درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

The southern part of the China Sea has been the site of one of the most important maritime disputes in five decades. Tensions are so high that some predict World War III will break out in the region. The Philippines's referral for arbitration in respect of some of its disputes with China resulted in the issuing of a 2016 arbitration award. The legal and political significance of this Award has caused debates among scholars. The legality of the Award and the validity of the court's arguments in various positions are among the topics of these discussions.  In this study, our main question is how much this award has contributed to resolving and clarifying the legal aspects of the maritime disputes between the parties. Our secondary question is the impact of this Award on regional and international peace. The findings of this study indicate that the arbitral tribunal's approach has a significant impact on understanding the concept of "historical rights" as well as the explanation and interpretation of marine environmental protection provisions in the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. In the tribunal's view, by joining the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the rules concerning maritime zones, except in rare cases, override the historical rights of States. It also played an important role in defining and explaining various maritime features; including islands, rocks, and low-tide elevations. However, the effect of the award on reducing tensions in the southern part of the China Sea, Chinese government policies, and Regional peace is in doubt.

The “Black Lives Matter” civil rights movement has left profound effects on the international approach of the US government toward human rights. This movement reached its peak in 2020 and profoundly affected culture, politics, and policy making in the US. The two major parties reacted differently – the Democrats showed support but Republicans opposed it. These reactions help us analyze the US international policy toward human rights. US human rights policy has been embedded in the theory of “American exceptionalism”, which considered US the best incarnation of human rights and its interests as a superpower equal to its protection. But the Black Lives Matter movement challenges this narrative and claims that human rights violations are an untold part of this story. The Democrats have adopted a new approach to American exceptionalism in response which considers The US to have an exceptional potential to embody human rights values but this potential is yet to be realized. Joe Biden has also prioritized human rights more than his predecessors since 1980s by criticizing the US and also adopting harsher policies toward US allies that violate human rights. It can be predicted that the Democrats will adopt a more normative approach toward human rights in the future.

The sea pathways are extensively considers as a way to reach a safe zone for the forced people, who their lives are threatened for many reasons. A large number of the irregular migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are drowned daily in the sea, particularly in the Mediterranean Sea. The numbers of the deaths are worrying and alarming. It requires urgent and effective actions by States to prevent this disastrous human crisis. This paper through descriptive and analytical research method through a qualitative research examines the international legal framework for the protection of irregular migrants, asylum seekers and refugees’ rights and focuses on two essential rights of their rescue at sea and its related right of non-refoulement. The paper concludes that the security and military ironic measures of the coastal States, particularly those of certain European States, are considered as a serious risk for the rights of the people trafficked through the sea in order to be moved from the place of danger to a safe zone. Accordingly, States must play a more responsible role in assisting and protecting the desperate irregular, asylum seekers and refugees at sea in order to guarantee their fundamental rights.

According to Article 7 of the Rome Statute, the crime of Apartheid refers to actions, policies, and courses of conduct with the purpose of maintaining an institutionalized regime of systematic racism and racial domination. Based on this definition, the word "Apartheid" will not only refer to the historical regime of South Africa (1948-1994) but is also recognized as a crime against humanity on par with torture and slavery. Due to certain similarities in legal systems and roots of establishment, Israel and the Apartheid Regime of South Africa have been considered to be analogous in various international documents sponsored by the United Nations until 1991. This study aims to analyze the historical rationale behind this recognition and the reversal of course by the United Nations General Assembly, which was initiated with the revocation of A/RES/3379 resolution (the equation of Zionism with racism). Furthermore, in the light of recent developments on domestic and international levels, it seems several unaligned trends are gaining ground in this respect to reaffirm the previous attribution of the crime of Apartheid to Israel. Through using E-Library data and employing the descriptive-analytical method, the veracity of the said trends, their projection, and their perseverance will be further discussed in this paper.

Over the past few years, two events have radically transformed American identity and global perceptions of America with respect to human rights. The first of these is the detention of “enemy combatants” at Guantanamo Bay and the second is the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. This paper considers how Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib have altered the intellectual and popular perceptions of human rights in America and abroad. The paper argues that the very different reactions to these events in the US and abroad suggest a move toward a relativist view of human rights in the US, limited by necessity and legality, but a universalist approach to human rights abroad. Moving toward a common global understanding of necessity and legality is critical to the pursuit of universal human rights. The reactions to Guantanamo indicate a growing acceptance in the United States of a relative conception of human rights. In the winter and spring of 2003, United States military forces at Abu Ghraib prison committed a range of often gruesome violations of Iraqi prisoners.

In today's world, countries choose to pursue their own interests in foreign policy, the most common and least cost of which is diplomacy, which, as an independent tool, is widely used in intergovernmental relations. In the discussion of environmental problems and protection of the marine environment, diplomacy is also considered a tool to advance the goals and interests of governments. In this article, the descriptive and analytical method of environmental diplomacy from conflict to cooperation is studied and analyzed. This research seeks to explain the pattern in the context of environmental diplomacy from conflict to cooperation. The findings of this study indicate that environmental challenges both on land and in the seas and oceans arise from climate change, changing rainfall patterns, expanding industry and agriculture, population growth, reducing resources, and increasing conflicts over natural resources and foundations. Biological, exploitation of natural resources in the form of deforestation, Desertification and uncontrolled marine hunting, use of various toxins to combat plant and animal pests to disturb the ecological balance and degradation of the aquatic and terrestrial environment on a local, regional, national, regional and global scale. Therefore, the need for environmental diplomacy to identify common threats and dangers to the global environment and efforts in the form of common commitments and to deal with these threats and dangers and to protect the environment and resources on Earth, the need for environmental diplomacy is inevitable. Environmental protection is also essential for the sustainable development of the seas. From this perspective, maritime and environmental diplomacy complements macro-diplomacy and provides policymakers with a wide range of tools and options. Finally, the activation of maritime and environmental diplomacy is an effective step towards sustainable development, especially sustainable maritime development in coastal countries.

The oceans which cover 70 percent of the Earth’s surface contain the most biologically diverse ecosystems on earth, we depend on the seas for our survival since they support life on earth. They are also essential for our economic prosperity, social well-being, and quality of life. Yet the marine environment is deteriorating fast. We need to find better ways of managing it. Over the last decade, significant advances in citizen science have occurred, allowing projects to extend areas beyond national jurisdiction. Perhaps, however, our greatest challenges are those that exist in the Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), where management is reliant on international agreements and enforcement is likely to need remote monitoring methods using satellite technologies. In view of this development, the aim of this article is to provide some information on marine scientific research and examines the applicability of the marine scientific research (MSR) regime of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). However, the MSR regime of UNCLOS is far from absolute freedom, it is conditional on responsibilities including, for example, providing the legal basis for setting up obligations such as conservation and sustainable use of the environment. The article concludes by outlining some of the issues that should play important role in the process of research.

The conflict between sovereignty over parts of the sea and the necessity of "innocent passage" concept has been the most contentious field in the law of the sea." Two hypotheses in this field have collided in the history of international law of the sea. The first hypothesis is that every human possesses the seas together. "Navigation" and other operations are also allowed for all. Under the excuse of owning the sea, no state has the right to restrict other people's use. However, the second theory says that the sea is owned by someone who controls part of it, and its use can be limited. In international law, the "innocent passage" by foreign vessels from the territorial sea of a country is widely recognized. However, in some territories, the requirements for the "innocent passage" of military vessels include the need for prior notice or the coastal state's permission. Most forces, led by the US, believe in absolute freedom of the military vessel's "innocent passage." However, most Asian countries, including Iran, assume that they can prior notification or approval for a foreign military vessel passage. This activity was often resisted in operational as well as diplomatic phases by naval forces such as the United States.