The Impact of Drug Enforcement Policies on Transnational Organized Crime in Latin America: A Case Study

“For illicit drugs, organized crime is sine qua non. In other words, organized crime can exist without drug trafficking, but illicit drugs cannot live without organized crime.”[1] This quote illustrates the long standing and infamously mutually beneficial relationship between organized crime and illicit drug trafficking. While the public threat of this relationship is long recognized … Read more

Applying an Unratified Treaty in U.S. Domestic Courts: A New Paradigm?

Judicial Implications of Treaty Ratification On December 4, 2012, the United States Senate failed to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).[1] The vote was 61 to 38, lacking just five votes to pass the two-thirds threshold for ratification.[2] The ratification failed despite unanimous support from the Senate Foreign … Read more

Extraterritorial Internet Censorship and the Need for a Global Legal Standard

“[T]he right to freedom of expression on the Internet is an issue of increased interest and importance, as the rapid pace of technological development enables individuals all over the world to use new information and communications technology.”[1] In 2013, the United Nations Human Rights Counsel acknowledged the increasing interest in ensuring the freedom of expression.[2] … Read more

The European Refugee Crisis: Unaccompanied Refugee and Migrant Children

The refugee and migrant influx into Europe continues. Since January 2015 approximately 1.2 million people have journeyed across the Mediterranean in an attempt to reach Europe. The majority arrive in Europe by sea, while almost 34,900 refugees and migrants arrived by land. These individuals are fleeing economic and social breakdown such as conflict, violence, and … Read more

Renewed Violence in the Central African Republic Threatens Fragile Peace

The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) has reported renewed violence this week in the Central African Republic (CAR). On September 16th, after months of relative peace between predominantly Christian anti-Balaka supporters and predominantly Muslim ex-Seleka rebels, 26 civilians were killed, a UN aid worker was injured, and UN humanitarian … Read more

70 Years of Justice

This week we celebrate a very important birthday – on April 18th, 1946, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was born. Since its birth 70 years ago, the ICJ has had the opportunity to hear 161 cases. These cases have been entered from large countries like the United States and the former Soviet Union all … Read more

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Slavery

If “idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” and if our own hands are not idle when we use machines and other property to do our work for us, then does the resulting prosperity guarantee our salvation? Though the title of this blog is not an entirely fair play on Max Weber’s, The Protestant Ethic and … Read more

Grading the United Nations at 70 years old

(Denver Post) By Ved Nanda The euphoria that accompanied the creation of the United Nations in 1945 has long since given way to frustration and disappointment. Established in the aftermath of the death and destruction of World War II to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,” it has succeeded in preventing another global war, … Read more

Intervention: Altruistic Benevolence or International Tyranny?

John Donne famously declared, “[n]o man is an island.” Similarly, “no state is an island,” as states are inevitably impacted by the actions of others. But does this mean that any connection, however attenuated, justifies one state’s interference with another? Is this kind of interference ever justified? Is there ever an obligation on states to … Read more

Gender-Based Asylum Claims: Why the United States Approves So few

Under current asylum law, gender is not a protected ground for asylum. The United States, as well as many other countries around the world, first committed to the international community to protect the rights of refugees when it signed the Refugee Convention in 1951, the controlling international convention in refugee law.  A refugee, according to … Read more