In The News

Sanctions Against ICC Officials: Al Jazeera

June 12, 2020
Donald Trump authorized economic and travel sanctions against International Criminal Court officials investigating military and intelligence officials of the US and its allies for war crimes in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The United States rejects ICC jurisdiction over US personnel, and the United Nations, the European Union and human rights groups condemn the sanctions. “The Hague-based court was...

Uncertainty for Middle East: Syndication Bureau

Dnyanesh Kamat June 11, 2020
Rising Chinese-US tensions create strategic uncertainty around economic-development, foreign policy and even internal politics in the Middle East. US plans to relocate strategic industries, including healthcare and technology, away from China may benefit economies like Egypt or Morocco. “On the other hand, the increasingly zero-sum nature of economic competition between China and the US means...

Tiananmen Vigil in Hong Kong: SCMP

June 5, 2020
Thousands gathered in a Hong Kong park and other locations to mark the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, reports South China Morning Post. Authorities had banned mass gatherings to prevent the spread of Covid-19, but police did not stop the vigil. “The show of defiance came on a politically charged day as the legislature passed a law criminalising disrespect for the national...

US Rivals Return Fire on Human Rights: Reuters

Cate Cadell, Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi June 4, 2020
More than a week of protests over the death of a handcuffed man in police custody bring global scrutiny of US policies and racial relations, and “nations stung by American criticism over the years return fire and accuse Washington of double standards,” reports Reuters. China and Iran, criticized for human rights abuses by the US secretary of state, spoke out against police treatment of George...

UK Collision Course With China: Bloomberg

Alan Crawford June 4, 2020
The United Kingdom stands up to China on multiple fronts even while negotiating Brexit. “Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has criticized Beijing’s planned imposition of a security law on the former British territory of Hong Kong, and is taking steps to exclude Huawei from its fifth-generation mobile networks by lining up potential replacements,” reports Alan Crawford for Bloomberg. The...

Trump’s "Withdrawal" From WHO: Just Security

Harold Hongju Koh June 1, 2020
Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, another treaty arrangement, in the midst of a pandemic. The Trump administration may be trying to deflect attention from a disastrous pandemic response, yet Harold Koh of Yale Law School focuses on legal issues: Trump, lacking legal authority, did not actually withdraw the US from WHO, and...

When America Goes AWOL: Times of India

Nayan Chanda June 1, 2020
The United States, reporting 33 percent of the world’s Covid-19 cases with 4 percent of the population, has stepped back from global leadership. A bungled pandemic response delivered a blow to US moral and intellectual standing. “After having cut off funding for WHO – a critical player in these times – Washington announced it would not join a global effort to find a vaccine for the virus,” writes...