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Sustaining the “War”: Human Rights and Proportionality or: Legtimacy and Globalisation. Bill Tupman University of Exeter. Basic thoughts. A global war on terrorism needs to balance domestic legitimacy against a variety of international and regional legitimacies
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Sustaining the “War”: Human Rights and Proportionalityor:Legtimacy and Globalisation Bill Tupman University of Exeter
Basic thoughts • A global war on terrorism needs to balance domestic legitimacy against a variety of international and regional legitimacies • There are not and never have been any purely military solutions to terrorism • It’s a matter of politics, stupid!
Can we measure legitimacy • Yes. But it changes rapidly • Polls over a perios of time fairly reliaible • More difficult to measure the impact of a policy, law or event on legitimacy • The greater the legitimacy,the less the need to use force or violence to obtain policy compliance and vice versa • Terrorism demonstrates that a challenge to legitimacy exists
Risk-profile this stuff • Will it create more terrorists or less terrorists? • I.E. will it create more candidates for terrorists to recruit • Will existing terrorists think it better to carry on the campaign or to give up?
support is a crucial element • Will the policy/law/action create more popular support; less popular support or will the public become neutral? • In the USA? • In the West generally? • In other countries? • In the islamic world?
Spillover • Can we create degrees of citizenship? • Can we define terrorists [and organised criminals] in such a way that: • We can suspend or diminish their human rights • Without this spilling over into other areas?
Risk profiling laws • Will it affect police-public relations? • And will it thus affect public willingness to come forward: • And report crime • Provide evidence • Be witnesses in court? • Because this will affect the legitimacy of the whole criminal justice system
Risk-profiling at global level • How will this new policy affect the international system? • And the way states relate to each other? • And their willingness to provide personnel and materiel
What does it do to the rights of foreigners in general? • Particularly to me if I’m in another country? • Will it lead to a general increase in prejudice, ignorance and stereotyping?
Seriously, though • Has anyone bothered to carry out cost-benefit and risk analysis? • Why not? Is it because the policy fits the ideology? • Or is it because it has been decided that this must be done WHATEVER the cost • How will it affect long-term commitments?
What about democracy • Terrorists seek to use law enforcement officials and conservatives to achieve their aims for them. • The goal is the undermining of democracy • Human rights can be suspended in an emergency • But an emergency is a short-lived event • Any longer and it’s authoritarianism
And the media? • Are they on-side? • Has the policy been properly explained to them? • Or do they see the whole business as a saga of celebrities • Do they have a duty to criticise? • Are they still crucial to the creation of legitimacy • Or are they part of a climate of neutrality?