Welcome to our roundup of news and current events related to ethics and international affairs! Here’s what we’ve been reading this month:
The official Armenian Genocide memorial, built in 1967 in Yerevan, Armenia. Photo credit: David Stanley via Flickr
Reuters: U.S. House recognizes Armenian genocide, backs Turkey sanctions
A century after 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire (from 1915 to 1923), the United States House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to classify the campaign as genocide. This follows heightened tension over a Turkish military operation in northern Syria against Kurdish forces.
Read more about genocide and responses to mass atrocity in Ethics & International Affairs:
Choosing Among Alternative Responses to Mass Atrocity: Between the Individual and the Collectivity (September 2018)
Ending Atrocity Crimes: The False Promise of Fatalism (2018: Volume 32.3)
Book Review: Judging State Sponsored Violence, Imagining Political Change by Bronwyn Leebaw (2013: Volume 27.2)
Photo credit: pxhere.com
Al Jazeera: Iran's Healthcare System Threatened by US Sanctions: Rights Group
As the United States government doubles down on sanctions against Iran, international entities wary of legal or financial penalty are increasingly reluctant to exchange humanitarian goods with the country. The sanctions have stifled imports of life-saving medications, including those used to treat rare or chronic diseases and cancers. Human Rights Watch has called on Iran to maximize its available resources despite the sanctions to protect the right to health, and on the U.S. to ensure that humanitarian exemptions written into the sanctions are effective.
Read more about the ethics and consequences of economic sanctions in a recent roundtable in Ethics & International Affairs:
Political Effectiveness, Negative Externalities, and the Ethics of Economic Sanctions (2019: Volume 33.3)
Unilateral Economic Sanctions, International Law, and Human Rights (2019: Volume 33.3)
The Not So Targeted Instrument of Asset Freezes (2019: Volume 33.3)
After a failed human smuggling operation, thirty-nine people were found dead in a lorry in Southeast England last month. British citizens, activists, and bereaved family members are calling for government accountability and policy action to reopen safe and legal routes to Britain. Photo Credit: wikipedia
The Guardian: 'A Dizzying Maze': how the UK immigration system is geared to reject
A closer look at the United Kingdom's immigration system reveals a convoluted entanglement of rules and regulations and systemic class-based rejection. Migrants unlikely to gain legal entry often opt for backdoor entry routes, anticipating that their life-threatening journeys will be rewarded with opportunity and prosperity.
Read more about the ethics of mobility and migration in Ethics & International Affairs:
Borders of Class: Migration and Citizenship in the Capitalist State (2018: Volume 32.2)
Book Review: Toward a Cosmopolitan Ethics of Mobility: The Migrant’s-Eye View of the World by Alex Sager (2018: Volume 32.3)
Book review: Migration in Political Theory: The Ethics of Movement and Membership, Sarah Fine and Lea Ypi, eds. (2016: Volume 30.4)
Protesters at the Plaza Baquedano in Santiago, Chile. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
The Washington Post: From Hong Kong to Chile, 2019 is the year of the street protester. But why?
As the massive student-led protests in Hong Kong continue to make headlines, civil unrest and resistance seem to be at an all-time high across the world. Facilitated by social media, protesters from the Middle East to Latin America are taking to the streets to resist corruption, authoritarianism, and growing economic inequality.
Read more about civil resistance in Ethics & International Affairs:
The Ethics of (Un)Civil Resistance (2019: Volume 33.3)
The Responsibility to Accompany: A Framework for Multilateral Support of Grassroots Nonviolent Resistance (January 2015)
Backfire: The Dark Side of Nonviolent Resistance (2018: Volume 32.3)
Photo Credit: Deepak Pal via Flickr
Scientific American: What's Still Lacking in Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence can now recognize biological data, operate motor vehicles with precision, and see and interpret the world the way human beings do. But are some human faculties just not technologically replicable?
Read more about the ethics of artificial intelligence in Ethics & International Affairs:
Artificial Intelligence: Power to the People (2019: Volume 33.2)
Humor, Ethics, and Dignity: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (2019: Volume 33.1)
The Future Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Humans and Human Rights (2019: Volume 33.2)