In association with the International Commission of Jurists

National Security Law

08 Jun

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington D.C. this week to meet with President Obama.  Buried in their joint statement, the two leaders reiterated their support for an important-sounding treaty that I, nonetheless, had never heard of: 27) The leaders affirmed their support for a UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism that advances and strengthens the framework for global cooperation and reinforces...

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02 Jun

Earlier today, President Obama took time out during his commencement address at the Air Force Academy to make a pointed plea for the value of treaty-making.  Here's the relevant excerpt from his remarks: By the way, one of the most effective ways to lead and work with others is through treaties that advance our interests.  Lately, there's been a mindset in...

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03 May

I read with great interest Jens's excellent post about whether the US attack on the MSF hospital in Kunduz was a war crime. I agree with much of what he says, particularly about the complexity of that seemingly innocuous word "intent." But I am not completely convinced by his argument that reading intent in the Rome Statute to include mental states other than...

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20 Apr

President Obama has threatened to veto a bill pending in the U.S. Congress that would allow private plaintiffs to sue foreign sovereigns for committing (or abetting) terrorist attacks inside the territory of the United States.  The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act has broad bipartisan support in Congress and from all of the presidential candidates (including Hillary Clinton). It would add an...

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18 Apr

Next month's issue of Foreign Affairs, a leading journal of highbrow foreign policy in the U.S., features an important article on the United States as "The Once and Future Superpower" (subscription).  Based on their forthcoming book, professors Steven Brooks and William Wohlforth of Dartmouth College argue that China is not going to displace the United States as the world's leading superpower...

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18 Mar

AJIL Unbound has just published a fantastic symposium entitled "TWAIL Perspectives on ICL, IHL, and Intervention." The symposium includes an introduction by James Gathii (Loyola-Chicago) and essays by Asad Kiyani (Western), Parvathi Menon (Max Planck), Ntina Tzouvala (Durham), and Corri Zoli (Syracuse). All of the essays are excellent and worth a read, but I want to call special attention to Ntina's essay, which is...

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07 Mar

In a tumultuous U.S. presidential campaign season, it is easy to conclude that the U.S. is hopelessly polarized between a proto-fascism and a proto-communism. But while there may be some truth to that observation with respect to immigration and economic policy, it is worth noting that the presidential candidates of both parties agree on many issues of foreign policy, even...

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14 Feb

Justice Scalia's passing comes as a shock and is generating tributes across ideological lines. Indeed, whether you agreed with his opinions or not (and I was not a fan of his thinking on cases like Sosa or Bond), Justice Scalia's opinions deserved to be read.  Lines like "never-say-never jurisprudence" and "oh-so-close-to-relevant cases" are some of my personal favorites.  Readers should feel free to add...

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06 Feb

Sorry for the endless self-promotion, but I thought readers might be interested in the following episode of Al Jazeera's Inside Story, which includes a 30-minute panel on siege warfare in Syria that I participated in. It was quite a wide-ranging discussion, focusing less on international law than I expected. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM8PwT9hz3c&feature=youtu.be As always, comments welcome! I hope readers don't think I was too...

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01 Feb

There have been noises coming out Ukraine for years that its government was preparing an international legal action against Russia over Crimea.  It looks like Ukraine has finally prepared to pull the trigger. According to this report, Ukraine is ready to charge Russia with violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in the following ways. "First, the seizure of...

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