Stanford Journal of International Relations Spring 2014

Out of Focus
Zooming in on the Periphery

Marilyn Harris
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Problem of Arms Trafficking
Cbinese Muckrakers:
Investigative )ournalism,
Censorsbip, and Reform
Tbe New Face of Depression:
Addressing tbe Stigmatization of
Mental Illness in )apan and Beyond
Society in Crisis: Addressing
Educational Links to Religiously
Motivated Violence in Pakistan
Tbe "Stateless State":
Transnistria and tbe World Uver
Svvic io1 VoiUmi XV NUmniv 1 s,iv.s1:iovu.iuU
Cara Reichard
Lilian Rogers
Sam Rebo
Mark Bessen
Multilateral Treaties: Tbe Forgotten
Instrument of Foreign Policy
Jessie Brunner
STANFORD JOURNAL of
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Cover Illustration Designed by: Lawrence Rogers
Source Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RousseIIUNGeneralDebate.jpg
The StanIord Journal oI International Relations, an aIfliate oI the Department oI International Rela-
tions at StanIord University, is published twice yearly.
Copyright 2014. No material may be reproduced without the consent oI the journal.
2 | Spring 2014
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Editors-in-Cbief
Sophie Wiepking-Biown
Tony Liu
Managing Editor
Aiiella Axlei
Layout Editor
Pepito Escaice
Financial Ufficer
Raven }iang
Webmaster
Alina 0tiata
Associate Editors
Alisha Auam
}ackson Beaiu
Chiis Beineuo
Albeit Chen
Lauia Conigliaio
Lewam Bejen
Kyle uschwenu
Noelle Beiiing
Section Editors
Fianz Essig
}aclyn Naicatili
Elizabeth Naigolin
Will Raynei
Alina 0tiata
This }ouinal coulu not have been publisheu without the suppoit of
the Bepaitment of Inteinational Relations, anu the Publications Boaiu
of the Associateu Stuuents of Stanfoiu 0niveisity. The }ouinal woulu
like to thank Piofessoi Nichael Tomz foi his continueu guiuance anu
assistance.
Associate Editors {cont'd]
Yuia Kim
Bannah Long
Caitlin Lu
uina Ncuuiie
Nick 0bletz
Abiaham Romeio
Caia Ta
Amanua Zeibe
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:*-6;9 <(8)990
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Volume XV | Issue 1 | 3
<+*; )59 &'()*+7
!oi oui Spiing Issue, "0ut of Focus: Zooming in on the Peiipheiy," we selecteu papeis that
woulu uncovei issues that have been, foi one ieason oi anothei, pusheu to the maigins. The
papeis auuiess euucation, censoiship, statelessness, tieaties, anu aims-tiafficking acioss a bioau
spectium of states. While seveial papeis focus on one countiy, the implications of the issues at
hanu have fai-ieaching global consequences.
Fiist, Naiilyn Baiiis exploies Pakistan's euucation system in "Society in Ciisis: Auuiessing
Euucational Links to Religiously Notivateu violence in Pakistan." This papei uelves into the
countiy's legacy of ieligious inuoctiination in both public schools anu ieligious seminaiies,
aiguing that the ensuing piomotion of intoleiance is a thieat to inteinational secuiity.
Next, Caia Reichaiu uetails the link between 0S gun contiol policy anu gun-ielateu ciime in
Nexico. In "0S uun Contiol anu the Pioblem of Aims Tiafficking," she aigues that the lack of
sufficient gun contiols in the 0S is coiielateu not only with highei levels of violence uomestically,
but is to blame foi cioss-boiuei ciime iates as well.
Lilian Rogeis examines a iecent ciackuown on jouinalists in "Chinese Nuckiakeis: Investigative
}ouinalism, Censoiship, anu Refoim." Recognizing that the Chinese Communist Paity may be
facing a seiies of giowing pains, she affiims the impoitance of maintaining an inuepenuent meuia
to uocument the changes anu iefoims taking place in the goveinment.
Calling attention to cultuial uiffeiences in the tieatment of mental illness, Naik Bessen
contiibutes "The New Face of Bepiession: Auuiessing the Stigmatization of Nental Illness in
}apan anu Beyonu." Be exploies the vaiiation of attituues towaiu anu peisonal expeiiences of
mental illness acioss cultuies. In paiticulai, he contiasts the stigmatization of mental illness in
}apan with the piolifeiation of uiagnoses of anxiety anu uepiession in Westein cultuies.
The }ouinal then shifts to the issue of nations lacking iecognition oi legitimacy in Sam Rebo's
"The 'Stateless State': Tiansnistiia anu the Woilu 0vei." Be offeis a glimpse into the unique
uevelopment of a small Eastein Euiopean state, Tiansnistiia, following the collapse of the Soviet
0nion. Thiough Tiansnistiia, he exploies the plight anu challenge of "stateless states."
Finally, }essie Biunnei evaluates the impoitance of multilateial tieaties in "The Foigotten
Instiument of Foieign Policy." She aigues that the 0niteu States shoulu play a moie active iole in
shaping inteinational tieaties to ieasseit its commitment to univeisal human iights.
We hope that you enjoy anu leain fiom these aiticles as we have, anu that fuithei ieseaich is
conuucteu in these aieas. Noie infoimation anu oui aichives can be founu on the web at
http:sjii.stanfoiu.euu.
Sophie Wiepking-Biown '14 anu Tony Liu '1S
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4 | Spring 2014
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Society in Ciisis: Auuiessing Euucational Links to
Religiously Notivateu violence in Pakistan
by Marilyn Harris
0S uun Contiol anu the Pioblem of Aims Tiafficking
by Cara Reicbard
Chinese Nuckiakeis: Investigative }ouinalism,
Censoiship, anu Refoim
by Lilian Rogers
The New Face of Bepiession: Auuiessing
the Stigmatization of Nental Illness in }apan
anu Beyonu
by Mark Bessen
The "Stateless State": Tiansnistiia anu the Woilu 0vei
by Sam Rebo
Nultilateial Tieaties: The Foigotten
Instiument of Foieign Policy
by )essie Brunner
./ 1
./ 23
./ 44
./ 56
./ 57
./ 77
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"n August 11, 1947, Pakistan's founuei anu
fiist piesiuent, Nuhammau Ali }innah tolu the
Pakistani Constituent Assembly, "We aie staiting
in the uays wheie theie is no uisciimination, no
uistinction between one community anu anothei,
no uisciimination between one caste oi cieeu anu
anothei. You may belong to any ieligion oi caste
oi cieeu that has nothing to uo with the business
of the State."
1
}innah's vision of toleiance foi all
ieligions anu ieligious minoiities has not been
iealizeu in mouein Pakistan, wheie thousanus
of lives aie lost to ieligiously motivateu violence
eveiy yeai. "Extiemism Watch," publisheu by the
}innah Institute in Pakistan, iepoits the following
foi the week of Novembei 26 to Becembei 1
alone: a bomb explosion in Kaiachi; a Bazaia Sh'ia
man killeu in Quetta; attacks on two schools (one
bombeu anu the othei toicheu); a young couple
shot ueau in a sectaiian attack; five moie killeu the
following uay in subsequent sectaiian attacks.
2

Sectaiian, inteiieligious, anu teiioiist violence
aie piemeuitateu actions; they aie the piouuct of
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a uoctiine that is iooteu in intoleiance anu pieaches
a militant iesponse to those who holu uiffeient
ieligious beliefs. Since these aie leaineu behaviois,
foimal euucation influences the extent to which
a peison confoims to this uoctiine anu commits
violent acts in its name. Euucation shapes the lens
thiough which a peison views the woilu, anu the
values uisseminateu by a cuiiiculum aie ieinfoiceu
thiough yeais of stuuy. In oiuei to auuiess the
pioblem of ieligiously motivateu violence of
Pakistan, it is necessaiy to examine the countiy's
euucational institutions anu the foices that have
influenceu them. Both Pakistani public schools anu
mauiassahs fostei intoleiant minusets; in a hanuful
of cases, they have piouuceu uestiuctive ieligious
extiemism, the most well known examples of which
aie the teiioiist gioups Al-Qaeua anu the Taliban.
The consequent violence thieatens the safety of
Pakistan's citizens anu piohibits the iealization of a
peaceful, piogiessive nation.
A RrcrN1 His1onv: CrNrnnt Zin nNo Tur
Sovir1-ArcunN Wnn
To unueistanu the mouein public school anu
mauiassah, it is impoitant to uiscuss the 198us, a
peiiou when inteinal anu exteinal political foices
uiastically alteieu the lanuscape of euucation in
Pakistan. ueneial Zia-ul-Baq, who ousteu Zulfikai
Ali Bhutto in the 1977 militaiy coup, caiiieu out a
piogiam of iefoims known as "Islamization" in an
effoit to establish a moie iueological state. Zia set out
to Islamize all aspects of Pakistani society, incluuing
the civil seivice, the aimeu foices, public moials,
ieseaich oiganizations, science anu technology, anu
the euucational system.
S
At the 1977 euucational
confeience on Pakistan, Zia ieuefineu the goals of
Pakistani euucation: "oui cuiiiculum must ensuie
that oui chiluien aie biought up euucateu as goou
Pakistanis anu goou Nuslims. They must imbibe the
lofty iueals anu piinciples of Islam."
4
New cuiiicula
Marilyn Harris is a sophomore
majoring in Management Science & Engineering.
She is passionate about security studies and
hopes to use this major to bring technical insight
into her excitement for history and politics. An
enthusiast for all things Russian, she is particularly
interested in the future of nuclear deterrence
in the Eurasian and South Asian space. She is
very grateful to Dr. Syed Rifaat Hussein, who
introduced her to South Asia and the politics
of the region through his seminar last fall as a
visiting professor at the Center for International
Security and Cooperation (CISAC). This paper is
the culmination of her work for his class.
guiuelines weie put in place anu Islamiyat, oi
Islamic stuuies, was maue compulsoiy. This
policy affecteu public schools in paiticulai
because mauiassashsieligious seminaiies
alieauy focuseu theii teachings almost solely on
the stuuy of Islam.
Islamization impacteu mauiassahs in a
uiffeient mannei. Zia's policy, in conjunction with
the Soviet-Afghan wai, iauicalizeu the mauiassahs
anu tiansfoimeu them into a political tool useu
by both inteinational anu inteinal actois. When
the Soviet 0nion invaueu Afghanistan in 1979,
the event poseu seveial seiious geopolitical
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pioblems: the 0S feaieu the fuithei spieau of the
Soviet spheie of influence; Pakistan, awaie of the
Soviet 0nion's stiategic ties with Inuia, woiiieu
about enciiclement. Thus, both weie eagei to aiu
the mujaheueen, the Afghan fighteis who hau
taken iefuge in Noithein Pakistan, in theii wai
against the Soviet invaueis. Nauiassahs weie
auopteu as an instiument in achieving these
enus anu became the ieciuiting base foi Nuslims
woiluwiue to join a wai that was phiaseu as
a battle between the "Nuslim woilu anu the
gouless communists."
S
At the same time, Zia exaceibateu the pie-
existing, latent tensions between the vaiious
Islamic sects in the countiy. Pakistan has foui
main ieligious sects: the Beobanui, Baielvi, Ahl-e-
Bauith, }amat-i-Islami (all of which aie Sunni), anu
the Shi'a. Zia favoieu the Beobanui sect politically,
giving its scholais positions in the goveinment anu
uesignating Sunni Islam (to which the Beobanui sect
belongs to), the countiy's piefeiential uenomination.
Zia also instituteu a zakat, a voluntaiy ieligious
tax that the countiy's Shi'a Nuslims staunchly
opposeu.
6
The ieligious makeup of Pakistan's
neighboiing countiies anu political uevelopments
in the iegion also impacteu ielations among the
sects. The Iianian Revolution, which biought a Shi'a
goveinment to powei in Iian in 1979, heighteu
Shi'a sectaiian consciousness within neighboiing
Pakistan anu encouiageu the sect's aspiiations foi
political powei thiough iueological anu financial
suppoit. Boping to counteiact this suige of Shi'a
activity, Sunni Sauui Aiabia began to funu the Ahl-
e-Bauith sect. The Shi'a biu foi moie political powei
piovokeu a violent ieaction fiom the Beobanuis,
who founueu the militant political paity Sawau-e-
Azamtouay known as Nillat-i-Islami oi SSPin
198S.
7
Thioughout the Soviet-Afghan wai, the sects
jockeyeu foi financial suppoit, both fiom the zakat
funuwhich uiiectly funueu mauiassahsanu
fiom 0S-baseu aiu that was flowing in to finance
the mujaheueen. In attempts to inciease theii shaie
of the funus, sectaiian paities enlisteu mauiassah
stuuents in annihilating othei, opposing sects.
8

Aftei the enu of the wai, the Pakistani goveinment
neglecteu to cuib the extiemist schools of thought,
anu sectaiian militant oiganizations have flouiisheu
since.
Puntic Scuoots
The pioblems facing Pakistani public
schools pioviue a fiamewoik foi unueistanuing
how euucation piomotes intoleiance, the staiting
point fiom which violence can emeige. Because
most stuuents in Pakistan attenu public school, this
euucational system is uiscusseu fiist befoie moving
on to the Pakistani mauiassah anu the mauiassahs'
ties to sectaiianism. Accoiuing to the 2u11-2u12
Economic Suivey of Pakistan, neaily 28 million
stuuents aie eniolleu in 222,uuu mainstieam,
public euucational institutions at the pie-piimaiy,
piimaiy, miuule, anu high school level.
9
Public
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schools euucate the majoiity of the Pakistani
population unuei 1S, anu the 2uu1 census of
Pakistan ieveals that neaily 7u peicent of the
population nevei suipass the miuule level of
euucation (up to Class 1u), with 48.4 peicent of
the population nevei continuing euucation aftei
piimaiy school.
1u
The Economic Suivey likewise
ieflects this uispaiity, listing 19.S million
stuuents eniolleu in piimaiy school with a steep
uiop in miuule school eniollment (uown to S.7
million stuuents). Thus, the values impaiteu to
stuuents anu the poitiayal of what it means to be
a membei of a Nuslim state have a wiue-ieaching
effect on chiluien of impiessionable ages, as it is
the only foimal euucation they will ieceive.
Seveial iecent stuuies have been
conuucteu to evaluate the pioblematic contents
of public school cuiiicula anu textbooks. 0ne such
stuuy, "The Subtle Subveision," was caiiieu out
in 2uu2 by the Sustainable Policy Bevelopment
Institute in Islamabau (SBPI) as a iesponse to
the ieviseu cuiiiculum issueu by the Cuiiiculum
Wing of the Ninistiy of Euucation in the same
yeai. The stuuy examineu subjects that offeieu the
gieatest oppoitunity foi political oi iueological
manipulation: Social Stuuies, English, 0iuu anu
Civics foi Classes 1 thiough 12. Anothei stuuy,
"Connecting the Bots: Euucation anu Religious
Bisciimination in Pakistan," was conuucteu by
the 0niteu States Commission on Inteinational
Religious Fieeuom anu publisheu in 2u11. It
evaluateu both public school anu mauiassah
cuiiiculai texts anu useu one-on-one anu gioup
inteiviews to assess the attituues of teacheis anu
stuuents towaius ieligious minoiities, violence,
anu jihau. Rathei than piepaiing chiluien to be
enquiiing, ciitically thinking membeis of society,
these stuuies showeu that public school cuiiicula
anu peuagogy touay inuoctiinates chiluien to
holu piejuuicial views against minoiities anu
gloiifies militant violence.
The SBPI stuuy founu that the piesence of
"peispectives that encouiage piejuuice, bigotiy
anu uisciimination towaius fellow citizens,
especially women anu ieligious minoiities, anu
othei towaius nations" weie among the key faults
with textbooks.
11
The most fiequent examples
weie comments iefeiencing Binuus. Pakistani
histoiy lessons, which laigely oveilookeu Binuu
cultuial contiibutions, weie filleu with biaseu
statements such as "Binuu has always been an enemy
of Islam," oi piesenteu false oi incomplete veisions
of histoiical events, paiticulaily with iegaius to
paitition.
12
"The Binuus anu the Sikhs killeu Nuslims
whenevei they weie in a minoiity. They buint theii
houses anu foiceu them to migiate to Pakistan," ieau
one such Class 8 Punjabi textbook.
1S
The SBPI stuuy
also noteu Pakistani nationalism was uefineu to
excluue non-Nuslim Pakistanis fiom being citizens
"oi fiom even being goou human beings."
14
It shoulu
then come as no suipiise that only 6u peicent of
Pakistan's public school teacheis coulu coiiectly
iuentify non-Nuslims as citizens. Some expiesseu
the notion that non-Nuslims possesseu iights of
citizens, but to a lessei extent: "Non-Nuslims aie
also Pakistani citizens; howevei, theii citizenship
is not equivalent to Nuslims anu this is why they
aie iefeiieu to as 'minoiity,'" saiu one Sinuh public
school teachei.
1S
Nany public school teacheis hau
nevei met a non-Nuslim oi hau only inteiacteu with
ieligious minoiities on a veiy limiteu basis. Bowevei,
many teacheis iepoiteu still tiying to teach iespect
foi anu piopei tieatment of ieligious minoiities,
even though it was not pait of theii syllabi.
16
This biaseu peuagogy ieflecteu itself in
stuuent peispectives. Like theii teacheis, stuuents
stiuggleu to coiiectly iuentify ieligious minoiities
as citizens. Some weie skeptical of the positive iole
ieligious minoiities coulu play in Pakistan, while
otheis believeu that minoiities coulu successfully
contiibute to the uevelopment of Pakistan.
17
In
teims of inteiaction with ieligious minoiities,
stuuent opinions iangeu fiom toleiant ("They aie
just like Nuslims anu theie aie no uiffeiences"
"They aie like oui biotheis") to intoleiant ("They
aie mau because they woiship iuols" "I uon't
feel goou eating with non-Nuslims"). Less than
Su peicent of the inteivieweu stuuents hau non-
Nuslim fiienus; often they simply uiu not know any
ieligious minoiities oi weie unuei societal piessuie
not to befiienu them.
18
"The Subtle Subveision" also iuentifieu the
mannei in which euucational mateiials tieateu
violence anu jihau as an aiea of concein: "The
aimeu foices aie not only gloiifieu but tieateu as if
they weie saciosanct anu above ciiticism . . . Inueeu,
the oveiall effect of the iueological lessons is to
make Islam ieinfoice anu legitimize both Pakistani
nationalism anu militaiization."
19
A uiaue S Punjab
social stuuies text unueiscoieu the necessity of
8 | Spring 2014
piotecting Pakistan anu its status as an Islamic
state: "To keep the Islamic iuentity anu existence it
is necessaiy foi oui countiy to safeguaiu ieligion
anu its values. Pakistan is the only countiy which
came into being in the name of Islam."
2u
It was not
explicitly stateu that the only way to safeguaiu
Pakistan was thiough violence, but in the context
of othei cuiiiculai mateiial anu the tieatment of
the iuea of jihau, stuuents coulu ceitainly come to
associate the pieseivation of the nation's Islamic
iuentity with aimeu stiuggle. The SBPI stuuy
founu that jihau was a iecuiiing coie concept in
the cuiiiculum, with leaining outcomes centeieu
on euucating stuuents on anu piomoting jihau.
21
While public peiception often equates
jihau with teiioiism anu extiemism, jihau can
be inteipieteu to mean simply, "stiuggle," even
an inteinal stiuggle against one's impulses to
uo haim to oneself anu othei human beings.
22

In this sense, piomoting jihau woulu be an
encouiagement towaius moial betteiment foi
stuuents. Bowevei, jihau is also useu to iefei
to a violent stiuggle; it is this seconu uefinition
that the "Connecting the Bots" suivey iuentifieu
as pioblematic. All the public school teacheis
inteivieweu believeu that jihau iefeiieu to violent
stiuggle, "compulsoiy foi Nuslims to engage in
against the enemies of Islam." 0nly ten peicent of
teacheis extenueu this meaning to incluue non-
violent stiuggle as well.
2S
The views of stuuents
laigely miiioieu those of theii instiuctois. 0ut
of the stuuents inteivieweu, many phiaseu theii
unueistanuing of jihau to be a "wai" oi a "fight"
against eithei the enemies of Islam oi non-
Nuslims. 0ne tenth giaue boy in KPK explicitly
stateu that Kashmii, Afghanistan, anu Waziiistan
weie all places foi jihau, wheie "Nuslims weie
oppiesseu."
24
A small minoiity of stuuents, as with
the teacheis, uesciibeu jihau as having bioauei
connotations as well. "}ihau is of seveial kinus
it means to piomote euucation anu health. It also
means to seek contiol ovei oneself. Anu it also
means to piotect one's countiy," saiu one male
stuuent fiom KPK.
2S
Bowevei, the oveiwhelming
conclusion of "Connecting the Bots" was that
gloiification of violent stiuggle is, by anu laige,
being absoibeu anu expiesseu in the thinking of
public schools in Pakistan.
The cuiient piactices of public school
classiooms piesent a thieat piimaiily because
of the naiiow woiluview they piesent to stuuents.
Pakistani chiluien aie exposeu to euucational
mateiial that both gloiifies violence anu piomotes
a negative, piejuuicial view of ieligious minoiities;
since many uo not continue theii euucation past
piimaiy school, the histoiical iecoiu of theii
countiy anu the woiluview piesenteu to them by
theii instiuctois uuiing those biief yeais is the main
conception of Pakistan they take into auulthoou.
The main concein iaiseu by the finuings of both the
SBPI stuuy anu "Connecting the Bots" is that hate
anu intoleiance can become a leaineu habit. Rathei
than fosteiing uemociatic anu open minusets, the
authois of the SBPI stuuy woiiy that "the minus
that have been taught to hate uo not have always
to hate the enemy they have been tolu to hate; they
can cieate 'the othei' fiom amongst themselves
anu exeicise violence against anyone, even against
theii own countiymen. violence comes natuially
to those to whom the militaiy anu the use of foice
have been gloiifieu."
26
The Biookings Institution's
2u1u iepoit, "Beyonu Nauiasas," notes that of the
militants who came out of a mauiassah, most also
attenueu public school.
27
Public schools cleaily
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qious tension onJ conjlict in Pokiston.
Source: Ronald de Hommel uploaded on Flickr
piopagate a militant inteipietation of jihau
that encouiages violence against enemies of
Islamwith 8u peicent of teacheis consiueiing
non-Nuslims enemies.
28
This contiibutes to the
potential foi the latent, intoleiant attituue of a
public school-euucateu youth to manifest itself in
violent actions towaius non-Nuslim minoiities.
Mnonnssnus: Poti1icnt Toot ron )iuno nNo
Src1nninN DoMiNnNcr
The Aiabic woiu mauiassah caiiies two
contempoiaiy meanings. In geneial usage, it
tianslates to school, but in this context, it is an
euucational institution foi the stuuy of Islamic
subjects like the Qui'an, the sayings of the
Piophet Nuhammau, law, anu juiispiuuence.
29

Nauiassahs pioviue fiee euucation, ioom anu
boaiu; it is often the only accessible foim of
schooling foi Pakistan's pooiest classes anu
thus plays an auuitional social welfaie iole.
Su

Nauiassahs aie not iequiieu to iegistei with
the goveinment, anu so it is uifficult to pinpoint
exact numbeis of how many ieligious seminaiies
cuiiently exist in Pakistan. 0fficial figuies foi
iegisteieu mauiassahs hovei between 12,uuu
anu 1S,uuu, while estimates incluuing those
uniegisteieu often exceeu 2u,uuu.
S1
At between
1.S anu 2 million stuuents, eniollment estimates
aie much lowei foi mauiassahs than public
schools.
Cunnicutn nNo A11i1uors
The Bais-i-Nizami, the stanuaiu cuiiicula
useu touay in Pakistani mauiassahs, uates
back to the eaily 17uus. The Bais emphasizes
giammai, law, anu philosophy, pioviuing moie
piactical tiaining foi piospective lawyeis,
juuges, anu auministiatois. All mauiassahs in
Pakistan use the Bais touay, but instiuction is
tailoieu to the paiticulai mauhab of the sect
to which the mauiassah belongs. Stuuies aie
supplementeu with othei mouein texts anu,
moie iecently, the stuuy of seculai subjects such
as mathematics anu computeis.
S2
The flaws
founu in mauiassah cuiiicula by the "Connecting
the Bots" suivey aie laigely uue to the fact that
the texts useu by the Bais aie extiemely olu;
most of them weie oiiginally wiitten between
the 11th anu 14th centuiies. They not only
ieflect the ieligious scholaiship of the uay, but
the conuitions of the society in which they weie
piouuceu. The teachings on muitius, oi those who
have tuineu away fiom Islam, instiuct that the
ueseiteis shoulu be aiiesteu anu subsequently
killeu, eithei immeuiately oi in some cases aftei
a thiee-uay giace peiiou.
SS
The woilu piesenteu
in these oluei texts lacks concepts like nations,
aimies, anu constitutional legality, anu thus it is
uifficult to ieconcile it with mouein iealities, such
as the fact that Pakistani law iecognizes ieligious
minoiities as equal citizens with constitutionally
piotecteu iights.
S4
The mauiassah stuuents inteivieweu in
the "Connecting the Bots" suivey expiesseu a
wiue iange of opinions on ieligious minoiities. 0n
the whole, stuuent opinion was moie favoiable
towaius ieligions of the bookChiistianity anu
}uuaismveisus Binuuism anu Ahmaui (Ahmaui
is a bianch of Islam that is vieweu as illegitimate
by othei Nuslim sects). The majoiity of stuuents
expiesseu the opinion that "Islam taught them
to iespect anu behave well towaiu ieligious
minoiities."
SS
Nany, unlike theii public school
counteipaits, consiueieu ieligious minoiities to
be Pakistani citizens, with some even iecognizing
that non-Nuslims hau equal iights (whethei
oi not these weie actually iecognizeu by the
goveinment).
As in public school cuiiicula, ihetoiic that
gloiifieu violence anu piesenteu a limiteu view
of jihau was also founu. Textbooks often citeu the
veise, "kill the pagans |oi infiuels oi unbelieveisj
wheievei you finu them," anu in eveiy textbook
ievieweu, jihau was ieuuceu to violent conflict
with no wiuei meaning of peisonal uevelopment.
Bowevei, the stuuents expiesseu views on jihau
that weie also moie nuanceu than those of theii
public school peeis. While jihau was vieweu as
an obligation of eveiy Nuslim, one stuuent noteu,
"jihau can be uone with pen as well as thiough
speech."
S7
Bespite this, "Connecting the Bots" founu
that although theie was a cleai unueistanuing of
nonviolent jihau, its pieuominant meaning, just
as in public schools, was to fight. This tenuency
towaius violence was also ieflecteu in a 2uuS
stuuy conuucteu by Taiiq Rahman on militant
attituues among stuuent gioups fiom uiffeient
types of euucational institutions. When askeu
what Pakistan's piioiities shoulu be in solving the
Kashmii conflict, 6u peicent of stuuents suppoiteu
10 | Spring 2014
taking Kashmii away fiom Inuia by open wai;
SS peicent suppoiteu taking Kashmii away
fiom Inuia by suppoiting jihaui gioups; anu
S4 peicent suppoiteu auuiessing the Kashmii
pioblem thiough peaceful means only. 0ut of
all the gioups suiveyeu, Rahman founu that the
mauiassah stuuents weie the most intoleiant
in theii woiluview anu that they weie the most
suppoitive of an aggiessive foieign policy.
S8
Src1nninNisM
Neveitheless, the militancy associateu
with mauiassashs is not solely the piouuct of
cuiiiculum because, unlike Pakistani public
schools, mauiassahs play a complex iole in
national sectaiian politics. Since the fiist
mauiassahs appeaieu in the 7uus, uiffeient
mauhab, oi schools of thought, have emeigeu
ovei the centuiies.
S9
These mauhab manifest
themselves in mouein-uay Pakistan as foui
main ieligious sects: Beobanui, Baielvi, Ahl-e-
Bauith, }amat-i-Islami (all of which aie Sunni),
anu Shi'a. The sects exeit influence ovei the
mauiassahs thiough five Waqat boaius, the
oiganizational stiuctuie unuei which the
ieligious seminaiies aie oiganizeu. The boaius
piimaiily seive a political puipose, lobbying
foi mauiassah inteiests at the national level
anu fuitheiing theii sectaiian inteiests within
society. Theii seconuaiy puipose is to attenu
to cuiiiculum uesign, examinations, anu the
awaiuing of sanaus, oi uiplomas; without being
iegisteieu to a specific boaiu, a mauiassah
cannot confei uegiees on theii stuuents.
4u
Recent histoiy natuializeu violence
within Pakistani society. As pieviously
mentioneu, thioughout the Soviet-Afghan Wai,
sects tuineu to mauiassahs foi foot soluieis to
annihilate theii opponents anu secuie political
uominance. Nilitant gioups that have flouiisheu
as a iesult of this violent pivot incluue the
Beobanui Ahle Sunnat Wal }ammat, the Lashkai-
e-}hangvi, anu the }unuullah, all of which have
ties to the Pakistan Taliban anu ieceive funuing
fiom the teiioiist oiganization.
41
Nauiassahs
now seive as a tool of inuoctiination foi
Pakistani sects, iathei than institutions of
Islamic leaining that piomote ieasoneu
uebate anu ciitical, thoughtful scholaiship. In
some cases, mauiassahs have been enlisteu to
violent sectaiian stiuggles. An empiiical case
stuuy on Ahmeupui East, publisheu in 2uu9, is
one of the few uetaileu examinations of the link
between mauiassahs anu sectaiian violence. In
Ahmeupui East, a iegion of neaily one million
people, mauiassah involvement in sectaiianism
was evaluateu using seveial inuicatois: a) if the
mauiassah hosteu visits by sectaiian leaueis
whose uocumenteu speeches have in the past
inciteu violence; b) if stuuents paiticipateu in
sectaiian piocessions as uocumenteu by police
authoiities; c) if the mauiassah management
lobbieu foi oi pioviueu leaueiship on sectaiian
issues (i.e., uistiibuting mateiials at the school,
giving seimons at the aujoining mosques); anu u)
if manageis oi stuuents of the mauiassahs weie
involveu in iepoiteu sectaiian ciimes. The stuuy
founu that out of S6S mauiassas, Beobanui anu
Shi'a mauiassahs hau high iates of involvement
in sectaiianism (8u peicent anu 7u peicent,
iespectively).
42
Involvement by the othei two
sects was much lowei. Beobanuis compiiseu 46
peicent of the mauiassas in Ahmeupui East, while
Shi'a mauiassahs accounteu foi thiee peicent.
4S

Noie uata is necessaiy to measuie the extent of
mauiassah involvement in sectaiian violence, but
it is eviuent that a poition of mauiassah stuuents
aie being biought into the folus of sectaiianism at
a young age, anu they aie paiticipating in violent
acts against othei sects that only seive to ueepen
anu peipetuate giievances.
CoNctusioN
The faults in Pakistan's euucation sectoi pose
both long- anu shoit-teim conceins to the countiy's
national secuiity. The most immeuiate is the thieat
poseu by sectaiian violence, which has killeu
moie than 4,uuu people with ovei 8,uuu injuiies
since 1989.
44
This uoes not incluue the fatalities
uue to teiioiist violence, which have claimeu the
lives of S,882 civilians, secuiity foice peisonnel,
anu teiioiists in the past yeai alone.
4S
violence
is not isolateu to paiticulai coinei of Pakistan,
with attacks occuiiing thioughout the countiy
especially in Balochistan anu Sinuh piovinces.
While attacks weie once solely ieligiously baseu, the
past few months have seen a iise in attacks against
ethnic Bazaias, whose Asiatic featuies aie theii
only uistinguishing factoi. As this shift in taigeteu
gioups shows, in the longei teim, this civil violence
geneiation of militant jihauis, enuangeiing not only
Pakistanis, but also any anu all global enemies of the
teiioiist oiganization. Refoiming both the public
anu mauiassah euucational institutions is ciitical to
auuiessing the civil ciisis Pakistan faces touay.
ENoNo1rs
1
}innah, "Ni. }innah's Piesiuential Auuiess."
2
}innah Institute, "Extiemism Watch."
S
Ali, I'9;B ;)" !"=<;$#%), Su.
4
Riaz, J;#$+-=9 !"=<;$#%), 1u1.
S
Ibiu., 1uS.
6
Ibiu., 1u9-1u.
7
Ibiu.
8
Ibiu., 11u.
9
uoveinment of Pakistan, "Pakistan Economic
Suivey 2u11-2u12."
1u
Rahman, K,)#L,)' %- F9#,) M%&9"', 12.
11
Nayyai anu Salim, "The Subtle Subveision," vi.
12
Ibiu., 21.
1S
Rahman, Benizens of Alien Woilus, 29.
14
Nayyai anu Salim, "The Subtle Subveision," vi.
1S
Bussain anu Salim, "Connecting the Bots," 6u.
16
Ibiu., 6S.
17
Ibiu., 8S.
18
Ibiu., 87-88.
19
Nayyai anu Salim, "The Subtle Subveision," 6S.
2u
Bussain, anu Salim, "Connecting the Bots," 46.
21
Nayyai anu Salim, "The Subtle Subveision," 8u.
22
Ali, Islam anu Euucation, 69.
2S
Bussain, anu Salim, "Connecting the Bots," S7.
24
Ibiu., 91.
2S
Ibiu., 92.
26
Nayyai anu Salim, "The Subtle Subveision," 79-8u.
27
uiaff anu Winthiop, "Beyonu Nauiasas," 27.
28
Ibiu., 8u.
29
Ali, Islam anu Euucation, 1S.
Su
Ibiu.
S1
Ibiu., 2S.
S2
Rahman, Benizens of Alien Woilus, 81-S.
SS
Bussain anu Salim, "Connecting the Bots," Su-2.
S4
Ibiu., SS.
SS
Ibiu., 98.
S6
Ibiu., SS.
S7
Ibiu.
S8
Rahman, Benizens of Alien Woilus, 9S.
S9
Riaz, Faithful Euucation, S4.
4u
Ibiu., 8u.
41
Yusuf, "Sectaiian violence."
thieatens to be come moie inuisciiminate. The
SBPI stuuy authois noteu, "the minus that have
been taught to hate uo not have always to hate
the enemy they have been tolu to hate; they can
cieate 'the othei' fiom amongst themselves anu
exeicise violence against anyone, even against
theii own countiymen."
46
A Septembei 2u12
stuuy on sectaiian violence by the Noiwegian
Peacebuiluing Centie iaises seveial conceins:
fiist, that violence will be incieasingly uiiecteu at
oiuinaiy citizens; seconu, sectaiian oiganizations
may "embiace laigei manuates anu launch attacks
against the Pakistani goveinment, state secuiity
foices anu Westein taigets."
47
Although othei
political, social, anu economic factois contiibute
to this pioblem, the fact iemains that these attacks
aie by anu laige uiiven by ieligious uiffeiences,
which have been exaceibateu foi uecaues by
euucational cuiiicula that instiucts chiluien
to tieat "the othei" with hostility iathei than
toleiance. A solution to the pioblem of sectaiian
violence woulu thus have to auuiess this pioblem
by specifically iefoiming euucational mateiial
in schools. "The Subtle Subveision" outlineu a
seiies of policy iecommenuations anu suggesteu
cuiiiculai changes foi the goveinment. In 2uu6,
ieviseu cuiiiculai guiuelines weie cieateu, but
new textbooks incoipoiating substantial ievisions
weie nevei publisheu.
48
Thus, the pioblem is not
with exteinal foices but with a failuie on the pait
of the Ninistiy of Euucation itself to invest in
public euucation.
Pakistan's euucational pioblem is
a national secuiity concein. Acceptance of
anu coopeiation with ieligious minoiities is
tantamount to auuiessing a contentious point of
Pakistani foieign policy like the Kashmii conflict.
When schools unueiscoie the uiffeiences, iathei
than similaiities, between Binuus anu Nuslims
anu uistoit the facts of theii histoiical inteiaction
in South Asia, chiluien imbibe a naiiow, intoleiant
minuset that uoes little to change the paiauigm of
suspicion anu animosity between Pakistan anu
Inuia. Letting sectaiian violence iun uncheckeu
iesigns the countiy to an existence uisiupteu by
bombings, shootings, anu fiies on a uaily basis.
Allowing ieligious sects to manipulate mauiassahs
in theii stiuggle foi powei anu influence is allowing
oiganizations like the Taliban to continue opeiating
anu passing on theii extiemist ihetoiic to the next
12 | Spring 2014
42
Ali, Islam anu Euucation, SS.
4S
Ibiu., 47.
44
South Asia Teiioiism Poital, "Sectaiian
violence."
4S
South Asia Teiioiism Poital, "Fatalities in
Teiioiist violence."
46
Nayyai anu Salim, "The Subtle Subveision," 79-
8u.
47
Yusuf, "Sectaiian violence."
48
Bussain anu Salim, "Connecting the Bots," 1S.
Bintiocnnruv
Ali, Saleem B. lslom onJ FJucotion: Conjlict onJ
*%)-%&B#$C #) @;A#'$;)N' O;"&;'';+'. Kaiachi:
0xfoiu 0niveisity Piess, 2uu9.
uiaff, Coiinne anu Rebecca Winthiop. "Beyonu
Nauiasas: Assessing the Link Between
Euucation anu Nilitancy in Pakistan." The
Biookings Institution. Accesseu Becembei 1u,
2u12. http:www.biookings.euuieseaich
papeis2u1uu6paki st an- euucat i on-
winthiop.
Bussain, Azhai anu Ahmau Salim. "Connecting the
Bots: Euucation anu Religious Bisciimination
in Pakistan." Washington: 0niteu States
Commission on Inteinational Religious
Fieeuom, 2u11. Accesseu Novembei 27, 2u12.
http:puil.fulp.govuP0gpoSuS12.
}innah, Nuhammau Ali. "Ni. }innah's piesiuential
auuiess to the Constituent Assembly: August
11, 1947." uoveinment of Pakistan. Accesseu
Becembei 7, 2u12. http:www.pakistani.
oigpakistan legislationconstituent_
auuiess_11aug1947.html.
}innah Institute. "Extiemism Watch." }innah
Institute. Accesseu Becembei 1u, 2u12. http:
www.jinnah-institute.oigissuesextiemism-
watch.
Ninistiy of Finance. "Pakistan Economic Suivey
2u11-2u12: Euucation." uoveinment of
Pakistan. Accesseu Becembei 7, 2u12. http:
www.finance.gov.pksuivey_1112.html.
Nayyai, A.B., anu Ahmau Salim., comp. "The
Subtle Subveision: The State of Cuiiicula anu
Textbooks in Pakistan." Islamabau: Sustainable
Bevelopment Policy Institute, 2uu2. Accesseu
Novembei 27, 2u12. http:www.supi.oig
publicationspublication_uetails-286-S4.html.
Rahman, Taiiq. K,)#L,)' %- F9#,) M%&9"'P F Q$="C %-
!"=<;$#%)? I),R=;9#$C ;)" @%9;&#L;$#%) #) @;A#'$;).
Kaiachi: 0xfoiu 0niveisity Piess, 2uu4.
Riaz, Ali. J;#$+-=9 !"=<;$#%)P O;"&;'';+' #) Q%=$+
F'#;. New Biunswick: Rutgeis 0niveisity Piess,
2uu8.
South Asia Teiioiism Poital. "Fatalities in Teiioiist
violence in Pakistan 2uuS-2u12." South Asia
Teiioiism Poital. Accesseu Becembei 7, 2u12.
http:www. satp. oigsatpoigtpcountiies
pakistanuatabasecasualties.htm.
South Asia Teiioiism Poital. "Sectaiian violence
in Pakistan: 1989-2u12." South Asia Teiioiism
Poital. Accesseu Becembei 7, 2u12. http:
www.satp.oigsatpoigtpcountiiespakistan
uatabasesect-killing.htm.
Yusuf, Buma. "Sectaiian violence: Pakistan's uieatest
Secuiity Thieat.." Noiwegian Peacebuiluing
Resouice Centie. Accesseu Novembei 28, 2u12.
http:www.peacebuiluing.noRegionsAsia
PakistanPublicationsSectaiian-violence-
Pakistan-s-gieatest-secuiity-thieat.
Q! S60 ?*0)+*- ,0' )59
N+*>-9; *8 I+;7 3+,88(FK(01
$n Apiil 2uu9, uuiing a visit to Nexico City,
Piesiuent Baiack 0bama announceu that theie
was "a new eia of coopeiation" between the
0niteu States anu Nexico.
1
Bis woius, pait of
a longei speech that auuiesseu Ameiica's own
culpability in the hoiiific uiug-ielateu violence
that Nexico faceu, went fuithei than Ameiican
politicians have histoiically been willing to go
in acknowleuging that Nexico's pioblems aie
inextiicably linkeu to the policies of the 0niteu
States. Some of the most commonly uiscusseu
of these policies incluue uiug iegulation anu
immigiation iefoim, but one issue that has
ieceiveu a gieat ueal of attention in iecent yeais
is the tiafficking of guns. Since enteiing office,
the 0bama auministiation has emphasizeu
Ameiica's shaie of the iesponsibility foi the
wiuespieau caitel violence within Nexico anu
has calleu foi bilateial solutions that auuiess
issues on both siues of the boiuei. Bowevei, this
ihetoiic has been followeu by veiy little in the
way of action. While both countiies agiee that
aims tiafficking between the 0niteu States anu
Nexico plays a significant iole in enabling caitel
violence, the Ameiican goveinment has pioven
unable oi unwilling to tuin that unueistanuing
into meaningful iefoim. The politicization of gun
contiol makes it an issue that is neaily impossible
to auuiess even in iegaiu to uomestic pioblems,
let alone out of concein foi a neighboiing
countiy. 0vei time, the 0bama auministiation
has seemeu to move fuithei away fiom its initial
bolu statements, making it incieasingly unlikely
that a solution to the pioblem of aims tiafficking
will be founu at the feueial level.
Cara Reichard is a junior
majoring in political science. She is interested
broadly in international relations, and more
sccIIcaIIy In Issucs of Iunan vIgIs anu
democratic development. She spent this past
summer on campus working in the Political
Science Summer Research College, and most
recently she spent this fall quarter studying
abroad in the Bing Overseas Studies Program
in Paris. This paper was originally written for
a political science course entitled Organized
Crime and Democracy in Latin America.
14 | Spring 2014
Source: http://fickr.com/photos/32284207N05/3192893676/
O,S#<;) O;&#),' #) <%BG;$ ;:;#)'$ ; "&=: <;&$,9/
ViotrN1 CniMr iN Mrxico
Putting asiue foi a moment the question
of iesponsibility, theie can ceitainly be no
question that the past uecaue has seen a shaip
spike in the levels of violence within Nexico.
When Piesiuent Felipe Calueion took office
in Becembei 2uu6, he ueclaieu, foi all intents
anu puiposes, an all-out wai against the uiug
caitels; unsuipiisingly, the caitels ueciueu
to fight back. Calueion's iefoim effoits weie
met with intense iesistance fiom the caitels
in the foim of incieaseu militaiization, which
moveu them to use guns not only foi taigeteu
assassination but also as tools foi wai against
the goveinment anu against each othei.
2
By the
time Calueion left office, ovei 1uu,uuu Nexicans
hau been muiueieu, appioximately half as a
iesult of uiug-ielateu violence.
S
Between 2uuS
anu 2u1u, homiciue iates in Nexico incieaseu
by 6S peicent.
4
0ne cannot stuuy the consequences
of gun violence in Nexico, howevei, without
questioning its souice. Nexico itself has highly
tiaue. That is to say, it has focuseu its effoits on the
elimination of uiug supplies within Nexico to the
exclusion of all othei aspects of the cioss-boiuei
uiug tiaue. This policy has consistently useu
foice anu aggiession in an attempt to unueimine
the caitelsa tactic that, while achieving shoit
teims successes like the tempoiaiy eiauication
of maiijuana anu poppy fielus, has time anu again
pioven unable to enact lasting change. A change in
ihetoiic accompanying 0bama's election seemeu
to inuicate that the 0S goveinment was finally
willing to look beyonu these supply-siue solutions
anu acknowleuge Ameiica's own iole in the
peipetuation of the uiug tiaue, a iole that incluues
not only pioviuing a significant uemanu foi the
uiugs but also pioviuing a significant souice of
weaponiy foi the caitels.
In 2uu9, uuiing a visit to Nexico, then
Secietaiy of State Billaiy Clinton blameu a failuie
in 0S anti-naicotics policy foi the spike in violence
within Nexico ovei the past few yeais, pointing
out that, among othei things, "0ui inability to
pievent weapons fiom being illegally smuggleu
acioss the boiuei to aim these ciiminals causes
the ueath of police officeis, soluieis anu civilians."
6

That same yeai, in a joint piess confeience with
Calueion, 0bama stateu, "This wai is being wageu
with guns puichaseu not heie, but in the 0niteu
States. Noie than 9u peicent of the guns iecoveieu
in Nexico come fiom the 0niteu States."
7
That "9u
peicent" has become a wiuely ueclaieu statistic, a
iallying point foi those auvocating incieaseu gun
contiolthough the accuiacy of the numbei itself
is suspect, an issue that will be auuiesseu shoitly.
The laigei issue, howevei, is that no mattei how
piomising this "Ameiica-at-fault" ihetoiic might
seem, it is only meaningful in its inuication of a
policy shift to comeyet the bluntness of these
statements was followeu by little in the way of
ieal action uuiing Piesiuent 0bama's fiist teim,
anu signs inuicate that he has begun moving even
fathei away fiom his statements in the fiist yeai of
his seconu teim.
Tur Mv1u or 90 PrncrN1? US Rotr iN 1ur
MrxicnN AnMs PnontrM
The Buieau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fiieaims
anu Explosives (ATF) is a goveinment agency
whose mission incluues the pievention of "illegal
use anu tiafficking of fiieaims."
8
0ne of the jobs
iestiictive gun laws. Being in possession of high-
calibei weapons is illegal, anu the Ninistiy of
National Befense iuns the only authoiizeu ietail
outlet foi guns. 0bviously, caitels aie finuing
alteinate souices of weapons, anu all signs
inuicate that the 0niteu States is a significant
one.
Bespite the eviuence iegaiuing caitels'
use of aims, Ameiican uiug policy has histoiically
focuseu on the supply siue of the 0S-Nexico uiug
I$L! 3$I<<#?R#OS .&3T&&O Q! IOP L&E#?=
Weopons onJ ommunition conjiscoteJ by lCF from
;) #99,:;9 D,;.%)' 'B=::9#): &#): #) F&#L%);/
Source: http://www.ice.gov/images/news/releases/2011/110107phoenixsm.jpg
it unueitakes in the auvancement of this goal
is tiacing weapons that aie iecoveieu fiom
ciiminals in Nexico anu tuineu ovei to the
Buieau by the Nexican goveinment. The "9u
peicent" figuie piesumably fiist emeigeu fiom
the iesults of these tiaces, but a closei look at
the statistic shows that it is likely misleauing. In
2uu8, Nexican officials iecoveieu appioximately
Su,uuu weapons fiom ciiminals within Nexico.
0f these, only about 7,2uu, oi 24 peicent, weie
passeu along to the ATF foi tiacing. 0ut of those,
the ATF was only able to actually tiace about
4,uuu. Appioximately 87 peicent of these 4,uuu
weapons weie uemonstiateu to have oiiginateu
in the 0niteu States.
9
In total, the guns that weie tiaceu back
to the 0niteu States maue up less than 12
peicent of the guns seizeu in Nexico that yeai.
At the same time, that 12 peicent cannot be
saiu to constitute an accuiate sample of the
total numbei of guns in Nexico, foi many of the
weapons that weie not tuineu ovei to the ATF
weie almost ceitainly not of Ameiican oiigin.
"Theie aie some classes of weapons.which
make veiy little sense foi the Nexicans to pass
to the ATF foi tiacing since they obviously aie
not fiom the 0niteu States."
1u
When analyzeu
closely, 9u peicent is almost ceitainly too high
a peicentage to be an accuiate iepiesentation
of the shaie of Nexican weapons that oiiginate
in the 0niteu States. uiven the laige numbei of
unknown vaiiables, howevei, the ieal numbei is
impossible to ueteimine.
With no way to know uefinitively, we aie
left only with the unueniable fact that Ameiican
fiieaims make up some peicentage of weapons
iecoveieu by Nexican authoiitiesthough
aumitteuly a faiily sizeable one. Yet even if 9u
peicent weie taken as the tiue numbei, those
in opposition to incieaseu gun iegulation can
easily make the aigument that, while the 0niteu
States' pioximity to Nexico might make it an
obvious uestination foi aims tiaffickeis, it is by
no means the only option. As the caitels giow in
powei anu wealth in an incieasingly globalizeu
woilu, it becomes both easiei anu cheapei
than evei befoie to tuin to othei inteinational
maikets.
11
Bespite the highly iestiictive gun laws
of Nexico itself, weapons within Latin Ameiica,
many of them iemnants of the Colu Wai, have
become incieasingly accessible to the caitels as
the caitels' influence spieaus fuithei south, into
Cential anu South Ameiica.
12
At the same time,
as a iesult of iampant coiiuption within the
Nexican goveinment anu police foices, fiieaims
within Nexico itself often enu up in the hanus of
the caitels. While Nexico has a ielatively small
uefense buuget compaieu to many of its neighbois,
"it nonetheless impoits millions of uollais' woith
of wai mateiial annually. Coiiuption uiains some
of this fiiepowei into caitel hanus."
1S
Neanwhile,
extensive ueseition fiom the Nexican militaiy
is also a majoi pioblem foi the goveinment anu
a significant souice of fiieaims foi the caitels, as
ueseiteis can make themselves uesiiable to new
employeis (i.e., uiug loius) if they aiiive with theii
goveinment-issueu weapons in tow.
14
All of this pioves that even if the 0niteu
States weie able to seal off its boiuei with Nexico
entiiely, the caitels woulu continue to have access
to guns in one way oi anothei. It comes uown to
the balance between supply anu uemanuthe
caitels aie poweiful enough that, as long as they
have a neeu foi fiieaims, they will finu ways to
obtain them. The ease of supply, howevei, cannot
be ignoieu, anu what these alteinative souices of
weapons uo not uispiove is that the gun contiol
policy of the 0niteu States, the countiy that seives
as the most convenient souice of weaponiy foi the
caitels, has a meaningful effect on the pievalence
of these weapons in Nexico anu the subsequent
iates of violent ciime. The ielationship between
the two0S gun policy anu Nexican ciime iates
Source: http://www.ice.gov/images/news/releases/2011/110107phoenixsm.jpg
1 | Spring 2014
@&,'#",)$ @,T; U#,$% "#'<='',' #''=, %- ;&B' $&;-(
jickinq Jurinq joint press conference witb Presi(
",)$ VG;B;/
can be seen peihaps most cleaily thiough an
examination of the iecent expiiation of the
Feueial Assault Weapons Ban in the 0niteu
States.
Tur Assnut1 WrnroNs BnN
A paiticulaily contentious piece of policy,
the Feueial Assault Weapons Ban was a ten-yeai
bill that expiieu in 2uu4. The authois of "Cioss-
Boiuei Spillovei: 0.S. uun Laws anu violence in
Nexico," analyze the effect that the expiiation of
the ban hau on ciime iates in Nexico. Notably, this
ban expiieu befoie Calueion took office, meaning
that its effects can be analyzeu uistinctly fiom the
effects on ciime iates uue to Calueion's policy
changes. Auuitionally, the fact that Califoinia
maintaineu its own state-level assault weapons
ban even aftei the expiiation of the feueial bill
allows the expeiiment an impoitant point of
compaiison.
The authois' ieseaich ultimately shows
that the assault weapons ban uiu, in fact, have a
tiemenuous impact on the iates of violent ciime
in Nexico, especially in boiuei towns. Accoiuing
to theii finuings, "the |expiiation of the banj
inuuceu 6u% moie homiciues in municipios at
the non-Califoinia entiy poits, as compaieu with
municipios 1uu miles away |fiom the boiueij, anu
causeu at least 2S9 auuitional ueaths annually."
1S

These numbeis aie not tiivial, anu they stanu as
neai-uefinitive eviuence of the uiiect ielationship
between 0S gun policy anu Nexican ciime iates.
In an auuiess to Congiess in 2u1u,
Piesiuent Calueion, iecognizing this connection,
askeu that lawmakeis uiiect theii effoits towaius
the issue of aims tiafficking into Nexico, anu
that they consiuei the ieinstatement of the
assault weapons ban. Be auueu, "I unueistanu
that the puipose of the Seconu Amenument is to
guaiantee goou Ameiican citizens the ability to
uefenu themselves anu theii nation. But believe
me, many of these guns aie not going to honest
Ameiican hanus."
16
Calueion's acknowleugement heie of
the inevitable pio-gun opposition that such a
suggestion woulu face in Congiess is an inuication
of the 0S goveinment's inability to make oi
change gun contiol policy baseu on Nexico's
inteinal pioblems, even when the iesulting
benefits seem so cleai. As the authois of "Cioss-
Boiuei Spillovei" suggest, all eviuence points to a
"cleai policy implication that stiictei contiol of guns
in the 0S coulu help cuib iising violence in Nexico,
which ties uiiectly into the cuiient contentious
uebate on weapons tiafficking along the 0S-Nexico
boiuei."
17
Fiom a noimative peispective, the fact that
0S policies aie pioven to be uiiectly coiielateu to
hunuieus of violent ueaths in Nexico ought to be
enough foi an immeuiate policy shift at the feueial
level. Yet the political iamifications of taking a
stanu on the issue of gun contiol have pioven time
anu time again to be toxic to the accomplishment
of any meaningful change in such policy. The 2u12
shooting in Newtown, Connecticut uemonstiateu
that even a uomestic tiageuyone that visibly
shook the nation anu biought gun contiol to the
foiefiont of the political agenuawas ultimately
not enough to oveicome the baiiieis of the pio-gun
lobby anu the intense politicization of gun contiol,
as pioven by the uefeat of the iefoim bill in the
Senate. A sense of neighboily uuty towaius Nexico,
then, will almost ceitainly not be enough to get this
kinu of legislation passeu.
The ieality then begs the question of what
exactly Piesiuent 0bama meant when he spoke of
a "new eia of coopeiation." That is not to say that
he has not taken steps to auuiess the situation.
0n multiple occasions uuiing his fiist teim, foi
example, he calleu on Congiess to iatify the Intei-
Ameiican Convention Against Illicit Nanufactuiing
of anu Tiafficking in Fiieaims (CIFTA). This in
itself is not necessaiily inuicative of a iauically
new eia, howeveithe Convention was signeu by
Piesiuent Bill Clinton in 1997, anu the Senate has
faileu to iatify it evei since.
18
As foi 0S gun contiol
iefoim at the feueial level, 0bama's laigest push foi
that came, unsuipiisingly, in the afteimath of the
Newtown shootinga push that, while still a woik
in piogiess, seems to have iun out of steam in the
ensuing months, especially aftei the uefeat of the
iefoim bill.
So, uespite the stiong ihetoiic of the 0bama
Auministiation's fiist teim, pio-gun lobbying anu
paitisan politics seem to have once again pioven
themselves insuimountable obstacles to the
enactment of any ieal gun contiol iefoim at the
feueial level. This has left othei actois such as the
ATF in a uifficult position, as they continue theii
fight against aims tiafficking anu caitel violence in
I$L! 3$I<<#?R#OS .&3T&&O Q! IOP L&E#?=
the face of seveie limitations.
Urrnn1ioN Fns1 nNo Funious
In Becembei 2u1u, 0S Boiuei Patiol Agent
Biian Teiiy was shot anu killeu neai the Aiizona-
Nexico boiuei. In the afteimath of his ueath, as
the uetails weie pieceu togethei, an astonishing
tiuth emeigeu: Not only weie the guns that weie
iecoveieu at the ciime scene Ameiican guns, but
they weie weapons that the ATF hau knowingly
alloweu to cioss the boiuei to uiug caitels insiue
Nexico.
19
0peiation Fast anu Fuiious, as it was calleu,
was cieateu by the ATF in 2uu9 in an attempt to
builu a stiong case against majoi Nexican uiug
loius. The agency "peimitteu hunuieus of guns
to be puichaseu anu ietaineu by suspecteu stiaw
buyeis with the expectation they might cioss the
boiuei anu even be useu in ciimes while the case
was being built."
2u
The opeiation lasteu 1S months,
uuiing which time about 1,76S fiieaims weie
knowingly alloweu to pass fiom gun uealeis to
"stiaw buyeis," oi people without ciiminal iecoius
who aie paiu to puichase weapons on otheis'
behalf. Though not entiiely unpieceuenteu
something veiy similai, though on a much smallei
scale, hau been attempteu in 2uu6 in "0peiation
Wiue Receivei," without much successFast
anu Fuiious was boin fiom the uesiie of the ATF
to piouuce moie substantial iesults than theii
limiteu iesouices geneially alloweu. "The aim of
Fast anu Fuiious was to investigate, anu not, as the
ATF hau giown accustomeu to, inteiuict. Insteau
of aiiesting the so-calleu 'stiaw puichaseis'.Fast
anu Fuiious calleu foi agents to suiveil them anu
tiy to follow the flow of guns, to move beyonu the
pawns anu to the laige playeis."
21
When the uetails of Fast anu Fuiious
became public, it cieateu a political scanual
not only because guns involveu in the opeiation
weie tuining up at the scenes of ciimes against
Ameiican agents, but also because the ATF hau lost
tiack of moie than half of the fiieaims that it hau
let "walk" acioss the boiuei anu into the hanus of
the caitels.
22
Fast anu Fuiious was theiefoie poitiayeu
as a bungleu opeiation fiom stait to finish, anu in
many ways it piobably was. The piemise of Fast
anu Fuiious, howevei, was not without meiit,
anu it is impoitant to look at what the opeiation
says about the position that the ATF hau founu
itself in. Theie is no law in the 0niteu States that
uiiectly piohibits gun tiaffickingyet it is in the
agency's mission to pievent it. As a iesult, the ATF, a
goveinment agency itself, often finus itself ciippleu
by goveinment policies in its effoits to follow
thiough on its job uesciiption, foiceu to piosecute
gun-tiafficking cases "unuei weak catchall anti-
smuggling laws. 0S attoineys in Aiizona foi yeais
iefuseu to help the ATF builu gun cases, knowing
piosecutions woulu likely iesult in, at best, minoi
sentences foi stiaw puichaseis who buy guns foi
ciiminal oiganizations but have no impact beyonu
that."
2S
With this in minu, it is no wonuei that the ATF
was looking foi ways to expanu its ieach. The laws
anu iegulations at woik within the 0niteu States
make it neaily impossible foi the agency to ieach the
key playeis in the aims anu uiug tiaues, limiting the
agency insteau to going aftei uispensable actois such
as the stiaw puichaseis. By cieating 0peiation Fast
anu Fuiious, the ATF was hoping to move beyonu
these small-time playeiswhose aiiests have no
affect whatsoevei on the illegal inuustiiesanu let
the weapons leau agents to those most iesponsible
foi the violence in Nexico.
That "gunwalking" is what the ATF iesoiteu
to is inuicative of the fact that, uespite the effects of
aims tiafficking on Nexico, which have pioven to
be uevastating, its pievention has not been maue
a piioiity in any 0S policymaking to uate. With an
intense anu influential pio-gun lobby, lawmakeis
aie loath to involve themselves in uebate on issues
of gun contiol. As a iesult, basic iefoims that have
often been suggesteu to facilitate the woik of the
ATF, with the potential foi ieal impact, continue not
to be enacteu, oi even seiiously auuiesseu. These
iefoims incluue laws auuiessing the inconsistencies
iegaiuing backgiounu checks that leau to the so-
calleu "gun show loophole," the iules iegaiuing bulk
sales of ceitain fiieaims, anu the lack of any national
iegistiy of guns that woulu allow the ATF to tiack
weapons significantly moie effectively.
Shoit of contentious policymaking such as the
above iefoims, the ability to fight the aims tiafficking
situation woulu stanu to benefit simply fiom the
feueial goveinment incieasing the size of the ATF
anu the amount of iesouices uiiecteu towaius it.
With about 2,Suu special agents iesponsible foi
keeping tiack of moie than thiee times that many
gun uealeis nationwiue, theie is no question that the
agency, the only one of its kinu, is stietcheu fai too
18 | Spring 2014
thin.
24
Tur US S1nNcr Toonv
Piesiuent 0bama tiaveleu to Nexico in Nay
to meet with Piesiuent Eniique Pea Nieto. 0nlike
0bama's meeting with Calueion in 2uu9, the two
leaueis moie oi less avoiueu uiscussion of caitel
violence, focusing theii uialogue insteau on the
economic ielationship between the two nations.
Buiing the piess confeience, 0bama saiu, "We aie
veiy much looking foiwaiu to coopeiation in any
ways we can to battle oiganizeu ciime."
2S
When
askeu about the faileu gun contiol iefoim bill he
saiu, "This is just the fiist iounu."
26
These aie, on the suiface at least, optimistic
statements. But gone, it seems, is the fieiy ihetoiic
of 2uu9, in which 0bama anu Clinton eageily
accepteu iesponsibility on behalf of the 0niteu
States foi its iole in Nexico's caitel violence anu
pleugeu to make uomestic changes that woulu
have inteinational impact. Some of this is likely
uue to the change in Nexico's piesiuency, foi Pea
Nieto iepiesents a shift away fiom Calueion's
extieme stance against the caitels. Nonetheless,
with his fiist teim behinu him, 0bama seems
to have uevelopeu a uiffeient view of what,
iealistically, his auministiation can accomplish.
The 0niteu States was in upioai following
the ievelation of 0peiation Fast anu Fuiious.
Bowevei, until such time as the goveinment can
get past the politicizeu natuie of gun contiol
anu begin to cieate ieal anu meaningful iefoim,
initiatives like Fast anu Fuiiousinitiatives
cieateu below the level of feueial policymaking,
in uespeiate attempts to auuiess, with limiteu
iesouices, the veiy ieal pioblems that exist
between the 0niteu States anu Nexicoaie likely
all that we aie going to see.
ENoNo1rs
1
Stolbeig, "0bama Seeks Cuibs on Aims Sales."
2
Buiton et al., "Nexico."
S
BeLay, "Bow Not to Aim a State," 6.
4
0N0BC ulobal Stuuy on Bomiciue, Su.
S
Bube et al., "Cioss-Boiuei Spillovei," 7.
6
Lanulei, "0.S. Feeus Nexico Biug Tiaue."
7
Factcheck.oig, "Counting Nexico's uuns."
8
Buieau of Alcohol, Fiieaims, Tobacco, anu
Explosives, "About ATF."
9
1u
Ibiu.
11
Castaeua, "What's Spanish foi Quagmiie."
12
1S
BeLay "Bow Not to Aim a State," 19.
14
Ibiu.
1S
Bube et al., "Cioss-Boiuei Spillovei," S.
16
Sheiiuan, "Nexico's Calueion tells Congiess he
neeus 0.S. help in fighting uiug wais."
17
Bube et al., "Cioss-Boiuei Spillovei," 2S.
18
Walsei, "0.S. Stiategy Against Nexican Biug
Caitels."
19
Beath et al., "ATF let hunuieus of 0.S. weapons fall
into hanus of suspecteu Nexican guniunneis."
2u
Ibiu.
21
veiini, "Nexican Roulette."
22
Ibiu.
2S
Ibiu.
24
NcKinley, "0.S. Stymieu as uuns Flow."
2S
Aichibolu anu Sheai, "0bama Aiiives in Nexican
Capital."
26
Ibiu.
Bintiocnnruv
Aichibalu, Ranual anu Nichael Sheai, "0bama
Aiiives in Nexican Capital to Neet with New
Leauei," U,D W%&A X#B,', Nay 2, 2u1S.
Booth, William anu Steve Fainaiu, "0.S., Nexico
align against common foe: biutal naicotics tiaue,"
M;'+#):$%) @%'$, Novembei 22, 2uu9.
Buieau of Alcohol, Fiieaims, Tobacco, anu Explosives.
"About ATF." http:www.atf.govcontentAbout
about-atf.
Buiton, Fieu anu Scott Stewait, "Nexico: Economics
anu the Aims Tiaue," Stiatfoi ulobal Intelligence,
}uly 9, 2uu9.
Castaeua, }oige, "What's Spanish foi Quagmiie."
J%&,#:) @%9#<C, }anuaiyFebiuaiy 2u1u.
Factcheck.oig. "Counting Nexico's uuns." Annenbeig
Public Policy Centei. Last mouifieu Apiil 17, 2uu9.
http:www.factcheck.oig2uu9u4counting-
mexicos-guns.
BeLay, Biian, "Bow Not to Aim a State: Ameiican
uuns anu the Ciisis of uoveinance in Nexico,
Nineteenth to Twenty-Fiist Centuiies" Southein
Califoinia
Quaiteily, vol. 9S, No. 1 (2u1S).
Bube, Aiinuiajit, 0einuiila Bube anu 0mai uaicia
Ponce, "Cioss-Boiuei Spillovei: 0.S. uun Laws anu
violence in Nexico," APSA 2u12 Annual Neeting
I$L! 3$I<<#?R#OS .&3T&&O Q! IOP L&E#?=
Papei, August 1S, 2u12.
Feinsten, Bianne, Chailes Schumei anu Sheluon
Whitehouse, "Balting 0.S. Fiieaims Tiafficking
to Nexico: A Repoit to the 0niteu States Senate
Caucus on Inteinational Naicotics Contiol,"
}une 2u11.
uoouman, Colby anu Nichel Naiizco, "0.S.
Fiieaims Tiafficking to Nexico: New Bata anu
Insights Illuminate Key Tienus anu Challenges,"
2u1u. Woouiow Wilson Inteinational Centei
foi Scholais.
Beath, Baviu, }ohn Solomon, anu uoiuon Witkin
"ATF let hunuieus of 0.S. weapons fall into
hanus of suspecteu Nexican guniunneis," The
Centei foi Public Integiity, Naich S, 2u11.
Lanulei, Naik, "Clinton Says 0.S. Feeus Nexico
Biug Tiaue," U,D W%&A X#B,', Naich 2S, 2uu9.
NcKinley, }ames, "0.S. Stymieu as uuns Flow to
Nexican Caitels," U,D W%&A X#B,', Apiil 1S,
2uu9.
Sheiiuan, Naiy Beth, "Clinton: 0.S. Biug Policies
Faileu, Fueleu Nexico's Biug Wai," M;'+#):$%)
@%'$, Naich 26, 2uu9.
Sheiiuan, Naiy Beth, "Bespite 0bama pleuge,
Bemociats show little enthusiasm foi CIFTA
tieaty on gun tiafficking," M;'+#):$%) @%'$,
0ctobei 21, 2u1u.
Sheiiuan, Naiy Beth, "Nexico's Calueion tells
Congiess he neeus 0.S. help in fighting uiug
wais," M;'+#):$%) @%'$, Nay 21, 2u1u.
Stolbeig, Shaiyl, "In Nexico, 0bama Seeks Cuibs
on Aims Sales," U,D W%&A X#B,', Apiil 26, 2uu9.
Walsei, Ray, "0.S. Stiategy Against Nexican Biug
Caitels: Flaweu anu 0nceitain," Backgiounuei,
The Beiitage Founuation, Apiil 26, 2u1u.
veiini, }ames, "The Fast anu the Riuiculous,"
J%&,#:) @%9#<C, }une 27, 2u12.
veiini, }ames, "Nexican Roulette," J%&,#:) @%9#<C,
August Su, 2u11.
0N0BC ulobal Stuuy on Bomiciue; Tienus,
Contexts anu Bata, vienna, 2u11.
20 | Spring 2014
!iom 198u to the piesent, China's piess
has been labeleu "not fiee" by the 0S-backeu
non-goveinmental oiganization Fieeuom
Bouse, consistently scoiing aiounu 8u on an
inuex wheie a scoie of 1uu inuicates the highest
level of oppiession. This inuex unueiscoies a
familiai peispective on China's appioach to the
meuia: one of iepiession anu contiol. Bowevei,
in the face of the iising complexity of China's
political anu economic enviionment, the
Chinese Communist Paity (CCP) must caiefully
balance contiol with concein foi the neeus of
its constituents. As a iesult, the goveinment is
attempting to appeai moie open anu attentive.
This allows foi the emeigence of a type of
jouinalism in China that is still subject to
iepiessive meuia contiols, but is able to navigate
China's meuia enviionment, iesulting in iepoits
on sensitive issues. Bespite censoiship, a
myiiau of iepoits uetailing coiiuption, scanual,
anu official abuse have been uisseminateu in
iecent uecaues. This jouinalism, uesciibeu as
"muck-iaking anu ievelatoiy," can be calleu
investigative jouinalism, insofai as it is public
inteiest iepoiting, anu challenging tiauitional
stiictuies of authoiity.
1
The occuiience of
investigative jouinalism within a countiy with
an authoiitaiian goveinment seems impossible.
Yet, Chinese investigative jouinalism uoes
inueeu exist, having unueigone an evolution
fiom an inteinal Paity evaluation mechanism to
?5(0979 L6FK+,K9+7H
#0M97)(1,)(M9 "*6+0,-(7;2 ?907*+75(/2 ,0' $98*+;
A Case Study of Caixin Media
a watchuog enfoicei holuing goveinment officials
anu piivate enteipiises accountable. This papei
fiist asseits that investigative jouinalism uoes
inueeu exist in China, albeit in a qualifieu foim,
anu then seeks to explain what factois enable its
existence within an authoiitaiian enviionment.
Lilian Rogers, Class of 2013,
majored in International Relations at Stanford,
graduating Phi Beta Kappa and with honors.
She is currently working in the Government
Affairs and Policy department of the American
Chamber of Commerce China in Beijing.
Source: Yao Xu uploaded on Flickr
CnixiN Mroin
To answei the question, "What explains the
existence of investigative jouinalism in China." I look
to a specific case stuuy, a news oiganization baseu in
Beijing nameu Caixin Neuia. Caixin has been haileu
as one the few news oiganizations in China that
uoes inuepenuent iepoiting. The company is able
to caiiy out investigative jouinalism because of its
unique position within China's meuia lanuscape.
0nlike state-iun meuia, which is natuially
quite susceptible to CCP influence, Caixin maintains
only a netwoiking ielationship with the goveinment.
Anu while Caixin uepenus on maintaining favoiable
ielationships with goveinment piopaganua
officials, none of Caixin's employees holu
goveinment oi paity posts. Euitois make theii
own juugment calls. Neithei a iepiesentative of
the Cential Piopaganua Bepaitment noi one fiom
the local piopaganua uepaitments woik at the
oiganization passing juugment on stoiies. Anothei
featuie of Caixin that iesults in inuepenuent
iepoiting is the oiganization's effoits to piouuce
piofessional jouinalism. Piofessionalism entails
auheience to an inuustiy coue of conuuct. Foi the
jouinalism inuustiy, piofessionalism has geneially
been inteipieteu to mean Westein iepoiting
stanuaius, tiauitionally emphasizing objectivity
anu inuepenuence. Foi Caixin jouinalists this
means utilizing anonymity anu having two souices
foi eveiy fact. Repoiteis also emphasizeu choosing
theii own angles when iepoiting a stoiy insteau of
just poitiaying the goveinment viewpoint oi the
most populai stance. In one example of ueveloping
a ciitical voice, a iepoitei at Caixin iecounteu how
aftei an eaithquake in Yushu, Qinghai piovince,
iepoiteis on the scene fiom othei meuia outlets
weie content with placatoiy answeis: "They just
look. They uon't absoib. They uon't question anu they
uon't investigate fuithei" (Inteiviewee 1). Caixin
iepoiteis, on the othei hanu, will keep uigging until
they aie satisfieu with the iesults. Finally, peihaps
one of the most cleai-cut chaiacteiistics of Caixin as
inuepenuent meuia oiganization is its owneiship
stiuctuie. The majoiity of Caixin's opeiating buuget
comes fiom auveitising, not state subsiuies. Caixin
also maintains a shaieholuei owneiship stiuctuie.
The newspapei-publishing gioup, Zhejiang Baily
Neuia uioup Co. Ltu holus 4u peicent of Caixin's
shaies.
2
The iest aie split up among inuiviuuals
anu smallei companies. Caixin is iun as a "foi-piofit
business," not a piopaganua aim. As Zhan }iang has
commenteu in iegaiu to Caijing, Caixin's pieuecessoi,
"Foi meuia that aie pait of official meuia gioups like
Southein Weekenu, the censoiship iules aie expecteu
to be followeu stiictly; but foi moie inuepenuent
commeicial meuia, like Caijing, the limits aie moie
uifficult to iuentify."
S
This is because employees who
woik at official news meuia iisk losing benefits such
as health insuiance anu housing subsiuies when they
uefy oiueis. This financial concein was a majoi theme
among iepoiteis woiking at Caixin. Repoiteis often
stateu that they chose between a comfoitable state
meuia job anu a job that affoius less secuiity, but
moie fieeuom. The aveiage Caixin iepoitei makes
only about 2,uuu to S,uuu yuan (aiounu $Suu) pei
month. This incentive stiuctuie suggests that those in
the business of investigative jouinalism have chosen
this caieei path foi ueepei ieasons than mateiial
benefits.
)ounNntis1s' Tnc1ics on CovrnNMrN1 S1nn1rcv?
Two main schools of thought seek to
explain investigative jouinalism in China. 0ne siue
emphasizes actions by news oiganizations that
allow them to skiit goveinment censois. The use of
such "gueiiilla tactics" enables news oiganizations
to unueitake investigative jouinalism. This position
is piimaiily auvanceu by meuia scholai }ingiong
Tong, who has uone extensive woik in iuentifying
stiategies useu by news oiganizations to caiiy out
inuepenuent iepoiting. 0thei scholais claim that the
CCP has alloweu investigative jouinalism because
of the benefits to the goveinment. Yuezhi Zhao
leaus this gioup of aiguments that claim seemingly
couiageous coveiage actually seives as a iegime-
stabilizing mechanism anu thus compiises a pait of a
CCP stiategy to stay in powei.
Nuch of the liteiatuie on Chinese jouinalism
auuiesses the countei-intuitive anu paiauoxical iole
that investigative jouinalism maintains. }ouinalists
have been calleu, "oiganic intellectuals of the
system but with an outsiuei spiiit."
4
In many ways
investigative jouinalists in China have occupieu a
nebulous space of woiking within the system while
simultaneously challenging it. In hei aiticle "uueiiilla
Tactics of Investigative }ouinalists in China," }ingiong
Tong uesciibes a vaiiety of tactics anu stiategies
jouinalists use to negotiate what is politically safe
anu what is piofessionally uesiieu.
S
In oiuei foi
jouinalists to uo the kinu of iepoiting they want, "they
?U#O&!& LQ?R$IR&$! IOP ?&O!=$!U#N
22 | Spring 2014
must engage in a constant pioblem-solving piocess
uuiing the collection of infoimation anu the wiiting
of iepoits about how best to oveicome constiaints
anu to achieve theii goals. Safely iepoiting on
politically iisky events has become a key element
of the Chinese jouinalist's ciaft."
6
Biffeient tactics,
ianging fiom the selection of the aiticle theme, to
the timing of the publication of the piece, to the
platfoim it is publisheu on, to the woiu choice useu
in a stoiy, can all aiu a news oiganization in its
quest to publish sensitive iepoits.
Rathei than focusing on how jouinalists
may sneakily challenge the goveinment, anothei
bouy of woik claims "watchuog" iepoiting is
actually toothless. In a founuational aiticle, Zhao
uesciibes how watchuog jouinalism actually seives
to stiengthen Paity powei by "smoothing the
iough euges of the ongoing Chinese tiansfoimation
anu policing the political, economic, anu social
bounuaiies of an emeiging authoiitaiian maiket
society."
7
She goes on to posit that the piesence
of investigative iepoiting is actually a way foi the
Paity to "appeal selectively to the people thiough
the meuia to achieve its objectives of checking
buieauciats anu maintaining its legitimacy foi it
objective of sustaining long-teim iule."
8
The Paity
can use meuia iepoits to show sympathy with
the public, assuiing them that theii conceins aie
being heaiu. Investigative iepoiting also seives as
a souice of infoimation, allowing buieauciats to
keep a fingei on the pulse of the nation. 0ne Chinese
investigative jouinalist even goes as fai as to say,
"If you analyze these publications ovei time you
will finu a pattein confoiming to the goveinments
inteiests of the moment," with meuia scholai
Bugo ue Buigh auuing, "with the implication that
jouinalists aie functioning like state piess officeis."
9
We aie left with two bouies of woik that
make claims about the state of investigative
jouinalism in China yet the pictuie iemains
incomplete. 0ne uesciibes how jouinalists subveit
the goveinment anu anothei claims jouinalists
seive the goveinment. We lack an appioach
that synthesizes these two explanations into a
moie compiehensive explanation. We neeu an
unueistanuing of investigative jouinalism in China
that puts these two bouies of woik in uialogue
with each othei, tests the finuings of each anu
incoipoiates them into one uesciiption.
Rrsrnncu
I spoke with ovei Su uiffeient Caixin employees
uuiing the summei I spent woiking theie in 2u12. In
my inteiviews, I askeu subjects about theii eveiyuay
activities anu then honeu into specific stoiies oi
expeiiences. I inteivieweu 19 iepoiteis, nine miu-
level oi high-level euitois, anu two inteins. I also
inteivieweu the heaus of auveitising foi the website
anu the magazine anu the employee in chaige of
ciiculation foi the magazine. The inteiviews weie not
iecoiueu anu weie conuucteu in Nanuaiin Chinese.
Foi the content analysis of Caixin aiticles I
uiew fiom many souices. Specifically, this papei uses
examples of iepoiting uating back to when Euitoi-
in-Chief Bu Shuli was woiking at Caijing uuiing the
nineties. Piominent examples have been pulleu
fiom this eailiei stage of iepoiting piimaiily fiom
seconuaiy liteiatuie oi fiom fiist hanu accounts
thiough inteiviews. A moie meticulous sample
compiising of Centuiy Weekly (Xin Shiji), Caixin's
flagship publication, was examineu in an in-uepth
fashion, staiting with the issues uating fiom }anuaiy
2u1u anu continuing thiough Becembei 2u11 .
Finally, the most closely aiticles weie uiawn fiom the
afoiementioneu sample yet aie unique in the fact that
uespite being piinteu in the initial publications they
no longei appeai in viitual foim in the Caixin online
aichives when seaicheu foi in Febiuaiy 2u1S. It is
not cleai when these aiticles weie censoieu fiom the
website, if they weie self-censoieu, oi ueleteu by the
goveinment. Bowevei, the fact that they no longei
appeai in the aichives uemonstiates that theie is a
level of contioveisy oi sensitivity suiiounuing these
paiticulai aiticles. Foi the time peiiou between
}anuaiy 2u1u anu Becembei 2u11, theie aie nine
such aiticles.
CoN1rx1untiziNc INvrs1icn1ivr )ounNntisM
Chinese investigative jouinalism has its ioots
in the Paity stiuctuie. It uiu not foim inuepenuently
of the goveinment system; insteau it was uevelopeu
anu encouiageu by the Communist Paity. W=9=)
H#;)"=, oi supeivision by public opinion, is vieweu
as comiaue-like ciiticism oi self-ciiticism within the
system.
1u
As }ingiong Tong explains, "investigative
jouinalism in China is expecteu ieveal the pioblems
anu pitfalls within the society in oiuei to coiiect
them, iathei than challenging the pievailing political
system anu oveithiowing Paity iule completely."
11

With the intiouuction of the concept of C=9=) H#;)"=,
investigative jouinalism enjoyeu a goluen peiiou
in the 199us when changing social conuitions
cieateu a public uesiie foi investigative jouinalism.
Bowevei, investigative jouinalism quickly
suipasseu helpful ciitiques when jouinalists
began to puisue iiskiei topics. As a iesult, "The
CCP is tiying to limit the scope anu scale of 'meuia
supeivision' to a manageable level, while Chinese
jouinalism is stiuggling to bieak thiough the
bounuaiies the CCP" has set.
12
Libeialization effoits staiteu by Beng
Xiaoping in the eighties aie an impoitant piece
of the puzzle of Chinese investigative jouinalism.
In this initial peiiou of iefoim, theie was an
impetus foi staik changes such as the cieation of
jouinalistic laws, cuts in state subsiuies of piess,
anu the iise of alteinate foims of financing.
1S

Wheieas all meuia hau pieviously been state
contiolleu anu state owneu, new publications
that weie at least paitially piivately owneu began
ciopping up. As meuia outlets began to iely on
the maiket foi piofits, the uemanu foi moie haiu-
hitting iepoits hau to be met. As long as Chinese
citizens uemanu muckiaking with theii uollais,
investigative jouinalism iemains luciative. This
is suppoiteu by the commeicial populaiity of
evening investigative jouinalism television shows
anu the commeicial success of newspapeis such
as Southein Netiopolitan Baily. Chinese citizens
aie eagei to pay foi iepoiting that goes beyonu
the suiface. Things changeu, howevei, with the
Tiananmen Pio-uemociacy movement in 1989.
When stuuents maicheu upon Tiananmen Squaie
uemanuing wiuei fieeuoms, incluuing fieeuom of
the piess, they weie violently suppiesseu anu a
wave of ietiaction occuiieu in goveinment policies.
As a iesult, existing contiol mechanisms weie
bolsteieu anu stiictei iegulations weie applieu to
iepoiting in the countiy.
The Chinese goveinment has oichestiateu
one of the laigest cooiuinateu systems of censoiship
in human histoiy. The piimaiy means of goveinment
contiol ovei Chinese meuia oiganizations
occuis thiough the issuing of opeiating licenses.
Publishing content without a license is illegal.
The thieat of having a license ievokeu looms as a
ieason to spike stoiies that piobe too fai. 0fficial
announcements attempt to uefine the bounuaiies
of appiopiiate iepoiting anu publish official bans
of ceitain topics. Such bans can iange fiom being
veiy specific, such as an aumonishment to ignoie
a paiticulai piotest, to being quite bioau, such as a
moiatoiium on any mention of a ceitain goveinment
agency, foi example the iailway ministiy. This
coipoieal thieat is tieu to an inueteiminate piessuie
to align with ceitain Paity-helu opinions anu avoiu
topics that aie political lanumines. King uemonstiates
that the Chinese, "censoiship piogiam is aimeu at
cuitailing collective action by silencing comments
that iepiesent, ieinfoice, oi spui social mobilization,
iegaiuless of content."
14
Accoiuing to China scholai
Peiiy Link, censois pay attention to posts on topics
associateu with events that have collective action
potential, iegaiuless of whethei they ciiticize the
state oi not. Sensitive content is not always the
piimaiy consiueiation of the Chinese censoiship
stiuctuie. An inteiviewee at Caixin explaineu that
in hei expeiience theie weie two ways an aiticle
coulu get ueleteu: if it set off a content flag (such as
mentioning piotests at Tiananmen Squaie), oi if the
aiticle hau been ie-posteu anu ciiculateu among a
laige numbei of people, uespite having haimless
content (Inteiviewee 2). Link has also positeu that
self-censoiship is a way foi the goveinment to
keep news oiganizations in check. Link has likeneu
China's censoiship system to an "anaconua in the
chanueliei."
1S
Link aigues that the vagueness of
censoiship uecisions is a fai moie effective tool of
suppiession than outiight stipulations. }ouinalists
woulu iathei eii on the siue of caution by piacticing
self-censoiship than iisk losing theii license.
We have now injecteu some complexity into
the homogenous conception of Chinese meuia as
paity mouthpieces. The 199us saw investigative
jouinalism ieach its peak as newly commeicializeu
news oiganizations boluly puisueu sensitive issues
while a iising China giappleu with new challenges.
Investigative jouinalism in China is unique fiom
muckiaking in the West because it giew out of a uesiie
to help the iuling iegime auapt anu impiove. While
some investigative jouinalists vieweu themselves as
challenging the CCP, most conceiveu of theii ioles as
aiuing the CCP in impioving its goveinance. Refoim
in China has hau wiue iamifications foi eveiy sectoi
of society, meuia incluueu. Theie is potential foi the
foices of maiketization anu the piofessionalization of
the inuustiy to bump up against the censoiship anu
contiol system put in place by the goveinment. This
system is also moie than just a uiaconian machine
that uemaicates in black anu white what can anu
?U#O&!& LQ?R$IR&$! IOP ?&O!=$!U#N
24 | Spring 2014
cannot be publisheu. Rathei, this system thiives on
ambiguity anu leaves much space foi negotiation.
Enteipiising news oiganizations, such as Caixin,
take auvantage of this space anu exploie whethei
this leeway is pait of an intentional goveinment
stiategy to enhance its chances of suivival.
Curnnittn Tnc1ics
Chinese news oiganizations have uevelopeu
an aisenal of techniques to skiit goveinment
censoiship. The goal of these tactics is to allow
news companies to covei sensitive issues without
consequence. As Bu has stateu, "I know how to
measuie the bounuaiy lines. We go up to the line
anu we might even push it. But we nevei cioss it."
16

uueiiilla tactics facilitate this appioach. Statements
fiom inteiviewees as well as an analysis of Caixin's
iepoiting ieveal that, the company uoes inueeu
employ many of these tactics, which may be why the
company has not yet been shut uown. What tactics
to use, how to use them, anu at what time, is ciucial
to theii efficacy. Caixin has uevelopeu anu iefineu
its own stiategy thiough yeais of tiial anu eiioi as
well as Bu's knack foi making spot-on pieuictions
as to wheie bounuaiies lie. 0sing the gueiiilla
tactics mentioneu in existing liteiatuie, anu
supplementing these with the tactics mentioneu in
inteiviews anu aiticle analysis, gueiiilla tactics can
be gioupeu into five main categoiies: savvy timing,
having a business focus, wiiting style techniques,
use of uiffeient channels, anu oiganizational
makeup. An examination of these categoiies shoulu
show the extent to which gueiiilla tactics have
enableu Caixin to succeeu in publishing stoiies on
contioveisial subjects.
The tactic of timing is uiiectly ielateu to being
in tune with the cuiient political atmospheie. Timing
involves being able to pieuict the iepeicussions of
publishing a given stoiy. A news oiganization that
uses this tactic might publish a contioveisial stoiy
quickly in oiuei to get it to the public befoie a ban
is put in place. Caixin has wholeheaiteuly embiaceu
anu uevelopeu this tactic. In a talk helu at Stanfoiu
0niveisity, Bu Shuli explaineu how Caixin utilizeu
timing in oiuei to maximize the effect of its coveiage
of the highly sensitive Wenzhou iail ciash stoiy in
2u11. As Bu iecounts, soon aftei the ciash occuiieu,
Caixin piouuceu a twenty-page iepoit uetailing the
backgiounu anu piecuisois leauing up to the event.
Caixin iepoiteis hau all the piepaiatoiy mateiials
gatheieu anu weie waiting foi the iight time to make
use of them. They waiteu foi an appiopiiate opening
befoie ievealing all they hau uncoveieu.
Anothei tactic that is ielatively unique to
Caixin is its slant towaius finance anu economic
iepoiting. Since its emeigence, financial iepoiting
has enjoyeu a ceitain amount of leeway. This is
because goveinment officials iecognizeu that access
to infoimation was ciucial foi new financial maikets
to thiive in China. As one inteiviewee iemaikeu,
"Caijing focuseu on the stock maiket in the beginning
because the content was too complex foi piopaganua
officeis to unueistanu" (Inteiviewee 2u). Anothei
inteiviewee stateu that goveinment iestiictions weie
loosest on economic news. It is fine to "attack the
goveinment on economic issues, anu on economic
policies," he saiu. "But law anu inteinational ielations
aie moie closely watcheu" (Inteiviewee S4). Business
magazines have incieasingly leveiageu this leeway
to bianch out into moie sensitive topic aieas. The
wiggle ioom has giown as economic publications
have been tiusteu by the goveinment to covei not
only financial scanuals but political anu social ones
as well: "Sometimes iuentifieu as the 'pan-financial
piess,' these inuepenuent publications leveiage theii
nichefinancewith maximum latituue, sometimes
functioning as a watchuog in aieas beyonu the
bounuaiies of business jouinalism."
17
In hei aiticle on gueiiilla tactics, }ingiong Tong
lists seveial stiategies that involve a jouinalist's wiiting
style. The fiist tactic she mentions is the stiategic
choice of themes. She states, "jouinalists can subveit
bans anu ciicumvent mine fielus by avoiuing the
most sensitive aspects of banneu events anu seeking
safeibut peihaps ueepeithemes insteau."
18
This
often involves pointing out laigei societal pioblems
anu how they might be fixeu, insteau of taigeting
specific officials oi blaming ceitain policies. Caixin
often uses this tactic by wiiting aiticles in a tone that
seems to imply constiuctive ciiticism. The iuea is that
these ciiticisms anu uiscoveiies can be useu to help
China impiove. This gives the iepoits ioom to take an
aggiessive tone.
Anothei tactic that came up in inteiviews with
Caixin iepoiteis is the use of a vaiiety of channels
to maximize the uissemination of sensitive content.
0ne channel that Caixin fiequently uses is its English-
language website anu publication. The cleaiest
example of this involves a somewhat sensitive euitoiial
Bu Shuli wiote about the tiail of Bogu Kailai, the
wife of uisgiaceu politician Bo Xilai. The euitoiial
ciiticizeu the woeful state of the iule of law in
China anu maligneu China's coiiupt anu ineffectual
law enfoicement officials. Zhejiang Ribao, Caixin's
majoiity shaieholuei iefuseu to allow the euitoiial
to publisheu in the Chinese magazine so insteau
the euitoiial was packageu as an aiticle anu sent
to the South China Noining Post. The Post iefuseu
to publish it as well, so eventually Caixin tianslateu
the piece into English anu posteu it on the English
website.
Anothei impoitant tactic that has to uo
with uiffeient channels is the use of cioss-iegional
iepoiting, yiuu jianuu. This is when a news
oiganization fiom one iegion in China will iepoit
on contioveisial news that occuiieu in a uiffeient
iegion. As Cho explains, "Yiui jianuu leveiages
the political anu auministiative gaps that uevelop
when competing powei inteiests come into
play."
19
Noie concietely, theie may be a local ban
on iepoiting a ceitain event but no national ban.
Foi example, befoie the nationwiue ban on SARS
iepoiting was issueu, Caijing's SARS iepoiting was
laigely motivateu by the ueaith of coveiage on the
impoitant topic. This was because piopaganua
officials in uuanguong hau issueu a local ban
pieventing local iepoiteis fiom publishing iepoits.
Theie aie also aspects of Caixin's
oiganizational stiuctuie anu its inuiviuual staff
membeis that facilitate its bolu iepoiting. The
company as a whole is libeial anu iefoim-uiiven,
which explains its uesiie to uo investigative
jouinalism. It is also pio-maiket anu pio-business.
Caixin's iepoiteis aie committeu to pointing
out pioblems in both the Chinese economy anu
society, as well as seaiching foi solutions. This
is impoitant because it seives as an impetus foi
many of the company's contioveisial anu iisky
moves. The uecision by many news oiganizations
to avoiu uaiing iepoits can be chalkeu up to
a lack of visionsomething that is absolutely
necessaiy in a hostile meuia enviionment like
in China. The Caixin oiganizational stiuctuie is
centeieu on tiusting jouinalists by giving them the
fieeuom to puisue theii own stoiies. Caixin uses
the hieiaichy of a typical news oiganization, but
theie is a stiong emphasis on a collaboiative anu
equal woik enviionment. This type of fiankness
anu oiganizational flexibility keeps iepoiteis fiom
becoming easily fiustiateu.
CovrnNMrN1 S1nn1rcv
Though it may seem countei intuitive, theie aie
actually many ways in which inuepenuent iepoiting
aius the Chinese goveinment. Seveial scholais have
taken these benefits anu have extiapolateu them
into theoiies wheie goveinment officials actually
encouiage sensitive iepoiting as a iegime-stabilizing
mechanism. This accoius with the oiiginal conception
of investigative jouinalism as yulun jianuu, oi a tool
of self-ciiticism foi the Paity. Bowevei, these woiks
have upuateu the concept to apply to China's mouein
authoiitaiian state. Theie aie two main puiposes
investigative jouinalism can seive, fiist to act as
a safety valve foi the fiustiations of citizens, anu
seconu to act as a souice of infoimation, enhancing
the iesponsiveness anu accountability of the paity.
Zhao iefeis to investigative jouinalists as
"watchuogs on a paity leash" who ensconce paity
legitimacy by appeasing angeieu masses anu by
pioviuing quality news analysis. The fiist pait of
this aigument positions investigative jouinalists not
only as spokespeople foi the Chinese citizeniy, but
also as theii counselois as vehicles foi venting. The
implication is that by watching such news piogiams
anu by ieauing investigative iepoits, the impetus foi
the Chinese public to piotest oi ievolt is stifleu because
the issue has been uiscusseu in an open foium. This
aigument takes investigative jouinalism as an outlet
foi citizens to expiess uissatisfaction pieventing
iesentment fiom builuing up to a bieaking point. The
seconu useful function of investigative jouinalism
foi the goveinment is infoimation gatheiing. At its
simplest level, investigative jouinalism pioviues
a tiustwoithy souice of infoimation about the
goings-on in the countiy. Nany goveinment officials
fiist leaineu of national scanuals such as the SARS
outbieak thiough investigative iepoiting. In the
case of economic anu financial scanuals, it is often
inuepenuent news oiganizations that fiist leain of
the inciuent. This becomes even moie impoitant as
the cential goveinment tiies to oveisee anu keep in
check local buieauciacies. Investigative jouinalism
"seives as the cential leaueiship's eyes anu eais on
local situations."
2u
As Zhan }iang elaboiates, "As a
geneial iule, the cential goveinment has an inteiest
in ieuucing the infoimation gap between the centei
anu localities iegaiuing potentially volatile pioblems
that iesult fiom negligence by local officials.
21
In
auuition to this euucative function, investigative
iepoits also enable a highei uegiee of iesponsiveness
?U#O&!& LQ?R$IR&$! IOP ?&O!=$!U#N
2 | Spring 2014
in goveinment officials. 0nlike in a uemociacy
wheie goveinment accountability is ueiiveu
fiom elections, authoiitaiian iegimes must iely
on alteinative foims to foimulate policy that is
iesponsive to its constituents' neeus. The meuia is
a ciucial pait of this iesponsiveness.
The most obvious function Caixin pioviues
foi the cential goveinment is high-quality
economic anu financial infoimation. Economists
geneially iecognize that gieatei infoimation flow
anu tianspaiency allows foi the moie efficient
opeiation of maikets. We have seen how Caixin
has useu the leeway given to financial magazines
as an oppoitunity to iepoit on contioveisial issues
not ielateu to the economy. This leeway oiiginateu
in a funuamental function Caixin pioviues to the
goveinment, economic infoimation, which ensuies
some baseline level of stability as consumeis anu
businesses become bettei infoimeu. Bowevei, this
function has giown outuateu as China's maikets
matuie. Noie iecently, coiiuption has become a
high piioiity on the CCP's agenua as well as a policy
issue that inuepenuent meuia can help tackle.
The seveiity anu ieach of coiiuption has
become so extieme that citizens anu goveinment
officials alike call it one of the biggest obstacles
facing China touay. While the CCP wants to anu
must auuiess the issue of coiiuption, it is still a
highly sensitive topic because it uiiectly ieflects
upon the competency anu legitimacy of the iegime.
Caixin piouuces a wealth of coiiuption iepoiting.
In the 2u1u-2u11 sample of Centuiy Weekly
magazines useu, coiiuption iepoiting incluueu
stoiies about juuicial abuses of powei, pay-offs to
lanu buieaus anu goveinment ministiies, covei-
ups of vaccine contamination anu mining acciuents,
anu economic ciimes such as insiuei tiauing by
goveinment officials anu piivate coipoiations,
to name a few. These stoiies can piove useful in
helping goveinment officials pinpoint coiiuption
oi seive a positive piess if goveinment action has
alieauy been taken.
Inteiviewees also mentioneu vaiious ways
in which they thought Caixin pioviues a seivice
foi the goveinment. 0ne jouinalist ielayeu a
conveisation he hau with a goveinment censoiship
official, who tolu him, "I hate you because I can't
contiol you, but I love you because you aie willing
to iepoit on contioveisial issues anu often when
you uo, you take the Chinese siue, not the Westein
viewpoint. You aie still Chinese meuia anu you help
us ieuuce the amount of tiash out theie" (Inteiviewee
18). Anothei iepoitei mentioneu the euucation level
of his colleagues when uiscussing the cieuibility
Caixin maintains. As he explains, Caixin's iepoiteis
aie moie capable of unueistanuing anu explaining
complex news: "0thei meuia uon't unueistanu these
issues veiy well so we coiiect theii mistakes. Foi
example, theie is a lot of outiage because China is a
contiibutoi to the INF, but Caixin will explain how
the INF functions anu why it's goou foi China to be
contiibuting" (Inteiviewee S4). In this way, Caixin,
as well as othei inuepenuent news oiganizations,
aie able to pioviue levelheaueu analysis while still
allowing, "the Chinese voice to be heaiu" (Inteiviewee
S6). Anothei way the CCP can use inuepenuent
iepoiting foi its own agenua is in uefenuing its
inteinational ieputation. The CCP can point to news
oiganizations like Caixin anu tell ciitics of its human
iights iecoiu anu lack of civil iights that China uoes
in fact have a fiee piess. As }ingiong Tong uesciibes,
"Since 2uu7, theie has been an incieasing neeu foi the
iuling Paity to builu up a national image that is open
anu uiffeient fiom what was being uesciibeu in the
Westein meuia.It is impoitant to show the outsiue
woilu an image of open goveinment, which helps to
maintain legitimacy anu achieve iecognition fiom
inteinational society."
22
A iepoitei backeu up this
view stating, "The goveinment can take auvantage of
us because we aie seen as inuepenuent jouinalism.
So the goveinment can paiaue us aiounu anu say
look we toleiate them" (Inteiviewee S4).
The oveiall tone unueipinning these aiguments
is that Chinese investigative jouinalists aie not fully
iesponsible foi uiiving inuepenuent iepoiting, iathei
they aie simply playing into the goveinment's hanu,
being co-opteu as goveinment tools, only satisfying
the public's uesiie foi infoimation as a bypiouuct.
As Zhao states, "To the extent that it exposes safe
taigets anu investigates violations of existing laws
anu policies, it fulfills the meuia's iole of being the
mouthpiece of both the Paity anu the people."
2S
Zhao
has maue the aigument that the ielationship between
inuepenuent meuia anu the goveinment is not hostile
but syneigistic. Nany situations aie inueeu win-
win foi news oiganizations anu the goveinment,
howevei labeling the ielationship as coopeiative is
a misleauing poitiayal. Rathei than an intentional
goveinment stiategy foi system maintenance,
allowing investigative jouinalism to peisist happens
to be a mutually beneficial outcome foi both the
goveinment anu news oiganizations in some
situations. Theie aie othei factois that make it
unlikely that the goveinment ieally has as much
contiol as Zhao woulu like to believe. The benefits
acciueu to the state aie uefinitely ieal, but they
aie epiphenomenal bypiouucts, not intenueu
solutions. The uecentialization anu fiagmentation
of the state pievents the implementation of a fully
cohesive plan uictating the extent of loosening
up. Insteau, news oiganizations anu uivisions
within the goveinment itself take auvantage of the
fiactuies to puisue theii own goals. The cuiient
political climate is also a stiong foice in ueteimining
the seveiity of goveinment meuia sciutiny.
Finally, the maiket anu the piofessionalization
of jouinalism aie influential foices that at times
can oveipowei goveinment effoits to contiol the
meuia enviionment.
FiNoiNcs
Thiough extensive analysis of Caixin's
opeiations anu iepoiting, we have founu that
the use of gueiiilla tactics has been ciucial in
facilitating the news oiganization's investigative
jouinalism. Company-wiue stiategies incluuing
Caixin's sensitivity to timing, its slant as a
financial magazine, the use of ceitain wiiting style
techniques, a cieative use of a vaiiety of channels,
anu its oiganizational anu cultuial style, aie ciitical
featuies of Caixin's success. By extension, we woulu
expect that news oiganizations in China that aim
to conuuct investigative jouinalism without being
shut uown must also implement such stiategies.
0ne complicating factoi is the influential iole euitoi-
in-chief, Bu Shuli, has hau in pioviuing piotection
foi Caixin. It may be the case that gueiiilla tactics
can only take a news oiganization so fai in China
anu that an extia guaiantee in the foim of someone
such as Bu Shuli is also necessaiy. Bu's ability to
ieau goveinment signs is a gueiiilla tactic in itself
anu allows hei to package news so that it will be
seen as being helpful foi the goveinment anu thus
less likely to be censoieu.
Inuepenuent meuia anu the Chinese
goveinment use each othei, but investigative
jouinalists aie not goveinment mouthpieces.
When the paity agenua anu the jouinalistic agenua
oveilap theie is a moment of haimony, but this uoes
not mean that inuepenuent iepoiting is pieuicateu
on the wishes of goveinment officials. In China's
vast buieauciacy anu incieasing uecentializeu
goveinment, the inuepenuent iepoiting uone by news
oiganizations has pioven helpful in many iespects.
We have seen how high-quality, inuepenuently
ieseaicheu news analysis has helpeu goveinment
officials be moie accountable anu maintain moie
oveisight. In many cases, investigative jouinalists have
seiveu as the eyes anu eais of the cential goveinment
by monitoiing local buieauciacies. To some extent,
inuepenuent iepoiting also aius goveinment officials
by seiving as a channel foi public opinion. In this way,
investigative jouinalism seives as a type of cathaisis
oi a way foi fiustiateu citizens to vent. Though these
effects aie all beneficial in some way foi the CCP, it
woulu be incoiiect to chaiacteiize them as the iesult
of an integiateu anu intentional goveinment stiategy
foi iegime-stabilization. Ceitainly, many goveinment
officials iecognize the usefulness of inuepenuent
iepoiting, howevei the cential goveinment is not
cooiuinating a system-wiue stiategy of selective
tightening anu loosening of meuia contiols in oiuei
to bolstei iegime legitimacy. Insteau, investigative
jouinalism has been baseu upon the stiategies
that news oiganizations have uevelopeu to skiit
goveinment censois, sometimes woiking in tanuem
with goveinment objectives, yet motivateu by vaiying
factois. Those factois incluue company iueologies
baseu on the iueals of piomoting fuithei iefoim
anu opening, an incieasingly stiong ueuication to
piofessionalization among news oiganizations, anu
iobust maiket uemanu foi high-quality inuepenuent
iepoiting.
Bowevei, the benefits Caixin anu othei
inuepenuent meuia pioviue goveinment officials
shoulu not be ignoieu. 0ltimately, high-level officials
have the powei to shut uown Caixin. Why uon't they.
Theie aie costs associateu with shutteiing a populai
anu well-iespecteu news oiganization. uoveinment
officials have to ensuie that the benefits to shutting
uown Caixin woulu outweigh the costs. As long as Caixin
goes up to the line but uoesn't cioss it, it is actually
bettei foi the goveinment that the news oiganization
continues to exist. By meeting some goveinment
neeus, Caixin is able to puisue its own agenua anu
take auvantage of the giay aieas. The ieason Caixin
uoesn't push even fuithei, foi example calling foi
uemociatic elections oi impioveu ielations with the
Balai Lama, is because this woulu immeuiately iesult
?U#O&!& LQ?R$IR&$! IOP ?&O!=$!U#N
28 | Spring 2014
in theii uemise. This uoes not mean, howevei, that
inuepenuent meuia, such as Caixin, catei to paity
goals. They woik aiounu obstacles but always with
the view of accomplishing theii own agenua, not the
CCP's. That uoes not mean theie aien't sometimes
mutually beneficial situations, but the intent anu
natuie of the ielationship is funuamentally one of
push anu pull.
IMrticn1ioNs
uiven that Caixin has been able to thiive at
conuucting investigative jouinalism uespite the
CCP's stiingent censoiship iegime, what shoulu
we expect about the futuie of China's political
system. Will China's new leaueiship embiace
political libeialization. Is the existence of a news
oiganization like Caixin eviuence of bioauei
opening up. China is a paiticulaily inteiesting
case as the "Chinese jouinalism system is one of
the most impoitant contempoiaiy jouinalism
systems in the woilu, eithei juuging fiom the
iise of political anu economic powei of China, oi
looking at the iole of China in the woilu's shifting
powei stiuctuies."
24
Even moie impoitant than
these stanuaiu inuicatois of China's clout-its
economic might anu incieasing involvement in
the inteinational system-is the fact that China is
at a ciossioaus. Faceu with issues such as income
uispaiity, iuial poveity, high iates of coiiuption,
anu giowing enviionmental conceins, the Chinese
leaueiship must ueciue how to auuiess the costs
associateu with China's political economy. China-
watcheis aie eageily anticipating in what way the
goveinment may evolve in oiuei to iesponu to new
challenges. As Fewsmith comments, "The question
is whethei China's mouel of political economy can
be mouifieu inciementally oi if the challenges of
the futuie will benu that mouel to the bieaking
point."
2S
The Economist emphasizes the foik in the
ioau facing new piesiuent Xi }inping: "Ni Xi can
continue to clamp uown on uiscontent oi he can
stait to loosen the paity's contiol. China's futuie
will be ueteimineu by the answei to this question:
uoes Ni. Xi have the couiage anu vision to see that
assuiing his countiy's piospeiity anu stability in
the futuie iequiies him to bieak with the past."
26

Stuuying the existence of investigative jouinalism
in China allows us a peek into whethei China's new
leaueiship might embiace political libeialization
in the futuie.
It is uifficult to make pieuictions about China's
political futuie. Nany claim that China is cuiiently at a
tipping point. Bowevei, the CCP has pioveu extiemely
iesilient in the past. Foi now it seems that, uespite
the woik of oiganizations such as Caixin, China
iemains a politically closeu system. Bowevei, as the
goveinment attempts to tackle the social anu political
issues facing the countiy, we may see moie leeway foi
inuepenuent meuia to iepoit on these same issues.
Foi example, the CCP's cuiient campaign against
coiiuption may allow Chinese meuia moie leeway to
iepoit on such events because this iepoiting aligns
with the goveinment agenua. Theie have alieauy
been signs that the cential goveinment might be
moie toleiant of coiiuption iepoiting. A CNN aiticle
iepoits how seveial websites ueuicateu to aiiing
coiiuption complaints have cioppeu up in the past
few months.
27
This is just one example of wheie a
goveinment agenua anu muckiaking agenua align.
With the use of clevei stiategies such as the gueiiilla
tactics outlineu in this papei anu mutually aligneu
inteiests, Chinese inuepenuent meuia may be able
to piouuce some tiuly impoitant iepoiting in the
coming yeais.
ENoNo1rs
1
Be Buigh, X+, *+#),', Y%=&);9#'$, S6.
2
"Caixin Neuia Completes New Rounu of Funuiaising."
S
Zhan, "Enviionmental }ouinalism in China,"12S.
4
Yu, O,"#; ;)" *=9$=&;9 X&;)'-%&B;$#%) #) *+#);, 9S.
S
Tong, "uueiiilla Tactics," SSu-SS.
6
Ibiu., SSu.
7
Zhao, "Watchuogs on Paity Leashes." S77.
8
Ibiu., S92.
9
Ibiu., 81S.
1u
Tong, I)Z,'$#:;$#Z, Y%=&);9#'B I) *+#);, 2S.
11
Ibiu., 2S.
12
Ibiu., Su.
1S
Scotton anu Bachten, U,D O,"#;, 21.
14
King et al., "Censoiship in China," 1.
1S
Link, "China: The Anaconua in the Chanueliei."
16
Baiboza, "Pushing (anu Toeing) the Line in China."
17
Bu, "The Rise of Business Neuia in China," 84.
18
Tong, "uueiiilla Tactics," SS1.
19
Cho, "0iigins of Investigative }ouinalism," 17u.
2u
Tong, "uueiiilla Tactics," S88.
21
Ibiu., 124.
22
Tong, I)Z,'$#:;$#Z, Y%=&);9#'B I) *+#);, 6S.
2S
Tong, "uueiiilla Tactics," S92.
24
Tong, I)Z,'$#:;$#Z, Y%=&);9#'B I) *+#);, 4.
2S
Fewsmith, *+#); X%";C? *+#); X%B%&&%D, 28S.
26
"The Nan Who Nust Change China."
27
Bowei, "Anti-Coiiuption Websites Pop 0p in
China."
Bintiocnnruv
Baiboza, Baviu. "Pushing (anu Toeing) the Line in
China." U,D W%&A X#B,', Apiil 18, 2uuS. Accesseu
Nay 4, 2u1S.
Bowei, Eve. "Anti-Coiiuption Websites Pop 0p in
China." CNN, }une 27, 2u11. Accesseu Nay 1S,
2u1S.
"Caixin Neuia Completes New Rounu of Funuiaising:
Tencent Becomes Shaieholuei." PE Baily, }uly
16, 2u12. Accesseu Novembei 26, 2u12, http:
www.peuaily.cnItem.aspx.iu=2189u7.
Cho, Li-Fung. "The 0iigins of Investigative
}ouinalism: The Emeigence of China's Watchuog
Repoiting." In I)Z,'$#:;$#Z, Y%=&);9#'B #) *+#);P
!#:+$ *;',' #) *+#),', M;$<+"%: Y%=&);9#'B,
euiteu by Baviu Banuuiski anu Naitin Bala, 16S-
176. Bong Kong: Bong Kong 0niveisity Piess,
2u1u.
Be Buigh, Bugo. X+, *+#),', Y%=&);9#'$P O,"#;$#):
I)-%&B;$#%) #) $+, M%&9"N' O%'$ @%.=9%=' *%=)$&C.
Lonuon: RoutleugeCuizon, 2uuS.
Fewsmith, }oseph. "Conclusion: China's Next Thiee
Becaues." In *+#); X%";C? *+#); X%B%&&%DP
K%B,'$#< @%9#$#<'? !<%)%BC? ;)" Q%<#,$C, euiteu
by }oseph Fewsmith, 277-84. Plymouth, 0K:
Rowman & Littlefielu, 2u1u.
Bu, Shuli. "The Rise of Business Neuia in China." In
*+;):#): O,"#; *+;):#): *+#);, euiteu by Susan
Shiik, 84. 0xfoiu: 0xfoiu 0niveisity Piess, 2u11.
King, uaiy, }ennifei Pan, anu Nolly Robeits. "Bow
Censoiship in China Allows uoveinment Ciiticism
but Silences Collective Expiession." Woiking
Papei, 2u12. 0ctobei 2S, 2u12.
Link, Peiiy. "China: The Anaconua in the Chanueliei."
New Yoik Review of Books, Apiil 11, 2uu2.
Accesseu }une 24, 2u12. http:www.nybooks.
comaiticlesaichives2uu2api11china-the-
anaconua-in-the-chanueliei
Scotton, }ames Fiancis, anu William A Bachten. U,D
O,"#; -%& ; U,D *+#);. Chichestei, West Sussex,
0K: Wiley-Blackwell, 2u1u.
"The Nan Who Nust Change China." !<%)%B#'$.
0ctobei 27, 2u12. http:www.economist.com
?U#O&!& LQ?R$IR&$! IOP ?&O!=$!U#N
newsleaueis21S6S21u-xi-jinping-will-soon-be-
nameu-china%E2%8u%99s-next-piesiuent-he-
must-be-ieauy-bieak.
Tong, }ingiong. "uueiiilla Tactics of Investigative
}ouinalists in China." Y%=&);9#'B 8. (2uu7): SSu-81S.
Tong, }ingiong. I)Z,'$#:;$#Z, Y%=&);9#'B I) *+#);P
Y%=&);9#'B? @%D,&? ;)" Q%<#,$C. Lonuon: Continuum,
2u11.
Yu, Baiqing. O,"#; ;)" *=9$=&;9 X&;)'-%&B;$#%) #)
*+#);. Lonuon anu New Yoik: Routleuge, 2uu9.
Zhan, }iang. "Enviionmental }ouinalism in China." In
*+;):#): O,"#; *+;):#): *+#);, euiteu by Susan
Shiik, 12S. 0xfoiu: 0xfoiu 0niveisity Piess, 2u11.
Zhao, Yuezhi. "Watchuogs on Paity Leashes. Contexts
anu implications of investigative jouinalism in
post-Beng China." Y%=&);9#'B Q$="#,' 1.2 (2uuu):
S77-S97.
30 | Spring 2014
%ental illness is peivasive anu entiencheu
in global society. Noou anu anxiety uisoiueis, such
as "uepiession" (as it is calleu in the West) have
been obseiveu by the Woilu Bealth 0iganization in
neaily eveiy population stuuieu aiounu the woilu.
1

Bowevei, mental illnesses manifest uiffeiently
in uistinct cultuies. Bepiession anu othei moou
anu anxiety uisoiueis exist acioss cultuies; the
societal manifestations anu implications of those
uisoiueisincluuing social stigmahowevei, aie
fai fiom univeisal. The stigmatization of mental
illness leaus to negative public peiception anu
uiamatically affects patients' willingness to seek
tieatment to oveicome a uisoiuei. The social
philosophy iegaiuing uepiessive symptomatology
vaiies uiamatically between }apan anu the West.
Although uepiession is similaily piesent in both
cultuies, the }apanese have tiauitionally vieweu
moueiate uistiess as a chaiacteiistic pait of the
human expeiience, while Westein societies have
long labeleu almost any level of uepiession oi
extenueu sauness as pathological. In the mouein
uay, on the othei hanu, }apanese society typically
conceals mental illness anu place significant
stigma on teims like "uepiession." Thioughout the
East, uiffeient cultuies have incieuibly vaiiable
peispectives on mental illness, one of the most
uiamatic of which exists in }apan.
Social iegimentation has biought }apan to the
foiefiont of the woilu economy anu
has establisheu
the nation as an innovative technological hotspot,
but it is not without its pitfalls. }apan's social iueals,
which emphasize maintenance of a haimonious
mainstieam, have leu the cultuie to covei up
359 O94 <,F9 *8 P9/+977(*0H
I''+977(01 )59 !)(1;,)(V,)(*0 *8 L90),-
#--0977 (0 ",/,0 ,0' .9G*0'
anomalies, incluuing mental illnesses such as moou
anu anxiety uisoiueis. The emeigence of the social
issue in }apan, known as hikikomoii, has highlighteu
the }apanese peispective on moou uisoiueis anu
management of mental illness. Bikikomoii uesciibes
the conuition of youths' withuiawal fiom all societal
ties anu shutting themselves in theii homes foi
months oi yeais. Though the causes of hikikomoii
aie not ceitain, many psychologists have accepteu
that the puipoiteu one million inuiviuuals iemoveu
fiom society suffei fiom uniecognizeu anu untieateu
psychological uisoiueis. They aie, essentially,
socially piessuieu into hiuing, paitly uue to negative
stigma. A biopsychosocial unueistanuing of mental
illness suggests that negative stigma not only affects
the social unueistanuing anu tieatment of mental
illnesses, but also actually influences how mental
uisoiueis manifest in society, as exemplifieu by the
case of hikikomoii
in }apan.
In oiuei to appieciate the iole of stigma
on mental illness, we must unueistanu both the
teiminology anu the global pievalence of mental
illness cioss-cultuially. The teim "mental illness"
encompasses a wiue iange of conuitions, fiom
uevelopmental uisoiueis like autism to uisoiueis that
typically manifest latei in life such as schizophienia.
Bowevei, the most common mental illnesses
woiluwiue aie anxiety anu moou uisoiueis, which
will be the focus of this uiscussion.
2
Najoi Bepiessive
Bisoiuei (oi "uepiession") is a moou uisoiuei
chaiacteiizeu by low moou anu loss of inteiest in
uaily activity. ueneializeu anxiety uisoiuei is a bioau
teim foi a conuition
chaiacteiizeu by iiiational anu
pathological feai oi anxiety. The teims "uepiession"
anu "anxiety" aie both quite ambiguous anu aie
geneial teims that aie subuiviueu into vaiious othei
uisoiueis. Foi the puiposes of this uiscussion, the
bioauei classification of "mental illness" shoulu be
taken to iefeience moou anu anxiety uisoiueis as a
whole.
Mark Bessen is studying geology
and English at Stanford University. He enjoys
IcIon wvIIng, IIIIng, anu uIvIng. MavI Is aIso a
passionate activist for mental health awareness.

With teiminology establisheu, the
pievalence of mental illness is most easily
unueistoou quantitatively. In a woilu of seven
billion, ovei 121 million inuiviuuals suffei fiom
uepiession oi anothei moou uisoiuei, which is
just unuei two peicent of the woilu population.
S

Najoi uepiession is the numbei one cause foi
uisability aiounu the woilu, but less than a quaitei
of those affecteu have access to tieatment, which
often comes in the foim of psychotheiapy anuoi
meuication.
Aftei an extensive anu ongoing evaluation
of the piobable causes of mental illness, the 0S
Suigeon ueneial asseits that mental illness is
"consiueieu the piouuct of a complex inteiaction
among biological, psychological, social, anu cultuial
factois."
4
The teim "uepiession" has piimaiily been
useu to uesciibe a "uevelopeu woilu" uisoiuei that
L&O3IJ #JJO&!! #O "INIO
to moou anu anxiety uisoiueis. Bowevei, many
causes beyonu biology aie at play. Social, economic,
anu political factois also contiibute to piolifeiating
mental illness. Low stiata of income, pooi level of
euucation, anu occupational instability have been
linkeu to incieasing the pievalence of mental illness.
The Bepaitment of Bealth anu Buman Seivices states,
"Cultuie anu society play pivotal ioles in mental
health, mental illness, anu mental health seivices,"
anu must be taken into consiueiation in oiuei to
stuuy mental illness as a complex global subject.
6
Anothei complicating factoi is that the
piesentation of mental illness also vaiies cioss-
cultuially. Reseaich has shown that the expeiience of
uepiession is uiffeient in uistinct cultuies. Psychiatiist
anu ieseaichei Wen-Shing Tseng, uiawing fiom his
stuuy of uepiession acioss cultuies since the 196us,
positeu why theie has been a significant inciease in
uepiession uiagnoses in the West, but low iates of
uiagnosis in non-Euio-Ameiican societies.
7
Tseng
establisheu that the manifestation of uepiession in
non-Westein societies must come in uiffeient foims
than the tiauitional Westein emotional expiession
associateu with uepiession. Accoiuing to his
ieseaich, the peiception as well as the emotional
expeiience of uepiession vaiies between cultuies. In
anothei stuuy that suppoits this position, ieseaicheis
Tanaka-Natsumi anu Naisella conuucteu empiiical
stuuies asking }apanese, }apanese-Ameiican, anu
Caucasian-Ameiican stuuents to associate woius
with "uepiession."
8
The }apanese stuuents piimaiily
listeu woius like "iain" anu "clouu" anu colois such
as "uaik" oi "giey," ieflecting exteinal conuitions
anu uesciiptions. The }apanese-Ameiicans anu
Caucasian-Ameiicans, on the othei hanu, pioviueu
woius like "sauness" anu "loneliness," which uepict
inteinalizeu moous. These iesults soliuify the theoiy
that the }apanese uo not expeiience oi conceptualize
uepiession in the same way, anu likely contiibute to
the significant stigma of mental illness in }apan.
These vaiiations in expiession have fuithei
substantiateu the alteieu peiception of mental
illnesses in uiffeient cultuies, incluuing how people
iesponu uiffeiently to inuiviuuals suffeiing fiom
moou anu anxiety uisoiueis. Nental illnesses aie
not consistently iecognizeu as uisoiueis acioss
all cultuies. Theie aie substantial cioss-cultuial
vaiiations amongst societies' accepteu views
iegaiuing mental illness. Peiception of mental
illness is uiamatically affecteu by iacial, ethnic, anu
manifests most obviously in socioeconomically
uevelopeu nations. While the majoiity of ieseaich
on mental illness has occuiieu in fiist woilu nations,
Woilu Bealth officials have maintaineu that mental
illness can be chaiacteiizeu as a "panhuman
phenomenon."
S
Nental illness is assumeu to be
omnipiesent in global society baseu on the fact
that some inuiviuuals aie biologically pieuisposeu
32 | Spring 2014
Source: Kaip Kine uploaded on Flickr
Hikikomori describes the condition of vouths
withdrawal from all social ties.
cultuial backgiounus. An inteiesting analysis of
these cultuial vaiiations involves the compaiison
of Westein veisus Eastein philosophy on mental
illness. In the past, Eastein cultuies tenueu to
"give positive values foi uepiessive complaints anu
even encouiage them" anu typically have vieweu
mental illness as a pait of the humanism anu
peisonal uevelopment cential to Confucianism.
In contiast, Westein cultuies "toleiate uepiessive
symptoms only as acute phenomena" anu quickly
label any extenueu sauness as pathological.
9
In the
last half centuiy, howevei, as Eastein nations like
}apan have piogiesseu into mouein, uevelopeu
societies anu establisheu high piessuie economies,
mental illnesses have not been sufficiently
auuiesseu. Although uepiession anu anxiety weie
not consiueieu an issue in the past, the stiess of
uevelopment has likely incieaseu the pievalence
of moou uisoiueis; the iecognition of mental
illness, howevei, has iemaineu low. What explains
this uisciepancy. Even as the inciuence of mental
illness is incieasing, its appeaiance in the public
eye has been uiminisheu by social stigma.
The stigma suiiounuing mental illness
substantially impacts the chaiacteiistics anu
manifestations of mental illness. The stigmatization
of mental illness, which often specifically taigets
moou anu anxiety uisoiueis, contiibutes to the
peipetuation anu exaceibation of these uisoiueis.
The uiffeiences in the peiception of mental
health manifest in a numbei of ways such as how
symptoms aie expiesseu, how inuiviuuals cope
with illness, the natuie of family suppoit, anu
patients' willingness to seek tieatment.
1u
Cultuial
peiception affects the uisposition of inuiviuuals
with moou oi anxiety uisoiueis, anu subtleties in
manneiisms anu bouy language make it uifficult to
stuuy mental conuitions cioss-cultuially. Nethous
of coping often vaiy cultuially, typically falling into a
uichotomy of eithei inteinal oi exteinal expiession.
Inteinal expiession, which is moie common in
a confoimist society like }apan that somewhat
suppiesses inuiviuual expiession, often iesults
in isolation. 0thei populations exhibit exteinal
expiession anu iely on community involvement to
oveicome an inuiviuual's uisoiuei, peihaps thiough
emotional anu financial familial suppoit.
0ne moie easily iecoiueu factoi iegaiuing
the impact of social stigma on mental illness is
the pievalence of the uiagnosis of mental illness.
Nost Asian cultuies, foi example, avoiu labeling anu
uiagnosing mental illness in oiuei to save face anu
ietain family honoi, while health piofessionals in
Westeinizeu countiies like the 0niteu States ieauily
pioviue uiagnoses, allowing "uiagnoses of |.j
emotional uisabilities anu uisoiueis |toj piolifeiate."
11

The tieatment of moou uisoiueis, incluuing patients'
willingness to seek tieatment anu the efficacy of
theiapeutic techniques is ciitically tieu to the public
healthcaie iesouices of a society. These factois aie
all funuamentally connecteu to social stigma of
mental illness, but the extent to which stigma exists
in society is quite vaiiable. 0ne paiticulaily negative
anu haimful example is obseiveu in }apan, wheie
mental illness is highly stigmatizeu.
The stigma of mental illness is veiy uiamatic in
}apanese society. Baseu on Woilu Bealth 0iganization
uiagnostics, }apan anu othei East Asian nations have
low iates of self-iepoiteu mental illness compaieu to
the 0niteu States anu most Euiopean 0nion nations,
ieflecting the negative stigma of mental illness in
}apan.
12
The }apanese have establisheu iemaikably
minimal outpatient mental healthcaie, even in }apan's
iapiuly ueveloping social anu economic climate.
}apanese may even "militate against pathologizing the
inuiviuual" anu iesist employing meuical tieatment.
1S

Accoiuing to ieseaichei A. Boiovoy, this has left majoi
uepiession uiamatically unuei-uiagnoseu, leaving
those suffeiing fiom "systemic chemical imbalances"
to fenu foi themselves oi focus on the veiy limiteu
coping stiategies anu familial suppoit available. In
oiuei to effectively quantify the stigma of mental
illness in }apan, ieseaichei Kathleen uiiffith uiiectly
compaieu the iesponses of }apanese anu Austialian
stuuy paiticipants to vignettes of inuiviuuals with
vaiying uegiees of mental illness. The paiticipants
weie then askeu to iuentify theii peisonal stigma
(how he oi she felt towaius the peison uesciibeu) anu
theii peiceiveu stigma (how he oi she thought otheis
vieweu the peison in the vignette) on a numbeieu
scale. The Austialian paiticipants piimaiily scoieu
veiy low on the stigma scale, while negative attituues
towaius mental illness weie much moie common
among the }apanese subjects. Both peisonal anu
peiceiveu stigmas weie founu to be veiy high in the
}apanese gioup, wheieas they weie less significant in
Austialians.
1S
Reseaich in cultuial psychiatiy suggests that
this stigma may not only shape minusets in }apan, but
also funuamentally change society by engenueiing
puiely a }apanese phenomenonit has not been
obseiveu on any notable scale anywheie else in the
woilu. An obvious question suifaces: why uoes this
phenomenon occui almost exclusively in }apan.
What factois aie unique to }apan as compaieu to
eithei othei Eastein cultuies oi similaily uevelopeu
nations. To answei these questions, an analysis of
}apanese social uynamics is necessaiy. Tiauitional
}apanese society espouses a foim of confoimism,
in which inuiviuualism is iestiaineu in favoi of
cohesiveness in both social anu piofessional fielus.
As inuiviuual minusets have begun to shift towaius
inuiviuualism in iecent yeais, society has iemaineu
iegimenteu: Theii foim of piotest is quintessentially
}apanese: no ostensible imposition is maue on otheis,
iathei it is the iefusalwithuiawal anu negative
symptomatologythat is chaiacteiistic. That is,
isolation is useu as a uefence against tiansitioning
fiom auolescence to auulthoou in a society they
uisagiee with.
18
This iegimentation has alloweu }apan to
establish one of the most flouiishing economies
in the woilu, allowing about thiee quaiteis of
the population to maintain veiy high economic
piotection. Bowevei, societal iegimentation has
contiibuteu to iampant school bullying at all levels
of euucation. The high-piessuie enviionment makes
uiopping out anu moving into the hikikomoii lifestyle
look like a welcome option. }apanese family stiuctuie
is hypothesizeu to be a contiibuting factoi leauing to
hikikomoii as well. Small, ielatively affluent nucleai
families often "panuei" to the neeus of offspiing,
allowing them to iemain out of school anu woik
yet be financially suppoiteu by paients, to whom
"inuepenuence is not as highly valueu as in the
west."
19
As the laboi foice has shifteu in iecent yeais,
those enteiing the job maiket have stiuggleu, anu
this economic insecuiity has likely been a factoi in
cultivating the iuea of social withuiawal.
Along with many othei confounuing elements
in }apan's confoimist iuealism, these factois likely
contiibute to engenueiing hikikomoii as a paiticulaily
}apanese conuition. But even the inteiaction of all
these components uoes not seem to explain such a
wiuespieau phenomenon. None of the socioeconomic
factois attiibuteu to hikikomoii aie unique to }apan
foi example, South Koiea has similai social noims
anu a successful economy, yet theie is no hikikomoii
obseiveu theie. It is also common to holu the }apanese
euucation system iesponsible, but in iecent yeais, as
O;)C G,9#,Z, $+;$ Y;.;)N' +#:+(.&,''=&, '%<#,$C
<%)$&#G=$,' $% $+, &#', #) +#A#A%B%&# <;','/
social phenomena, as exemplifieu by the case of
hikikomoii. In iecent yeais, hikikomoii has suifaceu
as a substantial social uilemma in }apan (the teim
is useu to uesciibe both the phenomenon anu
inuiviuuals). Liteially tianslateu as "withuiawn,"
hikikomoii is the quanuaiy in which "hiuuen"
youths in }apan iemain ieclusive foi extenueu
peiious of months to yeais. Bikikomoii expeit
Bi. Tamaki Saito clinically uefines hikikomoii as
"people who have spent six months oi moie in
an asocial state, being outsiue of euucation anu
employment anu having no intimate ielationships
with anyone outsiue of the immeuiate family."
16

Nales make up about eighty peicent of hikikomoii,
whose ages typically iange fiom late teens to eaily
thiities, anu the majoiity of hikikomoii come
fiom economically comfoitable homes. This "lost
geneiation" of ovei one million youthsmaking
up about one peicent of the }apanese population
likely suffeis fiom unueilying psychological
uisoiueis in conjunction with uniealistic social
piessuies. Baseu on ieseaich with hikikomoii
iehabilitation facilities anu thiough extensive
inteiviews with }apanese health caie woikeis,
Boiovoy aigues that the }apanese hikikomoii have
come to leau heimitic lives possibly as a negative
consequence of the }apanese outlook on mental
illnessa so-calleu "antipsychiatiy" bias in }apan.
17
It appeais, stiangely, that hikikomoii is
34 | Spring 2014
Source: iFOCOS uploaded on Flickr
the goveinment has tiieu to alleviate piessuies
to mitigate school tioubles, the iate of hikikomoii
continues to inciease. Anu the iate of mental illness
seems consistent with most uevelopeu nations. So,
what is the tipping point that pushes the }apanese
into hikikomoii. 0ne potential factoi is the function
of stigma suiiounuing mental illness in society.
Public stigma, clinically stuuieu by K. uiiffiths to
be veiy negative in }apan, likely has a significant
influence on the manifestation of hikikomoii.
2u
Bikikomoii is one uiamatic substantiation
of psychological uistiess in }apanese society; it is
a paiticulaily viviu iepiesentation of the impact
that stigma of mental illness has hau in }apan. In
his chaptei, "The Nega-Naiketing of Bepiession
in }apan," Ethan Watteis pioviues eviuence as
to the impact of stigma on uepiession.
21
Watteis
piesents a paiticulaily eluciuative illustiation
by incluuing a compiehensive histoiy on the
changing nomenclatuie useu in the psychological
fielu in }apan. Befoie the tuin of the millennium,
states Watteis, "the }apanese hau a funuamentally
uiffeient conception of uepiession than in the
West." Psychiatiy in }apan befoie that time focuseu
almost exclusively on the seveiely mentally ill who
iequiieu long-teim inpatient caie; "talk theiapy"
anu meuication foi moueiate uepiession weie not
utilizeu at all. This uisconnect stemmeu fiom the
tianslation of the teim "uepiession": in }apanese,
the antiquateu psychiatiic teim is utsuby, which
usually uesciibes a uebilitating mental illness
like schizophienia that woulu iequiie extenueu
hospital stays. In iesponse to this notation anu in
oiuei to auuiess }apan's tiauitional iesistance to
tieatment, phaimaceutical companies began to
use syntactically unique methouology to maiket
antiuepiessants to the }apanese populace. Biug
companies uiscaiueu the connotation-loaueu woiu
foi uebilitating uepiession, utsuby, anu coineu a
new phiase: kokoio no kaze, which means "a colu of
the soul." The tianslation suggests that uepiession
is meiely a noimal ailment that can be tieateu anu
cuieu. As the stigma caiiieu in the woiu utsuby
began to uissipate soon aftei the maiketing
campaign in the eaily 2uuus, antiuepiessant sales
uiamatically incieaseu.
Such an immense shift in the peiception
of mental illness has contiibuteu to measuieable
sociological impacts. The change of teiminology has
appeaieu to have notable effects on the }apanese
public's peiception of moou uisoiueis. The specific
teim foi uepiession was so heavily stigmatizeu that
even a simple shift like a change in nomenclatuie
biought about a social oveiflow of iecognition of
mental illness, as measuieu by phaimaceutical
piesciiptions. It is piobable that mental illness was
equally pievalent befoie the teiminology change,
but such an explosion in the use of antiuepiessants
anu psychotheiapy is testament to a stigma that
has begun to become antiquateu. Similai to kokoio
no kaze, "Bikikomoii may also flouiish as a teim in
pait because it is less stigmatizing than othei teims
foi mental illness."
22
Peihaps the shift in minuset
uuiing these phaimaceutical campaigns may help
to alleviate the negative stigma on mental illness in
}apan, anu theieby help counteiact one of the uiiving
foices of hikikomoii.
As illustiateu by the emeigence of hikikomoii,
the stakes of the impact of stigma on mental illness aie
too significant to be concealeu, foi it is the invisibility
of moou uisoiueis in society that is most tioubling.
It appeais that what makes hikikomoii a cultuially
specific conuition is not the existence of uepiession,
but the inteiplay of complicateu social factois in
iesponse to it. To extiapolate moie geneially, what
can we pieuict foi othei ueveloping nations. Fuilong
explains:
Inueeu, many of the pieconuitions foi the
hikikomoii phenomenon exist in the west anu,
if we can establish that the conuition ielates to
the fiagmentation of social stiuctuies in the late
mouein peiiou, it woulu not be unieasonable to
aigue that acute social withuiawal may become
wiuespieau within the auvanceu nations.
2S
Coulu social conuitions like hikikomoii uevelop
in othei countiies in similai stages of uevelopment as
}apan. It's ceitainly a conceining pieoccupation, but
ieseaich shows that it is not likely foi a numbei of
ieasons. }apan anu the 0niteu States, foi example, aie
both evolving socially anu becoming less systematizeu.
Bowevei, the shift in the 0niteu States has been
giauual, while tiauitional oppoitunities anu iueals in
}apan have been uiamatically uisiupteu. Fuitheimoie,
although }apan has begun to face laboi insecuiity anu
changes to income equality, moie than 7S peicent of
the population is economically comfoitable in the
miuule class, anu these families aie able to financially
suppoit hikikomoii. In contiast, the 0niteu States has
a stiuggling job maiket anu families can simply not
affoiu to shouluei the buiuen of auuitional family
membeis out of woik oi school. Peihaps most
impoitantly, eiauication of the stigma of mental
illness is being auuiesseu much moie in the 0niteu
States than in }apanantiuepiessants have become
so accepteu that they aie auveitiseu on Ameiican
television. Fuitheimoie, effoits have been moveu
to the euucation system as well: in my high school
health class at a public school, we stuuieu mental
illnesses as conuitions that afflict human health,
iathei than bypassing theii existence.
The uiamatic shifts in }apanese society in
the last uecaue may imply that hikikomoii cases
will begin to steauily ueciease. The wealth of both
ieseaich anu meuia publication suiiounuing the
topic in }apan highlights its public iecognition.
Caie centeis anu mental health clinics have
been establisheu anu mental health caie is being
ieevaluateu in }apan.
24
Stigma not only affects
the inciuence of mental illness, but foices moou
uisoiueis into hiuing. Simply by giving hikikomoii
a name, stigma is iemoveu; naming the conuition
contiibutes to the healing piocess by establishing
a specifieu, containeu uisoiuei that seems moie
iealistically oveicome.
ENoo1rs
1
Woilu Bealth 0iganization, "Nental Bealth."
2
Ibiu.
S
Ibiu.
4
0S BBBS, Nental Bealth, 26.
S
Peieiia ue Niianua, "Bepiession," 12.
6
0S BBBS, Nental Bealth.
7
Tseng, "Bisoiueis of Bepiession," SSS-S42.
8
Tanaka-Natsumi anu Naisella, "Cioss-Cultuial
vaiiations," S8S-6.
9
Peieiia ue Niianua, "Bepiession," 12.
1u
0S BBBS, Nental Bealth.
11
Boiovoy, "}apan's Biuuen Youths," S7u.
12
Ibiu., SS6.
1S
Ibiu., SS4.
14
Ibiu., SS8.
1S
uiiffiths et al., "Stigma," 1.
16
Fuilong, "}apanese Bikikomoii," S11.
17
Boiovoy, "}apan's Biuuen Youths," SS4.
18
Teo, "Social Withuiawal in }apan," 182.
19
Fuilong, "}apanese Bikikomoii," S1u-14.
2u
uiiffiths et al., "Stigma," 7-8.
21
Watteis, Ciazy Like 0s.
22
Teo, "Social Withuiawal in }apan," 18S.
2S
Fuilong, "}apanese Bikikomoii," Su9-1u.
24
Boiovoy, "}apan's Biuuen Youths," SSS-S7.
Bintiocnnruv
Boiovoy, Amy. "}apan's Biuuen Youths: Nainstieaming
the Emotionally Bistiesseu in }apan." *=9$=&,?
O,"#<#),? ;)" @'C<+#;$&C S2, no. 4 (2uu8): SS2-76.
Fuilong, Anuy. "The }apanese Bikikomoii
Phenomenon: Acute Social Withuiawal
Among Young People." X+, Q%<#%9%:#<;9
8,Z#,D S6, no. 2 (2uu8): Su9-2S.
uiiffiths, Kathleen N., Yoshibumi Nakane, Belen
Chiistensen, Kumiko Yoshioka, Anthony F. }oim,
anu Biueyuki Nakane. "Stigma in Response to
Nental Bisoiueis: a Compaiison of Austialia
anu }apan." [O* @'C<+#;$&C 6, no. 21 (2uu6).
Peieiia ue Niianua, Bamiana. (2uuu). "Bepiession
Acioss Cultuies: The Constiuction of Bepiessive
Bistuibances in uieatei Sao Paulo, Biazil."
@&%\=,'$ I)-%&B;$#%) ] >,;&)#):.Tanaka-Natsumi,
}unki, anu Anthony }. Naisella. "Cioss-Cultuial
vaiiations in the Phenomenological Expeiience of
Bepiession: Woiu Association Stuuies." X+, Y%=&);9
%- *&%''(*=9$=&;9 @'C<+%9%:C 7, no. 4 (1976): S79-96.
Teo, Alan R. "A New Foim of Social Withuiawal in
}apan: A Review of Bikikomoii." I)$,&);$#%);9
Y%=&);9 %- Q%<#;9 @'C<+#;$&C S6, no. 2 (2u1u): 178-8S.
Tseng, Wen-Shing. "Bisoiueis of Bepiession."
In X+, ^;)"G%%A %- *=9$=&;9 @'C<+#;$&C,
SSS-42. San Biego: Acauemic Piess, 2uu7.
0S Bepaitment of Bealth anu Buman Seivices.
Nental Bealth: Cultuie, Race, anu EthnicityA
Supplement to O,)$;9 ^,;9$+P F 8,.%&$ %- $+,
Q=&:,%) _,),&;9. Rockville, NB: 0S Bepaitment
of Bealth anu Buman Seivices, Substance Abuse
anu Nental Bealth Seivices Auministiation,
Centei foi Nental Bealth Seivices, 2uu1.
Watteis, Ethan. "The Nega-Naiketing of
Bepiession in }apan." In *&;LC >#A, `'P
X+, _9%G;9#L;$#%) %- $+, FB,&#<;) @'C<+,,
187-248. New Yoik: 0S Fiee Piess, 2u1u.
Woilu Bealth 0iganization. "Nental Bealth:
Bepiession." Last mouifieu 2u11. http:
www. who. intmental_healthmanagement
uepiessionuefinitionen (site uiscontinueu).
3 | Spring 2014
&uiient uemociatic systems holu tiue
that no mattei how small oi pooi any inuiviuual
peison may be, each peison shoulu have a say
in the bioauei policies anu laws that govein
us. By viitue of the national goveinments we
elect, we even have a small say in the making of
inteinational law thiough oiganizations like the
0N anu the Inteinational Couit of }ustice (IC}).
0nfoitunately, many inuiviuuals aiounu the
woilu aie effectively excluueu fiom this statute,
not because they necessaiily live in unuemociatic
countiies, but because they live in uniecognizeu,
self-goveining teiiitoiies. When eveiy peison
has the iight to be citizens of the woilu anu
thus equal, exclusion of peoples thiough non-
iecognition of theii countiies, uenying them a
place at the negotiating table, shoulu continue
no longei.
1
By not iecognizing the soveieign
goveinments of millions woiluwiue, the
0N is effectively saying these people uo not
exist. We neeu not only a solution to specific
uniecognizeu states, but also a bioau-ianging
solution foi stateless states the woilu ovei. In
tuin, the inteinational community, iepiesenteu
by the 0niteu Nations, neeus new guiuelines foi
statehoou.
This lack of iecognition has huit few
countiies moie than Tiansnistiia, the bieakaway
Noluovan Republic in Eastein Euiope. Baving
359 W!),)9-977 !),)9XH
3+,070(7)+(, ,0' )59 T*+-' =M9+
Te Transnistrian fag fies over a
memorial statue.
long been the economic poweihouse of
Noluova unuei the 0SSR, Tiansnistiia ueclaieu
inuepenuence in 1992 fiom Noluova aftei
Noluova ueclaieu inuepenuence fiom the 0SSR,
since Tiansnistiia hau both a highei peicentage
of Russians anu the new nation was woiiieu
that Noluova woulu seek to join Romania uue
theii stiong cultuial similaiities.
2
Following a
biief civil wai wheie Russian tioops enteieu in
suppoit of the bieakaway iepublic, Tiansnistiia
signeu a ceasefiie with Noluova that has helu
to this uay. Along with South 0ssetia, Abkhazia,
anu Nogoino-Kabakh, Tiansnistiia has been
uesciibeu as one of the "fiozen conflicts"
following the enu of the Soviet 0nion.
S
If
Tiansnistiia is taken as a case stuuy, the neeu
foi change in inteinational uoctiine iegaiuing

statehoou is veiy appaient.
Sam Rebo is a junior studying
International Relations with specializations
in Russia/Eastern Europe, and International
Security. He spent this spring at Stanford in Paris
and fall at Stanford in Moscow where he worked
at the French Institute of International Relations
and Transparency International, respectively. On
campus, he is a member of the Debate Society and
MoucI \` IuI, anu Is an ofIccv of Ic anfovu
US-Russia Forum. In the future he aspires to join
the US Foreign Service.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benderskiimemorialslavy11.jpg
Tur TnnNsNis1ninN Poti1icnt Si1un1ioN
This fiozen status, in auuition to continueu
Russian militaiy anu monetaiy aiu, has seen
Tiansnistiia evolve into a type of Leninist enclave.
In its capital of Tiiaspol, one can expect to see
olu Soviet-style piopaganua as if the Colu Wai
hau nevei enueu; olu Russian coupes weaving
thiough tiaffic, anu "|Lenin'sj statue still stanuing
atop a peuestal in fiont of the Pailiament builuing
on Tiiaspol's main squaie, flankeu by angiily
flapping conciete flags that make him look
like the Nilitant Angel of Egalitaiianism."
4
The
countiy has political pioblems anu coiiuption,
suie, but as Fiank }acobs pointeu out in a New
Yoik Times aiticle entitleu "Tiansnistiian time-
slip," Tiansnistiia is no "Soviet Pompeii" since
piivate business has alieauy fiimly taken holu of
the countiy.
S
In fact, accoiuing to theii touiism
website, the ieason why Tiansnistiia has kept
the hammei anu sickle in theii flag anu alloweu
statues of Lenin to iemain in the nation is that
"we appieciate oui histoiy anu unlike many of oui
fellows in the CIS, we aie not fighting a wai against
it."
6
Inueeu, ties to Tiansnistiia's communist past
seem laigely symbolic.
Nonetheless, Tiansnistiia has few fiienus
in the inteinational aiena. It is only iecognizeu by
two othei uniecognizeu states, Abkhazia anu South
0ssetia, wheieas Russia has a non-uiplomatic
mission in theii capital. Russia's involvement is
paiticulaily woiiisome, especially, is foi many
who auvocate foi a solution to the pioblem of
Tiansnistiia's sepaiation. In the Woilu Politics
Review, Natthew Rojansky, Beputy Biiectoi foi
Russia anu Euiasia at the Cainegie Enuowment
foi Inteinational Peace, iecently commenteu
that, "As a stiongly pio-Kiemlin outpost on the
uooistep of NAT0 anu the E0, |Tiansnistiiaj offeis
Noscow a naiiow footholu in Cential Euiope anu
an inuiiect veto ovei NAT0 expansion in the Black
Sea iegion."
7
Rojansky is not alone in this opinion.
Recently the Euiopean Couit of Buman Rights
came to same conclusion, finuing that Tiansnistiia
is "unuei the effective authoiity oi at least uecisive
influence of Russia."
8
0f couise, as a membei of the
foimei Soviet 0nion, Noluova has long-stanuing
connections to Noscow. In the foimei 0SSR,
Noscow ueciueu to switch Noluovan sciipt to the
Cyiillic alphabet. The 0SSR also emphasizeu theii
histoiical uiffeiences anu giievances with the iest
of Romania, in an effoit to justify a Soviet iule that
split a cultuie that was essentially unifoim into two
countiiesRomania anu Noluova.
Such finuings of fiequent Russian meuuling
in Noluovan affaiis aie often useu as aiguments
against Tiansnistiian iecognition. A puppet state,
they contenu, is no state at all. Bowevei, many,
incluuing the 0N, holu that all that is necessaiy
foi state legitimacy is a populaily suppoiteu
goveinment. If a populaily suppoiteu goveinment
is all that is necessaiy, then Tiansnistiia's 2uu6
iefeienuum, wheie 98 peicent of the population
suppoiteu inuepenuence, shoulu be ieason enough
foi legitimacy. Not only was the vote founu to be
faii anu valiu, but inteinational stanuaius woulu
noimally ueem such a iefeienuum justification foi
inuepenuence.
9
As Nichael Reisman of Yale Law
School wiote, "The iesults of such elections seive
as eviuence of populai soveieignty anu seive as the
basis foi inteinational enuoisements of the electeu
goveinment."
1u
Thus no mattei what a countiy's
susceptibility is to exteinal influence, coiiuption,
oi even uemociatic goveinment, if it has the fiee
anu faii suppoit of theii people the state shoulu be
consiueieu foi iecognition.
How 1ur Lnck or IN1rnNn1ioNnt RrcocNi1ioN
Arrrc1s 1ur TnnNsNis1ninN Ci1izrN
Tiansnistiia's lack of inteinational status
stemming fiom theii continueu conflict with
Noluova has affecteu the uay-to-uay lives of eveiyone
in Tiansnistiia. This "shutting-off" fiom the iest
38 | Spring 2014
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X&;)')#'$&#;N' G&,;A%-- -&%B O%9"%Z;/
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transnistria-map-2-it.png
of the woilu has exaceibateu the pioblems that
the countiy faces on both macio anu micio
levels: illegal aims tiafficking is pievalent, tiavel
iestiictions aie evei-piesent, anu theii economy
is limiteu since all expoits must be iegisteieu
with Noluovan customs.
11
Inueeu, the Tiansnistiian economy has
gieatly stiuggleu since "inuepenuence." In 2u11,
aftei the election of the new Tiansnistiian
piesiuent, the political scientist Robeita Rauu
obseiveu soaiing inflation iates, high levels of
coiiuption, anu seveiely limiteu foieign liquiuity
uue to the fact the Tiansnistiia's cuiiency
is not iecognizeu by any othei countiy.
12

Fuitheimoie, Tiansnistiia as an uniecognizeu
state is in a piecaiious position wheie its tiaue
may be blockaueu oi impeueu at a moment's
notice by eithei Noluova oi 0kiaine. In fact,
Tiansnistiia's tiaue was impeueu in 2uu6 when
0kiaine announceu that it woulu no longei be
impoiting goous fiom Tiansnistiia unless they
weie iegisteieu with Noluovan customs. Bue to
the initial uifficulty obtaining such iegistiation
anu the stiain in 0kiainian-Tiansnistiian boiuei
uynamics, many Tiansnistiian anu Russian
officials saiu the move amounteu to an economic
blockaue, costing Tiansnistiia $42u million foi the
whole of 2uu6. Because the entiie Tiansnistiian
economy was valueu at about $8uu million,
Tiansnistiia was ueclaieu a "humanitaiian
catastiophe."
1S
Since then, most businesses have
iegisteieu with Noluovan customs. The stiength
of the Tiansnistiian economy has since impioveu,
but it is estimateu that the countiy still loses
aiounu $2.S million a uay uue to the iegulation.
14

Noieovei, without inteinational iecognition,
this soit of tiaue shock coulu happen again to
Tiansnistiia without a woiu of piotest fiom any
inteinational oiganization.
If tiaue status wasn't a laige enough
pioblem alieauy, Tiansnistiia's compiomiseu
inteinational status has spuiieu the uevelopment
of a laige shauow economy iife with aims,
human, anu uiug tiafficking. The level of aims
tiafficking has been iepoiteu to be veiy high.
In a 2uuS confiuential telegiam (uiscloseu
thiough WikiLeaks) sent fiom the 0S Embassy
in Buchaiest to the Bepaitment of State BQ, the
0S ambassauoi uesciibeu a meeting between
Romanian piesiuent Basescu anu vlauimii Putin.
In the meeting, Basescu askeu Putin to allow him to
join the negotiating table on Tiansnistiia because it
not only iepiesenteu a thieat to iegional stability, but
also seiveu as a sheltei foi oiganizeu ciime opeiating
theie anu spieauing into Romania.
1S
Buiing the fall
of the Soviet 0nion, an estimateu 4u to Su thousanu
aimaments weie left in the aiea, iemaining laigely
unaccounteu foi. Regaiuing aims piouuceu aftei
the fall of the Soviet 0nion, the Inteinational Ciisis
uioup iepoits that "five oi six factoiies aie saiu to
piouuce pistols, automatic weapons, moitais anu
missile launcheis, expoiteu abioau without seiial
numbeis."
16
Such aims tiafficking has woilu leaueis
woiiieu as illegal aims uealing has the piopensity
to uestabilize tense iegions of the woilu by fueling
conflict anu illict activity.
17
Buman tiafficking, too, has become moie
wiuespieau in the bieakaway teiiitoiy as a iesult of
its non-iecognition. 0iganizations like the 0SCE have
commenteu on Noluova's (incluuing Tiansnistiia)
giowth as a hub foi human tiafficking, anu the 0S
Bepaitment of State has singleu out Tiansnistiia as
"a significant souice anu tiansit aiea foi tiafficking
in peisons."
18
Fuitheimoie, human tiafficking funus
a laige pait of unueigiounu activity, so the moie a
countiy is able to ciack uown on the tiaue of peisons,
the moie they can put a financial chokeholu on
mafia-like oiganizations. Tiansnistiia's case against
human tiafficking is huit fuithei because as Flix
Buttin iemaikeu in the Buman Secuiity }ouinal:
. as |Tiansnistiiaj is not iecognizeu
intei nationally, pieventive actions on
|human tiaffickingj aie almost exclusively
leu by few Nu0s.the paiticulai situation of
Tiansnistiia anu the uifficulty to ueal with the
|Tiansnistiianj iegime pievent Nu0s to leau
moie efficient piogiammes. As a consequence
theie aie no stiuctuies in Tiiaspol similai
to those existing in Chisinau (e.g., sheltei foi
victims of tiafficking).
19
Shut off anu uniecognizeu by the woilu,
Tiansnistiia's pioblems have the potential to spill
into the iest of the iegion, uestabilizing an aiea still
iecupeiating fiom the fall of the Soviet 0nion.
Assuming that inteinational iecognition can
be attaineu, how exactly woulu iecognition help
Tiansnistiia with its many pioblems. }uxtaposing the
stability of life in Tiansnistiia opposeu to countiies
like Noluova pioviues an answei. Tiansnistiia, as an
uniecognizeu entity with its status continually in
limbo, effectively "fenus off" investois because
it's seen as too iisky an investmentan investoi
might as well puichase junk bonus. In fact,
while Tiansnistiia has often been consiueieu
a puppet of the Russian goveinment, its lack of
inteinational status has likely exaceibateu its
uepenuence on the Russia since Russia iemains
the only countiy that has pioviueu any soit of
foieign uiiect investment.
2u
Fuitheimoie, as was pieviously mentioneu,
it is uifficult foi any kinu of inteinational entity to
have a piesence in a countiy whose existence they
uon't acknowleuge. Theiefoie, aiu (monetaiy,
tiaining, stiuctuial, etc.) to Tiansnistiia has been
almost exclusively limiteu to Nu0s anu Russia.
Weie Tiansnistiia an official membei of the
0niteu Nations, Tiansnistiia woulu be able to
woik closely with anu auvise the 0N's committees
(such as theii Committee foi Bisaimament oi
the Inteinational Laboi 0iganization) on how
to ieuuce anu eventually eiauicate the illicit
aims, human, anu uiug tiaue. Phaseu out anu
foigotten by even Noluova who ianks a solution
to Tiansnistiia ninth oi tenth on theii piioiity
list, Tiansnistiia has effectively hau only itself
to iely upon anu solve its immense pioblemsa
situation which shoulu caiiy on no moie.
21
Tur Wontowior Pn11rnN or "S1n1rtrss
S1n1rs"
Tiansnistiia is not alone in this pioblem. It
is joineu in its uncomfoitable puigatoiy by such
othei stateless states as Kosovo, Somalilanu, anu
Palestine, all of whose aumission to the 0N is
blockeu by anothei countiy's political veto. Russia
continues to iefuse to give Kosovo iecognition by
the 0N Secuiity Council, uue to suppoit foi its
longtime ally Seibia.
22
The Afiican 0nion iefuses
to iecognize anu tiaue with Somalilanu because
they aie afiaiu of the tienu that ie-uiawing
boiueis coulu stait on the continent.
2S
Finally,
the 0niteu States' suppoit foi its longtime ally
Isiael has leu it to continually veto Palestine's
membeiship application.
24
Each countiy is
maikeuly uiffeient fiom the next, anu one bioau
solution foi all theii pioblems is ueciueuly
impossible. But as has alieauy been illustiateu
foi Tiansnistiia, when a state is fully autonomous
but lacks iecognition anu iegional integiation, its
inteinal pioblems have the piopensity to "snowball"
anu impact millions of people. 0f couise, it is easy
foi the inteinational community to tuin theii backs
on these small states, but in uoing so, they not only
encouiage the uegiauation of the isolateu state, but
also violence in the countiy anu suiiounuing iegion.
The lack of a negotiateu solution has alieauy spaikeu
aimeu conflict in all of the afoiementioneu states
(i.e., Kosovo Wai 1999, continueu Palestinian-Aiab-
Isiaeli conflict, anu Somali anaichy since 1991) anu
aims tiafficking, coiiuption, anu ciime all have the
piopensity to cause moie uamage in the yeais to
come.
These conflicts have alieauy been examineu
in uetail by inteinational bouies, but have yet to
be examineu togethei as case stuuies of "stateless
states." Theiein, I believe, lies the solution to many
of the afoiementioneu pioblems with uniecognizeu
states. Some woulu ventuie to say that because many
of these countiies have "such iotten goveinments,"
the countiies themselves shoulu not be iecognizeu.
But it uoes not even mattei how coiiupt oi
inefficient these goveinments aie. Because the way
the inteinational system has opeiateu until now
makes it impossible foi oiganizations like the 0N
oi countiies like the 0S to solve ceitain iegional
pioblems. When issues aiise within the stateless
states, we have no methou of communication with
those in poweiwe simply cannot talk to the iight
people both in anu out of the countiy. The 0N uoes
have guiuelines foi becoming a state: uevelopeu at
the 19SS Nonteviueo Convention, they incluueu
being a peace loving countiy, having a goveinment,
anu having the capacity to caiiy out foieign affaiis.
2S

0nfoitunately, these 8u-yeai-olu guiuelines aie
cleaily obsolete since almost any entity, fiom the state
of New Yoik to Stanfoiu 0niveisity, coulu fall unuei
them. We neeu not just a solution to Tiansnistiia oi
Somalilanu; we neeu a bioau-ianging solution foi
stateless states the woilu ovei.
A Bnono Sotu1ioN: I1s Locis1ics nNo
Dnnwnncks
I believe the 0N must establish new
guiuelines by which countiies must justify theii
yay oi nay votes iegaiuing 0N membeiship. The
new guiuelines shoulu incluue the afoiementioneu
statehoou ciiteiia uevelopeu in 19SS in auuition
to encompassing the political scientist Baty's iuea
of self-containment. As he put it, self-containment
3$IO!O#!3$#IY3U& !3I3&J&!! !3I3&
40 | Spring 2014
is "the existence among the people, oi the
bulk of people, of a ceitain mutual ieliance,
not paiticipateu in by the outsiue woilu."
26
To
opeiationalize Baty's conceptualization of the
tiue state, a guiueline foi statehoou woulu have
to incluue the following two chaiacteiistics:
1) a goveinment with a monopoly on powei
exemplifying the sepaiation of a state fiom the
outsiue woilu, anu 2) a sustainable economic
system associateu with the iuea of "mutual
ieliance." These two qualifications will be key to
cieating a new woikable uefinition foi statehoou
as they can uiffeientiate between inuepenuent
states (e.g., Kosovo) anu non-inuepenuent states
(e.g., Texas). In ieality, these new ciiteiia woulu
biing the issue of the constitution of a state to
woilu attention foi the fiist time since 19SS.
Stateless states ueseiving of iecognition coulu
apply foi statehoou unuei these new, moie specific
guiuelines, legitimizing theii claim to statehoou
on the inteinational stage.
Fuitheimoie, the cieation of such
guiuelines is feasible. Stanuaius of membeiship
aie valiu foi all countiies, since they iemeuy an
obsolete aiticle in the 0N chaitei. Countiies will
not always be comfoitable justifying theii nay
vote, but they may appieciate the iequiiement if
they enu up suppoiting a countiy's membeiship
that otheis oppose. In the enu, while I believe that
the iecieation of guiuelines woulu be moie than a
symbolic measuie, at the veiy least it woulu miiioi
what the 0niveisal Beclaiation of Buman Rights
has uone: focus incieaseu attention on ceitain
issues anu cieate a stanuaiu by which countiies
shoulu act. Cieating these guiuelines woulu be
a huge step foiwaiu towaius legitimizing the
millions of uisenfianchiseu people woiluwiue that
uo not have a voice on the inteinational level.
As }ohn Rawls's Seconu Piinciple of }ustice
states, "Theie is an unueistoou inteinational
stanuaiu that no mattei what goveinment uoes; it
shoulu not make the pooiest even woise off."
27
In
a globalizeu woilu, inteinational oiganizations aie
incieasingly becoming supianational goveinments
themselves. As they uo so, they have a iesponsibility
to look out foi the pooiest countiies. Noie often
than not, these aie newly bioken away anu fieshly
inuepenuent iegions like Tiansnistiia. A change in
the inteinational system shoulu be maue not only
to enfianchise the millions of people living in these
countiies, but also to woik with theii iespective
goveinments to stabilize anu bettei the living
stanuaius of iegions aiounu the woilu.
ENoNo1rs
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2
Kymlicka et al., "Can Libeial Pluialism Be Expoiteu."
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S
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4
}acobs, "Tiansnistiian Time-Slip."
S
Ibiu.
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Tiansnistiia Toui Tiavel Agency, "About
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"Tiansnistiia foi Inuepenuence."
1u
Reisman, Q%Z,&,#:)$C ;)" ^=B;) 8#:+$', 869.
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1S
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Small Aims Suivey, "Illicit Tiafficking."
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Buttin, "A Buman Secuiity Peispective," 19.
19
Ibiu., 19.
2u
Chambeilain-Cieanga anu Allin, "Acquiiing Assets."
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Euiopean Council, "Tiansnistiia," S.
22
"Russia Foieign Policy," 1.
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ICu, "Noluova," 2.
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Bume, "Palestinian 0niteu Nations Biu Explaineu."
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uiant, "Befining Statehoou," 4S7.
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2u1S.
Tiansnistiia Toui Tiavel Agency. "About
Tiansnistiia." Accesseu Naich 17, 2u1S.
The 0niteu Nations. "The 0niveisal Beclaiation of
Buman Rights." 1948.
"Woilu Countiies." Tiavel Inuepenuent. http:www.
tiavelinuepenuent.infocountiies_howmany.htm.
"BAPEPHH PHKAH: CHTYAHH, B0SBHKBAH B
PESYPBTATE B0PHTHKH ABPEBHH H YIP0S,
BE N0AET CAHTATBCH BPAI0BPHHTB0H
PH B0S0BB0BPEBHH K0BTAKT0B." Accesseu
Naich 1S, 2u1S. http:iuknet.com.
3$IO!O#!3$#IY3U& !3I3&J&!! !3I3&
42 | Spring 2014
L6-)(-,)9+,- 3+9,)(97H
359 <*+1*))90 #07)+6;90) *8 <*+9(10 N*-(FG
'hen Secietaiy of State }ohn Keiiy signeu
the 0N Aims Tiaue Tieaty (ATT) last Septembei,
half of the 0S Senate maue it immeuiately anu
painfully cleai the tieaty was "ueau in the watei"
befoie it even hau the chance to giow sea legs.
1

Fifty 0S Senatois4S Republicans anu five
Bemociatsiesponueu with a lettei to Piesiuent
Baiack 0bama asseiting that they "pleuge to
oppose the iatification of this tieaty, anu.uo not
iegaiu the 0S as bounu to upholu its object anu
puipose."
2
That object is to bettei iegulate the
$7u billion inteinational aims tiaue inuustiy in
which the 0nites States is the laigest playei. Anu
the puipose. To contiibute to "inteinational anu
iegional peace, secuiity, anu stability."
S
Yet the
opposition, which incluues the poweiful 0S gun
Jessie Brunner is earning her
masters degree in International Policy Studies
at Stanford University, where she also works as a
research assistant at the Program on Human Rights
at the Center on Democracy, Development, and
the Rule of Law. She has called the Golden State
home for most of her life, including her time as an
undergraduate studying Journalism and Spanish
at UC Berkeley. Exceptions include semesters
abroad in Salamanca, Spain and Santiago,
Chile, where she worked with anti-poverty NGO
Accin Emprendedora. Activism has long been
an important aspect of her life, from human
rights advocacy with Amnesty International to
encouraging environmentalism in the workplace to
vonoIng caccfuI conIc vcsoIuIon on coIIcgc
campuses across the country. She has recently
returned to Stanford after a term at the Diplomatic
Academy in Vienna, where she focused on gaining
better understanding of the European perspective
on Iunan vIgIs anu vcscavcIcu os-conIc
reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
lobby speaiheaueu by the National Rifle Association,
insists the tieaty violates national soveieignty,
uespite a clause that ieaffiims "the soveieign iight
of any State to iegulate anu contiol conventional
aims exclusively within its teiiitoiy, puisuant to its
own legal oi constitutional system."
4
To have
influence, a nation must uemonstiate a capacity
foi leaueiship. As so aptly illustiateu by the uebate
ovei the ATT, the 0niteu States in iecent yeais
has ueciueuly not taken the leau when it comes
to inteinational tieaties; insteau it has chosen a
path of unilateialism anu exceptionalism at its
most cynical uefinition. This manifestation of the
evei-giowing tension between the executive anu
legislative bianches, as fuithei illustiateu by the
two-week goveinment shutuown in 0ctobei 2u1S, is
contiibuting to the ueteiioiation of the 0S position
as a leauei on the woilu stage. While iecognizing
the seemingly Sisyphean natuie of contenuing with
a veiy uiviueuanu uivisiveCongiess, moie
eneigy must be uevoteu to peisuauing what, in
many cases, will be a uozen sensible Republicans
to suppoit agieements that piomote 0S inteiests.
As Piesiuent 0bama shifts focus in his seconu teim,
it is woith investing political capital in multilateial
tieaties, a much-neglecteu tool in the foieign policy
toolbox.
Seventy yeais ago, such monumental effoits
weie not neeueu to geneiate suppoit foi a new
woilu oiuei baseu on multilateial coopeiation. The
0niteu States was at the fiontlines of a movement
calling foi univeisal iecognition anu uefense of
human iights while woiking to stiengthennot
seveiinteinational ties. uoing back fuithei, the
nation's founueis hau the foiesight to unueistanu
that it might be in the inteiest of the 0S to join
inteinational agieements, bestowing powei to the
Piesiuent to commit the 0S to tieaties "by anu with
the Auvice anu Consent of the Senate.pioviueu two
thiius of the Senatois piesent concui."
S
Cuiiently
theie aie moie than Su tieaties lying uoimant in the
Senate, iepiesenting such vaiieu anu essential issues
as laboi stanuaius; economic, social anu cultuial
iights; non-uisciimination against women;
bilateial negotiations; anu enviionmental issues.
6

In the cases when Congiess iatifies a tieaty, the
0niteu States has often waiteu so long to iatify
that it loses the oppoitunity to uemonstiate any
soit of leaueiship. 0i consent comes in the foim
of "Swiss cheese" iatification, meaning they have
stipulateu so many ieseivations, unueistanuings,
anu ueclaiations as to obviate any ieal bite the
tieaty may have hau.
7
The Senate's iefusal last Becembei to
iatify the 0N Convention on the Rights of Peisons
With Bisabilities piecisely anu unfoitunately
illustiates the notion that the 0S, as a nation,
ueiive false soveieignty fiom compliance without
iatification. The Senate iefuseu iatification uespite
the fact that the 0S was the fiist countiy to pass
compiehensive legislation enshiining the iights of
people with uisabilities. Fuitheimoie, the tieaty
was moueleu on the Ameiicans with Bisabilities
Act anu woulu iequiie not a single alteiation to
0S law. Lastly, it stanus to ieason that 0S citizens
seiving, living, anu woiking abioau only stanu to
benefit fiom othei countiies auopting the golu
stanuaiu set by the 0S. Anu yet, conseivative
opposition in the Senate successfully wielueu the
soveieignty caiu to pievent iatification, on the
giounus that the tieaty coulu potentially cieate
new aboition iights anu limit the ability of people
to homeschool chiluien with uisabilities.
8
Tiue,
iatifying the tieaty woulu be laigely symbolic foi
the afoiementioneu ieasons0S policy woulu
not be alteieu by the tieatybut the act of not
iatifying is uamaging to the 0S's global ieputation
as a nation that piotects the iights of its citizens.
uiven that the 0S alieauy complies with the
piovisions of the tieaty, why not avoiu these
tioubling consequences when it is so easy to uo
so. Renowneu inteinational law expeit Louis
Benkin so iightly equates this appioach with
a "flying buttiess": the 0niteu States is a pillai
willing to stanu outsiue the stiuctuie suppoiting
it, but unwilling to subject itself to the ciitical
examination anu iules of that stiuctuie.
9
A less
imaginative uesciiption of this conuuct might be,
simply, hypociisy.
Piotecting the soveieignty of nations is
ciucial, but inteinational institutions like the
0niteu Nations woulu not exist if states weie
not willing to ceue a limiteu amount of powei in
puisuit of the gieatei goou. Noieovei, aiguments
of soveieignty weie useu in the 18uus to justify
exemption fiom tieaties to enu the slave tiaue,
even though the 0niteu States hau stoppeu slave
impoits anu was even maintaining an anti-slaveiy
iegiment that captuieu anu biought to tiial illegal
slave ships in 0S couits. Questions of soveieignty
latei challengeu iatification of the 1948 uenociue
Convention, which uiu not happen until 4u yeais
aftei signatuie. This begs the question of why the
0S woulu not want to gain inteinational legitimacy
in suppoit of actions it is alieauy taking, while
seiving as a ieminuei that many of the policies it
was iesisting likely appeai unquestionable anu
inuispensable now.
The timing of this call is not simply motivateu
by a uesiie to ietuin to a past statuie as a leauei
on human iights anu inteinational justice; it is also
baseu on the feivent belief that these tieaties have
the powei to piesent long-neglecteu uiplomatic
solutions to uigent foieign policy conceins.
With this in minu, theie aie thiee key tieaties
the 0niteu States can anu shoulu iatify. These
paiticulai tieaties offei unique policy benefits
while uemonstiating a willingness to commit oui
nation to the same obligations anu sciutiny as
othei signatoiies. Auuitionally, these tieaties aie
incieasingly apt to achieve bipaitisan suppoit,
as past huiules have been oveicome by new
infoimation. Noieovei, the 0niteu States playeu a
cential iole in theii conception anu uiafting, yet
thiough non-iatification, we aie missing out on the
chance to ieap the iewaius of oui effoits.
LQJ3#JI3&$IJ 3$&I3#&!
44 | Spring 2014
X% @&%B%$, X&=, I)$,&);$#%);9 *%%.,&;$#%)? X+, `Q
B='$ &,<%)'#",& #$' .%'#$#%) %) ; Z;&#,$C %- $&,;$#,'/
Source: http://www.ilntoday.com/Iiles/2012/02/iStock000017016084XSmall.jpg
I. UNi1ro Nn1ioNs CoNvrN1ioN oN 1ur Lnw or
1ur Srn {UNCLUS]
Negotiateu Su yeais ago, this tieaty
outlines membei nations' economic, commeicial,
anu enviionmental iights anu iesponsibilities in
using the woilu's oceans. With unique access to
both Pacific anu Atlantic tiauing ioutes, thousanus
of miles of coastline, anu the laigest exclusive
economic zone (the coastal watei anu seabeu to
which the state has special iights ovei exploiation
anu iesouices) in the woilu, the 0niteu States has a
lot to gain thiough iatification. Yet a ciitical gioup
of Senate Republicans leu by }im BeNint (R-SC)
continueu to iesist iatification when it last came
up in 2u12, feaiful that the 0niteu States woulu
ceue its ability to contiol its commeicial activities
to an inteinational oiganization, the Inteinational
Seabeu Authoiity.
The goveinment has long iecognizeu
the impoitance of maiitime issues. Pieseiving
navigational fieeuom uiew the 0S into two
majoi conflicts, The Wai of 1812 anu Woilu
Wai I. Piesiuent Tiuman's unueistanuing of "the
long iange woilu-wiue neeu foi new souices
of petioleum anu othei mineials" motivateu a
pioclamation 7u yeais ago iegaiuing the iesouices
of the outei continental shelf, which leu Chile anu
a couple uozen othei coastal states acioss the
globe to follow suit.
1u
0NCL0S woulu simply be a
continuation of this legacy. With suppoit fiom The
White Bouse (foimei Secietaiy of State Billaiy
Clinton citeu its impoitance in hei confiimation
heaiing),
11
}oint Chiefs, the 0S Chambei of
Commeice, the militaiy (incluuing foimei Befense
Secietaiy Leon Panetta, who calleu the tieaty "a
beuiock legal instiument unueipinning public
oiuei acioss the maiitime uomain"),
12
anu foimei
Piesiuents Clinton anu Bush, it is an iueal place
to get the tieaty-iatification ball iolling. 0NCL0S
piotects ciitical national inteiests ielateu to
naval mobility, commeicial shipping, oil anu
gas piouuction, ueep-sea mineials, unueiwatei
pipelines anu beyonu. It couifies the fieeuom
of 0S militaiy anu commeicial vessels to tiansit
thiough inteinational wateis while iecognizing
0S teiiitoiial expansion above all othei nations.
Noieovei, the 1994 ienegotiation guaiantees
the 0niteu States' veto powei ovei how the
Inteinational Seabeu Authoiity may uistiibute
funus fiom the collection of iesouices, theieby
uefying the opposition's aigument.
Fuitheimoie, 0NCL0S is one of the most
wiuely auopteu conventions in histoiy. In fact, the
0niteu States alieauy honois all of its piovisions
the initially contentious Pait XI coveiing ueep-sea
mining was amenueu to its satisfactionanu the
tieaty has thus become customaiy law, meaning
states aie essentially bounu by its iules whethei oi
not they've iatifieu. Yet noniatification means the
0S uoes not have a seat at the table when it comes
to shaping the tieaty's application moving foiwaiu,
incluuing the impoitant tasks of mapping the
continental shelf anu negotiating the economic anu
secuiity inteiests ielateu to the Aictic.
Becoming paity to 0NCL0S is especially
piessing as tensions in the South China Sea iise.
The uisputes in that aiea coulu be bettei meuiateu
thiough 0S iatification. Panetta uigeu that
iatification woulu enhance the 0S's secuiity position
while pioviuing legal backing to uefenu oui fieeuom
to navigate the aiea.
1S
If the 0S loses its position
as guaiantoi of iegional secuiity, the potential foi
uestabilizing conflict giows as China stiengthens its
iesolve.
II. CoMrnrurNsivr Nuctrnn Trs1 BnN Tnrn1v
{CTBT]
0nuei Piesiuent Clinton, the 0niteu States
was the fiist countiy to sign this tieaty, anu yet
Congiess consistently iefuses to iatify uespite the
fact that the 0S has not caiiieu out a nucleai weapons
test foi moie than 2u yeais. Piesiuent 0bama has
voiceu his ueuication to a nucleai fiee woilu, but how
is the 0S evei going to achieve this goal if Congiess
cannot even agiee to ban testing of these hazaiuous
weapons. 0pposition has long hingeu upon the
iuea that the tieaty coulu uamage the viability of
oui nucleai aisenal, but a iepoit ieleaseu in 2u12
fiom an inuepenuent panel of the National Acauemy
of Sciences asseiteu cleaily that the "0niteu States
has the technical capabilities to maintain a safe,
secuie, anu ieliable stockpile of nucleai weapons
into the foieseeable futuie without nucleai-
explosion testing."
14
Noieovei, thiough constant
impiovements in the Inteinational Nonitoiing
System anu Communications Infiastiuctuie, which
uetects nucleai tests thiough auxiliaiy seismic
monitoiing, hyuio-acoustics, anu iauioactive paiticle
aii sampleis, the 0S is now confiuent in its ability to
uetect cheating. In iesponse to these uevelopments,
Senatoi }ohn NcCain, oiiginally a vocal ciitic of the
tieaty, has iescinueu his opposition. Fuitheimoie,
thiough the Stockpile Stewaiuship Piogiam,
feueial funuing foi maintaining the health of oui
aisenal has incieaseu in iecent yeais.
Not only woulu iatification lock in 0S
nucleai auvantagebetween 194S anu its last
test in 1992, the 0niteu States conuucteu moie
than 1,uuu nucleai tests, as many as all othei
nucleai weapons states combineuit woulu
enable the 0S to iatchet up piessuie on states
like Noith Koiea. It woulu also help inuuce Isiael
anu othei Annex 2 States to consiuei iatification,
biinging the tieaty one impoitant step closei to
inteinational effectuation.
III. CoNvrN1ioN oN 1ur Ricu1s or 1ur Cuito
If being one of only two 0niteu Nations
membei states not to iatify the tieaty is not enough
ieason to consiuei iatification, this convention is
also the most wiuely anu iapiuly auopteu human
iights tieaty in histoiy. Piesiuent 0bama has been
quoteu as calling non-iatification of the tieaty
"embaiiassing," while committing to its ieview. It
is high time this pleuge is fulfilleu; this is piecisely
the type of exemptionalism the 0S neeus to
move away fiom. 0sing the nation's exceptional
powei anu wealth to piomote a uouble stanuaiu
ultimately keeps it fiom moving up the lauuei,
insteau moving it uown to a lowei iung with the
most notoiious of beufellows. Noieovei, non-
iatification of this tieaty in paiticulai unueimines
the significant moial anu financial suppoit the
0niteu States uoes extenu to chiluien's iights
while geneially eneivating its moial authoiity.
Again, opponents aigue that the tieaty
challenges the 0S Constitution anu will somehow
chip away at iights, but the lanumaik Supieme
Couit iuling in Reiu v. Coveit (19S7) cleaily
stateu that "no agieement with a foieign nation
can confei on Congiess oi any othei bianch
of the uoveinment powei which is fiee fiom
the iestiaints of the Constitution." Noieovei,
aiguments by ueath penalty suppoiteis who iesist
the tieaty's ban on execution of juvenile offenueis
(incluuing, in this case, Iian, Nigeiia, anu Sauui
Aiabia) have been obviateu by a Supieme Couit
uecision, Ropei v. Simmons (2uuS), which founu
juvenile execution unconstitutional as "ciuel
anu unusual punishment." The 0niteu States'
conspicuous absenteeism with iegaius to chiluien's
iights emasculates its commitment to what is touteu
time anu again in political speeches as the gieatest
asset: chiluien. Non-iatification of this tieaty
challenges the 0S's supposeu iole as leauei of the
fiee woilu.
CoNctusioNs
These thiee tieaties offei the 0niteu States
an oppoitunity to builu bilateial anu multilateial
suppoit aiounu policy issues which aie vital to oui
national secuiity anu iuentity. Anu fiom theie, as
the tieaty mechanism iegains tiaction, it can foige
aheau to ieconsiuei such issues as the Inteinational
Ciiminal Couit thiough iatifying the Rome Statute,
which the 0niteu States "unsigneu" in 2uu2, oi
peihaps The Convention on the Elimination of All
Foims of Bisciimination against Women.
Thiough iatification of the 0niteu Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Compiehensive
Nucleai Test Ban Tieaty, anu the Convention on the
Rights of the Chilu, let the 0niteu States begin to
ietake 0S exceptionalism, foi powei boine out of a
steaufast commitment to human iights anu the iule
of law is much moie compelling than biute foice. Let
the 0S ueuicate capital anu eneigy to foiging a bettei
system that piotects the values it holus ueai. Insteau
of claiming exemption fiom the Law of Nations oi
auvancing notions of supeiioiity, let the 0S be tiuly
exceptional as a leauei on the woilu stage, uiawing
on all the qualities that make it a gieat nation
LQJ3#JI3&$IJ 3$&I3#&!
4 | Spring 2014
X+, `Q '+%=9" ,'<+,D #$' .&%.,)'#$C $%D;&" =)#9;$,&;9 -%&<,/
Source: http://olumideidowu.blog.com/fles/2012/04/world-peace.jpg
commitment to innovation, passion foi libeity,
anu
feivent belief in uemociacy.
ENoNo1rs
1
Pecquet, "Keiiy to Sign 0N Aims Tieaty."
2
}eiiy Noian et al., Lettei to Piesiuent 0bama.
S
0N ueneial Assembly, "Aims Tiaue Tieaty."
4
Ibiu.
S
0S Constitution, ait. II, 2, cl. 2.
6
"Tieaties Penuing in the Senate," 0S Bepaitment
of State.
7
Koh, "}ekyll-anu-Byue Exceptionalism," 11S.
8
Cox anu Pecquet, "Senate Rejects 0N Tieaty."
9
Koh, "0n Ameiican Exceptionalism."
1u
0S Piesiuent, "Policy With Respect to Natuial
Resouices."
11
"Senate Confiimation Beaiing: Billaiy Clinton."
12
Panetta, "Law of the Sea Symposium."
1S
Panetta, "Law of the Sea Convention."
14
"0.S. Stockpile Secuiity anu Inteinational
Nonitoiing Capabilities Stiengtheneu."
Bintiocnnruv
Pecquet, }ulian. "Keiiy to Sign 0N Aims Tieaty."
X+, ^#99, Septembei 24, 2u1S.
Noian, }eiiy et al. }eiiy Noian to Piesiuent Baiack
0bama, Washington, BC, 0ctobei 1S, 2u1S.
http:www.moian.senate.govpublicinuex.
cfmfilesseive.File_iu=a8uf6S9S-2eeS-41S2-
8S66-18fSa62e76bf.
0N ueneial Assembly. "Aims Tiaue Tieaty," Apiil
2, 2u1S.
0S Constitution, ait. 2. sec. 2. cl. 2.
0S Bepaitment of State. "Tieaties Penuing in the
Senate." 0S Bepaitment of State. http:www.
state.govsltieatypenuinginuex.htm.
Cox, Ramsey, anu }ulian Pecquet. "Senate Rejects
0niteu Nations Tieaty foi Bisableu Rights in a
61-S8 vote." X+, ^#99, Becembei 4, 2u12.
Koh, Baiolu. "}ekyll-anu-Byue Exceptionalism."
In FB,&#<;) !S<,.$#%);9#'B ;)" ^=B;) 8#:+$',
euiteu by Nichael Ignatieff, 111-144. Piinceton:
Piinceton 0niveisity Piess, 2uuS.
Koh, Baiolu. "0n Ameiican Exceptionalism."
Q$;)-%&" >;D 8,Z#,D SS: 148u-1S27.
0S Piesiuent. Pioclamation, "Policy 0f The 0niteu
States With Respect To The Natuial Resouices
0f The Subsoil Anu Sea Beu 0f The Continental
Shelf, 194S, Pioclamation 2667" Feueial Registei
12, no. SuS (Septembei 28, 194S). http:www.
gc.noaa.govuocumentsgcil_pioc_2667.puf.
Panetta, Leon. "Law of the Sea Symposium." Secietaiy
of Befense. http:www.uefense.govspeeches
speech.aspx.speechiu=1669.
Panetta, Leon. "Law of the Sea Convention
Submitteu Statement." Senate Foieign Relations
Committee, Nay 2S 2u12.
"Senate Confiimation Beaiing: Billaiy Clinton." U,D
W%&A X#B,', }anuaiy 1S, 2uu9.
"0.S. Stockpile Secuiity anu Inteinational Nonitoiing
Capabilities Stiengtheneu, Says New Repoit on
Technical Issues Behinu the Compiehensive
Nucleai Test Ban Tieaty." The National Acauemies.
http:www8.nationalacauemies.oigonpinews
newsitem.aspx.RecoiuIB=12849.

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