https://www.scmp.com/rss/324348/feed Dr Sherif A. Elgebeily (@selgebeily) is director of the Centre for the Study of International Peace and Security, and co-chair of the International Law and Policy in Africa Network (ILPAN). He is the author of The Rule of Law in the United Nations Security Council Decision-making Process. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com There is good reason for moderation in the depiction of world leaders shaking hands for peace – they are seminal windows in time: think, for example, of US president Bill Clinton, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the White House, shaking hands upon agreeing on the Oslo Accords. At times, too, they do not age well – photos of Muammar Gaddafi and Tony Blair, Augusto Pinochet and Margaret Thatcher, or Robert Mugabe and Queen Elizabeth can circulate on cue... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2150551/why-trump-kim-handshake-no-symbol-peace-fuel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2150551/why-trump-kim-handshake-no-symbol-peace-fuel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Jun 2018 06:09:13 +0000 Calls for independence – in Kurdistan, Kosovo, Taiwan and even Hong Kong – have become somewhat romanticised through skewed interpretations of the right to self-determination. The legal aspects of secession have been covered at length by internationally respected judiciaries, including the Canadian Supreme Court and the International Court of Justice, but in the event that legal obstacles can be overcome, there are critical political and economic aspects to consider. Catalonia highlights just... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2116028/independence-catalonia-would-lead-region-out-spain-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2116028/independence-catalonia-would-lead-region-out-spain-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Oct 2017 03:23:44 +0000 When Nathan Law Kwun-chung, on the night of September 26, 2014, called on peaceful protesters “to go into the Civic Square together ... [to] recapture the public space that belongs to us”, he called for “civil disobedience”. But what precisely does this term mean? Did the occupation of Civic Square qualify? Civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with laws on moral grounds, with the knowledge and acceptance of the repercussions. It is a fundamental expression of individual responsibility –... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2109306/jailed-occupy-trio-crossed-line-civil-disobedience-civic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2109306/jailed-occupy-trio-crossed-line-civil-disobedience-civic?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Sep 2017 03:32:13 +0000 In recent years, a variety of Islamist groups in the Philippines have pledged allegiance to so-called Islamic State – a disturbing trend that seems to have spilled over from neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia, which have both been sending combatants to Syria for numerous years. According to Philippine Solicitor General Jose Calida, both Indonesians and Malaysians are involved in the conflict in the country’s southern division of Mindanao. So great is the threat that President Rodrigo Duterte... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2096183/why-philippines-duterte-needs-lighter-touch-not-martial-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2096183/why-philippines-duterte-needs-lighter-touch-not-martial-law?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 May 2017 05:30:00 +0000 Since 1954, China has practised a foreign policy of non-interventionism, in accordance with its “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence”: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity; mutual non-aggression; non-interference in each other’s internal affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and, peaceful coexistence. More than 60 years later, China continues to point to this stance both to justify outward-facing actions, such as its voting record at the UN Security Council, and to reject... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2091502/how-chinas-foreign-policy-non-intervention-all-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2091502/how-chinas-foreign-policy-non-intervention-all-about?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Apr 2017 00:03:49 +0000 Last weekend, the Electoral Affairs Commission decided to invalidate the candidacy of Hong Kong National Party member Chan Ho-tin for the upcoming Legislative Council election. The exact reasons behind this are unclear, but other candidates who also refused to sign a newly imposed declaration form have yet to receive notice on the validity of their candidacies, fuelling concern. The pledge to uphold the Basic Law is a fundamental part of the eligibility for candidacy, as outlined on the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1997682/declaration-form-legco-election-both-unnecessary-and-illegal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1997682/declaration-form-legco-election-both-unnecessary-and-illegal?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Aug 2016 06:54:56 +0000 Universal suffrage. Nominating committees. Legislative councillors. Debate on “one country, two systems” has focused on these and similar elements for almost 20 years. They are legitimate discussions. But political reform of the Basic Law as it stands is a short- to mid-term goal at best and needs to be addressed against the backdrop of one golden question: “What happens after 2047?” On the road to 2047, Hong Kong’s rule of law must remain robust and strong Independence for Hong Kong, we are... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1941442/question-hong-kong-must-consider-now-what-will-happen-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1941442/question-hong-kong-must-consider-now-what-will-happen-after?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 May 2016 03:26:08 +0000 Almost two years since the last round of United Nations sanctions, North Korea has tested its first hydrogen bomb. The reaction from the UN Security Council, predictably, has been one of outrage, judging the test to constitute such a flagrant violation of UN sanctions and threat to peace and security that an emergency meeting was convened within three hours. READ MORE: Does North Korea’s latest nuclear test highlight Beijing’s waning influence? This frantic appeal to emotion elicits fear within... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1898578/un-condemnation-north-koreas-nuclear-test-smacks-double?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1898578/un-condemnation-north-koreas-nuclear-test-smacks-double?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Jan 2016 08:24:16 +0000 For the second time in less than a month, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is coming to terms with the fallout from errant air strikes, first by US forces in Afghanistan and, this time, allegedly by Saudi forces in Yemen. On both occasions, MSF clearly and repeatedly relayed the coordinates of their locations to all parties. The strikes, then, seem deliberate and in clear violation of international humanitarian law; the bombings appear to be war crimes. Article 8(1) of the Rome Statute of the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1873634/when-apologies-hospital-air-strikes-are-not-enough?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1873634/when-apologies-hospital-air-strikes-are-not-enough?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Oct 2015 04:31:26 +0000 It has been over a quarter of a century since the collapse of the USSR, the fall of the Berlin Wall and, accordingly, the thawing of the cold war that crippled international relations for decades in the mid-to-late 20th century. But it seems that Russia's decision to enter the war in Syria with military strikes - as opposed to simply bolstering and protecting President Bashar al-Assad on the international stage and supplying arms - has jolted East-West relations back to a time of high... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1864845/western-coalition-risks-going-head-head-russia-syrian?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1864845/western-coalition-risks-going-head-head-russia-syrian?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2015 04:35:30 +0000 Imagine the entire population of Hong Kong fleeing their homes in the space of six months. Last year, an average of 42,500 people daily were "displaced" - either as internally displaced persons or refugees - and the UN puts the total worldwide number at 58 million at the end of the year. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council today supports or ignores the regimes that are creating the problem. Put simply, its failure to reach a consensus on its central duty to maintain peace and security is a cause... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1858004/stem-flood-refugees-un-must-work-harder-ending-wars-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1858004/stem-flood-refugees-un-must-work-harder-ending-wars-and?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Sep 2015 08:15:00 +0000