In his book, International Ethics, Mark Amstutz states that the quest for territorial security, economic wellbeing, and preservation of stable and humane global order is rooted in moral values. Since it is difficult, however, for those moral norms to conduct foreign affairs easily, one can appreciate the Organization of American States for serving as a forum to discuss international events in moral terms. The OAS prides itself that it is a moral and just organization that strives to maintain the collective values at the interest of the citizens of all the American continents. In its founding charter, the OAS lists regional (referring to all three continents) stability, peace, democracy, and cooperation as its primary goals. As forum for discussion, the OAS is always evolving in its use of ethical reasoning tactics such as assessing rules, practices, and institutions in order to attain the most common good.
That said; the OAS has large room for ethical improvement considering its recent role in the conflict between the Colombian government and FARC. In early March, Colombia raided parts of Ecuador in order to eliminate threatening leaders of the Latin American terrorist organization. Soon after the successful attack, the OAS issued a statement condemning Colombia’s violation of Ecuadorian sovereignty and defending Ecuador’s autonomy. Many critics have cited this as yet another example of member states’ willingness to place formal notions of sovereignty above the need to address fundamental security concerns. The OAS does clearly state in its charter that their promotion of democracy will be limited “with due respect to nonintervention.” However, it is the opinion of these two “blogettes” that the OAS should think twice about its widespread promotion of sovereignty in order to address issues that have a more realistic affect on the collective stability that they so ardently seek to achieve. Yes Colombia should have used the forum provided by the OAS to address the situation, but the OAS should have issued a response that more clearly states their position against FARC and terrorist cells in general. We appreciate the OAS and believe in its potential, but we feel that they need to be less ambiguous in order to convince the global community.
Till next time…
