Another Indian diplomat gets the treatment, this time in Austin. Colum Lynch has this useful wrap in WaPo on the issue of diplomats and security screening, see also my post about another recent incident in Mississippi. I don't get it: Why don't diplomats get a pass, like crew? Has there ever been a terrorist attack undertaken by an accredited diplomat? It...
This according to the BBC: Kenyan MPs have voted overwhelmingly for the country to pull out of the treaty which created the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The move comes a week after the ICC prosecutor named six Kenyans he accuses of being behind post-election violence. The prosecutor's list included senior politicians and civil servants. The MPs do not have the...
When Fox News isn't busy making people dumber, it's writing chyrons like this: ...
A stark reminder that freedom of expression is indeed a precious thing: Jafar Panahi is one of the most acclaimed film directors in the world. Admirers like myself were horrified and astonished at the news, announced yesterday, that Jafar Panahi had been sentenced not only to six years in prison, but to an unimaginable twenty-year total ban on...
Today at Lawfare: If DOJ tries to prosecute Assange, we will see more and more scrutiny of double standards in the treatment of traditional media leak solicitors (NYT etc.) v. Assange, and of double standards in the treatment of high-level U.S. government leakers v. Assange. Scrutiny of the first double standard will weaken press freedoms as the...
From a new pamphlet, Why Does Sovereignty Matter to America? Merry Christmas from the folks at the Heritage Foundation: [T]oday, our sovereignty faces new threats. International organizations and courts seek to reshape the international system. Nations are to give up their sovereignty and be governed by a “global consensus.” Independent, sovereign nations will be replaced by “transnational” organizations that reject national...
It is with great concern that I hear about this because it puts Julian and his defence in a bad position. I do not like the idea that Julian may be forced into a trial in the media. And I feel especially concerned that he will be presented with the evidence in his own language for the first...
Consider three different takes within the last two weeks on the rise of China and impliedly American decline, with different preoccupations. The first is historian Paul Kennedy’s take in TNR. It’s a puzzling admixture of “don’t worry, it’s just a rebalancing that was bound to happen if you take the long view,” and “do worry, because the moves the US is...
Samuel Witten is counsel at the law firm Arnold & Porter LLP. He worked at the State Department for 22 years, including six years as Deputy Legal Adviser (2001-2007) and three years as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration (2007-2010). The world’s attention has been riveted on the potential foreign policy implications of the recent...
Ben describes as "puzzling" my claim that his recent post on WikiLeaks reflects American exceptionalism. I find his puzzlement equally puzzling. Recall the quote on which I focused: This, in turn, leads ineluctibly to Tom’s reciprocity point: If Congress can make such a demand on Assange, the U.S. would be in a bad position to object if the Congress of People’s Deputies...
Steve testified yesterday about WikiLeaks in front of the House Judiciary Committee. Here is a snippet of his testimony, which discussed five major flaws in the Espionage Act: Second, the Espionage Act does not focus solely on the initial party who wrongfully discloses national defense information, but applies, in its terms, to anyone who knowingly disseminates, distributes, or even retains national...
Secretary Clinton yesterday released the much-awaited first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. It's an important document, and if implemented (a big if, given the shift in Congress and threats to cut State's funding) it would have important consequences on the ground. The central theme of "civilian power" has a nice ring to it in the context of situating diplomacy, a...
