August 4, 2011 # 3:20 pm # Armed Conflict, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
Today, President Barack Obama issues to presidential documents dealing with issues relating to human rights abusers. The first is a Presidential Study Directive on Mass Atrocities; the second a Presidential Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons Who Participate in Serious Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Violations and Other Abuses. They follow below:
The White House
Office of …
August 3, 2011 # 10:58 pm # Armed Conflict, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
Over at the Council on Foreign Relations blog, The Internationalist, my dear friend and Georgetown colleague, Ambassador Mark Lagon, has a provocative post on Libya. Lagon writes:
Lawyers often say, “Hard cases make bad law.” Yet the hard case of Libya raises important questions and lessons on meaningful global governance today.
When does a government’s sovereignty dissolve? The Responsibility …
August 3, 2011 # 8:19 pm # Armed Conflict, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Intelligence, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
A previous post reported on Nicholas Schmidle’s recent article in The New Yorker about his account of the raid on Bin Laden. From a legal perspective, a accurate description of the encounter between the SEALS and Bin Laden is critical to determining the lawfulness of Bin Laden’s killing. Now, the veracity of Schmidle’s account has been called into question. Paul …
August 3, 2011 # 12:52 pm # Armed Conflict, Education, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Eminent legal scholar Eric Stein, who first came to the University of Michigan Law School as a refugee from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia and later helped his adopted country draft rules that still govern the United Nations, has died in Ann Arbor.
His death came peacefully after a long illness at 98.
The passing of a man universally …
August 1, 2011 # 4:11 pm # Armed Conflict, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Intelligence, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
Were the actions undertaken that fateful night in May a violation of international law? The answer to that question hinges to a large degree upon what actually happen at the very moment at which a Navy Seal pulled the trigger. In the August 8th issues of The New Yorker, Nicholas Schmidle has a fascinating account of the raid entitled, “Getting …
July 25, 2011 # 6:10 pm # Armed Conflict, Foreign Policy, Intelligence, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
DOD Launches New Cyber Strategy Website
The Department of Defense today launched a new website http://www.defense.gov/cyber to highlight DoD’s first unified strategy for cyberspace announced on July 14. The website is a tool to help explain and consolidate DoD’s cybersecurity accomplishments and new way forward for military, intelligence and business operations in cyberspace.
The new website is designed to …
July 21, 2011 # 1:49 pm # Armed Conflict, Education, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Intelligence, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
In case you’ve missed it, check out Dr. Stewart Patrick’s new blog, The Internationalist. Stewart is a Senior Fellow and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations.
July 19, 2011 # 10:26 am # Armed Conflict, Education, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Intelligence, International Law, International Organizations # No Comment
I am excited to report that my dear friend, George Little, is being named Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense/Press Secretary! Politico reports:
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to announce today that two well-known and respected communications veterans will serve as spokesmen for Panetta and for the Department, and will join the Office of Public Affairs as top …