The Change of Global Perception

- The Shift in International Norms -

The conclusion of World War I did not decrease the humanitarian philanthropy outcry.  Although the battlefields of France drew silent, the toll of war continued to affect the population of Europe during the interwar period.  Depression, hyperinflation, and extreme economic woes – coupled with governments that were unable to meet the needs of their citizens - cemented the welcomed benefit associated with humanitarian associated interventions.  This need was highlighted by two important events, which embedded the importance of international organizations:  The formal recognition of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the establishment of the “League of Nations”.

Having had practical application in the battlefields of World War I, the International Red Cross continued aid in the relief of suffering experienced after the war.  The philanthropy exhibited on the battlefield was welcomed by those in need and encouraged openly by governments, such as France and Germany.  From these experiences, acceptance of third party assistance began to infiltrate international political discourse and set the conditions for the emergence of a new international norm.

  The establishment of the League of Nations was an attempt to construct a forum for “international conversation” that would foster an atmosphere of everlasting peace.  Unfortunately, history demonstrates that this first attempt at an international forum of resolution conflict could not meet its goals – the League of Nations ultimately folded as nations' began to mobilize for a new war.  Despite dissolution, this efforts initial adoption indicates that the concept of individual national sovereignty was being redefined and that interpretations of accountability within the community of nations was shifting.

It is important to highlight that the interwar period was not absent of military intervention.  In particular, the United States was involved significantly within Latin America and the Caribbean during the so-called “Banana Wars”.  While the deployment of military forces engaged in latent nation building, their true purpose was to safeguard United States’ economic interests and corporations.  These business-focused interventions were mired with intergovernmental interaction, corporate interests, and unfair economic practices.  Due to this, the worldwide perception of the rationale of intervention was becoming openly challenged – which also signified a changing dynamic of global norms.

These events may seem insignificant within a historical narrative; they appear isolated and without relation.  However, they are indeed deeply intertwined and indicative of shifting beliefs, privilege, and responsibilities.  The League of Nations was first tested by Germany’s aggression and military expansion in the late 1930’s.  While the global community wrestled with diplomatic solutions, the inability to arrive at consensus was stymied by the accepted boundaries of sovereignty. When the global war machine began to march – this lesson was not forgotten and was incorporated into future discussions regarding responsibilities to protect countries and the citizens within.

Iran Presidential Election in 2013: Electoral System, Candidates and the Results

Iran Presidential Election in 2013: Electoral System, Candidates and the Results

Electoral System

         The President of Iran is the country's highest official person directly elected by Iranian citizens. He is the chief of the executive branch, and the second most important position after the Supreme Leader. Duties are similar to heads of governments in other countries, except that the armed forces, Chief judiciary system and state television  are under the control of the Supreme Leader of Iran.
         Any Iranian citizen born in Iran, believing in God and the Islam religion and who has always been loyal to the Iran Constitution may register as a presidential candidate. An institution called the Election Monitoring Agency (EMA) and managed by the Guardian Council vets registered candidates and selects a handful to run in the election. The Guardian Council does not announce publicly the reason for rejections of particular candidates although those reasons are explained to each candidate. Registered candidates qualifications are then reviewed by the Guardian Council and after the final approvement, they are placed on the ballot.

          In addition to expressing their future presidential goals and objectives on fliers, posters and banners for the purpose of propogation, each of the final approved candidates has the right to use National TV and Radio (IRIB) for their presidential election campaigns in a specific period of time before election. In total, each candidate will use 405 minutes on Public TV and 285 minutes on Public Radio. This time comprises the candidates' own campaign programs as well as participation in the specific discussion shows. In addition, there are three main live group debates on TV. The debates are held in three chapters between candidates.
         There are also opinion polls in three main groups of field polls, telephone polls and online polls which begin after the announcement of candidate’s final list. IPOS which is one of the Iranian Election Tracking Polls and it is said that it is the only official one runs a daily poll system for the election. This poll is based on the daily phone interviews with a sample size of around 1000 people per day.
         24 hours prior to the election day, the candidates are not authorized to have any propagation on their campaigns and on the day of election, the polls begins in numerous centers all over the country and various countries for Iranian citizens living outside the boundaries of Iran. Meanwhile, an electoral commission, consists of eleven persons including three legal, seven experts and one from the parliament, supervises polling and the process of counting the votes after the election. The electoral commission will announce the results after the Ministry of Interior confirmation.


Iranian Presidential Election in 2013, the Candidates and the results

         The eleventh presidential election was held in Iran on 14 June 2013. Among all 680 registered candidates, the Guardian Council approved eight ones to run in the election. They were as the followings:

-          Hassan Rouhani (from Combatant Clergy Association, Moderate Reformist)

-          Mohamad Reza Aref (Reformist – withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Hassan Rouhani)

-          Mohsen Rezaee (from Moderation and Development Party, Conservative)

-          Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (from Islamic Society of Engineers, Fundamentalist)

-          Saeed Jalili (from Front of Islamic Revolution Stability, Fundamentalist)

-          Ali Akbar Velayati (from Islamic Coalition Party, Fundamentalist)

-          Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel (Fundamentalist – withdrew his candidacy)

-          Mohammad Gharazi (Independent)

         Among all the above mentioned candidates, Hassan Rouhani was the victorious and elected in the first round of voting with 50.88% of the votes. Mohamad Bagher Ghalibaf was the next candidate after him who achieved the majority of votes with 16.46% of the total votes.

                           Results of the election: the candidate with the plurality of votes in each districts (from Wikimedia)


         Hassan Rouhani is the seventh president of Iran and he was officially inaugurated on 3 August, 2013. He began his presidency with the slogan “Government of Prudence and Hope” on 4 August 2013.

The foundation(s) of Humanitarian Intervention - Where did it all begin?

Humanitarian Intervention is not a new and novel concept. However, it has garnered significant attention since the dawn of the Twentieth Century. Each decade since 1900 has added substance to the role of humanitarianism within the realm of the international community. In order to understand the struggle in the evolving norm of “Responsibility to Protect”, a brief chronological explanation is advantageous to this research project.  This blog post will highlight the inception of the concept of humanitarianism. Future blog posts will highlight the shift in the norm, as well as the implications that it has had on the international community.

How did Humanitarianism enter the political lexicon?

The vision of a community of peaceful nations was first articulated by Immanuel Kant’s treatise “Towards Perpetual Peace” in 1795. His vision encompassed a community existing in peace, free of threat of aggression. His philosophical discoveries have influenced many philanthropists, politicians, and diplomats since publication – and continue to echo into modernity.

One of the first international acknowledgements of humanitarian intervention manifested during the Franco-Prussian War. When Henry Dunant witnessed the battle of Solfernio, he recognized the immediate need to reduce battlefield suffering. He captured his epiphany in his book “A Memory of Solfernio”, which reached acclaim and international support.  Due to this text, Dunant was able to generate support from prominent and influential Swiss families and built the foundation of the International Committee of the Red Cross under the name of “Geneva Society for Public Welfare”.

This original conference outlined the following proposals for humanitarian motivated actions:

·         The foundation of national relief societies for wounded soldiers;

·         Neutrality and protection for wounded soldiers;

·         The utilization of volunteer forces for relief assistance on the battlefield;

·         The organization of additional conferences to enact these concepts in legally binding international treaties; and

·         The introduction of a common distinctive protection symbol for medical personnel in the field, namely a white armlet bearing a cross.

From this initial conference, the Swiss Government hosted a conference of over 30 nations in 1864, which adopted proposals and enacted the first international treaty along humanitarian lines – the First Geneva Convention. While this was initially focused on the treatment (and relief) of soldiers engaged in combat, subsequent conflicts demonstrated the need to update the treaty with rapid and significant changes.

Without diving too deep into the particulars of the First Geneva Convention, this historical precedent indicates a dynamic shift in the international perception of conflict and the results of war. For the first time in recorded history, “protected status” was afforded to specific categories of persons. The codification of this treaty led to a process of reexamination of protected statuses and introduced concepts of rights and privileges during a time of conflict. Furthermore, the acceptance of the First Geneva Convention, spearheaded by the International Committee of the Red Cross, is the first demonstration of acceptable “intervention” by the international community.

How is this a shift in a norm?

In order to understand the current construct of “Responsibility to Protect”, the historical evolution of the concept is necessary. Henry Dunant’s realization during the Franco-Prussian War signified that responsibility to care and treat wounded soldiers was not universal on the battlefield. As such, his efforts to establish the International Committee of the Red Cross opened the discussion of intervention by an outside actor. Indirectly, he challenged the notion of national sovereignty and introduced awareness of war effects to the international community.

As future blog posts will demonstrate, the First Geneva Convention is the foundation for the contentious debate that is ongoing over Responsibility to Protect. Throughout this discovery, the issues surrounding Armed Humanitarian Intervention as well as the codification of principles and values by the international community will be examined.

IRNA Logo from Google Images

 An Introduction on Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)

Among many important news agencies inside Iran with different goals and political or social orientations such as Fars News Agency (Iran’s leading independent /semi-official), Mehr News Agency, MNA (owned by the Islamic Ideology Organization and is the most multilingual news agency with seven languages), Iranian Student News Agency, ISNA (created and operated by Iranian university students), etc. the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) is the official news agency in Iran and it is said that the organization functions as the primary source of information dissemination within the country to publish various types of news, bulletins, research works, opinion polls and stories of general interests. IRNA is a pro-government news agency which is funded by the current government and controlled based on the regulations and policies of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic guidance. Therefore, it may be obvious that its political orientation is toward the ongoing government and it may be changed in every cycle of four or eight years by changing the government. Its professional activities must set in the frame of securing Iranian national interests and it should focus on the main objectives of the Islamic Republic and Islamic culture.

IRNA: The Official Source of Access to Information

Excluding Iran territory as a region for covering the news, the source of information in IRNA dissemination comes from three other news regions including Middle East and Africa Region, the head office is in Beirut, Lebanon; Europe and America Region, the head office is located in London, England; and, Asia-Pacific Region, the head office is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Furthermore, IRNA cooperates exclusively with some international news agencies like Reuters, Associated Press and so on. Within this contract, the only way of access to their news items and photos within Iran territories is only possible through IRNA. IRNA also has the bilateral cooperation with some of regional agencies such as the news agencies of Russia (Itar-Tass and Rianovesti), Saudi Arabia (SANA), China (Xinhaua), etc. in exchanging news items and photographs.

Beside the news regions with a number of branches in each region, IRNA is also operated by eight main news desks for the purpose of editorial board namely:

-          Europe and America Desk

-          Africa and Middle East Desk

-          Asia-Pacific Desk

-          Indian Peninsula and Central Asia Desk

-          English News Desk: This desk is in charge of sending the most important news gathered from IRNA's various lines, as well as those items acquired through various IRNA cooperation contracts with various news agencies.

-          Arabic News Desk: The similar activities as the English News Desk.

-          Persian Language International News Desk: The Staff are in charge of surveying news items dispatched from various IRNA news lines in the country and selecting those most likely to interest foreign readers. These are then rewritten as new items with information that are not included as being of no general importance to Iranian readers inside the country added and those that need revision altered.

-          Foreign News Desk: This desk is in charge of surveying the various foreign radio, television, satellite, Internet and printed media items and selecting the news items that IRNA is interested in.

The Final Outcome

Providing all the information through news regions and preparing them by news editorials, IRNA publishes eight daily newspapers and periodicals in three main languages of Persian, English and Arabic which are all:
IRAN, a daily newspaper in Persian language which is widely popular among  Iranians;
Iran Daily, an English daily newspaper;
Al-Vafaq, an Arabic daily newspaper;
Iran Varzeshi, a Persian daily newspaper which covers local and foreign sport events;
Iran Javan, a Persian weekly magazine which concentrates on issues related to the youth;
Iran-e Saal, an annual issue which reports the outstanding events occurred in the country;
Iran Sepid, the only kind in the region and the Middle East in Braille language;
Iran Azin, a monthly journal on interior design.

Considering the brief provided introduction about IRNA, this study aims to draw attention only to two IRAN newspaper in Persian and Iran Daily newspaper in English. It is going to compare the news items on the topic of recent 2013 election in Iran in two languages of Persian and English in a specific period of time from before the election to after that. Through this comparison, it’s supposed to understand how different the news with the same concept within the same news agency are published in two languages of English and Persian.

 

If you are still interested, follow this blog for future updates.