This August, the world will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. These treaties were negotiated following the atrocities of World War II. The aim of the treaties was to establish rules and guidelines to limit the horrors of war.
Every country in the world has since signed on to these guidelines, making the Geneva Conventions the most ratified of all international treaties.
Tuesday on the “Sound of Ideas,” we’ll bring you another episode of our quarterly program “Talking Foreign Policy.” That program is produced in conjunction with Case Western Reserve University, and tackles some of the world’s most pressing international problems.
On this episode, a panel of foreign policy experts will the discuss the history, significance and future of the Geneva Conventions. We’ll hear about how successful those treaties have been in limiting the savagery of armed conflict but we’ll also ask if they’re strong enough to last another 75 years.
In a world where the technology portrayed in science fiction movies like "The Terminator" and "Star Wars" is becoming more probable, do we need to update the Geneva Conventions to add rules about autonomous weapons and cyber warfare?
The experts will also discuss evolving policies about potential conflicts in space, as well as how to deal with attacks and threats from modern day terrorists.
GUESTS:
- Sandy Hodgkinson, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs; Former Deputy Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues, The State Department
- Paul Williams, PhD, President, Public International Law and Policy Group
- Greg Noone, PhD, Director, Fairmount State University's National Security and Intelligence Program
- Shannon French, PhD, Director, The Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, Case Western Reserve University
- Milena Sterio, Distinguished University Professor, Cleveland State University
- Michael Scharf, Dean, Case Western Reserve University School of Law
