Illicit interest groups: The political impact of the Medellin drug trafficking organizations in Colombia

Although drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) exist and have an effect on health, crime, economies, and politics, little research has explored these entities as political organizations. Legal interest groups and movements have been found to influence domestic and international politics because they operate within legal parameters. Illicit groups, such as DTOs, have rarely been accounted for—especially in the literature on interest groups—though they play a measurable role in affecting domestic and international politics in similar ways. Using an interest group model, this dissertation analyzed DTOs as illicit interest groups (IIGs) to explain their political influence. The analysis included a study of group formation, development, and demise that examined IIG motivation, organization, and policy impact. The data for the study drew from primary and secondary sources, which include interviews with former DTO members and government officials, government documents, journalistic accounts, memoirs, and academic research. To illustrate the interest group model, the study examined Medellin-based DTO leaders, popularly known as the "Medellin Cartel." In particular, the study focused on the external factors that gave rise to DTOs in Colombia and how Medellin DTOs reacted to the implementation of counternarcotics efforts. The discussion was framed by the implementation of the 1979 Extradition Treaty negotiated between Colombia and the United States. The treaty was significant because as drug trafficking became the principal bilateral issue in the 1980s; extradition became a major method of combating the illicit drug business. The study's findings suggested that Medellin DTO leaders had a one-issue agenda and used a variety of political strategies to influence public opinion and all three branches of government—the judicial, the legislative, and the executive—in an effort to invalidate the 1979 Extradition Treaty. The changes in the life cycle of the 1979 Extradition Treaty correlated with changes in the political power of Medellin-based DTOs vis-à-vis the Colombian government, and international forces such as the U.S. government's push for tougher counternarcotics efforts.

Out of Challenge, Opportunity: Central America's Electric Sector & Key Issues and Recommendations for Enhanced Regional Electric Integration

Taken together, the six nations of Central America count a population of roughly 40 million people and an energy market equal in size to that of Colombia, sufficient to benefit from economies of scale. The region has traditionally been a net importer of hydrocarbons, and hydroelectricity has dominated electric generation. But more recently, thermoelectric generation (diesel and fuel oil) has greatly increased as a percentage of the regional generation market. Progress has been made across the region’s electric sector, beginning with reforms in the 1990s and the 1996 signing of a regional treaty aimed at the development of a regional energy integration project – the Central American Electrical Interconnection System, or SIEPAC. A fundamental SIEPAC goal is to set up a regional electric market and a regulatory system. Indeed, after many years of development, SIEPAC is poised to open a new chapter in Central America’s electric infrastructure and market. But this new era must contend with critical issues such as the need to consolidate the regional electric market, political issues surrounding the venture, and security concerns. Moreover, local conflicts, in different degrees, have become priorities for policymakers, and these are possible barriers to completing the project. The goals of the SIEPAC project and of deepening the broader electric integration process are possible if national and regional decision makers understand that cooperative decision making will produce better results than separate national decision making. Enhanced regional understanding and cooperative decision making, combined with an effort to reorient the terminology and dialogue vis-à-vis energy efficiency in Central America, form the core recommendations of this paper.

O direito penal do inimigo na atualidade: Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty – MLAT, em matéria penal, celebrado entre a República Federativa do Brasil e os Estados Unidos da América bem como seus reflexos na jurisdição brasileira

In view of the climate of instability and deep social inequalities, it has been evident in the Brazilian reality, a new way to punish systematic already developed and consolidated in other countries, in which, among other things, the criminality is anticipated only by danger that the individual sports. It appears, therefore, that the theory developed by Günter Jakobs, nominated Criminal Law of the Enemy, became subtly inserted in the Brazilian reality as well as in international relations signed. In this sense, the Brazilian State, in order to carry out the international legal cooperation in the criminal field, signed a mutual assistance agreement with the government of the United States of America. Forward the conclusion of Mutual legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), the signatory countries voiced a desire to cooperate in order to facilitate the implementation of tasks of the authorities responsible for law enforcement in both countries, comprising research, investigation, prosecution and prevention of crime, said internalized adjustment in the Brazilian legal system by means of Decree No. 3810 of 02 May 2001. Alongside these considerations, the present study aims to analyze the Criminal law of the Enemy today, seeking to find evidence of that theory in the MLAT, international legal cooperation instrument signed between the government of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the government of the United States of America. Moreover, it has the objective to describe its effects on the Brazilian jurisdiction, especially as concerns the relativity and the suppression of human rights. Once done the introit, analysis will be carried out in the first chapter, on the definition and main features of the theory of Criminal Enemy of the law, it is imperative to approach the humanistic aspect that preceded the theory as well as the dealings given to some controversial issues surrounding it, such as the anticipation of the enemy's punishment and the disproportionality of the penalties imposed. In the second chapter will present the conceptual assumptions, historical evolution and the positives aspects, as well as the barriers and the pursuit of effectiveness of international legal cooperation. In the chapter, bedroom effective analysis of specific modality of cooperation will be held, the Mutual legal Assistance Treaty - MLAT in criminal matters, signed between the Federative Republic of Brazil and the United States of America, in which the general aspects will be addressed and the MLAT reflections on the Brazilian jurisdiction, which includes analysis about the relativity or suppression of human rights, future trends and creating stricter laws, followed by the presentation of the seized conclusion on the subject, in which, among other approaches, will be voiced understanding about the unconstitutionality certain service requests that, from these, there is the bad use of the agreed instrument.

Learning from Incredible Commitments: Evolution and Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties

Ostensibly, BITs are the ideal international treaty. First, until just recently, they almost uniformly came with explicit dispute resolution mechanisms through which countries could face real costs for violation (Montt 2009). Second, the signing, ratification, and violation of them are easily accessible public knowledge. Thus countries presumably would face reputational costs for violating these agreements. Yet, these compliance devices have not dissuaded states from violating these agreements. Even more interestingly, in recent years, both developed and developing countries have moved towards modifying the investor-friendly provisions of these agreements. These deviations from the expectations of the credible commitment argument raise important questions about the field's assumptions regarding the ability of international treaties with commitment devices to effectively constrain state behavior.

County Cork: the experience of members of the establishment whose houses were burned in the IRA arson campaign, 1920-23

Between May 1920 and March 1923, there were seventy-three houses belonging to the County Cork establishment burnt down by IRA and anti-treaty forces. More houses were destroyed by this method in Cork than in any other Irish county in the same timeframe. The establishment were targeted by the IRA for their political, military and social persuasions that were essentially in opposition to the nationalist movement. The motivations behind these burnings is examined, the main reasons being reprisals for actions taken by Crown forces, military reasons, loyalty of house owners to the British government and agrarianism. The geographical distribution of these burnings is also provided to reveal how active individual IRA brigades were that operated within the county. Though there were few areas of the county left unaffected by the occurrence of arson attacks, there were higher concentrations of burnings in some areas. The house burnings in County Cork did not conform to the national pattern of house burnings and the reasons for this are explored. This study argues that the presence of Crown forces in Cork and their implementation of an official reprisal policy in January 1921 escalated military conflict, and arson attacks became a key tactic utilised by IRA forces in response to this policy. The aftermath of house burnings for members of the establishment is revealed through the various compensation committees that were formed after both the War of Independence and Civil War. Key sources for this study included personal papers of both the establishment and military figures, IRA witness statements, local and national newspapers, the 1901 and 1911 Irish Censuses, Colonial Office Papers, compensation claims filed with the British government and Irish Free State, and others from archives throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The Increasing Power of the European Parliament: Negotiating the EU-India Free Trade Agreement

Since the Lisbon Treaty increased the legal role of the European Parliament (EP) in EU trade policy, there has been a debate about the extent to which these legal competencies have translated into actual influence over the content and outcome of EU trade negotiations. Using the case study of the on-going trade negotiations between the EU and India, this article argues that the impact of the EP has indeed been significant. Through two-level game analysis, which extends its domestic focus to include the EP as a domestic constituent, it demonstrates how the EP has affected the EU win-set in ways that have both hindered and facilitated agreement at the international level between the EU and India. It also shows how the EP has affected the negotiating dynamics and how the EU negotiators have had their preferences somewhat compromised by the EP in their attempt at reaching an agreement with India.

The Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Global Security Strategy of the EU

The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) is one of the main security challenges facing the international community today. However the new Global Security Strategy of 2016 raises the question of non-proliferation of WMD only as an incidental matter, not addressing directly the threat, a fundamental threat in the regional and global security. This is a clear step backwards for the European common security.

Russia and the Global Security Strategy of the European Union

The present article reviews the relations between the EU and Russia in the past decade and shows the deterioration of the bilateral relations. The Putin´s Russia has become a very active geostrategic player, with a worrying behaviour, breaking balances in the international scene established since the end of the Cold War. Russia is a priority in the Foreign and Security Policy of the European Global Security Strategy, but has become also a clear competitor. This last aspect is not sufficiently underlined in the Strategy and thus the strategic framework is not clear. In parallel, it is not clear in the Strategy which are the tools the EU has to defend its neighbourhood when their independence, sovereignty or territorial defence may be put in question. This question goes beyond the support to the resilience of those neighbours.

Cross-border Movement of Patients in the EU: A Re-Appraisal

The national welfare state, so it seems, has come under attack by European integration. This article focuses on one facet of the welfare state, that is, health care and on one specific dimension, that is, cross-border movement of patients. The institution which has played a pivotal role in the development of the framework regulating the migration of patients is the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The Court’s activity in this sensitive area has not remained without critics. This was even more so since the Court invoked Treaty (primary) law which not only has made it difficult to overturn case law but also has left the legislator with very little room for manoeuvre in relation to any future (secondary) EU law. What is therefore of special interest in terms of legitimacy is the legal reasoning by which the Court has made its contribution to the development of this framework. This article is a re-appraisal of the legal development in this field.

Did the 2011 Tohoku Tsunami increase the risk of species invasions along the Gulf of Alaska?

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Constructivism, constitutionalism and the EU's area of freedom security and justice post-Lisbon

This essay addresses the fundamental conceptual challenges which face the development of the Area of Freedom Security and Justice (AFSJ) in the post-Lisbon Treaty era. It argues that Onuf style constructivism is a valid lens with which to examine the development of the AFSJ to date, involving as it does the development of a shared understanding by practitioners, predominantly law enforcement and prosecution professionals, within the structures provided for them, in order to develop a completely new area of law and practice. While this approach will continue to need to be deployed in the development of further new operational areas, such as cybercrime, a new approach is now required, that of constitutionalism. A variety of forms of constitutionalism are then examined in order to establish their suitability as a mode of analysis for these developments.

The Development of Public Finances and Role of Fiscal Constraints in a Monetary Union: Example eurozone

This thesis is about the development of public debt and deficit in the eurozone, which has been in the center of attention for much of the new millennium. The debt-to-GDP and deficit-to-GDP ratios have changed significantly during the period of the European monetary integration, with sharp increases in the levels since the beginning of the financial crisis. We view the levels both before and after the establishment of the European Central Bank. The subject is complemented by a study of the restrictions on fiscal policy in the eurozone. The thesis begins with a review of the most central agreements in the Economic and Monetary Union, namely the Maastricht Treaty, the Stability and Growth Pact and the Fiscal Compact. We study the instructions and requirements provided by these contracts, with the emphasis being on the debt and deficit values. Furthermore, we view two theories that aim to provide us with information, whether the fiscal restrictions are useful or not. The second and empirical part consists of review on the debt and deficit levels in practice. We take a close look on the values for each of the currency union members. The third and last part summarizes the findings, and analyzes the reasons behind the changes. The result of the thesis is, that even though the levels of public debt and deficit have worsened since the beginning of the financial crisis, tight rules on fiscal policy might not be the best possible solution. Private sector has played a crucial part in the increase of the debt levels, and tight rules have their impact on the long awaited economic growth in the eurozone. It is obvious, though, that some form of fiscal guidelines with scientific ground are needed in order to avoid excessive and harmful debt and deficit levels. The main task is to make these guidelines a more essential part of the fiscal policy in each of the member countries.

Clouds of Suspicion: Airspace Arrangements, Escalation, and Discord in U.S./NATO-Russian Relations

How have cooperative airspace arrangements contributed to cooperation and discord in the Euro-Atlantic region? This study analyzes the role of three sets of airspace arrangements developed by Euro-Atlantic states since the end of the Cold War—(1) cooperative aerial surveillance of military activity, (2) exchange of air situational data, and (3) joint engagement of theater air and missile threats—in political-military relations among neighbors and within the region. These arrangements provide insights into the integration of Central and Eastern European states into Western security institutions, and the current discord that centers on the conflict in Ukraine and Russia’s place in regional security. The study highlights the role of airspace incidents as contributors to conflict escalation and identifies opportunities for transparency- and confidence-building measures to improve U.S./NATO-Russian relations. The study recommends strengthening the Open Skies Treaty in order to facilitate the resolution of conflicts and improve region-wide military transparency. It notes that political-military arrangements for engaging theater air and missile threats created by NATO and Russia over the last twenty years are currently postured in a way that divides the region and inhibits mutual security. In turn, the U.S.-led Regional Airspace Initiatives that facilitated the exchange of air situational data between NATO and then-NATO-aspirants such as Poland and the Baltic states, offer a useful precedent for improving air sovereignty and promoting information sharing to reduce the fear of war among participating states. Thus, projects like NATO’s Air Situational Data Exchange and the NATO-Russia Council Cooperative Airspace Initiative—if extended to the exchange of data about military aircraft—have the potential to buttress deterrence and contribute to conflict prevention. The study concludes that documenting the evolution of airspace arrangements since the end of the Cold War contributes to understanding of the conflicting narratives put forward by Russia, the West, and the states “in-between” with respect to reasons for the current state of regional security. The long-term project of developing a zone of stable peace in the Euro-Atlantic must begin with the difficult task of building inclusive security institutions to accommodate the concerns of all regional actors.

Normative conflicts in international investment law: the case of environmental law

This dissertation investigates the relationship between investment and environmental obligations from the perspective of international investment law. In order to do so, the dissertation will consider how these obligations might enter into conflicts and what tools are available to investment tribunals to solve these normative conflicts. The dissertation analyses in order interpretative techniques, conflict resolution tools available in general international law, as expressed in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and finally express clauses in international investment agreements. The dissertation includes the review of some relevant case law arising from investment agreements in investment treaty tribunals, to discover how in practice these conflict resolution tools are applied and to assess their effectiveness. This dissertation places itself squarely within the debate between the unity and the fragmentation of international law; therefore it tackles the issue of normative conflicts resolution in a dispute settlement environment with the view of gauging their value in maintaining the unity of international law and defuse the risk of fragmentation. The dissertation can only conclude that much work remains to be done, including by providing a more comprehensive taxonomy of possible interventions, both on the legal and political sphere.