As a thought experiment, prompted by this week's experience with Hurricane Sandy: should management of disaster relief migrate to the supranational level? There seem to be two major justifications for a national disaster relief apparatus (a surprisingly recent innovation -- think Carter era, not New Deal). First are the economies of scale: money and expertise. A small state may not have...
Let's just say international law was not a fulcrum in last night's debate. It's not like the topic was being discriminated against -- many important topics were ignored. (Among them the Eurozone crisis, climate change, cyberwar, NATO, anything much of Asia beyond China, Mexico or Canada.) Bob Scheiffer asked a question about drones, which Romney answered by agreeing with the...
With all the 50th anniversary retrospectives, seems like a good time to revisit Abram Chayes' foreign relations law classic, The Cuban Missile Crisis: International Crises and the Role of Law. Chayes was the State Department Legal Adviser in October 1962, on leave from Harvard Law School; though Chayes was a participant in deliberations around the crisis, the book wears its...
In a development that sounds (at least obliquely) in informal lawmaking, this from the very informative blog at The Hill: Representatives from Google, Cisco, Facebook, Microsoft and AT&T will join Obama administration officials at a December conference in Dubai to negotiate the terms of an international telecommunications treaty. The industry members are part of the 95-person delegation representing the United States as it...
The transcript in the Kiobel case has been posted here. Shell counsel/former Stanford dean Kathleen Sullivan seems to have been on her heels for much of her argument time. Big sticking point on her claim that the ATS was not intended to cover piracy or a "reverse Marbois." (No, that is not a wrestling move; it's the counterfactual in which the...
Story here: Investors can begin construction in six months on three privately run cities in Honduras that will have their own police, laws, government and tax systems now that the government has signed a memorandum of agreement approving the project. . . . The "model cities" will have their own judiciary, laws, governments and police forces. They also will be empowered to...
At risk of dipping back into this touchy subject, there's this interesting development as reported in today's NY Times: Google has blocked the film that has provoked embassy (and now KFC) attacks from youTube sites in Libya and Egypt: Google said it decided to block the video in response to violence that killed four American diplomatic personnel in Libya. The company...
The deplorable killing of Chris Stevens in Libya suggests a foreign relations law rationale for banning hate speech. Remember, the Benghazi protests were prompted by this film depicting the prophet Mohammed in not very flattering terms. The equation from the protesters at the US consulate in Benghazi: this film was produced by an American; we will hold America responsible for it. The...
President's Obama's speech this evening to the Democratic Convention spun citizenship as a central theme: We believe in something called citizenship – a word at the very heart of our founding, at the very essence of our democracy; the idea that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another, and to future generations. . . . Because we...
With opening ceremonies about to get underway in London, there's a discussion on Olympic nationality over at the NY Times Room for Debate with contributions from myself, Ayelet Shachar, Ian Ayres, and Jean-Loup Chappelet. Ayres and I agree that the current regime is unfair to both spectators and athletes by excluding would-be top competitors. Ayres would allow countries to grant...
Mitt Romney is holding a fundraiser this evening in London. (Here's a nice scene-setter.) Almost quaint how he promises not to criticize Obama while abroad, in the tradition of politics stoppping at the water's edge (as if physical location still mattered in the context of completely transnationalized media). Three quick thoughts: 1. This kind of extraterritorial campaigning is becoming routine. Lots of...
The International Olympic Committee will allow marathoner Guor Marial to compete as a man without a country. From the IOC's executive board summary of its decision in the case: Passport-less athlete approved to compete The EB also approved a request to allow marathon runner Guor Marial to compete in the London 2012 Games as an Independent Olympic Athlete (IOA) under the Olympic...
