In The News

Trump’s Overreach on Trade: Project Syndicate

Daniel Gros March 10, 2019
The US trade strategy may be to isolate China until the nation enforces property rights and allows foreign investment without technology-sharing requirements. In negotiating post-Brexit trade agreements with the United Kingdom or the European Union, the United States expects to prevent trade partners from making deals with non-market economies, specifically China, explains Daniel Gros, writing...

Turkey, Iran to Target Kurds: Al Jazeera

March 6, 2019
Kurdish fighters were key in defeating the Islamic State in Syria. The ethnic group represents 10 percent of the population in Iran and Syria, and up to 20 percent in Turkey and Iraq, and it’s no secret that many prefer autonomy and even a country of their own. As the war in Syria winds down, Turkey’s interior minister announced a joint operation with Iran against Kurdish rebels, but offered no...

Brexit Hell: The Atlantic

Yasmeen Serhan February 14, 2019
Britons cast their fateful votes two and a half years ago, narrowly deciding in favor of withdrawing from the European Union. What followed has been a string of broken promises, failed agreements, no-confidence votes and cabinet resignations. Prime Minister Theresa May has defied tradition by clinging to her position despite no-confidence votes from the opposition and her own party. She keeps the...

Al Jazeera: US Interference Denounced in Venezuela

January 25, 2019
The world is dividing into the usual camps over Venezuela’s president. The United States, Canada and Brazil suggest the election was flawed and Juan Guaido, who leads Congress, should serve as interim president until another election as dictated by the constitution. China, Russia and Turkey support incumbent dictator Nicolas Maduro who presides over an economy in shambles, and Venezuela's...

New Statesman: Revenge of the Nation State

John Bew November 15, 2018
The death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi reveals that the international community has little control over rogue states that resist criticism by any means necessary. Khashoggi had criticized Saudi Arabia’s horrific and wasteful war in Yemen, and his murder “conforms to a general pattern of degeneration in 21st century international relations, in which respect for human rights is eroding,...

Lawfare: RIP Federal Common Law of Foreign Relations?

Ingrid Wuerth August 19, 2018
Common law is developed by precedents rather than specific statutes. Ingrid Wuerth notes for Lawfare that the federal common law of foreign relations is a shrinking field with court interpretations undergoing revisions over the years. “The field was built in part on the claim that customary international law is federal common law and in part on the claim that federal judges should displace state...

Council on Foreign Relations: Global Implications of Justice Kennedy’s Retirement

Stewart M. Patrick July 2, 2018
US Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy had a lead role in sculpting a positive relationship between the United States and international law over his tenure. His replacement promises to be more conservative, with Donald Trump aiming to appoint a successor before midterm elections. “Foreign relations law,” regarding the place of international law in US jurisprudence, is a field that...