In the tortured debates about torture, one rarely hears something new. But last week I was having a wonderful discussion with some prominent international law thinkers and one of them said something quite thought-provoking that I had never heard before. “If you think torture is wrong then you should also conclude that humanitarian intervention is wrong. ...
My time as a guest blogger with Opinio Juris comes to an end today. I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to post here, and to enter into discussions with the commenters. It therefore only remains for me to give my sincere thanks to the regular contributors for inviting me, and to the many commenters for their remarks, additions and corrections...
Iraq has redesigned its Saddam-era flag. (The new flag is at left.) Unfortunately, it's already been rejected by both the Sunni Anbar Awakening Council and by the Kurds:"The new flag is done for a foreign agenda and we won't raise it," said Ali Hatem al Suleiman, a leading member of the U.S.-backed Anbar Awakening Council, "If they want...
I've fallen behind in my Rwanda blogging. Here are some of the recent highlights — or lowlights, depending on your perspective:The ICTR announced that it will miss its 2008 deadline for completing its trial phase. According to the Tribunal's spokesman, at least one trial will not be finished by the end of the year. The ICTR...
5 + 10 = X X – Y = 0 if Y = 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 5 + 10 = X X – Z = X/192 if Z = 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 What is X, Y, and Z where Y = Z? (Continue Reading for the Answer) Y = Permanent Members of the Security...
Here you go. The idea: everything you need to know about really big issues in two pages or less (charts included). Say you are the CEO of Sara Lee or something and find yourself among the great minds of Davos, your KnowledgeConcierge (space intentionally omitted) will bring you up to speed so that you can take it all in....
For my last post here at Opinio Juris, I propose to tap into what knowledge I have of my home jurisdiction, Germany, on an issue common to US and German law. (No apologies here for the use of comparative material in constitutional interpretation.) That issue is in the context of the domestic effect of international treaties, and more particularly in the...
A flurry of attention to the question of what form an agreement with Iraq would take in the wake of hearings yesterday before the House International Relations Committee: an unusually thorough segment on NPR, WaPo story here. Apparently the Administration is intent on pursuing this as a sole executive agreement, on the precedent of Status of Forces Agreements adopted...
For much of the last year, I've been thinking about whether existing international humanitarian law rules are up to the task of dealing with issues of cyberwar and cyberterror, or, to use the U.S. military terminology--information operations (IO). In addition to an Op-Ed and a short piece for a military audience, I've now posted on SSRN a more detailed...
Because Tobias is far too modest to do it himself, I want to formally announce -- and plug -- the launch of his new group blog, Invisible College. Invisible College rises phoenix-like from the ashes of two predecessors, the group blogs 1948 and The Core. Here is a snippet from the introductory post:By joining forces, we hope to...
From last week's D.C. Circuit decision in Rasul v. Myers, Judge Brown in a concurring opinion argued: The present case involves the method of detaining and interrogating alleged enemy combatants during a war--a matter with grave national security implications. Permitting damages suits by detainees may allow our enemies to “obstruct the foreign policy of our government.” Moreover, dealing with foreign relations...
The American Law Institute has recently approved the first ever Restatement on International Commercial Arbitration. This is one of the most important international projects that the ALI has undertaken in decades. The Reporter for the Restatement will be George Bermann (Columbia) and the Associate Reporters will be Jack Coe (Pepperdine), Catherine Rogers (LSU/Bocconi), and Chris Drahozal (Kansas). ...
