Peter Spiro, who is not only our friend and colleague at Opinio Juris but ranks as one of the most-cited scholars of his generation, has a new book out: Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization (Oxford Univ. Press, 2008). We will be hosting a full discussion of the book later this spring, but in the meantime you can...
Having already discussed the application of Security Council Resolution 1244, I will now turn to general principles of international law concerning secession and recognition. Thomas Franck, one of the five international law experts asked by the Canadian government to consider certain issues regarding a hypothesized secession of Quebec, wrote that:It cannot seriously be argued today that international law prohibits secession. It...
I cast my overseas primary ballot last week for Obama. If only I knew then what I know now -- that Obama is obviously the child of communists and may well be a communist himself. How do I know that? Because, as Lisa Schiffren at the ever-reliable National Review Online explains, he was born of mixed-race parents...
As the initial euphoria or anger (depending on your point of view) over the declaration of independence by Kosovo begins to subside, commentators are increasingly turning to the legal question: does international law support or impede Kosovo’s bid for independence? Too many times a quick and simple answer is given (International law denies Kosovo’s independence! Kosovo has a...
I am not really sure, but the erosion of the U.N. system and international law is something that is part of every Serbian and Russian government spokesman on this issue. And there is certainly some plausibility to this argument, as I understand it. U.N. member states are supposed to recognize the territorial sovereignty of other member states. (See,...
The press is loving the Defense Department’s recent disclosure of a decaying U.S. spy satellite that’s falling out of orbit, and U.S. plans to shoot it down before the school-bus-sized object crashes to earth. The latest news suggests that the U.S. Navy will take its first shot at the satellite this Thursday. Most of the ensuing discussion has...
Kosovo's declaration of independence and the subsequent reaction by various countries is obviously a quickly changing situation. There are two new Wikipedia pages that attempt to collate the latest information. See the Wikipedia page on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence, and especially the Wikipedia page on International Reactions to Kosovo's Declaration. Hat Tip: Catholicgauze ...
It takes little courage to be a blogger in the United States. Perhaps professional reputation is at risk if things go badly, but there is little more to fear than that. Sure, every intellectual community has its village idiot, and the blogosphere is one of the easiest places to find people who crave attention and lack discretion. ...
As expected, Kosovo’s parliament has declared independence today in a vote that was unanimous among those attending. Ten Serbian MP’s did not attend the vote. According to the BBC, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said"The independence of Kosovo marks the end of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia,"… He said Kosovo would be built in accordance with the...
Kent's Imperative has a follow-up to their previous post on the film Twelve Angry Men and its uses in teaching intelligence (as oppsed to legal) analysis. The new post considers which films do-- and do not--provide good discussion examples for students of intelligence. I was dissappointed that the film versions of le Carre were disposed of as quickly...
Last week, I argued that the CIA waterboarders would not necessarily be entitled to the defense of entrapment by estoppel even if they relied on the Office of Legal Counsel's insistence that waterboarding was legal. As I pointed out, the defense requires reliance to be reasonable -- and a court cannot simply infer reasonableness from the fact that the...
The Pew Research Center just published a fascinating new poll on the future of immigration in the United States. Here are a few of the key results: If current trends continue, the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, from 296 million in 2005, and 82% of the increase will be due to immigrants arriving...
