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August -- September 2010
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Written by By Bill Marmon
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In the next war, will the front line be “on line?” This question was the subject of a recent broadcast by “60 Minutes,” the premier news program on U.S. television, which asked: “Will the next war begin not with a bang, but with a blackout?”
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Roundtables
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06/30/10 |
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On June 30, 2010, The European Institute held a meeting with leading members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, key officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Congress, and select experts to discuss the prospects for the Passenger Name Record Agreement (PNR), which is currently under review by the European Parliament. Having already flexed its post-Lisbon Treaty muscle on SWIFT, the European Parliament is giving very careful consideration to PNR, out of concern that security requisites not trump the fundamental privacy, data protection and freedom of movement rights assured the European Union’s 500 million citizens. While participants were optimistic about prospects for continued transatlantic cooperation and mutual respect, several committee members expressed concern that U.S. policy still reflects a disproportionate response to the terrorist concerns of the last decade. While no final decision by the Parliament is expected until this fall at the earliest, participants agreed that sustained discussion is vital if both sides hope to reach a fair agreement that takes both civil security and core privacy considerations into account. |
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June -- July 2010
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Written by By Bill Marmon
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Obama Team Seeks to Engage with the Court -- a Fence-Straddling Position as a “Non-Signatory” Participant
The International Criminal Court (ICC) represents a manifest irony in U.S. foreign policy. While Washington has defiantly refused to join the tide of broad international acceptance and join the ICC or submit to its jurisdiction, the U.S. has traditionally been a strong supporter (and sometimes even a leader) in international efforts to bring to justice those individuals and states guilty of war crimes and atrocities -- precisely the kinds of crimes the ICC was created to prosecute. The U.S. leadership was critically important in the prosecution of German and Japanese officials after World War II and in support for tribunals dealing with the genocides in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
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Roundtables
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03/17/10 |
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On March 17, 2010, The European Institute held a special breakfast meeting of its Transatlantic Roundtable on Transportation regarding transatlantic cooperation on transportation security. A delegation from the European Parliament’s Transport Committee, including Chairman The Honorable Brian Simpson (S & D Party, UK), The Honorable Mathieu Grosch (European People’s Party, Belgium), The Honorable Saïd El Khadraoui (S & D Party, Belgium), and The Honorable Gesine Meissner (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, Germany) spoke about their visit to Washington and current civil aviation security issues in the European Union. Michael Scardaville, Director for European and Multilateral Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, provided a U.S. perspective on these pressing security matters. The main topics of discussion were the second U.S.-EU civil aviation agreement (Open Skies II), the U.S.-EU passenger name records agreement, privacy and human rights issues with the implementation of full body scanner in airports, the overall approach to civil aviation security, the increasing importance of high speed rail in the U.S., and the importance of the U.S. and EU to coordinate policies and procedures to ensure security on both sides of the Atlantic. A high emphasis was placed on increasing dialogue between the U.S. and EU on unresolved issues of contention. Passenger privacy and the protection of data are especially big concerns for Europe, and the U.S. and EU will continue to work together to try to find a holistic approach to providing security. |
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Documents
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The U.S. anti-terrorist department, the Transport Security Agency (TSA), has stepped up its efforts to work with countries in Europe and other nations around the world to screen air cargo being shipped from those departure points to the U.S. As things stand, Congress continues to press for 100 percent screening, but TSA says that that it will take several years to achieve that standard on a global air cargo supply chain. That timetable was supplied in answers during a recent hearing. As things stand in March 2010, here is the basic picture as presented to Congress by TSA in a hearing: Enhancing Security throughout the Transportation System.
Excerpts of testimony of Gale D. Rossides, Acting Administrator of the Transport Security Agency (TSA), before the Subcommittee on Homeland Security in the
Committee on Appropriations of
United States House of Representatives
March 4, 2010
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