The attacks on US embassies in the Arab world did not escape our bloggers' attention this week. Duncan Hollis posted about host states' duties to protect diplomatic and consular premises, and questioned whether Libya and Egypt could be held responsible for the attacks. Julian Ku asked which responses to the death of ambassador Christopher Stevens would be legal under US...
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...
As turmoil continues to spread in the Middle East, Google has temporarily blocked access in Libya and Egypt to the inflammatory anti-Muslim video, invoking exceptional circumstances but not relying on its guidelines prohibiting hate speech. It will not come as a surprise to frequent readers of our blog that our own Peter Spiro is quoted as approving of Google's decision, even though it raises questions...
Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has begun his first European tour as president and will visit Brussels to discuss economic support, agriculture, job creation and investment in the Egyptian private sector, among other topics. Despite President Mursi’s call for calm, dozens are still protesting the film “Innocence of Muslims” outside the US Embassy in Cairo. Turmoil has reportedly spread to the US...
Here it comes: President Obama is exercising his Commander-in-Chief powers, a la Durand v. Hollins: The U.S. responded to the assault by dispatching two Navy destroyers, dozens of Marines, federal investigators and intelligence assets to Libya to protect Americans and hunt the suspected religious extremists who carried out the attack late Tuesday. U.S. officials described the attack that killed Ambassador Christopher...
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...
[I posted this originally at the same time as Duncan, so it is a bit repetitive, but I'll leave its content basically as is]. Sad and startling news: U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was killed yesterday in a rocket attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. This is an addition to another violent attack on the U.S. Embassy in...
Amidst the memorials to 9/11 yesterday came more tragic news with mob attacks on the U.S. embassy in Cairo and the consulate in Benghazi, including the deaths of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. My condolences go out to the victims' families and the U.S. Foreign Service community, the Marines who guard them, as well as the local...
NYU's Journal of International Law and Politics (JILP) has recently announced that it "is transforming from a purely student edited journal into a peer reviewed journal in which all leading articles will henceforth be selected with the assistance of leading academics in the field." See the announcement here. Why the change? The announcement explains: Authors publishing in the new JILP will benefit from...
Syrian government forces shelled a rebel stronghold in Damascus today killing four and wounding dozens. Foreign Policy points out that Syria is more violent than Iraq was at its worst. Darfur rebels have killed at least 11 in an attack on a market and a mine in North Darfur. Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels ambushed an army convoy in the Central African...
Just another day in America's own gulag: A special Obama administration task force review found in 2009 that Latif, who had been held at Gitmo since early 2002 and had waged a long legal battle for his freedom, could be released, a conclusion that could only be reached by a unanimous vote of all U.S. intelligence agencies. That finding was buttressed a...
Here's a quick follow-up to my book announcement last week. With OUP's kind permission, I've posted the Introduction to the Oxford Guide to Treaties on SSRN. So, for those looking for a more detailed explanation of the book, its goals, and its methodology, feel free to download it there. Here's the abstract: From trade relations to greenhouse gasses, from shipwrecks to...
