Sacred Sovereigns and Punishable War Crimes: The Ambivalence of the Wilson Administration towards a Trial of Kaiser Wilhelm II*

Conventional wisdom characterises President Woodrow Wilson as a progressive internationalist in the making of foreign policy, sceptical of international practices such as secret diplomacy and balance-of-power theories. An examination of the Wilson Administration's record in quelling Allied attempts to punish Kaiser Wilhelm II after the end of the First World War provides a contrasting view. The White House, leading figures in the State Department and a large grouping of prominent lawyers argued that punishing the German sovereign for waging war in violation of treaties would destabilise international order and lose the peace. Current American reluctance to participate in the International Criminal Court and fears of an undue intrusion of an international judiciary on the merits of foreign policy make an understanding of these reservations timely.     

Apologists for Power: The Yoo Brief,Executive Power and the State of Exception

This paper examines the legal and political arguments of those who support an expansive interpretation of US executive power in the face of threats to the state, taking a comparative historical perspective. It discusses the rationale for this approach by locating its historical origins in international and American jurisprudence, thereby placing them in a modern context. Attention is paid to the points made by various legal representatives of the Bush administration such as John Choon Yoo and Jay S. Bybee. Their views on an expansive response to state emergencies are based on a reading of executive power that informs the Bush administration's approach to law between 2001 and 2008. But this paper goes further in arguing that a common political‐juridical ground exists between various critics of the Bush administration, and those who formulated the policies of torture and rendition. This common ground on the subject of executive power in response to emergency lies primarily in the examination of the state of exception examined by Giorgio Agamben. This approach has various implications as to the general exercise of power by the executive in a democratic system. Legem non habet necessitas. Necessity knows no law. Augustine, Soliloquium, 2.     

Effects of organizational change on managerial trust in the context of employee buyout in India

Tea gardens face a threat of closure. Due to labour problems and pricing mechanism, Indian tea companies are unable to perform well on the global scene. The case of Tata Tea plantations in South India has been taken for this research study. An employee buyout strategy is introduced in a select number of tea estates. Results prove unfruitful initially. However, employees agree with this idea with a fear of loss of job. The new strategy turns out to be a success. The relationship between organizational change and managerial trust in the context of employee buyout is studied. A questionnaire is administered upon a sample of 100 respondents. Results are shown as a table. The article concludes by citing key issues for a successful buyout programme.     

Regulating online gambling: The Indian perspective

In India, the government has perniciously ignored the issue of internet gambling. Unfortunately, there is no specific legislation in place that addresses internet gambling, nor has there been any consistent policy professed with regard to internet gambling. Thus, online gambling operators, both domestic and offshore, are allowed to operate with impunity in India. Spurred on by factors like inadequate legislation, a lack of enforcement, and an indifferent judiciary, online gambling in India is unregulated, untaxed, and most of all, unclear. This paper posits that there is an urgent need for legislative clarity in India's policy towards internet gambling.     

Plural International Relations in a Divided World

Plural International Relations in a Divided World . By Stephen Chan (Polity Press: Cambridge, 2017), pp. × + 223. ISBN: 9781509508686. £16.99 (pb).     

Australia's “War on Terror” Discourse

Australia's “War on Terror” Discourse. By Kathleen Gleeson (Ashgate Publishing Company: Surrey, 2014). ISBN: 9781472419859. £65.00 (hb).     

'Spying for Hitler' and 'Working for Bin Laden': Comparative Australian Discourses on Refugees

This paper argues that the complexity of recent debates about‘illegal’ refugee arrivals in Australia, held sincethe prominent MV Tampa incident of August 2001, might be betterunderstood by placing them in a comparative historical context.Towards this end, an investigation of previous debates on thesubject of Jewish refugees in Australia prior to the SecondWorld War is suggested. Such an exploration reveals a seeminglyidiosyncratic ‘Australian’ slant towards refugeesthat demonstrates a subtle process of marginalization and exclusionbased on notions of ‘good’ and ‘bad’refugees. Such an approach further demonstrates the contradictoryattitudes of immigrant societies towards refugees notwithstandingthe cultural pluralism supposedly inherent in their outlooks.