The Telegraph asks whether the Rio Summit is destined to fail. If you want to keep up-to-date with the Rio+20 conference, the International Institute for Sustainable Development's Earth Negotiations Bulletins are a useful starting point. In a statement before the Ways and Means Committee of the United States House of Representatives, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns argued in favour of...
Story here, and a lot of play on this morning's BBC Newshour. This is the second time in recent months that so-called "diplomatic asylum" has crept into the headlines, last with respect to Chen Guangcheng in China in May. See this earlier post, which links to an excellent Foreign Policy background piece on diplomatic asylum. Unlike the Chen case, I doubt very...
The Commander of the UN observers in Syria has given more information on his decision to suspend the mission's activities until both sides honor the peace plan. The same article also reveals that the Russian ship carrying military helicopters for Assad's forces returned to Russia after its UK insurer revoked coverage. Tensions have flared up along the border between Israel and...
This post is part of our symposium on Dean Schiff Berman's book Global Legal Pluralism. Other posts can be found in Related Posts below. This is a great book, and I am almost completely on board with the orientation here. Paul is right on the money in navigating between the territorial sovereigntists on the one hand and the cosmopolitan universalists on...
[David Zaring is Assistant Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School] This post is part of our symposium on Dean Schiff Berman's book Global Legal Pluralism. Other posts can be found in Related Posts below. Paul Berman is rethinking the global legal system with reference to both the plurality and the narrowness of modern community....
The Supreme Court's decision in the SB 1070 case is imminent (the only suspense now being whether it gets a separate-day release from the health care case). I think the Court will split the difference, upholding key sections of the law, striking down others. The safest money has it validating the "papers, please" provision of the law under which AZ...
Eight Turkish soldiers have been killed in South East Turkey during clashes with Kurdish PKK militants from Iraq. Al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the killing of a senior military commander in Yemen. After receiving her Nobel Peace Price on Saturday, Aung San Suu Kyi picked up Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award in Dublin on Monday. No case delays in Myanmar where 2...
Chaos has reportedly erupted in Syria following the suspension of the UN observer mission. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks on churches in Nigeria. A top Yemeni Army-General in the fight against al-Qaeda has been killed in a suicide attack. Iranian nuclear talks have resumed in Moscow. Although final results are not due until Thursday, the Muslim Brotherhood has...
[Craig H. Allen is the Judson Falknor Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle.] Let me again thank Opinio Juris for hosting this exchange of views on the Law of the Sea Convention and Julian for his timely efforts in facilitating the exchange. The other four contributors each raise important considerations that warrant serious attention and...
This week on Opinio Juris, we launched our first Readers’ Survey. Your input is valued so we hope you will find a spare ten minutes to complete yours if you have not yet done so. If you want, you can enter your e-mail address in the draw to win a $100 Amazon gift voucher. In our regular posts this week, Kevin...
[Jeremy Rabkin is Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law.] I entirely accept what James Kraska says about the benefits of the navigation rules in UNCLOS. But when Kraska and others say these rules are favorable, they mean the UNCLOS rules – as American officials would interpret them. Unfortunately, UNCLOS doesn’t leave it up to American officials to interpret...
Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to restart peace talks next week. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has warned about the lack of resources in hunting down Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA. Foreign Policy outlines why the West shouldn't expect Russia to change its position on Syria any time soon. The UK has warned Argentina about acts of "aggression" regarding the...
