a picture of the interest in the Solo and Ensemble Contests and how they flourished during a time of substantial change in the philosophy of music contests. Changes in the rules and format of the Contests also are explored as they affected the establishment of solo and ensemble contests across America, many of which are still in existence today. This work adds to the previous research conducted about the National Band Contests by documenting a little-known but important element of the contest movement.

Conflictos por tomas de tierras y modos de intervención estatal: análisis de una experiencia del Alto Valle de Río Negro (Argentina)

2016 ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Mariana Giaretto ◽  
Victoria Naffa
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
General Context ◽  
Land Occupation ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Rio Negro ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Different Levels

ResumenEn este trabajo analizamos las relaciones entre tomas de tierras y Estado, en elAlto Valle de Río Negro en Argentina. En un contexto general de especulacióninmobiliaria, por la que se encarecen los precios de alquileres y terrenos, y depolíticas de vivienda selectivas y acotadas, los sectores populares acceden aun espacio en la ciudad mediante tomas de tierras. Frente a estos conflictos,el Estado, en sus diferentes niveles y poderes, despliega una forma deintervención basada en la criminalización de las luchas por tierra y vivienda.Al mismo tiempo, el poder ejecutivo nacional crea la Secretaría de Acceso alHábitat, para posibilitar la intervención política orientada a la regularizaciónde los asentamientos. Sin embargo, esta intervención tiende a reinscribir laproblemática habitacional en el campo político, para reducirla a un conflicto“entre partes”, eludiendo la responsabilidad estatal.Desde un enfoque metodológico cualitativo, seleccionamos como referenteempírico el caso del asentamiento de Villa Obrera en Fiske, Menuco (Gral.Roca), y las técnicas de recolección de datos se basan en fuentes secundarias,como expedientes judiciales y normativa, y en fuentes primarias como son losrelatos de los protagonistas mediante entrevistas individuales y colectivas.Palabras clave: tomas de tierras, Estado, criminalización de los conflictos.Conflicts caused by land occupation and modesof State intervention: analysis of an experience ofAlto Valle in Río Negro (Argentina)AbstractThis paper analyzes the relationship between State and land occupation,at Alto Valle in Río Negro, Argentina. In a general context of real estatespeculation, where rents and land prices are expensive, and a policy ofselective and limited housing, popular sectors can have access to a spacein the city through land occupation. In front of these conflicts, the Statein its different levels and powers, displays a form of intervention basedon the criminalization of struggles for land and housing. At the sametime, the national executive creates the Secretariat of Access to Habitat,oriented to allow political intervention for the regularization of settlements.However, this intervention tends to re-register the housing problems in thepolitical arena, reducing it to a conflict “between parties” and eluding theresponsibility of the State.From a qualitative methodological approach, we selected as empirical referencethe case of the settlement of Villa Obrera in Fiske, Menuco (GeneralRoca). The techniques of data collection are based on secondary sources, suchas policy and legal records, and primary sources as the stories of protagoniststhrough individual and collective interviews.Keywords: land occupation, State, criminalization of conflicts.Conflitos sobre ocupações de terras e modos deintervenção do estado: análise de uma experiênciado Alto Valle do Rio Preto (Argentina)ResumoEste trabalho analisa as relações entre a posse de terra e o Estado, no AltoValle do Rio Preto, na Argentina. Num contexto geral da especulaçãoimobiliária, por qual se encarecem os preços do aluguel e das terras, e depolíticas de habitação seletivas e limitadas, os setores populares acedem aum espaço na cidade através de ocupações de terras. Frente a estes conflitos,o Estado, em seus diferentes níveis e poderes, desenvolve uma forma deintervenção com base na criminalização das lutas pela terra e vivenda. Aomesmo tempo, o poder executivo nacional cria a Secretaria de Acesso àHabitat para possibilitar à intervenção política orientada a regularização dosassentamentos. No entanto, esta intervenção tende a registrar os problemasde habitação no campo político, para reduzi-la a um conflito “entre aspartes”, iludindo a responsabilidade do Estado.A partir de uma abordagem metodológica qualitativa, foi selecionado comoreferência empírica o caso do Assentamento de Villa Obrera em Fiske,Menuco (Gral. Roca), e as técnicas de recolecção de dados são baseados emfontes secundárias, como expedientes judiciais e normativos, e em fontes primárias como são as histórias dos protagonistas através de entrevistasindividuais e coletivas.Palavras-chave: tomada de terras, Estado, criminalização dos conflitos.

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