OK, I know the blogosphere has chewed over this article from the Wall Street Journal, and spit it out already, but I still can't resist posting this WSJ graphic describing a Russian professor's prediction about the end of the Union sometime in the middle of Obama's first term (in which case he would be the reverse-Lincoln). I can see...
What happens to litigation that obviously should be pursued in a foreign country but is prevented from doing so by a forum non conveniens blocking statute? That's the question presented in a recent Florida state court case of Scotts Co. v. Hacienda Loma Linda. Here are the basic facts: Scotts sells a product to Hacienda that allegedly...
In response to Roger's recent survey, many of you called for more international law discussion here at Opinio Juris. In that spirit, here's an interesting nationality question to ponder as you enjoy your New Year's Day celebrations: It was already a packed flight from Amsterdam to Boston, but passengers and crew were more than happy to make room for one extra...
Dan Drezner, a political scientist at Tufts and well known public intellectual aka blogger, has a short column at The National Interest from early December asking why it is that so many of the important foreign policy jobs in the Obama administration are going to lawyers, rather than to public policy or foreign affairs school graduates. Dan starts with Dani...
The BBC is reporting that President-elect Obama has pledged to close Guantanamo within the next two years. The report is based on this Time Magazine article declaring him (big surprise!) their "Person of the Year." I am not 100% sure Obama has really made this pledge, but it certainly can be read that way. In response to the question as...
This past Friday I was privileged to host an intimate colloquium at Pepperdine’s Malibu Beach House that brought together a wonderful mix of torts scholars, international law scholars, and practitioners to address the nexus between torts and the Alien Tort Statute. It was an eclectic group, including renown torts experts such as Third Restatement Reporter Michael Green, Anthony Sebok,...
Treat this as the latest round in the Guantanamo discussion ...
International Anti-Corruption Day is sanctioned by the UN as a day to increase awareness of corruption and its effects upon governance and public life. I realize that today's events in Chicago raise the possibilities of some heavy-handed irony - but actually, I'm pleased in a quite un-ironic way. If one has to have the phenomenon of this day for this,...
Over at the Harper's blog, Scott Horton has posted a Q& A with Mary Ellen O'Connell about her book "The Power & Purpose of International Law." (OJ hosted a discussion of Professor O'Connell's book last month, accessible here.) Among the interesting exchanges is this discussion of the U.S. relationship to the ICJ and rejoining the Optional Protocol of the...
Douglas Burgess, Jr., has an editorial in today's New York Times arguing that piracy should be considered terrorism in order to facilitate its prosecution. It's an interesting piece, but I have to take issue with the basic premise of his argument: Are pirates a species of terrorist? In short, yes. The same definition of pirates as hostis humani generis could also...
Update, Friday, December 5. Eric Posner was kind enough to cite me on this and some other posts referenced under the Guantanamo tag. Eric might well be right in saying that this is premature; I am blogging about this, but will look more seriously (i.e., assign a research assistant to dig out What They Said Under Bush, What They Said...
Last month the Supreme Court rendered its latest installment on the issue of judicial supervision of national security. Winter v. NRDC has received surprisingly little attention, but it strikes me as an important example of judicial deference to the Executive Branch in military affairs. This language in particular is noteworthy: We “give great deference to the professional judgment of...
