Technology marches on, and here we have a demonstration video, on YouTube and Wired's Dangerroom, showing how a flying beetle can be implanted with miniaturized neural electrodes that allow the human operator to stimulate muscles that cause it to fly to the right or left. The applications to the battlefield, counterterrorism, etc., are obvious. (Thanks to National Journal's Shane Harris...
Ed Whelan notes (in his typically colorful way) that State Department Legal Advisor Harold Koh has been implementing one of President Obama's signing statements with respect to meeting with designated state sponsors of terrorism at U.N. meetings. A federal law passed by Congress and signed by Obama prohibits such meetings, but Obama issued a signing statement saying the provision on...
I opened the latest SSRN Public International Law listings this morning and noted with pleasure Peggy's response to Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen's recent article on constitutional interpretation and international law. Peggy's reply is in the Yale Law Journal online edition. As always Peggy makes fresh and lively arguments, and although I incline to Professor Paulsen's views on this, I think...
Among many administration doings on the human rights front this week, the Senate this week voted to confirm Mike Posner as Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Mike had served as executive director at Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) for decades since its founding, and is as steeped as...
I've only been vaguely aware of the ongoing battle between Chevron and Ecuador. Ecuador courts are currently entertaining an enormous lawsuit against Chevron, but Chevron has really taken the offensive by releasing videos suggesting that the Ecuadorian judge has been accepting bribes. And in its latest salvo, Chevron has filed an investor-state claim under the United States- Ecuador Bilateral Investment...
Seemingly more interested in placating victims groups than the judges who will determine Dr. Karadzic's guilt or innocence, prosecutors have refused to trim their monstrous and completely unworkable indictment: In written submissions released by the tribunal Tuesday, prosecutors say further cutting down their 11-count indictment against Karadzic to squeeze it into a year would prevent them presenting evidence encompassing all his...
It's a great day to be teaching the powers of the Security Council to my international law class! President Obama presided this morning over the Security Council meeting on non-proliferation, securing a 15-0 vote for UNSC resolution 1887, which aims to bolster the nuclear non-proliferation regime through strengthening the NPT, enforcing existing resolutions on North Korea and Iran, and...
I know you have all missed my blogging about international trade law. So now that I'm back (at least for a while), let me highlight a neat legal issue raised by China in its appeal of a recent WTO decision against its restrictions on foreign media. According to this WSJ report, China has raised the "public morals" defense contained in...
On the eve of President Obama taking the chair at the Security Council, David Bosco takes on a few of the common assumptions about the Council over at Foreign Policy. I largely agree with Bosco's quick (and yes, Ken, "breezy" - it seems to be a quality FP is promoting these days!) take on the central themes: (1) the Council...
Over at Foreign Policy magazine's blog, Eric Posner has a brief, breezy column on differences, or not, between the Bush and Obama administrations on international law. Fun, quick read, whether one agrees or not. And events of the moment - the opening of the UN General Assembly, the UN confabs on things like climate change, the G-20 meetings, etc. -...
University of Pennsylvania law professor Paul Robinson had a stinging, but somewhat confusing critique of the international law governing the use of force in yesterday's WSJ. Last week the United Nations issued a report painting the Israelis as major violators of international law in the three-week Gaza war that began in December 2008. While many find the conclusion a bit unsettling or...
I break my self-imposed blog exile to shamelessly promote an event we are hosting at Hofstra this Friday: the first ever all day teaching workshop devoted solely to teaching international law. The event is sponsored by the American Society of International Law and the American Branch of the International Law Association with the support of Hofstra. (OK, I don't actually know...
