customary international law

China, International Law, Russia, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine November 26, 2013

Russian economic pressures and actions to force Ukraine not to ratify EU treaty violate international law principle of non-intervention (Updated November 27, 2013)

UPDATE See “Gescheitertes Abkommen: Merkel hält Ukraine die Tür für EU-Abkommen weiter offen, Der Spiegel, 27 November 2013. Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel hat die Ukraine weiterhin…

Barack Obama, Egypt, Germany, International Law, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, religious belief, Saudi Arabia, State Department, Sudan, syria, Tunisia, United States, Yemen September 14, 2012

President Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood express condolences for American losses in Benghazi, offer reassurances concerning defense of U.S. embassy in Cairo; Vienna Conventions require effective defense in all cases

In response to what was reported as a less than robust defense of the U.S. embassay in Cairo by Egyptian security forces on Wednesday, September…

CIA, Crimes Against Humanity, extrajudicial execution, France, Germany, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Middle East, NATO, Qatar, religious belief, Russia, Saudi Arabia, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, Torture, Turkey, U.N. Charter, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Security Council, U.N. Torture Convention, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, united arab emirates, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, war crimes, Yemen July 11, 2012

REPRISE: Goals to guide the international community in Syria—Obama’s Debacle in Syria — Update #62 (July 11)

Originally published May 29, 2012 With talk of orchestrating a Yemen-style transition in Syria through agreement between Russia and the United States, it may be…

Barack Obama, China, CIA, corruption, Crimes Against Humanity, extrajudicial execution, France, Germany, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Middle East, NATO, Qatar, religious belief, Russia, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Torture, Turkey, U.N. Charter, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Security Council, U.N. Torture Convention, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, united arab emirates, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, war crimes, Yemen May 29, 2012

Goals to guide the international community in Syria—Obama’s Debacle in Syria — Update #47 (May 29)

With talk of orchestrating a Yemen-style transition in Syria through agreement between Russia and the United States, it may be useful to address the question…

Afghanistan, CIA, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, NATO, Nobel Lecture, Nobel Peace Prize, Oslo, self-defense, State Department Legal Adviser, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, U.N. Charter, U.S Foreign Relations, U.S. Military, use of force July 17, 2011

International Law and the Use of Force: Drones and Real Anarchy Unleashed Upon the World

Recently a number of articles have been published that are of particular interest with respect to the development and use of drones. See William Wan…

The Trenchant Observer

International Law, Politics, and Security