Innocent Bystanders

Emerging countries in Latin America, East Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa are innocent bystanders in the tussle between the US and China over currencies and trade imbalances. And the bystanders are absorbing some of the hardest blows.

In an era of globalization, there are no innocent bystanders. There are certainly no oases of prosperity in the face of yet another major shock in the global economy.

So the game must be stopped, if only for the survival of innocent bystanders the rest of us. If you do not see humanity in your counterpart, you will not talk to him.

Moreover, Al Qaeda uses poetry to address the challenges that it faces. Contrasting its fighters bravery and commitment with the comfort of Muslim bystanders, Al Qaeda tries to rally more fighters to its cause in Iraq.

While acknowledging the right of Israel to defend itself against terrorist attacks in conformity with international law, it must be noted that extrajudicial killings amount to executions without trial and that innocent bystanders are often killed or injured in those operations.

Meanwhile, the local population has remained impoverished and beset by diseases caused by unsafe air, poisoned drinking water, and pollution in the food chain. Local lawlessness has led to gang warfare and persistent illegal tapping into the pipelines to steal oil, leading to further massive oil spills and frequent explosions that kill dozens, including innocent bystanders.

Intentional targeting of civilians is prohibited, as is an attack on military targets in the knowledge that there will be clearly excessive harm relative to the value of the military target. As one would expect, there is no criterion, not even a theory, for determining when the use of force carries an excessive cost to civilian bystanders.