The National Research Council of the National Academies has just about finalized a lengthy report on cyberattacks--Technology, Policy, Law, and Ethics Regarding U.S. Acquisition and Use of Cyberattack Capabilities. William A. Owens, Kenneth W. Dam, and Herbert S. Lin edited the study on behalf of a 14 member committee and a 5 member staff. It should be available in hard...
I have ignored Obama's refusal to take concrete steps to end formal discrimination against gays and lesbians, because it's not really the subject of this blog. But I have followed his gradual abandonment of his campaign promise to end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" with increasing concern. It seems clear that he has no real stomach for taking on the military...
Botswana has refused to go along with the AU resolution that -- in theory -- guarantees Bashir safe travel around Africa: Botswana says it will not abide by an African Union (AU) decision to ignore an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir. Countries signed up to the ICC have a duty to help arrest...
The Economist has a short article discussing EU proposals for financial regulation reform, in the July 4, 2009 issue, "Divided by a Common Market." The article is not persuaded that EU regulatory reforms, divided on at least two fundamental matters, will get very far, very soon: The EU remains riven by two deep divides on the regulation of finance. The first is...
Thomas Barnett has pointed out a map in Business Week that is coded for the sovereign bond rating of each country (the map is a click-through from this page). What Barnett calls the "Old Core" (the U.S., Canada, western Europe, etc.) tend to have the highest ratings, the "New Core" (Brazil, Russia, India, China and other rising powers) have the...
That's the question underlying my new essay, The Rise of International Criminal Law: Intended and Unintended Consequences, in the European Journal of International Law (Vol. 20, No. 2, June 2009). And I'm very curious as to whether anyone else shares my general feeling that the very success, on important metrics, of international criminal law is tending to swallow, as it...
I expect sloppy reporting from the traditional media, but not from the normally excellent FP Passport. So I was surprised to read the following in a post by Michael Wilkerson implying that the ICC has accomplished almost nothing: But with so much scorn and a suspect arrested for only one of its outstanding warrants -- former Congo rebel commander Jean-Pierre...
Robert Petit, the International Co-Prosecutor, is resigning effective September 1: In a statement, Robert Petit said he would be stepping down as of 1 September for personal and family reasons. “It has been the greatest privilege of my career to have the opportunity to bring some justice to the victims of the crimes of the Khmer Rouge,” he said. “I remain convinced...
Apparently, that bastion of freedom and human rights didn't get the memo that Holmes' infamous comment in Buck v. Bell -- that "three generations of imbeciles are enough" -- isn't exactly viewed as a shining moment in US constitutional jurisprudence: Rwanda is being urged to drop a draft law which would forcibly sterilise people who are mentally disabled. US-based campaign group Human...
Ordinarily I wouldn't post the table of contents for a symposium in an international law review, but let me herewith make an exception: 10 Chicago Journal of International Law 1 (Summer 2009) Symposium: GREAT POWER POLITICS The Language of Law and the Practice of Politics: Great Powers and the Rhetoric of Self-Determination in the Cases of Kosovo and South Ossetia Christopher J. Borgen 10 Chi...
With the Supreme Court term now complete, I thought it would be useful to give a brief year-end review of the Court's decisions. The Supreme Court produced no blockbuster cases this year on any subject related to our discipline. It was truly a sleeper year. There were three cases addressing immunity; two cases addressing asylum, one case...
Cross-posted at Balkinization Various developments on the resolution-of-Gitmo front to discuss. First a quick note on a recent signing statement. Then on to rumors of a contemplated executive order on detention issues. The war spending bill I recently mentioned barring the president from bringing any current Gitmo detainees to the United States was signed into law by the President...
