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Richter, Nicolas
4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Wikileaks weakens dipolmacy
The new revelations by the Internet platform Wikileaks are unhelpful and weaken diplomacy, writes the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung: "What is the higher interest in publishing the US dispatches, what problems are they supposed to address? The dishonesty of diplomacy? The special interest politics of the Americans? That [German Foreign Minister Guido] Westerwelle is head diplomat? ... It is right to oppose the secretiveness of the authorities. When the media do this they can filter and order their information and protect personal rights. However if Wikileaks were to put large amounts of raw material on the Web such guarantees would be lacking. It would no longer be a matter of controlled leaks, as Wikileaks' name implies, but the bursting of a dam. With today's technology anyone who wants to can publish documents and make an example or a fool of their colleagues or employers. But a foreign minister who must always remain diplomatic even to his or her own staff simply won't be able to function. The same holds for all those who can no longer communicate what they think."
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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Online media, » U.S., » Global
Over-globalised and under-regulated
The international community of states lacks binding rules in all matters, writes the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. "Anything and everything seems to cross borders as if weightless, be it raw materials, climate gases, information or weapons. The world has long been over-globalised and under-regulated. ... Not only do we need a new legal order, we also need new institutions. The perceived age of the Security Council structure is 200 years, and at G8 meetings emerging markets like China, India and Brazil are still sitting on the sidelines. And the best UN organisations are persistently ignored. It is symptomatic that no one is talking these days of Ecosoc, the UN's Economic and Social Council. ... The fact is that it will not be enough to just lengthen the conference tables as long as there is no basic consensus among the states with the biggest say. ... National interests - which are primarily financial - still dominate everything, and frustration at the other party's intransigence has led states to prefer national or regional solutions over global ones."
» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Global
Liechtenstein criticises German tax investigations
"These transgressions tell us that time is up for financial shadow regimes," says Nicolas Richter. "But Liechtenstein has raised the status of tax evasion to a kind of human right, and gives constitutional protection to banking privacy. At best, reforms take place when foreign entities uncover the biggest abuses. … The German government should offer to negotiate a comprehensive legal agreement for the principality, but should also make it clear that commercial sanctions are possible if the country continues to shirk European standards. ... There is no Europe à la carte. Anyone who wishes to profit from the EU's open borders and legal security must also be prepared to hand over information about alleged criminals."
» to the homepage (external link, Süddeutsche Zeitung)
More from the press review on the subject » EU enlargement, » Domestic Policy, » Tax Policy, » Germany, » Western Europe
The debate around international justice
Nicolas Richter compares the conduct of international justice with regards to Srebrenica and Darfur and observes: "At least the new brand of international criminal law takes action sooner, in this case while the crimes in Darfur are still being committed, and not, as in the case of Yugoslavia, once everything's over. However, there's nothing else positive to be said in a Srebrenica and Darfur comparison… At the 2005 World Summit in New York, the UN agreed on a joint 'responsibility for protection'. Every state must protect its people from disaster; if it fails, the United Nations should intervene. The once sacred principle of the sovereignty of the nation state comes up against its limits here - but only in theory. The case of Sudan shows that a regime can still kill its people year after year and make a fool of the UN. The criminal prosecutors in The Hague have limited scope as a deterrent - they have no police to arrest the suspects... The United Nations is still unable to prevent the most terrible crimes from being committed in its midst."
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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Africa, » Global, » South East Europe
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