Devil’s Bargain: The Kashoggi Charade
Developing In the first days after Jamal Kashoggi’s “disappearance”in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, press accounts quoting Turkish officials and also…
International Law
U.S. attacks WTO judicial institutions
See Marie de Vergès, “Le gendarme OMC au bord de la paralysie,” Le Monde, le 29 septembre, 2018. Donald Trump’s attack on the rule of…
Trump versus Obama — How the Democrats can lose the Mid-terms
When I saw Barack Obama on TV today, threatening to be active on the Democratic campaign trail for the Mid-term elections in November, I was…
50 Years Ago: The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and its enduring significance
See “August 20, 1968 — “Dubček, Svoboda!” The Trenchant Observer, August 10, 2010. 50 years ago, the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies invaded…
Google helps suppress free speech in China, and other countries
Developing We have come a long way from Google’s early motto of “Don’t be evil”. Google is now developing a search engine for China to…
Humanity’s voice of reason: International Law and the United Nations Charter
Developing I watched a great movie this afternoon, The Interpreter, with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. While it was an action thriller, it also had…
Text of Crimea Declaration and Pompeo Testimony: U.S. finally states it will never recognize Russian annexation of Crimea
First Hints of Congressional Oversight Produce Significant Shift in U.S. Policy Towards Russia The Senate is to hold a series of hearings on different aspects…
The Putin-Trump threat takes a menacing turn–Michael McFaul and Bill Browder
Putin’s Unbelievable Audacity with Trump President Donald Trump will consider allowing Russian investigators to question U.S.-born investor Bill Browder, former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael…
Americans’ knowledge of international law, the military conquest of the Crimea, and proper dental floss use
Developing “Thirty-eight percent of Americans do not know that dental floss is used between the teeth, not between the tongue and lips.” –Joe Queenan, “Grungy…
Trump’s disdain for international law
President Donald Trump through his actions shows utter contempt for international law. This is true to such an extent that you have to wonder if…