A trip of epic proportions and possibilities... and horrible puns.
After days of searching for one, I finally found an adapter for my laptop to plug into UK outlets. I hadn’t forseen this problem since most European outlets are like the ones in the Netherlands. Moving on…
Even after being in England for over a week, I can still remember the amazement,…
I feel like my visit to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was much better than my last. Don’t get me wrong-I enjoyed it the first time very much as it was a very eye-opening experience, but having very little to no background in international law and proceedings I…
Today, we met with a representative from the investigative division of the ICC. Her presentation was full of perspective and once again displayed the reasons why the court process takes so long.
I think it’s incredibly important to get the kind of perspective she was giving which was enlightening…
Although I’d already been to The Hague and visited the ICC for a tour, it was still exhilarating and fascinating to be able to see it again. It was mostly the same things I’d heard the first time, but what was heard the second time held more weight and importance. I felt as if I understood better than I had on my prior visit thanks to the preparatory work done before we came here.
It was fun to hear the group expressing surprise at certain things-like the fact that the court is currently located in a parking garage. I think seeing an alleged war criminal is a strange, exciting experience for all involved. The first time I had gone, there were no proceedings; instead they were having a status meeting of some kind. I still got to see someone but this time there was a witness testifying.
Hearing the testimony of the witness was a very humanizing experience. I think it made everyone realize why the court is such a long process. Not only does everything have to be interpreted (sometimes twice over) but transcripts have to be written, everything must be done by the book, and sometimes witnesses have problems remembering things or vocalizing things, much less in a way that can be understood by those judging.
I’m looking forward to visiting the CICC tomorrow. The first time was eye-opening, and now that my eyes have had time to focus I want to be able to see more this time around.
So it begins!
Yesterday, we all met up with Hope in The Hague. I was very proud of everyone for sticking together and getting on the bus and then the train (I think we’ve got the bus puzzle pretty well figured out now…at least I hope so). It was nice to get out of Leiden for a little while and see a different…
Most of my day was spent meandering and exploring Leiden some more. Erica and I went grocery shopping (in other words, we walked around aimlessly searching for something looking like a supermarket, then ran into the boys who pointed right down the street where it was located). Picked up some…
So the process of getting to the Netherlands was much more hectic and frustrating than that of my comrades. The others had a flight directly from Detroit to Amsterdam. Oh how jealous I was of them as I had to go from Detroit to Charlotte, Charlotte to Philadelphia (a fact which I was unaware of…
Mahatma Ghandi
So the view of Machiavelli which I, and many other academics who are interested in political science subscribe to, is basically the one propagated by Benedetto Croce. This view is that of Machiavelli being a product of the times at hand. In the article by Isaiah Berlin, he states that this view is…
Granted, he’s a comedian (and there is swearing and reference to a love of breasts) but this song, I think, says a lot despite this.
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Hello again! It has been some time since I posted, but it has been a busy few weeks…
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Amazing. Sitting here in my dorm room with Jack and Shawn writing this...
Since I did the blog on the reading for last night on Tuesday, I figure I’ll reflect a bit on my...
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