Search: crossing lines
21 Mar Normative Distinctions vs. Executive Flexibility in Treaty-Making
The wide-ranging responses to Oona’s work are a testament to its ambition and importance. In the interest of keeping the discussion manageable, I’d like to offer two additional comments on Oona’s piece even though I could easily pursue a half dozen other lines of inquiry. First, I wanted to comment on the subtitle of the article—“The Past, Present and Future of International Lawmaking in the United States.” I wonder about the use of the term “lawmaking” here. Is it true that when we talk about treaties we’re always talking about...10 Oct Shilling for the C-Pen 20 Scanner
...angle takes a bit of trial-and-error to get right, but once you get the hang of it, its scanning is remarkably accurate — I average around 95-100% accuracy per paragraph of text. The pen is also smart: if you are scanning multiple lines of text, it automatically eliminates the hyphens that break up words that extend over two lines, avoiding the need to go back and eliminate them manually. I could go on, but you get the picture. The C-Pen 20 is a remarkable device, and I highly recommend it...24 Aug Emerging Voices: Strength and Legitimacy of Control Mechanisms in International Human Rights Treaties: The Moderation Effect
...Czechoslovakia and the CSFR are both displayed on the “Czech” line.) During the communist era, the number of commitments fell significantly behind the general rise in the number of existing international HR treaties (red and yellow lines), but after 1989 the two countries caught up and their commitment curves rose extremely quickly (the first two dotted lines mark the years 1990-1992). Figure 2: Human rights commitments of Czechoslovakia, the CSFR, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic over time (Source: authors) As shown in Figure 2, a boom in commitments is noticeable...11 Jun Commentary on Katharine G. Young’s article: The Minimum Core of Economic and Social Rights – A Concept in Search of Content
...were neutralising the inter-state rivalries of yesteryear. Briefly, vertically and horizontally integrated multinational firms were supplanting the nation-state as ‘the primary form of political organization of world capitalism’ thus reducing instances of cross-border strife. Building on and possibly even supplanting the work of Arrighi, Robinson and Harris detailed in an important article the ways in which neoliberalism was further transforming the existing capitalist order: through widespread integration of national economies in the world trading system and a restructuring of finance and production systems along global lines. Combined – and despite...25 Jun So Far, the “Apology” Hasn’t Helped
...After all, it was he who insisted that Libya would release Taylor if the ICC “apologized” for her actions. Either Libya lied to him and he took its representations at face value or he simply assumed that an apology would lead to Taylor’s release. Neither scenario makes him look very good. Nor, unfortunately, is that all. Reading between the lines of a recent Sky News report, it seems that Taylor is still under the control of the Zintan rebels, not the Libyan government: Despite repeated requests, Ms Taylor has not...
16 Jul Your Guide to Ecocide – Part 2: The Hard Part
...be outright criminalized, full stop? I had similar reactions at the start of my studies, and have had many conversations along the same lines. In this post, I will explain why international environmental law (IEL) does not contain that type of outright prohibition and why it engages in balancing, and then I will map out some of the resulting options for a crime of ecocide. Each option raises its own problems, so we are left with imperfect choices. It is possible that someone – perhaps some reader of this post...21 Jan Not the Postnational President, Yet
...a global solution. The speech was hardly bold in this respect. The one passage pointing to something different: And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace. The “lines...
01 Aug Options for a Peace Settlement for Ukraine: Option Paper XII – A Dynamic Political Settlement: Adapting to the Evolving Post-agreement Context
...recurrence of conflict can be avoided. For instance, one of the major stumbling blocks in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, was parties’ competing interpretation of the sequencing of local elections, with the central government claiming that such steps can only be undertaken following a full withdrawal of foreign forces, while Russia maintained that elections ought to be held without delay. Such avenues ought to include a clear alternative pathway out of a deadlock created by an inability to adhere to settlement timelines (‘fall-back mechanism’). While such timelines are critical...18 Apr In Praise of the Bluebook
...bad. Yeah, I groan when I see a page that contains two lines of text and 30 lines of footnotes. But it’s still better than having to mark my place in an article, find the bibliography, and scan an endless list of references listed in 9-pt. font. 3. Citing articles as 2000a, 2000b, and 2000c is ridiculous. Do I really need to waste my time (1) finding the right group of authors in the long list — is it Finkel? Finkel and Groscup? Finkel et al.? — and (2) searching...
13 Aug Climate Wars and Jus ad Bellum: Part II
...Security Council is unlikely to authorize any use of force against climate rogue states, not least because many of the permanent members are among the worst contributors to climate change. There will be calls for other avenues of approval, such as through the General Assembly, along the lines of the Uniting for Peace Resolution. But we may also predict that there will be increasing pressure to expand the exceptions to the prohibition on the use of force in the jus ad bellum regime, either by relaxing the conditions for self-defense,...