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Search: Syria Insta-Symposium

05 Mar

This post is part of the Harvard International Law Journal Volume 54(1) symposium. Other posts from this series can be found in the related posts below. Ashley Deeks’ Article, “Consent to the Use of Force and International Law Supremacy,” is a deeply provocative and thoughtful work that makes two very important contributions to international legal scholarship. First, she exposes and explores a latent ambiguity in the role consent plays in the use of force context. Second, and more ambitiously, Deeks proposes invalidating consensual agreements to uses of force (and other...
05.03.13 | |

19 May

...following up on the measures laid out in resolution 2417 and additionally emphasising support for early warning systems) and in March 2021 (discussed below). Beyond providing a structure through which the UNSC has addressed conflict and hunger issues, UNSC 2417 has also engaged more widely in normalising the issue of starvation. As noted in GRC’s Introduction to this Symposium, the language of humanitarian access, conflict-induced food insecurity, and associated violations have crept into other resolutions, mandates, and is starting to be given the pre-eminence it demands. For instance, UNSC resolutions...
19.05.21 | |

10 Oct

...and affected me personally.  The University of Southampton  In the summer of 2014, I recall seeing notice for a conference at the University of Southampton School of Law scheduled for April 2015. The conference was the brainchild of Oren Ben-Dor, an Israeli law professor based at Southampton University and was co-organised with George Bisharat, a Palestinian-American law professor based at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. (Coincidentally, George is also a contributor to this symposium). The call for papers was considered controversial at the time because it...
10.10.24 | |

31 Oct

alone from the U.S. could not have done this. Now UN member States are required to assist in the investigation. If Syria persists in stonewalling, then UN member States may soon be required to have sanctions against Syria. But still, isn’t this less direct than the U.S. going in and trying a little regime change? Well, yes, but the point is that what sometimes seems to be the most direct method (hey guys, let’s topple a government!) can be the least effective. Rather, here we see the role of consensus...
31.10.05 | |

22 Sep

Martin Lederman Thanks very much for that very thoughtful response, Deborah. I agree with almost all of it. As to the value of requiring a congressional vote, I tend to think the principal reason for that constitutional requirement is to prevent a President from making a horrible decision unilaterally, when unable to convince one or both houses, or the people, of its wisdom. Syria 2013 is a fine example of where the constitutional condition made a world of difference; regardless of whether one thinks the U.S. should have attacked Syria,...
22.09.16 | |

20 Apr

the real threat. And the US has done absolutely nothing to protect Syrians from conventional weapons — it has simply funnelled even more into the country to support various rebel groups (including some that are allied with al-Qaeda) in their struggle against Assad. The US cares about protecting its own interests in Syria, such as preventing chemical weapons from being used against Americans. (The real message of the completely ineffectual attack.) It does not care about the lives of ordinary Syrians, as the ever mounting death-toll indicates. But let’s put...
20.04.17 | |

10 Feb

Matters in Syria are going from bad to worse. I am sure this won’t do any harm, but it is not going to help either. It will simply give the illusion that the international community is dong something about Syria. Syrian officials suspected of committing or ordering crimes against humanity should face prosecution in the International Criminal Court (ICC), the United Nations human rights office said on Friday. “We believe, and we’ve said it and we’ll keep repeating it, that the case of Syria belongs in the International Criminal Court....
10.02.12 | |

17 Mar

...of Governors that makes the decision on membership is not the collection of the individual votes of IMF’s member states. The member states’ votes are not equal; for instance, the United States’ voting share is approximately 17% while Ukraine’s is approximately 0.6 %. On the other hand, the recent admission of South Sudan as the 193rd member state of the United Nations has left little doubts as to its statehood status. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the country to the “community of nations.” Collective non-recognition impedes a secessionist entity’s...
17.03.14 | |

23 Apr

[William S. Dodge is Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Research at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. From August 2011 to July 2012, he served as Counselor on International Law to the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked on the amicus briefs filed by the United States in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the State Department or of the United States.] My...
23.04.13 | |

03 Jun

[Prof. Beth Stephens of Rutgers Law School at Camden has litigated and written widely on related issues. Additionally, she served a counsel for one of the (victorious) respondents in the Samantar case. We are of course honored that she is able to share her views with us. Again, a reminder that “Related Posts” will send you to a collection of all of the posts on this topic.] The Supreme Court decision in Samantar v. Yousuf put to rest to a line of Circuit court decisions that has...
03.06.10 | |

17 Sep

[Christopher K. Connolly is an Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York. This post is written solely in the author’s personal capacity. The views expressed in this post are the author’s alone and cannot be attributed in any way to his employer or any branch of the U.S. Government.] On September 7th, faced with new polls showing a surge in support for Scottish independence, the British government made a pledge to the people of Scotland: vote “No” in this Thursday’s referendum, thereby remaining within the United...
17.09.14 | |