Israel has had a long and often unhappy relationship with international institutions, especially the U.N. Moreover, Israel's struggle with the Palestinians and the Arab states has also given it good reasons to be suspicious of international law, especially the kind of international law used to restrain its military power. So it is not exactly surprising to see this recent decision...
Here is the U.S. Govt description of the recent deal where North Korea sort of agreed to give up its nuclear weapons program. Who knows if this deal will stick? But one thing to keep in mind from an international lawyer point of view: the agreement has some chance of success, precisely because it is probably not a treaty or...
Here is a sympathetic profile in the WSJ of newly-installed U.N. Ambassador John Bolton's activities during the latest U.N. reform effort. Perhaps I am wrong when I argued here that U.N. ambassadors, and ambassadors in general don't matter very much. But then again, this profile doesn't really suggest Bolton has been able to do very much, one way or the...
Today I will be participating in an "online symposium" hosted here by the New York University Journal of Law and Liberty (my opening statement is here). Four leading scholars (or three depending on whether I can call myself "leading"), will blog about Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, a case involving a challenge to the legality of President Bush's military commissions (which I...
As I noted previously, a recent poll showed that many Europeans had a more favorable view of China than the United States, a somewhat surprising (and disturbing) result. A recent poll of the U.S. public shows no such friendliness toward China - quite the opposite. As the WSJ reports:Nearly three-quarters of Americans now view Britain as an ally -- far...
Listening to the Roberts hearing is amusing for a few minutes, but only the true Supreme Court geeks can stand it for more than an hour. Luckily, in the age of the internet, we can skip the hearings and simply go straight to the transcript portions that interest us. So here goes: Senator Feinstein of California asked Judge...
Following up on Chris' post on the opening of the UN General Assembly this week and the U.N. reform agenda, it might be useful to check out some defenses of what the U.S. is seeking in the UN Reform process in the WSJ here and in the NYT here. The U.S. positions seem fairly reasonable, but I leave to Chris...
How many law professors get front page treatment in the Wall Street Journal? Today's WSJ profiles Prof. John Yoo of Berkeley, essentially treating him as an architect, maybe the architect of the Bush Administration's legal approach to the war on terrorism. Here are some excerpts:Mr. Yoo is playing an instrumental role in redefining the murky area where law intersects...
The Fourth Circuit's new opinion on Jose Padilla's challenge to his detention as an unlawful enemy combatant is here (thanks to Curtis Bradley for the heads up). The holding, by Judge Luttig (an oft-floated name for the Supreme Court) is:We conclude that the President does possess such authority pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force Joint Resolution enacted...
It is well known that Judge John Roberts served as a law clerk to the late Chief Justice Rehnquist, whom Roberts is quite likely to succeed. But less attention has been paid to the actual cases Roberts may have worked on as a law clerk for Rehnquist, even less attention to the cases that Rehnquist worked on when he was...
Apropos of my post last week, U.S. Secretary of State Rice has made a point of publicly thanking foreign countries for their contributions to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Here is an excerpt from her news conference:. . we have, in fact, had offers from more than 70 countries around the world. We are now putting those offers to good...
The Washington Post has a curious article today detailing Judge Roberts' doubts (but ultimate support) for U.S. ratification of the Convention Against Genocide during the Reagan Administration. The description of the memo is more evidence that, at least with respect to Judge Roberts' views on international law, Judge Roberts' opponents have very little to criticize. The memo simply noted that...
