The day before last week's ASIL meeting, AEI hosted an excellent panel discussion of the book "The Limits of International Law" by Professors Eric Posner and Jack Goldsmith. A transcript of the discussion is here. The Posner/Goldsmith thesis is based on rational choice: States should engage in international law making or agree to comply with pre-existing international legal norms...
Julian's earlier post about his experiences at the Vis International Arbitration Moot competition got me thinking about the rather strained ways in which international lawyers continue to cling to distinctions between private and public interactions, a reflection of an unnecessarily rigid "private v. Public" jurisprudence. (Okay, I will admit his post also got me thinking about my semester in Vienna...
Last week's Economist has this excellent article (sub. req'd) summarizing some important empirical studies being done on failed states and post-conflict state building. The conclusions of a raft of recent studies give grounds for optimism: failed states and those on the brink of failure (sometimes called "Low-income countries under stress" or LICUS) can be saved with relatively low investments in...
After a ten-year process, ICRC published this week its report on the rules of customary international humanitarian law ("CIHL), i.e., customary law governing conduct during war. The full report can be downloaded here. Advance warning: I' ve been told from a reliable source in Geneva that the bound version weighs in at 300 pounds! State practice takes up one volume;...
Kofi Annan is scheduled to announce in a talk to the General Assembly today that he will push for major reform at the UN, including replacing the HR Commission with a HR council, expanding membership of the Security Council from 15 to 24, making troops serving UN missions accountable for their crimes, redefining terrorism and adopting an agressive nonproliferation system....
Last Monday, the State Department released its 2004 Report on Human Rights conditions around the world. The report has been around since the Carter administration, when Congress began requiring human rights reporting as a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy. Since the beginning, the report has been criticized globally as reflecting an American tendency to subject other countries to a higher...
When Bob Zoellick was named Deputy Secretary of State, it was largely viewed as a triumph of the internationalist "realists" over the unilateralist "neocons" in the Bush State Department. That conclusion may have been somewhat premature. Today it was announced that John Bolton, a prominent neocon and current undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, will be nominated...
The Roper v. Simmons and Medellin discussions highlight one of the points of tension between the US and its closest international allies – the continuing use of the death penalty in this country. Julian has elucidated in his thorough and helpful discussions here and here the important constitutional law and federalism issues raised by Medellin, as well as the question...
In this opinion handed down today, Judge Henry Floyd of the US District Court in Charleston granted Jose Padilla's habeas petition, explicitly rejecting the government's position that the President has broad powers to detain US citizens as enemy combatants. The government has 45 days to charge Padilla with a crime, hold him as a material witness, or release him. Here's...
In a case argued this morning at the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice has sided with a group of disabled cruise passengers who sued Norwegian Cruise Lines for failing to provide the kinds of accommodations required on public transportation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. NCL argues that, because their ships fly under the Bahamian flag, extraterritoriality doctrines should...
Looking beyond the very real problem of human rights abusers sitting as members of the UN Human Rights Commission, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer (a former colleague from my days in practice) has a cogent essay in last week's TNR ($) criticizing the Commission's 1503 procedure. The 1503 procedure was introduced in the 1970s to enable individuals to bring...
I want to weigh in on what has been a fascinating discussion of war and legality in the context of Iraq and Kosovo and also the lingering issue of the gulf between the US and Europe on these fundamental questions.First, on Julian's and Chris' comments about the rules governing the use of force and doctrines of interpretation: the problem for...
