International law discussion 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

International law discussion 2 - Essay Example The OAS can directly trace its roots to these meetings. World War II convinced the leaders of the American nations that they needed to come together to guard against outside aggression and to contain conflicts within the hemisphere. In 1948, meetings were held in Bogota. Not only did the attendees sign the Charter of the OAS, it resulted in their pledge to fight communism in the Americas and in the adoption of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, the world’s first human rights agreement. Like many international treaties, the Charter of the OAS was developed as a response to outside forces—first, to fight imperialism and secondly, to guard against outside aggression, most significantly, communism. With the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, as well as the return to democracy in Latin America and the increase of globalization in the 1990s, the way in which the OAS has enforced its Charter has changed. There has been some criticism of the OAS and t he Charter as being an arm of the United States, especially after the OAS expelled Cuba in 1962 and Honduras in 2009. One thing that has remained, however, is that in the case of the Charter of the OAS, it was created in response to outside forces and threats. 2.