Great speech. Amazing day. Whether or not you supported Barack Obama, one cannot deny the achievement America made last night. Martin Luther King has always been one of my heroes and I cannot help but wonder what he would have said had he lived to see this day. If there are tears of joy to shed...
The New York Times ran a front page story from its lead Guantanamo reporter yesterday. (William Glaberson and Margot Williams, research assistance Andrei Scheinkman, "Next President Will Face Test on Detainees: Some at Guantanamo Called Serious Risks," NYT, Monday, November 3, 2008 (behind reg. user wall), A1; plus a referenced data base of detainees used to analyze the detainee...
Looking for a break from the round-the-clock U.S. election coverage today? Then, check out the news stories coming out of Taiwan this morning. The head of the highest-level PRC delegation to visit Taipei since 1949 has signed a series of instruments with his Taiwanese counterpart on a range of economic topics: Taiwan and China signed a range of deals on Tuesday...
I’m with Chris – hard to focus today on anything other than the presidential election. (Indeed, I’m at pains to tear my eyes away from Ben Smith’s blog over at Politico, which is keeping anecdotal tabs on voter turnout here in the United States. His latest post as of 11:57am EST: “The Obama aide who told me last night that...
Those of us in the U.S. are off to the polls, so I thought we could try doing an open thread today for comments and suggestions to the new President, whoever that is, concerning America's foreign policy, with a particular emphasis on international law. Obviously there has been alot of talk about getting out of Iraq, putting a definitive end...
The front page of the Wall Street Journal, Nov. 3, 2008, has a very important, very well researched and reported, story (I think it's behind the WSJ subscriber wall) on the breakdown of AIG's risk models that led not so long ago to its collapse and rescue by the US government - tens of billions of dollars have poured into...
This according to the Sudan Tribune: A senior Chinese official suggested that his country has no plans to introduce a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution suspending the indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir. China’s special envoy to Africa Liu Guijin told the pro-government daily Al-Rayaam in a rare interview that he toured Washington, Paris and London...
I've only met Professor Christopher Greenwood of the Department of Law of the London School of Economics once, but I have long been an admirer of his work. He is a prolific and interesting scholar, as well as a leading practitioner of public international law. Greenwood's credentials for the ICJ are impeccable (check them out here). But he is facing flak at...
People often complain here in the U.S. about how the nature of presidential campaigns make it hard for complex and sophisticated ideas to get out (and this is a gross understatement). And the media is often blamed. But the candidates are often just as much as fault. Case in point, Senator Obama's silence on what he thinks of the deadly U.S....
"Chucky" Taylor, son of former Liberian President (and current war crimes defendant) Charles Taylor, was convicted Friday in Florida federal court of committing torture when he was with his father in Liberia. What makes Taylor's conviction news (although only news overseas, apparently, since it didn't make any of the leading U.S. newspapers) is that it is the first conviction under the...
Interested in how popular culture constructs narratives about torture? Fascinated by the ticking time-bomb scenario? Like Battlestar Galactica and/or 24? Then do I have an essay for you, written by my friend and colleague John Ip: This article is about two different narratives or accounts of torture. Each narrative signifies a certain view about the legality and wisdom of employing torture...
As part of its ongoing efforts to educate Americans about the national shame that is Guantanamo Bay, Amnesty International is touring the country with a replica of David Hicks' cell: AIUSA’s prison cell replica includes a steel toilet, florescent lights and a sliding metal door. In addition, visitors may record a 30-second reaction video that will be posted on youtube.com and...
