The Foreign Service Journal, June 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JUNE 2019 29 weal. Rather, they seek to enrich themselves and their families, and have little concern for their fellow citizens. That has been the case for what is now more than 200 years, including a period of nearly 20 years of U.S. military occupation from 1915 to 1934. Apart from the defects of political elites, dictators lead many nations today; few are benevolent. All eventually become power mad. Usually the world acts only when such leaders provoke their neighbors into a military response, as in the case of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia or Idi Amin in Uganda. On the broad stage, concepts of sovereignty vie with concerns for political rights across the planet. Political repression, a driver of migra- tion, usually has economic consequences flowing from the cor- ruption that accompanies either dictatorship or, as in the Sudans today, one-party control. Questions for Debate Generally, the rest of the world only responds with words. Expressions of concern abound. Actions, however, remain limited to humanitarian assistance such as the United States provided on a massive scale to the suffering in the Republic of South Sudan. Failures of governance require a tougher response. This must start with a broad debate in many forums: universities, think-tanks, the United Nations General Assembly, parliaments and the press. Key questions in such a debate include: What constitutes bad governance? How can the United States, working with allies, promote better governance? What inducements might work? What sanctions short of military intervention might help? Is bad governance, in fact, a threat to peace that might cause the U.N. Security Council to invoke Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter and put an internationally supported armed force into action? Thus far, most nations are reluctant to move in the direction of creating enforcement mechanisms against bad governance. However, the present and looming migration crisis is, in fact, a threat to peace. It requires all the tools of modern statecraft, from diplomacy and humanitarian and development assistance to, as a last resort, military action. n In the longer term, dealing with the migration crisis is a matter of improving governance in those countries from which people are fleeing. FS COMMUNITY ADVERTISEMENTS