Search Results for: Chemical Weapons Convention

“The existence of `system’ in the world is obvious to every observer of nature, no matter whom.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man (1959)           Whether conspicuous or obscure, terrorism generally presents itself as a systemic challenge. This means, inter alia, that seemingly singular strategic and legal matters may actually be many-sided and interrelated. Regarding legal issues, though [...]

The US has completed the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpile, according to an announcement made Friday by US President Joe Biden. The president said the end of the thirty-year process has brought “us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons.” The destruction of chemical weapons is governed by [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a statement on Monday ahead of the UN’s fifth scheduled review conference of the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (“Chemical Weapons Convention”). HRW urged member states to uphold the convention’s ban on chemical weapons and “single [...]

It’s an uncommon association, but certain connections have been suggested between sovereignty (the highest form of earthly authority) and offerings of immortality. For the most part, at the level of philosophical investigation, such connections have not always been subtle. Observes G F Hegel (1820) in The Philosophy of Right: “The state is the march of [...]

The US Senate repealed the authorizations for use of military force (AUMFs) against Iraq Wednesday by a vote of 66-30. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made opening remarks addressing the 1991 and 2002 AUMFs formerly passed by Congress. He said: The United States, Iraq, the entire world has changed dramatically since 2002. These AUMFs [...]

In its steadily escalating war on Palestinian terror, Israel has a law-based responsibility to limit harm to Arab populations and a concurrent responsibility not to bring war-related suffering to its own populations. To clarify these intersecting obligations, this essay will focus on pertinent legal issues of insurgency, counterterrorism, and humanitarian international law in the Middle [...]

In a report filed by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in conjunction with Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC), the groups called for countries to address the risks and costs caused to civilians by incendiary weapons. The report states that incendiary weapons cause both short- and long-term physical harm to civilians because of the [...]

“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary…: Rabbi Hillel, Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a Israel’s continuous support for Donald J. Trump represents a grim irony of Jewish history. Even before the latest revelations concerning this former president’s anti-Semitic outbursts (that is, his [...]

After the Second World War, the International Committee of the Red Cross created new treaties to constrain the methods and means of warfare—a stark acknowledgment that armed conflict would continue to exist and that the world needed updated legal limits on the waging of war. The Geneva Conventions (1949), Additional Protocols (1977) and customary international [...]

The importance of Twitter in foreign affairs has increased dramatically in the last decade. Not only is it a key news source for people around the world, but it is an essential diplomatic forum. For example, if you want to know how Canada feels about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, simply check their Twitter page [...]