Following up on my earlier post on brewing problems in Latin America, Bolivia’s ex-coca farmer President-elect has sought China's assistance in developing Bolivia’s gas reserves. The Bolivians emphasize that China is not the only country they are interested in for energy development partnerships, France and Spain are also possibilities. President-elect Morales has also said that companies currently invested in Bolivia—largely...
Blogging can be an ephemeral activity: reacting to the issue of the day, every day. We move so quickly from topic to topic, that it is easy to lose track of all the issues that (at one time) we thought were so important.So here, in no particular order, is our take on the 25 (!) big stories in international law...
This is a quick follow up on my post and Seth’s post, concerning Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish writer who was shortlisted for the Nobel and also faces criminal charges for insulting the Turkish nation.Pamuk is a great Turkish writer, however he is also a controversial figure, having criticized Turkey for ignoring Armenian and Kurdish massacres. This controversy is something Turkey...
This morning we had our 100,000th visit to Opinio Juris. Peggy, Roger, Julian and I want to thank everyone for reading and returning to our site and especially for taking part in the discussions. We can’t believe that in less than a year there would be 100,000 visits to a site that focuses on our discussions on international law and...
The Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission has issued its final set of awards, including the award concerning liability for starting the 1998-2000 border war between these countries. See press reports from the BBC and CNN.Eritrea had successfully split off from Ethiopia in the 1990’s after a protracted insurgency. However, tensions still existed and, in particular, there were issues concerning the delimitation...
Well, Evo Morales sure does and, as the man likely to be Bolivia’s next President, he’s going to make sure Washington remembers it as well—for the reasons it least wants to. Morales is the Socialist candidate for Bolivia’s presidency and he promises to reverse the any-coca growing campaign. Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of coca. And in a...
Bono and Bill and Melinda Gates have been named Times’ People of the Year for their high-profile and effective philanthropic work. (See also this report.) Of particular note was their combined work on DATA, Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa, an organization they founded to focus on the combination of challenges facing Africa, and also the One Campaign, a U.S. campaign to...
... this is the title of an op-ed in today's International Herald Tribune by Spencer Boyer. Spencer and I were law school classmates and I appreciate his insights.His essay returns to a topic that we have discussed here on Opinio Juris--the riots in an around Paris--but he is provocative in how he assesses prejudices on both sides of...
Professor Duncan Hollis of Temple University School of Law will be blogging with us for the next month. Professor Hollis is a specialist in treaty law and has edited a new book, National Treaty Law and Practice. Other examples of his scholarship can be found on his SSRN page. Prior to entering the academy, Professor Hollis was in...
Federalism can be a tricky issue when it comes to foreign relations. On the one hand, states of the U.S. may not enter into treaties as foreign policy is the reserve of the federal government but, on the other hand, if a U.S. state breaches international law, it is the country as a whole that is responsible under international law.This...
Recently declassified documents at the National Security Archives show how President Nixon and Henry Kissinger were concerned that U.S. nuclear strategy was basically only a single option: Mutually Assured Destruction. The documents show how a mix of moralism, strategy, bureaucratic politics, and even Watergate drove the National Security Council to grapple with the idea whether there could be a limited...
Julian doesn’t want us to keep arguing about the same point. I heartily agree; I wouild like the conversation to move forward rather than around in circles. That's why my previous post on this topic challenged Julian to get past complaining about what he didn't like and actually suggest what, if anything, should be done.First, though, let's keep track of...
