Ukraine dispatch: Russian invasion risks nuclear disaster for the world
Law students and young lawyers in Ukraine are filing for JURIST on the latest developments in that country as it defends itself against Russian invasion. Here, Kyiv-based lawyer and University of Pittsburgh LLM graduate Yaroslav Pavliuk reports. On 27 February, Russian President Putin ordered to Russia’s nuclear missiles put on alert. This move signaled the [...]
Russian forces, in an act of breathtaking barbarity, have invaded Ukraine, an independent, sovereign nation that has in recent years looked to the West for its inspiration and guidance. And with this military move, several deeply embedded international laws have been violated by Russia in what can only be described as a “criminal war of [...]
Putin's Invasion of Ukraine: A Desperate Gamble to Reverse a String of Failures
In the days that have passed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many have questioned the implications of this unchecked aggression against a sovereign nation for the post-war international order. Fears have proliferated that international justice is dead, that autocracy has won. But a closer look reveals that this invasion is the product of weakness, not [...]
Folly Redux?: The Deeper Meanings of a Second Trump Presidency
Credo quia absurdum. “I believe because it is absurd.” -Tertullian Macrocosm and Microcosm One thing is certain. If Donald J. Trump should decide to run again, various condemnations and justifications would instantly spring forth from absolutely every segment of the political spectrum. The deepest and truest explanations, however, would not be discoverable in day-to-day politics. [...]
In the aftermath of mass protests that swept major cities across Kazakhstan last month, resulting in hundreds of casualties and ultimately the deployment of Russian and allied troops to restore order, a law professor from Nazarbayev University explains what happened, and what we can expect for the Central Asian nation going forward. How did the [...]
Washington: Release of ex-Marines from Russian prisons is 'vital priority' for the US
Washington renewed calls for the release of former US Marine Paul Whelan on the third anniversary of his arrest in Moscow on dubious espionage charges. “ traveled to Russia as a tourist and was imprisoned and sentenced on false charges,” the US State Department said Tuesday. The statement called on the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Whelan, along [...]
Putin signs law allowing him to retain presidency until 2036
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law Monday allowing him to run for an additional two terms, meaning that Putin could retain control of the Russian presidency until 2036. Putin first served as President of the Russian Federation from 2000 until 2008, then stepped down to serve as Prime Minister from 2008 until 2012, at [...]
Looking Beyond "America First": Thought-Based Legal Strategies for Long-Term Survival
“The egocentric ideal of a future reserved for those who have managed to attain egoistically the extremity of `everyone for himself’ is false and against nature.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man From time immemorial, world politics have been rooted in Realpolitik or power politics. Although such patterns of thinking are normally [...]
The “Final Days” of a failed, corrupt, and criminal presidency…for the second time in two generations (I recall as a child hearing the drumbeat of “Watergate” in the news), that is the legacy of America’s Republican Party. As President-elect Biden and so many others keep saying (perhaps out of desperate hope), “this is not who [...]
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed multiple laws Wednesday to restrict the influence of US social media companies like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The first law passed by the president allows Russia to block internet sites that allegedly discriminate against Russian media, while the second imposes a substantial fine on social media companies that fail to [...]
