Search: crossing lines
17 Sep IL/IR Symposium: Comment on Helfer
...more or less, with evidence from “escape” studies that differentiates the conduct of stable democracies from autocracies – but would also suggest that these and other fault lines emerge first during treaty design. Third, and finally, a more general word about the call for future research. This is typically one of the most useful functions of a survey chapter, if done astutely, and Larry’s suggestions – reflected in his blog post – do not disappoint. While I agree with him about the kind of questions that should be addressed, I’d...
29 Jul Starved into Submission: Siege Doctrine from Syria to Mariupol (Part 2)
...in Syria. The assault began with critical infrastructure. Within days of the invasion on 24 February, pro-Russian forces struck power lines, blacking out half the city, and within a week had destroyed all 15 electricity entry points into Mariupol. By 2 March, internet connectivity had collapsed to seven per cent of its pre-war level. With power and communications severed, civilians lost heat, light, and any ability to learn where food, water, or safe shelter might be found. Residents drained defunct heating systems and melted snow for drinking water. The last...17 Sep IL/IR Symposium: Flexibility in International Agreements
...unanticipated interaction or substitution effects among formal and informal flexibility mechanisms. These conclusions suggest four lines of inquiry that scholars might pursue in future studies. First, in addition to analyzing individual flexibility mechanisms, scholars should give greater attention to the relationship among different flexibility tools. Barbara Koremenos’ 2005 article, Contracting Around International Uncertainty, is a pioneer in this regard. Future studies might consider whether other flexibility tools are complements or substitutes. This research would be especially welcome for issue areas, such as environment and security, for which flexibility tools have...20 Aug Emerging Voices: The Joint Obligation to Protect Witnesses in the Fight against Transnational Organized Crime
...measures aimed at granting adequate “assistance in relocating protected witnesses abroad and ensuring their protection [and] exchange of information between authorities responsible for witness protection programmes” (ibidem). When a state implements judicial assistance mechanisms, its obligation to guarantee adequate protection of witnesses is extended across the state’s boundary lines, with a resulting surveillance obligation on the activity of the state requested of the assistance. This aspect should be considered by the requesting state when deciding to have recourse to judicial assistance both when a protected witness has to be heard...31 Jul The al-Marwalah Detention
...Ben’s paradigmatic case for noncriminal detention illustrates the dangers. He points us to one GTMO detainee, Bashir Nasir al-Marwalah (p.158), and tells us that this is what the evidence shows: al-Marwalah attended a training camp in Afghanistan in 2000, at which he had rifle training on how to be a sniper. His stated goal was to learn to fight in Chechnya. He was caught while retreating, “with” the Taliban, from “the back lines” of the fight with the Northern Alliance. Ben does not suggest that he had been fighting the...