The forgotten dream of ending war
Those who have known war are sometimes its fiercest opponents. Last night I watched a movie, Butterfly (i Girasoli) starring Sofia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, directed…
International Law
Kushner / Trump peace plan for Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Updated February 4, 2020)
UPDATE The Arab League has unanimously rejected the Trump/Kushner peace plan. The EU has rejected it, See, Louis Imbert et Benjamin Barthe, “Les pays arabes,…
REPRISE: Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr.
Originally published on January 16, 2016 Today is Martin Luther King day in the United States, a national holiday. It is a good moment to…
Übersicht: Die Lage in Libyen / Overview: The situation in Libya
Siehe / See: Alfred Hackensberger, “CHALIFA HAFTAR: Der unbeirrbare General,” Die Welt, 17 Januar 2020. Alfred Hackensberger provides in Die Welt a very sharp and…
International Law and the targeted killing of Qasem Soleimani
Developing The targeted killing of Qasem Soleimani (قاسم سلیمانی) in Bagdad on January 3, 2020 was a military action with strategic consequences. These include a…
Apple bows to Russian pressure, shows Crimea as Russian territory
Apple has recently bowed to Russian pressure and started showing the Crimea on its maps as Russian territory. See “Weltkarte: Bei Apple ist die Krim…
REPRISE (2019) — Veterans’ Day, 2011: “Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?”
Originally published on November 11, 2011 My uncle died in a field in northern France with a German bullet in his head. To him, and…
Without International Law, “anarchy is loosed upon the world.”
The Second Coming (published 1921) Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;…
Is Turkey’s military operation in Syria justified under international law?
As we write, news reports suggest that Turkey has sent or is on the verge of sending military forces into Syria without the consent of…
What’s behind Trump’s pressure on Zelensky to work things out with Putin
What’s behind President Trump’s pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to get together with Vladimir Putin and “solve your problem”? President Trump: And I really…
Putin-Zelensky deal on Crimea and recognizing fruits of aggression in Donbas would be void under international law
The Articles 52 and 53 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties provides that treaties whose adoption has been procured by the…
U.S. attacks against Iran likely (Updated 9-20-19)
September 1, 1939: German-Soviet alliance launches World War II with German invasion of Poland
See Paul Flückiger, “Ein Sieg, aber keine Kapitulation – vor 80 Jahren begann mit dem deutschen Angriff auf Polen der Zweite Weltkrieg; Vor 80 Jahren…
The Great Buffoon’s lack of support of Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter
Updated December 28; 2019 United Nations Charter, Article 2 The Organization and its Members, in pursuit of the Purposes stated in Article 1, shall act…
Foreign policy without International Law
Since the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the foundational writings of Hugo Grotius, nations have paid attention to international law in…
Democrats have already lost the 2020 elections
President Trump’s Job Approval Rating Favorable 50% Unfvavorable 47% Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll, June 13, 2019 On five of the last seven days Trump’s job…
The meaning of war crimes in Syria, as the U.S. and others look away
Developing The government of Bashir al-Assad continues its wanton commission of war crimes in Syria, as the U.S. and the world look away. The U.S….
What is going on in the world?
What is going on in the world? For two years Americans have been lost in an obsessive fixation on their lying president, the investigations into…
Stupid and Incompetent Foreign Policy Towards Venezuela — “Intervention to Protect Nationals” (Updated)
Update: The U.S. and Venezuela have reached agreement to keep their diplomats in each other’s coountry for 30 days, while “interest section” arrangements can be…
Trump Steers Dangerous Course in Venezuela
Developing (uncorrected draft) Donald Trump has set the United States on a dangerous course in its policy toward Venezuela. The Trump administration seems to…