St. John's University School of Law in New York City is conducting a search for a new Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies to head up our LLM programs and other international non-JD programs and initiatives. Here is the formal announcement with key contact information, but feel free to reach out to me directly if you are interested in learning more...
Just a minute ago, President Obama announced yet again his intention and desire to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. There are no particular surprises here. From what I heard listening to his comments, the plan is merely a renewed push to get Congress to cooperate on closing the prison. Specifically, Obama suggested that the detainees who cannot be...
Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Somali rebel group al-Shabab says it has seized an armed drone after it crashed in Somalia's southern Gedo region. Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for a purported bomb attack on a passenger plane in Somalia earlier this month, saying it was targeted at Western officials and Turkish NATO...
Chimene Keitner has revised and updated David Bederman’s 2006 treatise on International Law Frameworks. This highly readable (and short) text addresses key cases, core disputes, and essential treaties in international law. Following Professor Bederman's passing in 2011, Keitner was asked to step in and take over the production of a new edition. In the preface to this 4th edition, Chimene describes...
Justice Scalia's passing comes as a shock and is generating tributes across ideological lines. Indeed, whether you agreed with his opinions or not (and I was not a fan of his thinking on cases like Sosa or Bond), Justice Scalia's opinions deserved to be read. Lines like "never-say-never jurisprudence" and "oh-so-close-to-relevant cases" are some of my personal favorites. Readers should feel free to add...
According to a recent article in Agenda.ge, Russia has announced that it will not cooperate with the ICC's formal investigation into the situation in Georgia: Russia’s Ministry of Justice issued a statement confirming it would not cooperate with the investigation, reported Russian media today. Tbilisi was not surprised by Moscow’s decision. The Georgian side believed it would not be in Russia’s best...
After attending a great panel at ESIL in 2014 on International Law and Film, I’ve been thinking about how to integrate film into my public international law class. I’ve compiled a list of international law films (with help from colleagues and fellow bloggers) that make for excellent viewing. In a subsequent post, I’ll offer some thoughts about teaching international law through...
As many of our readers may recall, the late Professor Michael Lewis was a great friend of this blog and an important voice in U.S. international law and national security scholarship. To honor his memory, the Federalist Society has recently launched the first annual Michael Lewis Memorial Teleforum in his honor. The podcast features Maj. Gen. Charles Dunlap (Professor of the Practice of Law Executive Director,...
Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has claimed responsibility for Friday's deadly attack on a U.N. police base in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu, a statement monitored by the SITE Intelligence group showed on Saturday. The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, Honourable Reine...
Sorry for the endless self-promotion, but I thought readers might be interested in the following episode of Al Jazeera's Inside Story, which includes a 30-minute panel on siege warfare in Syria that I participated in. It was quite a wide-ranging discussion, focusing less on international law than I expected. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM8PwT9hz3c&feature=youtu.be As always, comments welcome! I hope readers don't think I was too...
Here’s your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa The African Union has decided against sending peacekeepers to crisis-hit Burundi after the embattled government said that any such move would be considered an invasion. Campaigners have called on Egypt to immediately release a 17-year-old Somali refugee who has been held for nearly six months. At least three...
There have been noises coming out Ukraine for years that its government was preparing an international legal action against Russia over Crimea. It looks like Ukraine has finally prepared to pull the trigger. According to this report, Ukraine is ready to charge Russia with violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in the following ways. "First, the seizure of...
