U.S. Congress

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Barack Obama, Donald Trump, History, International Law, NATO, North Korea, Nuclear Proliferation, nuclear war, Russia, Soviet Union, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.S. Congress, U.S. Military, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin December 22, 2016

Trump’s tweets on nuclear build-up: A response to Putin’s implicit threat?

Developing See Mchael D. Shear and James Glanz, “Trump Says the U.S. Should Expand Its Nuclear Capacity,” New York Times, December 22, 2016. Shear and…

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2016 U.S. Presidential election, Donald Trump, elections, Hillary Clinton, History, Intelligence, International Law, Russia, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, U.S. Congress, United States, Vladimir Putin December 18, 2016

The emoluments clause and potential collusion with the Russians: Two Reasons and 37 Profiles in Courage needed to Stop Trump

Developing We owe an obligation to ourselves and to history to not meekly acquiesce in the what might be termed the normalization of outrage regarding…

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Barack Obama, CIA, Donald Trump, elections, European Union, Germany, History, Intelligence, International Law, Justice Department, NSA, Russia, sanctions, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, U.S. Congress, Ukraine, United States, Vladimir Putin December 15, 2016

Russian intervention in U.S. elections is flagrant violation of international law principle of non-intervention, giving rise to right to adopt countermeasures including strong economic sanctions

Developing Russia has intervened directly in the 2016 presidential and congressional elections, in a manner according to U.S. intelligence sources aimed at throwing the election…

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"that spark of the divine", Barack Obama, coverage of foreign events, Crimes Against Humanity, Deutschland, Dimming Vision of World Affairs, European Union, foreign news coverage, France, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, Iran, NATO, Russia, sanctions, syria, Torture, U.N. Charter, U.S. Congress, U.S. Intervention, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, vision of peace, Vladimir Putin, war crimes October 12, 2016

Personal Takes: Russian war crimes in Syria, appeasement, and disgust

Developing PERSONAL TAKES Once in a while, The Observer reflects on his own personal involvement in world events. Today’s news triggered such a reflection. The…

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Barack Obama, Crimes Against Humanity, human rights, International Law, Iran, Russia, sanctions, State Department, syria, U.N. Charter, U.S. Congress, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes October 10, 2016

Cherif Bassiouni, top expert on war crimes, confirms Russians and Iranians, including Putin, responsible for war crimes in Syria if they were aware of operations

Developing See Josh Rogin, “Putin and Assad could face justice for war crimes in Syria, Washington Post, October 9, 2016 (7:53 p.m. EDT). Julian Borger,…

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Angola, Barack Obama, Crimes Against Humanity, European Union, France, Germany, human rights, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, Saudi Arabia, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Turkey, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Congress, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, U.S. news coverage, United States, use of force, Venezuela, Vladimir Putin, war crimes October 8, 2016

REPRISE — Civilization falters: Aleppo Burns; Obama looks the other way; Putin threatens, Petraeus underlines feasability of military options; U.S. government paralyzed by Obama’s obstinancy (Updated October 8, 2016)

Check back for further updates UPDATE: October 8, 2016 Russia has this afternoon vetoed a French-sponsored Security Council resolution aimed at halting the war crimes…

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2016 U.S. Presidential election, Barack Obama, Crimes Against Humanity, Dictatorship, Dimming Vision of World Affairs, elections, European Union, Hillary Clinton, History, human rights, International Law, Iran, NATO, Russia, sanctions, State Department, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Congress, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes October 7, 2016

Vice-Presidential debate: Pence pushes Kaine and Clinton on military action in Syria

Developing In VP Debate, Pence Reveals Thrust of Foreign Policy Attack Against Clinton During the Vice-Presidential debate between Tim Kaine and Mike Spence, Spence revealed…

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Argentina, Chile, Crimes Against Humanity, European Union, History, human rights, International Law, Russia, sanctions, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Congress, U.S. Intervention, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes September 28, 2016

Russian war crimes in Aleppo and Syria: Civilized nations must impose sectorial sanctions now

Given the gravity of Russian violations of international humanitarian law, by a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, civilized nations should undertake two specific…

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Barack Obama, Crimes Against Humanity, European Union, International Law, Iran, Lebanon, Russia, sanctions, State Department, syria, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Congress, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes September 22, 2016

Reasoning from conclusions: Blind hope as the basis for U.S. foreign policy in Syria

Developing See Karen DeYoung, “U.S. calls on Russia and Syria to ground all aircraft in northwest Syria,” Washington Post, September 21, 2016 (8:28 PM). Karen…