Today's Jerusalem Post features an article discussing testimony by a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan that purports to demonstrate the IDF takes more care in avoiding civilian casualties than any other army in the world. Here is a snippet: Israel's ratio of civilian to military casualties in Operation Protective Edge was only one-fourth of the average in warfare around the...
It's been a while since I've blogged about Chevron’s “Rainforest Chernobyl” — the company's deliberate dumping of more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste-water into Ecuador's Lago Agrio region. But I want to call readers' attention to a blockbuster new article in Rolling Stone that details the wide variety of dirty tricks Chevron has used to avoid paying the multi-billion-dollar judgment...
As readers are no doubt aware, Libya has descended into absolute chaos. As of now, there is quite literally no functioning central government: Libya’s newly elected parliament has reappointed Abdullah al-Thinni as prime minister, asking him to form a “crisis government” within two weeks even as the authorities acknowledged they had lost control of “most” government buildings in Tripoli. Senior officials and the...
It is my great pleasure to announce that Jens Ohlin, Professor of Law at Cornell, is joining Opinio Juris as its newest masthead member. (Astute readers will have noticed he was added there yesterday!) I doubt Jens needs much introduction, but here is a snippet from his Cornell bio anyway: Professor Ohlin specializes in international law and all aspects of criminal law, including...
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Somali and African Union forces have launched a long-awaited fresh offensive against al-Shabab fighters aimed at capturing remaining ports from the armed group, army and government officials have said. Somalia asked the International Court of Justice to determine the maritime boundary between it and Kenya, which disagree about the...
As the military situation in eastern Ukraine become more violent with the incursion of Russian troops, Vladimir Putin has called for talks to determine the statehood of eastern Ukraine. The Interpreter, a website that translates and analyzes Russian media reports, states that in an interview on Russian television Putin said: We must immediately get down to a substantial, substantive negotiations, and...
Events On 23rd and 24th October 2014 the Dresden Research Centre for International Economic Law and the affiliated research project “Global TranSAXion” will be hosting a conference on “Mega-Regionals and the Future of International Trade and Investment Law”. The conference offers a forum to discuss the content and structure of the preferential trade agreements currently under negotiation between some of the...
This week on Opinio Juris, Julian asked whether the US President can enter into a legally binding climate change agreement without Congress, and educated news agencies about the difference between Taiwan's airspace and its Air Defense Identification Zone. The main focus this week was on the Middle East. Kevin commented on an Al Jazeera America piece on Israel's attack on Shujaiya, while Peter discussed the...
Several news agencies (here and here) have suggested that recent reports of Chinese military aircraft entering into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone is akin to a territorial incursion. For instance, J. Michael Cole warns at the Diplomat, "If they were indeed intentional, the latest intrusions could signal a further denigration of Taiwan’s sovereignty...
It's only a matter of time before we start seeing proposals to take away the citizenship of Americans fighting for ISIS/ISIL forces in Syria and Iraq. They have drawn renewed attention in the wake of James Foley's beheading (apparently by a British citizen) and the death, reported at length today in the NYT, of American Douglas McCain in Syria. Several...
The New York Times is running a big report today on the U.S. plan to sign a "sweeping" climate change agreement without having to go to Congress for approval or ratification. Instead of a typical treaty requiring ratification by the Senate, the U.S. has a different more creative strategy. American negotiators are instead homing in on a hybrid agreement — a proposal...
