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Better Bankers, Better Banks: Promoting Good Business through Contractual Commitment

by Claire A. Hill Richard W. Painter

Taking financial risks is an essential part of what banks do, but there’s no clear sense of what constitutes responsible risk. Taking legal risks seems to have become part of what banks do as well. Since the financial crisis, Congress has passed copious amounts of legislation aimed at curbing banks’ risky behavior. Lawsuits against large banks have cost them billions. Yet bad behavior continues to plague the industry. Why isn’t there more change? In Better Bankers, Better Banks, Claire A. Hill and Richard W. Painter look back at the history of banking and show how the current culture of bad behavior—dramatized by the corrupt, cocaine-snorting bankers of The Wolf of Wall Street—came to be. In the early 1980s, banks went from partnerships whose partners had personal liability to corporations whose managers had no such liability and could take risks with other people’s money. A major reason bankers remain resistant to change, Hill and Painter argue, is that while banks have been faced with large fines, penalties, and legal fees—which have exceeded one hundred billion dollars since the onset of the crisis—the banks (which really means the banks’shareholders) have paid them, not the bankers themselves. The problem also extends well beyond the pursuit of profit to the issue of how success is defined within the banking industry, where highly paid bankers clamor for status and clients may regard as inevitable bankers who prioritize their own self-interest. While many solutions have been proposed, Hill and Painter show that a successful transformation of banker behavior must begin with the bankers themselves. Bankers must be personally liable from their own assets for some portion of the bank’s losses from excessive risk-taking and illegal behavior. This would instill a culture that discourages such behavior and in turn influence the sorts of behavior society celebrates or condemns. Despite many sensible proposals seeking to reign in excessive risk-taking, the continuing trajectory of scandals suggests that we’re far from ready to avert the next crisis. Better Bankers, Better Banks is a refreshing call for bankers to return to the idea that theirs is a noble profession.

Better Bankers, Better Banks: Promoting Good Business through Contractual Commitment

by Claire A. Hill Richard W. Painter

Taking financial risks is an essential part of what banks do, but there’s no clear sense of what constitutes responsible risk. Taking legal risks seems to have become part of what banks do as well. Since the financial crisis, Congress has passed copious amounts of legislation aimed at curbing banks’ risky behavior. Lawsuits against large banks have cost them billions. Yet bad behavior continues to plague the industry. Why isn’t there more change? In Better Bankers, Better Banks, Claire A. Hill and Richard W. Painter look back at the history of banking and show how the current culture of bad behavior—dramatized by the corrupt, cocaine-snorting bankers of The Wolf of Wall Street—came to be. In the early 1980s, banks went from partnerships whose partners had personal liability to corporations whose managers had no such liability and could take risks with other people’s money. A major reason bankers remain resistant to change, Hill and Painter argue, is that while banks have been faced with large fines, penalties, and legal fees—which have exceeded one hundred billion dollars since the onset of the crisis—the banks (which really means the banks’shareholders) have paid them, not the bankers themselves. The problem also extends well beyond the pursuit of profit to the issue of how success is defined within the banking industry, where highly paid bankers clamor for status and clients may regard as inevitable bankers who prioritize their own self-interest. While many solutions have been proposed, Hill and Painter show that a successful transformation of banker behavior must begin with the bankers themselves. Bankers must be personally liable from their own assets for some portion of the bank’s losses from excessive risk-taking and illegal behavior. This would instill a culture that discourages such behavior and in turn influence the sorts of behavior society celebrates or condemns. Despite many sensible proposals seeking to reign in excessive risk-taking, the continuing trajectory of scandals suggests that we’re far from ready to avert the next crisis. Better Bankers, Better Banks is a refreshing call for bankers to return to the idea that theirs is a noble profession.

Better But Not Well: Mental Health Policy in the United States since 1950

by Richard G. Frank Sherry A. Glied

The past half-century has been marked by major changes in the treatment of mental illness: important advances in understanding mental illnesses, increases in spending on mental health care and support of people with mental illnesses, and the availability of new medications that are easier for the patient to tolerate. Although these changes have made things better for those who have mental illness, they are not quite enough. In Better But Not Well, Richard G. Frank and Sherry A. Glied examine the well-being of people with mental illness in the United States over the past fifty years, addressing issues such as economics, treatment, standards of living, rights, and stigma. Marshaling a range of new empirical evidence, they first argue that people with mental illness—severe and persistent disorders as well as less serious mental health conditions—are faring better today than in the past. Improvements have come about for unheralded and unexpected reasons. Rather than being a result of more effective mental health treatments, progress has come from the growth of private health insurance and of mainstream social programs—such as Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income, housing vouchers, and food stamps—and the development of new treatments that are easier for patients to tolerate and for physicians to manage. The authors remind us that, despite the progress that has been made, this disadvantaged group remains worse off than most others in society. The "mainstreaming" of persons with mental illness has left a policy void, where governmental institutions responsible for meeting the needs of mental health patients lack resources and programmatic authority. To fill this void, Frank and Glied suggest that institutional resources be applied systematically and routinely to examine and address how federal and state programs affect the well-being of people with mental illness.

Better Corporate Reporting

by Carol Adams Elaine Cohen Dwayne Baraka

Better Corporate Reporting outlines the latest frameworks for enhancing non-financial and sustainability reporting. It shows you how to integrate non-financial data into your reporting and overall strategy, creating long-term value, trust and transparency. It includes guides to: the International Integrated Reporting Council's new framework; the Global Reporting Initiative's G4 framework; and a detailed look at the concept at the heart of both of these new frameworks, materiality. It is the compilation of 3 bestselling sustainability guides on sustainability reporting.Understanding Integrated Reporting provides a practical and expert distillation of the new IR framework released by the International Integrated Reporting Council in December 2013. It explains what IR is and how to do it; how it links with other reporting frameworks and what it means in terms of thinking and processes. You'll also get a clear business case for IR and insights and best practice examples from leading integrated reporters. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Sustainability Reporting Framework was launched in May 2013. In Understanding G4, corporate reporting veteran Elaine Cohen presents an easy-to-follow review of everything any organization needs to know to decide whether to use the G4 Framework and if so, how. Materiality is the lynch-pin that can align your sustainability initiatives with your overall strategy. Making Sustainability Matter shows you how to identify your organization's most material sustainability issues, allocate resources to sustainability initiatives for optimal returns; connect your communications and reporting to materiality, and; clarify which issues are important to your stakeholders. Materiality is a core concept in both the GRI's new G4 framework the IIRC's new Integrated Reporting framework.

Better Corporate Reporting (Doshorts Ser.)

by Carol Adams Elaine Cohen Dwayne Baraka

Better Corporate Reporting outlines the latest frameworks for enhancing non-financial and sustainability reporting. It shows you how to integrate non-financial data into your reporting and overall strategy, creating long-term value, trust and transparency. It includes guides to: the International Integrated Reporting Council's new framework; the Global Reporting Initiative's G4 framework; and a detailed look at the concept at the heart of both of these new frameworks, materiality. It is the compilation of 3 bestselling sustainability guides on sustainability reporting.Understanding Integrated Reporting provides a practical and expert distillation of the new IR framework released by the International Integrated Reporting Council in December 2013. It explains what IR is and how to do it; how it links with other reporting frameworks and what it means in terms of thinking and processes. You'll also get a clear business case for IR and insights and best practice examples from leading integrated reporters. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Sustainability Reporting Framework was launched in May 2013. In Understanding G4, corporate reporting veteran Elaine Cohen presents an easy-to-follow review of everything any organization needs to know to decide whether to use the G4 Framework and if so, how. Materiality is the lynch-pin that can align your sustainability initiatives with your overall strategy. Making Sustainability Matter shows you how to identify your organization's most material sustainability issues, allocate resources to sustainability initiatives for optimal returns; connect your communications and reporting to materiality, and; clarify which issues are important to your stakeholders. Materiality is a core concept in both the GRI's new G4 framework the IIRC's new Integrated Reporting framework.

Better Law for a Better World: New Approaches to Law Practice and Education (Emerging Legal Education)

by Liz Curran

How as a society can we find ways of ensuring the people who are the most vulnerable or have little voice can avail themselves of the protection in law to improve their social, cultural, health and economic outcomes as befits civilised society? Better Law for a Better World answers this question by looking at innovative practices and developments emerging within law practice and education and shares the skills and techniques that could lead to confidence in the law and its ability to respond. Using recent research from Australia, practice initiatives and information, the book breaks down ways for law students, legal educators and law practitioners (including judicial officers, law administrators, legislators and policy makers) to enhance access to justice and improve outcomes through new approaches to lawyering. These can include: Multi-Disciplinary Practice (including health justice partnerships); integrated justice practice; restorative practice; empowerment modes (community & professional development and policy skills); client-centred approaches and collaborative interdisciplinary practice informed by practical experience. The book contains critical information on what such practice might look like and the elements that will be required in the development of the essential skills and criteria for such practice. It seeks to open up a dialogue about how we can make the law better. This includes making the community more central to the operation of the law and improving client-centred practice so that the Rule of Law can deliver on its claims to serve, protect and ensure equality before the law. It explores practical ways that emerging lawyers can be trained differently to ensure improved communication, collaboration, problem solving, partnership and interpersonal skills. The book explores the challenges of such work. It also gives suggestions on how to reduce professional barriers and variations in practice to effectively, humanely and efficiently make a difference in people’s lives. The book builds essential skills and new approaches to lawyering for law students, legal educators, new lawyers and seasoned lawyers, judicial members and law administrators to equip them to better respond to community need. It looks at the law in context by also exploring the role of the law in improving the social determinants of health and socially just outcomes.

Better Law for a Better World: New Approaches to Law Practice and Education (Emerging Legal Education)

by Liz Curran

How as a society can we find ways of ensuring the people who are the most vulnerable or have little voice can avail themselves of the protection in law to improve their social, cultural, health and economic outcomes as befits civilised society? Better Law for a Better World answers this question by looking at innovative practices and developments emerging within law practice and education and shares the skills and techniques that could lead to confidence in the law and its ability to respond. Using recent research from Australia, practice initiatives and information, the book breaks down ways for law students, legal educators and law practitioners (including judicial officers, law administrators, legislators and policy makers) to enhance access to justice and improve outcomes through new approaches to lawyering. These can include: Multi-Disciplinary Practice (including health justice partnerships); integrated justice practice; restorative practice; empowerment modes (community & professional development and policy skills); client-centred approaches and collaborative interdisciplinary practice informed by practical experience. The book contains critical information on what such practice might look like and the elements that will be required in the development of the essential skills and criteria for such practice. It seeks to open up a dialogue about how we can make the law better. This includes making the community more central to the operation of the law and improving client-centred practice so that the Rule of Law can deliver on its claims to serve, protect and ensure equality before the law. It explores practical ways that emerging lawyers can be trained differently to ensure improved communication, collaboration, problem solving, partnership and interpersonal skills. The book explores the challenges of such work. It also gives suggestions on how to reduce professional barriers and variations in practice to effectively, humanely and efficiently make a difference in people’s lives. The book builds essential skills and new approaches to lawyering for law students, legal educators, new lawyers and seasoned lawyers, judicial members and law administrators to equip them to better respond to community need. It looks at the law in context by also exploring the role of the law in improving the social determinants of health and socially just outcomes.

A Better Metro Manila?: Towards Responsible Local Governance, Decentralization and Equitable Development

by Teresa S. Encarnacion Tadem Maria Ela L. Atienza

This book contributes to efforts in furthering the democratization and development processes in the Philippines by examining the decentralization efforts in Metro Manila. It explores existing as well as proposed development models for governance with focus on the effective and efficient delivery of social services, bringing forth growth with equity through development efforts, and addressing national-local concerns to promote political and socio-economic stability in the country. In doing so, the book examines the strong and weak governance points in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, and identifies areas for reform.

Better Regulation (Studies of the Oxford Institute of European and Comparative Law)

by Stephen Weatherill

The discourse of 'Better Regulation' is a hot topic, intimately associated with the drive for cost savings and a more efficient economy. In the UK and in the EU, rule-makers have lately endeavoured to achieve a more satisfactory balance between the demands of proper protection from market failure and inequity on the one hand, and commercial freedom and the potential for innovation on the other. But who is the regulator listening to, and what effect does this have on the regulatory pattern governing the integrating EU market? What is best practice in the matter of regulatory assessment. The essays in this collection explore these and other questions and will foster greater understanding of UK and EU regulation, the accountability issues involved, and problems of enforcement. It is no coincidence that since efforts to construct a Constitution for Europe have stalled the attention of policy-makers, politicians and the business community has turned instead to the quest for Better Regulation - or perhaps, it might be said, a "Better European Union".

Better Regulation in EU Contract Law: The Fitness Check and the New Deal for Consumers (Studies of the Oxford Institute of European and Comparative Law)

by Esther Van Schagen Stephen Weatherill

This book is the first to provide a critical investigation of EU better regulation from the perspective of EU contract law. The Commission's 'New Deal for EU Consumers' is one of the first EU contract law initiatives to implement both the newly revised Better Regulation Guidelines and the newly introduced combined evaluation of multiple Directives in the form of a 'fitness check'. This offers an opportunity to explore difficulties and best practices at a national level, as demonstrated by experience with the EU's Unfair Terms Directive. Both the fitness check and the impact assessment accompanying the New Deal should facilitate critical reflection on the design of EU contract law.This book addresses key questions. Do impact assessments favour business interests at the expense of a high level of consumer protection? Is the evaluation of EU contract law and the analysis in impact assessments in line with scientific standards? Has the fitness check revealed difficulties and success stories with EU measures at national level, and thereby facilitated an in-depth scrutiny of the design of EU contract law? Ultimately, is the potential of better regulation being realised?

Better Regulation in EU Contract Law: The Fitness Check and the New Deal for Consumers (Studies of the Oxford Institute of European and Comparative Law)


This book is the first to provide a critical investigation of EU better regulation from the perspective of EU contract law. The Commission's 'New Deal for EU Consumers' is one of the first EU contract law initiatives to implement both the newly revised Better Regulation Guidelines and the newly introduced combined evaluation of multiple Directives in the form of a 'fitness check'. This offers an opportunity to explore difficulties and best practices at a national level, as demonstrated by experience with the EU's Unfair Terms Directive. Both the fitness check and the impact assessment accompanying the New Deal should facilitate critical reflection on the design of EU contract law.This book addresses key questions. Do impact assessments favour business interests at the expense of a high level of consumer protection? Is the evaluation of EU contract law and the analysis in impact assessments in line with scientific standards? Has the fitness check revealed difficulties and success stories with EU measures at national level, and thereby facilitated an in-depth scrutiny of the design of EU contract law? Ultimately, is the potential of better regulation being realised?

A Better Way to Think About Business: How Personal Integrity Leads to Corporate Success

by Robert C. Solomon

Is business ethics a contradiction in terms? Absolutely not, says Robert Solomon. In fact, he maintains that sound ethics is a necessary precondition of any long-term business enterprise, and that excellence in business must exist on the foundation of values that most of us hold dear. Drawing on twenty years of experience consulting with major corporations on ethics, Solomon clarifies the difficult ethical choices all people in business face. He uses an "Aristotelian" approach to remind readers that a corporation--like an individual--is embedded in a community, and that corporate values such as fairness and honesty are meaningless until transformed into action. Without a base of shared values, trust and mutual benefits, today's national and international business world would fall apart. In keeping with his conviction that virtue and profit must thrive together, Solomon both examines the ways in which deficient values actually destroy businesses, and debunks the pervasive myths that encourage unethical business practices. Complete with a working catalog of virtues designed to illustrate the importance of integrity in any business situation, this compelling handbook contains a gold mine of wisdom for either the small business manager or the corporate executive struggling with ethical issues.

A Better Way to Think About Business: How Personal Integrity Leads to Corporate Success

by Robert C. Solomon

Is business ethics a contradiction in terms? Absolutely not, says Robert Solomon. In fact, he maintains that sound ethics is a necessary precondition of any long-term business enterprise, and that excellence in business must exist on the foundation of values that most of us hold dear. Drawing on twenty years of experience consulting with major corporations on ethics, Solomon clarifies the difficult ethical choices all people in business face. He uses an "Aristotelian" approach to remind readers that a corporation--like an individual--is embedded in a community, and that corporate values such as fairness and honesty are meaningless until transformed into action. Without a base of shared values, trust and mutual benefits, today's national and international business world would fall apart. In keeping with his conviction that virtue and profit must thrive together, Solomon both examines the ways in which deficient values actually destroy businesses, and debunks the pervasive myths that encourage unethical business practices. Complete with a working catalog of virtues designed to illustrate the importance of integrity in any business situation, this compelling handbook contains a gold mine of wisdom for either the small business manager or the corporate executive struggling with ethical issues.

A Better World, Inc.: How Companies Profit by Solving Global Problems…Where Governments Cannot

by Alice Korngold

This unique book shows companies and their executives how to profit by developing solutions to the world's most daunting challenges those that governments cannot, and have not yet addressed. Using case studies, A Better World, Inc . delineates best practices for businesses to maximize revenues and reduce costs.

A Better World, Inc.: Corporate Governance for an Inclusive, Sustainable, and Prosperous Future

by Alice Korngold

The first edition of A Better World, Inc. showed how companies can profit by solving global problems. Increasingly, companies and investors are capitalizing on these opportunities. The three factors necessary for success were revealed to be effective corporate governance, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration. Racial equity and justice, and gender equity, were also themes in the original edition. By drawing on new research and case studies, this updated edition shows that inclusion and sustainability are in fact fundamental prerequisites for prosperity for companies and society. Specifically, racial inequity and injustice, and gender inequity, are systemic problems that impede businesses from achieving their greater potential in the global marketplace; in the meantime, society suffers as well. The second edition of A Better World, Inc. builds on the first by showing that companies have the power and incentives – and their boards of directors have the responsibility and the authority – to drive solutions to social, economic, and environmental challenges. Readers will learn how companies and their boards, together with nonprofits and governments, can drive prosperity by centering equity and sustainability.This edition is organized to address environmental, social, and governance practices, which are priority interests for investors, media, the public, government, and others to assess company practices and profitability.

Betting the Company: Complex Negotiation Strategies for Law and Business

by Andrew Trask Andrew DeGuire

Where the fate of a company is on the line in a negotiation, legal and business teams must work seamlessly to reach a successful conclusion. Unfortunately, there's often a gap between lawyers, who are typically untrained in business strategy, and business executives, who lack basic knowledge of contract law and regulations. In Betting the Company: Complex Negotiation Strategies for Law and Business, Andrew Trask and Andrew DeGuire offer a thorough introduction to enable lawyers and business people to understand the theoretical concepts and to apply practical tools to conduct a successful, multi-faceted negotiation. The authors, both of whom have extensive experience conducting high-stakes negotiation, explain the different strategic considerations negotiators face, from the pressures on individuals representing a larger group to the difficulties that arise from clashes of corporate culture. They also discuss the specific challenges raised by negotiations that involve multiple parties, multiple issues, and take place over longer periods of time. Throughout this illuminating book, Trask and DeGuire provide concrete, practical advice on how best to guide companies through the most difficult negotiations.

Betting the Company: Complex Negotiation Strategies for Law and Business

by Andrew Trask Andrew DeGuire

Where the fate of a company is on the line in a negotiation, legal and business teams must work seamlessly to reach a successful conclusion. Unfortunately, there's often a gap between lawyers, who are typically untrained in business strategy, and business executives, who lack basic knowledge of contract law and regulations. In Betting the Company: Complex Negotiation Strategies for Law and Business, Andrew Trask and Andrew DeGuire offer a thorough introduction to enable lawyers and business people to understand the theoretical concepts and to apply practical tools to conduct a successful, multi-faceted negotiation. The authors, both of whom have extensive experience conducting high-stakes negotiation, explain the different strategic considerations negotiators face, from the pressures on individuals representing a larger group to the difficulties that arise from clashes of corporate culture. They also discuss the specific challenges raised by negotiations that involve multiple parties, multiple issues, and take place over longer periods of time. Throughout this illuminating book, Trask and DeGuire provide concrete, practical advice on how best to guide companies through the most difficult negotiations.

Betty A. Reardon: A Pioneer In Education For Peace And Human Rights (SpringerBriefs on Pioneers in Science and Practice #26)

by Betty A. Reardon Dale T. Snauwaert

Betty A. Reardon is a world-renowned leader in the fields of peace education and human rights; her pioneering work has laid the foundation for a new cross-disciplinary integration of peace education and international human rights from a gender-conscious, global perspective. This collection of reflective inquiry and ongoing research gathers essential works on peace education and human rights (1967-2014) and provides access to Reardon’s key works. These texts have been foundational to the field of peace education during the past five decades of her practical experience. The unique conceptualization of a holistic framework for organizing content and the practical and specific descriptions of pedagogies for the practice of critical peace education in schools and universities, have made them essential resources for peace educators around the world; several have already become standard texts for basic courses in the field. The book also includes an overview of Reardon’s career and a bibliography of her publications.

Betty A. Reardon: Key Texts in Gender and Peace (SpringerBriefs on Pioneers in Science and Practice #27)

by Betty A. Reardon Dale T. Snauwaert

This book presents a rich collection of Betty A. Reardon’s writing on gender studies, sexism and the war system, and human security from a feminist perspective. Betty A. Reardon is a pioneer of gender studies who, as a feminist, identified the structural relationship between sexism and the war system and, as a scholar, a shift from national to human security. As a pioneer in contemporary theories on gender and peace, Betty A. Reardon has continually developed research on the integral relationship between patriarchy and war, and has been an outspoken advocate of gender issues as an essential aspect of peace studies, of problems of gender equity as the subject of peace research, and of gender experience as a crucial factor in defining and attaining human security. Her work evolved in the context of international women’s movements for human rights, peace and the United Nations, and is widely drawn upon by activists and educators in order to introduce a gender perspective to peace studies and education and a peace perspective to women’s studies.

Between Autonomy and Dependence: The EU Legal Order under the Influence of International Organisations

by Ramses A. Wessel and Steven Blockmans

The European Union is traditionally seen as a new and partly separate legal order within the global legal system. At the same time, the EU is an important player in the global governance network. The strong and explicit link between the EU and a large number of other international organisations raises questions concerning the impact of decisions taken by those organisations and of international agreements concluded with those organisations (either by the EU itself or by its Member States) on the autonomy of the EU legal order. This book addresses the relationship between the EU and other international organisations by looking at the increasing influence of norms enacted by international organisations on the shaping of EU law.

Between Competition and Free Movement: The Economic Constitutional Law of the European Community

by Julio Baquero Cruz

This book takes as its starting point the interaction and gaps between the free movement and competition rules of the EC Treaty,and is the first book-length treatment of the topic. Competition and free movement are well known as fundamental elements of the Community legal order and are normally treated separately by different specialists. Hence their interaction has tended to receive less doctrinal analysis. This work bridges the gap and examines the interaction of these disparate rules using a framework which is defined by the author as the economic constitutional law of the European Community. The book then examines in depth specific issues such as, for example, the economic orientation of the constitution of the Community, the structure and principles of interpretation relating to it, or the gaps presented by this structure and the ways in which they have been filled by the European Court of Justice. Particular attention is given, in separate chapters, to two important topics: the possible extension of the application of the free movement rules to protectionist private conduct and that of the competition rules or principles extracted from them to State action. The problem of the public/private divide, a pressing one for contemporary constitutionalism and societies, is a major concern for the chapters devoted to these topics, and it is seen by the author as the central question of the economic constitutional law of the Community. The book is equally concerned with theoretical and practical issues, and will be of use and interest to academics and practitioners interested in the European Community legal order. In addition to the wealth of information it contains and its challenging analysis of the law, the book also provides a way of thinking afresh about the problems presented by these established branches of Community law.

Between Compliance and Particularism: Member State Interests and European Union Law

by Marton Varju

The book examines how the interests of the member states, which provide the primary driving force for developments in European integration, are internalised and addressed by the law of the European Union. In this context, member state interests are taken to mean the policy considerations, economic calculations, local socio-cultural factors, and the raw expressions of political will which shape EU policies and determine member state responses to the obligations arising from those policies. The book primarily explores the junctions and disjunctions between member state interests defined in such a manner and EU law, where the latter expresses either an obligation for the member states to comply with common policies or an acceptance of member state particularism under the common EU framework.

Between Cosmopolitan Ideals and State Sovereignty: Studies in Global Justice

by R. Tinnevelt G. Verschraegen

Between Cosmopolitan Ideals and State Sovereignty explores how philosophers and political theorists have recast principles of justice and human rights in the light of challenges posed by globalization. It discusses ethical issues that arise at a global level and considers whether human rights and sovereignty can ever be reconciled.

Between Crime and War: Hybrid Legal Frameworks for Asymmetric Conflict (ETHICS NATIONAL SECURITY RULE LAW SERIES)

by Claire Finkelstein, Christopher Fuller, Jens David Ohlin and Mitt Regan

The threat posed by the recent rise of transnational non-state armed groups does not fit easily within either of the two basic paradigms for state responses to violence. The civilian paradigm focuses on the interception of demonstrable immediate threats to the safety of others. The military paradigm focuses on threats posed by collective actors who pose a danger to the state's ability to maintain basic social order and, at times, the very existence of the state. While the United States has responded to the threat posed by non-state armed groups by using tools from both paradigms, it has placed substantially more emphasis on the military paradigm than have other states. While several reasons may contribute to this approach, one may be the assumption that a state must use each set of tools strictly according in accordance with the principles that underlie each paradigm. Implicit in this assumption may be the sense that the only alternative to the civilian paradigm is the unqualified military one. The chapters in this book suggest, however that we need not see the options as confined to this binary choice. It may be profitable to consider borrowing elements from each paradigm on some occasions to act more expansively than the conventional civilian paradigm allows, but less expansively than the conventional military paradigm would permit. At the same time, the mixing of the categories comes with its own ethical and legal risks that should be scrutinized.

Between Crime and War: Hybrid Legal Frameworks for Asymmetric Conflict (ETHICS NATIONAL SECURITY RULE LAW SERIES)


The threat posed by the recent rise of transnational non-state armed groups does not fit easily within either of the two basic paradigms for state responses to violence. The civilian paradigm focuses on the interception of demonstrable immediate threats to the safety of others. The military paradigm focuses on threats posed by collective actors who pose a danger to the state's ability to maintain basic social order and, at times, the very existence of the state. While the United States has responded to the threat posed by non-state armed groups by using tools from both paradigms, it has placed substantially more emphasis on the military paradigm than have other states. While several reasons may contribute to this approach, one may be the assumption that a state must use each set of tools strictly according in accordance with the principles that underlie each paradigm. Implicit in this assumption may be the sense that the only alternative to the civilian paradigm is the unqualified military one. The chapters in this book suggest, however that we need not see the options as confined to this binary choice. It may be profitable to consider borrowing elements from each paradigm on some occasions to act more expansively than the conventional civilian paradigm allows, but less expansively than the conventional military paradigm would permit. At the same time, the mixing of the categories comes with its own ethical and legal risks that should be scrutinized.

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