In the latest round in the never-ending battle between Argentina and its holdout bondholders, a U.S. court has found Argentina to be in "contempt" for trying to circumvent that US court's orders. Argentina has been outraged by such an order, arguing that a state cannot be held in "contempt" because it is an affront to its sovereign dignity (with Argentina's...
John Stewart’s Sept. 29 clip “Cameron - What are you Doing?” is a must see on comparative constitutional law. Stewart contrasts the fulsome and spirited debate in the UK on whether to authorize airstrikes against ISIL, with the absence of congressional action in the US. Well worth watching. And quite funny. Here is the show. ...
House Speaker John Boehner said in an interview on Sunday that ground troops may be necessary in order to stop the threat of ISIS. Although his comments were interwoven with lots of unnecessary talk of ISIS being barbarians, which I don't think is terribly helpful, I do agree with his bottom-line assessment: air power and proxy ground troops won't be enough...
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa The IMF has extended its zero-interest loans to Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia to provide support in the fight against Ebola. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called upon the world to do more. The ICC has opened a formal examination into the situation in the Central African Republic. Middle...
This week on Opinio Juris, Jens, Jennifer Trahan and Julian discussed the international legal basis for the air strikes against ISIS. Jens also analysed why Khorasan is seen as a more immediate threat to the US than ISIS. For more on the US domestic legal basis, check out Deborah's post with a snippet from her Daily Beast article on the perennial US War Powers...
Today the U.S. launched airstrikes against ISIS and other extremist groups within Syrian territory. In the past, airstrikes were limited to Iraqi territory, which came with the consent of the Iraq government (and were thus legally uncontroversial from the perspective of jus ad bellum). Today's airstrikes require a sophisticated legal argument to explain the intrusion on Syria's territorial sovereignty. Samantha...
The United States continues to launch airstrikes against ISIS. Not only is it unclear if the airstrikes are working to dislodge ISIS from its territory, but recent press reports suggest that ISIS is not even the most important threat facing U.S. interests. The New York Times quotes Director of National Intelligence James Clapper as saying that the militant group Khorasan poses...
For readers interested in the domestic U.S. law and history of how the U.S. government authorizes the use of force abroad, I had a little piece this weekend over at Daily Beast summarizing the state of play. Among other things, it laments not only the executive practice of not going to Congress as often as it should, but also...
Your weekly selection of international law and international relations headlines from around the world: Africa Four civilians were killed in the remote north of Cameroon in a cross-border attack by Boko Haram fighters, state-run radio reported. Fighters from Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram stormed the northeastern town of Mainok on Friday, sparking a gun battle that killed at least 36 people and continued into...
This week on Opinio Juris, we hosted an insta-symposium on the Scottish Independence Referendum. David Scheffer surveyed the legal terrain in case of a yes vote, Stephen Tierney discussed how Scotland's move to independence would be characterised under international law, Milena Sterio argued that international law could develop a norm containing a positive right to secession under certain circumstances, Jure Vidmar looked at...
The Foley family is furious that the US government did little to help them rescue their son, James Foley, from ISIS terrorists. In a recent New York Times article, the Foley family expresses frustration that European countries were quietly negotiating to pay ransoms for their nationals, while the US steadfastly refused to do so. As foreign nationals were gradually released...
Today, the UN Security Council held an open debate on the ebola outbreak in Africa, and unanimously adopted Security Council Resolution 2177. Background on the US sponsored resolution is available here. The Council’s decision to take up the issue of Ebola is significant for three reasons. First, the Council calls the Ebola outbreak a threat to international peace and security. In...
