Subscribe RSS
Comment RSSLatest Entries
State Department issues Treaty Priority List
June 3, 2009 # 9:27 pm # Armed Conflict, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Law, International Organizations # No CommentLast month, the State Department issued the Administration’s treaty priority list. This list is divided into two categories: treaties whose ratification is being sought, and those whose ratification is not being sought.
In the first category, are 14 treaties, including the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Inter-American Convention Against …
Video: The Single Worst Thing About How We Choose Our Judges
May 31, 2009 # 1:05 pm # Supreme Court # No CommentMy good friend Robert Michael Murray brought this video to our attention. Posted yesterday by Blaise Zerega over at the Huffington Post, it is from a discussion sponsored last year by the Aspen Institute that included Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former Solicitor General Ted Olson, and Yale Professor Stephen Carter. Note in particular, Carter’s call to abolish confirmation hearings. Carter …
Yahoo! in Vietnam: working to protect human rights
May 30, 2009 # 10:09 am # Human Rights # One CommentMichael Samway, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Yahoo!, recently gave an interview to Businessweek about Yahoo’s progress in Vietnam. Douglas MacMillian of Businessweek writes:
Internet titan Yahoo! (YHOO) is girding for growth in Vietnam. But as it expands in the Southeast Asian country, it’s taking steps to avoid becoming an accomplice to government efforts to restrict citizens’ use of …
Thomas M. Franck: In Memoriam
May 29, 2009 # 1:18 pm # Armed Conflict, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Law, International Organizations, Supreme Court # No CommentIt with great sadness that we learned that Thomas M. Franck, one of the world’s leading scholars of international and national security law, passed away earlier this week. Lucy Reed, the President of the American Society of International Law sent out this note on Thursday:
Dear ASIL Colleagues,
I am very sorry to share with you the news that ASIL Honorary President …
What’s happening to human rights?- Grieboski on Pelosi’s trip to China
May 26, 2009 # 10:39 pm # Foreign Policy, Human Rights # 3 CommentsMy friend Joseph Grieboski, Founder and President of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, commented today on Nancy Pelosi’s trip to China. He notes:
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is visiting China on what is touted as a tour to improve US-China relations on climate change issues.
A fierce and frequent critic of China’s human rights …
Obama Nominates Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court
May 26, 2009 # 9:09 am # Supreme Court # No CommentThe New York Times reports:
President Obama has decided to nominate the federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, choosing a daughter of Puerto Rican parents raised in Bronx public housing projects to become the nation’s first Hispanic justice, officials said Tuesday.
The decision, to be announced Tuesday morning, will be Mr. Obama’s first selection to the Supreme Court and …
Nuclear Proliferation, Michael Douglas, and the Embassy of Italy– not to mention Bob Gallucci, Chuck Hagel, and Joe Cirincione
May 25, 2009 # 12:04 pm # Armed Conflict, Foreign Policy # No CommentIn case you missed the press accounts of this event last week, the Washingtonian reports:
The Ploughshares Fund and the Italian Embassy hosted a panel discussion last night [Wednesday, May 20] to talk about the current state of nuclear policy and the continuing efforts against global proliferation. The discussion was moderated by actor Michael Douglas, an 11-year United Nations ambassador and …
