In association with the International Commission of Jurists

October 2009

21 Oct

[caption id="attachment_10236" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Tara Melish"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] Please let me thank Elena again for taking the time to respond to my piece, and for her always insightful, probing, and challenging questions. Let me attempt to respond sequentially to each of the five great points she raises. 1. Elena begins by querying whether the “thicker” interest-based description I offer to...

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21 Oct

[caption id="attachment_10243" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Elena Baylis"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] Thanks to Opinio Juris and to YJIL for giving me the opportunity to comment on Tara Melish’s article, From Paradox to Subsidiarity: The United States and Human Rights Treaty Bodies. I have long been a fan of Tara’s work, and so it’s a pleasure to have the chance to respond to...

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21 Oct

Jonathan Adler, a blogger at The Volokh Conspiracy, has asked me what I think about the editorial that Robert Bernstein, the founder of Human Rights Watch, published yesterday in the New York Times criticizing the organization's coverage of Israel.  My basic response: although I disagree with much of what Bernstein has to say, his criticisms must give anyone pause, because...

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21 Oct

[caption id="attachment_10236" align="alignleft" width="120" caption="Tara Melish"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] [Ed. This is a slightly different, updated version than the one posted earlier today.] Let me begin by thanking Opinio Juris and the editors of the Yale Journal of International Law for hosting this online symposium, and especially Professor Elena Baylis for her willingness to provide comments on my recent article,...

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20 Oct

One of the pleasures of teaching at Washington College of Law is that so many of your colleagues are involved in so many real world public international law activities.  They include our dean, Claudio Grossman, who in his capacity of chair of the UN committee against torture, today addressed the General Assembly.  (I'll try to provide a webcast link; can't...

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20 Oct

[caption id="attachment_10155" align="alignleft" width="145" caption="Anupam Chander"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] I am grateful to Mark Wu for penning a thoughtful response to some of the ideas in “Trade 2.0.” I am fortunate to have such an expert commentator. Wu agrees with my aims, but worries that the political will may be lacking to effect my proposals. He also offers four other...

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20 Oct

In something of a surprise move, the Supreme Court decided today to grant cert in Kiyemba v. Obama – an enormously important case about whether or not the federal courts have the power to order Guantanamo detainees (whose writs of habeas corpus have been granted) released into the United States. The NYTimes story is here. The Justice Department’s statement on...

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20 Oct

[caption id="attachment_10166" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Mark Wu"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] First, thanks to the Yale Journal of International Law (YJIL) for the opportunity to comment on Professor Anupam Chander’s most recent article, Trade 2.0, in the latest issue of YJIL, and to Opinio Juris for hosting this symposium. Chander highlights an important transformation in global trade. For centuries, the desire of a...

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20 Oct

I had resolved to avoid blogging about Bernstein's endless series of attacks on Human Rights Watch, but I couldn't let the following pass without at least some acknowledgement: At what point does the MSM stop treating HRW as a neutral source on human rights in the Middle East, and start treating it like the left-wing, anti-Israel, anti-Western organization it has openly...

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20 Oct

[caption id="attachment_10155" align="alignleft" width="145" caption="Anupam Chander"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] Today, one of the most important ports of entry for trade can be found on the diminutive screen of the iPhone. Companies from around the world vie to provide a service via that screen -- playing a game, offering information, managing finances, or connecting one with friends. With its two billionth...

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19 Oct

Looking at the long-awaited new Obama Sudan Strategy, there is much to admire.  It is sensible, forward-looking, and realistic.  It also appears to be pretty much the same policy President Bush pursued, which then Obama campaign adviser Susan Rice (and current UN Ambassador) trashed back in 2008.  For instance, it emphasizes ending the violence and war through a peace agreement,...

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19 Oct

[caption id="attachment_10105" align="alignleft" width="135" caption="Evan Criddle"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10106" align="alignleft" width="123" caption="Evan Fox-Decent"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_10102" align="alignright" width="101" caption=" "][/caption] One of the great benefits of Opinio Juris is that it permits authors to clarify their views in light of thoughtful criticism, and Alexander Orakhelashvili’s comment on our article is certainly all of that. As the author of the leading monograph on jus cogens, namely Peremptory...

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