Search: Syria Insta-Symposium
16 Dec Weekly News Wrap: December 16, 2013
killed in cross-border gunfire near the Lebanese border, the Israeli military has said. Syrian government air raids using barrel bombs on rebel-controlled areas of Syria’s second city of Aleppo killed at least 76 people, including 28 children, activists said. Asia Japan and Southeast Asian nations have called for freedom of the high seas and skies, amid heightened tensions over China’s new air defense zone in the East China Sea. China’s first moon rover has touched the lunar surface and left deep traces on its loose soil, state media reported, hours...13 Nov The Responsibility to Protect
...in the Security Council’s authorization of military intervention. Nonetheless, within weeks, critics suggested that the intervention had gone beyond the intended Security Council mandate and had become a convenient cover for regime change. Not long after, as is well known, the situations in Bahrain and Syria began to spiral downwards, and many argued that intervention was again needed and appropriate. Nonetheless, the Security Council has not garnered enough support to invoke the doctrine since Libya. China and Russia have used their veto to block Security Council resolutions on Syria with...12 Oct Weekly News Wrap: Monday, October 12, 2015
...Rwanda’s female football revolution–football is helping Rwandan women overcome the trauma of the 1994 genocide. Middle East and Northern Africa Iraqi security forces say they have struck the convoy of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, in an air strike near the country’s border with Syria. Syrian troops backed by Russian air strikes have advanced against fighters in the centre of the country as Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Moscow’s intervention in the conflict, saying it would aid efforts to...26 Jun Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Violent clashes in China’s western Xinjiang province, home to the Uighur minority, have killed 27 people. President Obama gave his long-awaited speech on climate change yesterday, but it fell short of environmentalists’ expectations. During his visit to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Kerry has been pressed by Saudi leaders to respond to the “genocide” in Syria. US officials are hoping to stage peace talks over Syria as soon as possible, but US peace envoy Brahimi is doubtful that they will take place in July. What do roses and...10 Sep Is the AUMF Limited to the United States Armed Forces?
...operative language — emphasis mine throughout. First, Rep. Frank Wolf’s: SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF ARMED FORCES. (a) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized, with the close consultation, coordination, and cooperation with NATO and regional allies, to use all necessary and appropriate force against those countries, organizations, or persons associated with or supporting terrorist groups, including al Qaeda and its regional affiliates, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, al Shabaab, Boko Haram, and any other emerging regional terrorist groups that share a common violent extremist ideology with such terrorist...18 Jul Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The UN Security Council prepares for a new vote on Syria today, amidst raging battles in Damascus and tension between Russia and the West. Among the battles, a suicide attack in Damascus has killed the Syrian Minister of Defense. Foreign Policy looks in-depth into whether it matters that the ICRC has labeled the violence in Syria a non-international armed conflict. For more from Lawfare on the discussion surrounding the label of NIAC, click here and here. The European Court of Human Rights has asked Poland hand over secret documents detailing...31 Oct Weekly News Wrap: Monday, October 31, 2016
...seekers who arrive illegally by boat from ever entering Australia again, rejecting criticism from rights lawyers who say it would breach the U.N. Refugee Convention. UN/World United Nations member states have voted overwhelmingly to start negotiations on a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, despite strong opposition from nuclear-armed nations and their allies. The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has said that he is “appalled and shocked” by the high number of rockets indiscriminately launched by armed opposition groups on civilian suburbs of Syria’s western Aleppo in...18 Nov The Return of the Neocons (and their Scorn for International Law): A Sword without a Strategy
...the weapons the neocons have in their arsenal these days. The first, as Heilbrunn notes, is Barack Obama, or more precisely discontent with his apparently reactive and hesitating approach to foreign and security policy, exemplified by situations such as Ukraine, Syria and the rise of ISIS. If you read the fine print, to the extent there is any, the neocons like Cheney and Bill Kristol don’t have any master plan or worked out strategy of their own for dealing with these problems. They appeal to the heartwarming (for some Americans)...28 Nov Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, November 28, 2012
In Syria, rebel forces have for the first time downed a government helicopter using a surface-to-air missile they acquired during the recent capture of an army base. The EU is reviewing its sanctions on Syria, and the UK, with France’s backing, is arguing for a review every three months to make it easier to arm the opposition. The head of the Palestinian commission investigating the death of Yasser Arafat has stated that the Palestinian state would go to the ICC, should it be established that Arafat was poisoned. In Eastern...04 Sep Weekday News Wrap: Wednesday, September 4, 2013
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the US has agreed upon a draft AUMF, authorizing President Obama to carry out strikes in Syria. Foreign Policy has a post warning that this 60-day authorization may be just a prelude to intervention in the Middle East as well as a piece entitled The Syrian Abyss. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country may approve a military operation in Syria if evidence shows that Damascus carried out chemical weapons attacks, but only if the operation is conducted with U.N. approval. Kenya’s parliament debated...