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26 Jul Weekday News Wrap: Thursday, July 26, 2012
...Africa, has claimed asylum in the UK, and more are expected to follow his example. The EU Commissioner for competition, Almunia, has indicated that the settlement being negotiated with Google over alleged abuses of its dominant position by ranking its own businesses higher in search results may include worldwide remedies, given the global nature of the internet. Following its annual review of the Chinese economy, the IMF has concluded that the Chinese Yuan is no longer substantially, but only moderately, undervalued against a basket of other currencies. Solar wars are...
09 Sep Libya and International Justice Symposium: Justice Delayed, A Promise Betrayed?
[ Mary Fitzgerald is an independent researcher specializing in Libya. She has worked on Libya since February 2011 and lived there in 2014. She is a contributing author to The Libyan Revolution and Its Aftermath published by Hurst/OUP.] When Libyans took to the streets in early 2011 demanding change, one of their key demands was justice. Four decades of Gaddafi’s experiment in dictatorship had resulted in a judicial apparatus hobbled by cronyism and corruption and distrusted by many including dissidents long subjected to state repression. The spark for the protests...29 Aug How should the IMF’s Managing Director be Chosen?
...have certain professional qualifications (distinguished record in economic policymaking, capable of providing strategic vision, etc.) and (2) nominees may be nationals of any of the Fund’s members, rejecting the European convention. This followed a July 2007 report by the IMF’s Independent Evaluation Office assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the IMF’s nomination process, and canvassing the search practices of other international organizations and businesses, including CEOs. Given the debacle surrounding Wolfowitz earlier this summer,, the IMF’s move may presage new thinking in other institutions as well. But the end results...01 Mar Why Political Ends are Public Ends, Not Private Ends
...16? According to the commentary, acts of violence on the high seas committed for “political ends” by any unrecognized organization: This Article covers inter alia the troublesome matter of illegal forcible acts for political ends against foreign commerce, committed on the high sea by unrecognized organizations. For instance a revolutionary organization uses an armed ship to establish a blockade against foreign commerce, or to stop and search foreign ships for contraband, or to seize necessary supplies from foreign ships. These acts are illegal under international law, at least if the...23 Oct Truth & Reconciliation, Spanish Style
...to democracy after Franco’s 1975 death. On Monday, Javier Zaragoza, the National Court’s chief prosecutor, appealed Garzón’s move, arguing that it is barred by a 1977 amnesty law passed to help Spaniards put the war behind them. Garzón, however, relies in part on the crimes against humanity charge to claim that no amnesty law can override the search for justice in such cases. I suspect that Spanish law will ultimately dictate how this case gets resolved (whether through some interpretation of the existing 1977 amensty law or through the application...
02 Oct Is the Energy Charter Treaty Greece’s New Trireme?
...to nullify the contentious Turkey-Libya maritime agreement, Greece has signed an agreement with Egypt designating an exclusive economic zone in the eastern Mediterranean between the two countries. Upon the signature of the Greece-Egypt agreement, Turkey immediately broke off negotiations on maritime boundaries with Greece, declared the Greek-Egyptian agreement “non-existent”, and started conducting a seismic survey campaign in the disputed area containing promising oil and gas reserves. Thus, Turkey’s search for oil and gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean is encroaching on waters where Greece, Cyprus and also Egypt claim exclusive...21 Aug Lyin’, Cheatin’ Robots
...a report of a Swiss robotics experiment with evolving generations of robots engaged in a search-for-yummy-food task but with a twist – an in-built desire to hide and hoard the food source for oneself. What would I suggest is the possible future connection with the battlefield? Well, consider that on the battlefield, you or I might be considered the “food” in the sense of target, and an evolving sense of how to hide and avoid predators and all that could easily evolve out of these kinds of mutating programming experiments....02 Sep Syria Insta-Symposium: Stephanie Carvin–A Legal Debate Devoid of Consequences (or Bringing Practical Judgment Back In)
...conflation over US goals in Syria. The proposed use of military strikes (the plan which seems to be on the table) is not about bringing peace to the war-torn country. Rather, it is about punishment for the use of chemical weapons and to deter their future use. This is a key point to keep in mind as there is a huge and significant difference between the two in terms of politics, law and strategy. While peace may be the overall preferred goal, punitive strikes that may hinder the Assad regime...