I just wanted to note that I have posted to SSRN The Language of Law and the Practice of Politics: Great Powers and the Rhetoric of Self-Determination in the Cases of Kosovo and South Ossetia, which is part of the special issue of the Chicago Journal of International Law about great power politics to which Ken has referred a couple of times....
CNN has the story: "Where do you live?" Seems like a simple question, doesn't it? But the answer is not clear-cut for everyone. Take people who live in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, which is wedged between India, Pakistan and China. India and Pakistan have gone to war repeatedly over the disputed territory. Technically, it's "Indian-administered." But on Facebook, it's simply in India. Questions like this have...
At the risk of being told again that I am writing in “literary Klingon,” I want to return to the issue of virtual worlds and their real world implications. This time, a virtual world is being considered as a way to assist in the management of an international organization, namely NATO. According to Danger Room: NATO’s got a new plan for training...
Following-up on my recent post, I see that the Wall Street Journal reports that President Qaddafi no longer plans to stay in a large tent on the grounds of a home owned by the Libyan government in Englewood, NJ, during the opening of the UN General Assembly this fall. No specific reason is being given for the change, although diplomatic negotiations...
The local news in New York and New Jersey is abuzz this morning with unconfirmed rumors that, for the opening of this year's UN General Assembly, Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi is planning to stay in an air-conditioned "Bedouin-style" tent on the grounds of a residence owned by the Libyan government in Englewood, New Jersey, a suburban town of 30,000. According...
In case this is of interest to Opinio Juris readers, I want to point out that I have a new essay posted to SSRN entitled Hearts and Minds and Laws: Legal Compliance and Diplomatic Persuasion. Here's the abstract: This essay, written for the South Texas Law Review’s Ethics Symposium, considers the role of international legal argument in the war on terror...
On July 22nd, the tribunal arbitrating the dispute between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/ Army over the Abyei region rendered its final award concerning boundary delimitation (and, effectively, oil resource exploitation rights). (Links to the webcasts of the oral proceedings here.) The Washington Post reports: Sudan's fragile peace overcame a major hurdle Wednesday when a legal panel...
As we celbrate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, it brings to mind that state of space programs and of space law. Space law has long been the preserve of public international law, with the Outer Space Treaty, the Moon Treaty, and the International Space Station (ISS) Agreement. However, the rise of commercial space ventures is providing much...
Last week I wrote a post about secessionism in Flanders and regionalism in Europe, more generally. That post had been inspired by a post by "Chirol"at the blog Coming Anarchy. I now see that Chirol followed-up his original Flanders piece with an essay considering a possible future of microstates in Europe. He wrote: I’ve put together a map of the future of Europe in 2020....
The Wall Street Journal has the story: After six days of grueling debate, Iceland's parliament voted narrowly Thursday to apply to join the European Union -- an institution from which the country long stood proudly apart. But a binge of overseas expansion by Iceland's buccaneering banks led to a towering stack of bills that couldn't be paid when the credit crunch cut...
Following-up on my recent post on assessing systemic bias in international investment arbitration, readers may be interested in a recent article by Susan Franck of Washington & Lee University entitled Development and Outcomes of Investment Treaty Arbitration. Here's the abstract: The legitimacy of investment treaty arbitration is a matter of heated debate. Asserting that arbitration is unfairly tilted toward the developed world,...
Marc Lynch at Foreign Policy.com has written one of the best blog posts I have read in a long time: Jay-Z vs the Game: Lessons for the American Primacy Debate. Lynch combines a music obsessive's knowledge of rap with an international relations scholar's understanding of power politics. This is a story of rising challengers, sneak attacks, structural power, transition narratives,...
