In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Author: Julian Ku

24 Apr

Last week, the D.C. Circuit issued an important opinion applying the always controversial "political question" doctrine to dismiss a case challenging U.S. foreign policy actions as a violation of international law. The D.C. Circuit's development (and revival even) of the political question doctrine signals serious obstacles to attempts by litigants to challenge foreign policy actions of the U.S. government in...

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23 Apr

The Pentagon is in the throes of developing an new and more aggressive plan for military operations in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). According to the Washington Post, the new (classified) plans cover [A] wide range of overt and clandestine military activities — such as man-hunting and intelligence gathering on terrorist networks; attacks on terrorist training camps and recruiting...

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20 Apr

In another blow to international dispute resolution in East Asia, South Korea has partially withdrawn from the compulsory dispute settlement procedures of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which includes resort to the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, or a special arbitration tribunal. The S. Korean withdrawal is not...

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20 Apr

U.S. Senate majority leader Bill Frist has started his proto-campaign for the U.S. presidency in 2008 by targeting the U.N. In addition to demanding the U.S. stay out of the new Human Rights Council, he is circulating a petition on his blog demanding Iran be removed from the U.N.'s Disarmament Commission. Frist obviously has a point here. The...

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20 Apr

The International Monetary Fund released its semiannual World Economic Outlook report yesterday projecting a very rosy world economy. "It would be fair to say to the world, 'You have never had it so good,' " Raghuram Rajan, the IMF's Chief Economist said. "But challenges are building in the background." Still, the most interesting news may be the projected $300 million shortfall...

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19 Apr

The Pentagon today released the first complete and official list of all detainees currently held at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Here is a copy of the list. According to the Pentagon, all of the 558 detainees have been through the Combatant Status Review Tribunal process and nearly all have been designated "enemy combatants." Thirty-eight have...

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18 Apr

There are few more influential trade positions in the world than the U.S. Trade Representative, a cabinet-level position for the U.S. government's chief trade negotiator. One can make the case that the USTR is more important than, say, the Commerce Secretary and certainly the USTR's international portfolio makes it one of the leading international cabinet offices (behind Defense and State)....

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18 Apr

The transitional government of Somalia announced yesterday that it has agreed to allow U.S. Navy vessels to enter Somali waters to pursue and capture pirates seeking refuge there. Last month, such pirates seized a South Korean fishing vessel and crew and escaped a joint U.S.-Dutch naval force by heading for Somalia. Given the rather anarchic nature of...

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18 Apr

U.N. officials are blaming (who else?) the U.S. for blocking its plan to begin renovating U.N. headquarters in NY. According to the NYT, the U.S. is blocking the disbursement of $100 million in funds to launch the project, which is expected to cost $1.6 billion. The article certainly makes it seem like the U.S. is being a bit...

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17 Apr

One of the enduring puzzles for international law and international relations scholars is determining when and why states resort to international dispute settlement and when and why they don't. Last week, a tribunal constituted under the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a decision delimiting the maritime boundary between Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago, thus (partially) settling a long-time dispute between...

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17 Apr

Last week, the Appellate Body of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body issued a ruling finding that the U.S. government improperly calculated the level of duties it imposed on Canadian lumber, in the long-running never-ending struggle between U.S. and Canadian lumber producers. The gist of this dispute is that the U.S. is claiming the right to impose duties on Canadian lumber on...

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