Global Governance

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Why did the United States fail to join the League of Nations?

Asked by Adepoju Adeola Praise, from Eastern Mediterranean University

The League of Nations was championed by President Woodrow Wilson in a fourteen-point speech to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918, and formally began its operations in January 1920. However, the League failed to win Senate approval and is forever remembered as a major example of a communications breakdown between the president and the Senate.

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Primary Sources

Joint Declaration in Commemoration of the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea

President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye issued this joint declaration on May 7, 2013. The statement confirms both nations' commitment to the U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) Mutual Defense Treaty, U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, Joint Vision for the U.S.-ROK Alliance, and Six Party Talks with North Korea.

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What will be the effect of the UN Arms Trade Treaty on the Syrian conflict?

Asked by Gabriel

The UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) was passed on March 28, 2013, and seeks to regulate and limit trade in arms in circumstances of human rights violations. Unfortunately, it will have minimal effect on the Syrian conflict. Syria's own vote against the treaty, along with Iran's and North Korea's, sounded the death knell for a universally applicable treaty to limit small arms, ammunition, and conventional weapons technology.

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Should the United States push Israel to join the Non Proliferation Treaty?

Asked by Gaurav Moghe, from India

The United States tried to convince Israel to join the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) when the treaty was first introduced and before it was widely believed that Israel had nuclear weapons. The NPT's objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and further the goal of universal disarmament.

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How long will it take southern Europe to rebound from the eurozone crisis, and how will that affect the rest of Europe?

Asked by Jackson Ryan, from King HS

The debt crisis that has hammered southern Europe since 2010 will have long-lived economic effects, despite the moderation in Spanish and Italian government borrowing costs since the European Central Bank's "Outright Monetary Transactions" initiative last September.

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What is the way forward for the territorial disputes in the East China Sea?

Asked by Go Katayama, from New York University

The East China Sea is a source of vital resources, especially fisheries and natural resources like gas and oil. Regional cooperation on fisheries conservation as well as joint energy development projects could go a long way to offsetting tensions over territorial disputes.

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Interview

A Growth Strategy for Greece

George Papandreou interviewed by Christopher Alessi

The EU and IMF should loosen the austerity requirements of Greece's bailout package to allow the indebted country to implement needed growth-enhancing policies, says former prime minister George Papandreou.

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