Academic Commentary

US President Donald Trump’s expanding crises with both North Korea and Iran, and his apparent willingness to withdraw from a second US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty, are just some currently prominent examples of a longer standing problem with world politics and international law. This problem is the continuing US inclination to base American national security [...]

According to recent reporting, “the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday heard complaints from Ukraine about Russian involvement in the military coup and subsequent Russian annexation of Crimea. From Feburary 27, 2014, Russia has exercised control over the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Ukraine alleges that there was a practice of killing Ukrainian military and [...]

The 2021 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the “architect of 9/11,” and the other accused will write an important page in the legal chapter of dealing with terrorism. What is not clear is if this page will solve issues, sustain them, or even create more. Ultimately, these trials will be essential not only for the [...]

In the first week of August 2019, the Indian Parliament passed, and the President signed legislation to remove Articles 370 and 35A of the India Constitution. Article 370 preserves the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), a princely state that has been forcibly divided up between India and Pakistan. Article 35A empowers the J&K State [...]

Overview Republic Act No. 11293, or the Philippine Innovation Act, was signed into law by the Philippine President on April 17, 2019.  However, the Act was released to the public only on July 16, 2019. The Philippine Innovation Act aims to promote a culture of strategic planning and innovation in the country through improving innovation [...]

This past Saturday was the Fifth Anniversary of the latest Yazidi genocide perpetrated largely by ISIS, as other actors in the region looked the other way. Today Yazidis in the region remain in limbo. As Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Laureate, stated last Friday: The situation remains dire. Presently there are approximately 350,000 internally displaced Yazidis [...]

In apparent response to US President Donald Trump’s unilateral American withdrawal from the July 2015 Iran Pact (JCPOA), the Islamic Republic has seemingly reinvigorated its active nuclear program. In turn, this has led to a more-or-less continuing cycle of threat and counter-threat between the two adversarial countries, and has been reinforced by both US Secretary [...]

Attorney General William Barr’s decision directing the Bureau of Prisons to resume execution of inmates sentenced to death by the federal government is so inconsistent with recent developments with respect to the death penalty that it makes plain how the action is driven more by electoral politics than public safety or penal policy. Nine states [...]

In the wake of Special Counsel Mueller’s largely uneventful testimony Wednesday, no-one can envy House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment dilemma. Presented with ample evidence of offenses justifying President Trump’s removal (the appalling violations of immigrants’ human rights are sufficient on their own) she also knows that no matter what he has done and no matter [...]

Though rarely understood, there can be no greater form of power on this earth than power over death. Ominously, this always-preeminent form of power in world politics remains unrecognized by American foreign policy-makers. The perilous result is that this country’s counter-insurgent strategies will become less and less adequate. It’s not an enviable situation for the [...]