Missile defense: A Notre Dame political scientist says the recent missile defense test failure makes it clear that much more research is needed before proceeding with such a system. But the real issue, according to Daniel Lindley , assistant professor of government and international studies, is strategic and political, rather than technical, in nature. “Deployment is a net loss to our security ? and the world’s as a whole ? if we deploy a system to protect us against a few North Korean missiles, but that deployment leads to China, Russia and others deploying hundreds if not thousands more missiles than they otherwise would against us,” he says. “It would hurt the NATO alliance and reduce our moral suasion. These are political problems that could be managed with enough high-level diplomatic effort, the sharing of technology, the widening of protected areas and so forth. Unfortunately, the United States is in quite a unilateral and arrogant mood of late. We could well pursue deployment without sufficiently taking these concerns into account, and our security will be reduced.” *Professor Lindley can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-3226 or lindley.3@nd.edu .
p. Olympics:
- Notre Dame sociologist Lyn Spillman can provide cultural, historical, political and personal perspectives on Australia, host country for the 2000 Olympic Games. A specialist in cultural sociology, she is the author of “Nation and Commemoration: Creating National Identities in the United States and Australia” (Cambridge University Press, 1997) and “Australian Nationalism” (forthcoming in the Encyclopedia of Nationalism). She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Australian National University and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. The Olympics will take place Sept. 15-Oct. 1, primarily in Sydney. *Professor Spillman can be reached at (219) 631- 8067 or spillman.1@nd.edu .
p. War crimes:
- Building upon a model previously established with the war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Center for Civil and Human Rights (CCHR) at the Notre Dame Law School has received a grant to fund a clerkship program at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. The two-year grant of $80,000 from the Open Society Institute will be used to provide promising graduates of human rights programs such as Notre Dame’s with an opportunity to gain practical experience, while providing valuable assistance to the Rwandan tribunal. Established by the UN Security Council in the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, the ICTR has cooperated with the governments of Rwanda and other countries to bring to justice those most responsible for the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the region. For information and comment on the work of the war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, contact Juan Mendez, director, or Garth Meintjes, associate director, of the Center for Civil and Human Rights at (219) 631-8555.
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