In association with the International Commission of Jurists

Recent Posts

05 Jan

In their recently published book (“When Cooperation Fails”), Mark Pollack and Gregory Shaffer provided a rare panoramic view of one of the most intractable trans-Atlantic regulatory disputes, i.e., the regulation of genetically modified (GM) foods. One may discover the richness of their thorough study mainly in two aspects. First, the methodology which they employ is not only interdisciplinary but also...

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05 Jan

I want to congratulate Mark Pollack and Gregory Shaffer for their recently published book When Cooperation Fails: The International Law and Politics of Genetically Modified Foods (Oxford 2009). Using the WTO proceeding  as a focal point, When Cooperation Fails explores the vexing question of why multiple international and bilateral initiatives have failed to resolve the transatlantic GMO dispute. The book...

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05 Jan

As its title suggests, When Cooperation Fails has two distinct aims.  The specific empirical aim is to provide a definitive and theoretically informed account of one of the most bitter and politically charged international disputes of the past two decades, between the United States and the European Union over the regulation of genetically modified foods and crops.  Our theoretical aim,...

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04 Jan

Tommorrow, Opinio Juris is pleased to host a one-day discussion of the new book by Gregory Shaffer and Mark Pollack, When Cooperation Fails: The International Law and Politics of Genetically Modified Foods (Oxford, 2009).  Sungjoon Cho and Rebecca Bratspies will join us with guest commentary.  For those interested in joining what promises to be a great discussion, here's the abstract: The...

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04 Jan

I know this sounds like the title of a movie franchise, but Brad Roth of Wayne State has alerted me to an op-ed in today's New York Times that deals with both Somali piracy and unrecognized separatist regions. Jay Bahadur writes: There might be another way to make greater strides against pirates. However, it would involve allying ourselves with a place that...

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04 Jan

I have just been informed that Sir Ian Brownlie, one of the true legends of international law, has died in a car crash in Egypt.  I have no other information, as it has apparently not been reported yet. Tremendously sad news.  I'm sure we will have much more information in the coming days....

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01 Jan

Happy New Year to all.  For those of you looking for "new" things in international law this year, check out the newly redesigned website of the Private International Law office in the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser (L/PIL for short).  It has links to other relevant websites and resources as well as listings of the status of U.S. treaties...

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30 Dec

Last year, as I was reading an early draft of the agenda for the ICC's Review Conference in 2010, I asked myself what I would change about the Rome Statute if I was King of the Assembly of States Parties.  My answer was that I would amend Article 17, the complementarity provision, to make a case admissible if a national...

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29 Dec

A couple of years ago I wrote a paper on ways in which the American political class is riven by deep foundational disagreements about the proper way to approach transnational terrorism.  It is partly implicated in the “war” versus “law enforcement” argument, but actually it goes deeper than that — is it possible to have an offensive strategy against terrorism,...

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27 Dec

I rarely agree with our colleagues at the Volokh Conspiracy, but I think Jonathan Adler is right on the mark when he describes the TSA's security measures as "political theater."  It's all about creating the illusion of safety, not actual safety.  An erstwhile terrorist needs more than 100ml of a particular liquid to make a bomb? Let's hope he's not...

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26 Dec

The New York Times has a very interesting article on the mining of rare earths, a group of elements that are particularly important for green technologies.  The Times piece begins like this: Some of the greenest technologies of the age, from electric cars to efficient light bulbs to very large wind turbines, are made possible by an unusual group of elements called rare...

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26 Dec

Britain's New Scientist has a short piece on the arrival of non-Latin script Internet addresses in 2010. They explain: Net regulator ICANN - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - conceded in October that more than half of the 1.6 billion people online use languages with scripts not fully compatible with the Latin alphabet. It is now accepting applications...

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