In association with the International Commission of Jurists

General

25 Jun

Eric Posner is putting up two posts on the Koh debates, over at Volokh Conspiracy (first one is here, second is linked to it).  I'll be lite-blogging the next little bit, as I have board meetings for a nonprofit private equity fund for the next few days in Europe.  I want to start discussing more finance and development finance topics...

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24 Jun

I have remained largely silent on Harold Koh's confirmation battle, which is probably about the end this week with a vote in the Senate.  I assume that Koh will be confirmed (because I don't think the Senate Democrats would hold a vote if they didn't have the votes).  And part of me is glad because, as many of this blog's...

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23 Jun

Former Bush Sudan envoy and USAID chief Andrew Natsios has a clearheaded, wise, and knowledgeable op-ed today on the prospects for peace in Sudan.  He makes a couple of points that lawyers who only think of Sudan as a proving ground for the ICC should keep in mind: 1) Sudan is a tragedy, but it is probably not an ongoing genocide: First,...

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22 Jun

Legend has it that the Danes undermined German efforts to persecute Jews in Denmark by acting in solidarity with them by wearing the yellow star. (And yes I know the story is apocryphal). We can't exactly do the same thing today for Iranians, but one small act of solidarity we can do is make it easier for Iranians to...

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22 Jun

Thanks to my research assistant Heather Bourne, I've been reading a few of Judge Sotomayor's cases involving treaties.  And although Julian suggested a few weeks ago that Sotomayor might be a closet sovereigntist, at least one case -- her dissent in Croll v. Croll, 229 F.3d 133 (2d Cir. 2000) -- suggests that she has internationalist leanings as well (subject...

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21 Jun

Stephen Walt has a fun piece on the International Relations Guide to Parenting. Here's a taste: [N]o parent can monitor everything a child does (and you'd end up with a pretty neurotic kid if you tried), and you eventually reach a point where physical restraint (in IR terms, "pure defense") isn't practical. So we all rely on deterrence -- "if...

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19 Jun

Advisory committees are usually makeweight undertakings, supplying a crumbs-from-the-table kind of federal patronage. Not much work required of committee members to correspond with the associated level of prestige and compensation. For insiders, it must usually be a minor sort of bother. Brief outside "experts" on latest developments, make them feel in the loop, go back to work;...

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19 Jun

[OJ Ed. - Professor Guiora had initially submitted the following post in two parts. They appear below in sequence, with the second half responding specifically to Ken Anderson's question.] The ‘limits of power’ is essential to the ‘rule of law’. While perhaps an obvious motto or slogan its application in times of crises is no mean feat. FDR’s decision to interne...

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