Search: crossing lines
06 Apr How the Laws of War Helped to End American Slavery
...have escaped within your lines. I am Colonel Mallory’s agent and have charge of his property. What do you mean to do with those Negroes?” “I intend to hold them,” Butler said. “Do you mean, then, to set aside your constitutional obligation to return them?” Even the dour Butler must have found it hard to suppress a smile. This was, of course, a question he had expected. And he had prepared what he thought was a fairly clever answer. “I mean to take Virginia at her word,” he said. “I...09 May US Congressional Bill to Be Introduced for New Kill-Capture Oversight
...are unlawful, or that they require judicial oversight, or something else, then you won’t be much moved. Seen within the framework of US law and oversight of overseas use of force operations, however, this is an important step. A couple of observations; see Bobby’s post for a detailed discussion. First, this legislation is with respect to operations conducted by the US military; it does not cover CIA activities. Second, it covers US military operations with respect to the lines of oversight running back to the Armed Services committees; it does...
15 Jul Symposium on PMSCs: Deadly Agents Functioning as ‘Humanitarian Actors’
...authorities have systematically blocked or severely restricted the entry of humanitarian relief into Gaza, drawing international condemnation. In response to this criticism, Israel introduced a militarized “aid mechanism,” under which GHF began operations in May 2025. Preliminary reports on GHF’s operations reveal disorganized, opaque aid distributions, potentially even defined as war crimes, confirming long-standing concerns about the privatization and politicization of humanitarian assistance as it was highlighted in the WGM’s 2021 report. These developments are yet another striking example of blurring the lines between military and humanitarian actors, eroding trust,...
13 Nov Symposium on Erin Pobjie’s Prohibited Force: Review by Tomohiro Mikanagi
...demarcation lines’ are usually in ‘international relations’ and therefore fall within the scope of the article 2(4) (p. 100). In various UN documents relating to situations in the Middle East, the Green Line has been considered to be an ‘International demarcation line’ which, according to Erin Pobjie, indicates the contextual element of ‘international relations’ which is required for falling within the scope of article 2(4) of the UN Charter. In the 2024 Palestine Advisory Opinion, the ICJ referred to relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions (paras 176-177), and these resolutions,...10 Jul On Paddington Bear and “Darkest Britain”: Rethinking Peru-UK Relations
...British homes. As a Peruvian currently living in the UK, this choice felt personal, and compelled me to write these lines. After all, while Paddington himself may be Peruvian, his story is most certainly not. It was written and created by a British man and meant to be read and discussed by British people. In fact, outside the tourism industry and those educated in the country’s elite British schools, very few Peruvians actually know who Paddington is. This is no wonder. Paddington’s “Peruvianness” plays no real role in developing the...06 Dec Niall Ferguson on Islamo-Bolshevism
...more like “Islamo-Bolshevists,” committed to revolution and a reordering of the world along anti-capitalist lines. Like the Bolsheviks in 1914, these Islamist extremists are part of an underground sect, struggling to land more than the occasional big punch on the enemy. But what if they were to get control of a wealthy state, the way Lenin, Trotsky, and company did in 1917? How would the world look if there were an October Revolution in Saudi Arabia? True, some recent survey data suggest that ordinary Saudis are relatively moderate people by...30 Jun First Step Toward a North American Union?
...but I think this remains a bit of a pipe dream for now, especially as the threat of deeper E.U. integration recedes. The three countries have currently eschewed steps toward a more formal union and have instead settled on a “Security and Prosperity Partnership ” that simply pushes inter-agency cooperation along a number of lines: public health, intellectual property, regulatory streamlining. While this and future initiatives might be the first step toward a “North American Union”, the fuzzy non-binding aspect of the SPP might also signal that integration has reached...