When I took an introduction to international relations course in college, one of the texts we focused on was Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War. In particular, we spent alot of time on the Melian Dialogue and that realist bumper-sticker: "The strong do what they will and the weak suffer what they must.” That dialogue has returned again and again in my education...
Donald Donovan of Debevoise & Plimpton represented Mexico before the ICJ in the Avena case concerning 51 Mexican nationals on death row in the U.S. He subsequently sought compliance with teh ICJ's Avena decision in the Medellin case that went up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Donovan also litigated Breard, the first Vienna Convention on Consular Relations case...
Okay, in less than a week I have found myself in complete agreement with Christopher Hitchens and Charles Krauthammer, both of whom have written exceptional editorials on Saddam's execution. Isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse or something? ...
This from yesterday's story in the Times on the Padilla case: The seven taped phone calls that bear Mr. Padilla’s voice involve conversations with Mr. Hassoun from 1997 to 2000. On those calls, Mr. Padilla, unlike some of the other defendants, does not employ what the government says is coded language. According to the government, other defendants refer to their...
Here's a sentence I don't write very often: Kudos to President Bush. I'm not particularly enamored with Khalilzad's work in Iraq, and I have a number of issues with his reliably neocon worldview (see here and here), particularly his membership in the Project for the New American Century; his colonial-like attempts to fix Afghanistan's 2004 election, which earned him...
CNN is reporting that Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, is likely to be nominated to be the new U.S. Ambassador to the UN. ...
Edge, an online salon of public intellectuals with a scientific bent, posed a question to its contributors: “What are you optimistic about? Why?” They received 160 short essays in response. Open Source Radio hosted a few of the contributors for an on-air discussion. I was hoping for something about life on Mars but what I got was probably better:...
Two days before Saddam was executed, Iraq's deputy justice minister, Bosho Ibrahim, told the Associated Press that executing Saddam within 30 days of the Cassation Panel’s decision to uphold his death sentence would violate Iraqi law. “The law does not say within 30 days,” he said, “it says after the lapse of 30 days.” The Cassation Panel rejected Ibrahim’s...
John Negroponte, the National Intelligence Director, will become the new Deputy Secretary of State, the Department’s number 2 position. CNN has the story here. No word yet on who will take his place overseeing intelligence. ...
The American Society of International Law has started a new fellowship program in international and/or comparative law. While it may be of particular interest to academics on sabbatical, a university position is not a requirement. Actually, I would especially encourage lawyers planning to enter the academic job market to look at this fellowship as a way to focus on...
New UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has started making new appointments and agenda setting at the United Nations. The NY Times reports thatVijay Nambiar of India, a special adviser to Mr. Ban’s predecessor, Kofi Annan, will be his chief of staff, and Michèle Montas, an award-winning Haitian broadcaster, will head the spokesman’s division, replacing Stéphane Dujarric of France, a...
Whenever I discuss Saddam here in New Zealand, people always want to know to what extent the U.S. supported his regime. Fortunately, I can now refer them to Juan Cole's recent post "For Whom the Bell Tolls: Top Ten Ways the US Enabled Saddam Hussein." Summarizing, the ten ways are as follows: The CIA was...
