“The Safety of the People shall be the Highest Law.” Cicero Eschatology is about certain end-of-life expectations, about “last or final judgments, about death, about God’s judgment and the human “soul.” But what possible connections could link such metaphysical or religious expectations with Israel’s current struggle against jihadist terror? Are there any pertinent legal connections? [...]
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Facing Trump II: America's Urgent Obligation to Rethink Nuclear Command Authority
“The man who laughs has simply not yet heard the horrible news.” Berthold Brecht An Existential Task Until the end of his presidency – and even after his open complicity in subverting the United States Constitution on January 6, 2021 – Donald J. Trump held effectively unchecked nuclear command authority. Now, after multiple criminal [...]
On Wednesday, two people targeted a Berlin, Germany synagogue with molotov cocktails, a type of homemade firebomb, and rioters in Tunisia burned down the historic El Hamma synagogue. The attacks came as tensions continue to boil over in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent siege of Gaza. Berlin police [...]
Israel's Strategic Doctrine: Nuclear Ambiguity and Iran-Backed Terror
“For by Wise Counsel, Thou Shalt Make Thy War.” Proverbs 24,6 Israel’s nuclear posture remains closely held. On its face, this “ambiguous” stance appears perfectly reasonable. But a critically core question should now be raised: Is unmodified deliberate nuclear ambiguity (the “bomb in the basement”) still in the long-term survival interests of the beleaguered state. [...]
US government to settle class-action lawsuit against Trump-era family separation policy
The US government announced on Monday that it will settle a 2018 class-action lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration’s family separation practice at the US-Mexico border. The parties filed a joint petition asking the court to approve the settlement. The proposed settlement would create a process to reunify families who were separated. Additionally, the government [...]
In response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians, Israel mounted Operation Swords of Iron. Although international law allows for certain limited uses of insurgent force, including uses directed toward “self-determination,” these residual allowances do not include any rights of indiscriminate violence or of deliberate attacks on noncombatants. “Revenge,” of course, is [...]
The Enduring Consequences of Trump’s Pardons for Crimes Against International Law
“Each state is expected, perpetually, to aid and enforce the law of nations, as part of the common law, by inflicting an adequate punishment upon the offenses against that universal law.” William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Law of England (Book 4) After January 6, 2021, it was disclosed by the special investigating committee of the [...]
Rule of Law Chronicles: In America, the Kids Are Not Alright
This article is the fourth in a series covering attacks on the rule of law. The rule of law is a political philosophy premised on the promise that all citizens, leaders, and institutions are accountable to the same laws, guaranteed through processes, practices, and norms that work together to support the equality of all citizens [...]
Democracies vs. Autocracies: The Risk of Framing Geopolitics as Us vs. Them
President Joe Biden has repeatedly characterized the state of world affairs as a battle between democracies and autocracies, with America leading the coalition championing the democratic cause. According to the United States, this coalition aims to show the world that government of the people, by the people and for the people is the best model, [...]
Israel, Counter-Terrorism, and International Law: The Analytic Challenges of 'System'
“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 [...]