“The dust from which the first man was created was gathered in all four corners of the earth.” – Talmud Reforming International Law In the midst of Russia’s escalating crimes against Ukraine, the United States and other nations have one widely overlooked obligation: To re-examine and re-conceptualize core elements of authoritative [...]
On February 24, 2022, at about 6:00 AM, I woke up to a telephone call from my friend. I was at home in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, located near the border with Russia. “The war has started” were the first words I heard that day. I just stayed in the middle of my [...]
When Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine in February, the international community responded with “unprecedented” and “severe” sanctions against Russia. Their expansive scale essentially leads to Russia’s economic and even political isolation. The purpose of the sanctions is clear: to punish Putin’s regime for the violation of international law and stop its military aggression against [...]
I. Introduction The world’s attention is focused on Ukraine and the vicious war ravaging the country, forcing millions of people to flee. But is this Russian invasion different than other invasions by a major world power in terms of violations of international law? It is and it is not. On the one hand, the Russian [...]
“…Ukraine is not just a neighbouring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space. These are our comrades, those dearest to us – not only colleagues, friends and people who once served together, but also relatives, people bound by blood, family ties.” — Address by the President [...]
Since February 24, 2022, Russia’s President has demonstrated an outrageous contempt towards any norm of international law. Putin does not in the least care about the notion of Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence; instead the “Fuhrer” of the Russian Federation unprovokedly and stealthily launched missiles in the area close to Kyiv at 5 AM, marking the [...]
The other day, when I woke up in the morning, I thought that I should go to Kyiv and do my part by remembering George Orwell and the Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, and paying homage to Catalonia. My 66 year old body shortly thereafter said that the Ukrainians are not asking for [...]
On March 8, the opposition parties moved a resolution for a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan (PM) under Article 95(1) of the Constitution. The PM ceases to hold office if “a majority of the total membership of the National Assembly” passes a no-confidence resolution. The opposition needs 172 votes, which it does not [...]
The Russian-Ukrainian crisis started to deteriorate in early 2021 when Ukraine arrested pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk on allegations of conspiring a coup d’etat, and Russia initiated military exercises near the Ukrainian border. Russia is the second-largest oil producer, trailing only the United States, and the third-leading oil exporter, behind Saudi Arabia and the United Arab [...]
Before February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin had an “off ramp.” He could have withdrawn troops from Russia’s border with Ukraine and slinked away to an island. However, several developments have eliminated the possibility of an “off ramp.” On February 28, 2022, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced he opened an investigation into “alleged war [...]
