ASSESSMENT: Human Rights And Environmental Issues

Overview

Choose one human rights organization and one environmental organization and write 4-6 pages in which you evaluate the effectiveness of each.

Human rights and environmental issues often cross boundaries and, as such, are seen as global issues. Human rights organizations have evolved to assist people in various countries, primarily on a community level. Other such organizations focus on issues related to the environment and biosphere. There are numerous organizations, some larger than others, that take an active role in helping those in need on a global scale. In this assessment, you will demonstrate your ability to explain the effect of human rights and environmental organizations on world politics and policies.

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and assessment criteria:

Competency 1: Examine the role and formation of supranational organizations.

Describe the key features of an environmental organization. Describe the key features of a human rights organization.

Competency 3: Analyze the speed and power of technological innovation.

Describe the role technology plays in bringing issues to the attention of the international community.

Competency 4: Examine the formation of world politics.

Explain the effect of human rights and environmental organizations on world politics and policies.

Competency 6: Review environmentalist and human rights organizations concerns over globalization.

Explain environmental and human rights organizations concerns over globalization. Evaluate whether a particular human rights organization and environmental organization is effective.

Competency 7: Communicate effectively in a variety of formats.

Write coherently to support a central idea in appropriate format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Context

For this assessment, you will discuss human rights issues as well as environmental issues. In addition, consider solutions to these issues as well as the application of international law and the ways rights are assured-and sometimes denied-through international law. It would be naive to ignore the reality that most global actors emphasize their own interests. However, this is also true in domestic systems. What is different between global and domestic systems is not so much the motives of the actors as the fact that domestic systems place greater restraints on the pursuit of self­interest than the international system does (or is able to do) at this time.

Human Rights and Environmental Issues

Human rights are moral principles that set out certain standards of human behavior. Human rights are regularly protected as legal rights in national and international law. Human rights are usually understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because he or she is a human being. There has been a significant reaction to how people are treated around the world as the world stage has changed, and globalization has occurred.

The Earth's ecosystem supports life on land, in water, in the air, and in the upper atmosphere, for the organisms (including humans) which inhabit it, and thus their rights. What is certain is that the well­being of each of us is connected to the ecological state of the world. Do major problems exist, and, if so, how threatening are they? The definition of what constitutes a healthy environment has been the subject of rigorous debate.

Possible Solutions

Subject to even more debate is what to do about these problems. If there are significant concerns about human rights and environmental issues, then the question becomes what to do about them. Policies of states and the activities of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations can influence solutions.

One approach roughly coincides with the traditional path of world politics, based on sovereign, self­interested states. Those who advocate this path resist the idea that their countries should sacrifice short­term national economic gains in the interest of the long­term common human rights and ecological good. Those whom we might term policy nationalists are especially averse to policies that restrain their countries more than others. Policy nationalists also oppose compromising their countries' sovereignty by submitting to international regulation. By contrast, policy internationalists, much like economic internationalists, believe that the interests of their countries are inextricably bound up with the interests of all other countries.

International Law

Legal systems are restraints on the power­based pursuit of self­interest in a domestic system. Still, powerful individuals and groups have advantages in every domestic system. Justice is a second restraint on power in domestic systems. What is just and what is legal are not always the same. Whether the word used is "just," "moral," "ethical," or "fair," justice involves what is right, not just what is legal. There is a greater sense that justice should prevail in domestic systems than there is in the international system-that the ends do not always justify the means and that those who violate the norms should suffer penalties. Surely, there is no domestic system in which everyone acts justly. Yet, the sense of justice that citizens have in stable domestic systems does influence their behavior.

The creation of legal systems and a greater emphasis on what is moral and fair (which can apply to both human rights and environmental issues) make it possible to restrain power politics in the domestic system. It is theoretically possible to use the same standards to curb the unbridled pursuit of self­interests in the international system. Accomplishing that will require major changes in attitudes and practices, but it can be done.

Questions to Consider

To deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.

What are the fundamentals of international law? What are the sources of international law?

Do you agree with many political scientists who believe that international law is primitive but evolving? What are some challenges in applying international law, and has technology affected this?

What are human rights, and have human rights issues changed with globalization? How does international law safeguard human rights?

What human rights organizations or mechanisms are used to bring these human rights issues to the attention of the international community? Are these institutions effective? Why or why not?

What is sustainable development?

How is the size of the world population tied to concerns about resource problems and concerns about the biosphere?

What environmental organizations or mechanisms are used to bring these environmental issues to the attention of the international community? Are these institutions effective? Why or why not?

Resources

Suggested Resources

The following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.

Library Resources

The following e­books or articles from the Capella University Library are linked directly in this course:

Elsea, J. K. (2006). U .S. policy regarding the International Criminal Court: RL31495. Congressional Research Service: Report, 1-30.

Soleymani, M. (2010). T he heavy price of globalization: Globalization and sustainable development. Perspectives on Global Development & Technology, 9, 101-118.

St. John, E. P. (2013). S ocial justice and globalization: Reconsidering public finance in college access. Harvard International Review, 35(1), 45-49.

Weber, J. E. (2014). H umanism within globalism. Adult Learning, 25(2), 66-68.

Course Library Guide

A Capella University library guide has been created specifically for your use in this course. You are encouraged to refer to the resources in the P OL­FP2000 - Globalization Library Guide to help direct your research.

Internet Resources

Access the following resources by clicking the links provided. Please note that URLs change frequently. Permissions for the following links have been either granted or deemed appropriate for educational use at the time of course publication.

Amnesty International. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org/

Children First International. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.childrenfirstinternational.org.uk/ F ace to Face International. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.facetoface.org/

Global Environment Facility. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.thegef.org/gef/ G reenpeace. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/

International Institute for Sustainable Development. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.iisd.org/ I nternational Criminal Court. (n.d.).

Retrieved from http://www.icc­ cpi.int/en_menus/icc/Pages/default.aspx

Women for Women International. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.womenforwomen.org/ W orld Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wwf.panda.org/

Bookstore Resources

The resources listed below are relevant to the topics and assessments in this course and are not required. Unless noted otherwise, these materials are available for purchase from the C apella

University Bookstore. When searching the bookstore, be sure to look for the Course ID with the specific -FP (FlexPath) course designation.

Rourke, J. T., & Boyer, M. A. (2010). International politics on the world stage: Brief (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw­Hill.

Chapter 8, "International Law and Human Rights," pages 207-239. Chapter 12, "Preserving and Enhancing the Biosphere," pages 348-383.

Assessment Instructions

For this assessment, choose one human rights organization and one environmental organization and write 4-6 pages in which you evaluate the effectiveness of each.

Preparation

In preparation for this assessment, use the Resources provided (or others you find) to research human rights and environmental organizations. It is important to understand the characteristics of these organizations and the role they play in world politics.

Then, choose one human rights organization and one environmental organization. You may choose from the list in the Resources under the Internet Resources heading, or you may select organizations that interest you. You may need to research more than just the organizations' Web sites to complete this assessment.

Directions

For this assessment, complete the following:

Describe the human rights organization and the environmental organization you chose. Include the following for each organization:

Mission.

Founding and origination story. Structure.

Membership today. Scope of activities.

Overall success-or lack thereof.

Explain the concerns these organizations share over globalization.

Are these concerns similar, and do these concerns affect how these organizations operate?

What mechanisms are used to bring these issues to the attention of the international community? Are new forms of technology being used?

Evaluate whether these institutions are effective. Why or why not? Describe the effect of these organizations on world politics and policies.

While content is the most important aspect of your paper, also important are organization, readability, grammar, and spelling. The length of your paper should be determined by its content.

Ensure your paper follows APA format. Add headers as appropriate, include a reference page at the end of your paper, and be sure to properly cite and provide references for material you use in your paper, per APA guidelines. The paper you submit should be in a Word document or RTF format.

Additional Requirements

Written communication: Written communication should be free of errors that detract from the overall message.

APA formatting: Your paper should be formatted according to current APA style and formatting guidelines. Include a title page and a reference page.

Length: A typical response will be 4-6 typed and double­spaced pages. Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

References: Use at least three references.