John Kerry

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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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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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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…

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2016 U.S. Presidential election, Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Donald Trump, elections, Hillary Clinton, Intelligence, International Law, NATO, Russia, State Department, syria, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Military, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes September 20, 2016

BREAKING NEWS — U.S. says very high likelihood Russia bombed humanitarian aid convoy in Syria

LATE BREAKING NEWS!!! Developing Eric Schmitt, Michael R. Gordon, and Somini Sengupta, “U.S. Officials Say Russia Probably Attacked U.N. Humanitarian Convoy,” New York Times, September…

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Crimea, European Union, foreign news coverage, History, International Law, Justice Department, NATO, Russia, syria, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, U.S. news coverage, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin July 23, 2016

Obama’s capitulation ———- Russia bombs U.S. and British support base in Syria: U.S. responds by caving in on Ukraine sanctions on Russia

Developing Russia has bombed U.S. and U.K. support bases and facilities in Syria, on June 16 and July 12, 2016. One of the most significant…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, European Union, Google indexing, History, human rights, International Law, Iraq, NATO, nuclear war, Russia, sanctions, syria, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes December 4, 2015

REPRISE: Crumbling world order: Power politics and international law

First published on September 10, 2015 See Stefan Kornelius, “Putins Machtspiele; Ruhe in der Ukraine, Druck in Syrien. Russlands Präsident sendet rätselhafte Signale. Sucht er…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, History, human rights, International Law, Iraq, Russia, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes September 20, 2015

Kerry and Obama’s strategy on Syria: Work through the Russians and thow a “Hail Mary” pass on negotiations

See MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT, “Russian Buildup in Syria Raises Questions on Role,” New York Times, September 19, 2015. Stefan Braun, Berlin, und…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Egypt, Egypt, European Union, extrajudicial execution, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Libya, Middle East, NATO, Nobel Peace Prize, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, Taliban, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes September 10, 2015

Crumbling world order: Power politics and international law—the way forward

See Stefan Kornelius, “Putins Machtspiele; Ruhe in der Ukraine, Druck in Syrien. Russlands Präsident sendet rätselhafte Signale. Sucht er einen Weg aus der Isolation? Oder…

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Afghanistan, Barack Obama, coverage of foreign events, Deutschland, European Union, Germany, International Law, Iran, NATO, Nuclear Proliferation, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, syria, Turkey, U.N. Charter, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin May 21, 2015

ISIS takes Ramadi and Palmyra; Obama undercuts Merkel and the EU with direct negotiations with Putin—who responds by cutting Russian transit routes to Afghanistan

U.S. foreign policy is in utter disarray, failing to meet the two greatest challenges to international peace and security in the world: (1) Russian military…

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Barack Obama, Deutschland, European Union, Germany, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes May 13, 2015

Russian annexation of the Crimea: “A criminal violation of international law” for Merkel in Moscow, but not worth mentioning for Kerry in Sochi

Merkel in Moscow Germans know something about international law, which is enshrined in Article 25 of their Basic Law or constitution, while Americans seem to…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Deutschland, Dictatorship, Dimming Vision of World Affairs, European Union, Germany, Nuclear Proliferation, Russia, State Department, syria, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, Ukraine, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes May 11, 2015

Obama’s endless incompetence in foreign policy: Kerry to travel to Russia to meet with Putin and Lavrov in Sochi

“How can we win, if (Putin) is boxing, and we are playing chess?” —Lech Walensa It was announced today in Washington that U.S. Secretary of…

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"that spark of the divine", Barack Obama, Brazil, CIA, debate over the efficacy of torture, Deutschland, extraordinary rendering, extraordinary rendition, Germany, History, human rights, human rights reports, Intelligence, International Law, Justice Department, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Torture, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Torture Convention, U.S. Congress, United States, war crimes December 10, 2014

Brazil publishes Truth Commission Report; U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture Released; U.S. officials debate whether torture “worked”

Developing — preliminary draft See (1) “Comissão Nacional da Verdade entrega a Dilma relatório final das investigawções; Presidente recebeu em audiência no Palácio do Planalto,…

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"that spark of the divine", Afghanistan, Barack Obama, CIA, debate over the efficacy of torture, elections, extrajudicial execution, extraordinary rendering, extraordinary rendition, freedom of speech, History, Intelligence, International Law, Justice Department, NSA, religious belief, South Africa, State Department, State Department Human Rights Country Reports, State Department Legal Adviser, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Torture, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.S. Congress, United States, war crimes December 6, 2014

Obama seeks to block publication of Senate torture report; Pillar of democracy at stake

Background — See (1) “Sicherheitsbedenken: US-Regierung bremst Veröffentlichung von CIA-Folterbericht,” Der Spiegel, 6. Dezember 2014 (19:55 Uhr). Der US-Senat wollte umfassende Informationen über geheime Foltermethoden…